Following on from yesterday’s story about the proposed environmental grading stickers that may be added to new vehicles in 2012, the first complaints from the automobile industry are already being registered. As I wrote yesterday the proposal is for a grading system based upon emissions, vehicle range, fuel economy and annual cost of operations. At this point the idea remains a joint proposal from the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Transport, although not confirmed dealers have been quick to respond in a negative fashion. The grading system would simply bring the US auto industry in line with what is already happening in Japan and Europe and yet the response to the proposed change has caused some immediate panic from car dealerships .

The knee-jerk reaction appears to be driven by the fact that only a few cars (typically electric or hybrid vehicles) would receive a grade above a ‘B’ with the A+ designation reserved exclusively for electric vehicles. A dealer in Massachusetts feels the information will cause confusion and lost sales for his dealership:

“Anything that’s not an A is bad, right? It’s misleading to the consumer. I could be so customer a D (rated vehicle) but if you are driving mostly on the highway it could be an A”

A second dealer agreed and suggested that the car industry should receive support from the government in terms of stimulating sales as opposed to devising new environmental labels:

“I think it’s foolish and more government intervention where it doesn’t need to be, people aren’t idiots”

While I do understand car dealers may not be very responsive to change, I think the key message is being entirely missed. The idea and value of the labeling (which admittedly is very large and bold) is to heighten public awareness about fuel economy and environmental impact, the playing field will be level in terms of evaluation for each individual vehicle and the final decision naturally will rest with the consumer. What I feel is probably causing the reaction is the perceived stringency of the grading system, where previously miles per gallon or kilometers per litre were the only shared information in an immediate fashion now a consumer will see an overall environmental rating based upon emissions, vehicle range and running costs. If anything it will move the understanding of vehicle impact to a better place in the public forum, consumers will still shop for specific vehicles based upon their needs but when the final comparison is made between cars the relative eco-friendly aspects will be considered in the buyer’s equation. Surely that is a good thing?

Perhaps car dealers should be looking internally as to how the manufacturers themselves can develop vehicles which receive higher grades rather than immediately crying foul and saying sales will be impacted. If sales are indeed impacted it will primarily be for vehicles that perhaps need a full redesign.

Tags: car grades for green ratings, chevy volt, consumer watchdog, Department of transport, eco labels, eco-grading, eco-labels for vehicles, electric vehicles, energy consumption, environmental certification for cars, Environmental protection agency, EPA, fuel consumption, green vehicles, hybrid vehicles, planet forward, the clinicians, vehicle mileage, vehicle range