DaimlerChrysler Pays Heavy Fine for Gas Guzzlers

Let's hope this isn't a record Daimler repeats in 2008. The automaker paid a heavy fine in 2007 for failing to meet federal fuel-efficiency standards. The NY Times today published an article with more info – an excerpt and link to the full article follows:

DaimlerChrysler paid a $30 million fine in 2007, the most ever by an automaker, for failing to meet federal fuel-efficiency standards, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The penalty was assessed for DaimlerChrysler’s imported fleet of cars from the 2006 model year, which failed to meet the corporate average fuel economy standard of 27.5 miles per gallon, an agency spokesman, Eric Bolton, said Wednesday.

DaimlerChrysler, now known as Daimler, topped the record of $28 million set by BMW in 2002. The United States has collected $735 million in fines since 1985 from automakers whose fleets failed to meet car and light-truck mileage standards, now at 27.5 mpg and 22.2 mpg. << Read the full article here >>