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I don't think gov't fleet mileage rules have any effect on anything. If you watch at how GM, Toyota and Ford, etc. manipulate these rules to their advantage, it is apparent it is one more game we don't understand. I believe the market will make the actual mileage figures rise, not more gov't. rules. If you don't make a car with good mileage, it won't sell in large numbers.
What really happened is GM and Ford got caught playing the mileage game with the high-profit SUV's and they didn't have chairs when the music stopped and gas prices went sky-high a few years ago, causing the soccer moms to desert them. Since they both run virtual total cradle to grave social programs with their union partners, the cost structure of both companies is so high and the cash burn rate so outrageous, any blip in the receivables is a crisis. The UAW workers are as efficient as in any european factory and they enjoy the same high standard of living. The Japanese are pretty fat too. Just wait until the Chinese slave labor built cars start showing up Walmart showrooms and that's when the fun will really start. Stay tuned, that ought to be reality in 2010 or 11.
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