Cars And Light

New SUVs, trucks protect passengers and the environmentTom Horton's May 15 article, "Down with sport utility vehicles," misrepresents the emissions levels of current SUVs and light trucks and could lead consumers to make purchasing decisions hazardous to their health.His assertion that 65 million light trucks produce higher emissions than 120 million cars is not supported. The fact is that late-model cars and light trucks, especially those built since 1994, are already low-emission vehicles, with emissions of major pollutants reduced more than 90 percent from earlier vehicles.

New-car sales, a leading indicator of Maryland's economic health and consumer confidence, posted another strong gain in April, according to figures released yesterday by the state Motor Vehicle Administration.It was the sixth consecutive month in which sales were higher than in the corresponding period of the previous year. Sales have been up in 10 of the past 12 months.The gain here was more than three times that of the U.S. sales, where shipments of cars and light trucks jumped 3.8 percent over a strong April 1998.

DETROIT -- General Motors Corp., the world's largest automaker, said yesterday that its U.S. sales of cars and light trucks rose 18 percent in February, beating estimates and helping push industrywide sales up 13 percent to a record for the month.GM's results included gains of 20 percent for cars and 15 percent for light trucks.The report from the largest U.S. automaker came after reports of February increases of 8.8 percent for Ford Motor Co. and 7.7 percent for DaimlerChrysler AG, and 19 percent gains for Toyota Motor Corp.

DETROIT -- General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and DaimlerChrysler AG, the Big Three U.S. automakers, all had disappointing car and light-truck sales in October as 2000 models arrived on dealer lots and the supply of discounted 1999s dried up.GM's sales of North American-built cars and light trucks fell 3.5 percent, missing analysts' average forecast of a 1.5 percent increase. Ford's fell 6.4 percent and DaimlerChrysler's sales, excluding Mercedes-Benz, fell 3.8 percent, both bigger declines than analysts predicted.

New car sales in Maryland, an indicator of the state's economic health, declined nearly 15 percent last month from a year ago while they increased slightly nationwide.The decline here marked the ninth time in 10 months that sales did not keep pace with the corresponding period in 1995, according to registration figures released yesterday by the Motor Vehicle Administration."I'm not sure why, but it seems that sales are more anemic in the Maryland and the Mid-Atlantic region than in other parts of the country, said John Sophocles, general manager of Jerry's Chevrolet in the Parkville section of Baltimore County.

The auto industry cruises into this year the same way it left 1994 -- on a roll.This could be the industry's best year ever, said Edward Lapham, the executive editor of Automotive News, a Detroit-based industry publication. "We'll be teasing with the record of 16 million units [cars and light trucks] set in 1988."Mr. Lapham thinks 1995 will be a very good year and perhaps a great one if, as he puts it: "Interest rates stay down, the economy continues to grow at a moderate rate and people stay happy."

WASHINGTON -- The contentious effort to require ultra-clean and even electric cars in Maryland and other smoggy East Coast states received a boost yesterday.A multistate commission asked the federal government to require California-style emission controls on all new cars and light trucks sold from Maine to Northern Virginia by fall 1998.Over objections from four states, officials from Maryland and eight other states on the Ozone Transport Commission voted to petition the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to replace federal motor vehicle pollution standards with California's more stringent limits.

New car sales -- an important barometer in measuring the country's economic health -- have been on the rise this year. Across the country, sales of cars and light trucks are up about 9 percent over the 1993 selling pace.In Maryland, the gain is even greater. According to figures compiled by the Motor Vehicle Administration, vehicle sales for the first 10 months of the year are 17 percent ahead of the 1993 sales pace.Can this strong sales pace continue? What is your forecast for 1995?Alfred ShockleyPresident, Maryland New Car and Truck Dealers AssociationI'm cautiously optimistic that 1995 will be another good year for dealers in the state.

Maryland's plan to adopt California's strict auto emissions standards is unlikely to curb smog in the Baltimore and Washington areas as much or as quickly as predicted, says a study released yesterday by a Johns Hopkins University pollution expert.Dr. Hugh Ellis, a professor of environmental engineering at Hopkins, concludes there may be cheaper and more reliable ways to reduce ozone pollution in the state than with so-called "California cars."Dr. Ellis' study puts a dent in a proposal by Maryland and some other states that low-emission vehicles, including some powered by batteries, be sold from Maine to Virginia beginning in 1997.

"California cars" are coming to Maryland. Or are they?In the name of cleaner air, Marylanders shopping for new cars or light trucks would find only specially equipped, low-emission models on the market as early as 1997 under legislation given final approval by the state House of Delegates yesterday.But the measure, which passed the House 123-to-2, has had so many conditions added to it at the behest of the auto and oil industries that some environmentalists fear the law might never take effect.

After more than a year of declining sales, February provided a glimpse of even worse times to come yesterday as General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co., Toyota Motor Corp. and Chrysler reported declines of at least 40 percent in the U.S. market. Despite record incentives from carmakers, worsening economic conditions kept dealerships quiet and consumers in their older cars, making the past month the worst February since 1967, according to GM. GM said U.S. sales were down 53 percent for the month, with 127,296 cars and light trucks sold, while Ford's declined 48 percent, with 99,060 sales.

WASHINGTON - With U.S. auto sales falling near a 27-year low, the Senate gave its approval yesterday to a proposal by Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski to provide tax breaks to purchasers of new cars and light trucks. The Maryland Democrat's measure, which raises the price tag on the Senate's version of the economic stimulus package to almost $900 billion, would apply only to new vehicles purchased this calendar year. Mikulski said her plan "actually creates jobs" by stimulating employment in car making, sales and service.

Maybe it's $3 per gallon gasoline. Or global warming. Or Democrats in charge of Congress. Or good advice from allies. Most likely, the decision by automakers to support a modest increase in fuel efficiency standards for the first time can be attributed to all of the above. It's a defensive strategy aimed at heading off a more ambitious proposal, which is the centerpiece of an energy bill that Senate leaders hope will win approval in that chamber by the end of the month. One of the tactic's targets is Maryland Democrat Barbara A. Mikulski, who has been sympathetic to industry warnings that tougher fuel standards would cost jobs.

New-car sales in Maryland surged 28 percent in September, helping the state's automobile dealers post one of their best months ever, according to the most recent figures from the state's Motor Vehicle Administration. Motorists, enticed by low-interest financing deals and rebates, bought 39,740 new cars and light trucks in September, nearly 8,700 more than they bought during September last year. The last time more than 39,000 vehicles were sold in a month was in October last year, according to MVA figures.

Spurred on by record incentives, Maryland consumers bought more new cars during August than during any month since last October, according to figures released by the Motor Vehicle Administration. Dealers sold 38,965 new cars and light trucks during August, a gain of 4 percent over a strong August 2001. For dealers, it was their best August since 1991, when the MVA resumed releasing title registration figures, which equate with sales. Anirban Basu, director of applied economics at Towson University's RESI economic research institute, said that while new-car sales are still a leading economic indicator, they are being influenced by the auto manufacturer's zero-percent financing plans and lucrative rebates.

Maryland consumers tightened their purse strings slightly in May, producing the first decline in new-car sales in the state in eight months, according to figures released yesterday by the Motor Vehicle Administration. "Maryland's economy is very sluggish at this time," said Anirban Basu, director of applied economics at Towson University's RESI Research & Consulting. "We're still seeing large-scale layoffs, but we are doing better than most other parts of the country." Basu attributed much of this to Maryland's being in the top one-third of the states in the nation in terms of job growth.

Maryland motorists continued their buying spree in February - both in the new-car showrooms and out on the used-car lots - at a pace that has astonished dealers, according to figures released yesterday by the state Motor Vehicle Administration. "I'm really surprised," said Peter Kitzmiller, president of the Maryland New Car and Truck Dealers Association, as he looked at the MVA numbers showing a 4.3 percent gain in new-car sales and an 18 percent jump in sales of previously owned cars.

New-car sales in Maryland jumped 17.3 percent in November over November 2000, according to figures released yesterday by the Motor Vehicle Administration. Lured by low-interest financing - zero percent on many models - motorists bought nearly 5,000 more cars and light trucks during the 20 selling days of November than during the corresponding part of 2000, which had 19 selling days. The November 2001 sales were the highest for any November since the MVA resumed releasing registration figures in 1991.

LAWMAKERS in Washington, the city that gave us low-flow toilets, a mandatory drinking age and a national speed limit for our highways, want to mandate even higher fuel-economy standards for cars and light trucks. Now, such a proposal may sound good. After all, anything that can save a few bucks at the gas pump should be encouraged, right? And if it helps us pollute less and cut our dependence on foreign oil, even better. What's not to like? Plenty. Take a look under the hood, and you'll see why the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE)

New-car sales dropped 13.5 percent in Maryland last month, but dealers aren't complaining. Despite the drop, sales were still considered fairly strong, said Peter Kitzmiller, president of the Maryland New Car and Truck Dealers Association, a trade group representing the majority of the state's 350 new-car dealerships. Kitzmiller noted that sales in February of last year were exceptionally strong, rising 35 percent, and that a decline from those numbers was considered virtually certain.