The Detroit Free Press says the U.S. Department of Energy
will announce big retooling loans for Ford Motor Co. (NYSE:F) Nissan Motor Co. and electric car startup Tesla Motors on Tuesday morning. They'll be the first loans in a $25 billion program authorized by Congress to help manufacturers make more fuel-efficient cars.
More on the DOE's move after the announcement. But first a note on the elephant in the room -- the question of whether, assuming the loans (and the revised CAFE standards and all the other buttons the government is pushing) work as intended, Americans will want to buy the cars that result.
The note comes from
John Krafcik (pictured), CEO of Hyundai Motor America and one of the architects of the South Korean company's rise in the U.S. According to an Associated Press story, he believes that a big
question mark for consumers as they shop for cars is not just the high cost of gas, but its volatility. He reasons that a flexible tax designed to keep the cost of gas at a stable level would boost consumer confidence.
Krafcik, whose resume includes work at the Nummi JV between Toyota Motor Corp. and General Motors Corp. and a stint as chief engineer for Ford's profitable, gas-guzzling Lincoln Navigator and Ford Expedition, didn't tell the AP where the right level for the price would be.
But Mike Jackson, CEO of AutoNation Inc. (NYSE:AN), the country's biggest auto retailer, has tackled that question. He has
proposed that we phase in a revenue-neutral gas tax that would keep the price around $4 a gallon. -
Kenneth Klee
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