No No Knollenberg Is Really On The Wrong Side of the Issue This Time

Joe Knollenberg thought he was going to come across as the defender of the auto industry, but instead he has made himself into the laughing-stock of the industry.

While everyone else, including the auto companies themselves, have agreed that they need to work to reduce emissions, Joe Knollenberg is out there claiming that changing the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards will destroy the industry. And he is pointing the finger at a fellow Republican by trying to blame everything on California's Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The second headline in tonight's Detroit News tells the real story: "Toyota: Auto industry obligated to help solve problem of global warming."

The Detroit News reports that Toyota is willing to step up to the plate and reduce emissions. The Domestic autos are hopefully smart enough now to not let Toyota get the upper hand competitively by being able to market more fuel efficient vehicles so they will step up to the plate too -- they may kick and scream a little for show, but they will step up to the plate.

Meanwhile, Joe will still be outside yelling that the sky is falling. That increased CAFE standards will decimate the industry. CAFE standards haven't been changed in over a decade, but the industry is in chaos. The industry seems quite capable of self-destructing with or without changes in CAFE.

Of course, most people who have seen Knollenberg's big sign about Schwarzenegger say the sign doesn't really make any sense to them. They don't understand the point of the ad and don't even have any recollection of who sponsored it.

Seems Joe went after "The Terminator" in an attempt to make himself "The Defender", but it turned out that he just made himself into a Joke instead.

P.S. And here is the real dirty little secret -- the Big 3 already make cars that meet what the new standards would propose. The problem is they need to be able to sell those cars and that has been their problem all along. They are not making cars that consumers want to buy. Toyota and Honda are making cars that consumers want -- that is why their market share is increasing and Detroit's is decreasing.