• Detroit News, Monday, July 16, 2007 10:35 AM

After being stopped in their efforts to block a fuel economy bill in the U.S. Senate, automakers are trying a softer approach with legislators after an aggressive ad campaign came up empty. Earlier this summer, ads implied new fuel standards would keep mothers from driving kids in larger, safer cars, while also preventing truck owners from buying new pickups. But a new million-dollar print and radio effort from the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, takes a different tack.

"We don't have all the answers to questions about reasonable fuel economy standards," the ads say. "No one does. Together, we can find the answers America deserves." A Senate bill passed last month requires a 40% increase in corporate average fuel economy to 35 miles per gallon for cars and trucks combined by 2020.

"We are the first to voice a mea culpa," says Gloria Bergquist, the alliance's vice president. "We played a role in a public debate that sounded like a "Crossfire" show." The bill, she continues, "has become a screaming match, and we are trying to move beyond the political rhetoric of rallies with dinosaur heads and TV actors testifying on technology."

Read the whole story at Detroit News »