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Porsche AG may be able to avoid doling out huge sums as fine for exceeding U.S. fuel economy standards due to its merger with Volkwagen AG (VW) without really making any changes in its own line up.

Like BMW and Mercedes Benz, Porsche has had to routinely pay fines for not meeting standards under the Corporate Average Fuel Economy Program (CAFE), the highest of which has been $5 million for the 2001 model year. Porsche may also face problems due to European Limits as they believe that it may be well nigh impossible for them to do anything about their fuel averages without abandoning their “market identity”.

A lot of carmakers have evaded this fine by showing their fuel economy jointly with another car maker that they have a stake in. A case in point is Ford Motor Co., which reports Mazda’s fuel economy as its own, even though they hold a very minor stake I the company. Similar instances have been seen in the case of the former DaimlerChrysler AG, which included Mitsubishi statistics in its own totals.

Even if Porsche does follow this trick, they can currently expect to make only minimal benefits as the Volkswagen light trucks also do not make the CAFE standards and neither is the VW’s car fleet under the 27.5 mpg US standard (the average is 28.6mpg in 2007).

Although VW is looking to make the 35 mpg average, for cars and trucks together, required by the 2020 model year, it remains to be seen if their technology is quick enough to shield the relatively fuel hogging Porsches.

Herbert Ampferer, Porsche’s manager for energy and the environment, however made it clear that Porsche was keen to meet its own environmental goals and was not keen to piggyback on Volkswagen.

Other Aspects:

New Porsche Chorley come and have a look.

Tags: Porsche //