Auto dealer chair rejects 60 mpg goal

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DETROIT, Oct. 22 (UPI) -- The chairman of a national U.S. auto dealers association said the Obama administration's new fuel standards goals were too ambitious.

Speaking to an Automotive Press Association audience at the MGM Grand in Detroit, National Automobile Dealers Chairman Ed Tonkin said, "We would all like to believe consumers would be willing to pay whatever it takes to reach such a worthy goal. But will they? Or is this another example of getting ahead of the consumer?"

The Obama administration is studying a proposal to have auto maker fleets reach an average fuel efficiency rating of 60 miles per gallon by 2025. The current goal for the industry is to obtain an average of 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016.

Tonkin called the current goal "a doable number."

"It is important for these manufacturers to have an array of products that get high mileage," he said.