Quote – Charles Heinen, Director of Emissions and Fuel Economy Certification for Chrysler, Chicago Tribune.

If we sell too many big cars in any quarter in 1978, we’ll have to hold back our product mix and we’ll have to ration or allocate cars. The law is final now, but if enough people complain when they can’t get a big car, maybe the government will revise its legislation. To meet 27.5 m.p.g. by ’85, the average weight of cars will have to be about 3,200 pounds versus 4,000 pounds now. That means every car would be a compact, subcompact, or smaller. The new law implies that we must get better fuel economy between 1980 and 1985 then between 1978 and 1980. That’s unlikely.

Charles Heinen, Director of Emissions and Fuel Economy Certification for Chrysler, in 1976. Regarding the Energy Policy and Conservation Act. Quoted in Chicago Tribune.

Tuesday, September 14, 1976
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