Article
Chrysler blasts Big Oil
Auto executive turns up heat in growing feud
Josee Valcourt and Christine Tierney / The Detroit News
April 11, 2006
Taking an unusually public swipe at another industry, Chrysler's chief spokesman slammed major oil companies Monday, accusing them of greed and indifference to the environment.
The blunt remarks by Jason Vines, vice president of communications for DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group, are likely to fuel tensions between Big Oil and the auto industry that have been rising along with gas prices.
"Big Oil would rather fill the pockets of its executives and shareholders, rather than spend sufficient amounts to reduce the price of fuel, letting consumers, during tough economic times, pick up the tab," Vines wrote on a company blog,
www.thefirehouse.biz, used to communicate with journalists and financial analysts.
In an extraordinary rebuke across industry lines, Vines said the oil companies were lining up scapegoats for frustrated consumers while filling their coffers.
"Despite a documented history of blowing their exorbitant profits on outlandish executive salaries and stock buybacks, and hoarding their bounty by avoiding technologies, policies and legislation that would protect the population and environment and lower fuel costs, Big Oil insists on transferring all of that responsibility on the auto companies," Vines said, referring in part to a print advertisement by oil giant ExxonMobil that criticized the auto industry's record.
In the ad, ExxonMobil said the U.S. economy had become vastly more fuel-efficient since the first oil shock, "so why is the average fuel economy of American cars unchanged in two decades?"
The ad, which first appeared late last year, infuriated Detroit's auto executives. With the exception of Chrysler, U.S. automakers are losing money in their home market while oil companies are raking in record profits.
The sharp rise in gas prices has put a major dent in demand for some of the auto industry's most profitable vehicles, chiefly sport utility vehicles. After slumping last year, sales of the Ford Explorer, Chevrolet TrailBlazer, Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodge Durango are down again this year.
The auto and oil industries have sparred over many issues over the years, such as who should pay for anti-pollution regulations. But they usually tend to fight behind the scenes.
"Now that the auto industry is taking a huge hit with gas prices and higher heating oil prices, you see a more aggressive response coming from auto executives saying we've got to fight back," said Mario Morrow, a media and political consultant who has his own firm, Mario Morrow and Associates, in Detroit.
General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. officials declined to comment on the ad, although executives said they were aware of it.
The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, a trade group based in Washington, D.C., that represents leading automakers, said it was not coordinating a response to the ExxonMobil ad but defended the auto industry's steady improvements in fuel economy.
Spokesman Eron Shosteck said the auto industry is producing more than 1 million vehicles this year that have gas-electric drivetrains or can run on alternative fuels -- yet the oil industry has been slow to provide stations that offer alternative fuels.
There are 180,000 gas stations in the United States but only 500 ethanol stations, and most of those are in the upper Midwest.
"What we'd like to do is to work constructively with the oil companies to expand that fueling infrastructure," Shosteck said.
The alliance includes Detroit's automakers as well as foreign-based manufacturers such as Toyota Motor Corp., Volkswagen AG and BMW.
Chrysler has gone out in front on this issue, Morrow said, but he expects other automakers to join in -- "I believe you'll see a consortium of forces coming out to beat up on the oil industry."
The counterattack may be effective, he said, because regular consumers have suffered from high home heating and gas prices. "So the consumer might be saying, 'There's someone out there finally fighting for the little guy.'"
ExxonMobil spokeswoman Prem Nair said the company stood by its advertisement and many of Vines' remarks did not warrant a response.
She pointed out the company has partnerships with several auto companies, including DaimlerChrysler, to develop lubricants, in part to improve fuel economy.
Karen Matusic, a spokeswoman for the American Petroleum Institute in Washington, declined to comment.
Vines took responsibility for his remarks, saying he was acting as the spokesman for Chrysler but that CEO Tom LaSorda had not seen the comments before their posting on the site. However, Chrysler officials had carefully vetted the text, according to people at the company.
Executives at other automakers privately expressed support for Vines. Several had approached ExxonMobil about the ad.
Early reactions to the blog echoed Vines' sentiments.
"I wish I could meet him and shake his hand," one poster, identified as Al, wrote on the auto industry news site
www.leftlanenews.com. "I agree with everything he says, and I admire the way he said it, directly to the point!"
Environmental activists accustomed to battling both industries were bemused by the feud.
"I'm happy to watch," said Daniel Becker, director of the Sierra Club's global warming program.
"Each industry is right -- that the other is to blame for a big part of the problem. The auto industry continues to make gas-guzzling vehicles with antiquated technology rather than using modern, fuel-efficient technology," Becker said.
"At the same time, the oil industry is perfectly happy to have people addicted to their product."
When it comes to developing new technology, "Each of them wants to play 'After you, Alfonse' with the other," Becker said.
Ford spokesman Oscar Suris had no comment. At GM, Chris Preuss said: "We're aware of the ad; we've seen it but didn't have a response from an official standpoint."
Prodded by the popularity of environmentally friendly hybrids introduced by the Japanese, Detroit's automakers have stepped up efforts to produce hybrids and vehicles that run on cleaner fuels.
"The auto industry is doing its job by building cleaner, leaner, more efficient vehicles and embracing alternatives to gasoline," Vines said in the blog.
"While we make these important and responsible strides Big Oil is swimming in profits, content to let the nation's drivers drown in rising prices, every time they fill up."
Talk about lacking SA
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