NHTSA Redefines Trucks For 2030, Paving The Way For Overseas Production

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has published a rule document that changes the definition of a truck starting with the 2030 model year, which could encourage more overseas production. The change reclassifies many current vehicles from light trucks to cars because they cannot realistically be used for off-roading and cargo hauling and are primarily passenger vehicles. The intention is to loosen fuel-economy standards, but in practice the rule change could mean automakers will build vehicles overseas and import them. The changes shift today’s 70/30 truck-to-car ratio into a 30/70 situation. The announcement came in the Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficient Vehicles Rule III for Model Years 2022 to 2031 Passenger Cars and Light Trucks, published in the Federal Register at the end of September and going into effect on November 30. While the change was made in the context of the Trump administration’s loosening of fuel-economy regulations, it might also force automakers to move some production outside the U.S. The latest SAFE Rule updates fuel-economy standards for model years 2022 through 2031. Under the Biden administration, the standard had been set to a U.S. fleet average of around 50.4 MPG, but the new rules lower that to 34.9 MPG. Since federal fuel-economy rules were established in the 1970s, the government has divided noncommercial road vehicles into passenger cars and light trucks. The SAFE Rule states that manufacturers previously reshaped the market by almost eliminating station wagons in favor of minivans and crossover utility vehicles considered light trucks subject to less stringent standards. Today, 68 percent of the light-duty fleet technically meets the regulatory definition of a light truck, but the majority cannot realistically operate off-highway and have little value moving cargo. Under the updated definitions effective for model year 2030 vehicles, light-duty non-passenger vehicles will need to exhibit true non-passenger capabilities such as approach angle, running clearance, higher payload, and towing abilities. NHTSA expects the current fleet mix of 70 percent light trucks and 30 percent passenger cars to flip to 70 percent cars and 30 percent trucks. From a production perspective, a truck today with lower fuel-economy numbers does not have to change to meet lowered standards, but if a future administration revives Biden’s 50-MPG target, these vehicles will need significant engineering effort because they are now considered cars. One alternative automakers might choose is to import more vehicles through recontenting. Domestic passenger vehicles must be produced to meet a Corporate Average Fuel Economy standard minimum, but imported passenger vehicles do not. Tom Stricker, senior policy adviser at Van Ness Feldman, told Automotive News that if an automaker offshores part of the supply chain or works on a model to get it reclassified as an import vehicle, the net environmental and fuel consumption impact remains unchanged while production is offshored.