Automakers avoided $10.2 billion in taxes on 1999 models of SUVs, pick-up trucks, vans, and minivans because of a loophole in the law establishing fuel-efficiency standards, says Friends of the Earth. Automakers are required to pay a tax on gas-guzzling passenger cars that don’t meet fuel-efficiency standards, but light-duty trucks are currently exempt from the tax. The environmental group is calling for an end to the exemption. A spokesperson for the Alliance of Auto Manufacturers said the report exaggerates the size of the hypothetical tax and asserted that competition would lead to more efficient vehicles over time.
