In the absence of the CAFE standard, would Detroit ever have

[hedgehog]

offered us cars with good gas mileage, or would the Big 3 have augured in trying to sell Hummers to everyone?

[virgogal]

1. Who knows?

[Historic NY]

2. Not really we would have languished with crappy guzzlers....

remember all those junk boxes they turned out in the late 70's & 80's.

[Romulox]

3. Buyers made those decisions, not "Detroit".

http://image.truckinweb.com/f/8329164+w750+st0/040907tr_01_z+shlomo_fattal+custom_toyota_fj_cruiser_rendering.jpg

[LanternWaste]

4. I imagine that like people, they would have followed market trends...

I imagine that like people, they would have followed market trends rather than take responsibility as a good steward.

And, as larger cars and trucks have a larger profit margin than smaller ones, production and dealerships would have pressured themselves and the consumer to push the money makers.

[hedgehog]

5. That's what i was wondering - would they have kept pushing the larger

cars to a smaller and smaller market as more and more people moved to more efficient imports? in other words, did regulations save these companies from themselves?

[Historic NY]

6. They actually made efficient cars in the early 60's ....

what was mid-sized then passed for full size now. Darts, Valiants, small Buick's, Olds, etc...but not unlike the trends Americans wanted super size. These cars were actually built before the CAFE standards.