Pickups, SUVs may benefit if Trump eases US fuel efficiency standards

Washington

A MOVE under consideration by the Trump administration could ease tough fuel efficiency standards set to take effect in 2021 on pickups, SUVs and other light trucks, the bulwark of US car industry sales and profits.

For the 2021 model year, light trucks must average roughly 33 miles per gallon to comply with the current standards, a gain of more than 6 per cent from model year 2020, according to estimates from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). That is triple the pace of any annual gain for trucks starting in model year 2017, the first year of the current standards, which were finalised in 2012.