From: "Phil Payne" 

"Gary Britt"  wrote in message news:4456873e$1{at}w3....
> All I know is that if you buy a Mercedes off the showroom floor in Germany
> and have it shipped to the USA it will not be allowed on the roads until
> lots of pollution control modifications have been made to it.  After its
> been modified they are referred to as "grey market" autos and have
continued
> problems finding people to work on them and warranty repairs are out, etc.

Doesn't stop people.  And the main modifications are different airbags
(there's an assumption that US drivers don't wear belts and European
drivers do - so European airbags are smaller), different seatbelts and
different DoT headlights.

According to ETKA (Audi's "Elektronische Teile Katalog - a
comprehensive parts database on CD, known to Audi fans as the "Family
Album") there are no major differences in the pollution control
equipment fitted on European vs. US cars.

Wouldn't make any sense, either.

Anyway:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/05/03/BU
GAQIJF701.DTL&type=business

"American automakers suffering big financial losses say that
tightening mileage standards too much would give an unfair advantage to
foreign competitors with smaller, more fuel-efficient cars."

I'm not sure what's unfair about spotting future market trends.

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