Including automotive suppliers in programmes like President Bush’s Freedom Fuel initiative will be key to their success, according to the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association (MEMA).
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
The president’s Freedom Fuel Initiative, announced on January 28 in the State of the Union address, would devote $US1.2 billion toward developing the technology needed for a commercially viable hydrogen-powered fuel cell, an alternative fuel source that produces no pollution and no greenhouse gases.
“Automotive suppliers strongly support this type of large-scale initiative to encourage further innovation in the automotive industry,” said MEMA vice president of government relations Jeff Trask. “Innovation is best accomplished through incentives, not mandates. Freedom Fuel is an example of an incentive-based programme. However, such programmes must allow participation by the automotive supplier industry – original equipment, aftermarket, and heavy duty – to maximise their likelihood for success.”
“It is worthwhile to note that more than 2/3 of the capital investment in the automotive industry and more than 2/3 of the vehicle content comes from the automotive supplier community,” said Neil De Koker, president of the Original Equipment Suppliers Association (OESA), MEMA’s OE market segment association. “A majority of product innovation also comes from the supplier community. As a result, it is important that the government’s initiatives include the supplier industry as well as vehicle manufacturers.”
Freedom Fuel will invest $720 million in new funding over the next five years to develop the technologies and infrastructure needed to produce, store and distribute hydrogen for use in fuel cell vehicles and electricity generation.
Combined with the existing FreedomCAR (Cooperative Automotive Research) Initiative, President Bush is proposing a total of $1.7 billion over the next five years to develop hydrogen-powered fuel cells, hydrogen infrastructure and advanced automotive technologies.
“Suppliers of original equipment, aftermarket and heavy duty components will play important roles in a transition to hydrogen fuel cell-powered transportation,” Trask said. “To ensure these vital roles are filled, the supplier community must be included in short and long-term initiatives to develop and implement new technologies,” said Trask. “The new infrastructure will be more than just fuelling. In order for the public to embrace the hydrogen-based transportation, infrastructure must include general serviceability of new technology vehicles and widespread availability of components.”
