Automakers Ask Bush for Flex-Fuel Incentives

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Leaders of the Big Three U.S. automakers urged President Bush Monday to back incentives to bring ethanol and biodiesel to more pumps as the companies boost output of flexible-fuel vehicles, Bloomberg reported Monday.

The president hosted a White House meeting with General Motors Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Rick Wagoner, Ford Motor Co. CEO Alan Mulally and DaimlerChrysler AG’s Chrysler Group CEO Tom LaSorda, the Associated Press reported.

The three said in a statement that half the vehicles made by their companies could be able to run on biodiesel or E85, a blend of 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline, by 2012.

The three auto leaders have pledged to double their production of flexible fuel vehicles to about 2 million a year by 2010, AP said.

There are now more than 6 million flex-fuel vehicles nationwide, while the 170,000 U.S. gas stations have only 2,000 pumps for E85 or biodiesel, the CEOs said. Bush last week toured a Ford plant in Missouri to observe the latest flexible-fueled vehicles, the White House said.