On-Board Sensor Diagnostics for Catalytic Converters Final Report CRADA No. TC-0882-94

Technical Report · Fri Feb 09 04:00:00 EST 2018

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1424637· OSTI ID:1424637

Fisher, G. ^[1]; Glass, R. ^[2]; Lee, A. ^[3]; Logothetis, T. ^[4]

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1. General Motors Corp., Warren, MI (United States)
2. Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
3. Daimler Chrysler AG, Auburn Hills, MI (United States)
4. Ford Scientific Research Lab., Dearborn, MI (United States)

The auto industry is one of the largest and most important sectors of the U;S. economy. At the time of the CRADA, the Big Three U.S. auto makers (Chrysler, Ford and GM) alone employed··608,000 workers·in this country and marketed some eight million new cars and trucks worth approximately $200 billion in sales revenues. When the impact of part suppliers, steel, aluminum, and electronics producers were included, the effect of a downturn in U.S. car manufacturing had a nationwide impact on jobs and the economy. For example, U.S. auto makers used 1/7 of all U.S. steel production and 1/6 of all U.S. aluminum production. Transplant Japanese factories cannot be expected to compensate for reductions by U.S. auto makers; in fact, transplants resulted in a net loss of U.S. jobs. In 1991, the Big Three U.S. auto makers sold 8.8 million new cars and trucks with over 620,000 employees while the Big Three Japanese firms (Toyota, Nissan, and Honda) sold 2.4 million new cars and trucks with only 37,000 U.S. employees. It was estimated that the Japanese­ owned, U.S.-located, auto assembly facilities enjoyed an $8-$9 an hour labor cost advantage over the U.S. Big Three by building new plants in rural areas and hiring young workers with smaller health care and pension needs. Most of the parts in the 2.4 million cars and trucks sold by Japanese auto makers come directly from Japan and the engineering activities were mostly performed in Japan before U.S. assembly began. The effect of these issues was reflected in the U.S. Japan trade imbalance; about two-thirds of Japan's trade surplus was attributable to autos and auto parts.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC52-07NA27344
• OSTI ID: 1424637
• Report Number(s): LLNL--TR-746148; UCRL-ID-140521
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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