A report on a Spanish industry web site, autoindustria.com, says Ford has joined other ACEA members in asking for a special commission, independent of the EC Competition Directorate, to evaluate the costs of the industry of the new Block Exemption Regulation in force since 1 October 2003.

The ACEA is expected to submit to the EC a formal request for amendments to some of the regulations it says hamper its global competitiveness, following a recent meeting with EC President Romano Prodi and other commissioners. They are likely to include a request that the EC backtracks on its 120g/km CO2 emissions target, which is considered harder to meet than the already questioned 2008 limit of 140g/km, to which the ACEA committed itself voluntarily.