On August 23, 1973, the Environmental Protection Agency announced that it would request auto manufacturers to label 1974 model year cars to show customers the model's weight, probable mile-per-gallon rating, and estimated operating cost.¹ The proposed program is to be voluntary, although EPA's Assistant Administrator, Robert Sansom, noted that the Federal Trade Commission may already possess the authority to make such disclosure mandatory.

Several European manufacturers whose products have received high ratings on EPA's gas mileage test immediately welcomed the proposal. Detroit's automakers were initially noncommittal, although a spokesman for Ford protested that variation in driving conditions and driving styles made accurate prediction of gas mileage difficult. Sansom's pointed warning that "if the consumer can't see a label on the car, that ought to tell him something" apparently hit home. On September 12, the Agency announced that General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, and eight foreign manufacturers, together accounting for some 90 percent of the new car market in the United States, had agreed to place labels on their cars. Many other companies are still considering the proposal. Only one, Peugeot, has formally rejected it.