Guardian:

PARIS, Oct 3 (Reuters) – Global automakers are urging European authorities to reconsider proposed limits on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from cars, arguing the current financial crisis is going to make it even harder to meet them.
“You can’t pile on regulation on an industry during its worst time in the last 10 years,” Fiat Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne told reporters while visiting the Paris Auto Show on Friday. “It’s nonsense.”
The financial crisis is expected to worsen an already bad situation for U.S. and European car makers, which have seen sales plummet in recent months. Drivers are postponing making big purchases because of inflation, high fuel prices, and credit difficulties.
Carmakers, here for the two-yearly autoshow that opens to the public on Saturday, have long been critical of the proposal from the European Commission to cap emissions at 130 grams per kilometre per vehicle by 2012.