The Supercar, corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards, vehicle weight, miles per gallon, urban pollution - these were some of the phrases thrown out to attendees by Maurice S. (Sandy) Nelson, executive vice president of Inland Steel Industries, Inc., president and chief executive officer of Inland Steel Company, and president of Inland Steel Flat Products Company. Mr. Nelson, who also chairs the AISI Supercar Team, gave what seemed to be a comprehensive overview of how steel and the environment relate to the automobile in his introduction of a panel discussion on the subject. The auto industry is perhaps the steel industry's largest market at 15 million tons a year. Rather than risk losing such a big customer, it is up to the steel industry to be instrumental in solving the problems of fuel economy and urban pollution in passenger cars and lightweight trucks. The method to solve these problems is by making vehicles lighter, or "light weighting." By cutting vehicle weight, light weighting increases the miles achieved per gallon, decreases pollution and cuts back on oil supplies required from foreign sources.
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