Thank you very much.
Thank you all for coming.
Hearing you collectively, one might draw this conclusion, but if anything is wrong with my summary, please correct me:
Firstly, there is no connection, historically, between the problems that the North American auto sector has and the introduction of environmental standards or safety standards. Sometimes the claim is made, but historically, over time, the claim has been disproved.
Secondly, it would seem, at least in some cases—cited by Mr. Bennett and confirmed by Mr. Adams—that not only is there no negative correlation with the imposition of environmental standards, there seems in fact to be a positive correlation, and it is one of the explainers of the success of Mr. Adams' group of companies. Fuel efficiency has not proved to be a barrier to sales; it has been, in fact, an incentive.
Thirdly, when we did impose, as part of the North American process, fuel efficiency standards at the end of the 1970s and the early 1980s, the industry could get there very fast. When we took our foot off the throttle, we failed to make the improvements we could have continued to make over that period of lost time.
The question I'm going to ask the auto sector is, first, if my summary of the past 25 years is correct. Second, given the urgency to not allow what happened in the 1990s to continue--that is to say, the decline in fuel efficiency, which we didn't want --is there anything in the suggestions of Mr. Bennett or Mr. Ogilvie that suggests that we can't meet, as we have before, historically, the more aggressive fuel efficiency targets that are being discussed here today?
I put it to Mr. Nantais and Mr. Adams. If Mr. Hargrove wants to come in, that's fine too.