BMW's Purves calls for one national plan for fuel standards in opening remarks at Washington Auto Show

For those of you in California or other states with their own emissions rules that restrict the vehicle choices available to you, BMW's Tom Purves feels your pain.

"Just imagine the consumer who buys a car in one state and then finds that he cannot sell it in another just because of different CAFE standards," said Purves in his keynote speech opening the Washington Auto Show this week. The whole different-rules-in-different-states thing needs to stop, said Purves in a nutshell.

Purves also commented on how consumers interest in the environment and fuel-efficiency is higher than it has ever been. The auto industry has an obligation to meet these needs, he continued, but it may not necessarily come in the form of completely new drivetrains -- 100 years of R&D work have gone into the internal combustion engine; let's not trash it yet.