There is nothing like Americans for stating the obvious. This week, executives at DaimlerChrysler pronounced that American car buyers liked environmentally friendly vehicles . . . as long as they didn't have to pay extra for them.

"A lot of people are asking for environmentally friendly cars, but nobody is willing to pay money for this, so it's a challenge for the engineers," Mr Werner Pollman, vice-president and chief environmental officer, told reporters at the company's North American headquarters north of Detroit.

Mr Pollman was urging governments around the world and motor manufacturers to concentrate on voluntary environmental standards rather than on more regulations.

Now without going into the corporate psyche at DaimlerChrysler - surely confused enough with a name like that - I find it hard to believe that voluntary environmental standards are going to succeed in place of regulations if the car buying public is already baulking at paying the price of environmental improvements.

Then again, maybe the truth lies in Mr Pollman's assertion that DaimlerChrysler and other car manufacturers spend 1 per cent of turnover on environment-related issues. With revenues of $154.6 billion (#145.5 billion), a 1 per cent saving would cut costs by $1.5 billion and make you a popular executive.