I always enjoy reading Steve Haffners articles on the current state of the engine oil market. The most recent article, from your August 2019 issue (The Cost of Using Group III), really blew my mind!

The figure on Page 22 shows that the cost of a GM Dexos engine testing program alone is more than the cost of an ILSAC GF-6 program. How did this situation come to be? What is the point of having an industry consensus standard such as GF-6 if individual automakers are going to demand so much of their own testing that it dwarfs the effort for GF-6?

I hope that Ford, FCA and others dont jump on the same bandwagon. Will the North American market evolve to resemble the European market with multiple OEM approvals? What additional engine protection are we getting with the more than 100 percent increase in costs?

Jack Zakarian

JAZTech Consulting

Orinda, California