A trade group representing General Motors Co., Toyota Motor Corp., Volkswagen AG, and nine other automakers asked U.S. Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt on February 21 to withdraw an Obama administration decision to lock in vehicle emission rules through 2025.

The Reuters news agency says that on Jan. 13, then-EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy finalized a determination that fuel efficiency rules instituted by President Barack Obama should be finalized through 2025.

Mitch Bainwol, president and chief executive of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, reportedly said in a letter to Pruitt the decision was "the product of egregious procedural and substantive defects" and is "riddled with indefensible assumptions, inadequate analysis and a failure to engage with contrary evidence."

Reuters says that automakers have argued that the rules could result in the loss of up to 1 million jobs because consumers could be less willing to buy the more fuel efficient vehicles since their engineering will result in higher price tags.

The EPA had until April 2018 to decide whether the 2025 standards were feasible. In November it moved up its decision to Jan. 13, just before Obama left office.

Separately, the Association of Global Automakers, a trade group representing Honda Motor Co., Nissan Motor Co. Ltd., Hyundai Motor Co. and others, said it had formally petitioned the EPA to withdraw the determination.

EPA spokeswoman Julia Valentine said the agency is reviewing the letter and declined to comment further.

In 2011, Obama announced an agreement with automakers to raise fuel efficiency standards to 54.5 miles per gallon. The EPA said in July that because Americans were buying fewer cars and more SUVs and trucks, it estimated the fleet will average 50.8 mpg to 52.6 mpg in 2025.