Canada's automakers are proposing to meet their Kyoto obligations by supporting emissions-cutting projects in other industries and other countries rather than improving fuel efficiency in the vehicles they make, local press reported Thursday.

The Canadian government's 2002 Kyoto compliance plan calls for a 25 percent improvement in the average fuel efficiency of new vehicles by 2010. This would cut annual greenhouse emissions by about 5.2 megatons.

The automakers say they can not redesign cars just for Canada, given the integrated North American auto market, but the government has threatened to impose regulations if manufacturers do not act voluntarily.

The Kyoto protocol calls for Canada to cut its greenhouse emissions by 6 percent from the 1990 levels by 2010, but it is widely expected that deeper cuts will be negotiated after that.