April 1 (Reuters) - The head of a group representing

nearly all major automakers on Wednesday called for scrapping

the U.S. government's 18.4-cent per gallon tax on gasoline and

replacing it with a vehicle fee to pay for road repairs.

John Bozzella, who heads the Alliance for Automotive

Innovation that represents General Motors ( GM ), Toyota ( TM )

, Volkswagen, Hyundai and other

major car companies, said the government should address the

increasing financial shortfall in the highway trust fund.