WASHINGTON, June 25 (Reuters) - A major trade group

representing General Motors Toyota Motor,

Volkswagen, Hyundai and other automakers

sharply criticized the National Highway Traffic Safety

Administration, saying the auto safety regulator is impeding

progress and struggling to modernize.

"Its fractured relationship with the industry, decades-old

safety regulations, and lack of a clear strategic roadmap for

emerging technologies are stifling innovation and threatening

U.S. global leadership," said Alliance for Automotive

Innovation CEO John Bozzella in written testimony for a U.S.

House of Representatives hearing Thursday, calling for the

agency to conduct significant reforms and listing dozens of

regulatory standards that should be repealed, revised, or

updated.