Ford should have listened to vehicle purchasers, not a temporarily installed government:
Executives at Ford Motor Company, General Motors (GM), and Stellantis are begging President-elect Donald Trump to keep in place President Joe Biden’s Electric Vehicle (EV) mandates. The plea comes as automakers have invested billions in EVs that have failed to turn a profit.
In March of this year, Biden issued a federal regulation to begin phasing out gas-powered cars, requiring American automakers to produce EVs and ensure that by 2032, the majority of new cars sold in the U.S. market are electric.
Since then, Ford, GM, and Stellantis have staked their futures on EVs. The results have been bleak as the initiative remains unprofitable, with American consumers turned off to the high cost and increased issues that arise with EVs.
The auto executives are now quietly lobbying Trump to keep Biden’s EV mandates — despite a recent study showing almost 125,000 auto manufacturing jobs are at risk of being eliminated due to the federal rule.
The New York Times reports:
Three of the nation’s largest automakers, Ford, General Motors and Stellantis, are strategizing with other car manufacturers on how to make a delicate request of President-elect Donald J. Trump: Don’t scrap the federal regulations that compel the industry to sell electric vehicles. [Emphasis added]
…
In fact, most automakers don’t love the more stringent rules Mr. Biden put in place. But they have already invested billions in a transition to electric vehicles, and fear that if Mr. Trump made an abrupt change as he has promised, they could be undercut by automakers who sell cheaper, gas-powered cars. They argue it would harm an industry that is a backbone of American manufacturing and employs 1.1 million people. [Emphasis added]
Lobbyists and officials from several car companies say the automakers want the Biden regulations to remain largely intact, with some changes such as more time for compliance and lower penalties for companies that don’t meet the requirements. [Emphasis added]
Trump and Vice President-Elect JD Vance have long committed to throwing out Biden’s EV mandate, noting that hundreds of thousands of American auto jobs are at risk because of the mandate.
The auto executives are asking Trump to keep the EV mandate in place even as going all-electric has been a bust for their companies. Business Insider reports that the likes of Ford, GM, and Stellantis are all planning layoffs because of their EV push, which has not been profitable.
GM, for example, has invested $35 billion into EVs. CEO Mary Barra said in October that even though EVs are still not profitable, she plans to make the automaker all-electric by 2035.
Similarly, Ford’s EV sales have been so poor that the automaker is now giving away EV charging stations and free installation whenever an EV is purchased.