Trump Clearly Indicates Who Will Fund Detroit's EV Investments | Carscoops

      The U.S. president stated that automakers will be able to recover expenses by producing cars that consumers desire.

      The Trump administration is reversing fuel-economy standards in the U.S., encouraging manufacturers to increase the production of combustion vehicles and diminishing their motivation to create electric vehicles (EVs). This decision has been anticipated for some time.

      While manufacturers like Ford, Stellantis, and GM have backed the new "common sense" regulations, they should not expect financial assistance from the government to compensate for the billions they spent on EVs under the previous administration's guidelines.

      During a recent announcement regarding CAFE standards at the White House, a journalist from the Detroit Free Press inquired whether automakers should receive compensation for their investments, which were made based on the assumption of ongoing federal support for EV sales.

      “No, I’m not doing it,” President Trump promptly responded, eliciting laughter from those gathered behind the Resolute Desk. “Nope, no, I’m not allowing them to recover; they’re going to be just fine. You know how they will recover? From this point on, they’ll perform very well.”

      In the same presentation, the President suggested that due to his controversial tariffs, Stellantis, Ford, and GM are all returning to the United States.

      “The representatives from Stellantis, Ford, and General Motors—great companies... they wouldn’t be here today without the tariffs,” Trump asserted.

      “They’d be building their facilities in Mexico and other locations. They are leaving Mexico and Canada. They are departing because they took advantage of our country, taking our businesses away from us. Now, because of tariffs, they’re all coming back, so it’s a wonderful thing,” the president stated.

      According to Ford CEO Jim Farley, the previous CAFE standards “were completely disconnected from market reality,” claiming that “we were compelled to sell EVs and other types of vehicles.”

      He emphasized that Ford aims to give consumers the freedom to choose, mentioning, “we have numerous EVs and hybrids at Ford, but now customers can opt for what they want, not what we impose on them.”

      Farley noted that the rollback will enable Ford to “provide greater affordability on our popular models and to introduce new vehicles made in America that will be more affordable due to this regulatory change.”