We all know how the auto industry has changed under Obama's administration, new regulations and policies intended yo increase fuel economy, improve safety and add jobs. Now that Donald Trump was elected as the new president the car industry is gonna face a wholesale makeover. Perhaps no industry could be affected in more ways by the new administration than the auto business.
The changes under the Trump administration could include possible tariffs that will raise prices on imported vehicles and parts, fewer subsidies for electric cars and policies that discourage automakers from moving products from American car factories to Mexico. And any scaling back of fuel-economy goals by the Trump administration, if Mr. Pruitt’s climate change skepticism and embrace of fossil fuels translates to policy, could also influence the types of vehicles the industry plans to build in coming years — and where it builds them. Bigger models like sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks are less fuel-efficient than cars but more profitable for automakers. And their steeper price tags can help pay for the higher labor costs of making them in the United States. In a move that underscored the new psychology since Mr. Trump’s election, Ford Motor — which had been a target of his criticism — in mid-November decided to keep building a Lincoln S.U.V. in Kentucky rather than Mexico.
Mr. Trump’s campaign was studded with promises that could upend the status quo, including some to relax policies intended to cut greenhouse gas emissions and to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement. He has yet to detail any coming changes. But pursuing policies similar to those he promoted in his campaign could change the entire manufacturing industry by penalizing companies for investing overseas or by stifling free-flowing global trade.
