In politics, when the worm turns, it turns fast.
Two days following Donald J. Trump’s election — he blew past the "margin of steal," so we feel safe in proclaiming his victory — major automobile manufacturers have decided to stop acting like "Baghdad Bob" and . . . ?
Face marketplace reality!
Just as recently as July, Ford was boasting about the striking power of the Republican Guard. Oops! Wrong propaganda!
We mean Ford was boasting about its EV pickup trucks and pricing leadership.
Fox Business reports, "Ford Motor Company announced it is projected to lose a whopping $4.5 billion from electric vehicles (EVs) this year, up from the previous projected loss of $3 billion. The projected $4.5 billion loss is over twice as much as Model e's $2.1 billion loss in 2022."
But that doesn’t matter because Ford was an "early mover."
"The near-term pace of EV adoption will be a little slower than expected, which is going to benefit early movers like Ford," Ford CEO Farley said in a press release.
"EV customers are brand loyal and we’re winning lots of them with our high-volume, first–generation products; we’re making smart investments in capabilities and capacity around the world; and, while others are trying to catch up, we have clean-sheet, next-generation products in advanced development that will blow people away."
Once you get past the public relations buzzwords, is the automotive equivalent of boasting about how fast you can move the deck chairs on the Titanic or Lusitania.
As long as the Biden administration and it’s “Klimate Kult” fanatics were in power, electric vehicles were riding high on a wave of government subsidies and government mandates.
As long as Biden was in office, taxpayers were right there, next to the United Auto Workers (UAW), making sure the assembly lines kept producing cars the public didn’t want.
As Outkick.com observed, “Even electric cars from highly desirable brands like Mercedes, Audi and Porsche are sitting at dealerships for months on end, with heavy advertised discounts and massive losses.”
The euphoria is over now. The battery burners are all out of juice.
Outkick again, "The excessive push to force electric cars on consumers may be coming to a dramatic halt under a Trump administration.
"And car companies, just a few days after the election, are ready to push back on the Biden-Harris administration's disastrous electric vehicle mandates."
And Toyota, for one, is glad Trump is going to help the industry sober up. “Toyota, which has frequently spoken out against electric cars, became one of the first manufacturers to publicly state their opposition to the current EV policies in effect across the country. North American COO Jack Hollis, per a Bloomberg article, said that those mandates are ‘not in alignment with consumers,’ and that the ‘de facto mandates’ are out of line with current consumer demand for electric cars."
That’s putting it mildly.
We assume other auto manufacturers that can read a balance sheet with by joining Toyota and changing their product lines to conform to the market instead of conforming to what pointy-headed bureaucrats in Washington and Sacramento want.
Hollis also had a novel idea for our transportation bureaucrat rulers. One the Biden micromanagers would have been sure to reject, but one we hope the Trump replacements will embrace, " . . . electric car sales should be determined by the market telling manufacturers and dealers what they want, as opposed to government intervention attempting to force buyers into specific cars."
We heartily and gratefully concur!
Michael Reagan, the eldest son of President Ronald Reagan, is a Newsmax TV analyst. A syndicated columnist and author, he chairs The Reagan Legacy Foundation. Mr. Reagan is an in-demand speaker with Premiere Speaker's Bureau. Read Michael Reagan's Reports — More Here.
Michael R. Shannon is a commentator, researcher for the League of American Voters, and an award-winning political and advertising consultant with nationwide and international experience. He is author of "Conservative Christian's Guidebook for Living in Secular Times (Now With Added Humor!)" Read Michael Shannon's Reports — More Here.