executive editor of Automotive News in NY Times -Carmakers may care little about Elon Musk’s government job cuts, or the United States taking Russia’s side against Ukraine. Efforts to eradicate D.E.I. policies are a little trickier, but auto executives and dealers have skillfully navigated such situations in the past. Still, this trade war — and rapid sequence of policy flip-flops — is not what they envisioned in a second Trump presidency.
“So far what we’re seeing is a lot of costs and a lot of chaos,” said Ford’s chief executive, Jim Farley. Paul Jacobson, General Motors finance chief, told investors that while a short tariff spat would be easily manageable, a “permanent” one would require billions of dollars in investment that might prove unneeded as soon as Mr. Trump’s term is over. “We can’t be whipsawing the business back and forth,” he said at a Barclays conference.
Making cars requires large investments, committing to products that last longer than presidential administrations, and factories that typically operate for decades, even generations. Before Mr. Trump’s election last year, auto folks were grousing about how hard it is to plan and invest when policies can change drastically every four years. Now they’re seeing the rules of the economy shift every four weeks — or four days. More
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