Latest news with #Bozzella
Miami Herald
11 hours ago
- Automotive
- Miami Herald
Toyota, VW, And GM Slam The Feds Over Outdated Safety Rules
The National Highway Safety Administration (NHTSA) is a federal agency tasked with maintaining and enforcing vehicle safety standards in the United States. This is a critical function to ensure the safest possible levels of transportation for commuters, so when a group of the industry's largest automakers accuses the NHTSA of outdated regulations that are a barrier to progress, it's worrying. This is exactly what's been communicated by a major trade group representing brands like Toyota, Volkswagen, GM, and Hyundai. A statement from Alliance for Automotive, a trade group representing these major automakers, is a scathing assessment of the NHTSA. "Its fractured relationship with the industry, decades-old safety regulations, and lack of a clear strategic roadmap for emerging technologies are stifling innovation and threatening U.S. global leadership," said the trade group about the NHTSA, as per Reuters. John Bozella, CEO of Innovation, listed dozens of NHTSA regulations that should be updated, repealed, or revised. He specifically pointed to the NHTSA's stance on automatic emergency braking and the red tape around autonomous vehicles. "Unfortunately, federal inaction is holding us back. Despite years of dialogue, there is still no comprehensive federal framework for AVs," Bozzella said, also calling for NHTSA to ease fuel economy requirements starting in 2027, saying they are "misaligned with consumer demand and current technology adoption rates." Almost 40,000 people died on American roads in 2024, which remains much higher than pre-COVID levels. Therefore, anything getting in the way of road safety standards is an issue. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is an industry-funded group that also encourages the building of safer cars. Its tests are considered by many to be more comprehensive than those of the NHTSA, as cars are assessed in more crash scenarios and crash-avoidance technologies are also given a score. "NHTSA is failing to meet the moment. In recent years, it has approached its job with a lack of urgency, using flawed methodologies that underestimate the safety benefits of obviously beneficial interventions," said IIHS President David Harkey, adding that the NHTSA "requires stronger leadership, a sense of urgency, and a greater willingness to act." Related: IIHS and senators urge NHTSA to take action on automated driver assists As an example of the NHTSA's slow rate of modernization, the IIHS has called for motorcycles to require anti-lock brakes since 2013 as crash rates are 22% lower for such motorcycles. Despite this, it's still not a requirement that has been enforced by the NHTSA. A few years back, the latest headlight technology also hadn't been approved for use in the United States, due to outdated local regulations. Considering the rapid advances being made in safety technologies each year, a significant overhaul of the NHTSA's procedures is surely due soon. Copyright 2025 The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Time of India
21-04-2025
- Automotive
- Time of India
Carmakers highlight American roots in bid to influence Trump
Car company executives have been reluctant to directly criticize President Donald Trump's 25% tariffs on imported cars and car parts, despite a palpable sense of dread about the damage they believe his trade policies will do to their operations and profits. Instead, they are pursuing a more subtle strategy, emphasizing how much they have already invested in U.S. manufacturing, in the hope that the president will show mercy. In advertisements, media interviews and photo ops in recent weeks, automakers have been declaring their dedication to producing cars in the United States and highlighting the investments they have already made. BMW and Ford Motor have placed full-page newspaper advertisements that emphasize how many jobs they have created in the United States. Hyundai executives appeared at the White House last month to announce plans to invest $21 billion in the company's U.S. operations, allowing Trump to take credit. At the New York International Auto Show last week, rare was the executive who didn't mention how much his or her company has invested in American manufacturing and jobs. "More than 15 automakers are not only in the U.S. market but building cars and trucks here in America," said John Bozzella, president of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which represents most large automakers. "We're continuing to invest here, we are continuing to expand our plants here, continuing to build supply chains here." The automakers' media campaigns will reach millions of Americans, but seem to be largely aimed at an audience of one. Boasting about how much they already contribute to the U.S. economy is a way of resisting tariffs, without offending Trump. At least some White House officials appear to be sympathetic to the industry's point of view, Bozzella said. "Certainly there are policymakers in the administration that understand the complexity of the industry and the lead time required to be able to comply with a new trade regime," he said. Bozzella and other industry representatives say it is unrealistic to expect tariffs to lead to an investment boom. Carmakers cannot quickly relocate factories from Mexico or Canada to the United States, they say, or overhaul complex, far-flung supplier networks, especially when the Trump administration's trade policies are fluid and unpredictable. "This is a very long-term business," Kjell Gruner, the president of Volkswagen Group of America, told reporters at the auto show. "You make investment decisions for sometimes decades." Trade policy "has been so volatile," he said. "We need stable conditions." Volkswagen makes cars including the electric ID.4 in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and is building a factory in South Carolina to produce off-road vehicles using the Scout brand. Audi, which also belongs to Volkswagen and produces cars in Europe and Mexico, is considering manufacturing in the United States, Oliver Blume, Volkswagen's CEO, told the Frankfurter Allgemeine newspaper in an interview published Friday. BMW's ads highlighted the $14 billion the German carmaker invested in its factory complex in South Carolina, where it produces SUVs for the U.S. market and for export. The ads also mentioned the 120,000 jobs that BMW says it supports in the United States. But the company denied there was any political agenda behind the full-page ads that the company ran in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and USA Today in recent weeks. The ads "were several months in the works and designed to mark our milestone 50th anniversary in the U.S.," said Phil DiIanni, a BMW spokesperson. The campaign, he added, was "in no way related to the current political environment, or meant to be a political statement." Ford will be more explicitly political in ads scheduled to run this weekend in the Journal, the Times, The Washington Post and several Detroit papers. "The Ford Motor Company would like to take a moment to address the idea that every American car company has pulled up stakes and offshored everything that isn't nailed down," the ads say. The ads say 80% of the vehicles that Ford sells in the United States are made in America, including 100% of the company's popular F-Series trucks. Jim Farley, the CEO of Ford, is virtually alone among his peers in publicly criticizing Trump's trade policies, saying in February that 25% tariffs on cars made in Mexico or Canada would "blow a hole in the U.S. industry that we have never seen." Automakers don't mention that much of the new investment in factories during the past five years was the result of Biden administration policies. The Inflation Reduction Act passed by Democrats in Congress in 2022 provided subsidies, loans and tax credits intended to create a domestic electric vehicle industry and prevent China from dominating that technology. Hyundai said its decision to build a $12.6 billion electric vehicle and battery plant in Georgia was made during the first Trump administration. "It wasn't because of IRA or tax credits," Randy Parker, the CEO of Hyundai North America, said in an interview. "We are investing in America, and we're not going to Canada, we aren't going to Mexico," Parker said. "That's something that I'm certainly proud of, and yes, I do hope that message is getting through."
Bloomberg
01-04-2025
- Automotive
- Bloomberg
Prices Will Go Up, Volume Down: Bozella on Auto Tariffs
John Bozzella, President & CEO of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, states that prices will go up and volume will come down when sharing his thoughts on President Trump announcing 25% auto tariffs last week along with additional tariffs on steel & aluminum. Bozzella talks about how the President's tariffs may impact car companies wanting to create factories in the United States, and if companies will eventually decide not to sell in America. Bozzella speaks with Kailey Leinz and Joe Mathieu on Bloomberg's "Balance of Power: Late Edition." (Source: Bloomberg)
Express Tribune
29-03-2025
- Automotive
- Express Tribune
Trump says willing to make deals on tariffs
Listen to article US President Donald Trump said on Friday that he was open to carving out deals with countries seeking to avoid US tariffs but those agreements would have to be negotiated after his administration announces reciprocal tariffs on April 2. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump also said that he would soon be announcing tariffs targeting the pharmaceutical industry, but declined to give any details on when or at what tariff rate. He told reporters that countries including Britain had approached the United States to try to cut deals and avert the reciprocal tariffs. "They want to make deals. It's possible if we can get something for the deal," he said. "But yeah, I'm certainly open to that; if we can do something, where we get something for it." Asked if such deals could happen before April 2, Trump said, "No, probably later. It's a process." Meanwhile, a group of automakers representing General Motors, Toyota, Volkswagen and other major companies warned new 25% tariffs President Trump plans to impose next week on imported vehicles will hurt US consumers. "Additional tariffs will increase costs on American consumers, lower the total number of vehicles sold inside the US and reduce US auto exports – all before any new manufacturing or jobs are created in this country," said Alliance for Automotive Innovation President John Bozzella in a statement. The group represents every major automaker including Ford Motor, Hyundai, Stellantis, Honda, BMW and Mercedes-Benz. Bozzella said the group supports Trump's goal of more US auto production. "We are committed to building and investing in the US, but these facilities and supply chains are massive and complex and can't be relocated or redirected overnight," Bozzella added. The White House did not immediately comment. Ford CEO Jim Farley told employees in an email on Friday "the impacts of the tariffs are likely to be significant across our industry – affecting automakers, suppliers, dealers and customers." Despite the fact that more than 80% of vehicles Ford sells in the United States are assembled in America, "this does not mean Ford is immune to the impact of tariffs, which could be meaningful," Farley added. Other questions remain open including whether Trump will extend 25% tariffs imposed earlier this month on vehicles assembled in North America that are not exported under a free trade agreement and if next week he will impose reciprocal tariffs on the EU and others that further hike automotive tariffs. The White House said on Wednesday it expects the new tariffs on autos and auto parts to raise $100 billion in revenue over the next year. Automakers may spread the tariff cost between US-produced and imported models, cut back on features, and in some cases, stop selling affordable models aimed at first-time car buyers, as many of those are imported and less attractive if they carry a higher price tag.
Yahoo
29-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Automakers warn new Trump tariffs will boost costs, cut vehicle sales
By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A group representing General Motors Toyota, Volkswagen and other major automakers warned new 25% tariffs President Donald Trump plans to impose next week on imported vehicles will hurt U.S. consumers. "Additional tariffs will increase costs on American consumers, lower the total number of vehicles sold inside the U.S. and reduce U.S. auto exports – all before any new manufacturing or jobs are created in this country," said Alliance for Automotive Innovation John Bozzella in a statement. The group represents every major automaker including Ford Motor, Hyundai, Stellantis, Honda, BMW and Mercedes-Benz. Bozzella said the group supports Trump's goal of more U.S. auto production. "We are committed to building and investing in the U.S., but these facilities and supply chains are massive and complex and can't be relocated or redirected overnight," Bozzella added. The White House did not immediately comment. Ford CEO Jim Farley told employees in an email Friday "the impacts of the tariffs are likely to be significant across our industry – affecting automakers, suppliers, dealers and customers." Despite the fact that more than 80% of vehicles Ford sells in the United States are assembled in America "this does not mean Ford is immune to the impact of tariffs, which could be meaningful," Farley added. Other questions remain open including whether Trump will extend 25% tariffs imposed earlier this month on vehicles assembled in North America that are not exported under a free trade agreement and if next week he will impose reciprocal tariffs on the EU and others that further hike automotive tariffs. The White House said on Wednesday it expects the new tariffs on autos and auto parts to raise $100 billion in revenue over the next year. Automakers may spread the tariff cost between U.S.-produced and imported models, cut back on features, and in some cases, stop selling affordable models aimed at first-time car buyers, as many of those are imported and less attractive if they carry a higher price tag.
