More major automakers, including Toyota and Fiat Chrysler, are abandoning support for former President Donald Trump’s regulatory rollbacks to get in the Biden administration’s good graces.
Seven companies said on Tuesday that they were dropping support for the Trump administration’s effort to limit California’s ability to set its own tailpipe greenhouse gas limits. In a joint statement, the companies said they made the decision in a “gesture of good faith and to find a constructive path forward” on fuel economy standards with the Biden administration.
The companies also said they are “aligned” with the Biden administration’s “goals to achieve year-over-year improvements in fuel economy standards that provide meaningful climate and national energy security benefits.” Companies joining Toyota and Fiat Chrysler in the statement were Mazda, Mitsubishi, Hyundai, Kia, and Subaru.
President Biden has promised to ratchet up fuel economy standards as part of his aggressive climate change agenda. In an executive order on his first day in office, he directed the Environmental Protection Agency and the Transportation Department to begin efforts to revoke the Trump administration’s elimination of California’s vehicle waiver by April.
In addition, he asked the agencies to review and propose revisions to fuel economy standards by July.
The Trump administration’s effort to hamper California’s ability to set its greenhouse gas limits and to weaken national fuel economy standards split the auto industry. Several automakers, including Ford, partnered with California to follow standards that were stronger than federal levels.
General Motors, just weeks after the election, became the first automaker to drop its support of the Trump administration’s efforts, winning praise from Biden. Nissan soon followed.
In a separate statement on Tuesday, the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, the main auto industry trade group, said it seeks to work “collaboratively” with the Biden administration to move the transportation sector to net-zero emissions and ramp up electric vehicle adoption.
The group said it hopes to begin talks with the Biden team on a revised national fuel economy program that includes California and all automakers. The Alliance said it would support fuel economy targets “roughly midway” between the Trump administration’s revisions and the Obama-era standards.
“What unites our industry in pursuing a revised national program is a simple premise — a resolution that has the support of all stakeholders could set the industry on an accelerated path for reducing GHG emissions, build a robust market for electric vehicles, and resolve on-going litigation,” said John Bozzella, the group’s president and CEO, in a statement.
