The auto industry will keep facing uncertainty as the Trump administration moves to eliminate regulations favoring electric vehicles, an industry analyst said Monday.
“All this uncertainty is just not good for the auto industry,” Stephaine Brinley, associate director of S&P Global Mobility, said during an Automotive Press Association webinar.
Trump last week said he has rolled back what he called an “EV mandate,” overturning tougher fuel economy standards introduced by his predecessor, Joseph Biden.
“Today my administration is taking historic action to lower costs for American consumers, protect American auto jobs and make buying a car much more affordable for countless American families — and also safer,” Trump said at a White House event.
Brinley, during Monday’s webinar, said things may be more complicated.
For example, she said, average vehicle prices may decline if fewer electric vehicles are produced. That’s because EVs are more expensive than cars and trucks powered by traditional internal combustion engines.
At the same time, Brinley said the industry may still seek to be more fuel efficient. Instead of going full speed into EVs, automakers may emphasize hybrids, which combine gasoline and electric power.
“We’ll see a lot more hybridization coming into the market,” Brinley said during the webinar. “We’ll have a mixed propulsion system for much longer.”
The industry will continue to be affected by consumer preferences, the analyst said. In the U.S. market, buyers want bigger vehicles where the driver sits up high. “It’s going to be hard to get consumers to sit low again,” Brinley said.
For now, automakers which make and design vehicles for the U.S. market will have to cope.
The auto industry under the Trump administration has been kept “on a roller coaster,” the S&P analyst said. “It’s been constant change.”
Automakers, she added, have to “figure out what you want your business.”
