03-24-2025, 03:31 PM
Toyota keeps betting on Trump… and keeps getting screwed.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/24/busin...XI1_tKzyKA&smid=url-share
Before the election, Toyota Motor and other Japanese automakers thought a second Trump administration could be good for them.
President Trump had campaigned on dismantling policies aimed at swiftly accelerating the U.S. auto industry’s shift away from fossil fuels and to electric vehicles — directives that Toyota and other leading manufacturers of gasoline and hybrid gasoline-electric cars had also long opposed.
Toyota donated $1 million to Mr. Trump’s inauguration in January, and attendees at the company’s dealership meeting in Dallas that month said it was brimming with Trump cheer.
But as Mr. Trump’s agenda has taken shape, much of that optimism has turned to alarm.
...
Toyota lobbied against stricter Biden-era tailpipe pollution limits and supported politicians in the United States who were against what it viewed as “mandates” to sell more electric vehicles. Much of this lobbying came via Toyota’s network of car dealerships, some of which, after being prompted by Toyota, conveyed their concerns about a swift transition to electric vehicles to elected officials, according to correspondence viewed by The New York Times.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/24/busin...XI1_tKzyKA&smid=url-share
Before the election, Toyota Motor and other Japanese automakers thought a second Trump administration could be good for them.
President Trump had campaigned on dismantling policies aimed at swiftly accelerating the U.S. auto industry’s shift away from fossil fuels and to electric vehicles — directives that Toyota and other leading manufacturers of gasoline and hybrid gasoline-electric cars had also long opposed.
Toyota donated $1 million to Mr. Trump’s inauguration in January, and attendees at the company’s dealership meeting in Dallas that month said it was brimming with Trump cheer.
But as Mr. Trump’s agenda has taken shape, much of that optimism has turned to alarm.
...
Toyota lobbied against stricter Biden-era tailpipe pollution limits and supported politicians in the United States who were against what it viewed as “mandates” to sell more electric vehicles. Much of this lobbying came via Toyota’s network of car dealerships, some of which, after being prompted by Toyota, conveyed their concerns about a swift transition to electric vehicles to elected officials, according to correspondence viewed by The New York Times.
