Detroit Gets a Regulatory Reprieve, but Markets Rarely Offer an Easy Ride
There is nothing quite like watching politicians attempt to engineer consumer taste by decree. For years, Detroit was told to ditch petrol and embrace the battery, ready or not. Now, with a swift stroke of a pen in Washington, the pressure has eased. The regulatory gun to the head has vanished, leaving traditional carmakers free to build vehicles that people actually want to buy.
To me, it feels like a collective sigh of relief from Michigan boardrooms. Ford and General Motors spent years sweating over aggressive electric quotas, fretting about swingeing compliance penalties. Now, they can lean back on their bread-and-butter petrol pickups and profitable combustion lines.