Ford encourages automakers to consider supporting California emissions deal

Ford Motor is prompting major automakers to consider supporting a framework deal with California on auto emissions in a bid to reach industry consensus before President-elect Joe Biden takes office, according to a letter observed by Reuters on Monday.

Last week General Motors announced it would no longer favor the Trump administration’s ongoing effort to bar California from setting its own vehicle emissions regulations.

In October 2019, General Motors joined Toyota Motor Corp, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV and other automakers in favoring President Donald Trump in the California fight.

Ford, Honda Motor, Volkswagen, and BMW in July 2019 struck a voluntary agreement with California on decreasing vehicle emissions through the 2026 model years that would permit them to meet a single nationwide standard. The targets would be smaller than Obama-era rules through but higher compared to the Trump administration’s rollback.

In an earlier unreported letter, Ford Americas President Kumar Galhotra on Wednesday said with Biden’s win, the fight over Trump’s attempts to preempt California on vehicle emissions “is now, at least for the next set of years, essentially moot. The more relevant issue is thus the question of the standards”.

Galhotra prompted automakers “to actively consider embracing the California framework.”

He added: “The Biden Administration will not allow the Trump standards stand, and either by way of litigation and/or a regulatory reboot, the new team will move in a different, more stringent direction.”

GM, Fiat Chrysler, and Toyota declined to comment on Ford’s letter. Toyota said an earlier week of the lawsuit that “given the changing circumstances, we are assessing the situation”.