Ford CEO Expresses Interest In Working With Trump; Says Less Regulation Is Key To Saving U.S. Jobs

With Carrier setting the precedent for what future negotiations with the Trump administration may look like, Ford CEO Mark Fields has come forward to layout potential policy changes that would be important to preserving auto jobs in the United States. Not surprisingly, per an interview with Bloomberg, Fields’ opening “ask” focused on less restrictive fuel economy standards, new currency-manipulation rules to promote free and fair trade and corporate tax reform.
Ford Motor Co. was a target of Donald Trump’s criticism on the campaign trail for building cars in Mexico, and now that Trump will be president, Ford said it’s willing to work with him to keep jobs in the U. S. — provided Trump puts the right policies in place, according to the automaker’s chief executive officer. ‘We will be very clear in the things we’d like to see,’ Mark Fields said in an exclusive interview Friday at Bloomberg offices in Southfield, Michigan.
Among them, according to Fields: currency-manipulation rules to promote free and fair trade, tax reform and safety guidelines for autonomous vehicles.
Fields said that Ford plans to lobby the new president to soften U. S. and state fuel-economy rules. They hurt profits by forcing automakers to build more electric cars and hybrids than are warranted by customer demand, he said.
‘In 2008, there were 12 electrified vehicles offered in the U. S. market and it represented 2.3 percent of the industry,’ Fields said in the interview. ‘Fast forward to 2016, there’s 55 models, and year to date it’s 2.8 percent.’

This post was published at Zero Hedge on Dec 3, 2016.