An Open Letter to Automakers: A Time to Stand

Dear automakers,

My name is Chad Kirchner, and I’m an American. For the past 10+ years, I’ve tried hard to make a successful career out of automotive journalism, covering an industry I love and talking about great new products. I’m also a strong believer in advocating for the consumer and speaking truth to power. I’m also friends with a great number of you and hope you take what I’m saying here seriously.

I’m worried for y’all.

Before the 2024 election, Donald Trump made it very clear what his goals were if he were elected. One of those goals was to impose massive tariffs on everyone. Whether or not he actually knows how tariffs work — I’d argue he does not — he said these sweeping tariffs would replace the income tax and make the United States rich like it was between like 1880 and 1910.

He also said that he would make Elon Musk — the CEO of one of your biggest competitors — an integral part of his new administration. His Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, would be getting into all aspects of the government and making chances, including organizations that directly regulate him and all of you. Honestly, I hope that set off some alarm bells in your collective C Suites about what that could mean for competitiveness in the United States. The same United States that is either your biggest or second-biggest market.

But maybe those alarm bells didn’t go off, because some of you are still spending a large amount of time on Twitter, which is directly controlled by one of your competitors and publicly puts his fingers on the scale of the algorithm. If one-day Musk didn’t want people to talk about you, he could make it happen. I know Musk and his team have threatened marketing departments — maybe even yours — about increasing your ad spend, but do you want to be extorted out of your money to please your competitor?

All of this should be a concern before you even look at what Twitter has turned into post-acquisition by Musk. While I’m aware some of your customers likely are neo-Nazis, fascists, white supremacists, and the ilk, I can’t imagine you all want your products marketed alongside that ideology.

Post-election, many of you were willing to reach out to the President-elect and express your desire to want to work with him. This is a good move and something that happens every time a new President is elected. A few of you went a bit too far — in my opinion — in sending him $1,000,000 to his inauguration fund. Presumably, that was to curry some extra favor and hope that his ire isn’t directed at you in the future.

But now Trump has been president for a month, and things have changed dramatically. Trump’s tariff threats extend beyond the original countries he targeted, which will dramatically mess up your business. Elon Musk is illegally cutting funding and staff at the organizations that ensure we have clean air to breathe and clean water to drink, that we’re safe in car crashes, and that the Earth is warming and that’s dangerous. This is stuff you all know, because you have actuaries and scientists and smart people working for you, helping prepare your business for the changing world ahead.

Trump took us to the brink of 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada, which would’ve forced you to likely cancel several models, and put some of your business in a precarious situation. Then, at the last minute, he pulled back. Now we’re approaching the precipice again. The man is seriously messing with your business, and as capital-intensive as your business is, you don’t like this insecurity. I know you don’t. You like stability.

Sure, some unrest in some of the countries you operate in is expected, but none of those countries are the size and financial scope of the United States, so I’m sure you all are scrambling in some ways to prepare.

But there is something that none of you have done yet, and that’s loudly speaking out against the insanity. There is no pushing back against the administration’s agenda.

(Note: Trying to get the administration to not look at you but at other automakers isn’t the type of speaking up I’m referring to, either.)

I’m not sure why. I think that would be in your best interest.

Maybe you’re not trying to catch the ire of the administration? That’s a fair fear, considering that Trump openly lashes out at anyone who opposes him, and what he says and does can directly affect the stock market and your shares that have a value that is extremely important to you.

Maybe you don’t want to go first in fear of being hung out to dry? That’s another fair fear and would make you potentially look silly if you rail against tariffs and other administration moves that harm your business and nobody else says publicly is a problem for their business.

Maybe you think you can just ride this out until the next administration? Well, that’s at least another 4 years of having your business completely messed with on a daily or weekly basis. I’m not entirely sure how you plan around that, or if you’re sitting on enough cash to safely ride out the storm, but you’re going to have developed quite the ulcer on the other side.

Or maybe you’re hedging in hopes that if we end up in the authoritarian state that we very much appear to be heading towards, you’ll be selected as one of the official state businesses allowed to survive?

Stock market fears are valid fears, and in the past standing up and doing the right thing led to the ire and boycott from the far-right leaning folks. “Go woke, go broke.” It even caused some of you, under the fear of internet troll Robby Starbuck, to shift or eliminate your DEI policies. Yes, I know some of it was just window dressing and there’s still a strong DEI culture behind the scenes, but it still didn’t look good.

Now, though, things have changed. Target is suffering in the market because of its anti-DEI initiatives, while Costco is being rewarded handsomely for telling the vocal minority of racists to shove it. While Apple hasn’t been the greatest in standing up for users since Trump took power, its shareholders also just told a similar vocal minority to get bent when it came after Apple’s DEI policies. As I’m writing this, shareholders at John Deere rejected similar proposals. When planes start falling out of the sky the minute the government goes anti-DEI, people notice.

The economic landscape has changed dramatically now that the dog has caught the car, and the non-vocal majority appear to be speaking with their dollars more and more and rewarding companies that treat humans like humans.

There shouldn’t be a financial incentive to do what’s right, but I do have an MBA and I do understand things like “fiduciary duty,” and I’m here to tell you that doing the right thing here does protect your business, helps with your profits, and helps bring stability to the industry.

Plus, Trump is a lightweight pushover. Any time he receives any real criticism for what he does, anytime he sees that he might be in trouble, he folds. He thinks tariffs are going to immediately force every car sold globally for all markets to be built in the U.S. and he thinks that can happen overnight. Tell him he’s wrong.

You have to tell him he’s wrong yourself, though. You can’t use your governmental affairs arm or whatever lobbying conglomerate you have in Washington. He doesn’t respect them — nor does he have to. He also doesn’t trust the business section of a business paper that knows more about how our economy works (and doesn’t) than anyone in the current administration.

It has to be you — if you’re the CEO reading this. If you aren’t the CEO, tell your CEO.

(Note: If you are the CEO, “Hi!” Thank you for taking the time to read this. I do know you’re probably very busy right now. But please, consider what I’m saying.)

I can also understand why you wouldn’t want to be the first automaker to come out against the administration. If nobody else goes along with you, you could look silly. But as I’ve said before, the times are different now and you have the power.

Collectively, you have the manufacturing and economic might to wage war yourselves. You all could seriously raise an army. While that would be tantamount to a coup d’etat and not something I’m recommending, the point is automotive is the engine that drives the economy.

It’s easy right now for governors to bend their knee to Trump on things like green initiatives because they don’t cost states a ton in lost revenue. I’m surprised governors would want to give up any economic activity in their states, but that’s a different discussion.

The thing is, if Trump tries to shut one of you down he further crashes the economy with it. Most of you have one or more plants in the U.S. and rely on a vast supply chain network that employs millions of people.

You. Have. The. Power.

I can also understand if you think you can just ride it out under the radar. Consumer confidence is at a 4-year low, and likely to go lower. If people aren’t confident, they’re not going to buy your cars. It costs you money to keep plants running, and it costs you money to not keep plants running. Do you have enough cash to ride out a proper recession?

Trump has also floated the idea of running for a third term. While that is currently illegal, there’s probably enough support in Congress to pass legislation to push for a Constitutional amendment. Would enough states ratify it? Probably not. But there is always that chance, and then the 4 year reign turns into 8 or more. Do you have enough money to survive that?

When you’ve had businesses in authoritarian regimes in the past, how has that worked out for you? We’re not quite there yet, but you have to see some of the warning signs on the wall that that’s where we’re heading.

While I hope that it’s not the case, maybe you’re expecting it to get even worse and are hoping that you’ll be the official state-sponsored automaker for the U.S. That’s going to go to Tesla since Elon Musk is all about providing government business to his businesses.

He’s working on the government working with Starlink on an FAA deal that was already signed with Verizon, and operating that Starlink equipment and generally overhauling the FAA will be SpaceX.

The key you need to take away from this is the government has a signed contract with Verizon. Trump and Musk will break any deal and violate any law to get what they want. You have to see that.

Trump will nationalize your production capability to help Musk before Musk lets him let you compete with him under total authoritarian power. You won’t be the belle of the ball.

In some of these scenarios, you’re also risking your global business. Tesla in Europe is down nearly 50% since the Sieg Heil. Competitors, like yourselves, are growing there in your EV lineups. In the United States, it isn’t much better for Tesla, either.

Siding with the authoritarian — whether real or wannabe — is long term way worse for your business on a global scale. This is why there’s no better time than the present to stand up and be heard.

Trust me, a looser regulatory environment might seem like a good idea on paper, and likely the thought of that is driving a lot of your decision-making. Delta CEO Ed Bastian said he’s looking forward to a more relaxed regulatory environment that is a “breath of fresh air.” Then one of his airplanes landed upside down at Toronto Pearson.

That’s the thing about the regulatory environment argument. I know it adds costs that you’d rather return to yourselves or your shareholders. “Greed is good,” isn’t just a tagline from a 1980s movie. But some regulations are good. They help you compete on an even playing field with your competition, instead of one being able to get a leg up through corruption or cheating or whatever. They also give you an excuse to do the right thing.

Making EVs is the right thing right now, but you don’t want to do it unless you’re forced to. So when the government forces you to do it, you can use the government as the scapegoat for why you have to do it, while focusing on green transportation that our country needs because the planet is starting to boil. And whether you believe in saving the planet or not, you do know a boiling planet is going to increase your costs and reduce your profits.

While you might think I’m overreacting, I feel like I’m not sounding the alarm bell loud enough. There were a bunch of things pre-election that people were criticized for, including Trump’s involvement in Project 2025, that were quite true. I believe this is one of those situations.

So what should you do?

If you haven’t already, you need to gather your lieutenants — if you’re the CEO — and figure out how to deal with long-term 25% or more tariffs on most “modern world.” That includes Europe along with Canada and Mexico, plus China and who knows who else. The minute Trump is mad at a country, he threatens tariffs. That trend will continue because, for countries like Canada, he has said openly he wants to bleed them economically so they have no choice but to join the United States.

You also need to have a plan for a massive European boycott of your stuff. The minute that the United States leaves NATO — and it will — Europe will have to arm up. Europeans are also going to be quite upset that they are at much greater risk to enemies like Russia — which we are now friends with — and they’ll have no qualms about voting with their wallets and buying either domestically or from China.

You also need to have a plan for a 4 million — or more — reduction in overall vehicle sales once all of this happens. Tariffs will cripple the economy and that means people won’t be buying cars. Can you afford to take that much of a hit? What if the hit is bigger, then can you survive?

This all needs to be planned out.

You also need to all get together and speak out. Tell the White House that their actions, while seemingly great for less regulation, will likely cripple the automotive industry’s ability to do its thing. Remind the White House how many people depend on automotive jobs to survive. Use your might to make him understand that unless he wants bread lines, he might want to reconsider his economic policies a bit.

In a way, we already have bread lines. Just with eggs.

But most importantly, you need to speak out because he’ll cave. He always has and he always will. He might try to give you a bloody nose. Musk certainly will try to do that. But neither is strongly favored right now amongst the majority of the American people so now is as good of time as any to act.

Well, probably before the election it would’ve helped to speak out, but the second-best time to act is right now.

Thank you for your time and attention.