Ford CEO Jim Farley praised crosstown rival General Motors early Tuesday for “reversing course” and no longer supporting the Trump administration in legal efforts to end California’s right to set its own clean air standards.
“I applaud GM for reversing course on this critical issue. I’m also proud that Bill Ford and @Ford stood tall for environmental progress from the start. Principle over politics,” Farley tweeted at 4:30 a.m..
The comment was posted on his personal @jimfarley98 Twitter account. (The No. 98 is on his 1978 Lola T298 race car.) Farley linked his Twitter comments to an Associated Press news story posted Monday.
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GM CEO Mary Barra said her company would withdraw from “preemption litigation” between California, the Trump administration and groups that included Toyota and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.
Barra, who has had to respond to critical tweets from President Donald Trump in the past, said her company’s electric car goals “align” with President-elect Joe Biden’s plans.
“We are confident that the Biden Administration, California, and the U.S. auto industry, which supports 10.3 million jobs, can collaboratively find the pathway that will deliver an all-electric future,” Barra wrote in a letter to environmental leaders. “To better foster the necessary dialogue, we are immediately withdrawing from the preemption litigation and inviting other automakers to join us.”
More:GM dumps Trump in his attempt to bar California from setting emissions
Barra said GM is inspired by Biden’s Build Back Better plan, which looks to expand electric vehicle adoption, create 1 million jobs, install 550,000 charging stations, and “position American autoworkers and manufacturers to win the race for electrification.”
Biden, California and GM “are aligned to address climate change” by reducing emissions, Barra also wrote.
In response to the pivot, Biden issued a statement saying the decision by GM reinforces just “how shortsighted the Trump Administration’s efforts to erode American ingenuity and America’s defenses against the climate threat truly are.”
Biden noted that he talked with Barra and UAW President Rory Gamble just last week along with other business leaders as part of his transition. He said GM’s choice to work with California is central to Biden’s Build Back Better plan, and that innovation and manufacturing issues were discussed as part of the meeting.
Earlier Monday, Michigan’s Board of State Canvassers certified the state’s election results after days of controversy. Biden won Michigan.
Ford backed California
Meanwhile, Ford sided with Honda and Volkswagen in supporting California from the start. Gov. Gavin Newsom recognized Ford as a leader and a partner in September when he signed an executive order requiring all new cars sold in the state to be zero-emission vehicles by 2035 — on the hood of an all-electric 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E.
Criticism of GM
The Farley tweet Tuesday triggered a rapid response on Twitter:
- “GM’s stances on such things have long been the most cynical in the industry,” tweeted journalist Michael Taylor @wordsbymt.
- “They reversed course AFTER it was clear that Biden won the election. How is this NOT politics?” tweeted Petey Snax @FloridaPerson22.
- “GM was sucking up to Trump,” tweeted Billy’s Detailing at @PeeneWill
- “Reminder that Ford is signed up to the Paris agreement and to the exacting California standards. Glad to see others joining us,” tweeted Ford of Europe Director of Product Communications Jay Ward @jward35
Car dealers in California, along with some consumers, have reached out to the Free Press in the past to say they appreciate Ford’s vocal leadership on the emissions issue.
Both GM and Ford, along with global competitors, have stepped up plans to build more electric vehicles as part of a plan to reduce emissions and improve air quality.
The Mustang Mach-E is scheduled to land in dealerships in coming weeks and the demand in California has been significant.
More:California’s air quality chief is a fighter known for winning
More:Why California is fighting for tough vehicle emissions standards
Some automakers and legal observers expressed concern about the Trump legal fight against California, predicting that it would fail in court because California was exercising rights established by then-Gov. Ronald Reagan in 1967.
California and its 40 million people are a key sales target for the auto companies. In addition, more than a dozen states have adopted California’s clean-air regulations.
“Auto companies have to design and build vehicles to the strictest global standards because they cannot afford to have many different versions,” market analyst Jon Gabrielsen said Tuesday. “Since other parts of the world are as strict or stricter than California, they have to build to those highest standards anyway.”
He added, “Of all the Detroit Three, it absolutely made the least business sense for GM to have aligned with Trump, given GM’s corporate hell-bent mission for an ‘all-electric future.’ Aligning with Trump was the anthesis of what was in their best business interest; It shows how afraid of him they were.”
Free Press staff writer Jamie L. LaReau contributed to this report. Contact Phoebe Wall Howard at 313-222-6512 orphoward@freepress.com.Follow her on Twitter@phoebesaid. Read more on Ford and sign up for our autos newsletter.