Yes, I’m aware I’m getting the quote backwards, but that’s just where I think the balance is. If there’s a theme of The Morning Dump lately, it probably comes in the next few opening lines from A Tale of Two Cities, which I’ve always found a little more resonant:
[I]t was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way—in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.
Doesn’t that just feel exactly correct to the present moment? Did Charles Dickens predict the trade war?
America is engaged in the worst tit-for-tat with Canada since General Montgomery’s invasion of Quebec, and it’s long been my sense (and the sense of others) that this will mostly benefit China. This also sets up the market for an even stronger bifurcation in car development, meaning that the United States could become its own very specific car market with limited access to cars from the rest of the world. That diminution of the competitive spirit may not help us much. Alternatively, letting Chinese cars in with no barriers isn’t necessarily a better solution.
That’s heavy, so let’s end with something fun. Specifically, let’s end with a decommissioned U.S. Coast Guard light station.
The End Of Fortress North America
For more than a century, American leaders from both of the major parties in the United States looked at Canada as an important ally. Canadian and American soldiers gave that last full measure of devotion side by side along the banks of the Somme and on Normandy’s shores.
We share a long border and an even longer history. Our markets have become interconnected over the years, and this, plus a link with Mexico, has provided a strong bulwark against China. Some call it Fortress North America, but that fortress is crumbling as Automotive News reports:
The trade war comes as the U.S. government and auto industry become increasingly concerned that Chinese automakers and suppliers could use Mexico or Canada as a springboard into the American market. But the chances of the U.S., Canada and Mexico aligning on policies to prevent that have diminished as the future of the United States-Canada-Mexico Agreement comes into question, experts said.
“It’s an opportunity for China in Canada and Mexico,” said Sam Fiorani, vice president of global vehicle forecasting at AutoForecast Solutions. “These are two markets that are open to the idea of a Chinese vehicle being sold there, and because the United States has put up a barrier to those countries, it makes it almost prudent to open up your competitive market to China.”
To what end? To what end? President Trump has stated that he’d basically be happy if Canada didn’t have a car industry, which isn’t going to happen. If Canada can’t make cars for themselves and the United States, it’ll find another partner. At first, that might be China, but I think what’s more likely to happen is that Canada aligns its safety standards with Europe and opens trade there. This, of course, still isn’t that bad for Chinese automakers, as they’re already building cars to European standards.
At the New York Auto Show this year, the head of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation (the lobbying arm for most North American automakers) said that “a trilateral agreement that supports a Fortress North America, that allows this industry to win in the United States and compete around the world” is of extreme importance. He’s referring to the USMCA, there, though any trilateral agreement could work.
Can American automakers win abroad if it only builds cars to its own standards? I’m skeptical.
There’s a quote from that AN article from Drew DeLong, head of corporate statecraft at Kearney Foresight (what a job), that really sends me:
“It’s hard to build a Fortress North America when there are more walls and barriers being established inside the fortress,” he said.
That sounds right to me.
Stellantis Is Trying To Figure Out How To Be A Global Company With A Walled-In America
The United States will, eventually, get some interesting European products in the form of Fiats and Peugeot coming from Stellantis as Dodges, Jeeps, and Chryslers. This might be the exception to the rule as America risks becoming its own little market, which is the challenge facing Stellantis.
Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa said at an analyst conference on Thursday that there is a clear split in the global automotive market today: the U.S., and everywhere else.
The chief of the automaker, which produces Jeep and Ram vehicles, spoke about how the company is navigating a U.S. trade and policy landscape that is diverging from other regions including Europe, especially in regard to how automakers can partner with the Chinese.
“We see clearly the world divided into two things: One is the United States … and then we have the rest of the world,” Filosa said.
When I say this is the “best of times” for enthusiasts, this does mean getting some V8 cars back. Trucks are definitely coming back. Lowered fuel economy regulations might save vehicles like the Golf R. Some older platforms might stick around for a while, though this also means there’s going to be a gap and we’ll have to wait out the new platforms.
I think this is kind of bad for American car enthusiasts in the long run if it persists. We’ve had a golden age over the last few years, when suddenly we weren’t deprived of some of the more interesting cars the world had to offer, like the Audi RS6, because it made sense for automakers to offer low volume vehicles in the United States. Instead, if our market becomes too walled off (and walled in), we risk not getting the rarer stuff because it just becomes too expensive to federalize and import.
Foreign Automakers suddenly are encouraged to just build the same kind of boring crossovers that sell well, and leave the rest to the competition. That would suck.
The ‘Temu Range Rover’ Is A Hit
Allowing Chinese automakers to flood the United States with cars, though, may not be the best solution. China has a lot of unfair advantages and there are reasonable concerns about privacy. At the same time, it would sure help with vehicle affordability.
The UK is probably the most open market that looks anything like the US, and the success of Jaecoo shows how quickly a change can happen. Here’s Bloomberg on how that company is finding customers:
Chery is among Chinese brands that have expanded their collective share of the UK market to more than a fifth in recent years, winning over customers with more affordable models fitted with the latest technology.
While the Chery brand has built a 2.5% market share in less than a year, the group’s surge has been led by the Jaecoo marque with 4.3% last month.
The Jaecoo 7 has become one of the UK’s most popular models, earning itself the nickname the “Temu Range Rover” for being a cheaper version of the British luxury SUV.
Chinese automakers need exports as they’ve built up capacity, even though it’s a huge market. That should also probably be a signal to policy makers in the United States. If we only build cars for ourselves, we can’t build cars for anyone else, and all of that factory capacity we’re hoping to build might suddenly be unnecessary.
XPEL All The Things
While we’ve shown that you can XPEL a lot of different cars, it turns out the paint protection film has other uses. About 34 miles off the coast of North Carolina is the Frying Pan Shoals Tower, a former Coast Guard light station that’s been turned into an eco-tourism destination.
It’s also constantly in the sun, which means that keeping it comfortable requires a lot of work. If there’s ever a high need for some window tint, it’s this place:
With no shade, no landscaping, and near-constant sun exposure over open water, solar heat gain had become a constant drain on the structure’s limited power supply. The newly installed window film blocks a significant amount of solar heat before it enters the building, which helps the tower’s HVAC system work less to keep the space livable, and in turn helps conserve battery and generator power. For a facility that cannot simply plug into the grid, that efficiency gain matters.
Fun!
What I’m Listening To While Writing TMD
Today is the 25th anniversary of the release of Mink Car by They Might Be Giants. Please enjoy “Man, It’s So Loud In Here.”
The Big Question
What’s your favorite low-volume import car?
Top photo: MGM
I would say keep an eye on Hyundai made in america possibly, but still I feel like they are wanting to get into the half ton truck market. I suppose we shall see if they can do what even the mighty Toyota has been somewhat unable to do.
Let’s be clear: this is all on Trump and his R lackeys. Regarding lowering fuel mpg standards. That a real winner at 4 to 6 bucks a gallon eh? Turns out the only bright spot, for me and probably Jason too, would be getting a Citroen rebadged as something American name.
Wait. I gave an idea for them. Instead of a Chrysler Cirrus call it a Chrysler Cloud America. And yes I’m feeling snarky today. Happy New Year. Take a look around and get back to me on that.
Shana Tovah! I guess?
I know there are only a few models that still make the E85 versions, but driving through Corn Country this weekend, I was certainly wishing I still had the Flex Fuel Silverado when the E85 was showing around 2.75 a gallon.
“If there’s ever a high need for some window tint, it’s this place”
Sounds like they’d do even better with solar panels to shade those windows.
It might be important for them to be able to see out those windows. I opted not to tint my windows when I lived in Texas because I like to be able to see well at night. And it didn’t hurt that I had a garage that was more effective than any tint could be.
I agree that in non sunny conditions tinted windows are usually more of a problem than an asset. The one circumstance I can see tint having on this ocean platform is for glare. A polarized film could cut most glare reflected from the water at certain times of day making it easier to see what’s out there while also reducing heat.
But of course such a tint could be on a separate window screen to be moved out of the way when tint is not needed. It also wouldn’t preclude a solar panel acting as a shade.
.
I was wrong. Optimally, the panels would have been oriented in a more horizontal direction and not vertically fully blocking the windows.
And polarization is a wonderful thing. Even if it made my wife’s X5 head up display useless unless I tilted my head. On sunny days, I feel crippled without a pair of polarized sunglasses.
To people from Charles Dicken’s time the average American has things only a king would dream of.
We live in the most conformable, easiest time, for now.
The average Dickensian probably said the same thing about late 17th century. God knows what pity the people of 2193 will spout of our wretched existence. Probably quite a bit about rents, inflation, commuting, wealth disparity and work.
“We live in the most conformable, easiest time, for now”
Very much YMMV. There are still a billion people living on about $3/day.
2193 I can’t even begin to possibly imagine what life would be like, probably either some weird Utopia or post apocalyptic wasteland.
Oh absolutely YMMV, comment only applies to people reading the Autopian.
I predict there will be a lot fewer humans and a lot more robots.
It’s interesting, reading the comments, that some have this idea that after Trump, everything just goes back to “normal”. It won’t. Permanent changes have occurred, as they do with every administration. The effects just aren’t usually anywhere near as obvious as they will be with this one.
The tail on this era is going to last a long, long time.
None of the tariffs were put into law, just executive orders which could be reversed quickly, Canada would follow suit unless there was some political reason on their side to not drop trade barriers.
The problem isn’t the measures themselves, its that American politics are no longer stable. Assuming trump leaves in 2028: what keeps this from happening again and again? Europe and Canada are going to be looking at us warily for a long time.
This. It’ll likely take generations before our allies can trust us again, if ever.
Yes – live by the executive order, die by the executive order. That isn’t the issue – the issue is the initial EOs were issued in the first place. You can’t unring a bell.
Sure you can. Bells don’t ring on their own. Just stop banging on the bell and the bell will go quiet all on its own. Then apologize for making so much unnecessary noise and everyone forgets all about how annoying the bell was.
Much of the world has much longer memories than we Americans.
We’ll see if it’s longer than the Americans who insist it was their grand pappys and great grand pappys that saved the ungrateful world in 1917-18 and 1942-45.
As Churchill said, America always does the right thing, after exhausting every other possibility.
Also of note, if memory serves, we almost sided with Germany for WW1. (Think about that for a second – maybe no Hitler had we chosen to go with the other side?)
And it was our industrial capacity and safety from bombing that set us up for decades of economic dominance courtesy of the lend lease programs of WW2.
There’s a bit more nuance to that “we saved their asses and they should be grateful” when it’s viewed from the other side.
“Also of note, if memory serves, we almost sided with Germany for WW1. (Think about that for a second – maybe no Hitler had we chosen to go with the other side?)”
I would except for the following:
1) It was a German torpedo that sank the Lusitania.
2) It was Germany that tried to coax Mexico to invade the United States.
3) England was our biggest customer of war materials, a debt they’d be unable to repay in defeat.
4) Canada is and was a British Commonwealth nation sharing a very large border with us.
So I don’t think there is much to the idea America was serious about joining the side of the central powers.
And there would have been no Nazis had England and France not been such complete and utter assholes to everyone at Versailles:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lQ2INNELoik
Does anyone really think the average citizen from anywhere outside of America really give 2 shits about what Trump is doing? I know I really don’t care about what the governments other than ours is doing. We really seem to feel the world revolves around us. So except for stopping to pay all the worlds bills and keeping people from entering here illegally those people might care but I doubt anyone else gives a damn
Iranians, Venezuelans, Greenlanders, Ukrainians and a ton of people from various NATO countries would like to join the chat… And that’s not an exhaustive list (see our middle eastern allies that are being hit by Iranian missiles and drones).
So I’d say yes, large swaths of the world do in fact give a damn.
Yes, I think the average Canadian cares that the current administration decided to take a swing at their economy and even their independence, after over a century of alliance, for no good reason.
Out of touch with the world much?
Executive orders may have a short life, but breaches of trust have a long, long, life. And we have been blowing up trust everywhere we can.
Eeh possibly? any foreign politicians should know what’s going on with US politics enough to understand how things switch every election. They should be smart enough to know the difference between a man and a population.
Plenty of people hated America before even with the billions in giveaways and aid. And honestly outside of the Canada ones I don’t see much chatter about tariffs in foreign press. I’ve seen this before, people made a big deal about Bush 2 (who was really bad for other reasons) and how everyone hated America because of him but it ended up amounting to nothing.
Not possibly, definitely, and it is already happening. Our allies certainly do know what is happening in U.S. politics and it is not merely more of the same, just another change in the party holding the presidency. Do you really thik this has been simply another change in administration? Look at our relationship with Canada, once one of our closest allies. *Canada*, of all places! How does Saudi Arabia feel about its defense relationship with the United States? Most of the world by now trusts China more than they trust us, and not without reason.
If I’m honest, I entirely expect when a Democrat is in office in 2029 that the relationship with Canada will go back to pretty much the same. There will be some differences, like the China cars in Canada. But overall I’m not seeing a massive shift.
Guess we will find out in ~4 years
During the Bush 43 years, some of my US-based colleagues sewed Maple Leaf flag patches on their backpacks to hopefully keep the peace when they travelled abroad. I’m retired now and most of my friends from that company are as well and we travel only as tourists. People in Canada and LATAM were a lot more chill about “Americans” during the Obama years. Though I’m 1/4 Canadian, I didn’t bother with the patch. I just practiced respect to everyone I interacted with and referred to the US as either the “States,” “the US” or “USA.” It’s so far beyond semantics this time around.
Flying back from a project in Brazil in 2008, a Brazilian behind me in line at customs quickly figured out I was from the US (the blue passport was probably a dead giveaway) and semi-scolded me about that administration and said, “when your country coughs, we get a cold.” I explained that I and the state I lived in voted against 43 and he laughed and smiled. It’s probably pneumonia or worse, now. I HATE it!
I guess Hardigree has decided to go full jalopnik (i.e., politics masquerading as auto enthusiast journalism). I’d been considering upping my membership level but I think I’ll adapt a wait-and-see stance on that.
How do you figure? This is a pretty impartial report on consequences of global goings on as they relate to cars. US foreign policy is trending isolationist (go figure with a slogan of “America First”) and that has the consequence of leaving opportunities for adversaries to fill the void.
Playing devils advocate here,
1) perhaps Hardigree is bring political in what he chooses to report on. (selection bias)
2) the tale of 2 cities introduction was pointed in its tone.
1. If you can provide supporting evidence for the claim that there’s selection bias, I’m happy to play along in the conversation.
2. A paradoxical comparison doesn’t strictly imply whose in the best of times and whose in the worst of times. You could interpret it through either political lense.
1) Honestly I don’t really care enough to go through all of Matt’s TMD dumps and tally up what he reported on vs what he left out. Maybe the original poster can, I jut love playing devil’s advocate.
2) Your absolutely correct, Matt is very good about being vaguely political most of the time.
Will you give it 2 weeks or change your mind on Tuesday?
“I hate it when I’m reminded of the consequences of my decisions!”
It is impossible to report on the auto industry without covering politics. Especially now.
I mean at least he is not doing fluff pieces about his Mountain bike I suppose, but yeah, not gonna lie, I have felt like he was still at Jalop since he was allowed over.
Stopped reading comments when they crashed to the level of garbage social media. Take this as a warning to those who follow.
Yeah, I don’t know why this one in particular touched a nerve. The reporting isn’t really out of character, but damn the comments sure are. And look… I have opinions. They’d involve citing Foucault to give people a sense of where abouts I’d land… but damn, be cool here.
Because of the order of the comment section, I’ve read your comment before encountering the garbage ones. But now I’m curious of how bad they are…
What’s your favorite low-volume import car?
Toyota Landcruiser pickup. The only reason why they’re so low volume is that they’re illegal to drive on the roads.
Failure or feature?
China entering our market isn’t a failure of Trump’s policies. It’s a feature. Wreaking economic havoc is intentional, so wealthy people can buy up companies at a discount.
What if the billionaire class actually doesn’t have our collective interest in mind?
Toys “R” Us was bought in a $6.6 billion leveraged buyout and saddled with roughly $5 billion in debt. It was spending about $400 million a year just servicing that debt before ultimately going bankrupt. The people who designed this? They made millions if not billions off this.
Economic chaos doesn’t affect everyone equally. The billionaires increase their wealth relative to everyone else.
You have billions and suddenly there are distressed companies with depressed stock prices and tons of assets. That’s opportunity for a billionaire. It could also mean losing your job if you’re paycheck to paycheck.
Whoever invented the LBO is an actual demon.
As a Man United fan, I don’t even know if I should hate the Glazers or Sir Jim more.
This is the answer.
Every decision being made right now is to exploit humans and increase wealth of the 0.1%.
A couple of limited run V8 equipped vehicles I can either afford to purchase or to fuel is not worth any of this, let’s make that clear.
As long as nearly the entire market continues to be dominated by ugly, tech-laden isolation chambers, this is obviously not a great time to be an enthusiast.
At this point I think most people understand that what the US is doing is terrible for both the country and the world, so I’m not going to comment on this specific self-own.
However, I am going to point out that Republican-held districts are closing polling places and the feds are trying to screw with mail-in voting to open the way to throwing out ballots they don’t like. Pay attention to what’s going on in your area and make sure you know where to vote before election day (it may have changed) and make sure someone didn’t throw out your voter registration on some bogus claim.
If the mail-in ballot rules change (they probably won’t because it would be physically impossible to implement the changes this close to the election, but who knows?) make sure you know what they are and that you comply with all of them so they can’t throw out your ballot.
The people responsible for this stupidity want you to not vote. Don’t give them what they want.
I’d suggest, if they are options, early voting in person or depositing a mail-in ballot into an official collection box. We have one in the lobby of our county office building.
Agreed. Vote in person or drop off your ballot in person. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like USPS can be trusted with this any longer.
It’s stunning how they managed to screw up the USPS, the one government organization everyone agreed was good back in 2015.
They did it on purpose.
They didn’t pick DeJoy as postmaster general by accident. Some of his earliest moves included dismantling sorting machines and slowing down delivery right around election time.
This is sarcasm right?
It’s the Postal “Service”. It delivers to every US address. It was never intended to generate profit. And, in the past, it did garner widespread and near universal praise. USPS today is being used as a political tool, which is beyond depressing and sad.
That’s where I dropped mine off.
Also make sure to check the alert me box to find out if your vote was counted.
It’s almost like tech billionaire bros can’t hack paper mail-in ballots!
No, but they can hack the tabulators.
Following the pattern set by Democrats in this area.
Wotta shock!
Democrats elected Trump, and they are determined to make the gop look good.
It seems bizarre, a shared madness.
I was lectured today about bump stocks and assault rifles, gibberish issues, by someone that doesn’t know what a modern rifle is, doesn’t know what a bump stock is or does, and especially doesn’t know the BATF has found bump stocks legal tens of thousands of times. Because they are. Also a pointless toy.
People this gullible are allowed to drive cars and walk freely!
And they elected Trump.
My man has never seen a point of an argument he couldn’t miss by arguing semantics
Dismissing everyone else’s point of view is easy and precisely how the Democrats elected Trump.
But if you are more specific, I will give you specific answers
What if your point of view *deserves* to be dismissed because you missed the entire point? Finding something legal doesn’t have any bearing on whether it *should* be legal. Someone is arguing the *should* and you’re missing it because you are champing at the bit to show off your knowledge of guns. Which, btw, is also largely irrelevant to that same discussion.
It’s a specific example of why Trump was elected and how.
I think the examples are extremely basic which means no effort is required to notice lies.
There are much more subtle examples, but that was exactly the point.
Yes, I can find many other examples, but I had just been subjected to a toddler level rant on fake talking points.
Sure, Trump doesn’t fit my taste or style but the opposition has given him a lot of leash before he becomes as unacceptable.
That’s the point.
A friend of mine was in the middle east, in a location I’m not allowed to know, talking to a warlord.
The soldiers he was with were being extremely undiplomatic, in a place where that really counts. No translator.
My friend took the trouble to learn the phrase books they are issued.
He told the warlord, “I’m not with these guys.” in his language.
Broke the tension, and probably saved their lives.
Food for thought anyway.
If your point about legality refers to the ATF, that is a far more nuanced and arcane area.
The ATF is the final arbiter of what is legal, up to a fairly lofty legal venue.
And changing their mind has NO effect on previous rulings.
Every statement they issue is a new law, in effect.
If two of us ask for a specific ruling on a similar question, you might get a completely different answer from me.
Those stand until something changes them.
If we both do what we had asked to do and one letter prohibited that and the other didn’t, the letter permitting it protects that person. The other person could and has in the past, serve serious prison time for the same exact action.
I’m not making this up.
Man thats an awful lot of word salad to not even address the point
Dismissal without communication.
Clever.
How can I communicate when you didn’t even touch on the substance? You missed the original point and are still missing it
Not much changes, just the regulation roll back. The biggest issue is whoever the next nutjob in charge is could reroll the regulations. Canada should have had dual standards like Mexico for decades. Using only the US standards has hurt their economy and limited choice. The way things are going I don’t think shira law or the communist manifesto says anything about vehicle emissions or vehicle safety. But I’m sure some of those clowns will figure out something to bend things to their will.
Toyota and Honda will probably lead the charge for specific regulatory island vehicles as always. Europe is calming their 2035 plans too. If they get kei cars out of the deal could be worth it. Stalantis is always confused. They could build another hemi and v10 plant and some monstrosity or they could build leap motor EVs and fiat pandas. Maybe if they are sober for long enough and can see though all the smoke they will pick build the leap motor stuff.
Somehow, there are people who still can’t see how any of this is bad, a testament to the embarrassing extent of just how ignorant Americans are, on display, front and center, for the rest of the world to see. It seems they’re likely completely unaware (“that’s anti-American!” “You’re anti-American!”) of the corporate greed that fed the limbs of children to factory machinery in textile mills and sent armed mercenaries to force striking employees, at gunpoint, to keep working for low wages in deadly conditions and they’re perfectly fine with going back to that. The president is an embarrassment, but the people allowing themselves to be so easily manipulated into believing in a fictional world when it’s so obvious might be the greater humiliation.
But let’s bring in Chinese cars built with actual slave labor while boycotting the US built cars because the union employees barely make $150,000 a year. It isn’t the Republicans that don’t understand the math.
You actually think America’s economy isn’t fueled with an exploited workforce? The average auto worker does not make 150K per year. You people love to take molehills and make mountains out of them. All while ignoring the ignorant, dog-wagging, child touching, elephant in the room.
Putting tariffs on Canada and Europe doesn’t do anything to keep out Chinese cars. All it does is stop those allies from buying *ours*.
“corporate greed that fed the limbs of children to factory machinery in textile mills”
How about some indignation for the religions who pressured people to have more kids than they could support and for the people who saw their own children as little more than their own indentured labor force?
what a shitty day to release an album
Q: Who was the happiest man in the world on 9/12/2001?
A: Gary Condit
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Condit#Levy_scandal