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Auto Industry Group Chief Executive Officer Predicts ‘Incredibly Active’ Period Ahead for Trump Administration

January 15, 2025

Detroit Free Press
Jan. 15, 2025
Eric D. Lawrence

Only days after Donald Trump was elected to another term as president, the auto industry was emphasizing many of its key concerns — “unfair competition” from China, the race for critical raw materials as well as emissions regulations that a key trade group says are both out of step with current auto market realities and increase costs to consumers.

John Bozzella, the president and Chief Executive Officer of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, laid out the concerns in a four-page letter to the president-elect in November, and on Wednesday at the Detroit Auto Show, he discussed the letter and the expected impact of the new administration on the industry.

The alliance represents key automakers and suppliers in the United States.

In a discussion with Glenn Stevens Jr., executive director of MichAuto, on stage outside the show floor area at Huntington Place, Bozzella explained that the auto industry is used to change and “we’re built to work with everybody.”

He said the “incoming administration and new Congress understand that a competitive and healthy auto industry is critical” to economic and national security.

If the policy discussions are about the industry’s competitiveness, particularly when it comes to China and others, then “we’re going to be in a good place,” he said, acknowledging that doesn’t mean “we’re always going to agree.” But it’s “our job” to help navigate that to provide insight and perspective.

Bozzella said that what he’d heard from the campaign trail was Trump’s focus on competitiveness and consumer choice and making the United States a platform for investment.

He predicted a quicker transition for this administration than during the first Trump term, as well as an “incredibly active” period between the inauguration next week and the midterm elections.