WESTERN AUTOMAKERS WILL SEARCH FOR EXITS
Finally, a study that that showed London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone was having a measurable impact on childhood lung development and cutting asthma and other lung diseases.
While there had been anecdotal evidence from California that high EV penetration and the electrification of buses was having an impact on asthma and improving school attendance, this London study is irrefutable evidence that the internal combustion engine and the fossil fuel it combusts have been killing people prematurely.
So, with the auto industry a major employer in many countries, what will be the response of governments globally. Trump’s America has tried to sustain domestic manufacturing with high tariffs but his trade war with Canada which is deeply integrated into domestic supply chains is causing a lot of havoc, particularly for the Detroit Three (Stellantis, Ford, and General Motors).
Canada, which has already opened a window for imports from China, may follow Spain’s lead and offer unused factories to China’s automakers.
No one has yet adopted China’s model and forced a 50:50 joint venture. That calculation may not matter if electric vehicles last longer and the world needs a lot less of them as autonomous ride-share goes mainstream.
General Motors and Ford are already looking more at defence contracting or energy storage. More big Western automakers will be searching for exits – or at least new uses for idle plants and redundant workforces, a reshaping of the 20th century industrial and labour system.
Richard Neumann is Chair of the Smart Energy Council’s Smart Global and Smart Pacific Working Groups Pacific Working Group, and a member of the Advisory Council of the Franco-Australian Centre for Energy Transition at Swinburne University. This commentary first appeared on Lowy Institute’s blog, The Interpreter.
