Is the Industry Sitting on Pins and Needles?

Earlier this week, Ford announced that it’d be halting Lightning production through the end of the year due to slowing EV demand and pickup trucks accumulating on dealership lots. Earlier in the year, Ford basically said it built the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center too large and had too much supply.

Stellantis had several EVs that it expected to launch this year, including the Fiat 500e, the Jeep Wagoneer S, the Dodge Charger Daytona, and the Jeep Recon. Of those, only the 500e has been driven by journalists or the public (to my knowledge).

GM, earlier in the year, was backpedaling on EVs. CEO Mary Barra highlighted infrastructure as a reason, but public demand has waned a bit.

I could cite instances from nearly every single automaker that has adjusted its plans based on perceived EV demand. The reason why I say “perceived” is, EV sales are still growing. Are they growing at the same pace as they were in 2020 and 2021? No, but that’s also to be expected as the piece of the automotive pie for EVs grows larger.

Now I have blamed poor company management, EV misinformation, and a lack of commitment as reasons why it appeared like EVs were going to take over the world and now everyone is pulling back. I would also like to be clear that all of those things are, in fact, still true in some cases. Even Elon Musk, CEO of an EV only car company, is supporting a super PAC warning against EV mandates.

But I’m a firm believer that some of the weirdness right now in automotive isn’t any of that. I think the automotive industry is holding its collective breath for the U.S. presidential election.