High pricing on internal combustion engine vehicles delivered strong earnings at the Detroit Three automakers in 2023, but the future is all about how to get to affordable electric vehicles.
Zero-tailpipe emission vehicles are needed to comply with government regulations but also to protect against Chinese automakers able to produce low-cost EVs and that have eyes on the U.S. market, executives say. Challenges with affordability, range anxiety and access to charging infrastructure, though, are slowing consumer EV adoption, prompting some recalibration on timelines and a relook at powertrain technology like hybrids.
"The Japanese car makers, they came to the U.S. market in the '70s (in the) previous century, and the Koreans came perhaps 20 years later in the '90s," Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares said during a virtual roundtable with reporters. "If we look at what they have achieved between that introduction moment until now, we have to recognize that they have taken a significant share of the market.
Read Article