One thing not mentioned is that auto companies aren’t going to have to just weigh the effect of the tariffs, but also align that with the possibility that the pendulum swings back to the Democrats in 4 years, who would more than likely revoke those same tariffs.

Trump initially wanted to name his window dressing replacement for NAFTA the USMC because that’s the same acronym as the United States Marine Corps. The Marines raised a fuss, though, so the treaty was renamed UMSCA.

Trump’s isolationism will eventually kill the U.S. export market. shutting down U.S. automakers’ presence in Mexico will have a bunch of effects, most of them unintended and bad.

I’m honestly shocked at how many of these insane behemoths you see roaming the streets around here. Clearly there are a lot of people with more money than sense. Meanwhile I’ll keep tooling around in my bought-used 2011 Acura TSX until my kids are out of college.

They’re not there yet... not anywhere near there yet. One day, perhaps... but right now they still have the energy and ethos of a tech startup.

True, but they’re the only company with a fighting chance to actually offer a compelling alternative.

Trump was furious last time ‘round when Congress went Democratic in year 2. He’ll be just as apoplectic when* it happens this time around and Musk promising to throw hundreds of millions into Congressional races will keep him in Trump’s good graces at least ‘till then.

*When, not if.

He has shown himself to be quite envious of people who made their money and didn’t inherit it from their dad.

I’m guessing the idea here is that a mesh network of satellites would obviate the need for line-of sight comms (waiting for the planet’s rotation to bring your communication satellite into view so you can relay a message to it). If you have a mesh you can communicate at any time regardless of what side of the planet…

Adjusted for inflation, the price of the Miata really hasn’t changed that much.

Sorry, Jimmy. You were doing well there until you failed the part where you cover the bicyclist in thick, black soot. Come back in two weeks and take the test again.

“With no safety regulations, there’s no reason to keep cars the way they are with high beltlines, thick pillars and airbags....”

Nah, that’s not going to happen because it would stifle innovation. Manufacturers need to be producing their own vehicles and introducing their own innovation... everyone needs to be independently chasing the next generation battery, the next generation regen tech, the next generation of lightweight composites and…

Trump has a zombie army. Musk has $1 trillion dollars. They need each other... for now.

Except with a $1 trillion valuation, clearly Musk isn’t pissing off his shareholders. Most are probably thinking of Amazon during its early loss-leader days, hoping to get in while the gettin’ is good.

Because despite their considerable resources, bigger companies like GM haven’t shown the dynamism and flexibility needed to compete in a future EV market dominated by highly, vertically integrated Chinese EV manufacturers. Tesla has. It’s the old adage about trying to turn around a battleship vs a speed boat.

I think the idea here is that by going full-in on Trump, Musk may now have the leverage to keep Trump from annihilating the nascent U.S. electric car industry.

While the valuation seems insane, Tesla is, in fact, the only U.S. manufacturer that stands a chance against the onslaught of cheap Chinese EV’s. In fact, the Chinese EV manufacturers largely copied Tesla’s model of tight, vertical integration. If the future is inevitably EV, then Tesla is one of the very few Western…

Was going to say this as well. The Buick Envista (especially in Avenir trim) has been getting a lot of love in car reviewer circles lately. It is a very reasonably priced and nicely appointed little crossover. I would certainly take a close look at it if I were in the market for a new car.

Editors should note that the stated 8 mpg is only speculative given that the car would rust away to a pile of fine dust before managing to empty a full tank.