The fight against car emissions has everything to do with the benefits

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Automakers compete for emissions regulations, Brexit anxiety, Chinese car sales and much more await you in The Morning Shift on Tuesday, October 30, 2018.

1st gear: Can any one say "disagreement"?

When Trump's EPA said it wanted to go back on the rules of fuel economy and pollutant emissions of the Obama era, California went to war about it. California wants to maintain its stringent emissions rules while the government wants to remove them. The automakers are stuck in the middle.

If they want less stringent rules (because it makes it easier for them), they do not want to build two cars that meet two different standards for a country either.

Car manufacturers disagree on what they want and are struggling to have a single consistent argument, which could prove difficult in negotiations with California and Washington before the finalization of the regulations before the next march.

The breakdown of views between General Motors, Ford, Fiat Chrysler, Honda and Shell, according to Bloomberg, is as follows:

• GM wants a requirement for zero-emission vehicles from 50 states, as California currently does, and a national building code that would include charging the electric car in every new single-family and multi-family unit. But it also indicates that the new regulation "should not require costly investments in incremental improvements of internal combustion engines that customers are unwilling to pay and divert resources from further development of the engine." electrification".
• Ford believes that increasing fuel economy standards at a faster pace for trucks, which is one of the ideas developed in the draft regulation, should not be a thing. He also thinks that two-wheel drive SUVs should also count as trucks. Ford wants to avoid the split of the US market, which he fears losing money: "The long-term impact is difficult to quantify, but it could be very negative for the financial health of Ford and its employees."
• The FCA is in favor of the debate with California, but if that does not work, then the EPA should definitely revoke state regulations and impose the sale of electric vehicles. This, from a company whose most profitable brand recently declared was Jeep.
• Honda wants the EPA to negotiate with California and said the government's assertion that the regulation measures would improve traffic safety "is flawed" and should be removed.
• Shell Oil Products wants the administration to move away from California, saying: "The proposed revocation of the California waiver has already resulted in prosecution and is expected to result in prolonged uncertainty that will impede emission reduction efforts ".

Keep in mind that most of these expenses relate to profits and not, for example, help to cope with the steady deterioration of weather conditions. In addition, automakers discussing climate change are not new either.

Do not forget that even though we need a comprehensive emissions reform in all industries, including transportation and manufacturing, we are screwed up unless we switch to electric vehicles.

2nd gear: Bentley does not know exactly what Brexit will do

One of the most hard-hit sectors for Brexit is the UK's predominantly foreign-controlled automobile industry, which provides jobs for more than 850,000 people. Bentley, owned by Volkswagen, hopes that the United Kingdom and Germany reach an agreement before the end of the year.

The director of the company, Adrian Hallmark, told Reuters:

"The best of times is an embarrassing impact on our annual profitability. In the worst case, our annual profitability is very detrimental. Therefore, a Brexit without agreement would harm us as a company and limit our ability to invest.

"We could work for four days, or we could have longer holidays and longer Easter holidays if there was no agreement, so that we could smooth the period between now and the middle of next year, "he said.

Obviously, Bentley thinks about tariffs and tariffs of 10% of the rules of the World Trade Organization. The company is already preparing for the worst by "stockpiling" and changing port in order to access parts more easily.

Other builders, like Jaguar Land Rover, have stated that a bad deal with Brexit could cost them $ 1.5 billion. Aston Martin is thinking about flying auto parts if there are problems in the transportation chain.

The general idea is that these companies fall back and get ready for the worst, because no one has any idea what will happen when the UK finally leaves the continent in March.

3rd gear: New bad emissions for FCA

In 2017, the US Department of Justice filed a civil suit against FCA, alleging that the company had breached the Clean Air Act by installing "disabling devices" on its diesel vehicles. In anticipation of the resulting fines, the company's profits in the third quarter fell.

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Profits have dropped 38% in the last quarter, the Detroit News reports. From the story:

The Italian-American automaker said Tuesday that its third-quarter profits had dropped to $ 640 million ($ 564 million), down from nearly $ 1.1 billion ($ 910 million). 39; euros) for the same period last year. The FCA said the loss posted reflected an estimated charge of $ 794 million (0.7 billion euros) related to a US Department of Justice investigation, alleging that the automaker had failed to disclose the software of about 104,000 pickups and SUVs running on diesel, which, according to regulators, could be similar to "neutralization devices" used by Volkswagen AG to deceive emissions tests on millions of vehicles diesel engine.

This comes after the death of Sergio Marchionne in July. The company also said yesterday that it plans to transfer Ram's production to Mexico.

4th gear: help for investors and brokers

Yesterday's report that China is considering cutting the tax on car purchases by 50% makes investors and dealers extremely happy. China is the largest automotive market in the world with a lot of buying power.

Shares in Volkswagen, Ford, Geely and Great Wall Motors rose as a result, reports Bloomberg.

And for the dealers, if these taxes fall:

The odds are good based on history, with sales accelerating after a similar move in October 2015.

Car saleswoman Tracy Liu is optimistic.

"Such a tax cut would surely work," said Liu, who works at a dealership in Jinan, eastern China, which sells cars made by Volkswagen with his Chinese partner FAW. "The impact on sales was almost immediate the last time that it was cut."

It's almost as if people were extremely easily motivated by money!

5th gear: disconnect, please

Starboy Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, tweeted very slightly in front of the Securities and Exchange Commission of the United States.

So what:

That's all, presumably, in response to a change in Tesla's investor relations page online, according to Reuters:

Although Musk is named as the President and CEO on Tesla's Investor Relations webpage, his biography page on the company's website has no designation. The biography page had previously referred to Musk as president, product architect and CEO.

Musk must pay a $ 20 million fine and leave his position as chairman of Tesla for three years. He ruined everything, he was punished for it and he was shitty online.

Nothing new here.

Reverse: This Daimler car