It is no longer possible to find a new car for less than $20,000. Soon it will probably be difficult to find one under $30,000 – thanks to the 25 percent tax that will be folded into the cost of just about every car (and crossover) with a price around $25,000.
Not to mention most trucks, too.
Because almost all of those are not made in the United States, either – and they will all be hit with the 25 percent tax Trump likes to call a “tariff,” so as to try to get people to not think they’re paying it.
And how much will they be paying for this tax? Bloomberg estimates the per car cost – for cars not made in the United States – will be in the vicinity of $5,855. This would raise the base price of a car such as the 2025 Kia K4 (which I recently test drove and wrote about here, if interested) from $21,990 to $27,845 – putting this for-the-moment affordable Korean-made car into the unaffordable range. It is one of many – the Hyundai Elantra is another – that will be so rendered via the tax the president insists on calling a “tariff” – for the same essential reason that the government insists on calling the 15 percent lopped off every dollar we earn a “contribution” to Social(ist) (in)Security.
“It’s going to be a real struggle for buyers,” said Erin Keating, executive analyst at Cox Automotive. “We only expect prices to rise and incentives will go away. Some vehicles could go away.”
More finely, they will “go away” because not enough people will be able to afford to buy them.
Like eggs – on a grander scale.
The very popular Mazda3 – made in Mexico and Japan – is another not-made-in-the-USA model that will shortly become much less affordable. Right now, its base price is $23,950. Add $8,550 to that and it will cost $32,500. The $26,900-to-start Hyundai Sonata – currently the second-most affordable mid-sized family car available for sale in this country (Chevy’s Malibu has been cancelled) could soon cost $35,450 to start because it is made in Korea.
That is the kind of money people looking to buy (and who could afford to buy) an entry luxury car used to anticipate having to spend. And – just so you know – luxury-brand cars such as those sold by Lexus and Audi and Mercedes and BMW that are not made in the United States will also go up in price, too – such that even people who used to be able to afford one of those may no longer be able to.
$5,855 may not sound like all that much if you’re flush enough to be able to afford a luxury car at current prices. But there will be additional costs not mentioned in news coverage of Trump’s plan to increase the cost of vehicles – luxury and otherwise – by 25 percent in order to (somehow) make America great again.
One of these costs will come in the mail very soon – and it will be paid for by all of us. Including those of us who haven’t bought a new car, luxury or otherwise. It will be the increased cost everyone who drives a car (or truck or crossover or SUV) is forced to pay for insurance, irrespective of where the vehicle they already own is made. For exactly the same reason the cost of the coverage everyone who owns a vehicle is forced to pay has already increased by 25 percent, on average. Courtesy of the infusion of EeeeeeeVeeeees that – typically- cost $50,000 or more each. It does not matter that you did not buy an EeeeeeeeVeeee,
You (and I) get to pay for the anticipated replacement costs of other people’s vehicles, in the event they are totaled in an accident.
If a new Kia K4 or Mazda3 or any of the other vehicles not made in the USA will shortly cost $5,855 more to replace then it will cost you and I and everyone else that sum plus whatever markup the insurance mafia decides to impose. Because we can’t decide to refuse the mafia’s offer – not without deciding to turn in our vehicle’s plates and cancel the registration and take the bus.
It being illegal to drive (and in some states, even to park) an “uninsured” car on the government’s roads. Never mind the etymological mind-game about those roads being public roads – let alone public right-of-ways. It is a government-enforced conditional privilege to drive upon them – and one of those conditions is that you must maintain “coverage,” whether you can afford it or not.
If most people can no longer afford to buy a new vehicle – or insure the vehicle they have, in order to be legally allowed to drive it – then most people will no longer be able to afford to live more than walking (or pedaling) distance from where they work or where they need to go in order to shop for food and so on. They will thus be herded into what the president has himself referred to as “Freedom Cities” – which has the same mouth feel as taxes styled “tariffs.”
The more honest term for “Freedom Cities” is 15 Minute Cities, i.e., open air prisons where you’re nominally “free” to move around as you like but only so far as you’re physically able. And that could be the intent behind all of this – even if it is not intentional.
And even if it is isn’t it will end up being the same result. So does it make any difference?
Kind of like the difference between a “tariff” and a tax.
. . .
If you like what you’ve found here please consider supporting EPautos.
We depend on you to keep the wheels turning!
Our donate button is here.
If you prefer not to use PayPal, our mailing address is:
EPautos
721 Hummingbird Lane SE
Copper Hill, VA 24079
PS: Get an EPautos magnet or sticker or coaster in return for a $20 or more one-time donation or a $10 or more monthly recurring donation. (Please be sure to tell us you want a magnet or sticker or coaster – and also, provide an address, so we know where to mail the thing!)
If you like items like the Baaaaaa! baseball cap pictured below, you can find that and more at the EPautos store!
[…] Guest Post by Eric Peters […]
As you walk past the tents to go get a bug bagel in Kosher City, ask yourself, should I have voted harder?
Here’s my libertarian side coming out: there is a LOT more to this tariff stuff than is being explained in most of the news (lamestreem or alt).
On one side, our Country IS being effed by every other “country” on the planet (flat or oblate spheroid) via prohibitive tariffs on our exports to them, the eurotrash shitholes being the worst. The eurotrash tariffs are on everything this Country exports to them and britain’s surrogate shithole on our northern border and not just cars, trucks, etc. EVERYTHING. It’s why Kanuks from Kanukistan cross over the northern border to buy fresh food here that the skumoids in Ontario make unaffordable to the Kanuks. Japan pulls the same caca on us.
So, Trump is telling these turds to either quit effing us and our products, or he will EFF them and their products. And, basically we don’t need their caca.
This tariff stuff is also (supposedly) designed to bring auto and steel manufacturing BACK here instead of our cars and trucks being made in Kanukistan and Meh-hikko and importing crap steel from the ccp.
Ok, that’s one point of view.
Will it screw those of us in the middle income bracket (don’t use “middle class” as that is marxist terminology. We, so far, do not have a class society here. The eurotrash do with their titled retards), and lower income brackets? Duh, yes, it will in the short run IF the eurotrash call Trump’s “bluff” (they don’t realize he is holding 5 Aces… I hope you get that one).
So, what should we do? Prep. If you have a serviceable car now, DON’T eff it up, keep it properly serviced, and stay away from drugged out Oregon drivers in Subaru’s.
Lastly, realize that this 15 Minute City crap is NOT a “conspiracy theory”, it’s for real, and the children of satan are going full bore to implement it. EV mandates are only part of it. Many States are making EVs mandatory by 2030 and stopping ALL sales of ICE vehicles. Check out the “urban growth boundary” stuff for your State for another icewater reality enema. Oh, and here is the latest way the children of satan are planning to get rurals into the cages: wildfire boundary maps, where your home and property insurance will be cancelled because you live in a HIGH wildfire zone. Oregon and the shithole formerly known as California are diligently working on implementing this now.
Buckle up! It’s going to be a VERY interesting ride for the next several years.
Like I said, this subject has far more stuff going on than most people realize.
This is why I am willing to put $5,855 into body work to keep my 24 year old Nissan Maxima SE (and myself), running free.
Hi Gwynn,
I hope yours has the auto trans(mission). I had a SE with the 5-speed. The car was incredible, and for fwd, it handled as well as the early 3-series beemers and was FASTER. Nissan wasn’t kidding when they called it a “4-Door Sports Car”. The only problemo was that the 5-speed was NOT strong enough for that 3.0 V-6 engine which was “under-rated” power-wise for “for insurance reasons”. Had to write to Nissan in Japan to get the trans(mission) fixed properly, and Novato Nissan cured everything. Years later the engine electrics (speed sensors) started going silly and I just didn’t have time to deal with it. Donated it to a HONEST non-profit and they repaired it and gave it to a lady that needed transportation and could drive a stick shift. She kept if going a long time too. So, if yours is in the “ok” bracket, fix it and stay away from Oregon drivers…..
Great comment Nike, thanks.
You’re welcome. It is a convoluted subject showered in lies and distortions, along with the “official narrative” bs. Finding factual, un-biased information on the subject is difficult, but can be found.
haha…. pretty funny but true to stay away from Subi drivers, I do. I’ll add Prius’s.
Although I was just on a very rural 2-lane, almost no cars, and a prius was doing 10 over (around 70moh)…. I couldn’t believe it.
Funny that the Prius is supposed to be an economy car, but the number of drivers that far exceed the speed limit driving them is so high. Then again, getting 1000mpg can lead to excesses…
You weren’t kidding about Oregon drivers. Had one on the way to church today in a red Corolla with Oregon plates pass us on the double solid and driving on wrong side of the road. it was on a long downhill, the only place the guy’s econobox is going to be able to pass like that. Legalizing pot is a bad idea, we stay away from CO as well.
It’s a long story with Oregon. Back in the days of Senator Mark Morris, it was determined that Oregonians, even the ones that managed to survive the Oregon Trail, were simply far too fragile to physically endure speeds in excess of 55 mph. Nose bleeds, headaches, blurred vision, etc. Then the flood of dopers from back east and the shithole formerly known as California just made things far worse.
Yes.
Imagine free trade. This is mathematically ideal.
Now imagine one party puts up a protective tariff. Now the marketplace is distorted & if yhe tariff is high enough to be effective the comparative advantages (as measured by prices) shift. Now instead of Country A losing jobs/industries, Country B loses its jobs & industries instead.
Country B can potentially fix this problem but only in a couple of ways: Improve technology to shift the comparative advantage back, or put up its own tariffs to match. Yes everyone is poorer but also not because the hemorrhaging stops.
Add Country V to the mix, same idea but more complexity.
The monkey wrench is, it takes decades for a new factory to pay for itself, and the regulatory situation (which is a major factor in costs) is unstable in a 4-to-8 year cycle where the compliance costs tend to ratchet up over the course of those decades — stretching out the amount of time needed for this brand-new factory to pay for itself.
Also there is the limit to the number of Uncle Pennybags with $100-500 million dollars to burn building new factories & training workers on projects that may or may not ever make any money in their lifetimes.
At this point any kind of “solution” is highly non-obvious, but what we can say for sure is that what we have been doing hasn’t been working well.
That said, it’s a whole lot easier to break it worse, than it is to make it better.
So in a sense everyone is both correct, and incorrect, and predictions are hard — especially about the future.
[…] Driving Us to 15 Minute Cities […]
Honda seems to think that they can still sell an EV if they make it thin, light, sporty, and futuristic. I wonder why they didn’t think that they could design a car like this with an internal combustion engine.
https://0.honda/en/about/
Hi Martin,
Honda could, of course. But the problem then would be the engine. Engines cannot comply with the regs that essentially require batteries and motors.
Hi Eric,
Since this appears to be a much lighter vehicle, it would need a smaller engine to power it. A vehicle this weight with a smaller engine should get really good mpg, even exceeding the ridiculous mpg standards imposed by the government. So why not go with a smaller engine capable of powering a lighter vehicle like this?
It would be one thing if US car makers would keep their prices the same. But, decades ago, when tariffs were raised on imports, the US car makers raised their prices just a little less than the tariffs on imports.
We’re in the Tucson area and Tucson is definitely not a 15 minute city. We can get across town on Broadway and Speedway without taking the I-10, which can be a crapshoot. Traffic is getting heavier with all the refugees fleeing California and other blue states. They’ve discovered the wide open spaces of southern Arizona despite the “warm” summer weather. Crime surprisingly is comparatively low as well. Think it’s because we’re 2A. The best thing about Tucson? It ain’t Phoenix! Aloha Dude.
There is a severe shortage of sand and gravel in Arizona. har
And I get more sand camping on the beach in CA.
Crime is only low if you don’t count political crime. Arizona is rampant!
Gov and senate elections definitely stolen.
Wow, how quickly we turn from our leader. You’d rather have FJB back with his string puppets? You’re an idiot. I’ll make it a point to not stumble upon your idiocy again.
Hi Bob,
It’s “idiocy” to point out disconcerting truths? Wasn’t that supposed to be the tactic of the Left?
Has it occurred to you that if Trump wrecks everything, we’ll get far worse than Biden next time?
Back in 2000, I was warning people about The Chimp. He is responsible for Obama. But many “conservatives” attacked me for critiquing The Chimp.
You might want to think about things a little.
PS: “Our leader”? Do you know how that’s rendered in German?
You must never criticize our Dear Leader /sarcasm
Morning, Burn it!
Yup. It’s quite something, isn’t it? The same people – the Red Hats – who pointed out that the average Leftist is an NPC dupe who will fall right in line and get angry whenever his “leader”is questioned are now NPCs themselves.
Hi Bob,
I’m curious to get your thoughts about Trump’s pardoning of the Green Grifter who used to run Nikola… Do you think that was justifiable?
Hi Bob, [said in the voice of Howard Borden}
When someone such as Trump says they’ll do one thing, e.g. gut GovCo and end wars, and then merely shuffles the economic deck chairs and start more wars, e.g. the attack on Yemen, I don’t think it’s unfair to point these things out. Heck, he’s even giving Zelinsky a break.
Why?
I think the bottom line is he wants to placate his backers in Tel Aviv. After all, they don’t hesitate to kill those they oppose and Trump would rather die in his sleep than suffer the fate of the Kennedys. Remember, cranial lead poisoning sucks.
I call it the 15 Minute Gulag.
Just wait until the directive is given to the banks to not make any loans to homes outside the boundaries of the 15-minute cities. What do you think that will do to the prices of homes out in the country? Be prepared for that.
It’s going to be ok, because orange man, who is proving himself to be an idiot, has “warned” automakers not to raise prices. It’s not clear that he’s aware that a tariff is a tax charged on consumers.
https://www.wsj.com/business/autos/trump-tariffs-automaker-prices-warning-928bc7a9?st=UcTU9z
Trump is literally dumber than a rock if he thinks automakers can absorb a 25% tariff without raising prices. Average margin on an auto is in the neighborhood of 6-9%.
For those that can’t do maff and percentages, 25% is much larger than 6%.
Apparently he is the new Nixon, mandating price controls.
Off topic but check this out – Ford’s patent for a fake “gear shifter” in EVs:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGQ1MFkJat8
Yea! More fake and gay crap for EV’s.
With Democrats torching and vandalizing other Democrats’ Teslas, that’s liable to result in the insurance mafia raising insurance premiums for automobile drivers who’ve NEVER done such things when Tesla owners file claims for damages. The whole craziness around $#!+ libs setting Teslas on fire & spray painting swastikas on them also exposes them as little more than phonies who wished to virtue signal to others who had the same hive mind thinking as them, as prior to 2025, they LOVED Elon Musk and Tesla.
It’s curious indeed how people who LOVED Musk as recently as last year now HATE him and vice versa. I neither love him nor hate him, but from reading some stories about him on technocracy.news over the past year or so, I am concerned that he, through his being in the Trump 2.0 administration via DOGE, may turn the U.S. into technocracy, which would be great for the globalist/ technocratic elite, but terrible for ordinary people.
Can’t wait to go out for groceries, medicine and such in my 15 minute city during a blizzard in January.
You won’t need to worry about that!
As long as your vaccinations are up to date, you’ll get your algae ration bars delivered by drone.
As long as you have sufficient social credit score, of course, so you qualify for your universal basic income of 1000 CBD$$$ per month.
No need to leave the house! Or, rather, your one-bedroom apartment. Houses will be reserved solely for the important people.
No garlic mashed potatoes for you.
You will be eating bugs. Except at lunch time, one of those sandwiches you wish Trump would be served every day will be for lunch.
Enjoy your freedom in Panopticon Land.
You will love the gated community. Incarceration City will have to do.
Checked in, can’t check out.
Klaus will be happy.
Freedom? What freedom? You don’t need no stinking freaking freedom!
I couldn’t care less if I didn’t have a friend
Except people would say I was crazy
And I wouldn’t work ’cause I don’t need money
Said the same folks that say I was lazy – John Prine, Sour Grapes
The state of Oregon, under former queen Kate Brown, named “15 Minute cities” as CLIMATE FRIENDLY EQUITABLE COMMUNITIES to fool propagandized Oregonians who’ve bought the BS cliiiiiiiiimate change narratives.
I wonder what the current governor (Dr. Drew’s doppelganger) Tina Kotex will name *15-minute cites*? LGBTQIA2S+ only.
Hi Hans,
Kotek might keep the name “Climate Friendly Equitable Communities” as she made it clear a few weeks ago that Oregon will continue with “Climate Action” after Trump’s EPA head said his agency was doing away with Biden era “Climate regulations”. However, after the blatant tyranny we were forced to endure during COVID, “Climate Action” could mean draconian diktats such as NO GASOLINE for the masses but so-called “Essential government employees” would be exempt from such rules. Or perhaps even YOU VILL EAT ZE BUGS, while government elites eat whatever fancy meals they please. Or perhaps even the globalist/ technocrat wet dream of carbon taxes/ carbon footprint trackers for the masses.
Kate Brown just happens to be Moonbeam’s younger and ugly sister. The syphilis just spreads…
Morning, Nike!
Yup. So many of these “leaders”come from the same inbred families. The Bush family being the best example of the breed.
Trump watched too many of those “made in USA” union ads. I have no doubt that he believes forcing products to be made in America – where there aren’t enough workers to staff hospitals or the local diner – will somehow make us all better off.
US regulations add too much to the price of goods to make them here. So they aren’t.
Making expensive products in the US won’t help average people. Less sales = less work = less workers. Try buying more expensive things when you don’t have a job. He needs a lesson on Say’s Law.
You’re blind as a Dxmwit. Trump also plans to eliminate most of the regulations you are speaking of. It will balance out. Obviously this is clearly an idiot forum. Go back to your BS.
Bob,
You keep attacking people personally – as opposed to addressing facts raised.Has Trump actually eliminated these regs? Or just talked about doing that? Is CAFE still in force? How about the regs pertaining to CO2 “emissions”?
PS: Whatever happened to the Epstein files?
TDS is a spectrum disorder.
Whether they wear a “Make America Greater Againer” hat & make excuses for The PrintFather or vandalize Tesla devices for political purposes they’re all the same.
Roger that, Flip –
In either (both) case, it manifests as anger when their beliefs are questioned.
Along with “freedom” cities, another big part of Trump’s plan to enslave America is the abolition of paper currency and coinage (including checks) and its replacement by digital money. His latest executive decree goes a long way toward realizing that goal:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/modernizing-payments-to-and-from-americas-bank-account/
Hi Eric, et al,
So in the grand scheme of things, or pattern if you will, these could possibly be further indications of the collapse of a great power. The characteristics all seem in place: loss of “moral” values, loss of respect for human life, hubris WRT assumption of superiority of knowledge over the natural process of the cosmos, growth of bureaucratic control of the citizenry, forced acceptance of maladaptive lifestyles….the list goes on.
Historically, the same patterns appeared in past empire collapses. Look at Rome, or the Austro-Hungarian empire, or the British Empire or the German empire. Berlin in the late twenties into the thirties looked a lot like the “Woke” version of the West in the 21st century. One advantage we old farts have, at least those who were paying attention, is that we have observed personally more of the transition and were exposed to great sources of information before the censorship regime gained the technological ability to widely control information streams. (It was always there but the technology was more limited).
This will all pass, which is no relief to those of us suffering in the present. Trump and company, all of them, will be a huge disappointment to anybody who thought that at its core the Trump administration would be any different. They are still Israel uber alles but that’s a suicide pact for individual liberty. They are still market interventionists. They are still in favor of MMT as far as I can tell…..tariffs are just one clue.
The white pill is that it’s all coming down…..the black pill is that it’s not happening quickly enough……I despise these tyrants for what they’ve ruined…..there is no redemption for them in my book and I doubt their god(s) will have mercy either.
This “power” will collapse because God will bring all of this fallen world to an end. Here’s a synopsis:
https://www.thebereancall.org/sites/2014.thebereancall.org/files/The%20Endtimes.pdf
Nixon is famous for having made us all Keynesians.
Trump will be known for making us all Palestinians.
We are all Palestinians, some just don’t realize it yet. They will when their homes are drone strikes for “antisemitism”.
How to make your town a Freedom City:
‘Big Brother’s gonna be watching Payson.
‘The Payson Town Council accepted a $126,000 grant to set up 18 cameras to scan constantly for stolen vehicles, fleeing suspects and reckless drivers.
‘The federal grant to pay for the cameras plus $51,000 for police department overtime is intended to prevent border-related crime. The town will lease the Flock cameras, along with the software package that allows the cameras to highlight any passing car based on the license and description. The cameras then automatically interact with a growing national database.
‘Once the grant ends, the Town will have to pay $61,000 annually to continue the lease agreement and retain access to the national Flock system.’
https://tinyurl.com/fxwkpnj2
Such a deal.
Always the freaking fedgov, promoting surveillance tech with grifting contrractors like Flock … the same way it militarized police forces with grants for armored personnel carriers and SWAT teams.
Flock me.
Lets be honest Jim. Payson was doomed starting 2O or so years ago. They went all in on the gated golf course country clubs. Now full of hundreds of lawyers and retired civilization wreckers determined to change the vibe of a formerly cool place. And it was a great place when I was growing up.
The digital panopticon being set up there is par for the course when you get a bunch of Uber-idle-rich outsiders fearful of indigenous pushback. Cream used to rise to the top, now its mostly Skum. Must let smelly Walmart denizens they may come in contact with know who is boss.
‘They will thus be herded into what the president has himself referred to as “Freedom Cities” – eric
Doesn’t “Freedom Cities” refer to armed Israeli settlements built on stolen land in the West Bank, with a statue of Trump in the middle of town?
As ol’ Ronald Reagan might have said, ‘I paid for that dump.’
“The American taxpayer paid for everyone of these grenades and they are going to get their money’s worth.”
Said the army grunt as he lobbed each one in all places over in Vietnam. Must pay to defend yourself and not get killed. When you are in the kill-zone, you can’t be too careful.
The story I heard, not some crazy loon talking stupid stuff.
Nixon was ensconced in a bottle of brandy while swearing at the portraits of former presidents, the drunken fool.
It is not all that warm out there for this time of year. Cold, word of the day.
Most of us can remember the fall of the Soviet Union. As has become popular parlance the collapse was slow…then fast. I think we’re in that transitional ellipse. In thinking about the WEF’ers declaration that by 2030, “You will own nothing and be happy”, perhaps they’re right. In that the Debt Slavery we’ve lived under for so long will be washed away. This assumes we will still own ourselves.
Maybe it’s time we took Netanyahu’s advice and looked to the Bible and 1 Samuel. Not just what he refers to in the passages regarding Amalek but, the 8th Chapter wherein God tells Samuel that Earthly Government is a rejection of God thus, implicitly, it’s the work of the Devil.
It’s time we found ways to arrange our affairs as civilized people that doesn’t include the deadly entity known as Government. Utopia will not be an option as there will always be sociopaths, authoritarians and sadists to deal with. However, by establishing Government we are not placing those personality types in in a position of lessening their harm but, giving them lifelong career opportunities and cushy retirements.
The hardest part will be to get the citizens of this nation to realize that the Nation and the Government are two separate and distinct entities.
To quote:
“If we look beneath the surface of our public affairs, we can discern one fundamental fact, namely: a great redistribution of power between society and the State. This is the fact that interests the student of civilization. He has only a secondary or derived interest in matters like price-fixing, wage-fixing, inflation, political banking, “agricultural adjustment,” and similar items of State policy that fill the pages of newspapers and the mouths of publicists and politicians. All these can be run up under one head. They have an immediate and temporary importance, and for this reason they monopolize public attention, but they all come to the same thing; which is, an increase of State power and a corresponding decrease of social power.” – Albert Jay Nock, Our Enemy, The State
It’s time for a revival. The Truth will set you free.
Remember how the Israelites were all like “everyone else has a king, we want one too” and God said “you’re not going to like it, for one thing he’s going to tax you” and they were all like “oh no, it’s fine, we’ll like paying taxes, that kind of sounds like fun actually”
Yeah…good times…
Thanks, assholes. Had a good thing going & blew it.
Kind of reminds me of an old joke about the Indians, how they did whatever they wanted, didn’t have to pay any taxes, the women did all the work, and the men got to go out& hunt & fish all day…then the white people came in & ruined everything.
Seriously. What do these people actually do, other than order everyone around, piss away money, extortion more, and act all indignant when compliance is anything but ecstatic?
I believe one of the main reasons why they wanted a king was in order to go to war with everyone. And they did, and they lost.
Are there any GovCo regulations keeping GM from continuing to manufacture the Malibu? If the tariff makes their competitors unaffordable or unavailable might not it make sense to continue making it?
Never forget that you can drive your way into a “Freedom City” but you’ll be walking out. Kinda like the old saying: “you can vote your way into Communism but you have to shoot your way out of it”. In other words be an informed voter at election times and always watch the bastards to make sure they stay in line.
Hi Landru,
Yes – effectively. CAFE – federal fuel efficiency requirements. And regulations pertaining to “greenhouse gas emissions.” They are why the Malibu has a too-small engine and a CVT automatic. If this car were available with a V6 – as used to be expected and common – and a five speed transmission rather than a CVT – and had a base price around $26k so equipped, it’d sell hugely, I think.
But we’re not allowed to have such things…
Hi Eric,
Big IF, but if EPA/ CAFE regulations are frozen even if not rolled back could the Malibu still be manufactured or is it more like the 2026 crash standards can’t be met?
Red Barchetta
“A Nice Morning Drive” written by Richard S. Foster and published in Road and Track November 1973, downloadable on Scribd.