Trump Import Tariffs: Breaking Down the Impact on Fleets
By Mark Boada, Executive Editor
The news is awash with calamitous headlines about the Trump tariffs, not least of which proclaim potentially significant job losses for U.S. autoworkers and price increases on both domestically made vehicles and imports.
But I look at the headlines in view of a long-standing observation that people, in general, overreact to news, both the good and the bad, and particularly to the bad.
Now, I’m not here to say that Trump’s proposed tariff of up to 25 percent on imported cars wouldn’t result in a crushing increase in the cost for the typical buyers of a Mercedes Benz, Toyota or even a sub-compact Hyundai.
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Wheels has a tried and true methodology for determining if EVs and hybrid vehicles are right for your fleet.
Was the First Electric Car Built By Nikola Tesla?
Claims have been made that the famous scientist whose name adorns Elon Musk's range of electric vehicles made one of his own. But are they true?
In 1931, so the story goes, Tesla took his nephew to a garage in Buffalo, New York, and showed him a modified Pierce-Arrow automobile. The car was said to have been driven for about 80 km at speeds of up to 140 km/h during an eight-day road test. Tesla allegedly said the device would power the car forever, and also supply the needs of a household “with power to spare”.
Read the article at Cosmos.
AFLA Launches Mini-MBA Program in Fleet Management
The Automotive Fleet and Leasing Association (AFLA) announced a new AFLA Mini-MBA program in partnership with Bentley University, a highly renowned business school in the Boston area with a strong track record in executive education.
According to Bill Elliott, AFLA’s Executive Director, “This program will provide high-potential fleet professionals an opportunity to be immersed in an educational experience designed to enhance career skills while also forming lasting bonds with classmates and instructors.”
White House Seeking Confidential Proprietary Data from Automakers
As part of Trump's investigation of whether tariffs on imported cars and components are needed to safeguard national security, a 34-page questionnaire was sent to several automakers this month, seeking sensitive details about company finances, factories, supply chains and other topics.
“The breadth and depth of this request is invasive, requiring massive amounts of proprietary and confidential business data from global operations — all under the pretense of national security,” said Gloria Bergquist, spokeswoman for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, which represents several carmakers who received the survey.
Read the article at The Detroit News.
