Donald Trump vs. America's automakers

There's no denying that automakers are feeling the heat from the president-elect's criticism

Donald Trump started applying pressure to American car manufacturers before his inauguration.
(Image credit: Mark Makela/Getty Images)

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Car companies are desperate to get on the good side of the president-elect, said Bernie Woodall and David Shepardson at Reuters. For months, Donald Trump has threatened to slap big tariffs on cars built in Mexico and has scolded U.S. automakers — sometimes inaccurately — for not building more cars domestically. All that criticism appears to be sinking in. Fiat Chrysler said this week that it will invest $1 billion in two Midwestern plants and create 2,000 U.S. jobs; Ford announced last week that it would scrap plans to build a $1.6 billion plant in Mexico and instead invest $700 million to upgrade one of its Michigan plants, hiring 700 workers in the process. Although "both companies have said they made the decision for business reasons and not because of pressure from Trump," there's no denying that automakers are feeling the heat. Talk of Trump's arm-twisting is dominating this week's Detroit Auto Show, said Bill Vlasic and Neal Boudette at The New York Times. With a few admonishing tweets, the president-elect "has changed the focus of the show from what new vehicles are on display to where they are made."

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