[39896880]

Their CEO seems to be reacting to a perception that Chevy is “behind” and trying to get ahead of the market on EVs. If they were smart they’d still be making the Volt, since it’s an extremely reasonable PHEV that many people with garages in the US would appreciate. It would increase the number of electric miles driven.

[hn_throwaway_99]

I have a Volt and love it - it's the perfect car for someone like me with a 30 mi round trip commute. Partner recently got the plugin hybrid version of the BMW X5 (gets about 50 miles on electric), and so far we love that car, too.

Don't understand at all why GM doesn't make a PHEV SUV. They would be the perfect car for lots of people in the US.

[dpkirchner]

They don't need to bother. They got competition effectively banned at the border. Now we're stuck with the same mediocrity we've had for decades.

[39896880]

Eh. If foreign carmakers want to compete in the US they can do what Toyota did and set up shop in the US. Employ Americans with market wages and under American labor standards.

We had a generation of globalism. It gutted the middle class.

[dpkirchner]

Toyota did that because they saw the value of being in the US based on the then existing demand. Other manufacturers aren't getting that chance, and I'm not convinced those that banned 'em will be willing to let 'em manufacture here. Just look at how they're treating something with basically no stakes: TikTok.

[bsder]

> Just look at how they're treating something with basically no stakes: TikTok.

TikTok is a direct channel for Chinese propaganda into the western infosphere.

That is hardly "no stakes".

Yes, the same concerns should also get the other social media giants wings clipped. The EU should keep taking bites out of YouTube, Facebook, etc. too.

TikTok can set up shop in the West. Setting up shop in the West means you are subject to Western laws. We have seen China demonstrate over and over that it will not comply with that.

There is a huge difference in people employed here vs in China--the self-censorship, for one. China relies on the fact that social pressure causes self-censorship even without the intervention of the higher-ups. This is vastly less effective when all the employees are from the US.

[39896880]

Toyota set up shop in the US in 1981 because the US auto industry and unions lobbied for import restrictions. Then Congress held hearings and threatened legislation, followed by the UAW filing trade complaints.

Then, in the 1981, Japan signed the Voluntary Export Restraint (VER) agreement where they agreed to limit auto exports to the US to 1.68 million vehicles annually. [0]

The US is the second largest auto market in the world.

[0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voluntary_export_restraint