This is what a Trump presidency means for the US auto industry

Donald Trump won the presidency by winning the American heartland, the bastion of the US auto industry. Ohio went for the Republican candidate, and in a real shocker, Michigan continues to lean Trump.

Trump tangled with auto-industry leaders during the election, most prominently Ford CEO Mark Fields, over establishing manufacturing operations in Mexico and taking unwarranted credit for bringing production back to the US from Mexico.

With US auto sales at record levels, the 2009 bailouts and bankruptcies of General Motors and Chrysler weren’t much discussed, but they remain a prominent legacy of the Obama administration.

So what does Donald Trump in the White House mean for the US auto industry?

Establishing plants in Mexico could become a big political issue
The automakers want to build cars in Mexico so that they can continue to manufacture smaller vehicles that aren’t profitable enough, with SUV and crossovers dominating the US market. NAFTA provides them with access to cheaper labor, in a region that has committed to being an auto-manufacturing powerhouse in the future.

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