Trump administration rolls back fuel economy standards, again

Summary

The Trump administration announced plans Wednesday to lower fuel economy standards for cars and light trucks sold in the United States. With CEOs from Ford and Stellantis in attendance, President Donald Trump proposed rolling back fleet-wide fuel economy to 34.5 miles per gallon for 2031 model-year cars. The previous fuel economy standard was for new vehicles to have 50.4 mpg by 2031. The regulation change also reclassifies crossovers as cars instead of light trucks. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration regulates fuel economy rules under Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) Standards. Those rules, first enacted by Congress in 1975, dictate how far vehicles must travel on a gallon of fuel. Trump also said he would authorize the Department of Transportation to allow automakers to manufacture “really small cars” like the kind found in Japan and South Korea. The White House claims that existing regulations would have caused automotive prices to increase by $1,000 per vehicle. The previous Trump administration made the same argument in 2020, when it last rolled back fuel economy standards. Since that rollback, though, the price of a new vehicle have climbed to new heights, topping $50,000 on average, as automakers discontinued low-end models to capitalize on consumer’s preferences for SUVs. Larger vehicles use more material, thus costing more to make, while also getting lower fuel economy. Consumers’ choices appear to run counter to the administration’s contention that lower fuel economies are in the car-buying public’s interests. For instance, hybrid sales are up significantly this year over last and momentum continues. Hybrid sales grew 6% in October over the previous month. Techcrunch event San Francisco | October 13-15, 2026 Experts doubt that lower fuel economy standards will change the trajectory of new vehicle prices. Many vehicles are developed with global markets in mind, and most of those still value efficiency. “The rest of the world will contin...