US Politics
Senate panel to question car safety improvements that are ‘making vehicles too costly’
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A Senate panel is set to grill automakers about mandated car safety and climate-conscious improvements following concerns that they are making vehicles too costly.
At a committee hearing scheduled for January 14, Republicans will question requirements for safety measures, such as automatic emergency brakes and alarms to remind drivers that children are in the vehicle.
Bosses from major companies, including General Motors, Ford, Stellantis, and Tesla, have been summoned to appear before the panel.
“Americans have been clear that they are hyper-focused on affordability – and so is this committee,” said Senator Ted Cruz, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
“The average price of a car has more than doubled in the past decade, driven up by onerous government-mandated technologies and radical environmental regulations. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act took crucial steps to drive costs down with the repeal of the EV mandate and CAFE standards, but we must do more.”
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The full committee hearing is titled “Pedal to the Policy: The Views of the American Auto Industry on the Upcoming Surface Transportation Reauthorization.”
It will aim to examine “how government interference continues to make vehicles expensive and out of reach for American customers and how we can restore competition and choice,” according to the committee website.
Mary Barra, Chair and CEO of General Motors, Antonio Filosa, CEO and Executive Director of Stellantis, Jim Farley, President and CEO of Ford Motor Company and Lars Moravy, VP of Vehicle Engineering of Tesla are all scheduled to appear.
General Motors and Ford Motor are still deciding whether to send their bosses to the hearing, spokespersons for the companies told The Wall Street Journal. Stellantis declined to comment, the outlet reported.
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The Independent has contacted Tesla for comment on the upcoming hearing.
In 2000, the average new car in the U.S. sold for $20,300, rising to around $24,200 in 2010.
By 2020, the average new vehicle transaction price had doubled and now exceeds $50,000, according to the committee lawmakers, who state that new mandated technologies and climate regulations, like start-stop technology, have contributed to the soaring vehicle costs.
However, despite Cruz’s skepticism, vehicle safety advocates have argued that the current mandates on safety features do not go far enough – with around 40,000 road deaths in the U.S. per year,
“Regulation is the best way to make sure everybody’s got this technology that’s highly effective,” a spokesman for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety told WSJ.
