"Try building your cars in the United States instead of shipping them over. Is that possible to ask? That's not rude. Is that rude? I don't think so."President Donald Trump speaking to Japanese car executives in Japan

"The Germans are bad, very bad. Look at the millions of cars that they sell in the U.S. Terrible. We're going to stop that."Trump to European Union officials in a closed-door meeting, according to German magazine Der Spiegel

"We aren't deal junkies. … It is incorrect to assume that Fiat Chrysler hinges, that its future hinges on the ability to do a deal."FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne on speculation that the company or parts of it could be sold

"Contrary to what some of my colleagues believe, we are not in the mobility business. We don't move people around. ... At the end of the day, we are only building the tools that allow people to be mobile." Marchionne

"From the outside, it's difficult to understand how something like this could happen at a company that is so focused on quality. Even I don't. … It's incomprehensible why I wasn't informed early and clearly. I would have prevented any type of deception or misleading of authorities."Former Volkswagen Group CEO Martin Winterkorn in his first public remarks since apologizing for the company's diesel emissions scandal in September 2015

"In the old world, it is Toyota, Hyundai and the French carmakers. In the new world, it is Tesla."Herbert Diess, Volkswagen brand chief executive, on who VW's main competitors are

"Jim always made me think. So many people I meet in this job, I hear the same thing over and over again."Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford on new CEO Jim Hackett

"The moment that they say, ‘We're going to put a 20 percent tariff on cars,' I get up from the table. Bye-bye."Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo Villarreal

"We're going to go through at least six months of manufacturing hell. It's going to be quite a challenge to build this car."Tesla CEO Elon Musk on the ramp-up of the Model 3

"Quite frankly, auto companies can't tell publicly what they really believe. They know what's going to happen, but they have to say what is going to be popular to be perceived as a progressive company."Don Walker, Magna International CEO