Auto alliance flexes its lobbying muscles

The Alliance for Automotive Innovation appears to have found its lobbying stride in recent weeks, with the group publicly weighing in on multiple issues facing the industry as the incoming presidential administration prepares to plot a strategy that will factor into automakers' long-term planning.

Since late November, the alliance has vowed to work with President-elect Joe Biden on efforts to reduce vehicle emissions, released a playbook to guide federal policies on automated vehicles and challenged the revised "right to repair" law in Massachusetts. In addition, the group has hired Garrick Francis, a public policy veteran at railroad giant CSX Transportation, to lead its federal affairs team starting next year.

The alliance — formed in January after the merger of two prominent auto lobbying groups — represents a bulk of the auto industry, with members including the Detroit 3, Volkswagen, Toyota and other major automakers in the U.S. as well as some suppliers and tech companies.

"The auto industry came together in January to speak with a single voice — and that's led to a string of accomplishments that was only possible with the industry united," John Bozzella, CEO of the alliance, said in a statement to Automotive News.

At times, the diverse membership has presented a challenge for the newly formed group to align under one position. That divide has played out in an ongoing court battle over the Trump administration's efforts to stop California from setting its own emissions rules — an issue that has split automakers into two factions.

But Bozzella, who led the Association of Global Automakers before its merger with the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers to create the new entity, said the group's blended membership gives it a certain advantage.

"We also, because of this, have the opportunity and a unique perspective," he said during a webinar last week. "A unique perspective that brings together this whole ecosystem to look at policies that can advance technology, but also the opportunity to build a consensus approach so that when we're engaged in the policy space that we're speaking with one voice."

Even as the industry remains split on President Donald Trump's legal battle with California over the state's authority to restrict tailpipe emissions, the alliance has vowed to work with a new administration on efforts to reduce vehicle emissions and encourage an electric-vehicle future.

"The long-term future of the auto industry is electric," Bozzella said in a statement last week after the group's semiannual board meeting.

"We recognize that regulation and policy will help set the terms for that future and that near-term regulatory issues will need to be resolved in a way that benefits the economy, the workforce and the environment," he said, adding that the alliance "looks forward to engaging with the incoming Biden administration on an aligned nationwide program to advance the shared goals of reducing emissions and realizing the benefits of an electric future."

The pledge came after General Motors withdrew its support of the Trump administration in the California lawsuit. Ford, a week after GM's announcement, urged other automakers to consider backing a framework deal with the state on vehicle emissions and move forward on a single national standard.

Any renewed efforts to tighten vehicle emissions standards and encourage EV production by the Biden administration are likely to face an uphill battle if Republicans maintain their majority in the Senate. The balance of power will be determined by runoff elections in January for both of Georgia's Senate seats.

The alliance last week released a four-year action plan to guide federal policies and advance the testing and deployment of automated vehicles in the U.S.

The AV policy road map makes 14 recommendations under three pillars that "reform regulations to allow for AV deployment at scale, harmonize federal, state and international policies and lay the foundation to achieve longer term objectives."

Specifically, the group is proposing federal policymakers create a new vehicle class for AVs within the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, establish a national pilot program for AV testing and deployment, raise the existing 2,500-vehicle cap on temporary exemptions that can be granted to AVs and several other policy priorities outlined by the auto industry.

The alliance's action plan comes after another group led by consumer and safety advocates released its own outline for AV legislation that prioritizes safety, equity, accessibility and sustainability.

"There are undeniably other policy issues beyond those covered in our road map that are critical to the broader AV policy discussion, including those that will contribute to greater acceptance and adoption of this technology," said Hilary Cain, the alliance's vice president of technology, innovation and mobility policy, during a webinar on the plan's unveiling.

"We remain committed to working with policymakers and other stakeholders in the coming months and years to advance those important priorities," she said.

In Massachusetts, the alliance filed a legal challenge last month against a recently enacted ballot measure that expands access to data related to vehicle maintenance and repair.

The initiative updates the state's "right to repair" law by requiring automakers to equip vehicles that use telematics — which collect and wirelessly transmit information such as crash notifications and remote diagnostics — with a standardized open-access data platform that is accessible to vehicle owners or third parties such as repair shops starting with the 2022 model year.

The alliance argues the law is "unenforceable because it is unconstitutional" and conflicts with federal laws. It also alleges the revised law poses cybersecurity and vehicle safety risks and the short timeline sets an "impossible task" for compliance.

In a filing last week, the alliance asked the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts for a temporary order barring enforcement of the law, contending that if the law takes effect, automakers "will suffer irreparable harm from being forced to abandon the secure vehicle systems they have spent years building, in accordance with federal law, to keep drivers and passengers safe."