US President Donald Trump has held talks with senior automotive industry leaders to discuss the ongoing legislative dispute over vehicle right-to-repair regulations.
The White House meeting included GM CEO Mary Barra, Ford senior executive Andrew Frick, and senior officials from both the National Automobile Dealers Association and the Alliance for Automotive Innovation. Republican Senator Bernie Moreno, a former car dealer, also attended the discussions.
Reflecting on the meeting, Trump said: “We had the auto industry in yesterday. They don’t want people to fix their car. I said ‘That’s strange!'” He added: “They have a thing; nobody’s allowed to fix their car.”
The debate centres on control of the annual $200 billion US auto service market. Last week, a US House of Representatives committee approved a bill to codify existing industry agreements, giving the Federal Trade Commission enforcement powers. The Alliance for Automotive Innovation supports this, noting that automakers committed in 2014 to sharing repair guidelines, and that 75% of post-warranty work occurs at independent garages.
However, independent repairers and bipartisan lawmakers argue the current framework falls short. They are pushing for separate legislation forcing manufacturers to share real-time diagnostic, calibration, and repair data directly. Campaigners warn that restricting wireless data access allows carmakers to inflate prices whilst hitting independent workshops with steep software subscription fees.
Conversely, the national dealers group opposes the expanded data-sharing laws. The trade body argues that open access would allow aftermarket manufacturers to reverse engineer components to produce “knockoffs,” whilst giving insurance firms too much power over repair decisions.
Ford confirmed its attendance at the meeting, whilst the main automotive trade groups declined to comment further.
Source: Reuters