The biggest vehicle market is in California and the state regulators are pushing the automakers to be increasingly fuel efficient. The President does not like anything President Obama did and was trying to push back regulations. Consumers seeing the weather has changed also like more fuel efficient vehicles, it costs less to buy fuel. In an article by Ben Klayman and David Shepardson of Reuters, 4 automakers Ford, BMW, Volkswagen and Honda said they will abide by state rules rather rules from Washington.
Chrysler, GM and Toyota will review the document but goven the competitve nature of the business will likely agree.
Linking to dividend paying stocks, government regulations play a role in running a company. Companies psy significant money to lobby to get what they want and usually it is less is better. In California the auto companies were on track for lower emissions including from electric vehicles and agreed to higher regulations which is a good thing. Expect the companies to use it in their marketing if one of the other companies refuses to sign on.
There are more questions than answers, till the next time- to raising questions.