(FOX 2) – This week, a national newspaper published a shocking headline claiming that Detroit’s Big Three automakers were asking the new president to sell them electric vehicles.

In a story published in the New York Times On Thursday, Ford, General Motors and Stellantis are calling on President-elect Donald Trump to “force us to sell electric vehicles.”

Automotive analysts like John McElroy were not impressed.

“The headline is completely misleading. The auto companies are not begging the Trump administration to force them to sell electric vehicles. That’s not the case at all,” he told FOX 2.

The story of domestic automakers begging Trump goes beyond just selling cars. In what has become one of the biggest political hot potatoes of the 2024 presidential election, regime change in the executive branch means all the money the Biden administration has invested in grants could be reversed.

Following calls on the campaign trail for a repeal of federal regulations on electric vehicles, there are now concerns about what Trump will do — and how automakers should respond.

“What the automakers want is for the Trump administration to maintain subsidies for electric vehicles so they can sell these products,” McElroy said.

Even with regulations encouraging consumers to buy electric vehicles, the demand hasn’t been there.

But a good portion of the workforce and jobs are held in the industry – and regulatory changes mean some could lose their jobs.

“If he does something like that and you start seeing a lot of firings with that, then that’s really going to hurt him politically, and I think it’s going to hurt Republicans overall politically,” said Dr. Jeff Rightmer, of the Wayne State University. .

The reason behind the industry’s change of direction and the current administration’s desire to sell more is to combat climate change, thanks to the emissions produced by gasoline-powered cars.

“The EPA has set these very strict standards to combat global warming, but to do that you have to sell electric cars. Electric cars are not affordable and so the government provides subsidies to help make all of that comes true,” McElroy said.

But due to a lack of sufficient buyers, examples like Ford, which lost $3.7 billion this year in its electric division due to the idling of its F-150 Lightning factory, are making headlines.

And without sufficient government support, domestic automakers could fall further behind.

“They’ve invested so much in this sector and yet the market just isn’t responding,” Rightmer said.