President Donald Trump said on June 4 that he met with senior executives from major U.S. automakers to discuss the “right-to-repair” debate.
The auto industry has sparred with independent repair shops and other groups for years over the ability to repair new vehicles. The U.S. auto service market is worth about $200 billion annually.
Trump said he met GM CEO Mary Barra, Ford Motor senior executive Andrew Frick and top officials with the National Automobile Dealers Association and the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, along with Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio), a former auto dealer.
He said it was a “great meeting” while expressing surprise at industry positions that he said limit consumers’ ability to service their own vehicles. Congress is considering federal legislation on vehicle data access as repair costs rise for American families.
The conversation focused on ongoing debates over repair restrictions embedded in modern vehicles.
“We had the auto industry in yesterday. They don’t want people to fix their car. I said, ‘That’s strange!'” Trump said. “They have a thing; nobody’s allowed to fix their car.”
Legislation passed by a U.S. House of Representatives committee last week would codify existing industry memorandums of understanding and give the Federal Trade Commission authority to enforce them.
The auto alliance, which represents nearly all major automakers, said it supported the proposal and noted that 75 percent of post-warranty vehicle repair work is done at independent shops. The group said that in 2014, automakers committed to making all repair instructions, tools, and diagnostic codes readily available to dealers and independent repairers.
Many lawmakers and independent repair shops say more is needed and want Congress to pass separate legislation to ensure vehicle owners have access to and can share the information necessary for repairs, including diagnostic data. Proposed legislation would require vehicle manufacturers to provide owners and independent repair shops with access to vehicle data related to diagnostics, repair, calibration, and recalibration.
A number of lawmakers argue that by restricting access to data, automakers can raise prices and independent repair shops must spend hefty sums to get access to repair software.
The auto dealers group opposes the legislation, saying it would enable aftermarket parts manufacturers to reverse-engineer auto parts and produce knockoffs, and that it would give insurance companies more power to influence repair decisions.
The Trump administration has shown support for repairs in sectors such as agriculture, where rules were issued to allow farmers greater access to equipment maintenance.
“Last month, we issued a major new rule declaring that farmers have a right to repair your own equipment,” Trump said on March 27. “You didn’t have the right to fix your own equipment. We ended that rather quickly, and now you do.”
Reuters contributed to this report
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