Whitmer’s latest pitch for Michigan’s auto dominance: ‘We don’t care what you drive’

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer appears to have reversed her plans for an all-electric vehicle future before President Donald Trump revoked a 2021 executive order that called for 50% of new vehicle sales to be electric.

Now, she just wants Michigan to remain the nation’s top auto manufacturer.

“We don’t care what you drive – [a gas-powered vehicle], hybrid, or EV – we just care that it’s made right in here Michigan,” she said in her “Road Ahead” address.

Southern states, including Georgia, Tennessee, and South Carolina, have attracted auto plants, Whitmer said.

“Some of them are just writing blank checks to companies,” Whitmer said. “Well, that’s bad.”

“The future of the entire auto industry is at stake. The very core of Michigan’s economy is on the line.”

The apparent change of heart follows Michigan offered at least eight companies more than $1 billion each in taxpayer funding through cash-for-jobs programs since 2021, The Detroit News reported.

The Michigan Economic Development Corporation said “All we do is win,” but the reality is starkly different, according to a recent study.

Only one of every 11 jobs promised by Michigan politicians and public officials in announcements about business subsidies gets created, according to a study by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.

The Mackinac Center found that only 9% of the jobs announced in major state-sponsored deals from 2000 to 2020 were created.

Since 2023, Michigan has promised $4.6 billion in subsidies to select, favored corporations.

In one instance, Michigan paid out $600 million to a General Motors and Ultium joint venture before it created any jobs, The Detroit News reported.

About 50,000 electric vehicles are registered in Michigan. Whitmer wants 2 million EVs by 2030, according to the MI Healthy Climate plan.

To reach that goal, Michiganders must register 32,500 EVs monthly for five years.

Electric vehicles aren’t the only car choice, Rep Dave Prestin, R-Cedar River, told Michigan Capitol Confidential in a text message.

“This one-track mindset has devastated the auto industry by crippling the free market and taking choices away from Michigan drivers,” Prestin wrote.

A rule from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency required about 67% of new light-duty and medium-duty sales to be electric by 2032.