This image, of President Donald J. Trump standing in front of a Russian car, a Zhiguli (or Kopeyka in the vernacular)—better known as a Lada to the rest of us—was really posted by the Grand Old Party, with the words ‘The One Big Beautiful Bill will drive the return of the great American car.’
Either their graphic artist is working for the other side and doing some clever trolling or they had no idea this was an old Russian car.
Autocade has more on the original VAZ-2101. With the way the Trump administration’s tariff policy is going, building a modern-day equivalent may be one way to make US cars competitive in their own market.
A PBS analysis summed it up: cars coming from the EU, Japan and South Korea face a 15 per cent tariff heading into the US, because of the trade deals those economies brokered. However, Canada and México face at least 25 per cent, with discounts if they have US-made content. As I understand it, components from Canada and México face 25 per cent, too. Where do US car makers get their components from? A lot come from their neighbours. Hence European, Japanese and Korean cars are going to be more competitive than what the US car makers will be in their own country. Reshoring is going to take a long time—and is there any certainty how long this lot will be in power?
Though if you believe what Trump said on the campaign trail, he wishes to do away with elections, and one of his sons is already talking about having a political dynasty. So far he is, as he said he would, govern on the basis that a promise made is a promise kept. This is what the majority of their voters chose.
The next Autocade Year of Cars is going to be an interesting one when we look back on 2025.