The federal government is facing calls to respond to an effective ban on Chinese carmakers in the US with moves of its own.
Auto industry experts say any moves would be complicated, and risk slowing the pace of Australia’s transition to electric vehicles.
The Albanese government says it is “closely monitoring” the moves in the US, and is in talks with the Biden administration about any local implications.
I do think there is something to be said about being wary of modern cars in regards to security. I wouldn’t trust manufacturers as far as I could throw them when it comes to actually making secure systems - particularly when you’re dealing with remote connection capabilities. The focus on China is convenient for the US but I wouldn’t trust their systems either. Ford in particular has been concerning recently by patenting a way of ad serving based on user data a normal person would consider private (such as conversations within their cars). It doesn’t even take the OEM being malicious to be a problem, they only need to miss a security hole…
…or a bad financial quarter and unscrupulous executives who need to inflate their figures.