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Automakers mobilize dealers, employees to help block California’s EV rules
The fight over California’s plan to ban gas cars is heating up. (3 min. read)
Marcus Amick
May 22, 2025
Automakers are calling on the Senate to roll back California’s push to ban gas-powered cars and leaning on dealers and employees to do the same this week—as the showdown over the state’s anti-ICE plans heats up.
The details: Auto industry support for the Congressional Review Act (CRA) bill, which the Republican-controlled Senate aims to leverage to overturn California’s plan, has been mounting for a while—with automakers now mobilizing others tied to the industry to join in the efforts to help roll back the measure.
An email from a digital field manager at Toyota (obtained by CDG News)—with the subject “CALL TO ACTION: EV Mandate”—urges dealers to contact their senators to get them to vote “yes,”
Last week, GM sent a message to thousands of employees, calling on them to lobby U.S. senators to overturn California’s regulation banning new gas-powered car sales.
What they’re saying: “Time is running out. Critical decisions are being made in the Senate right now that will impact our future—and we can’t afford to stay silent. We need your voice to demand action. Call or email your senators today and urge them to stand up for what’s right,” read a dealer memo from a Toyota Digital Field Manager.
Between the lines: The message is resonating with some of Toyota’s top dealers, who are now voicing public support for the push.
“We are aligned 100% with Toyota and support the CRA as we believe it will provide better and more affordable choices for our customers as we remain focused on a multi-powertrain approach to reducing carbon emissions,” Penske Motor Group President Doug Eroh, who also serves as GM of Longo Toyota, told CDG.
Why it matters: The Senate is already leaning heavily towards putting the brakes on California’s plan to ban gas-powered vehicles. Calls from automakers, their dealer base, and employees to vote yes on the CRA bill could seal the fate of the anti-ICE plan, which has been adopted by a dozen other states.
At Longo Toyota, where 61% of sales come from electrified vehicles (including hybrids, plug-in hybrids, EVs, and fuel cell models), there’s clear momentum behind reducing carbon emissions. But even with that success, the dealership sees major challenges in the plan to ban gas-powered vehicles outright, viewing it as unrealistic despite the business value of EV adoption.
“BEV’s represented 20.8% of sales in California in Q1 2025,” Eroh explained. “It has taken over 100 years of automotive sales to get to 20.8% so it’s impossible for the industry to gain another 14% in just six months.”
Bottom line: Automakers like Toyota and GM are actively mobilizing dealers and employees to pressure the Senate into overturning California’s gas car ban—signaling growing industry resistance to aggressive EV goals and a broader fight over how fast the U.S. should transition away from internal combustion engines.
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