The Department of Transportation has finalized a major rollback of US fuel-efficiency rules, reversing targets set under Joe Biden and giving automakers more freedom to decide which vehicles they sell. For 2031, the average fleet requirement drops from 50.4 to 34.9 miles per gallon. Reuters confirmed the rule was published on September 28, 2026. It is the sharpest drop in CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) standards since the program began.
The shift is large. Biden’s plan would have required carmakers to reach 4.7 liters per 100 kilometers by 2031; the new target is 6.7 liters. The credit market, which would have let electric-vehicle makers sell excess compliance credits to other manufacturers starting in 2028, has been scrapped. The Department of Transportation says the new rules will save buyers $1,300 per new car. The focus has shifted from climate to cost. The New York Times reports that the 2031 target is about 34.5 mpg, well below the previous 50.4 mpg goal.
A preliminary government analysis estimated that the new rules could lower the average price of a new car by about $930, while leading to tens of billions more gallons of gasoline being consumed by 2050, Reuters reported.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy did not mince words. "While Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg pushed a green agenda that made our roads less safe and raised costs for working Americans, this administration is delivering relief for families." The administration is emphasizing affordability and market freedom over climate goals. CNBC and Reuters both report Duffy’s argument that the old rules made cars pricier for buyers. The rollback is intended to address those costs.
Environmental groups are pushing back. Katherine Garcia from the Sierra Club’s clean transportation program said, "Less efficient cars mean more gasoline burned, higher costs at the pump, and dirtier air in our communities." Gas and diesel prices are at record highs, with the US midterm elections just weeks away. Reuters reports that green groups warn weaker standards will mean more emissions and higher fuel bills for families.
For carmakers, the shift is impressive: efficiency is now a business choice, not a federal requirement. The Department expects the mix of new registrations to swing from 70% light trucks to 70% passenger cars, depending on what sells. The rules have changed repeatedly over the decades. Reagan relaxed them in the 1980s. Obama doubled them in 2012, Trump reversed course in 2020, and Biden restored the targets. Now the cycle is turning again.
The White House has framed the rollback as a rejection of an ‘EV mandate.’ Reuters and Al Jazeera describe that as a political talking point, not a precise legal description: the final text did not explicitly require electric-vehicle quotas.
Spain’s car industry is watching from afar. Factories in Martorell and Zaragoza, along with plants in Vigo and Palencia, build for Europe, not the US. The 2025 tariff deal between Brussels and Washington already blocks most European cars from the US market. The direct impact on Spanish exports is small, but the indirect effects are harder to ignore.
The real squeeze is on Spanish parts suppliers such as Gestamp, CIE Automotive and Grupo Antolín, which operate plants in the US and Mexico. The rules once favored electric and efficient cars; now, large combustion engines are back in favor. These companies must rethink orders and investments. Volkswagen and Stellantis in Spain are watching US and EU rules drift further apart.
Brussels is sticking to strict CO2 targets. The 2035 goal is still under review, and intermediate steps have not been set. The US reversal leaves the European Commission without its old argument that America is moving in the same direction. The next major fight will be in Europe, not Washington. Spain’s future is tied to Germany’s, and both risk losing investment to the US if Europe maintains strict rules.
CAFE standards began in 1975 after the oil embargo. Every US administration since has changed them. This latest move is about car prices and the politics of voters who buy used cars and pay for gas, as well as workers in auto plants. Fuel prices are high, and elections are near. The trade-off is clear: short-term savings take priority over long-term climate goals. That is the pitch.
As reported earlier, the global car market is already shifting. Brands are reworking plans for combustion and electric models. The US decision will speed up this split, leaving European regulators and carmakers facing a market where the rules and incentives no longer match.
