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It is still two months before Donald Trump takes office, yet global automakers are already figuring out their strategy for handling the next U.S. president after he spent the election campaign threatening tariffs.

Hyundai’s choice has been to promote its U.S. boss and company COO Jose Munoz to be co-CEO, as part of a move to "better prepare for uncertainties in the global business environment".

For good measure, Hyundai also put Sung Kim, a former U.S. diplomat who helped with Trump’s summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, in charge of global external affairs.

Stellantis, which has U.S. plants and need only really fear tariffs on Mexico, where it also has a lot of production, is instead playing up its ability to offer electric, hybrid or gasoline versions of its lineup models, with CEO Carlos Tavares emphasizing it will adapt to any changes under Trump.

Which brings us to today’s Auto File…

As promised, Donald Trump named Elon Musk to co-lead an effort to get rid of government waste.

The Department of Government Efficiency, which Musk will head with former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, is supposed to propose ways to cut bureaucracy, trim regulations and slash wasteful spending by July 4, 2026.

For such a plan to work, Musk will need to move much faster than that. Trump takes office unable to run for reelection, so he will be a lame-duck president from day one. And the middle of 2026 would be too close to midterm elections for Congress to act, so time is short.

Also, it remains to be seen how long Musk’s relationship lasts with Trump.

Musk is close to power, but by making public suggestions as he did at the weekend on whom Trump should pick as treasury secretary, he is acting like he does have power.

As many people have learned, there is only room for Trump at centre stage, as Steve Bannon learned after being hailed as the architect of victory in 2016. Maybe Musk is different because he is the world’s richest man, but if past is prologue then too much limelight and too many laudatory headlines might not be such a good thing for Elon.

Still, so far so good for Musk.

Tesla stock got another boost this week on reports that Trump's transition team wants to draw up federal regulations for autonomous vehicles, which could help the automaker push forward with testing its Full Self-Driving (FSD) driver assistance software.

But even with regulation, as my Reuters colleagues Chris Kirkham and Rachael Levy report, Tesla would still face steep technological and legal hurdles in deploying driverless vehicles. You can read about those challenges here.

No more tax credit for theses EVs? REUTERS/Bing Guan.

Trump has long opposed the Biden administration’s $7,500 EV consumer tax credit and as my Reuters colleagues Jarrett Renshaw, Chris Kirkham, and Nora Eckert reported here, his transition team aims to do end it.

Such a move would be counterproductive and cede ground to Chinese automakers, U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said in response to the news. A group representing EV makers and battery companies also urged Trump not to kill the tax credits, saying doing so would hurt investments in production in key states that voted for the Republican.

Edison International CEO Pedro Pizarro also chimed in, saying the U.S. utility industry wants Trump and the Republican-led Congress to preserve clean energy and EV tax credits in the Inflation Reduction Act, which contains hundreds of billions of dollars in subsidies.

Although Tesla has historically been the biggest beneficiary of consumer EV subsidies, it could now gain from killing the incentive because that could hurt its rising EV competitors.

CATL: could we build it in America? — REUTERS/Kevin Krolicki 

The world's top battery maker CATL would still like to build a U.S. plant if Trump opens the door to Chinese investment in the EV supply chain, founder and chairman, Robin Zeng, told Reuters. You can read it here.

As of now, that’s a big ask. Chinese-made batteries do not qualify for Biden administration EV subsidies. Chinese EV imports are subject to a 100% tariff, which Chinese automakers might have circumvented with plants in Mexico.

But a U.S. government proposal to block any vehicle with Chinese connected-car technology would effectively kill that option.

For Zeng, however, hope springs eternal, telling Reuters: "I do hope that in the future they are open to investments."

Nissan shares received a big boost after reports that activist investors Effissimo Capital Management and Oasis Management had both taken stakes in the struggling Japanese automaker.

The news came less than a week after Nissan issued a profit warning and said it would slash 9,000 jobs and cut a fifth of its global manufacturing capacity amid slumping sales in its two biggest markets, China and the United States.

Shareholder activism has gained traction in Japan, where international and domestic investors are demanding firms improve corporate governance and capital allocation at a record pace.

What has been a bumpy ride for Nissan may get bumpier still.