How to lead your business through the electric transition. Without losing trust, legacy, or control

Once upon a time, the badge on a car meant something personal.

Ford was Henry Ford. He didn’t just build engines, but built mobility.

Porsche was Ferdinand Porsche, a designer who fused performance with practicality.

These names weren’t brands.

They were signatures.

Declarations of pride. Of presence. Of family.

But fast-forward to today, and those names have become logos — corporate fronts for decisions made by executives far removed from the original workshop floor.

And now? They're navigating a policy-driven storm they didn’t ask for.

The Policy Trap: When Speed Collides with Reality

Governments across Europe are racing toward zero-emission targets. By 2030, petrol and diesel are scheduled for the scrapheap.

The goal sounds noble.

The execution is rushed.

And families, both buyers and makers, are being squeezed.

Charging networks remain patchy.

EVs are expensive, insurance unstable.

Trust hasn’t caught up with ambition.

But governments don’t pause for nuance.

They legislate from spreadsheets.

And businesses, even giants like Ford, are left scrambling to retrofit visions they didn’t choose.

The Chinese Inversion: Outsmarting the West at Its Own Game

While Europe dreams green, China delivers cheap.

BYD, NIO, and other Chinese EV manufacturers are flooding the market with affordable models. They dominate battery supply chains while still building coal-fired power at home.

They’re not saving the planet.

They’re securing global leverage and profiting from Europe’s urgency.

The result?

Porsche and Ford aren’t competing on innovation anymore.

They’re trying to survive a war of margins.

The Human Cost: From Taycans to Trust Issues

Take the Taycan owner who received a letter from Porsche warning not to park near buildings due to fire risk.

He did the responsible thing: asked his insurer for advice.

The response? Both his car and home insurance were cancelled.

He didn’t have an EV issue.

He had a trust issue.

And in an interconnected world, a breach of trust ripples far beyond a single policyholder.

The Lesson We’re Forgetting

Legacy wasn’t built on quarterly earnings.

It was built on care. On reputation. On time.

Henry Ford paid workers more than anyone thought wise — so they could afford the cars they built.

Ferdinand Porsche didn’t mass-produce risk. He crafted machines.

Today, that long-term thinking is evaporating.

In its place: rushed rollouts, uninsurable liabilities, collapsing supply chains, and political theatre masquerading as progress.

So What’s the Better Path?

We don’t need to resist change.

But we do need to pace it.

Hybrids as a transitional bridge.

Incentives for practical uptake, not penalties for non-compliance.

Charging networks that work for everyone — not just for cities.

Choice preserved — so people aren’t bullied into transitions they don’t trust.

This isn’t nostalgia.

It’s remembering that the best progress respects people.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Is this anti-EV?

No. It’s pro-reality. EVs will become a natural part of the future not through coercion or speed traps.

Q: What’s wrong with governments setting deadlines?

Nothing, unless those deadlines ignore infrastructure, affordability, or unintended consequences like lost jobs and foreign dependency.

Q: Isn’t this just capitalism evolving?

Possibly. But if evolution erases legacy, punishes trust, and weakens sovereignty, it’s time to course-correct.

Q: What can family businesses learn from this?

That scale without soul leads to collapse. Your advantage is agility, humanity, and trust. Guard those like treasure.

Pause. Reflect. Act.

🔹 Reconnect with your founding values — not as nostalgia, but as navigation.

🔹 Review where you’re reacting to policy rather than leading through principle.

🔹 Reposition your message around trust, clarity, and adaptation at human speed.

Because the world doesn’t need more slogans.

It needs examples.

The next generation is watching what you do not just what you say.