AUBURN HILLS – Stellantis, the parent company behind the Jeep brand, has stopped shipping gas-powered cars and other vehicles to 14 states in the U.S. unless a customer has ordered one. If this feels abrupt and maybe even a little strange, well, it is. The 14 states soon to be taking part in California Air Resource Board‘s vehicle emissions rules are hitting Stellantis hard.

This massive shift is due to something called a CARB rule. CARB rules determine how an automotive company’s environmental impact is measured. While Stellantis isn’t alone in this predicament, the Jeep brand owner is getting worked by this developing situation harder than most due to its remaining lineup of gas-powered cars.

There are five major companies that get their fleet emissions measured by CARB based on nationwide sales; BMW, Volkswagen, Volvo, Honda, and Ford. However, the rest of the carmakers out there get their emissions measured by CARB in states that follow the California Air Resource Board’s rules. Therein lies the problem for Stellantis.

The only solution is to stop sending vehicles to those 14 states unless a customer has ordered one. Automotive News reports that nearly 36% of Americans live in these CARB states. That percentage represents over 100 million people. Dealers will likely struggle in these states, but as the past two years have shown, enough customers are willing to wait for the right car. While some may wait, rest assured that many buyers will likely travel to non-CARB states to buy.

There are 14 CARB states. Depending on where you live in the country, it could be difficult to reach a non-CARB state. The entire west coast abides by the CARB rules.

Traveling to another state from one of these west coast states could take some time. The east coast is also a block of CARB states once you get north of Maryland, with the exception of New Hampshire. Virginia, New Mexico, Nevada, and Arizona plan to follow the CARB rules soon, too. It’s clear that gas-powered cars could soon become more difficult to acquire – especially in these states.

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