News to Know

Hyundai Cuts Corners

Most great features have limitless applications; Hyundai's Ioniq 5 has a feature that seems to have a very limited number of applications.

• e-Corner System turns the wheels of the EV sideways, allowing it to spin in place, perform a semi-drift maneuver, parallel park, or, maybe most importantly, escape a tight parallel park situation.
• The Steer-by-Wire system means each of the vehicle's four wheels is independently controlled by electronic motors, which is pretty much restricted to EV-only use.
• Hyundai Mobis says it is adding more cameras, sensors, and projectors in cars with the feature for safety needs.
• They say the system is not designed for high-speed driving and has only been tested up to 50 MPH.

Quick math — going forward at 50 mph feels like going 30 mph but going sideways at 50 mph feels like going 90 mph.

We know you're just thrilled to be sharing the road with these, so look toward 2026 for their slow global release.

Charging the New Charger

The new Dodge Charger comes with a charger. No pun intended.

• Photos are out and about showing off the next-gen Charger and its lack of exhaust pipes, confirming claims about an electric version of the classic name.
• Named the Charger Daytona, it carries design elements from the 2022 concept version.
• Final designs should be released soon, with the car being sold later this year.

Stallantis' Restructuring

Following weak demand, Stellantis is temporarily laying off workers in Turin, Italy. Of the 2,250 workers going home, 1,250 produce the electric Fiat 500, and the other 1,000 produce Maseratis.

• The layoff will stretch from February 12th to March 3rd.
• Many shoppers in the European market are waiting for incentives and tax breaks to be more well-established before buying an EV.

In the US, the company offered 6,400 white-collar buyouts in November and announced it would cut over 500 supplemental jobs across its US manufacturing locations.

Toyota's 10M

Toyota says it will produce 10.3M vehicles in 2024. If they manage to reach the goal, it will be the second consecutive year the brand sets a new global production record.

• 3.4M in Japan, 6.9M overseas.
• Spread across the Lexus brand and Toyota.
• 250,000 EVs in 2024, with a goal of 600,000 in 2025.

Hybrid neutrality? The company's plan is partially the result of a really positive year for its hybrid offerings. It says now that its work with hybrids, ICE, and EVs is all part of its push for carbon neutrality.

BMW's Tipping Point

BMW's CFO says the company has passed a "tipping point" with ICE engines and is now seeing its growth come from EVs.

• 15% of 2023 sales were EVs, and they hope to grow that to 33% by 2026.

However, the company says it isn't done with hydrogen power as its goal pivots toward adaptability.

• The company's new Munich plant will be built around adaptability to produce ICE, EV, hydrogen, or newly developed vehicles, as the market insists.
• The plant will also use AI for precision assembly, training, and quality control tasks.

We've heard the "robots are taking our jobs" jargon, but "robots are becoming our bosses" is a new level of "oops" coming out of the future tech conversation.

GM and Costco

The Cadillac LYRIQ has lost its tax break, but GM has a plan with everybody's favorite spot to score free samples — Costco.

Essentially, anybody with a Costco membership as of Jan 2, 2024, can register with the retail giant's Auto Program and receive a promo code to knock $1,000 off the price of their $60K+ EV.

A $1,000 coupon doesn't make up for a $7,500 tax cut, we know, but GM thought of that too and is offering an equivalent discount for vehicles that lost eligibility. So, this Costco discount, like their hotdogs, is legit and pretty cool...if you like hotdogs or EVs.

While Hyundai slings rides on Amazon, you may drive your next pile of bulk beef jerky home in a new caddy.

. . .

If you can’t innovate, collaborate.

All of these announcements, even the odd ones, seem to poke at our current market moment, looking for the next foothold to keep climbing.

Don’t let them have all the fun! What can you do in your state, city, or neighborhood to leverage innovation to oil the gears of collaboration? Or, collaborate to throw rocket fuel on your innovation?