Slow Down, Take it All In

Big News: FTC Suspends Enforcement of CARS Rule Pending Legal Review

• Temporary Hold: The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has temporarily suspended implementing its Comprehensive Automotive Retail Standard (CARS) Rule.
• Legal Challenge: This decision follows a challenge in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals by the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) and the Texas Automobile Dealers Association.
• Rule Details:
• The CARS Rule, announced in December, was scheduled to become effective July 30.
• It focuses on establishing new requirements for dealership advertising and finance and insurance practices.
• FTC's Position: The FTC order stated, "Balancing the equities here, the Commission has determined that it is in the interests of justice to stay the effective date of the Rule to allow for judicial review."

Keep an eye on The Automotive Troublemaker this morning to hear more from Paul, Kyle, and Jim Ganther of Mosaic for a deep dive on how this came about and what it means.

Maserati

Stellantis's Maserati premium brand is halting production on its harry-potter-spell-sounding EV, the Quattroporte Folgore. It is the 3rd major EV delay for the brand on its road to an all-electric lineup.

• Officially, the company says they have performance concerns. Media sources point to the group's recent request for a 6% reduction in parts prices as a hint they are rethinking the business savvy of the whole push.
• Maserati has other electric models on the way, with the GranCabrio releasing this year.
• Stellantis seems to be looking for the sweet spot between future all-electric dreams and profitability today.

Rivian

Since last November, Rivian has offered leasing in some US states, but now they are adding their R1S SUV to the list.

At $1,157 a month PLUS tax and "fees," you may wonder who wants to sign on for such a steep price, but by leasing, consumers are eligible for the full $7,500 tax credit. So, a full-year lease would only cost the customer $6,384 of the $13,884 total cost of 12 months.

But since Rivian's leasing options are 24-36 months, the math breaks down kinda ugly after that.

VinFast

Last year, Vietnam's home turf EV maker, VinFast, aimed to deliver 40K units but fell short at closer to 35K. A valiant effort, but like my dad used to say, "Effort doesn't pay the Bills." He owed two guys named William a lot of money, but that's beside the point.

• Competition, market adoption, and shaky economics contributed to the slower-than-hoped growth of the company.
• Despite the shortfall, the company delivered 35% more in Q4 than in Q3, signaling a ramping up of the brand's effectiveness.
• 60% of VinFast's deliveries in Q3 and Q4 were to its affiliate, Green SM a taxi operation in Vietnam.

Volvo

There are a lot of reasons to take a chill pill if you've caught the EV bug, but Volvo's CEO says, "It's just allergies. Let's get this paper" (Paraphrased by Chris)

The company leader, Jim Rowan, says "tremendous growth," is coming to the EV market as people earn more money and can afford to buy them.

Last year, Volvo increased its year-over-year EV sales by 70% to 113,419. In terms of production, EVs were just 16% of the units Volvo produced, with the number jumping to 37.5% if including hybrids.

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Let’s face it: China is and will likely remain the world’s BIGGEST auto market for some time.

But the US is the capital of the business world. Everything that happens out there will likely make ripples, if not landfall, here in our country.

So, while we can watch VinFast, Volvo, and EV Leasers from a distance today, we may be competing against them, sparing space with them, or working around them tomorrow.

This email works both ways: Hit reply and let us know, “What do you think we should be keeping our eye on as an industry?”