Wednesday At Last

Automotive, tech, culture, and business are like fish in the same school. But every now and then, "politics" tries to swim along, and things get weird. Here are a few political moves that could impact retail auto's day-to-day with time.

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Laws, Rules, and Guidelines

🦺 Safety First

To reduce fatalities, the Biden administration will require all new vehicles to include pedestrian-collision avoidance systems by the end of the decade.

• Details: Vehicles must include automatic emergency braking and detect pedestrians in dark conditions.
  • Impact: Expected to save 360 lives and prevent 24,000 injuries annually.

📻 Don't Touch That Dail

Industry advocates push Congress to mandate AM radios in new vehicles, citing their critical role in emergency communications and public safety.

• Legislation: A bill requiring AM radios in all new vehicles to ensure access to emergency alerts.
  • Community Impact: This is particularly crucial for rural and minority communities for reliable emergency communication.

⛏ Standard Mining Standards

The UN has formed a panel to draft voluntary guidelines for ethically mining critical minerals needed for renewable energy, addressing environmental and social concerns.

• Purpose: Develop global standards to ensure ethical mining practices for critical minerals.
  • Limitations: Guidelines will be voluntary, raising concerns about the effectiveness of enforcement.

Hyundai Hybrids in India

Hyundai Motor Group is looking to snatch up some hybrid market in India. The plan is to bring a mid-sized SUV to the country by 2026 in addition to driving hard toward electric vehicles in other markets. India and hybrid SUVs are the new ✨thing✨. Hyundai would be pretty silly to sit this one out. Like a fish on a diving board, ya gotta dive in.

Stellantis Rev(enue) Down, Rev Up

Stellantis NV reported a 12% drop in first-quarter revenue to $44.7 billion. On the one hand, a double-digit drop is rough going, but on the other, ending up $44.7B up is hard to pity. 📈

While some of the dip is attributed to the cost of transitioning to new tech vehicles, shipments fell 10%, with North America showing the most significant drop.

Despite these challenges, Stellantis is optimistic about improved growth from its upcoming—get this—twenty-five new model launches this year. Even if they sell one of each, that should make a dent.

VW Profits Drop, Spirits Soar

Stellantis isn't alone; Volkswagen Group reported a 20% decline in Q1 profits but also remains optimistic about reaching its 2024 financial goals. This optimism thing is going around.

BEV sales hit a snag in Europe and the US, while China did pretty well. The company expects new models to bring some positive movement through the rest of the year.

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“Ya gotta spend money to make money.” But eventually, ya also gotta show everybody your quarterly report; chances are all that spend is going to need to show some make pretty quick if you want Wall Street to give you a cookie.

Mercy, wouldn’t Wall Street as a concept be better if it really gave companies cookies? Finally, a way to understand the stock market for the average Joe.