Automotive Ventures Weekly Intel Report | Dec 18, 2023.
Thank you Mark Hollmer at Automotive News for the coverage of Automotive Ventures. | Automotive News
For 2024, Cox Automotive believes the automarket will be steered by five key themes:
Slow Growth Ahead, But It Sure Beats a Recession.
Vehicle Supply Is Back, Favoring Consumers, Placing Downward Pressure on Prices.
In 2024, We Officially Bid Farewell to the Seller’s Market.
In the Electric Vehicle Market, 2024 Will Be the Year of More – More Models, More Incentives, More Discounting, More Advertising, and More Sales Muscle.
Car Buying in America: Normal is Nice.
New electric vehicle (EV) supply on dealership lots at the end of November was at 114 days, more than double the supply of 71 days for the total U.S. supply of available unsold new vehicles. |CoxAutomotive
Ford plans to cut output of its electric F-150 Lightning pickup by half next year because of "changing market demand," a steep pullback of a high-profile nameplate the automaker spent most of this year working to build in larger numbers. |AutomotiveNews ()
Tesla still dominates EV sales, but legacy automakers continue to erode their market share. |AutomotiveNews ()
The outlook for electric vehicles isn’t quite as bright as it was six months ago, and the US is largely to blame. |Bloomberg ()
Allstate announced double-digit rate increases for auto insurance in California, New York and New Jersey, following comments CEO and President Tom Wilson made last week that the company would drop insurance customers in those states, if rates weren’t increased. |Repairer Driven News
The small number of independent mechanics who repair EV batteries struggle to do so affordably due to design challenges, safety requirements, and a lack of access to spare parts. |FastCompany
Elon Musk leverages his companies to "scratch the back" of others. The porous boundaries between the many companies Musk leads or controls (a half-dozen by last count) allow personnel and board members to freely float between them. Musk companies are often customers of other Musk companies |The Information ()
GM CEO Mary Barra said Wednesday the Detroit automaker still plans on moving to all-electricvehiclesales by 2035 even as it has recently delayed some EV production. |Reuters ()
Mary Barra placed one of the industry’s most decisive bets on electric vehicles and self-driving cars, shrinking GM’s sprawling global operations to help fund an expensive transformation. Now, the twin engines of Barra’s growth strategy—EVs and driverless technology—are stalling out. |WSJ ()
Michael Dunne's mysterious "Prediction Genius" has some bold predictions for 2024, including:
Ford Will Exit The China Market.
Mary Barra Will Step Down.
Trump Destroys IRA Legislation for EVs.
| DunneInsights
Tesla’s warning to Cybertruck resellers and scalpers appears to be back. The automaker “may seek injunctive relief to prevent the transfer of title of the Vehicle or demand liquidated damages from you in the amount of $50,000 or the value received as consideration for the sale or transfer, whichever is greater.” |TechCrunch
The House of Representatives voted, 221-197, to pass the Choice inAutomobileRetail Sales Act, which would bar the Environmental Protection Agency from finalizing or implementing regulations on emissions standards for cars and light-duty trucks. The bill now heads to the Democratic-controlled Senate. If it passes, President Joe Biden issued a statement saying he would veto it. |AutomotiveDive
Jon McNeill, the former president of Tesla, founder ofventureDVx and vice chair of the Cruise board, wrote an interesting op-ed in TechCrunch debunking the recent storyline that EV demand is weakening. He argues that data shows EV sales are thriving, but warns that the U.S. must take action if it wants to stay in the global race. |TechCrunch
Big Oil faces a tiny foe on the streets of Asia and Africa. The noisy, noxious vehicles that run on two and three wheels, carrying billions of people daily, are quietly going electric — in turn, knocking down oil demand by one million barrels a day this year. |NY Times ()
By some estimates, non-engine pollutants, called “non-exhaust emissions,” already make up over half of the health-damaging particulate matter that comes from on-road transportation. Non-exhaust emissions are microscopic, airborne particulates released by the wear and tear ofvehicletires, brake pads, brake discs, and the road’s surface itself. |NRDC
ZEEKR, the premium electricvehiclebrand of Chinese automaker Geely, unveiled lithium iron phosphate batteries it developed that support fast charging. The company said its upcoming 007 sedan would be the first model to be equipped with the batteries, which charge sufficiently within 15 minutes to reach a driving range of 500 km (300 miles), together with an 800-voltage electric system. |AutomotiveNews()
RMI's latest battery report highlights the remarkable, exponential growth of battery sales, which is driven by a domino effect of battery technology adoption: a reinforcing feedback loop between market scale, cost, and quality. As the battery market grows, unit cost keeps falling and quality keeps rising. |RMI
CyberTruck for kids. Christmas comes early. |Tesla
The Tesla Cybertruck is the first EV from the automaker to use a 48-Volt (48V) electrical system implementation throughout the entirevehicle, as compared to the 12V systems that are used in pretty much every othervehicleon the planet. Tesla shared its 48V implementation documentation with other major automakers. |Electrek
Tesla is limiting the use of its Autopilot driver-assistance software as part of a two-million-vehiclerecall, one of the first results to come from an ongoing multiyear investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). |TechCrunch
The nation’s largest public EV charging network was created after Volkswagen’s “Dieselgate” emissions scandal forced the German carmaker to spend $2 billion building EV chargers. In the years since, the company that arose from that settlement — Electrify America — has built thousands of charging ports across the U.S. But advocates say many of those chargers don’t work. |The Washington Post()
Capital One Accelerator Program applications are live. Whether you want to launch your mobility idea or grow your startup, this program is for you. |Capital One
The FAA data reveals that SpaceX has completed 281 licensed launches since 2000 — 9x as many as Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic have managed between them. |Chartr
The hurdle for Series A funding is a lot higher than it was a year ago — and investors in seed-stage companies are having to respond to lower valuations in their next round. |TechCrunch
VC funding for Mobility Tech bounced back significantly in Q3, according to PitchBook’s latest Emerging Tech Research report. The report covers megadeals, key startups, and the trends in the mobility tech vertical. |PitchBook
Hagerty has published their 2024 Bull Market List: The 10 best collector cars to buy right now |Hagerty
Speaking of cars to buy, we've got a new "Car of the Week": a 1964 Ferrari 275 GTB/LM Competizione Speciale. |Mecum
Have a great week,
Steve Greenfield
Notable & New
Steve catches up with CarDealership Guy at NAVIcon 2023. |AutoRemarketing
On this week's Future ofAutomotivesegment on CBT News, Steve catches up with Mike Hanna from TrueSpot to discuss their recent investment from Reynolds and Reynolds. |CBT News()
Companies to Watch
Silent Falcon leverages drone technology to inspect airport runways. |Silent Falcon