#699 - 🚗 Bring The 🔥

1999 lbs, Apps, and Econ Recon

TOGETHER WITH

Welcome to Friday!

It’s the last day of the week and month — time to bring the 🔥!

Remember: In a wise partnership, fire can cook, warm, light, and transform. But, if abused or neglected, it can burn your garage down.

Keep Pushing Back
-Paul, Kyle, Chris & Kristi

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BUSINESS

Friday Updates

Giphy

Every day, we read a ton of news, and every day, 1999 lbs of it is about EVs. Across the globe, automakers are preparing for China's big push into every personal vehicle market. With reliability, flashy tech, and affordability at the forefront of most minds, brands are setting high-margin luxury models aside for a bit to connect with a-b drivers where it counts — their budget.

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Affordable Plans

General Motors (GM)

  • 2026 Chevy Bolt: Expected to be the most affordable EV on the market, leveraging Ultium technology with an LFP battery and NACS charging port.

  • Cadillac Optiq: Cadillac's entry-level EV at $54,000, aiming to attract younger buyers with features like dual-motor all-wheel drive and Super Cruise.

Stellantis

  • Affordable Jeep EV: CEO Carlos Tavares announced plans for a $25,000 all-electric Jeep to attract mainstream consumers, similar to the Citroen e-C3 model in Europe.

  • Production Plans: Aiming for cost parity between EVs and traditional vehicles within three years to better compete with Chinese manufacturers.

Toyota

  • Sales and Production Decline: April saw a 0.5% drop in global sales, with significant declines in China (27%) and Japan (14%) due to price wars and production issues.

  • EV Adoption Pressure: Japanese automakers face increasing pressure from the shift to EVs and hybrids sold by Chinese brands.

Volkswagen (VW)

  • Affordable EVs: Plans to debut new low-cost electric vehicles in 2027, targeting a price of around $21,800 (€20,000), with models like the ID 2all concept.

  • Independent Development: After ending partnership talks with Renault, VW will go solo in developing affordable EVs, focusing on localization in Europe.

Kia

  • New EV Models: Launching a series of affordable EVs, including the EV3, EV4, and EV5, priced between $30,000 and $50,000, starting in Korea and expanding to other regions.

EV Apps Influence Buying and Ownership Satisfaction

A phone was once judged based on its ability to put your voice in the head of a person far away and theirs back into yours. But eventually, a tin can on a really long string didn't cut it, and phones were cameras and computers and maps and friends all at once. Wild.

Anyway, as cars become more high-tech, their ability to get people places isn't even the main factor in shopper consideration. Some data from JD Power says automakers need a good app to sell EVs.

  • 90% of EV owners now use their brand's mobile app, a 2% increase from last year.

  • Two-thirds of Tesla owners are influenced by app features when buying, compared to one-third of non-Tesla owners.

  • Key features include battery monitoring, with 67% of owners using apps frequently.

  • 74% of owners report receiving app assistance from their dealerships, up by 2% from the previous year.

  • App connection problems remain flat year-over-year, though issues with Tesla's app have increased, possibly due to higher usage. 

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What makes an app bring the 🔥?

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DATA & INSIGHT

Weekly Market Check-Up

Tenor

Markets took a bit of a breather last week after a month-long rally, but the S&P 500 still remains up by about 11% for the year. 

  • Tiny Tweaks –  A modest 5% correction in April suggests a possibility of more volatility ahead, but economists don’t foresee it morphing into a prolonged bear market.

  • Tech Leads the Way – Spearheaded by companies like NVIDIA and Microsoft, large-cap technology continues to buoy the markets, particularly in the AI sector.

Edward Jones / FactSet

Analysts foresee the bull market that started in October 2022 potentially stretching into the years ahead, driven by improving inflation trends, a possible Fed rate-cutting cycle, and robust earnings growth.

  • Bullish Persistence – Historically, bull markets outlast and outperform bear markets. Since 1946, the average bull market has lasted about 5.6 years with gains of 192%, while bear markets average 16 months with a 34% decline.

  • Just Getting Started – Given that the current bull market is a little over 1.5 years old with the S&P 500 up 48%, history suggests there may be more time and price appreciation ahead.

Pricing and availability in the auto industry are showing some recent fluctuations worth noting:

  • Overall Price Trends — Wholesale prices are trending downward, presenting potential opportunities for savvy dealers to capitalize on.

  • On the Up and Up — Full-size and sporty cars are experiencing price hikes, likely due to a surge in consumer demand and supply constraints.

  • Keep on Truckin’ — Trucks are seeing price drops, making them a potential bargain for inventory acquisition.

  • Auction Sales — The auction sales rate dipped to 55% this week, down 1% from last week, indicating a slight decrease in sales activity.

Black Book

Quick Hits

  • A robotic extra thumb may give people a hand at performing complicated tasks. 👍️

  • There is a drug that makes people regrow teeth. 🦷 

  • A trailer for Moana 2 is out. 🏝️ 

History

  • 1859: Big Ben rings for the first time over the Houses of Parliament. 🕰

  • 1929: Ford heads to the USSR. 🏭

  • 1995: The one millionth Saturn car is produced. 🪐

Thanks for reading, friend! We hope you feel ready to start your day equipped, encouraged, and connected. Now, let’s make Friday sweet!