Welcome to the Dec. 12 edition of the Daily 5.
Honda plans to showcase additions to its global electric vehicle lineup at next month's CES. Toyota is scheduled to highlight progress made by its Woven mobility and software business, and there will be loads of new in-cabin features relying on the latest artificial intelligence innovations from multiple companies on display. But the hottest automotive topic at CES might be the presidential transition.
The annual tech showcase occurs in the twilight days of one administration and on the cusp of the next one, which is expected to bring seismic shifts in transportation policy that reverberate across the automotive landscape. "That's going to be the shadow hanging over CES," said Jeffrey Hannah, chief commercial officer at consulting firm SBD Automotive.
The 140,000 to 150,000 attendees at CES will navigate that purgatory. The global technology conference runs Jan. 7-10 in Las Vegas.
Experts anticipate auto industry headwinds from the incoming Trump administration's threat of automotive import tariffs, an end to federal electric vehicle tax credits and increased regulatory support for the autonomous vehicle industry. But the specifics are not yet known.
There could be many hints of what those specifics might be in Project 2025, the blueprint for a Republican presidential transition published by conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation. The auto industry, state regulators, environmental groups and other stakeholders are looking to Project 2025 as a road map for how the incoming administration could change everything from EV incentives to fuel economy standards. The authors of Project 2025 include Diana Furchtgott-Roth, an economist and former deputy assistant secretary for research and technology at the U.S. Department of Transportation, and Thomas Gilman, former CEO of Chrysler Financial.
President-elect Donald Trump tapped Federal Trade Commissioner Andrew Ferguson to lead the consumer protection and antitrust agency, Trump said on social media. Ferguson, one of two Senate-confirmed Republican FTC commissioners appointed by President Joe Biden, will be "the most America First, and pro-innovation FTC Chair in our Country's History," Trump said on his Truth Social platform. "Andrew has a proven record of standing up to Big Tech censorship, and protecting Freedom of Speech in our Great Country."
Another story you'll want check out: Brazilian ports have been clogged this year with upward of 70,000 unsold Chinese EVs, a sign of how hard it's becoming for China's automakers to keep up their robust growth.
And you won't want to miss video we have of a Utah man, reportedly angry about mechanical problems with a used Subaru Outback he had just purchased, smashing the vehicle through the dealership's front doors!
That's it for today. Enjoy the rest of your day!
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— Wes Raynal, assistant web editor
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