Welcome to the Dec. 11 edition of the Daily 5.
In yesterday's Daily 5, we noted that Nissan has been in the news quite a bit, "thanks largely to its rapidly deteriorating financial health." Today, Hans Greimel, our man in Tokyo, provides more detail. The automaker is giving U.S. perspective a seat in the C-suite, appointing Jeremie Papin, head of its troubled North American division, as the embattled carmaker's new global finance chief. Papin takes the baton from current CFO Stephen Ma on Jan. 1 as part of an emergency management shuffle the company hopes will rekindle growth and restore profitability. The overhaul targets Japan, North America and China, other sore spots for Nissan as volume flails amid lackluster or delayed vehicle rollouts. And as we reported earlier, Nissan veteran and former Jeep CEO Christian Meunier was tapped to succeed Papin as leader of Nissan's Americas business.
It's not all doom and gloom: Cox Automotive's latest Dealer Sentiment Index says franchised dealers are feeling their most optimistic in nearly three years. The survey says interest rate cuts and the conclusion of the election were factors. Cox asked 493 franchised dealers Nov. 6-18 — starting one day after the presidential election — what they thought their area's market would be like three months later. The dealers gave that future market a score of 60, an 11-point bump in optimism from a quarter earlier and a 14-point gain from the fourth quarter of 2023. It was the most bullish dealers were in the poll since the second quarter of 2022, when inventory was low but profits were high. Index results greater than 50 indicate dealers view conditions as positive or improving. A score of 50 is neutral. Scores below 50 indicate conditions are negative or weakening.
Meanwhile, with General Motors kicking its Cruise subsidiary to the curb, Waymo and other self-driving tech companies have more room to develop and deploy robotaxis across the U.S. GM executives said on Dec. 10 that they were were halting efforts to develop robotaxis to focus on personally owned autonomous vehicles. Waymo was already in the lead, commercializing the industry with approximately 650 robotaxis deployed in three major U.S. markets. And it is gathering momentum while Cruise and other competitors including Ford, Hyundai and Volkswagen have wilted away.
Be sure to also check out our story on Mercedes-Benz hiring Continental CFO Olaf Schick as its new head of integrity, governance and sustainability. We also have the lowdown on Hyundai's next-gen Palisade.
That's it for today. Enjoy the rest of your day!
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— Wes Raynal, assistant web editor
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