Welcome to the Daily 5 report for Monday, Feb. 3.
It has become almost impossible to predict what happens next in the controversial tariff and trade issues between President Donald Trump, Canada and Mexico. The story literally changes by the hour, but here's our most recent update.
What we can tell you is that U.S. auto sales remained strong in January, continuing the momentum built toward the end of 2024, as reported by David Phillips. Among the automakers that have posted results so far, deliveries rose 1.7 percent. Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mazda and Subaru generated strong gains while Toyota and Ford fell. We're still waiting on Volvo's results.
Our story makes a couple interesting points about key vehicles made in Canada and Mexico: Depending on how automakers respond, the tariffs could impact supply and/or prices for some of the industry's most popular models, including Chevrolet, GMC and Ram full-size pickups and the Toyota RAV4, the nation's top-selling utility vehicle, and Tacoma, the bestselling midsize pickup.
Other important vehicles produced in Canada or Mexico include the Ford Mustang Mach-E, Bronco Sport and Maverick; the Chevrolet Equinox and Blazer; the GMC Terrain; the Honda HR-V, Civic and CR-V; the Hyundai Tucson; the Lexus RX; the Audi Q5; and Volkswagen's Jetta, Taos and Tiguan, according to our story.
From South Carolina, we have an eyebrow-raising story from Jack Walsworth about the latest wrinkle in the ongoing fight between advocates of direct vehicle sales and franchised dealerships. A bipartisan bill in the state Legislature would allow for electric vehicle sales direct to the consumer, a move that would benefit Scout Motors, which is building a sprawling $2 billion assembly plant in the state.
"This legislation is specifically designed to apply to manufacturers that have never previously held a franchise dealership agreement with an automotive dealer," the bill says.
As expected, the South Carolina Automobile Dealers Association opposes the measure.
Executive Vice President E. Sims Floyd Jr. said his organization met with Scout officials. "They just want to compete against the dealers," Floyd said in our story. "The net of it is they want to change the law. There's no real middle ground there."
Meanwhile, on the Stellantis front, Chairman John Elkann has been shaking up the company's top management ranks even though he hasn't hired a CEO in the wake of Carlos Tavares' departure. Several top appointments came down over the last 24 hours.
A key note in our story: Antonio Filosa, head of Stellantis' Americas region — who is seen as a candidate to succeed Tavares — has taken on the additional role of global chief for quality.
Filosa also has taken over the duties of Olivier Bourges, who had been chief customer experience officer since June 2024, a person with knowledge of Bourges' departure told Automotive News. Bourges was Tavares' replacement for Richard Schwarzwald, one of several high-profile executives from the former Fiat Chrysler Automobiles side of the business who left last year.
For tomorrow, you can count on our continued coverage of the tariff situation.
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— Philip Nussel, online editor
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