Welcome to today's edition of the Daily 5.
Anyone who has sent a child off to college is at risk of crying when they see Chevrolet's latest holiday ad. Our affiliate Ad Age today digs into why and how this holiday tradition has worked so well for General Motors.
Here's the full version of the ad — we suggest keeping some tissues nearby.
The extended version of last year's tear-jerker generated 30 million views and 600,000 shares, Chevy told Ad Age.
Chevrolet CMO Steve Majoros told E.J. Schultz of Ad Age that the annual ads are the brand's "holiday card to America," noting that "holidays just naturally make you a little more introspective."
Meanwhile, Majoros said the brand will not advertise during the upcoming Super Bowl.
That's somewhat of a surprise after it appeared in a 2023 Super Bowl ad along with fellow GM brands as part of a partnership with Netflix.
"2025 for us is about performance and selling and growth," Majoros said. "It's about efficient, effective, optimized growth in continued, challenging business times."
There was big news in the supply chain this week with the retirement of longtime Dana CEO James Kamsickas, 57, who parted ways with the drivetrain supplier and its board Monday. Former Adient CEO Bruce McDonald, a member of Dana's board, took over as interim chairman and CEO, effective immediately.
Dana has been on a slippery slope for almost three years since activist investor Carl Icahn bought nearly 10 percent of the company and won two seats on the board.
Kamsickas, who became CEO in 2015, went all-out preparing Dana for the electric vehicle era. He was proud of those efforts, which included installation of a large array of EV chargers in the front lot of the company's headquarters just off U.S. 23 in Maumee, Ohio.
Time will tell where the supplier is headed. Dana has endured 120 years of automotive industry booms and busts. It survived Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2006 and emerged from court protection in 2008 — just in time for the Great Recession.
Now, the company will be looking for a new permanent CEO, and management says it plans to cut about $200 million in annual expenses by 2026.
In other coverage today, we have two more significant stories about President-elect Donald Trump's potential impacts on the auto industry. This story tells us about an anticipated boom in dealership buys-sells in 2025. And we have one following up on Trump's broad tariff threats and the potential effect on vehicle prices. One estimate says such tariffs, if enacted, could add $3,000 to sticker prices.
Looking ahead to Friday, we'll have a story about how lower interest rates could prompt many consumers to refinance their car loans.
The Daily 5 will be back on Monday after the long holiday weekend. Happy Thanksgiving!
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— Philip Nussel, online editor
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