Welcome to today's edition of the Daily 5.
Donald Trump's return to the White House is certainly boosting optimism in the business world, particularly on Wall Street, but which segments of the economy stand to benefit the most?
Retail technology thought leaders like their chances, Mark Hollmer reports today.
"Across the board, their optimism in the last week [after the election] and their belief in the future is significantly up," John Fitzpatrick, CEO of Force Marketing, a company that provides data-driven marketing for more than 1,300 new-vehicle franchised dealerships, told Hollmer.
If nothing else, the overall pro-business atmosphere will make auto retailers more willing to invest in innovation. And it can't hurt that one of the most successful technology entrepreneurs of all time, Elon Musk, has the president-elect's ear, at least for now.
Still, anyone in the auto industry understands risk. Foremost among them is the potential impact of Trump tariffs on auto production and sales. We'll have to wait until Trump takes office in January to fully assess which parts of the business world will win under Trump, Part II.
Another good story in our report today relating to the Trump transition is this column by Larry P. Vellequette. Amid the polarizing viewpoints about the new administration, there continues to be a slowly percolating crisis about vehicle affordability.
"Affordability to this industry is not being discussed enough," Jack Hollis, COO at Toyota Motor North America, told Vellequette on Nov. 8. "The consumer has got to be able to purchase vehicles, transportation."
Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Auto Show starts next week. We can expect Hyundai, Kia and Genesis to dominate. Fiat is expected to show off a new edition of the 500e hatchback. Volkswagen and Ford are also putting on events.
Ford Motor Co. today generated more bad news about its ongoing quality troubles following its agreement with NHTSA to pay up to $165 million in fines for violating recall regulations. While it's the second-highest NHTSA fine of all time, $45 million of that goes toward Ford making investments that will improve its safety compliance infrastructure.
According to our story, Ford has to build a multimodal imaging test lab that focuses on low-voltage electronics and invest in a VIN traceability system to track components.
Ford has led the U.S. auto industry in recalls for the last three years and remains tied with Stellantis in U.S. recalls so far this year with 58 callbacks, according to NHTSA data.
But the real surprise in these NHTSA statistics? BMW is third with 31 recalls. General Motors is next with 30.
That's it for today. Have a great rest of your afternoon.
If you want to view this report in your browser, click here.
— Philip Nussel, online editor
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