Welcome to the Daily 5 report for Monday, Feb. 10.
After years of seeing automotive brands around the world announce aggressive zero emission and electric-only goals, much of the industry has returned to flexibility to also include gasoline and hybrid powertrains — at least for now.
Given the slower-than-expected sales of electric vehicles and potentially drastic Trump administration policy changes toward EVs, flexibility would seem like common sense at least for the next 10 years.
"Having that flexibility will be very important," Sam Fiorani, vice president of global vehicle forecasting at AutoForecast Solutions, told our Hannah Lutz in this story today. The transition to EVs will continue, but automakers must cater to "consumers who want the product they understand, with a gas engine," he said.
"In an ideal world, policy [and] regulation would be moving together to make this transition," Bob Nelson, executive vice president of American Honda Motor Co., told Automotive News. "We still believe in [electric vehicle] technology. … It's a marathon, not a sprint, and we're still optimistic on our path forward."
Speaking of U.S. policy changes, President Donald Trump today was poised to announce stiff 25 percent tariffs on imported steel and aluminum. This sparked a rally in U.S. metals stocks, including legacy auto supplier U.S. Steel Corp., which still wants to be acquired by Japan's Nippon Steel Corp. It begs the question of whether U.S. Steel could benefit enough from the tariffs to remain independent. It's a good bet that the bean counters at U.S. Steel's headquarters are running the numbers.
Also on the Trump front, there are growing doubts that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is operating after Elon Musk's DOGE operatives showed up at CFPB headquarters last week. This will no doubt be a thrill to car dealers who have questioned the agency's existence from the beginning because of its perceived duplication of other regulatory agencies.
And it will draw the ire of Democrats who created the agency following the Great Recession to improve regulation of the finance world. For Musk's part, he posted the message "CFPB RIP" next to a tombstone emoji on his personal X account last week.
Musk, by the way, finally made it clear he's not interested in taking over TikTok in the U.S., putting to rest speculation from a variety of sources, including this Daily 5 column from last month.
That's it for today. Have a great rest of your day.
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— Philip Nussel, online editor
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