Welcome to today's edition of the Daily 5.
When disasters such as Hurricane Helene rip into a community, there's almost always an automotive impact. Often, a dealership is damaged. Or an auto parts plant gets shut down. Sometimes, an assembly plant goes offline.
But in the aftermath of Helene, we discovered an unanticipated automotive story: cars that catch fire in a flood.
Reporter Molly Boigon today tells us how this happens. She explains that salt water puts electric vehicles and their lithium ion batteries at more risk of catching fire.
Florida Fire Marshal Jimmy Patronis said EV makers should warn customers about it.
"Unfortunately, prior to Hurricane Helene making landfall, we did not see a lot of proactive measures by manufacturers in notifying customers in storm surge areas to relocate their vehicles," Patronis said in a statement. "It's not too late for these manufacturers to send out notifications and fire safety information directly to their consumers."
Sounds reasonable, but would automakers do this voluntarily, or would they need a nudge from state or federal regulators?
We do have some good news today from the Helene aftermath. Canadian supplier Linamar Corp. confirmed all its employees in North Carolina are safe and accounted for. At one point, the company could not reach about half of its 469 workers at two plants in the flood zone.
Meanwhile, Hurricane Milton continues to churn toward Florida's west coast amid predictions of more catastrophic damage. We reported that dealer Ken Ganley's Kia store in New Port Richey, Fla., which just lost 672 vehicles from Helene's flooding, got some new inventory from a sympathetic Kia dealership in Orlando. Trouble is, Ganley's dealerships must now prepare for Milton.
In other news today, John Huetter gives us an update on Asbury Automotive's growing legal fight with the Federal Trade Commission, which in August filed a complaint against three Asbury stores in Texas, accusing them of violating the FTC Act and Equal Credit Opportunity Act.
Unlike many dealerships that routinely settle these kinds of cases, Asbury is fighting back. Asbury asked a federal judge last week to block the FTC's case on constitutional grounds.
Dealers and their advocates will be watching this case closely.
Finally, from Japan, Hans Greimel gives us a detailed look at Honda Motor Co.'s broad plans for its next generation of EVs, called the 0 Series. The global portfolio enters production in Ohio in 2025. It's a significant test for Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe.
That's it for today. Have a great rest of your afternoon.
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— Philip Nussel, online editor
