Welcome to today's edition of the Daily 5.
We are 24 days out from the U.S. elections, and the stakes are extraordinarily high for every facet of the auto industry, from electric vehicles to China.
With Michigan a key swing state, Democrat Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican former President Donald Trump and their running mates make routine campaign swings through the area. This, of course, puts the auto industry in the thick of it.
So at The Battery Show in Detroit yesterday, experts said companies in the electric vehicle supply chain are holding off on critical investments to see who wins. For good reason. A Harris administration will likely continue President Joe Biden's support for EVs. Another Trump administration, despite its alliance with Tesla CEO Elon Musk, will no doubt pull back on Biden's pro-EV policies.
Trump, who was in Detroit, promoted the idea of making auto loan interest a tax deduction. It's an interesting idea, but even if he wins, would he hold enough political capital to get Congress to pass it?
The strategic political implications for the auto industry and Michigan were analyzed earlier this week by Crain's Detroit Business, an Automotive News affiliate. The story digs into how the election could influence China policy on EVs, batteries and raw materials.
While we're talking politics, we published this thoughtful editorial yesterday on climate change and automotive policy.
In case you need to count down the days, hours and minutes to the election, here you go.
Finally, knocking on wood, it appears Hurricane Milton didn't inflict catastrophic damage on Florida dealerships. Based on what we're hearing, the storm surge in Tampa didn't reach the tragic expected levels.
We'll continue over the next few days to look at the many stories behind our 2024 Best Dealerships To Work For program. And on Monday, we'll take a closer look at artificial intelligence-enabled voice assistants for cars.
That's it for now. Have a great weekend.
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— Philip Nussel, online editor
