Welcome to today's edition of the Daily 5.
If you live in an election swing state such as Michigan, you'll hear that electric vehicles are too radical, dangerous and unhinged for America. You'll hear that the entire U.S. auto industry is going to collapse if you vote for a politician who supports EVs.
That's the kind of atmosphere created by the onslaught of misleading and dishonest political attack ads that will be contaminating the airwaves, social media and most news sources until Nov. 5.
So it's no surprise the EV industry is concerned about long-term reputational damage to their product.
In fact, research conducted by the American EV Jobs Alliance found that 88 percent of the $21.5 million spent on EV-related advertising during the current election cycle was negative.
"I'm concerned. It's not good that there's not sufficient pushback against a misleading narrative on EVs," Joe Sacks, executive director of the EV Politics Project, told Automotive News affiliate Crain's Detroit Business.
EV boosters are worried that if the critical messages take root, they will have to deal with political fallout in Congress and state legislatures.
Automakers also face the prospect of more troubles ahead in making the conversion to zero-emission vehicles — a move most of them have promised for years.
To be sure, the industry's transition to EVs has been politicized for a long time, but for this crucial segment of the auto industry to get caught up in the middle of saturation political attack ads? Nothing good can happen here.
Fortunately, these ads will come to an end in 13 days.
Meanwhile, our report today is loaded with news.
Lithia Motors Inc., the nation's largest dealership group, reported an overall solid third quarter, fueled by its ongoing acquisition binge. Wall Street bumped up Lithia shares 10 percent to $335.31 during an overall down day for stock markets.
Speaking of dealership acquisitions, we also have the latest installment in our series about artificial intelligence in the auto industry. This one focuses on how AI can be used in dealership buy-sell transactions.
In the world of luxury dealerships, BMW's U.S. boss is still optimistic about 2024 results despite a slump during the third quarter caused by a recall and stop-sale problem.
Finally, we published a story from our partners at Bloomberg about the spate of occupational injuries being reported at Rivian Automotive's plant in Normal, Ill. Rivian has led the industry in workplace injuries initially reported as "serious," but the EV maker defends its safety record and practices. It's not a surprise that the UAW is criticizing the nonunion automaker.
That's it for now. Have a great rest of your day.
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Editor's note: Because Automotive News will be in the midst of transitioning to a new content management system, the Daily 5 will be sent early tomorrow afternoon. Our normal schedule will resume Friday.
— Philip Nussel, online editor
