Toyota Turns Around Its EV Tone, Ford Looks For Blue Ovals, Target Breaking Out The Tinsel

The Automotive Troublemaker w/ Paul J Daly and Kyle Mountsier

It’s Monday as we welcome our first week of Fall talking about Toyota’s changing tone on rapid EV adoption. We also talk about the badges which may be driving Ford’s supply hold ups, as well as Target going all in on holiday season…like now.

• Toyota is subtly shifting its tone toward EV adoption in response to some investors and environmental critics who say the company isn’t doing enough to quickly mass adopt EV’s
  • Toyota has been one of the most cautious critics of broad statements and stated manufacturing shifts toward BEV adoption citing concerns in the global ability to produce enough battery materials to support the move
• Danish fund AkademikerPension, which manages around $19 billion on behalf of academic institutions and school employees, has battled with Toyota for almost two years over what it sees as the auto maker’s opposition to measures promoting EV adoption… saying EV skepticism was “jeopardizing Toyota’s valuable brand to the detriment of shareholder interests.”
• Akido Toyoda, Toyota’s chief, is a prominent voice of caution about EVs and questioned whether the vehicles are as environmentally friendly as advertised and expressed doubt that consumers really want them
• Ford recently issued an earnings warning which reduced its earnings by over $1B and also announced there will be between 40-45k vehicles awaiting parts to be completed
  • Although the company isn’t talking openly about it, sources confirmed with the Wall Street Journal that it is a lack of Ford’s iconic blue oval badges and nameplates which specify the models which are causing a large portion of the holdup
  • The company has considered options such as 3D printing the badges only to hold back over quality concerns
  • The shortage is linked Tribar Manufacturing, a company in the Detroit suburb of Wixom who has a large a-list of auto manufacturer clients and had a recent high-profile shutdown over concerns that they released high amounts of toxic chemicals into local waterways
• Is Target responding to Walmart’s October push into the holiday sales season basically moving Black Friday to early October?
  • Last week we reported Walmart’s rolling out of its “no concerns” return options starting on October 1st. Now…
  • In an announcement, Target said they are kicking off its holiday season push with its biggest ever “Deal Days” promotion from Thurs, October 6 to October 8 where the retailer will offer “hundreds of thousands of incredible deals” and will price match everything they offer through December 24
  • Target announced weeks ago that it would be hiring 100k seasonal workers to stock shelves, pick online orders, and keep the stores in order throughout the season.
  • Target currently fulfills 95% of all its online orders.

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Hosts: Paul J Daly and Kyle Mountsier
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