Intel Report: The Weekly Mobility News That Matters

BY AUTOMOTIVE VENTURES | Feb 16 2026 | VIEW ONLINE

How will AI impact automotive dealers?

First is the democratization of software development. Second, is how AI will help dealers remove operating costs and drive up profitability.

LINK

What We're Reading:

🚗

Automotive

With affordability top of mind for U.S. voters as November’s midterm elections approach, Republicans have been focusing attention on one of the most visible pain points for consumers: the price of a new car. The average figure broke $50,000 for the first time last September and hit $50,326 in December, according to the Kelley Blue Book car buying guide. Researcher Edmunds calculates that the average has risen 61% since 2010. While incomes have grown over that period, too, they haven’t kept up. It took 36.2 weeks of average household income in the U.S. to buy a new car at the end of 2025, a figure down from a pandemic peak but a few weeks longer than the pre-Covid norm. As a result, more Americans have been pushed out of the new-car market or forced to take on more debt to stay in it. President Donald Trump and his allies in Congress have cast fuel-economy rules and other regulations as the culprit behind consumers’ pain. Democrats blame tariffs the president has imposed on imported cars and auto parts. In reality, the reasons for the escalation in new-car prices are more diverse than either side’s accounting of them. And there are still other factors inflating the costs of car ownership beyond the sticker price. | Bloombertg ($)

Online used-vehicle retailer Carvana pushed further into new-car sales, buying its fifth franchised dealership, Sacramento Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram, in California. The store marks Carvana’s fifth Stellantis dealership and its second in California. | Automotive News ($)John Huetter and Dan Shine from Automotive News were kind enough to quote Steve in this article from the American Financial Services Association (AFSA) Conference. Steve Greenfield, general partner, Automotive Ventures: ”MSRPs are inevitably going to inflate at a greater pace than they have. And it’s largely because of tariffs. ... The OEMs up until this point have largely taken it on the chin and absorbed the tariffs. They can’t go on doing this forever. The dealers run at a very thin margin anyway, so the dealers can’t really share. The only option is to increase MSRPs. Optically, it won’t look good. Trump could get angry at certain countries, or certain automakers." | Automotive News ($)Rivian is, by every measure, a maker and seller of EVs. But in 2025, it was the company’s software and services that helped its annual revenue grow by 8%. Rivian reported Thursday $5.38 billion in total revenue in 2025, up from $4.97 billion from the prior year. That rosy picture dulls a bit when looking just at its automotive revenue, which fell 15% to $3.8 billion in 2025. Meanwhile, software and services revenue grew more than threefold to $1.55 billion for the year. And the joint venture with Volkswagen Group was behind most of that growth, according to Rivian. Rivian reported a $3.6 billion net loss in 2025 across 42,247 new vehicles sold, equating to a loss of $85k for each unit sold. | TechCrunch ($)From tail-finned land yachts of the 1960s to hulking family haulers in the 1980s and then the 1990s bestseller Ford Taurus, driving for Americans meant driving a sedan. Then SUVs and trucks won over drivers’ hearts and garages. Ford axed its sedan lineup in 2018. Chrysler-parent Stellantis essentially scrubbed its showrooms of passenger cars. The last General Motors mass-market sedan rolled off the line at its Kansas City, Kan., plant in November 2024—a cherry red Chevy Malibu. But today drivers want lower prices and the automakers are considering the once-unthinkable: bringing back sedans. | The Wall Street Journal ($)Electric vehicle registrations fell last year for the first time in at least a decade following the repeal of the federal EV tax credit, although the drop was modest. EV registrations declined 0.4 percent compared with a year earlier to 1.3 million vehicles, according to S&P Global Mobility. The data does not include hybrids. EV share of the light-vehicle market fell to 7.8 percent from 8 percent a year earlier, the data showed. For all vehicles, regardless of fuel type, 2025 registrations rose 2.2 percent to 16.25 million vehicles. S&P Global Mobility data goes back to 2016, said Tom Libby, an analyst at the company. Government estimates showed U.S. EV sales rising each year in the early 2010s. | Automotive News ($)U.S. automakers have been pumping the brakes on their electric-vehicle businesses for months, and the costs are piling up. Following years of investments into EV technology, the Detroit Big Three: General Motors, Ford Motor Company and Jeep-maker Stellantis have announced more than $50 billion in combined write-downs. | The Wall Street Journal ($)

Global carmakers have booked some $55 billion in writedowns in the past year as they scale back electric vehicle ambitions on a tough U.S. market under President Donald Trump, price wars in China and a more complex mix of vehicle types in Europe. Legacy carmakers are struggling to keep up with new entrants, especially from China, and watered down electrification targets in Europe and in particular the U.S., a key market where the EV shift has stalled sharply. | Reuters ($)

Failed investments in money-losing electric vehicles and a late-year disruption of aluminum supplies for F-Series pickups drove Ford to an $11.1 billion net loss in the fourth quarter, resulting in the automaker’s worst financial performance since 2008. Fourth-quarter revenue declined 5 percent to $45 billion and adjusted earnings before interest and taxes plunged by more than half to $1 billion. For the full-year, Ford lost $8.2 billion, largely because of its EV write-downs and $2 billion in tariffs. The automaker’s 2025 tariff bill ended up roughly doubling its previous projection following a late-year change to offsets by the Trump administration. It was Ford’s third-worst performance ever and third full-year loss in the past six years. | Automotive News ($)It has been a tough road for electric vehicles. After years of ramping up investment on battery technology, vehicle development and factory retooling, automakers in 2026 are scaling down — and that comes with an expensive price tag. GM, Ford, Stellantis and now Honda in recent weeks all have announced billions of dollars in write-downs of their EV operations. All told, the automakers so far have revealed charges against their profits in the ballpark of $50 billion, largely related to recalibrating their EV strategies. And more may be coming. It’s one indication of the degree that automakers overestimated how much — and how fast — consumers would be ready to switch to EVs. They’re repurposing some factory space that once was planned for EVs to now turn out more vehicles with gasoline engines, in part because the Trump administration’s loosening of federal regulations gives internal combustion a longer life. But the outlook for EVs is not all negative. Certainly, in the near term, sales are expected to weaken without the benefit of a $7,500 federal tax credit. But analysts expect demand to recover and cautioned that regulations could shift again under a new administration. | Automotive News ($)

Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney on Feb. 5 unveiled a new industrial strategy to transform the country’s automotive sector, and experts told WardsAuto they were optimistic about its prospects. The plan involves billions of dollars in financial incentives as well as regulatory shifts. The incentives include tariff credits for Canada-based manufacturers, investments into EV manufacturing, sales and charging. The government also committed to replacing a rigid EV sales mandate with a greenhouse gas emissions target. Finally, the plan also makes commitments to workforce assistance programs and notes Canada’s recent efforts to diversify trade relations are core parts of its strategy. | Wards Auto

The head of General Motors’ battery business is staking his reputation on an unproven chemistry to revive the Detroit-based carmaker’s EV fortunes following $7.6bn in writedowns. Kurt Kelty said his “ambitious and risky” bet on becoming the first global carmaker to use a lithium manganese-rich battery technology, which critics regard as commercially unviable, is necessary to resuscitate US EV uptake. GM expects to deliver its first LMR-powered vehicles in 2028. “If LMR has failed, then I have failed . . . but if you don’t take any risk, we’re just going to be making the same old thing and just have copycat vehicles out there, and that’s not what I was brought in to do,” said Kelty, an alumnus of Tesla and Panasonic, who was hired in 2024 to spearhead GM’s battery development. “We need to make some significant improvements to really get that hockey-stick growth eventually in EVs,” he added. | Financial Times ($)

In the auto industry, there are few things deadlier for profits than idle factories. That is what confronted Ford after it shut down eight million square feet of new but barely used manufacturing space in December in rural Kentucky. The factory in Glendale, an hour’s drive south of Louisville, briefly produced batteries for electric vehicles, which have not sold as well as Ford expected. Now Ford plans to make large batteries, some as big as shipping containers, that utilities, data centers and other companies use to manage fluctuations in energy supply and insure against blackouts. Converting the factory might help Ford avoid the costs of maintaining an unused plant and tap into the fast-growing demand for storage batteries. | The New York Times ($)Lead-footed drivers are among the greatest hazards on the road: More than 10,000 annual crash deaths in the U.S. are attributable at least partly to speeding (roughly a third of the national total). Slowing them would improve the country’s eye-popping rate of traffic deaths, which far exceeds those of peer nations worldwide. The kinetic energy of a body in motion is found by multiplying half its mass by the square of its velocity, which means small upticks in speed dramatically increase the force exerted when a motor vehicle is in a collision. Strategies to reduce speeding, such as speed humps and automatic traffic cameras, are effective and often have striking results, with residents generally supporting them. City leaders have a unique responsibility to address the issue of cyclist and pedestrian deaths, and have a diverse array of tools at their disposal, including altering street designs and installing speed cameras, which can help save lives. | Bloomberg ($)

Consumer advocacy group U.S. PIRG Education Fund identifies ways manufacturers use telematics data to steer consumers towards dealers. Vehicle manufacturers are restricting independent collision repair facilities and mechanical shops from accessing wireless repair data generated by vehicles, giving dealership networks a competitive advantage in capturing repair business, according to a report released by Right to Repair advocacy organizations. | Collision Week

🇨🇳

China

Ford's CEO Jim Farley discussed a potential framework with Trump administration officials in which Chinese automakers could build cars in America through joint ventures with U.S. companies. The idea involved Chinese carmakers partnering with U.S. companies, with the American company holding a controlling stake, and both partners sharing profits and technology. No decision has been made on the matter, and the discussion was characterized as informal and preliminary, with Trump officials giving it a cold reception due to potential opposition in Washington. | Bloomberg ($)

Steven Rattner's perspective on U.S. competitive positioning vs. China: "China is just too formidable as a rival — as well as a critical manufacturing powerhouse — to be reined in by diplomacy or an aggressive shift in policy. The only real solution is to get our house in order and beat China at its own game." | The New York Times ($)

If investors rewind the clock two decades ago or more, Detroit automakers were scrambling to get as much of a rapidly expanding automotive market in China. It was supposed to become the next major market to stand next to North America as a pillar of profits -- but that didn't materialize for most. What did happen, however, was a brilliant move by the Chinese government that forced incoming foreign automakers to pair up with domestic automakers to gain access to the valuable market. Foreign automakers begrudgingly accepted this and over the course of a couple decades, the Chinese automakers have turned from an afterthought into game-changing companies. However, if Ford and GM can take a page out of the Chinese playbook, the Chinese coming to America could be a massive opportunity. | The Globe and Mail

Chinese automakers are barred from selling vehicles in the U.S. through steep tariffs. But that reality could change — as soon as this year, if you believe Automotive Ventures general partner Steve Greenfield. Some retailers at the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) Conference detailed to Automotive News why they view the theoretical addition of a Chinese brand as either a risk or opportunity. Those dealers who have not done so already would be wise to seriously contemplate their answer to that question. Beyond privacy concerns, Chinese cars could upend the market and threaten the futures of automakers such as General Motors or Ford Motor Company, whose executives have called China an “existential threat.” While buyers should be allowed to pick winners and losers in a free-market economy, it would not be unreasonable for patriotic U.S. dealers to root for American companies. At the same time, it’s also hard to discount the potential windfall waiting for dealers who add a Chinese brand or two to their portfolio. | Automotive News ($)

Should U.S. dealers sell Chinese cars? The question divided industry leaders at the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) Show, with many acknowledging profit potential even as their trade group pushes to keep Chinese automakers out of the market. While dealers here voiced support for the Trump administration’s efforts to keep imported Chinese vehicles out of the U.S. market, many said they are focused on selling cars. If Chinese automakers find an entry point with inventory that beats legacy automakers on pricing and addresses the growing new-vehicle affordability crisis, they will jump in. That was the message from multiple dealers who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the topic. | Automotive News ($)

The U.S. is one of the last major auto markets that Chinese companies have not yet conquered, due to sky-high tariffs and a ban on auto software systems developed or controlled by them. There are signals that Chinese automakers may find a way into the U.S. market, including President Donald Trump's statement that he would "love" for Chinese automakers to build plants in the U.S. Chinese entry into the U.S. market could be limited to entry-level models, which would mitigate the threat to Detroit and its unionized workers, as U.S. automakers have largely abandoned the lower-priced segment. | Bloomberg ($)

In 2025, Chinese automobiles accounted for 35.6% of the world market share. The total global car sales was 96.47 million units, and China sold 34.35 million units, a 9% increase year-on-year, according to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA). More specifically, global car sales grew by 5% in 2025. For comparison, the USA sold 16.72 million units (a 1% increase), India 5.58 million units (a 7% increase), Japan 4.56 million units (a 3% increase), and Germany 3.16 million units (a 1% increase). On the other hand, the Russian market is experiencing a significant decline, and growth in Mexico is slowing, while markets in South America, such as Argentina, are performing well. In the first half of 2025, China’s share of the global automotive market was 36% with 15.65 million units sold, a year-on-year increase of 11%. Then in November alone, the share increased to 40% and 37% in December 2025, reaching 35.6% for the entire year. | Car News China

The Chinese automotive industry has become the largest exporter of vehicles globally since 2023 and has been increasingly bringing electric models around the globe. The U.S. auto industry, meanwhile, is refocusing on gas vehicles, and legacy automakers have reported billions of dollars in write-downs on their EVs.Companies in the U.S., where autos represent about 5% of GDP, are worried about long-term implications. | CNBC

Volkswagen Group plans by 2030 to build most of the vehicles it offers in China on its new electronic architecture platform developed with EV maker Xpeng. The architecture enables VW to develop cars up to 30% faster and 40% cheaper than with the automaker’s German-developed MEB platform, thanks to centralized control units and increased in-house component production, company officials said. VW’s goal is to build “most of its cars” in China on the software-driven new architecture called China Electronic Architecture (CEA) by 2030, said Liu Ran, a spokesperson for Volkswagen Group (China) Technology Co., Ltd., during a tour of a sprawling manufacturing hub in Hefei, eastern China. The company has faced stiff competition in China, losing its top position to local rivals like BYD and GEELY, which have, in recent years, rolled out new models — with smart features — at a far faster pace. In 2024, VW was overtaken by BYD and last year, it slipped to third place with a 17 percent drop in fourth-quarter sales. | Automotive News ($)

Chinese automaker BYD has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government challenging President Donald Trump's bid to use sweeping authority to impose tariffs, and requesting a refund for all levies it paid since last April, court documents show. The lawsuit, the first by a Chinese carmaker over U.S. tariffs, follows similar complaints by thousands of global companies with U.S. operations challenging Trump's use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose border taxes. | Reuters ($)

The largest U.S. auto dealer isn’t interested in selling vehicles from China-based brands domestically right now, its CEO said Wednesday. But it’s not necessarily because of politics, logistics or potential consumer backlash, according to Lithia & Driveway CEO Bryan DeBoer. His company already has at least 10 stores selling vehicles from three Chinese companies in the United Kingdom. DeBoer, who has grown Lithia exponentially in recent years, said the potential cost, return-on-investment and needed infrastructure, largely due to franchise rules in the U.S., are the biggest hindrances right now. “We’re quite excited that we’ve got that opportunity in the United Kingdom, but there’s a big fundamental difference,” DeBoer told investors Wednesday, citing “dueling of franchises” practices in the U.K. that allow Lithia to offer brands from different companies in the same showroom if they’re deemed competitors. DeBoer said the dealer can be allowed to put vehicles from a company such as China’s CHERY Automobile, which is growing in Europe, into an existing showroom in the UK, and it would cost less than $100,000. That’s not the case for the U.S., where franchised dealer laws are strict, vary by state and companies can have more influence in, if not rules against, such decisions. | CNBCIn boardrooms across the U.S., Germany and Japan, China’s mammoth car industry often seems like an unstoppable force of cutting-edge technology, unbeatable cost and relentless overseas conquest. But inside China, local automotive leaders have a different set of worries — about a sudden loss of business momentum. The country’s industry kicked off 2026 on a decidedly sour note, with the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, the top trade group in the industry, warning of unprecedented challenges on multiple fronts. Domestic automakers set the tone, as sales tumbled in January. Vehicle shipments across China dropped 3.2 percent from a year earlier to below 2.35 million vehicles, according to the group’s tally released Feb. 11. BYD, the world’s top EV maker and the boogeyman of old-guard automakers around the globe, saw domestic deliveries plunge 53 percent to 110,000. Passenger vehicle sales in January fell 13 percent at Geely, 33 percent at Changan Automobile and 40 percent at Chery, according to MarkLines, a global automotive research portal. Overall, Chinese production flatlined, MarkLines said. | Automotive News ($)The contrast between Beijing and Washington is stark. The Chinese government has been a patient supporter of the country’s clean technologies for decades now — its policies governing rare earths, which are essential components in everything from electric cars to supersonic jets, date back some six decades. U.S. policy, by contrast, has been all over the place. After four years during which the Biden administration worked to nurture the wind, solar, battery and electric vehicle industries, the Trump administration is now doing precisely the opposite. | The New York Times ($)How Chinese is your car? Automakers are racing to work it out. Modern cars are packed with internet-connected widgets, many of them containing Chinese technology. Now, the car industry is scrambling to root out that tech ahead of a looming deadline, a test case for America’s ability to decouple from Chinese supply chains. New U.S. rules will soon ban Chinese software in vehicle systems that connect to the cloud, part of an effort to prevent cameras, microphones and GPS tracking in cars from being exploited by foreign adversaries. The move is “one of the most consequential and complex auto regulations in decades,” according to Hilary Cain, head of policy at trade group the Alliance for Automotive Innovation. “It requires a deep examination of supply chains and aggressive compliance timelines.” Carmakers will need to attest to the U.S. government that, as of March 17, core elements of their products don’t contain code that was written in China or by a Chinese company. The rule also covers software for advanced autonomous driving and will be extended to connectivity hardware starting in 2029. Connected cars made by Chinese or China-controlled companies are also banned, wherever their software comes from. | The Wall Street Journal ($)

Two of China's leading automakers, BYD and Geely, are among the finalists vying to purchase a Nissan/Mercedes-Benz plant in Mexico, according to a person familiar with the matter, as China seeks a manufacturing foothold in a country where U.S. tariffs are fueling factory closures and layoffs. The finalists emerged from nine companies expressing interest in acquiring the factory, including at least two other major Chinese manufacturers: CHERY and Great Wall Motor Co., Ltd., according to two sources familiar with the matter. Vietnamese electric-vehicle maker VINFAST is the third finalist, one of the people said. The interest from Chinese automakers, which has not been previously reported, heralds a potentially major shift in Mexico's car industry. For decades, U.S., European and Japanese automakers have dominated, mostly building U.S.-bound vehicles. Now, Mexican officials face a balancing act. Trump administration tariffs are battering Mexico's auto sector, and Chinese investment could generate much-needed jobs. But Mexican officials also fear that Chinese production in Mexico could inflame Washington and jeopardize this year's North American trade-agreement negotiations. The United States has effectively banned Chinese-brand vehicle sales, and President Donald Trump has accused Mexico of providing a back door for Chinese goods to enter the U.S. market. | Reuters ($)

President Trump spent much of last year courting foreign investment in U.S. factories, promising to replace jobs lost to the global economy. The rise of a Chinese automotive glass plant in the Ohio heartland shows the risks when America’s biggest rival sets up shop. Ohio’s governor, along with state and federal lawmakers, welcomed Fuyao Group when the Chinese glassmaking giant took over a closed General Motors factory a decade ago. The project, supported by Ohio taxpayers, was hailed as a step to reviving a battered Rust Belt region. Now, many feel duped. Competition from the Fuyao Glass Corporation of America plant is threatening about 250 jobs at a rival glass factory operating since the 1950s. Vitro, the company that owns the longtime plant in Crestline, Ohio, has spent the past year considering whether to shut down, said Carlos Bernal, Vitro’s head of automotive glass. After announcing plans to close the Vitro plant at the end of 2026, the company told employees last month it would continue operating. Yet the plant’s long-term future is uncertain. Since 2019, Vitro has shut three auto-glass plants in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Indiana—decisions the company attributes in large part to Chinese competition. The entry of Chinese firms into the U.S. auto industry “not only threatens the safety and security of domestic supply chains,” Bernal said, the companies “jeopardize entire communities that rely on American manufacturing jobs.” Rivals say they can’t match Fuyao’s lower prices and allege the company employs unfair business and labor practices. The Chinese company supplies GM, Ford Motor Company, Stellantis and other automakers in the U.S. | The Wall Street Journal ($)Tens of thousands of cars are being exported from China to Russia under gray-market schemes that often circumvent Western and Asian government sanctions and automakers' commitments to exit the Russian market, according to registration data reviewed by Reuters and interviews with five people involved in the trade. The sanctions and company pledges came in reaction to Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. But a thriving trade in these vehicles – from Toyotas and Mazdas to German luxury models – continues partly through informal networks enabling Russian dealers to order them through Chinese intermediaries, the interviews and data from Russian research firm Autostat show. | Reuters ($)

🤖

Autonomy & Robotics

Uber's goal over the coming years is for Uber’s network to facilitate the world’s largest AV deployment. The investment strategy has three pillars: First, support AV software partners with capital and platform capabilities. Uber recently announced participation in the $750 million round for Waabi, tied to deploying 25,000 robotaxis exclusively on Uber’s platform. The company is also partnering with Nvidia to build “a real-world data collection factory” gathering over three million hours of robotaxi-specific driving data to accelerate AV development across partners. Second, support OEM partners scaling production capacity through equity investments or vehicle offtake commitments. “In the long term, we intend to remain asset-light and believe the ownership of AVs will become financialized over time; however, in the initial years of AV deployment, we may purchase some vehicles directly to shape the category and improve our speed to market.” Third, support infrastructure partners building depots, charging facilities, and fleet management operations necessary for AV deployments. | The AV Market StrategistPeople behind the wheel have roughly one fatality for every 100 million miles traveled, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration NHTSA estimates. As of September 2025, Waymo driverless vehicles had carried passengers for more than 127 million miles, but Waymo has not been at fault in any fatal crashes. The company’s data shows that non-fatal collisions were also less common, with a roughly 90 percent reduction in crashes causing serious injuries. Data and transparency will be key to refining this technology and convincing the public to support broader adoption. Yet healthy competition from private firms is pushing self-driving cars forward, with multibillion-dollar investments allowing for more testing. Waymo competitors include Tesla and Amazon/Zoox. The right question is not whether driverless vehicles have ever made a mistake; it’s whether they make fewer such mistakes than human drivers. Thus far the data suggests that self-driving is a substantial improvement, and consumers in the cities where Waymo operates don’t seem deterred. The greatest risk to moving forward here isn’t technological but political. | The Washington Post ($) Junko Yoshida asks: "Who is the driver, legally speaking, when an autonomous vehicle is remotely advised and moved?" Regardless of whether it is remote driving or remote assistance, these human operators play crucial roles in supporting the safety of robotaxis. Yet, curiously, there remains no legal clarification for what happens next if a remote assistant gives a robotaxi a bum steer, possibly ending in a crash. If this happens to Waymo, who sits on the legal hot seat? Will it be the Waymo Driver (Computer Driver developed by Waymo), the company Waymo, the remote assistant or a third-party outfit that runs remote teleoperation services for Waymo? Put simply, if I’m a victim, whom do I sue? | Junko YoshidaHyundai is looking to supply Google's self-driving unit Waymo with 50,000 IONIQ 5 autonomous vehicles by 2028, according to people familiar with the matter. With an estimated price tag of $50,000 per vehicle, the contract could be worth $2.5 billion. News of Hyundai's bid to supply Waymo with 50,000 IONIQ 5s makes this potential $2.5 billion deal far more intriguing than the headline numbers suggest. It's not just one of the largest potential commercial orders in the autonomous driving sector in recent years; it marks a pivotal shift from rivalry to collaboration between legacy automakers and tech giants in the race for self-driving supremacy. | Gasgoo

Aurora’s self-driving trucks can now travel nonstop on a 1,000-mile route between Fort Worth and Phoenix — exceeding what a human driver can legally accomplish. The distance, and the time it takes to travel it, offers up positive financial implications for Aurora — and any other company hoping to commercialize self-driving semitrucks. It takes Aurora about 15 hours to carry freight in its driverless trucks on the 1,000-mile journey, according to the company. Human truck drivers take much longer to complete the same distance due to federal regulations that limit how long they can be behind the wheel. For instance, truck drivers must stop for a 30-minute break after eight hours and can operate a semitruck for a maximum of 11 hours at a time, according to federal regulations. Once drivers hit that threshold, they cannot get behind the wheel for another 10 hours. | TechCrunch ($)

🤖

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Boston Consulting Group (BCG) on "How AI Is Reshaping Advertising for the First Time in a Decade": For the past decade, the mechanics of advertising have remained fairly consistent. Brands compete for attention across search results, social feeds, video and retail media—optimizing for clicks, impressions, and conversion rates. While the surfaces have evolved, the basic model hasn’t changed: people navigate, platforms intermediate, and advertising monetizes the journey. Instead of static messages placed around content, we’re entering an era where the interface itself understands intent, synthesizes options, and introduces commercial choices directly inside a conversation. This isn’t just a new marketing channel—it’s a fundamentally new advertising environment, with new mechanics, incentives, and rules of competition. Marketing organizations must be prepared to rapidly test, learn, and—most importantly—scale what works across this growing ecosystem. | BCGIn 10 years, there will be two classes of people. Economists call it the "K-shaped economy" - and the next 2-3 years will decide which line you're on:1. An overclass that uses AI as a lever to build wealth, automate income, and make decisions at a speed no human can compete with alone.2. And an underclass that gets managed by it.Some mind-blowing stats:• Workers with AI skills earn 56% more than the same job without them. That premium doubled in a single year.• Industries adopting AI are seeing 3x the revenue growth per employee.• Meanwhile, 90% of workers haven't taken a single hour of AI training.• Goldman Sachs estimates 300 million jobs will be affected by AI by 2028. That's 24 months from now.| Miles Deutscher

⚓️

Marine

The hydrofoil is not a new idea. It dates back to at least 1869, and the first successful example was built in 1904. Hydrofoil ferries have long been used in many parts of the world. But modern hydrofoils, such as the superyachts seen in America’s Cup races, work on a different principle. Rather than the “surface piercing” approach of earlier hydrofoils, the instability of which can cause a bumpy ride, modern vessels use wings that are completely submerged. This reduces drag and improves stability. But it requires constant, tiny adjustments of the wings to keep the boat stable and level, which is only possible using the kinds of sensors and control systems found in smartphones, drones and autonomous cars. The new electric hydrofoils depend on digital technology, then. They also take advantage of advanced materials and modern electric drivetrains. It is the convergence of these three technologies, borrowed from other fields, that has finally made hydrofoiling practical and scalable. The power needed to propel a hydrofoil is directly proportional to its mass, so minimizing a vessel’s overall weight is vital. The wings themselves also need to be simultaneously small enough to reduce drag and strong enough to bear the weight of the boat. The solution is to borrow from aerospace and motor racing, and use carbon fiber. It has a reputation for being expensive, but that is changing. The wider availability of carbon fibre at lower cost has been “crucial” to enable hydrofoiling, says Mika Takahashi of IDTechEx, a market-intelligence firm. | The Economist ($)

✈️

Aviation & Space

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is developing superbatteries that would substantially extend the range of combat drones such as those used by Ukraine. The greater range would allow the drones to conduct surveillance or drop munitions much further behind enemy lines than is currently possible. The battery initiative, funded by the DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), is seeking to demonstrate such batteries in drones within two years, said Dr. Halle Cheeseman, who will retire as the program’s director next month. They could be used on the battlefield soon after. Drones have become a defining factor in Ukraine’s war with Russia, making older weaponry like tanks all but obsolete and transforming warfare around the world. The Arpa-E project seeks to improve on drones’ advantage, though the batteries could also be used for other technology, like humanoid robots. If the project is successful, a combat drone that can now fly 10 miles could fly 40, Cheeseman says. “There are people who want that,” he said. The key is battery performance: Arpa-E’s aim is to more than triple the energy density of commercial batteries to at least 1,000 watt-hours per kilogram. The commercial state-of-the-art batteries used in drones today have energy densities of around 280 Wh/kg, although some startups claim to have batteries delivering 450 Wh/kg. | The Information ($)

Elon Musk told employees at xAI, his artificial intelligence company that the company needed a factory on the moon to build A.I. satellites and a massive catapult to launch them into space. Inspired by the billionaire’s love of science fiction, the space catapult would be called a mass driver, and would be part of an imagined lunar facility that manufactured satellites to provide the computing power for the company’s A.I. | The New York Times ($)

Elon Musk said on Sunday that SpaceX has shifted its focus to building a "self‑growing city" on the moon, which could be achieved in less than 10 years. SpaceX still intends to start on Musk's long-held ambition of a city on Mars within five to seven years, he wrote on his X social media platform, "but the overriding priority is securing the future of civilization and the Moon is faster". Musk's comments echo a The Wall Street Journal report on Friday, which said SpaceX has told investors it would prioritize going to the moon and attempt a trip to Mars at a later time, targeting March 2027 for an uncrewed lunar landing. | Reuters ($)

🚘 Car of the Week

Our Automotive Ventures "Car(s) of the Week": a 1966 Porsche 906. | RM Sotheby's

Have a great week,Steve Greenfield

Forwarded this email and not yet a subscriber?

Subscribe Now

📰 In The News

📢

Steve caught up with Mark Hollmer at Automotive News to discuss automotive dealership use of avatars to interact with their customers and the challenges of avoiding the "creep" factor. | Automotive News ($)

📢

On this week's "Future of Mobility" segment on CBT News, we share how AI is likely to impact automotive dealers: The real-time democratization of software development, and how AI will help dealers attack labor costs and drive more profit than ever before. | CBT News ($)

Enjoying this newsletter? Please share with others!

👀 Automotive Ventures Company to Watch

🌟 Chaiz enables consumers to compare and buy vehicle service contracts‍ (VSCs). Get instant quotes and buy coverage online from leading providers. | Chaiz

🎪 Upcoming Industry Events

IBIS | International Bodyshop Industry SymposiumMar 23-25 | ScottsdaleSpeaker(Link)ETI ToolTech 2026Apr 20-23 | Palm Harbor, FLSpeaker(Link)ASOTU-CONMay 12-14 | Hanover, MDSpeaker(Link)Automotive Body Parts AssociationMay 18-20 | Indian Wells, CASpeaker(Link)