The Intersection 8-21-22

Kia unveiled its new EV6 GT model Friday at the annual high-end auto event in Monterey, Calif. We tell you about it on Page 1 this week because it’s interesting news — but also because it serves as a portal into the many dramas of today’s car business.

The EV6 GT is an electric car from a mass-market brand, but it’s stoked with 576 hp and a 3.4-second zero-to-60.

There are other performance EVs suddenly coming out, and you can see them scattered through this week’s issue. Check out Vince Bond Jr.’s Page 1 piece on the newly revealed Charger Daytona SRT from Dodge. It’s an electric muscle-car concept. Who knew there would be such a thing?

But why not? Electrification is a new ballgame. The industry is flying into it and you can read about all the new EVs just now being unveiled on several pages of this issue.

But there’s also uncertainty in the mix.

We tell you this week about the confusion over the nation’s gargantuan new Inflation Reduction Act, with its rules on what models will get EV tax credits and the many that won’t. The IRA will likely stir up all sorts of new auto industry realities.

But it also puts a question mark over product planning. On Page 31, we lay out our intel on the future product plans of Korea’s sibling brands, Kia, Hyundai and Genesis. The group is aggressively rolling out new EVs in many shapes and sizes — like that new one in Monterey. But you have to wonder … is it all subject to change now that the federal government has rewritten the rules on tax credits?

We’ll be watching those developments. And so will a lot of the individuals we spotlight this week in the 2022 class of Automotive News Rising Stars. The up-and-coming auto industry professionals we’re honoring in this week’s issue face a future that is churning with product and technology change. Overwhelmingly, this group of achievers is going to be dealing in their careers with products and plans that barely even exist today.

This moment is the fire that will forge us all.

— Lindsay Chappell   

In Monday’s Automotive News:

Leaders in a changing industry: As the auto industry reinvents itself, the 2022 class of Automotive News Rising Stars is on the front lines. These 21 honorees are helping lead automakers, suppliers and technology companies into the coming era of autonomous and electric vehicles. They come from diverse backgrounds, some from far away places, with dreams of making a difference. They share their stories with us about venturing from their comfort zone — sometimes voluntarily, sometimes not. What they all have in common are the ambition and determination that have propelled them into prominent roles early in their careers and positioned them to leave an even bigger mark on the industry in the years ahead.

Jaguar getting more luxe. Jaguar’s transformation into an ultraluxury brand is underway. The undertaking began Aug. 8 with a new marketing campaign featuring ads and videos for upscale magazines. The lifestyle ads aim to position Jaguar as the pinnacle of luxury, right up there with such exclusive European brands as Cartier jewelry and Hermes and Balenciaga fashions. Stuart Schorr, vice president of communications for Jaguar Land Rover North America, said that while Jaguar is “actually part of that world,” the automaker didn’t “really communicate the brand in that way. “We are quite rooted in automotive tradition,” he said, “and as we try and elevate and move into the future, sometimes you just need a strong break.”

Ready for take off. Japanese auto supplier Denso Corp. is taxiing for take-off into the bold new business of air mobility with a new motor developed for a funky, futuristic all-electric jet aircraft. The motor is the first outcome of an alliance forged in 2019 between Denso and U.S. aerospace giant Honeywell International Inc. to design, develop and produce electric air propulsion systems. The motor will be integrated into the Lilium Jet, an all-electric vertical take-off and landing, or eVTOL, aircraft. The aircraft is being developed by Lilium N.V., a German sustainable air transport company. Denso’s push to take to the skies is part of the Toyota Group supplier’s attempt to diversify its mainstay automotive business and to achieve carbon neutrality by 2035.

Weekend headlines:

Ford hit with $1.7 billion verdict for fatal crash in Ga.: Jurors delivered their verdict on punitive damages against Ford on Friday following a 14-day trial in state court in Lawrenceville, Ga.; Ford plans to appeal the decision.

Biden signs IRA: President Joe Biden signed into law a sweeping sweeping tax, climate and health-care measure known as the Inflation Reduction Act. The law includes a revamp of EV tax credits. To qualify, EVs must now be assembled in North America. New restrictions on battery and mineral sourcing and price and income caps take effect on Jan. 1. The IRS issued guidance clarifying the electric vehicle tax credit rules, along with a list of potentially eligible and ineligible models.

Buffett buys more Ally: Berkshire Hathaway, run by billionaire Warren Buffett, has tripled its stake in auto lending giant Ally Financial. In the second quarter, Berkshire’s Ally stake grew to 30 million shares from about 9 million.

Cadillac serves up new sponsorship: GM’s luxury brand will replace Mercedes as U.S. Open tennis sponsor. Cadillac inked a multiyear deal with the U.S. Tennis Association, with plans to use the New York City grand slam event to plug its electric vehicle ambitions, including its Lyriq EV model.

Aug. 22, 1902: Cadillac is founded in Detroit by machinist Henry Leland, a stickler of manufacturing precision and quality. It was named after French explorer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, who founded Detroit in 1701.