Presidential Debate (Taylor's Version), OEMs on Twitter, and Lessons From Fisker

In This Issue

• Presidential Debate (Taylor’s Version)

• Why Are OEMs Still on Twitter?

• Lessons From Fisker

• From Around the Internet

• Ugh, Right?

• More Goodies

Presidential Debate (Taylor’s Version)

The first presidential debate between former President Donald Trump and vice president Kamala Harris on Tuesday. Perhaps the most interesting thing, at least in the purview of this publication, is that there wasn’t time to really talk about climate, transportation, or policies on electrification.

The former president did briefly mention that under a Harris administration, inflation would continue to rise and that gas prices would follow suit. Locally, unleaded gasoline is $2.99 a gallon and it’s the lowest it's been in a long time, so it’s probably a good thing for Trump to not talk too much about it.

But one thing that does fall into the purview of this publication is the misinformation and hatred that Trump spewed out about the Haitian immigrants living in Springfield, Ohio. It’s not true. Trump’s running mate knows it’s not true, even as he continues to peddle the misinformation. It’s a vile and disgusting trope. It’s blood libel in every sense. And it’s spreading on Twitter.

After the debate ended, Taylor Swift publicly stated that she is voting for Kamala Harris in November. One of the reasons she cited was the Trump campaign using generative AI to make images of her appearing to support Trump. It’ll be interesting to see how that plays out in tech circles, because she has the resources to make it a talked-about and important issue.

After that, the internet’s stupidest meme lord (and perhaps thirstiest), decided that he needed to chime in on Swift’s endorsement of Harris in one of the most disgusting ways possible.

Musk defenders – and there are many – will say he was just “making a funny” and not “being serious.” But the fact that people believe police officers didn’t die on Jan. 6, but believe Haitians are eating cats (something Elon Musk supports in the retweet below), when these statements are completely wrong means that people ARE in fact taking it seriously. We’re only starting to see the consequences of that now.

We do live in the dumbest timeline. But despite all of this, there are still automotive OEMs – and executives from those OEMs – actively engaged on Twitter. Which leads me to the my next question…

Why Are OEMs Still on Twitter?

X (the dumpster fire formerly known as Twitter) is a cesspool of hate and crypto bots. It’s home of influencers who are on the take from Russia to promote Putin propaganda. The CEO is sharing blood libel that Haitian immigrants are eating cats.

He’s also allegedly using private DMs for his own personal benefit.

With the possibility of the chief executive of Twitter (who is also the chief executive of Tesla), being able to read the messages between customers and manufacturers, why on Earth would they still operate on Twitter?

With obvious racist hatred spreading like wildfire from the chief executive himself, why on Earth would other OEMs stay on Twitter?

Why would they advertise on Twitter? Why would they take the lead from Elon in regards to DEI initiatives all because of some Twitter troll?

I’m sure it’s to “be where the customers are.” But would Ford’s CEO remain on Twitter if GM bought Twitter and it was rumored Mary Barra was reading his DMs?

It seems like madness to me.

Lessons From Fisker

Earlier this week, I attended a CEO roundtable discussion with Swamy Kotagiri of Magna International. During that discussion, the executive discussed he and his company’s learnings from the failure of Fisker Automotive. Would he work with a startup again?

“If it’s just assembly we’d have to look at a risk-adjusted metric,” Kotagiri said. “Would I look at other content? Maybe not.”

Automotive startups are difficult – as are normal startups – and you have to have to be comfortable with a certain amount of risk in order to work with or supply parts to one of these startups. Magna not only originally was to assemble the Fisker Ocean, but the company was to provide some key components to the vehicle.

“The terms that we had with Fisker were significantly different from normal,” Kotagari also mentions.

It’s unfortunate that the Fisker situation ended up like it did. While some in the media, including myself, were skeptical of Henrik Fisker’s ability to run a new startup after his last failed attempt, many people took Magna’s partnership as a sign that maybe this time things would be different.

Of course they weren’t different, as Henrik again torpedoed another automotive startup. Speaking of Henrik, has anyone heard from him recently?

Magna’s losses because of that investment were fairly significant, and the CEO is focused on profitability and margins coming out of it. But when it comes to an all-electric future, he still sees it happening (especially in certain regions). He also told the group that he believes the currently level of hype and expectation around EVs is more reflective of the real-world than a few years back.

Kotagiri’s openness in talking Fisker was refreshing, and it’s quite clear that the company has learned from the experience. But one thing I think is going underreported is how much the company learned just from the process of making an Ocean.

Magna International assembles more EVs now than it ever has – mostly in China – and the Fisker Ocean was a chance for the company to learn more about building these types of vehicles. The manufacturing facility in Austria has one general assembly line for everything it builds, meaning that you might see a G-Class Mercedes coming right after a Toyota Supra. Now that the electric G-Class is also assembled there, that assembly line has to be able to account for numerous powertrain configurations.

The Austrian plant is producing fewer cars right now because it’s no longer building Fisker Oceans, but Kotagiri assures us that the plant is still operationally viable without it. Of course, he would like to replace that capacity at some point with something else.

Magna is the largest Tier one in America, and the third largest in the world. The company could start its own car company, if it wanted to. The company invests heavily not just in contract assembly, but in technology that underpins dozens of new car models today.

The Fisker situation was a hurdle for sure, but Magna seems well on its way to recovering from it and moving forward.

From Around the Internet

• Autoblog Is No More - Sadly, after 20 years, the OG automotive site on the Internet is no more, at least not in its current guise. It’s a great site, of course, but I’m saddened by everyone on the staff being let go. There’s some good people there, and any publication would be lucky to have their talent.

• Haitian Families Under Attack - When the former POTUS goes on national TV and lies (and his supports get pissed when he’s fact checked on the lie), real people suffer. The police say they’re not eating pets, the city says they’re not eating pets. The only people saying they are is the former POTUS and Ohio Senator J.D. Vance. Don’t email me saying there’s video proof, because there isn’t.

• Design Standing the Test of Time - In the movie Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, many new ship designs are first introduced to the canon. Nearly every one of those designs that first appeared in that film 40 years ago still appears in new Star Trek today. Surely the dream of every car designer is to have designs that do the same, no?

Ugh, Right?

More Goodies

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