Ryan Felton

Thanks so much for having me on.

Thanks so much for having me on.

Hedging is probably the best way to put it. The major automakers pulled back on their forecast for the rest of the year, projecting a lot of additional costs in the billions of dollars to compensate for the tariffs and then just trying to start figuring out how to

Hedging is probably the best way to put it. The major automakers pulled back on their forecast for the rest of the year, projecting a lot of additional costs in the billions of dollars to compensate for the tariffs and then just trying to start figuring out how to

get production set up in a way to minimize the tariff liability, which I think at this point has definitely been described as a bit of a challenge because things are continuing to evolve at the administration and how they're trying to set this up as well, including as recently as within the past week.

get production set up in a way to minimize the tariff liability, which I think at this point has definitely been described as a bit of a challenge because things are continuing to evolve at the administration and how they're trying to set this up as well, including as recently as within the past week.

Yeah, the main things that they put out were cutting spending for one part and then increasing production where they can. There's been a lot of talk in recent days, in particular from the United Auto Workers, which has a big representation at GM about how much extra capacity these American automakers already have to boost production. There's some...

Yeah, the main things that they put out were cutting spending for one part and then increasing production where they can. There's been a lot of talk in recent days, in particular from the United Auto Workers, which has a big representation at GM about how much extra capacity these American automakers already have to boost production. There's some...

It's a very simplified way of explaining that extra capacity. But with all that said, GM did say this week that's planning to build more profitable pickup trucks at a factory in Indiana and start trying to make more electric vehicles, batteries in the U.S. and then just trim costs wherever else it can.

It's a very simplified way of explaining that extra capacity. But with all that said, GM did say this week that's planning to build more profitable pickup trucks at a factory in Indiana and start trying to make more electric vehicles, batteries in the U.S. and then just trim costs wherever else it can.

Yeah, so they're still planning to name their CEO at some point before the end of the first half. They say they're on track for that. But they, too, are in a difficult position because they make a lot of their profitable, bigger pickup trucks for the market in Mexico. So they have to start thinking about making some changes as to where some of their...

Yeah, so they're still planning to name their CEO at some point before the end of the first half. They say they're on track for that. But they, too, are in a difficult position because they make a lot of their profitable, bigger pickup trucks for the market in Mexico. So they have to start thinking about making some changes as to where some of their...

more popular, more profitable products are made and finding ways to trim costs on those in particular. And at the same time, they have said that they're planning to reopen a factory in Illinois, which it's not something that you can just do overnight.

more popular, more profitable products are made and finding ways to trim costs on those in particular. And at the same time, they have said that they're planning to reopen a factory in Illinois, which it's not something that you can just do overnight.

The way that I always think about cars in the broadest sense is it's the second biggest thing that most people buy. People in bigger cities may not need a car, but 80, 90 percent of the public does. It really complicates things for a lot of consumers downstream. And that partially explains, I think, why you saw sales spike the way that they did the past couple of months.

The way that I always think about cars in the broadest sense is it's the second biggest thing that most people buy. People in bigger cities may not need a car, but 80, 90 percent of the public does. It really complicates things for a lot of consumers downstream. And that partially explains, I think, why you saw sales spike the way that they did the past couple of months.

There was some effort by companies to offer promotions and the like to kind of reel people in before this essentially necessary deadline.

There was some effort by companies to offer promotions and the like to kind of reel people in before this essentially necessary deadline.

That's the most standout item from their call is that Elon says he's going to be devoting more time to the company. But at the same time, they still are preparing to launch a new updated version of the Model Y SUV, which is their top selling vehicle. So that was partially what they said was to explain for the sales drop off.

That's the most standout item from their call is that Elon says he's going to be devoting more time to the company. But at the same time, they still are preparing to launch a new updated version of the Model Y SUV, which is their top selling vehicle. So that was partially what they said was to explain for the sales drop off.