Through our Dealers Do Good campaign, AIADA is recognizing dealers for the good things they do for the communities they serve. If you’re a dealer doing good, let us know here, tag us on Facebook or Twitter, or join the conversation with the #DealersDoGood hashtag.
Recently, Dahl Automotive partnered with the Wisconsin Automobile and Truck Dealers Association (WATDA) and other partners to provide Wisconsin high school graduates and continuing education students with opportunities to receive automotive technician scholarships. Among the recent recipients are Dahl Ford team members Noah Busse of Trempealeau and Dawson Bryant of Onalaska, WI, who are both attending Western Technical College (WTC) in La Crosse, WI. They will each receive a $1,500 tuition scholarship awards to fund their vehicle service education, sponsored by Dahl Automotive. Click here for a picture.
In Ohio, Two Mahoning Valley automobile dealerships recently made donations to local food banks. Apostolakis Honda presented Second Harvest Food Bank of the Mahoning Valley with a $1,000 check, and Shenango Honda presented Community Food Warehouse of Mercer County with a $1,000 check. Click here for more.
VW to Unveil Electric Version of Hippie-Era Minibus in March
Volkswagen AG will unveil the ID. Buzz, an electric iteration of its iconic hippie-era microbus, on March 9. Bloomberg reports that Chief Executive Officer Herbert Diess announced the date Thursday in a Twitter post that sketched out the contours of the new design, which draws on the lines of the original model. Click here to see his post. VW’s original microbus -- the colorful, bread loaf-shaped van that was a regular sight in the 1960s at music festivals including Woodstock -- has a dedicated fan following. The German company previously said it plans to sell its battery-powered successor in Europe and the U.S. VW has embarked on an ambitious push to dethrone Tesla Inc. as the global electric-car sales leader. The German company last month allocated 89 billion euros ($100 billion) to EV and software development over the next half decade and has built a dedicated architecture that will underpin a total of 27 battery-powered models by the end of this year. For more, click here. For the full story, click here.
Analysis: Jumping on EV Wagon Represents Risky Ride for Tech Pioneer Sony
From personal music players to games consoles, Sony Group has often gambled in order to be a pioneer, but a leap into electric cars could take the risks to a new level for the Japanese consumer tech giant. While investors were wowed when Chief Executive Kenichiro Yoshida this week told a Las Vegas tech fair the company was setting up Sony Mobility, its stock fell 7 percent on Thursday as they contemplated the challenge of actually delivering EVs packed with sensors, consumer electronics and entertainment offerings. According to Reuters, the primary goal of Sony-branded cars is to create an autonomous connected vehicle for services such as car sharing and ride hailing, which could eventually outstrip automobile sales. Analysts point out that Sony would likely have to invest heavily in plant and equipment to bring its prototype Vision-S EV, first unveiled in Las Vegas two years ago, to market in sufficient numbers to compete effectively. For more on Sony’s plans, click here.
Hyundai Showcases Robotic Future at CES
Hyundai Motor Co. is leveraging its robotics expertise to develop scalable mobility platforms that can employ a single module to move a video screen across the room or multiple units to create a personal transportation pod for short distances. According to Automotive News, that includes the use of robots to bridge the gap between the real world and virtual-reality scenarios such as the metaverse, where users employ VR goggles to interact in a virtual space, Hyundai said at CES on Tuesday. "With the metaverse set to become a daily space for people in the future, the company expects the possible emergence of a new type of metaverse platform in which the distinction from reality could disappear, breaking away from the concept of VR as the world knows it today," the company said. Under the concept of "Metamobility," Hyundai robots would mirror actions taken in the metaverse by moving objects in the real world. For more on how that would work, click here.
Opinion: It's Past Time to End Era of Trump Tariffs
There are many lingering effects from Donald Trump's term as president that the nation is still dealing with, but one that seems particularly sticky nearly a year into the new administration is a bit of a surprise: tariffs. In an editorial, Automotive News says it was hopeful last year that President Joe Biden would reverse the costly trade wars begun with nearly all of the country's closest allies — trade wars that threatened to inflict grave damage on the U.S. and particularly on the auto industry. Yet while Biden has certainly adopted a friendlier rhetorical tone compared with his predecessor, his administration has been slow to repair the damage done to U.S. trading relationships or to reverse course on most of the harmful tariffs put in place during the Trump years. Tariffs are more than just a barrier to free trade, they are a stealth tax on U.S. consumers who purchase the products or materials subjected to imposed tariffs. It's time that the Biden administration gets to work on restoring this nation's commitment to free and fair trade. Click here to read the full editorial.
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