April 14, 2025 • 15 mins
Episode #1017: Today we talk Polestar’s bold Tesla takedown with a $20K lease play, Jeff Bezos’ stealthy new EV startup with big aspirations, and GM’s pause on BrightDrop van production despite rock-bottom pricing.
Show Notes with links:
- A secretive EV startup based in Michigan is gaining attention fast. Funded by Jeff Bezos and stocked with talent from Ford, GM, Harley-Davidson, and Stellantis, Slate Auto is taking a bold swing at building a $25,000 electric pickup.
- Founded in 2022 via Re:Build Manufacturing, Slate has already raised over $100 million and closed a Series B round.
- The company is targeting late 2026 production near Indianapolis, building a minimalist two-seat pickup truck.
- Slate’s strategy flips the usual EV script—start affordable and scale with accessories, not luxury trims.
- Its product roadmap includes personalization, merchandise, and “Slate University” for customer-led upgrades.
- “We built it. You make it,” is the company’s trademarked mission to empower buyers with customization.
- Polestar is going big to lure Tesla owners, offering a jaw-dropping $20,000 incentive for drivers to lease the new Polestar 3 luxury EV crossover—an offer good through the end of March.
- The deal includes a $15,000 “Clean Vehicle Incentive” plus a $5,000 “Conquest Bonus” for current Tesla owners.
- The offer applies only to leased 2025 Polestar 3s; delivery must be taken from existing inventory before March 31.
- The Polestar 3 is sleek, spacious, and built in South Carolina with top-tier tech and sustainable materials.
- Performance specs include up to 517 hp, a 0-60 time of 4.5 seconds, and up to 350 miles of range.
- The Polestar offer says: “The Polestar 3 offers more comfort, tech, and style than the aging Model Y,”
- GM is hitting the brakes on production of its all-electric BrightDrop van at its Ontario facility due to soft demand—despite deep discounts and compelling incentives that still make it a standout EV deal.
- Production at CAMI Assembly will pause April 14 and remain idle until October 2025 for retooling.
- The move affects nearly 500 workers and drops the plant to a single shift post-relaunch.
- Only 274 BrightDrop vans were sold in Q1 2025—a modest 7% increase year-over-year.
- The announcement follows market jitters caused by Trump’s tariff threats and broader EV hesitations.
- “It’s a crushing blow to hundreds of working families in Ingersoll,” said Unifor President Lana Payne.
Join Paul J Daly and Kyle Mountsier every morning for the Automotive State of the Union podcast as they connect the dots across car dealerships, retail trends, emerging tech like AI, and cultural shifts—bringing clarity, speed, and people-first insight to automotive leaders navigating a rapidly changing industry.
Get the Daily Push Back email at https://www.asotu.com/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Unknown (00:00):
It is Monday, April 14.
(00:00):
This is the automotive State ofthe Union. And know your eyes or
(00:03):
ears do not deceive you. I am inperson this morning on a Monday
with Michael. Serene,are you guys ready for a Monday
with Michael? I don'tknow. Actually, if I can answer
that question, I'll tell you inabout 13 minutes, everyone in
Michael Cirillo (00:18):
the office saw what they thought was me coming
in, and they were like, is that?
Is
Unknown (00:22):
that my duck below, in the gophers, in the in the
partitions, everybody ducks downa little bit. Man, it's funny.
I'm so glad you got intoSyracuse last night. Good
flight. You, I think you wrotein the only cab in Syracuse.
Good.
Michael Cirillo (00:34):
Good flights.
Good flights. I was from Canada,right? And so even though it is
only about three and a half outwhat part of Canada, Edmonton,
okay, or, as they call it, theirsledment in, okay. But it was,
it was like, But, I mean, we'retalking about to get just to
Syracuse from Edmonton. It isEdmonton to Denver. You make it
to, like, Rio de Janeiro for alate connection, up to Chicago,
(00:57):
down to Dallas, and then I'mjust, you're like, where did I
go? How many
Unknown (01:05):
plates did you take?
Four? Oh, I thought you wereexaggerating. Oh, my goodness,
you're so used to this.
Michael Cirillo (01:12):
The best part of it is getting your not just
getting your steps in, butgetting to your next flight,
completely drenched. And
Paul J Daly (01:18):
then you sit down next to the person. You're like,
I'm so sorry.
Unknown (01:20):
I'm so sorry. I smell wet.
That's terrible, dude. It'sterrible. Oh, my goodness. Well,
the reason you're in town andKyle will actually be here in a
matter of an hour and a halffrom Nashville this morning is
because the three of us aregoing to be heading out tomorrow
morning, bright and early. Like,it's one of those man like, it's
a man's flight, right? Like,we're going to be on the ground
in New York City by 7 (01:42):
30am no, okay, and you're on special
time, so you got even anotherhour disadvantage
Michael Cirillo (01:48):
there. I'll be in bed by 430 we're going
Unknown (01:52):
to be covering the JD Power auto Forum, which is the
day before the New York AutoShow. And then we're also going
to cars.com evening event, andwe're going to be hearing from a
lot of great speakers,obviously, recording a lot of
content, trying to bring you asmuch as we possibly can from the
event we went last year. It wasa great time. Was a great show.
Have you been to this eventbefore? I
Michael Cirillo (02:10):
haven't been to this one. I was just up at the
Toronto Auto Show. That's thebiggest one up there. Yeah, no,
I'm kind of excited to contrast.
Well, you're not
Unknown (02:18):
going to get to see the Auto Show, okay. Well, spoiler
alert, we're going to be the daybefore the auto show. We'll
probably see
Michael Cirillo (02:24):
those things where your family's like, why do
you go on so many vacations andyou're like, to hotel rooms?
Yeah.
Unknown (02:29):
I mean, that's one of the biggest misnomers of
traveling. A lot of people, youget to go all these interesting
places, like I see airports,insides of Ubers, hotels,
conference rooms. Freeze my buttoff, even when it's 98 degrees
outside, and then I go back tothe airport. Exhausted. Yeah,
yeah, sounds like fun. Goodtime. It is a good time be
there. We sure will be there.
Look the big news, and we areless than 30 days away now from
(02:53):
ASOTU CON may 13 through 15th inHanover, Maryland. Get your
tickets while you still can bookyour hotels while you still can.
We have a opening keynotespeaker, which I think is going
to set off the best openingwe've ever had to the show in
our What is this year four? Yearfive, year four. I mean, it's,
we'll call it four, four and ahalf. It's, it's been three
(03:16):
years, but we've done four ofthem. Okay, oh, that's what's
confusing. There you go. We'vedone four ASOTU CON. Yes, we
are. I don't think we'reannouncing the speaker just now.
Well, are we? We're going toannounce it right now. We said
we're going to announce it. Ididn't know exactly when with
but we are going to have Claudesilver, Chief Heart Officer of
Vayner X, a really close ties tothe beginning of the ASOTU
(03:40):
community, but she oversees1000s of employees in multiple
countries, has been worked handson on some of the biggest brands
in the world, and now helps GaryVaynerchuck cultivate that
organization to be a peoplethriving first. So when people
are thriving, your business andyour industry thrives, I can't
wait to hear what she brings tous in the opening session, we're
starting
Michael Cirillo (04:03):
off with a baller. I know, can I? Can I use
my controversial statement ofthe day on this? Oh, if you
Paul J Daly (04:07):
want to, if you want to use it at 9:30am I have
to, because
Michael Cirillo (04:12):
here's what I love about this. There is
something, and we'll get to thenews, but there is something
that is more costly tobusinesses and dealerships than
these tariffs, and it isdisengaged employees, wow. And
they're the ones that are goingto stick around a lot longer
than the tariffs will. And sonow here we have Claude, the
Chief Heart Officer. I know youknow her quite well. I've gotten
(04:34):
to know her a little bit. I'vehad her on our other show the
dealer playbook. Her mind aroundpeople is second to none. I've
never heard somebody quitearticulate how she engages with
people quite like this. You'renot going to want to miss that,
because, like I said, That's mycontroversial opinion of the
day, your people are going to bein your organization a lot
(04:56):
longer than the tariffs are.
That's true. And disengage.
Employees are costing multipleson their salary. And imagine
what would happen if you gotthem engaged, and she's going to
reveal that's,
Unknown (05:07):
I mean, I'm glad you burnt that one this morning.
Yeah, good. It shouldn't becontroversial.
Sometimes it's not that. No, itshouldn't be
controversial if it is. But oneof the things I love about
Claude, too, is that she's justbeen in so many high level
conversations around businessand marketing and strategy and
the numbers. So you needsomebody like that who can tie
the two together that way.
You're not floating somewhere inthe stratosphere just talking
(05:28):
about, you know, sunshine andlollipops. You're actually
figuring out, like, how doesthis help us make a better
business and translate to thebottom line? Isn't that an old
song? Youjust sunshine lollipops and
rainbows and tariff talk andOkay, cue the canes and the
hats, right? All right. Let'stalk about some let's talk about
(05:48):
some news today, a secretive EVstartup based in Michigan is
gaining attention fast, fundedby you may have heard this name
before, Jeff Bezos, and stockedwith talent from four GM, Harley
Davidson, stellantis, they'recalled slate Auto, and they're
taking a bold swing at buildinga $25,000 electric pickup that
founded in 2022 actually, viarebuild manufacturing, Slate has
(06:13):
already raised over 100 millionand closed the series B round
company targeting late 2026production near their
Indianapolis plant, building aminimalist two seater pickup
truck. I really hope it's abench seat. Slate strategy flips
the usual EV script, startaffordable and scale with
accessory, not starting withluxury trims and scaling
backwards product. Roadmacincludes personalization
(06:36):
merchandise and slate Universityfor customer led upgrades.
Here's a quote, we build it, youmake it. It's the company's
trademark mission to empowerbuyers with customization. You
don't think
Michael Cirillo (06:49):
this is going to be like one of those
accessibility scooters thatlooks like a
Unknown (06:53):
truck. Now, what are those? What are those really
popular, like, little Japanesetrucks that are coming out right
now? Yeah, and they they beshowing them. What are they
called? They're amazing. Justsmall Japanese truck. Like, look
at it. And then some of themnow, like, have a motorcycle
Michael Cirillo (07:05):
in the back.
Interesting. Okay, very well,maybe it is. I think it'll
Unknown (07:09):
be bigger than that. I think it'll be maybe, like, the
size of, like, a Ford Ranger,okay. But I mean, if it's going
to be a two seater, right, youalready take out so many
configuration options. And, Imean, we're trying to get a
$25,000 vehicle
Michael Cirillo (07:21):
period, but if it is a bench, the configuration
option they just added back isthe drive
Unknown (07:25):
with was, yeah, oh, your wife while you're out,
literally,I would buy a vehicle. At first
they announced the cyber truckwas going to have a middle seat,
but the bench in the middlewould be a total game changer,
because a three
Michael Cirillo (07:39):
seater, I hope it's a small truck, because I
want to see you driving. No,
Unknown (07:44):
I don't look that big in a truck. Yeah, no, I know,
but we'll see. I mean, $25,000Jeff Bezos, there is no joke
when he's behind something. AndI've never heard of Amazon
manufacturing vehicles, althoughwe've been talking a lot about
them getting into the carbusiness on the sales side. So
can you imagine, like, the BuyNow button on this, if you can
configure it like I can alreadypicture it in my mind.
Michael Cirillo (08:05):
It's the right price point. And I mean, we're
seeing this in Europe already.
You can, you can, what's thebrand? Liza, right? It's a town
car. You actually don't evenneed a driver's license for
these things, and they're allover the place in Europe. Do
Unknown (08:17):
you need a driver's license everywhere in Europe? I
don't know, apparently, but notfor this.
Michael Cirillo (08:22):
Well, yeah, especially, think about the
accessibility for maybe teensdriving to school don't quite
have a driver's license yet,they can drive one of these.
Unknown (08:30):
That's not terrifying, yeah, yeah, terrifying. Not at
all. Or speaking,that's good. Thank you.
Let's keep moving Polestar. So alot of competitors are coming
out with Tesla conquest leasedeals. However, Polestar is
(08:52):
going big to lure Tesla ownersoffering a jaw dropping,
dropping, jaw dropping, $20,000incentive. This may be the
biggest incentive this industryhas ever seen for drivers to
lease the new pole star threeluxury EV crossover, and the
offer is good through the end ofMarch that, wait a minute. How
(09:13):
long is this article? Is, waitIs this supposed to be April?
Wouldn't that be hilarious? Ithink, yeah, it's supposed to be
April. It is. How did we missthis for two weeks? This is a
Ron Burgundy moment when I readanything that's on the screen.
(09:35):
And the funny part is between meseeing this on LinkedIn and then
searching a story for it andreading it, flipping it to
Nathan, our producer, who thenmade it into show notes. It got
to this point, right here.
Yeah, heard it here second. Oh,yeah. Heard it here last.
(09:59):
So. Well, I I really should justcall Matt hicken on the phone
right now. Like, did you leaseany of these things? So
basically, they gave a $15,000clean vehicle incentive and
$5,000 conquest bonus onlyapplied to the new 2025.
Polestar threes had to takedelivery from existing
inventory. And what was like thefinal price on this thing, I
(10:21):
don't
Michael Cirillo (10:21):
know, but I love how you just dynamically
changed everything the best.
What are you gonna do?
Unknown (10:27):
Hard hitting news.
Imagine if, I mean, what do youthink they do in the stock
market? Every day when themarkets close, they talk about
what happened? Yeah,they see exactly. Just pretend
you're literallycrying right now. Now, Bo now,
MSRP, 67, five. So, okay, sothey took it off the top of the
(10:53):
lease. They didn't apply it tothe lease. Okay? They're trying
to try to go against the modelY, by the way, I did see a brand
new model. Y, they did therefresh. Yeah, looks really
good. And I did see that. Yeah,it's funny. It actually looks
funny. Thing is BYD copy Tesla,and now it kind of feels like
Tesla might be copying designcues from BYD. Interesting.
(11:15):
Yeah, I don't know what. Ontosome news that didn't happen in
the past. Got our time machineback out.
Michael Cirillo (11:23):
Yes, it kind of all technically happened in the
past. All of this. Nope, notthis one speaking of
Unknown (11:28):
the future. GM is hitting the brakes on production
of its all electric, bright dropvan in its Ontario facility,
your countryman, due to softdemand, despite deep discounts
and compelling incentives thatstill make it a standout. EV
deal production, production atthe CAMI assembly plant will
pause today. Oh, I thought itwas the past. I mean the future,
(11:49):
but it's actually the current,pausing today, remaining idle
until October this year, forretooling. I wonder what else
they're going to make there. Themove effects nearly 500 workers
drops the plant to a singleshift. Post relaunch, only 274
bright drop bands were sold inq1, 2025, which is a 7% increase
(12:10):
still year over year. Theannouncement follows market
jitters caused by tariff threatsand broader EV hesitations.
Here's a quote from UniforPresident Lana Payne. It's a
crushing blow to hundreds ofworking families in Ingersoll.
You familiar with this area? No,I not meant Canada. Oh,
yeah, I love that. When peopleare like, Hey, wait, you're from
(12:31):
Canada. You know the Smithfamily from Ingersoll? You're
like, uh, that's 4000 milesaway. They're like, so do you
then? Suzetta, yes. Is that ayes?
Michael Cirillo (12:44):
I've never heard of Ingersoll, you know?
Okay, I'm using my tomorrow'scontroversial opinion of the
day. Oh, boy, burning throughtwo at once. Yeah, I'm using.
I'm only allowed one a day, buttoday I'm pulling tomorrow's
out. Here's the thing. Imaginewhen people walked everywhere
1000s of years ago, and thenthey came out with the chariot.
(13:05):
People were like, no, no. Therewas volatility. People were
like, I don't know what to makeof this. Is it going to go? Is
it not going to go? There wereprobably commentators back then
who were like, Oh, so now what'sgoing to happen to our sandal
business? People aren't going tobe walking as much. Will they
even need sandals. We're in oneof those pivotal moments, right?
And this happened around horseand buggy time, into Model T
(13:28):
time, like any time civilizationgoes through a period of
adjustment, you're going to havespill off like this, yeah, as as
things kind of sputter and upand down. And while my heart
goes out to the families thatare affected, this is what
happens when you work in highrisk situations like this, or
when companies put us into highrisk situations, and I don't
(13:51):
necessarily blame the families,because they force you in order
to advance change. Yeah, likeit's just the nature of the game
and so similar to the stockmarket, similar all these
things, it's like, yes, you'relosing all your money because
you invested in high riskstocks. You should have known
the risk before you got into it.
You can't really complain if themarket's going to sputter. This
is the same thing. We stilldon't know where EVs are going
(14:13):
to land. We know that we need tobe invested in them in some way,
shape or form. But as we buildinto it, as it becomes the norm,
we're going to see more and morelike this. Just it's just the
nature of the game it is,
Unknown (14:26):
which is why pivoting, being nimble on your toes and
actually investing in the peoplewho can actually help you with
the pivot, roll, the cue, cutemusic. This is not a history
lessons that are happening rightnow, one that happened next
month, but what will behappening tomorrow is we will be
in New York City, on the groundat the Jamie power, auto form.
(14:47):
Make sure you say hi. If you seeus, we'll see you there. You.
It is Monday, April 14.
(00:00):
This is the automotive State ofthe Union. And know your eyes or
(00:03):
ears do not deceive you. I am inperson this morning on a Monday
with Michael. Serene,are you guys ready for a Monday
with Michael? I don'tknow. Actually, if I can answer
that question, I'll tell you inabout 13 minutes, everyone in
Michael Cirillo (00:18):
the office saw what they thought was me coming
in, and they were like, is that?
Is
Unknown (00:22):
that my duck below, in the gophers, in the in the
partitions, everybody ducks downa little bit. Man, it's funny.
I'm so glad you got intoSyracuse last night. Good
flight. You, I think you wrotein the only cab in Syracuse.
Good.
Michael Cirillo (00:34):
Good flights.
Good flights. I was from Canada,right? And so even though it is
only about three and a half outwhat part of Canada, Edmonton,
okay, or, as they call it, theirsledment in, okay. But it was,
it was like, But, I mean, we'retalking about to get just to
Syracuse from Edmonton. It isEdmonton to Denver. You make it
to, like, Rio de Janeiro for alate connection, up to Chicago,
(00:57):
down to Dallas, and then I'mjust, you're like, where did I
go? How many
Unknown (01:05):
plates did you take?
Four? Oh, I thought you wereexaggerating. Oh, my goodness,
you're so used to this.
Michael Cirillo (01:12):
The best part of it is getting your not just
getting your steps in, butgetting to your next flight,
completely drenched. And
Paul J Daly (01:18):
then you sit down next to the person. You're like,
I'm so sorry.
Unknown (01:20):
I'm so sorry. I smell wet.
That's terrible, dude. It'sterrible. Oh, my goodness. Well,
the reason you're in town andKyle will actually be here in a
matter of an hour and a halffrom Nashville this morning is
because the three of us aregoing to be heading out tomorrow
morning, bright and early. Like,it's one of those man like, it's
a man's flight, right? Like,we're going to be on the ground
in New York City by 7 (01:42):
30am no, okay, and you're on special
time, so you got even anotherhour disadvantage
Michael Cirillo (01:48):
there. I'll be in bed by 430 we're going
Unknown (01:52):
to be covering the JD Power auto Forum, which is the
day before the New York AutoShow. And then we're also going
to cars.com evening event, andwe're going to be hearing from a
lot of great speakers,obviously, recording a lot of
content, trying to bring you asmuch as we possibly can from the
event we went last year. It wasa great time. Was a great show.
Have you been to this eventbefore? I
Michael Cirillo (02:10):
haven't been to this one. I was just up at the
Toronto Auto Show. That's thebiggest one up there. Yeah, no,
I'm kind of excited to contrast.
Well, you're not
Unknown (02:18):
going to get to see the Auto Show, okay. Well, spoiler
alert, we're going to be the daybefore the auto show. We'll
probably see
Michael Cirillo (02:24):
those things where your family's like, why do
you go on so many vacations andyou're like, to hotel rooms?
Yeah.
Unknown (02:29):
I mean, that's one of the biggest misnomers of
traveling. A lot of people, youget to go all these interesting
places, like I see airports,insides of Ubers, hotels,
conference rooms. Freeze my buttoff, even when it's 98 degrees
outside, and then I go back tothe airport. Exhausted. Yeah,
yeah, sounds like fun. Goodtime. It is a good time be
there. We sure will be there.
Look the big news, and we areless than 30 days away now from
(02:53):
ASOTU CON may 13 through 15th inHanover, Maryland. Get your
tickets while you still can bookyour hotels while you still can.
We have a opening keynotespeaker, which I think is going
to set off the best openingwe've ever had to the show in
our What is this year four? Yearfive, year four. I mean, it's,
we'll call it four, four and ahalf. It's, it's been three
(03:16):
years, but we've done four ofthem. Okay, oh, that's what's
confusing. There you go. We'vedone four ASOTU CON. Yes, we
are. I don't think we'reannouncing the speaker just now.
Well, are we? We're going toannounce it right now. We said
we're going to announce it. Ididn't know exactly when with
but we are going to have Claudesilver, Chief Heart Officer of
Vayner X, a really close ties tothe beginning of the ASOTU
(03:40):
community, but she oversees1000s of employees in multiple
countries, has been worked handson on some of the biggest brands
in the world, and now helps GaryVaynerchuck cultivate that
organization to be a peoplethriving first. So when people
are thriving, your business andyour industry thrives, I can't
wait to hear what she brings tous in the opening session, we're
starting
Michael Cirillo (04:03):
off with a baller. I know, can I? Can I use
my controversial statement ofthe day on this? Oh, if you
Paul J Daly (04:07):
want to, if you want to use it at 9:30am I have
to, because
Michael Cirillo (04:12):
here's what I love about this. There is
something, and we'll get to thenews, but there is something
that is more costly tobusinesses and dealerships than
these tariffs, and it isdisengaged employees, wow. And
they're the ones that are goingto stick around a lot longer
than the tariffs will. And sonow here we have Claude, the
Chief Heart Officer. I know youknow her quite well. I've gotten
(04:34):
to know her a little bit. I'vehad her on our other show the
dealer playbook. Her mind aroundpeople is second to none. I've
never heard somebody quitearticulate how she engages with
people quite like this. You'renot going to want to miss that,
because, like I said, That's mycontroversial opinion of the
day, your people are going to bein your organization a lot
(04:56):
longer than the tariffs are.
That's true. And disengage.
Employees are costing multipleson their salary. And imagine
what would happen if you gotthem engaged, and she's going to
reveal that's,
Unknown (05:07):
I mean, I'm glad you burnt that one this morning.
Yeah, good. It shouldn't becontroversial.
Sometimes it's not that. No, itshouldn't be
controversial if it is. But oneof the things I love about
Claude, too, is that she's justbeen in so many high level
conversations around businessand marketing and strategy and
the numbers. So you needsomebody like that who can tie
the two together that way.
You're not floating somewhere inthe stratosphere just talking
(05:28):
about, you know, sunshine andlollipops. You're actually
figuring out, like, how doesthis help us make a better
business and translate to thebottom line? Isn't that an old
song? Youjust sunshine lollipops and
rainbows and tariff talk andOkay, cue the canes and the
hats, right? All right. Let'stalk about some let's talk about
(05:48):
some news today, a secretive EVstartup based in Michigan is
gaining attention fast, fundedby you may have heard this name
before, Jeff Bezos, and stockedwith talent from four GM, Harley
Davidson, stellantis, they'recalled slate Auto, and they're
taking a bold swing at buildinga $25,000 electric pickup that
founded in 2022 actually, viarebuild manufacturing, Slate has
(06:13):
already raised over 100 millionand closed the series B round
company targeting late 2026production near their
Indianapolis plant, building aminimalist two seater pickup
truck. I really hope it's abench seat. Slate strategy flips
the usual EV script, startaffordable and scale with
accessory, not starting withluxury trims and scaling
backwards product. Roadmacincludes personalization
(06:36):
merchandise and slate Universityfor customer led upgrades.
Here's a quote, we build it, youmake it. It's the company's
trademark mission to empowerbuyers with customization. You
don't think
Michael Cirillo (06:49):
this is going to be like one of those
accessibility scooters thatlooks like a
Unknown (06:53):
truck. Now, what are those? What are those really
popular, like, little Japanesetrucks that are coming out right
now? Yeah, and they they beshowing them. What are they
called? They're amazing. Justsmall Japanese truck. Like, look
at it. And then some of themnow, like, have a motorcycle
Michael Cirillo (07:05):
in the back.
Interesting. Okay, very well,maybe it is. I think it'll
Unknown (07:09):
be bigger than that. I think it'll be maybe, like, the
size of, like, a Ford Ranger,okay. But I mean, if it's going
to be a two seater, right, youalready take out so many
configuration options. And, Imean, we're trying to get a
$25,000 vehicle
Michael Cirillo (07:21):
period, but if it is a bench, the configuration
option they just added back isthe drive
Unknown (07:25):
with was, yeah, oh, your wife while you're out,
literally,I would buy a vehicle. At first
they announced the cyber truckwas going to have a middle seat,
but the bench in the middlewould be a total game changer,
because a three
Michael Cirillo (07:39):
seater, I hope it's a small truck, because I
want to see you driving. No,
Unknown (07:44):
I don't look that big in a truck. Yeah, no, I know,
but we'll see. I mean, $25,000Jeff Bezos, there is no joke
when he's behind something. AndI've never heard of Amazon
manufacturing vehicles, althoughwe've been talking a lot about
them getting into the carbusiness on the sales side. So
can you imagine, like, the BuyNow button on this, if you can
configure it like I can alreadypicture it in my mind.
Michael Cirillo (08:05):
It's the right price point. And I mean, we're
seeing this in Europe already.
You can, you can, what's thebrand? Liza, right? It's a town
car. You actually don't evenneed a driver's license for
these things, and they're allover the place in Europe. Do
Unknown (08:17):
you need a driver's license everywhere in Europe? I
don't know, apparently, but notfor this.
Michael Cirillo (08:22):
Well, yeah, especially, think about the
accessibility for maybe teensdriving to school don't quite
have a driver's license yet,they can drive one of these.
Unknown (08:30):
That's not terrifying, yeah, yeah, terrifying. Not at
all. Or speaking,that's good. Thank you.
Let's keep moving Polestar. So alot of competitors are coming
out with Tesla conquest leasedeals. However, Polestar is
(08:52):
going big to lure Tesla ownersoffering a jaw dropping,
dropping, jaw dropping, $20,000incentive. This may be the
biggest incentive this industryhas ever seen for drivers to
lease the new pole star threeluxury EV crossover, and the
offer is good through the end ofMarch that, wait a minute. How
(09:13):
long is this article? Is, waitIs this supposed to be April?
Wouldn't that be hilarious? Ithink, yeah, it's supposed to be
April. It is. How did we missthis for two weeks? This is a
Ron Burgundy moment when I readanything that's on the screen.
(09:35):
And the funny part is between meseeing this on LinkedIn and then
searching a story for it andreading it, flipping it to
Nathan, our producer, who thenmade it into show notes. It got
to this point, right here.
Yeah, heard it here second. Oh,yeah. Heard it here last.
(09:59):
So. Well, I I really should justcall Matt hicken on the phone
right now. Like, did you leaseany of these things? So
basically, they gave a $15,000clean vehicle incentive and
$5,000 conquest bonus onlyapplied to the new 2025.
Polestar threes had to takedelivery from existing
inventory. And what was like thefinal price on this thing, I
(10:21):
don't
Michael Cirillo (10:21):
know, but I love how you just dynamically
changed everything the best.
What are you gonna do?
Unknown (10:27):
Hard hitting news.
Imagine if, I mean, what do youthink they do in the stock
market? Every day when themarkets close, they talk about
what happened? Yeah,they see exactly. Just pretend
you're literallycrying right now. Now, Bo now,
MSRP, 67, five. So, okay, sothey took it off the top of the
(10:53):
lease. They didn't apply it tothe lease. Okay? They're trying
to try to go against the modelY, by the way, I did see a brand
new model. Y, they did therefresh. Yeah, looks really
good. And I did see that. Yeah,it's funny. It actually looks
funny. Thing is BYD copy Tesla,and now it kind of feels like
Tesla might be copying designcues from BYD. Interesting.
(11:15):
Yeah, I don't know what. Ontosome news that didn't happen in
the past. Got our time machineback out.
Michael Cirillo (11:23):
Yes, it kind of all technically happened in the
past. All of this. Nope, notthis one speaking of
Unknown (11:28):
the future. GM is hitting the brakes on production
of its all electric, bright dropvan in its Ontario facility,
your countryman, due to softdemand, despite deep discounts
and compelling incentives thatstill make it a standout. EV
deal production, production atthe CAMI assembly plant will
pause today. Oh, I thought itwas the past. I mean the future,
(11:49):
but it's actually the current,pausing today, remaining idle
until October this year, forretooling. I wonder what else
they're going to make there. Themove effects nearly 500 workers
drops the plant to a singleshift. Post relaunch, only 274
bright drop bands were sold inq1, 2025, which is a 7% increase
(12:10):
still year over year. Theannouncement follows market
jitters caused by tariff threatsand broader EV hesitations.
Here's a quote from UniforPresident Lana Payne. It's a
crushing blow to hundreds ofworking families in Ingersoll.
You familiar with this area? No,I not meant Canada. Oh,
yeah, I love that. When peopleare like, Hey, wait, you're from
(12:31):
Canada. You know the Smithfamily from Ingersoll? You're
like, uh, that's 4000 milesaway. They're like, so do you
then? Suzetta, yes. Is that ayes?
Michael Cirillo (12:44):
I've never heard of Ingersoll, you know?
Okay, I'm using my tomorrow'scontroversial opinion of the
day. Oh, boy, burning throughtwo at once. Yeah, I'm using.
I'm only allowed one a day, buttoday I'm pulling tomorrow's
out. Here's the thing. Imaginewhen people walked everywhere
1000s of years ago, and thenthey came out with the chariot.
(13:05):
People were like, no, no. Therewas volatility. People were
like, I don't know what to makeof this. Is it going to go? Is
it not going to go? There wereprobably commentators back then
who were like, Oh, so now what'sgoing to happen to our sandal
business? People aren't going tobe walking as much. Will they
even need sandals. We're in oneof those pivotal moments, right?
And this happened around horseand buggy time, into Model T
(13:28):
time, like any time civilizationgoes through a period of
adjustment, you're going to havespill off like this, yeah, as as
things kind of sputter and upand down. And while my heart
goes out to the families thatare affected, this is what
happens when you work in highrisk situations like this, or
when companies put us into highrisk situations, and I don't
(13:51):
necessarily blame the families,because they force you in order
to advance change. Yeah, likeit's just the nature of the game
and so similar to the stockmarket, similar all these
things, it's like, yes, you'relosing all your money because
you invested in high riskstocks. You should have known
the risk before you got into it.
You can't really complain if themarket's going to sputter. This
is the same thing. We stilldon't know where EVs are going
(14:13):
to land. We know that we need tobe invested in them in some way,
shape or form. But as we buildinto it, as it becomes the norm,
we're going to see more and morelike this. Just it's just the
nature of the game it is,
Unknown (14:26):
which is why pivoting, being nimble on your toes and
actually investing in the peoplewho can actually help you with
the pivot, roll, the cue, cutemusic. This is not a history
lessons that are happening rightnow, one that happened next
month, but what will behappening tomorrow is we will be
in New York City, on the groundat the Jamie power, auto form.
(14:47):
Make sure you say hi. If you seeus, we'll see you there. You.
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