Nissan’s Tariff Plan, Working Man’s Cybertruck, Cybercriminals Mimic Google

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Episode #1025: We cover Nissan’s plan to hold vehicle prices through early June and increase U.S. production in response to tariffs. Plus we examine Tesla’s strategic repositioning of the Cybertruck and how cybercriminals are creating a realistic-looking phishing campaign using Google’s own tools.

Show Notes with links:

• Nissan is staying steady on pricing through June 2 and looking to its underused U.S. factories to soften the blow of auto tariffs. The strategy focuses on affordability and domestic production leverage.
  • Nissan has a 3-month supply of tariff-free vehicles and won’t raise prices yet.
  • The company plans to boost output at Smyrna, TN and Canton, MS plants, all of which operated at half their capacity in 2024.
  • Rogue production will jump by 54% over the next year, adding 60,000 units, while price cuts of $1K on 2025 Rogue and Pathfinder aim to drive demand.
  • Nissan is incentivizing retailers with its April and May dealer volume bonus program, which pays extra cash to stores that meet sales targets.
  • “We count all the cars [toward the sales target], but we only pay on the U.S.-made cars because we want to give [them a] tailwind,” said Nissan Americas Chair Christian Meunier

• Tesla is quietly shifting the Cybertruck's identity from status symbol to workhorse after early hype faded, trucks stockpiled, and political ties turned divisive. The new approach aims to resonate with a more traditional truck-buying audience.
  • Cybertruck deliveries remain under 50,000; demand has sharply declined with sales dropping 50% in Q1.
  • Tesla updated the product page with rugged, utilitarian imagery, aligning with Ford’s F-150 ads.
  • Sales teams report it’s harder to sell the truck to actual truck buyers; its novelty isn’t enough.
  • "They need to advertise durability. It needs to be used and abused, and all of the capabilities that make it a work truck need to be on full display," said Edmunds' Ivan Drury.

• Cybercriminals are exploiting Google’s own “Sites” app to run a phishing campaign that convincingly mimics law enforcement subpoenas and bypasses email authentication safeguards.
  • Emails appear from “[e-mail]” and claim law enforcement access to your account.
  • Attackers use Google Sites to create convincing portals that evade DKIM checks.
  • DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) authentication is passed since the emails originate from Google’s own infrastructure.
  • Google has acknowledged the issue and is deploying mitigations while encouraging 2FA and passkeys.

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Episode Transcript

Paul J Daly (00:01):
Good morning, Tuesday, April 22 this is the
automotive State of the Union.
I'm Paul J Daly. This is KyleMountsier. Today we're talking
about Nissan's big plan fortariffs, a working man, cyber
truck, and cyber criminals doinga really good job at making
pretend they're Google,

Kyle Mountsier (00:18):
which is not terrifying. It's not terrifying
with all at all.

Paul J Daly (00:23):
PSA, at the end, it's a PSA, it's a good PSA.
Kyle, there are a few things inlife that get me more excited
than new swag. You know, this istrue, and you're like ice cream,
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(00:44):
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going to have a few, I have afew pieces here for you this
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Unknown (00:51):
little show and tell, let's rage. Let's go. I'd like

Paul J Daly (00:55):
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(01:18):
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Unknown (01:26):
Zoom. Done this before, Paul you used to be a QVC

Paul J Daly (01:30):
rep hat diameter 58 centimeters, which is standard,
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Nathan Southwick (01:34):
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the side? Oh yes, there. It's

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a little bit of a sleeper logo you're not gonna be
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(01:57):
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This is going on this, like,this jacket thing that I have,
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the Yeah, we could press that.
And last but not least is thisbeautiful Special Edition more
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(02:19):
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You'll get most nice if you cometo a soda con, you're gonna get
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(02:43):
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(03:04):
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yesterday too. So dealers, OEMs,industry partners, Amazon autos,
is going to be there. A lot ofpeople have questions for them,
and we would be remiss if wedidn't give a special shout out
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(03:25):
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People don't understand thecommitment you have to make at
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that see it 12 months out. Imean, I think they deserve the
extra love, don't you?

Unknown (03:45):
Come on. I agree. Go say hi to him. Come around.
We're a little excited.

Paul J Daly (03:48):
It's going to be the it's going to be, it's going
to be a can't miss one. Youcan't we're leaning in on this
one.

Kyle Mountsier (03:54):
I'm just excited to see the people that I'm just
and ask the questions. I mean, Iwas looking at some of the
topics around like used cars andinventory acquisition we got at
the whole panel called the usedcar factory. Like we found it.
We found it. It's my favorite

Paul J Daly (04:08):
title. We found the used car factory. Oh, I'm so
jealous.

Unknown (04:14):
Actually, I don't

Nathan Southwick (04:15):
know what to do with myself. You look like
you look like you. You're acountry center dude. I was

Paul J Daly (04:20):
just gonna say, I'm gonna say, I'm gonna get myself
an acoustic guitar

Kyle Mountsier (04:23):
and, yeah, come to Nashville, just hang out with
Brandon Lake. He's been singingthat song on everything, every
single stage. You just jam withhim. It'll be great. Think we

Paul J Daly (04:32):
could do that. I think this might be a thing you
and Jelly Roll. You can neverget over that name. We should
probably talk about some newsfor

Unknown (04:43):
get into it. Speaking of Jelly Rolls, I don't know,

Paul J Daly (04:48):
not even close, nothing makes me think about a
jelly roll that like a Japanesecar maker. Yeah, right. Nissan
is staying steady on theirpricing through June 2, and is
looking. To its underused usfactories to soften the blow of
auto tariffs, the strategyfocusing on affordability and
domestic production leverage.
Basically, Nissan has a threemonth supply of tariff free

(05:09):
vehicles and saying they are notgoing to raise prices yet, the
company plans to boost itsoutput at Smyrna, Tennessee and
Canton, Missouri plants, all ofwhich operated at half their
capacity in 2024 so it's a greattime to throttle those up. Rogue
production is going to jump by54% over the next year, adding
60,000 units, while price cutsof $1,000 on all 2025 rogue and

(05:30):
Pathfinder are looking to you'relooking to leverage that to
drive demand. They're alsoincentivizing retailers with
April and May dealer volumebonus programs which pay extra
cash to stores that meet salestargets.

Unknown (05:45):
We're never going back to stair steps. Okay? Maybe we
will, until we have to NissanAmerica's chairman, Christian
Manuel manure. Munyer Moon, yay.
Christian moon, yay. Says,quote, we count all the cars
toward a sales target, but weonly pay on the US made cars
because we want to give them atailwind. So a little added

(06:05):
complication there. Yeah, Idon't know if this is just
because I'm in Nashville and wehave, you know, one of the
headquarters and, you know, theSmyrna Tennessee plant, but it
feels like their advertisinggame has picked way up. They are
really prioritizing a lot oflike off roading in the rogue,
in the Pathfinder, those are twohot models for them. You see
that they have the an easyability. This is, this is one of

(06:27):
those things where, like, if youhave US manufacturing, it's been
under utilized. There's an easyability to upskill that
manufacturing. And the talentpool in both of those cities is
wide open for hiring. So if theyneed capacity in hiring, they've
got it.

Kyle Mountsier (06:44):
This is, this could be like the saving grace
of Nissan, you know, likethey've been in to all of it,
they've been in, they've been inthe run of it and and you've got
this really open capacity inplants that produce your most
sought after models, and you candrive down pricing and increase
advertising. I mean, I'd watchout. They might, they might come

(07:07):
with the with the swing aroundfrom, like, having a couple, you
know, rough quarters. I

Paul J Daly (07:11):
know, hey. I mean, that's, that's, that's kind of,
like the cool thing aboutbusiness in general, right? You
gotta stay in the game. And ifyou stay in the game, right? The
Situation's changed. And ifyou're nimble enough to move,
you know, I'm hoping that theycan rally the dealer network
enough, because a lot of theNissan dealer network is reeling
from a whole slew of issues, anda lot of people don't they'll
realize this. But like, ifyou're a Nissan dealer, your

(07:33):
banks looking at you a littlesideways, right now, right?
Yeah, trying to finance yourfloor plan, get your building,
you know, your interest rates,all those things. So I'm hoping
that this is some good news forall the Nissan dealers out
there, so they can, you know,get get their feet under them,
and then keep the momentummoving forward. Because, look,
there's nothing like a good,affordably priced small SUV to
get everybody excited. Yep, it'sperfect. Speaking of not small

(07:58):
or nor affordably

Unknown (07:59):
priced, but try and get everyone excited.

Paul J Daly (08:03):
I mean, I would actually venture to say they
may. They should probablyfeature some of these more than
cars trucker hats in theiradvertise. Advertising, as
Tesla, is quietly shifting thiscyber trucks identity from a
status symbol to a workhorse.
After early hype faded, trucksstarted stockpiling, and
political ties turned divisive.

(08:24):
The new approach aims toresonate with a more traditional
truck buying, trucker hatwearing audience, cyber, truck
deliveries remain under 50,000units. Total demand has sharply
gone down, with sales dropping50% in q1 Tesla did update the
product page, and if you go toit now, it looks like this
rugged, utilitarian imaging. Nomore trucks on Mars looking

(08:47):
stuff aligning with Ford's f1 50ads. They're actually a lot of
strange, coincidentalsimilarities, even in what
they're hauling in the back ofthe truck, sales teams are
reporting it's harder to sellthe truck to actual buyers
because its novelty isn'tenough. Edmunds, Ivan Drury
said, quote, they need toadvertise durability. It needs
to be used and abused, and allof the capabilities that make it

(09:09):
a work truck need to be on fulldisplay.

Kyle Mountsier (09:12):
Yeah. I mean, this is, this is a necessary
pivot. There's only so manypeople that will just buy a
truck for the novelty of it,like most people want a truck to
do truck things. And you look atit and it's like they've got the
airstream on the back of thisthing. They're pulling trucks
up, you know, they're pullinghorse trailers up mountains. You

(09:34):
know, it's all about like, gearand puff on the outside,
comfortable on the inside.
You've got stuff in the in inthe trunk, or in the whatever
you I don't know, the bed trunkthing, yeah,

Paul J Daly (09:46):
yeah. Still,

Kyle Mountsier (09:48):
it's like a it's like a bunk, like a bed trunk,
or something like that, is whatI'm gonna call it. But you know
this, it's a necessary pivot. Ijust wonder if they can kind of
overcome the like status. Symbolthing my kids, my kids make fun
of it all the time. We see acyber truck rolling around, and
they're like, there's the sameperson. It's like,

Paul J Daly (10:08):
I don't know.
They've only sold 50,000 Paul,

Kyle Mountsier (10:11):
it kind of looks like you with that hat on,
middle aged white dude with atrucker hat. Trucker hats really
well, you are in Nashville. Itdoesn't ever we're in Nashville.
It's okay, okay, okay. I'msorry, yeah, I get a little

Paul J Daly (10:21):
cowboy script. I know. I mean, look, I've driven
them. It's an amazing truck todrive, right? The operating
experience is pretty incredible.
It's so nimble, it's got fourwheel steer. So I made a U turn
faster than I ever thought Iwould, tighter than I ever
would, which is pretty sweet.
But I think the biggest headwindhere, obviously, it's a truck
that looks differently, but Ithink the majority of it is, is

(10:42):
this Tesla issue that we'rehaving right now, because it's
so unavoidable to see if you're,if it's within your eyesight,
you're gonna pick it up. Youknow, it's not like a model Y or
model three that looks like asedan, still. And you have to
really know what you're lookingfor if you're gonna find it.
Cyber truck is, I mean, so froma distance, yeah. And we'll see.
I think if they make it reallyaffordable and market it to the

(11:05):
right group of people, I thinkit could become a very like a
very designed I

Kyle Mountsier (11:10):
mean, they've got it advertised starting at
$62,000 with the tax credit. So,like, that's in line with most
trucks that have itscapabilities at its baseline,
like, they don't have a worktruck. Mode of it where it's
like a $45,000

Paul J Daly (11:23):
they did that, that other that version of it, though
I was reading about some of thestuff, they stripped out and,
like, they stripped out a lot.
And I think one of the mostimportant things that they
stripped out, that a workerwould probably make it, make it
attractive for work vehicle, arethe bed outlets.

Unknown (11:39):
Oh, why would you strip that so cheap? Just a little
wiring harness.

Paul J Daly (11:45):
Who knows

Unknown (11:47):
they're not truck people. Hire some truck people.
You know, I'm saying,

Paul J Daly (11:52):
speaking of hiring some people, the criminals, the
criminals, I don't think theyhired any COVID Googlers. But

Kyle Mountsier (11:58):
this is a quick PSA, because we know a lot of
our fam is on the Googlenetwork, there are a bunch of
cyber criminals kind of taking anew route at phishing emails.
They're exploring Google's ownsites. So if you don't know, you
can, you can create a websiteGoogle has, kind of like a mini
version of a website creator appto run a phishing campaign that

(12:20):
convincingly mimics lawenforcement subpoenas and bypass
email authentication safeguardsso the emails appear to be from
no [e-mail] and claimlaw enforcement access to your
account. Attackers are using theGoogle Sites to con to create
portals, even that you like goand click to and get to, but

(12:41):
they're able to evade the DKIM.
So domain key Identified Mail,if you're familiar with like, a
little bit of like, Email Setup,a lot of information came out of
that about that about a year anda half DKIM and an SPF records,
but they can bypass it becauseit's within Google's own
ecosystem. So Google marks it assafe, doesn't put it in spam,
doesn't flag it as phishing.

(13:04):
Google has acknowledged theissue. They're deploying some
mitigations to it. I'm surethey'll fix it fast, but it's a
good reminder to go to yourteam, go to your IT department,
remind people what to look forwhen they're looking for
phishing emails common traits oflike misspellings or
misalignments or different typesof characters and and really
type, you know, tighten up, kindof just internal communications

(13:27):
around what phishing and whatscam emails may or may not look
like.

Paul J Daly (13:31):
I mean, the they're always constantly getting more
sophisticated. Actually,somebody on my team almost fell
prey to one. They actually cameto me like, Is this from you?
Right? Yeah, it was good. It wasreally good. I mean, they would,
they would definitely guess thatI would want $500 worth of Cold
Stone Creamery gift cards. Imean, it was right.

Kyle Mountsier (13:51):
They knew they see the ice cream. I told the
people it

Paul J Daly (13:55):
wasn't ice cream.
But, you know, but it was good.
I was like, No, that wasn't me.
And here's why, you know,education experience. But you
know, if you want an educationexperience, if you want to have
a good time, if you want to geta hat just like this one, and be
with all of your friends who arereally smart at what they do,
you would come to a soda con.
You would go to go to soda concom. Check it out.