Volkswagen is making its first all-electric SUV available to American customers with deliveries to U.S. dealerships beginning this month.
"Obviously there's a movement at hand, and Volkswagen likes to lead and likes to be part of the movement," Volkswagen Group of America CEO Scott Keogh told Cheddar. "We think electric vehicles are ready to explode. It's already happening worldwide, and we want to be part of the lead."
The ID.4 model is currently manufactured in Germany and China but will begin U.S. production in 2022. Volkswagen's plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, will produce the electric vehicle locally.
Keogh said the ID.4 was competitive at $39,995 but noted that the federal tax credit for electric vehicles helped put the model right in the "sweet spot" for the U.S. car market.
"Make no mistake, I think it is important," he said of the credit. "This is technology we want to have adopted. It's technology we want embraced by all American consumers, and certainly, the $7,500 tax credit helps build and lengthen that runway to get this off the ground."
The German automaker's stock price has soared in recent weeks, even as industry leader Tesla's sky-high valuation has shrunk.
Keogh attributed this to "old auto" showing its strength in the new electric vehicle market.
"In any competitive industry, there never is just a number one," he said. "There's always a two, and there's always a three, and frankly Volkswagen has now joined the game."
He also said the market is responding to the company's commitment to the Paris Climate Agreement, and its plan to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.
"The market buys the future. The market believes the future, and right now they're believing us."
As for how the ID.4 stacks up to Tesla's Model Y, another fully electric SUV, Keogh touted Volkswagen's sales infrastructure and market penetration.
"We have 650 dealers across the country," he said. "They've been trained. We have EV specialists. They're ready to sell the car. They're ready to service the car. They're ready to embrace the car."
This footprint, he added, gives the company an edge in capturing new customers in the electric vehicle market, which is more important than clawing customers away from Tesla.
"We need internal combustion engine owners to look at this car," he said.
Disney has secured a patent for a digital world simulator for headset-free augmented reality expected to be accessible in parks by tracking smartphones and projecting personalized 3D displays, an indication that the entertainment giant is gearing up for its entry into the metaverse.
It has been a record year for luxury automaker Rolls-Royce despite the industry struggling to meet demand overall due to the ongoing semiconductor chip shortage. CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös joined Cheddar to discuss the driving factors behind the company's 2021 success. He said after the pandemic forced the closure of factories in 2020 and people stopped making large purchases, they were open to spending more in 2021. "The entire luxury sector was fueled by there's money available, and people are prepared to spend money," he said.
John Deere is getting on board the autonomous vehicle craze with its own self-driving tractors. The farming and forestry equipment manufacturer made the announcement at the 2022 CES convention in Las Vegas. Jahmy Hindman, chief technology officer at John Deere, spoke to Cheddar about the shift to self-driving to agriculture and how it will help farmers produce even more food as the world's population continues to grow. "It's all about trying to do more with less in farming," he said. "Labor's already a problem on the farm, and it's only getting to be more of a problem in the future. And we really view autonomy as a way to solve that problem."
John Grant, a senior analyst at OAG, and Jonathan Root, an airline analyst at Moody's, joined Cheddar to provide some insight into how mass cancellations are affecting both travelers and airlines after more than 5,000 U.S. flights were scrapped over the weekend. In addition to staff shortages linked to COVID-19, inclement weather reportedly also played a major role in the canceled flights, but Root downplayed the effect on revenues. "We're not concerned about the financial impact, which is going to be very manageable," he said. "We see these conditions as temporary with a favorable outlook as we pass the omicron wave."
Analytics firm Needham is predicting 2022 to be the "year of grocery" for the ride-hailing and food delivery company Uber. Despite early predictions of a drop-off in the food delivery sector, it has remained Uber's top-earning sector.
President Biden's disapproval rating hit a new high in December according to a poll from CNBC and Change Research, as Americans expressed their disapproval over the current state of the economy. This comes just months after the president signed a historic infrastructure bill back in November that was promised to bring a surge of jobs, especially in the manufacturing sector.
Change Research Senior Pollster Nancy Zdunkewicz spoke to Cheddar News about just what is driving the President’s disapproval rating.
