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.
On December 20th, the TSA reported that for the fourth day in a row, it had screened more than 2 million people through its airports as the Omicron variant continues to rage and spread rapidly throughout the country. The CDC now reporting that roughly 73% of all covid cases are caused by the Omicron variant ahead of President Biden’s remarks aimed towards curbing the virus and helping hospitals battle rises in hospitalizations. Dr. Nasia Safdar breaks down the latest on traveling during the pandemic.
Ahead of a four day week for the markets due to the upcoming Christmas holiday, investors hoping for a quiet end to the year, or even a Santa Claus rally, may not be in luck. Investors are still digesting the latest from the Fed regarding a quicker than expected taper, as well as ever increasing blow back as the Omicron variant spreads. Octavio Marenzi, CEO of Opimas LLC, explains why the markets have been so volatile ever since the emergence of the latest variant and what to expect going forward into 2022.
Carlo and Baker cover the heartening news on the Covid front ahead of the holiday, plus President Biden punting student loan repayments again, a new space telescope and Love, Hate, Ate: Christmas Eve Eve Edition!
Stocks closed lower Monday as investors continued to price in COVID-19 omicron variant fears. Reopening stocks like airlines, financial companies, restaurants and hotels, and more, dragged on the major indexes as businesses and events took a pause over the weekend amid rising case numbers in metropolitan areas. This comes a week after the Federal Reserve announced it plans to speed up its asset tapering timeline in January and institute three rate hikes next year. Is that plan aging well? Robert Conzo, CEO of The Wealth Alliance, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss market movement, how stocks could close out the year, what the Fed could do in 2022, and more.
After a vote in one Buffalo, New York-area Starbucks created the first workers union in the coffee chain's history, the company has announced that it is ready to negotiate in good faith with the new bargaining unit. But a tense process where labor organizers leveled accusations of anti-union activity at the coffee giant may make that difficult. Cortlin Harrison, a barista at the unionized store, spoke to Cheddar about making a deal. "We can move past all the dirty tricks, the union-busting, the captive audience meetings," he said. "I'm ready to go to the table, and my fellow baristas are ready to go to the table, and just move forward."
This year's worldwide semiconductor shortage limited the supply of everything from new cars to smartphones; and now, many in the chip industry expect the shortage to continue deep into 2022, and maybe even 2023. Semiconductor senior research analyst for Robert W. Baird & Co., Tristan Gerra, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Direct health care company Nomi Health recently raised $110 million in a Series A round. Nomi Health lets public and private organizations directly purchase healthcare at reduced costs, and pay providers in real-time. It also delivers healthcare directly to under-served communities via its fleet of mobile care units, which the company says is the largest in the country. Nomi Health says its mission is to improve the health care experience for all Americans. Nomi Health CEO Mark Newman joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
