This is a big car show in New York where companies reveal new cars and ideas. In this episode, they’re using the show as a backdrop for several major announcements.
Tariffs are extra taxes on imported products. In cars, they can make vehicles and parts more expensive, which can hurt sales even if some people buy earlier.
Stellantis is a large multi-brand automaker formed from Fiat Chrysler and PSA. The segment highlights it as one of the few automakers with first-quarter gains, with sales rising 4.1 percent for a third straight quarterly increase.
Body-on-frame is a vehicle construction method where the body is mounted on a separate ladder-like frame. It’s often used for trucks and off-road vehicles because it can handle rough terrain and heavy-duty use well.
“Most attainable” is a marketing positioning that implies the EV will be priced to be easier for more buyers to afford. The segment notes Kia didn’t disclose pricing, but the company is signaling an affordability goal for EV3.
Automotive News Europe is an industry news outlet focused on cars and the auto business in Europe. The guest’s title there signals he follows the market closely.
ZF is a company that makes important parts for cars, especially things related to how power gets to the wheels. If they’re in debt, it’s a sign the whole car supply chain is under pressure.
Restructuring is when a company makes big changes to stay afloat, like cutting jobs or changing how it operates. In car manufacturing, it can ripple out to suppliers and dealerships too.
The idea is that problems in Europe don’t stay in Europe. U.S. car companies and dealerships can be affected through parts supply, pricing, and how many cars they can sell.
A cyclical downturn is driven by temporary economic conditions (like demand swings), while a structural shift is more permanent—such as long-term changes in regulations, technology, or consumer preferences. The distinction matters because it changes how automakers and dealers should plan investments and staffing.
Co-determination (often called “Mitbestimmung” in Germany) is a system where employee representatives have a formal role in company governance, especially around major decisions. The speaker connects it to labor boards influencing discussions about layoffs and restructuring.
Labor boards are groups that help oversee employment decisions. The point here is that they can slow down or shape how companies handle layoffs and restructuring.
Concept
plants move to making defense related things
The idea is that some car factories might start building things for defense instead of cars. It’s a sign that the auto business may be struggling enough to change what factories produce.
Affordability just means cars that more people can afford. The speaker’s saying that if you want to stay competitive long-term, you can’t only make expensive vehicles.
Continental makes important car parts and systems for many brands. The question here is whether trouble in Europe could cause shortages or delays in the U.S.
This refers to policy and market pressure to accelerate EV adoption, sometimes framed as “all-electric” mandates or targets. The speaker argues the messaging can backfire if people feel forced, but can work if they experience the benefits firsthand.
The U.S. is a huge car market, so what happens there matters a lot to automakers. If the U.S. starts buying more electrified cars, it changes how companies invest and what they build.
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Welcome to Daily Drive. For Thursday, April 2nd, 2026, I'm Kellan Walker in New York City. Today
on the show, Genesis will expand its lineup by 2030. New vehicles are debuted at the New York
International Auto Show, and first quarter results are coming in, and many automakers are posting
weaker sales. Plus, Doug Bolduck, managing editor of Automotive News Europe, joins us to talk about
the crisis racking the European auto industry and what it might mean for the US. There's still way
too much capacity to build vehicles in Europe. Let's run through all the news you need to know
to keep up in the auto industry. Genesis will have 22 total new vehicles and model variants by 2030.
Hyundai CEO Jose Munoz said yesterday at the New York International Auto Show. The expansion is
part of Hyundai's $26 billion investment into the US by 2028. The automakers goal is to domestically
build 80 percent of the vehicles that sells in the US by 2030. Genesis currently has eight models
on its US website. Munoz did not give details about which segments the vehicles will be in
or how many would be permutations of existing models. Many automakers posted weaker sales during
the first quarter, including General Motors, Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Subaru, and BMW. Tough
tariffs pushed people to buy, contributed to the drop in sales. Severe winter weather and
ongoing consumer concerns with new vehicle prices and operating costs, specifically rising gas prices
also drove declines. Stellantis is one of the few automakers that saw first quarter gains,
with sales rising 4.1 percent. This is the third consecutive quarterly increase in US sales for
the automaker. And new vehicles are making their debut at the New York International Auto Show.
Yesterday, Kia announced plans to bring the EV3 electric subcompact crossover to the US later
this year, and Hyundai unveiled the bolder concept of body on frame off-road capable SUV
that will be built in the US. The EV3 follows Kia's EV6 and EV9. While the brand didn't disclose
pricing, it said it will be its quote, most attainable electric model when it goes on sale.
The bolder concept is in the realm of the Ford Bronco, and Hyundai said the body on frame
architecture will support a mid-sized pickup expected in 2029. And those are today's headlines,
you can find more details on all those stories at AutoNews.com. Coming up, automotive news
Europe's Doug Bolduck sits down with our own Jake Nier to talk about the European auto industry's
crisis and what it signals for American automakers and dealers. That's next on Daily Drive.
Are you a dealer creating a workplace culture your employees are proud to be part of?
Applications are now open for the 2026 automotive news best dealerships to work for program.
This isn't just an award, it's a chance to get real insight into what's working at your dealership
and where you can improve. And we've expanded the categories this year, recognizing everything
from technician experience and leadership development to AI enablement and employee
retention. The registration deadline is April 17th. Find out more and apply at AutoNews.com.
Welcome back to Daily Drive, I'm Kellyn Walker. Europe's auto industry is in crisis.
Volkswagen is cutting 50,000 jobs, German suppliers like ZF are drowning in debt,
and over capacity is forcing painful restructuring across the continent.
But what does this mean for US automakers and dealers? Could we be facing similar challenges?
Doug Bolduck is managing editor of Automotive News Europe. He spoke with our own Jake Nier about
the scale of Europe's struggles, whether this is a cyclical downturn or a structural shift,
and what lessons American auto executives should be learning right now. Jake reached Doug at his
home office near Munich. Doug, always great to have you from Europe here. Join us on Daily Drive.
Welcome. Thank you very much, Jake. Looking forward to speaking with you.
So we've had a lot of news stories on the show recently about trouble in Europe. We've been
reporting on Volkswagen cutting 50,000 jobs, ZF drowning in debt, other German suppliers really
struggling. Paint the picture for us. How bad is it in Europe right now? And is this just a German
problem or is this broader? Oh, no, Jake, this is really throughout Europe. You hear mostly about
the German companies simply because they have such a dominant role. And they made a lot of very big
moves and big bets as we started to see the world through very electrification driven eyes.
And ZF as an example and Volkswagen as an example really pushed hard into that area.
And then all of a sudden the world started to change a little bit. And the other thing that's
happened a lot to the Europeans is that they were strongly connected to China. And that market has
moved very quickly into electrification, but also with a emphasis towards the domestics. So
the Europeans are really getting hit on multiple sides. And then you have the additional struggles
here. And in Europe, you have very strong social consciousness. Okay, so that means the unions
are extremely strong. And it's a co determination situation in a lot of the German companies,
where the labor boards are actually having a role in discussions on who's going to get fired,
how the how this whole thing is going to play out. It's not like you get the cardboard box and
you know, two minutes to get out as security escorts you to the door. Very, very different here
because of the rules and how things work. So you have all of those challenges kind of coming
together at one time. And that really leaves Europe a bit on its back foot. But the good
thing about these companies is that they have been around for decades, if not centuries, and they
have a very good track record of adjusting, adapting, swallowing that hard pill and going forward.
So would you say that this is more a sign of a cyclical downturn we see cycles all the time in
the auto industry? Or is there a structural shift happening here? This is much bigger. It just feels
stronger and harder than the cyclical shifts simply because of such a large amount of
transformation happening all at one time. The automotive industry is always a very difficult
game and the margins are extremely thin for all of the different players. But right now,
with the electrification move, with the move to software defined vehicles, with the challengers
coming into the market, we have a lot of Chinese competitors coming into the European market,
all of these things are happening at one time. And that is why this is different. And it will create
some bigger changes. There's still way too much capacity to build vehicles in Europe. And even
though we're going to see a number of those plants move to making defense related things,
as the world again changes in a very dramatic fashion, some of those factories will be able
to move into defense because, I mean, who's better at building large volumes of things than the
automotive industry? They're fantastic, especially if they're heavy and complicated. But it is a big
difference when you're filling a contract for 10,000 drones versus 2 million cars.
Yeah. Now, you've mentioned a lot of factors here, you know, high energy costs, Chinese competition,
EV transition challenges. US auto companies are dealing with a lot of those maybe on a smaller
scale at this point, but still significant factors. And the possibility of Chinese competition
coming in either through Canada or another way. I'm curious what you think, if you're a US auto
executive or a dealer right now, what are sort of the lessons or the trend lines that are most
important for how these sort of factors could play here in the United States, you know, learning
from what's happening now in Europe? One of the pieces of advice that I would give them,
and that we're seeing the Europeans kind of trying to catch up on, is get affordable cars
back into the mix. Stop pushing all of this 50,000 minimum price level of vehicle,
because the Chinese will destroy you. Okay, you want to give them 100% tariffs? We've got
companies working in this market that are paying a 45% tariff and still able to sell
for 5 to 10,000 euros less. So it is imperative. And I know it's not sexy. And a lot of times
companies will, you know, they're like, oh, well, people won't buy the cars and so on and so forth.
There is that, there is that. But the problem is that this is really where the Chinese are going
to excel. And so that is a place where I'd say, start looking at affordability as being a very
key factor to making yourself basically future proof in the US market.
I want to zoom in a little bit on suppliers too. Many of the suppliers struggling in Europe,
whether it's ZF, Continental, they're massive players here in the US too. Should American
dealers and automakers be concerned about their supply chains and what kind of ripple effects
should they be watching for? I think with the major tier one suppliers,
they're probably going to be okay simply because of the strength and the might and the position
they have in the market. The real danger factor is whether they can protect their tier twos and
their tier threes and their tier fours. There's so much more pressure on the entire automotive
value chain to make sure that the parts are being sourced from the right places for the right prices
without ethical or human rights violations and so many factors that are involved in here.
And the real, real risk factor is if the automakers aren't taking care of their tier ones,
then they're not taking care of their tier twos and their tier threes. And then it's just a
ripple effect right throughout because we've seen that a few times when this no name supplier that
happens to create some pigment for the color black for a car gets knocked over, then the world
goes upside down. And so this is where the real risk is. The bigger suppliers, they'll be okay,
but the ones that are underneath them, they're going to need to be watched very closely.
So I'm curious if there are any bright spots in any of these trends. Anything that is making
you hopeful that, you know, Europe will navigate out of this or at least be able to weather the
storm, any bright spots? I think what will help them in the long run from a both automaker and
supplier perspective is that emphasis that they're making on the electric vehicle. Because I mean,
again, I've had a chance to drive quite a few of them in this market, a number of different brands.
The vastly better technology and seamlessness of these vehicles is really stunning. I still
own a combustion car, okay, haven't made the switch all together, but it's a lot less scary
because the infrastructure is built out. So that's where I feel a little bit hopeful for them,
because they are really producing some strong products, which there will be a need. Now it's
not going to, I mean, again, that there's been this push, the wrong move was the push towards
everything has to be electric. Nobody likes to be told what to do. However, when you find out, wow,
this is so much better, then you go, this is a no brainer, I want to do it. So it's that whole sort
of discussion about, you know, are you going to be forced into it or will you discover it yourself?
The quality of the products is a real, you know, strong point. And it's, we're seeing it,
electric sales and ER EVs and plug-in hybrid sales going up and up and up,
as the products have gotten better and better. So that's good news because the only way the
Europeans are going to continue to be able to compete and win is to have some of these electric
cars do well in China. And if there is any move towards electrification in a giant market like
the U.S., which is still absolutely crucial to these companies, if they have great products that
can be impressive, at least you can give them a look. If you don't want to switch and you want
to still buy a combustion car, go ahead and do that. But boy, oh boy, I mean, especially when
you've seen the IX3 from BMW and the XC60 from Volvo, these cars are really fantastic machines.
Doug Bolduck, managing editor of Automotive News Europe, joining us from outside Munich.
Doug, always wonderful to have you here on the show. Thank you so much. Thank you, Jake.
of the show and the topics we covered today. Send us an email at dailydrive at autonews.com
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About this episode
Genesis plans to grow to 22 new models and variants by 2030, tied to Hyundai’s $26B US investment, while early 2026 first-quarter sales show broad weakness across major brands amid tariffs, winter weather, and higher operating costs. New vehicles are also rolling out at the New York auto show, including Kia’s EV3 and a Hyundai body-on-frame off-road concept aimed at a future US-built pickup. Doug Bolduck of Automotive News Europe explains Europe’s deeper-than-cyclical auto crisis—overcapacity, electrification disruption, China pressure, and union-driven restructuring—and shares US lessons on affordability and supply-chain risk.
Doug Bolduc, managing editor of Automotive News Europe, talks about the crisis racking the European auto industry and what it might mean for American automakers and dealers. Plus, many automakers see a drop in first-quarter sales.
