Dec. 10, 2025 | Ionna CEO Seth Cutler interview Part 1; affordable cars selling fast

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This is the story dips with affordable cars selling fast. Bankrupt first brands hires a former GM exec to help lead its rescue efforts. And VinFast's US expansion collapses. Plus, Seth Cutler, CEO of the IANA Charging Network, talks about the eight automakers trying to beat Tesla at its own game.

Let's run through all the news you need to know to keep up in the auto industry. New vehicle inventory in the US fell more than 1.5% in November to $3.09 million. But according to Lotlinks, supplies rose to 73 days from 70 the previous month.

The big story, vehicles priced under 25 grand are spending just 1.5 days on dealership lots. Electric vehicle supplies ballooned to 126 days from 107, reflecting the end of the $7,500 federal tax credit in September. By segment, many vans have the leanest inventory at 58 days. Followed by sedans at 60, pickups have the most at 80 days.

Toyota maintained the industry's title supply at 31 days. Bankrupt aftermarket auto parts supplier first brands group has hired three veteran automotive executives to lead its turnaround. Tim Turvy joins as senior advisor. He was a long time General Motors executive who retired in 2020 as global vice president of customer care and aftermarket sales.

Craig Barnes was most recently COO of pet food company Hollywood feed and held leadership roles at advanced auto parts auto zone and delifies aftermarket division.

And Michael Broderick, former CEO of auto shop chain Monroe also held leadership roles at advanced auto parts Canadian tire and federal mogul first brands makes fram filters auto light spark plugs and trico wiper blades.

And then fastest US retail network has shrunk to fewer than two dozen stores reversing its expansion plan at sales sink. The Vietnamese EV maker hope to have hundreds of dealers two years ago. Now US registrations have fallen 57% through October to just 1400 vehicles.

Then fast says the company won't open more US dealerships until the market stabilizes instead it shifting its focus to Asian markets including India Indonesia and the Philippines.

And those are today's headlines you can find more details on all those stories at auto news dot com eight automakers including GM Toyota Honda and Stellantis are betting big on a startup charging network called IANA.

In a minute we're here in interview with the company CEO Seth Cutler joining me now is automotive news reporter Lindsey van Hully who visited IANA's headquarters in Durham North Carolina and sat down with Cutler for that interview Lindsey welcome to daily drive hi co.

Hi Lindsey so give us the big picture what's the strategy here and why are eight competitors working together on this.

You know that's one of the interesting things about this and one of the questions that I asked some of the automakers when I sat down with them.

We were out in Durham North Carolina last week for a visit to IANA's headquarters and they really talked about kind of for the first time their holistic strategic vision how they envision expanding across the country.

You know they're really trying to build out a nationwide network fast chargers canopies amenities high quality reliability so that you know you can pull in and have confidence that you'll find a charger and that it'll be working and that you'll have amenities from restaurants to coffee shops to markets to restrooms to things that you'll need to do while you're plugged in for you know several minutes to half an hour to however long it takes to charge your vehicle.

And this started up in in 2023 and was really a joint venture among what is now eight automakers and the idea is they can all sort of combine resources to really scale this and and what a lot of them said was you know outside of this we are competitors you know we all want to sell our vehicles and we're differentiated but at the end of the day we have this charging gap we have this need for more reliable high quality fast charge.

And we want to be the best network out there you know we want to have the reach we want to have the scale we want it to be a place that people want to go that you know if you're looking for a place to charge you'll know IANA just like you know a gas station you know those brands have been built over decades and you know when you go there what you're going to expect and that's kind of the idea that you know you'll have a place where you can go.

It's safe it's well lit it has access to things that you'll need or that you want to do and that you know there's there's really you know there's an investment from these automakers in and trying to build that out you know in the idea then that they'll be able to have a network that they can back and they can support and that their customers will know that you know their brand is recommending so it's really you know something where they've said it's not just for future customers you know knowing that at some point we're going to see you know kind of flip

back to H&N's in new EV demand but for current owners it's still a frustration to to go and look for charging station and pull in and it doesn't work or you're not sure how far you can drive before you find another one and so their plan really is to build out that scale as an EV owner I've been down there dark road before so Lindsey set this interview up for us a bit what were some of your biggest takeaways from your discussion with CEO Seth Cutler you know that really it was a lot about their

their expansion plan you know they're how they're looking to build this out they're targeting 50 cities metro areas across the country looking at things like major metropolitan areas like Los Angeles and New York secondary markets you know kind of highway and what they call vacation corridors you know places where people are going to be driving and and can have a presence in these locations and so you know one of the things that they're going to be doing is is building out you know charge

charging stations in all of these markets there's three different types you know from from kind of smaller what they call relays you know they don't have their own anchor tenant but they have existing amenities nearby all the way up to kind of a flagship site with you know the most charging stalls the richest amenity offerings you know and so they're really looking to kind of provide that scale but really across all of the different sites they're going to have you know as many pull through stations

as possible as many canopies as possible fast chargers across the board you know trying to find ways to to build that out so that people know that when they see an ionistation it's going to be the same high quality experience across the country and so you know they're they're at a point now where they're really just getting the company set up and getting their first location set up and how they're kind of looking over the next year and several years you know they want to have 30,000 charging

base by the end of 2030 and that's that's you know going to be a pretty big growth curve to get to that point but it's something that they that they think is achievable you know they said we're moving quickly and the automakers want us to move quickly and so that's that's kind of how they're they're setting that up perfect Lindsay thank you so much for joining me thanks.

Coming up we'll hear that interview between our own Lindsey van Hully and Iana CEO Seth Cutler that's next on daily drive.

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Welcome back to daily drive I'm Kellen Walker Iana is building a nationwide charging network backed by eight major automakers CEO Seth Cutler spoke with automotive news reporter Lindsey van Hully in this first part of the interview it talk about the networks strategy to reach 30,000 charging bays by 2030 and why the company believes reliable charging will unlock the adoption.

Seth thanks for having us out for context for listeners we have been here today at Iona's headquarters in Durham North Carolina getting to know a little bit about the company and your strategy.

Maybe just the first question you know high level you talked a little bit about just the the formation story you know in the condensed version talk about really the last 22 months or so and really the idea from.

Company idea to now having you know charging stations up in operable yes it's interesting so the car companies came together with this idea back and announced it back in 2023 summer of 2023 I was hires and plan number one so I started early February of 2024 so less than two years ago your point about 22 months and so.

Your kind of we spoke today this media event as we as we kind of launch are the far the beginnings of our network and you know we have this multi generational plan what we call a wage strategy so.

Your one was what we call wave zero which is really around launching a company you can imagine you're going from literally nothing to to building an organization but also.

I need to launch our first sites and so we launch our first sites 11 months in to 2024 while we're building building the organization.

And we want to make sure that the first sites out the gate were different in their experience when you look at you know that we have our.

full recharges at apex with Carolina and and garner and and and Houston where these replaces were actually built the amenity built buildings remediated converted gas stations to full recharges for customers.

And it was important to do that as the early sites that was end of last year.

And this year we've been really marching towards how delivers what we call quality at scale to customers and demonstrate that we can go from four sites.

To a hundred sites and so today you know we have over 120 sites and construction are beyond so they're in construction completed or or live the customers and we've contracted hundreds of sites which equates to 4000 charging base in the US so.

In 22 months we've literally gone from zero to whatever miles per hour you want to equate that to and it really it's really short period time and this isn't regional right I mean the what you've showed us today is the map really these contracted sites that will.

Come online in the next year likely are really all over the map that's correct so you know we're building a national network for sure starting the US we have plans for Canada later but we look at what we've contracted across the entire continent really the entire United States it's everywhere so in our first sites launching Kansas we've opened the site in California ready we've got.

Hoppers of nine sites plus I think actually we're up to a dozen sites they're actually in construction California we've got sites on these coast to your point we've started everywhere all the ones but with a very strategic way that we're doing it to cover.

Civic cities and connecting corridors to give drivers the free and the travel wherever they want and the covers a need as we build the network.

How does the automaker participation their role in this maybe help differentiate you know there's a lot of charging providers out there everyone's kind of trying to figure out how to solve.

This this charging access availability up time convenience all of these kinds of things that people have said are a barrier to adaption you know you're kind of a start up you have investment for made automakers does that allow you to approach this from a different way maybe or does it does it give you the ability to scale faster how does that maybe separate you from from what else is out in the market.

Well I think I think we talk about internally as the automakers really are super power right and that's what makes us a special special company not just because they're investing in us but also because of what comes with that what comes with that is is the connective tissue back to the actual customers the drivers it's understanding where they're trying to sell cars where there's a need for chargers in the future we can then figure out where there's a gap of charging right now being able to use them in terms of intersecting their product development roadmap our product development roadmap it's done well I think we're doing it well.

You can start to see how the gears come together between what I honest building and then what each of the eight are building and how do you deliver a platform network that they can build on terms of you know vehicle integration technology integration and really vehicle sales at that point so I think I on a in itself idea the network is not new the ability to do that with a investor partners who are the who are in the day are driving demand as we build supply of chargers is something different and then we look at the team that we built an execution standpoint which you wind up with is what we call on a speed which is.

Really driving value the customer as fast as possible the idea then is that you know they they can develop their technology their EVs their charger integration to work with what your team is building that that's correct that's correct so we're buying stuff off the shelf for sure but it's what we call it on a wrap it goes around the terms of how we put in a technology together and then we develop our own software else to that looks at disparate systems and then we can use it the couple that with the OEMs of the car companies in terms of as they bring cars to market as they look at you better technology faster charge rates.

Any type of vehicle in our ability you know there'll be other things that we're kind of tease out today as you're having some of the some of the panel conversations around discount programs and other integration apps that's all possible seamlessly when you do it as one and I think what I heard today was that there's actually an eye on a lab at each of the automakers own facilities and so everything sounds like it's tested and run and the integration is worked out before any of that goes live that's exactly right so it's not just talking it's actually walking here right so to your to that exact

point we actually have our our equipment in their facilities our folks are traveling there on a regular basis you know we built a really interesting operating with them or in

rigor between the car companies so as you heard today you know I reported to a board of of all eight but we've really integrated the

companies together we have all types of working groups below me below the board members that are talking on a regular basis that then comes

together as an orchestra as we work together on moving the company forward. So you talked about 2025 is sort of being you know

getting this up to scale what does 2026 look like and and beyond I know you said 30,000 charging

bays is the goal by the end of 2030 you've got about a thousand charging bays expected by the end of

this year yeah how did that that's quite kind of an exponential curve there so how do you how do you

get there and what is next year look like and and beyond yeah so so can kind of go back to that

multi generational plan right our wave strategy so we're just finishing wave one now which is really

around launching what I call the scale to structure the network this year which is the thousand bays

and and end of next year will be the completion of our phase one network which is really giving customers

coverage full coverage in 15 cities with connecting corridors we'll have other cities covered too but

they will be fully built out so that's that's the overall plan but really delivering 30,000 bays live the

customer starts with contracting them so you know we are over 10% of the bays needed under contract

and we we're moving at a pace where that's going to continue to rise at a faster clip than it has

before so as we as we require them we're with to move them through permitting into construction

faster so I think you know next year is really going to be around growing the network faster than

this year number one but number two is because we've got this what I call skeletal structure built

and we've tee this out today there's additional integration now that will come with it meaning that

we instant start to rely on Iana as a network or the network as they are thinking about the sales

process for new vehicles but also existing cars in their car park that are out in the roads looking

for reliable charging you mentioned I think to those 15 cities are you starting with 15 of maybe

the largest metro markets and then do you sort of see it going down into you know smaller cities

and mid-sized cities yeah so there's as we you know we talked to everyone today you know there's

50 cities in total that we're targeting as our main cities right now and things will shift

right as we look to see whether there's demand gaps or or charging gaps but there's 50 500 cities

that we're targeting and it's obviously vacation areas as well that will couple that I think what

you'll start to see us do and we've done this in several parts of the country is as we build out

our corridor strategy we're trying to co-locate our corridor sites with either major metropolitan areas

or secondary markets so you can start to serve what we call stacking use cases folks are traveling

through but also folks that live there so there's been a lot of thought that goes into both the macro

strategy of how we develop the network and then also the micro strategy where to locate these actual

sites and you have different tiers of of charging stations that you'll have that might make sense in

different markets walk through what that's going to look like is from from you know the beacon the

first one that you're opening now in California maybe talk through that but then also the other

kind of sizes and scales of of charging stations that you're planning yeah so you know one one

it's a great question one of the things that makes us different is we we really have thought through

a fuller product strategy in terms of how we go to markets so we've got three product classes one

what we call a recharge relay a rechargeery and then a beacon the rechargeery relays are really

sites that are going to be without an anchor tenant it might be next to an existing amenity or inside

of a larger complex it has multiple tenants that were not tied to are the rechargeery what we call

the full rechargeery there's two flavors of that one is what's known as a rechargeery at in which

we partner with a large retailer a wawa sheets a case he's a high v a schnooks that we've already

announced and then there's a rechargeery where we actually bring humanity and we've done this

in multiple cases where we'll go and you know buy an existing building or build a building and

deliver some sort of a amenity to the driver in it that's coupled with the charging and then the

last one is really our beacon our flagship right where we can take a much larger plot of land

and offer customers 20 plus charging bays a fuller amenity location outdoor recreation etc to really

bring customers something totally different inside their markets and and the first one is is is

it under construction in in california is it open it is so our first beacon we just broke ground on

two weeks ago now we did is california grantor we know we really have come into california in a big

way now as i mentioned before i think we're we're over a dozen sites or any constructs right now

first sites open back in september we're expecting those dozens of moving to being open to

customer shortly and the beacon in west minster california just off the 405 in southern california

just broke ground they were anticipating a you know kind of early summer late spring opening for

public okay those different tiers of amenities are kind of based on size and location and those sorts

of things but you know when you think about what's important to customers the things you're hearing

most what are they you know as far as the features they want the amenities the the convenience

and then how how are how do you take what they say is important to uh to then implement and make

sure that those those new stations have those features yeah no it's it's good so you know we

fundamentally believe in working with drivers so we do regular focus groups regular what we call

customer clinics interact with drivers and then you know as as we talked about today you know we

actually go on site and regular basis interact with drivers at at every charge receipt to collect

information understand what we're doing well and honestly what we're not doing well where we can do

better and so we use it to build foundationally what the product looks like and so if you look at

you know we talked about the macro the micro you think about the nano irrespective of our product

class every site has certain promises we make right i think the simplest trash cans and windshield

fluid and cleaners and where we can we put canopies in place and we and even if we can because

the speed will come back later and do it so really making sure that irrespective of what the

amenity is the charging works and the experience around the car is is bar non-invest in the industry

and then from there we're able to build on top of that from a platform standpoint so we're

constantly reevaluating feedback from customers to to drive into the product and challenge ourselves

to do better for customers and so what are the as far as those you know the amenities that you're

putting in whether it's co-locating whether it's you know developing your own what kinds of

things are you are you looking at making sure that that those you know kind of mid-tier and halo

offerings have those things in terms of what kind of amenities we're trying to provide the customers

yes so you know it's been interesting we've got i think it's about half a dozen sites open today

we've built our own amenity and we've we've been piloting different types of scenarios right in

one case we have a site here in North Carolina we've implemented Amazon just workout technology which

is a frictionless environment you've got basically a mini supermarket mini c store we're focusing

coming take a knee and go and it's a great experience for customers well that's been open for about

nine months now we're going to use that to put that into our beacon site in a much larger format

for customers our site in apex which is a hundred-year-old gas station which is really cool to

renovate and remediate we partner with a local entrepreneur to build out a coffee shop and now we've

got that same format going out into our location in Kansas where we bought a land with with a

building on there that had been out of commission for a couple years we've renovated it we've

rejuvenated it and we're bringing in a local entrepreneur to run the restaurant now on on site so

we're constantly trying to experiment with the other parts of the experience the customer has

on site to then roll it out at scale and I think the one thing I'd add to that is everyone focuses

on the charging piece and fundamentally what what we want to get to as I on is charging just works right

you go buy a cup of coffee at a coffee shop you don't ask what coffee maker it is you don't

ask where they got the coffee beans from but you know that the coffee is always going to be good

and you know that the experience there is where you want to be and that's where trying to build an

ion where you say I trust charging to no work because it has ion as name on it I want to go there

because the experience I'm going to have no come back tomorrow for the second and final part of

Lindsey Van Holley's exclusive interview with Ion as CEO Seth Cutler that's daily drive for today

I'm Kellen Walker thanks to automotive news executive producer Jake Nier as well as

her own or Mari Gardner and Lawrence I live for their reporting for today's podcast you can get

the latest news on EV charging networks retail inventory and everything happening in the auto

industry at auto news dot com we'd love to hear from you let us know what you think of the show

when the topics we cover today send us an email at daily drive at auto news dot com or leave us a

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Dec. 10, 2025 | Ionna CEO Seth Cutler interview Part 1; affordable cars selling fast

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