Plug‑in hybrids are cars that have both a gasoline engine and an electric motor. You can charge the battery from a wall outlet, so you can drive short distances without using gas.
Semiconductors are tiny chips that help cars run their computers and electronics. They make sure the car’s systems like brakes, lights, and navigation work properly.
A dash cam is a camera that sits in the car and records what happens while you drive. Hyundai can put one in the car for free, so you have a video record if something bad happens on the road.
Kia makes cars that many people use every day. They’re known for being budget-friendly and dependable.
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It is deadline for a plan on its shuttered, right-drop plan. Stellantis' chairman warns the European auto industry faces irreversible decline, and a Chinese supplier cuts nearly 200 jobs in Michigan. Plus, Hyundai Motor America CEO, Randy Parker, joins the show to talk about the automakers' fresh models and why it's still optimistic about the future of its EVs.
There was an EV market before IRA, and there's going to be an EV market well after IRA.
Let's run through all the news you need to know to keep up in the auto industry. General Motors has missed a Canadian government deadline to submit a plan for its idled Kami Assembly Plan in Ontario.
GM ended production of bright-drop electric vans at the Ingersoll facility in October, citing weak demand. Industry minister Melanie Jolie demanded an update within 15 days.
But the deadline passed with no response, Jolie says talks continue. A source tells our sibling publication Automotive News Canada that the two-week timeline was unrealistic amid trade uncertainty.
A local MP representing auto workers says the community is, quote, terrified and is anxiously awaiting news.
Meanwhile, Unifor local 88 is warning GM. If the company tries removing anything from the plant, the union is ready to take over.
Stellantis chairman John Elkand is warning that Europe's auto industry risk, quote, irreversible decline without regulatory changes.
Speaking at an event in Turin, marking production of the new hybrid Fiat 500, Elkand said automakers have developed proposals asking the European Commission for more flexibility on emissions targets.
The EU is set to review its carbon regulations on December 10th. Industry proposals include allowing plug-in hybrids and alternative fuels beyond 2035.
Averaging interim carbon reduction goals over several years and introducing a scrapage scheme for existing cars.
John Luca Fiko of the UILM union echoed that urgency, saying the EU needs to act, quote, for its too late to avoid consequences for jobs.
And Chinese auto supplier Young Fung will cut 192 workers at its plant in Romulus, Michigan as it shifts production to other facilities.
Cutts take effect January 5th. Most of the positions are assembly operators and the cuts are expected to be permanent.
Young Fung, supply seats, instrument panels, and other components to Ford, GM, and Stellantis.
And those are today's headlines. You can find more details on all those stories at autonews.com.
Our own Lindsey Van Hully was at the recent MEMA original equipment suppliers conference in Detroit.
She wrote about a panel examining how the industry is thinking about supply chain mapping and collaboration.
She joins me now to talk about it. Lindsey, welcome back to Daily Drive.
Hi, Kel, thanks for having me.
So Lindsey, what were your big takeaways from the conversation?
You know, it was interesting. I listened to a few panels and a keynote.
And the theme that came up over and over was this idea of first resiliency and collaboration and how those two things are intertwined.
And you think about the supply chain over the last five years, right?
There is a pandemic, there have been natural disasters, there have been shortages of key parts like semiconductors,
fires at an aluminum plant right now.
You know, tariffs have been imposed, which creates this need now to understand where all of your components are coming from.
There have been all of these things that have disrupted the supply chain in one way or another.
And what I heard from automaker and supplier executives at the MEMA original equipment suppliers conference was,
we need to be better at collaborating, at being transparent, and really getting to know our supply chains all the way down, multiple layers, to really identify where those bottlenecks might be,
where we're overreliant on a single source for a key part.
How do we get to know that and be aware of those things so that if there is some kind of issue, we can spot it and we can react quickly,
so that we can either minimize downtime or come up with dual sourcing or find some potential work around before we get into situation where it's a crisis.
You noted in your story that this kind of collaboration has been pitched before, but it's been difficult to achieve.
Is it realistic to expect this time to be different?
You know, it's interesting. I think there's a couple of pieces of this.
I think the supply chain resiliency is new.
This discussion of really trying to map out where all of your suppliers are.
You know, that for the automakers, it's the tier ones, but it's also the tier two's and down the chain.
A lot of automakers sort of described it as tier N at the conference.
You know, this level, deeper knowledge of really understanding where the components come from and the components for the components and the materials that supply all of those.
And trying to get a sense of where all of that is.
That part, I think, is sort of born out of all of these just disruptions to the supply chain and that recognition.
And so there's discussions about it, you know, and how what that looks like.
You know, from GM's perspective, for instance, you know, that's one of the things that they've been talking about is really trying to build the trust and get that data from suppliers fed into this broader map.
Really, of what the whole network looks like.
And, you know, there are questions of, you know, there's a lot of sensitive and competitive data that comes here.
How is it kept, you know, protected just for these mapping purposes?
You know, it's going to take time, I think, to achieve that.
And so I think that's something I think that's emerging.
And one of the other things that was interesting is one of GM's executives was talking about collaboration from a competitiveness standpoint, which is a little, which is related, but a little bit different.
And the idea of sharing of common parts, you know, the heating and cooling modules, fuel pumps, break hardware.
The things that customers don't know come from one automaker or another, to be able to spread that across the supply chain, to be able to share parts, that idea of being more efficient, reducing costs, trying to find ways to source those kind of common pieces,
to focus then on the things that differentiate.
And I think the point from GM at the conference was, you know, it's those common parts, those aren't what sets GM apart from anyone else.
It's how we use them and how we integrate them into the vehicle.
So, it has been talked about before.
Josh tabled the senior vice president of manufacturing and product engineering, R&D, was the one who spoke about this at the conference and said,
you know, I want to make this my commitment in 2026.
Very insightful, Lindsey Van Hully. Thank you so much for joining me.
Thanks, Co.
Coming up, Hyundai Motor America CEO Randy Parker joins the show from the LA Auto Show.
That's next on Daily Drive.
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Welcome back to Daily Drive.
I'm Kellyn Walker.
Hyundai Motor America has momentum heading into 2026.
Last week at the LA Auto Show, CEO Randy Parker spoke with our own Jerry Hirsch.
He talked about Hyundai's push into rugged SUVs while the Palisade Hybrid is flying off dealer lots
and how the brand is navigating the post-tax credit EV market.
Hi, we're here with Randy Parker, CEO of Hyundai Motor America.
Randy, you've been in the auto industry for a long time.
I remember being on an event testing a different automaker's products.
With you in the Sahara Desert, we were doing a lot of off-roading.
Yes, I remember that now.
Yeah, we were in Morocco.
Right.
That's right.
And I got the one wheel buried at the very time.
I remember that now.
You know what?
That is funny.
You mentioned that because when I first saw that, man, I knew Jerry from somewhere.
That's right.
We spent some time together in Morocco and the US and doons.
Right.
That's right.
So today, Hyundai at the LA Auto Show introduced an off-road vehicle.
Right.
Tell me, what's the interest in that and what are the possibilities for the crater?
The vehicle that you introduced today?
Well, I think that the possibilities are real.
But I would say that, you know, the crater itself is purely a concept for today.
But I think it demonstrates the design direction that we could potentially go in.
The market is headed in that direction.
Customers want more ruggedness, off-road capability, toughness.
We've had some success with our Santa Cruz, which is built at our factory in Alabama.
And we feel pretty confident that we can play very well in that space.
And if you look at a lot of our products today, like, you know,
the Adventure Ready, Palisade, XRT Pro as an example,
we'll give you a good sense of where the brand may be headed in the future.
This consumer perspective on rugged vehicles is something I'm interested in.
Especially, you know, we're here in LA.
And we see a lot of G wagons and Range Rovers on Land Rovers.
And really, the roughest driving they ever have
is the parking lot of Christmas at Bloomingdale's in South Coast Plaza.
What is the disconnect here?
Why do people want these vehicles when so few take them off the pavement?
Yeah, I think that the vehicles themselves exude confidence.
You know, my wife, she likes to sit high in the seat.
And she feels safe. She feels secure.
And for her, it's about safety, security, and confidence when she's driving,
especially on the 405 freeway.
I can't get her to drive a passenger car on the 405 freeway here in Southern California.
And so I think that I think most people want to feel secure and confident
when they're driving an SUV.
And I think that's one of the reasons why they enjoy, you know,
going in that direction.
How big do you think the market actually is, though,
for people who take a vehicle into the dirt?
That's a very good question.
Honestly speaking, I rarely take my SUV off-road into the dirt.
But it's just like, you know, back in the old day, I worked for another brand.
I won't say which, but they just have this really big,
and they still do have this really big SUV.
And you didn't always need all of that space.
But man, when you needed it, it was sure nice to have.
And I think it's the same thing when you have true off-road capability.
It gives you that level of confidence that, you know what?
If I need to go off-road, if there's something that happens,
there's a flood or mudslides or I just happen to, you know,
I have to go off-road for whatever reason.
I think you have the confidence knowing that the car is going to help you get there.
What's that idea that consumers want, the most expansive use case,
part of the design of the new Palisade,
which is bigger in every dimension than its predecessor?
Yeah, what we're seeing right now is that the Palisade hybrid is selling really, really well.
We can't keep them in stock.
And the people that can afford the hybrid technology,
they're also stepping into the calligraphy trim package,
which is the highest and most expensive trim package that we have.
And so we see there's a shift.
If anyone that's looking for a hybrid, they really want the upper trims.
Tell me, what do you see is the most encouraging milepost
they had for 2026 and auto sales.
Oh, man, that's a really good question.
For us, it's all about growing.
We've had four consecutive years of growth.
This is our fifth consecutive year.
And we're on track to achieve what I call five for five and 25,
five consecutive years of retail sales growth.
And 2026 for the Hyundai brand is going to be no different.
I'm going to start calling it six for six and 26.
We're going to keep our foot in the accelerator.
We've got a great product.
We've got great dealer partners.
Everyone surrounding the Hyundai brand is making significant investments in the brand.
And I think that's going to help propel us moving forward.
The overall opinion of the brand is also improving.
Our marketing efforts are significantly improving.
And it is driving a lot of interest in the brand.
But at the end of the day, nothing happens until we do what?
Until we sell a car.
And right now we've got, I would say a purse for every seat.
You want a hybrid?
We've got that.
You want a plug and a hybrid.
We've got that.
You want electric cars.
We've got that.
You want SUVs.
You want passenger cars.
We've got that.
Again, we've got a purse for every seat.
And so I feel really, really good about where we are right now, where we're headed.
And I feel confident that we're going to grow in 2026 as well.
On the flip side, what worries you most about 2026?
Well, keeps me up at night.
Is that what you're asking me?
Exactly.
What worries me most?
You know, what really dealers and dealer profitability?
We want to make sure that everything we do is focused on making sure our dealers are engaged in the brand.
We've got some great, great dealer partners that have invested significant dollars in the Hyundai brand.
And I think it's time for us to really start to harvest a lot of that investment and help the dealers get a great return on their investment.
So one of the issues that's really become prominent in the auto industry is the average transaction prices,
which are depending upon who you look at, 48, 49, 50k.
Are you concerned that new cars, the prices of new cars are going to outstrip incomes?
And that people are just not going to be able to buy your products.
They're going to have to opt for either the very low end of your range or for use product.
Well, you know, what we're seeing is quite the opposite.
I know that there are a lot of naysayers that are out there about, you know, car prices going up and transaction prices are getting higher.
But the market is still very, very strong.
From the days that I was a district sales manager, the market, with the exception of COVID, never dropped below 16 million.
And so we're seeing that, you know, happened again this year as well.
I can't predict the future.
But what I can tell you is that from a Hyundai perspective, no matter which direction the customer wants the pivot in from a car or SUV or trim packets perspective,
we can meet them there.
I think that's one of the things that gives me a lot of confidence.
And why I do sleep well at night is because we do have an array of products that our customers can't afford.
Affordability has always been the key for customers.
And I think between us, our finance company and our deal of partners, we'll figure out a way to make sure that we can convert more into the Hyundai franchise.
Let's move to one segment of auto sales.
Hyundai made a big bet on electric vehicles, both in the U.S. and globally.
Came out with some vehicles that are very well regarded.
And over the past year, made some huge strides in selling them.
And then policy changed.
The federal tax credits, $75,000 sunsetted.
There was a policy fight between the federal government in California, which wound up with California pulling back on some of its goals and targets and mandates.
Where do you see the electric vehicle market headed in 2026?
You saw that September was huge, and then there was a big dip in October once the tax credit ended.
Yeah, so EV is a big, I would say core part of our vision of progress for humanity.
We know it's the right thing to do for the environment.
We know it's the right thing to do to reduce your dependency on foreign oil.
There's a lot of good benefit to driving an EV.
There was an EV market before IRA.
And there's going to be an EV market well after IRA.
You're absolutely right.
There was a huge pull ahead in the month of September, because IRA and the tax benefit was going away.
We saw a drop in October.
But already in November, we're starting to see the market starting to level out.
We don't know exactly where it's going to level out.
But we know that EVs will continue to be a big part of the automobile space going forward.
And I think we're putting our money where I'm out this as evident of our Ionic 6 in launch that we launched today at the LA Auto Show.
We're going to keep our foot on the accelerator.
We're going to continue to meet the customer on their journey to electrification.
If the customer wants an internal combustion engine, we've got that.
You want to move into a hybrid?
We've got that.
You're in a hybrid.
You want to now transition into an EV.
We have that as well.
And so it's going to be a big part of our strategy going forward.
I think that the future is right when it comes to electrification.
The EV transition even slow demonstrates a shift in the auto industry.
And the shift is something moving from a machine more into a device.
The Hyundai Palisade Hybrid has some interesting aspects of that with a larger battery to power functions within.
For example, there's the stand mode where you can run the air conditioning and the radio and just sit in the parking lot for a while.
From battery power, you don't have to idle.
Another aspect in that vehicle is I think there's an optional factory dash cam that leverages the cameras around the vehicle.
Where do you see Hyundai headed with technology like that?
And what are some of the things you guys are discussing and looking at how to integrate into vehicles?
I can't give away the farm, Jerry.
But what I can't tell you is that advancement in technology is a big part of our strategy as well.
When you look at our products across the portfolio, as you just clearly pointed out, we've got a lot of tech features in our products.
The key for us is just making sure that we can communicate those features in a way that consumers look at those features as enhancements to their daily lives.
And that's one of the things that we've been discussing internally is how do we take what's in the car and bring it to life in the eyes of the customer?
Because a lot of times, customers don't know that they have these benefits until you walk them through it, until you educate them, until you train them.
And you are 100% correct. Our products have a lot of technology.
It will continue to be a big part of our strategy moving forward.
But it's going to be incumbent upon us to make sure that we can communicate that in a way that is simple for the customer to understand and how they can benefit from those technologies.
Let's talk about one aspect of the technology.
Phone mirroring, Android Auto and CarPlay.
Some of the brands are moving away from it.
They say, we want to control the data.
We want to also use our embedded systems as a revenue model to charge for subscribing to features.
What's Hyundai's philosophy there?
Well, you know, what I like to do is put you in contact with our product specialists.
You saw her on stage, stay all the busy.
And she can give you a little bit more intel in terms of what we plan to do in that space going forward.
Do you think that there is a revenue, a subscription revenue model, from features in the cars?
Do I think that there's a revenue? Perhaps, you know, perhaps? Yeah, I would think so.
The question I have is that people have this all on their phone.
They could bring their phone into a car.
It's intuitive for them.
There's a way to overcome that obstacle for automakers.
Well, I think that the more that you can simplify the lives of people on the daily basis is what we've got to figure out as an OEM.
You know, how to take what's on the on the phone integrated into the car so that it's seamless for the customer.
You know, there's so many apps, so many things you've got to download, so many things you've got to do to go to to get information and make appointments and so on and so forth.
But I think that the more that we can work with these tech companies to simplify for the consumer, I think that's what we aim to do.
That's daily drive for today. I'm Kellen Walker.
Thanks to automotive news executive producer Jake Near, as well as our own Lindsey Van Hully for her reporting for today's podcast.
We also have reporting from Greg Lasson and Kurt Nagel of our sibling publications, automotive news Canada and Crane's Detroit Business.
You can get the latest news on manufacturing, supply chains, and everything happening in the auto industry at autonews.com.
Come back tomorrow for a conversation with Kia America Vice President of Sales Operations, Eric Watson.
From the Kia standpoint, we've got some great new products coming out next year.
We're going to have an onslaught of new product. We're also bringing a ton of hybrids and increasing our hybrid production.
So our path forward is very bright. I think we'll outperform the industry.
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 dailydriveatautonews.com or leave us a voicemail at 313-444-2774.
And if you enjoy the podcast, remember to like, leave a review, and subscribe so you never miss an episode.
About this episode
Hyundai Motor America CEO Randy Parker discusses the brand's strategy and optimism for 2026, highlighting the success of the Palisade Hybrid and the introduction of rugged SUVs at the LA Auto Show. He addresses the challenges in the EV market post-tax credit and emphasizes the importance of dealer profitability. The conversation also touches on supply chain resilience, technology integration in vehicles, and the evolving consumer demand for off-road capabilities, while Parker reassures that Hyundai is well-positioned to meet diverse customer needs.
Hyundai Motor America CEO Randy Parker joins the show to talk about the automaker’s fresh models and why it’s still optimistic about the future of its electric vehicles. GM misses Canada’s deadline for a plan on its shuttered BrightDrop plant. And industry executives pitch collaboration on supply chain mapping.
