Here are edited highlights from the latest episodes of "Daily Drive," Automotive News' weekday podcast, August 10-12 , hosted by Jason Stein and Steve Schmith.
“The UAW and unions in general have been a key constituency for the Democratic Party for decades. In the 2016 and 2020 elections, Donald Trump garnered a lot of votes from a lot of union workers. So this might be the Biden administration’s attempt to say, ‘Hey, look, we haven’t forgotten about you folks. You’re really important to us. And by the way, you’re the only ones that we are having at the White House for this event.’?” -- David Dulio, Oakland University political science professor, discussing the presence of UAW and Detroit 3 executives at President Joe Biden’s signing of an electrification executive order Aug. 5
“The U.S. auto industry is doing quite well in terms of its economic contributions. And at the same time, we actually do see there is substantial upside in terms of future job opportunities and opportunities for growth.” -- Hans-Werner Kaas, senior partner, McKinsey &Co.
“If you think about the profitability of the companies, I would say, on average, a captive finance usually generates about 15 percent to 20 percent of the total profits of an auto OEM. But what’s more meaningful to them is that it’s very consistent profitability, even in difficult times like the Great Recession or if you look at the pandemic that we had. These are the profit-generators that can offer huge dividends back to their parents.” -- Joel Levington, senior auto and industrial credit analyst, Bloomberg Intelligence
Listen to these and other shows at autonews.com/dailydrive.
