This 1931 Duesenberg Derham Tourster is among the early entries to the RM Sotheby’s Monterey auction. Get all the latest auto industry news in the Executive Briefing.
Today’s headlines:
+ New-vehicle affordability improved for the fifth straight month in March as rising incomes, stable pricing and rates, and dealer incentives lifted consumer purchasing power. More at CBT News.
+ Stellantis and Microsoft announced a five-year partnership to co-develop AI, cybersecurity, and engineering in customer care, operations, and product development. More at Yahoo! Finance.
+ Ford announced that J. Douglas Field, its Chief EV, Digital, and Design Officer, will be leaving after a month as the company restructures its operations and executive roster. More at CNBC.
+ The IndyCar series is considering an expansion of its current 18-race season schedule with potential events in Mexico, Japan, Brazil, Denver, and the Pacific Northwest. More at Racer.
+ Senior U.S. Defense Department officials have held discussions about producing weapons and other military supplies with top executives at General Motors and Ford, reportedly. More at World Auto Forum.
+ A controversial state bill in Minnesota that would have banned the use of classic collector cars on weekdays has stalled out after failing to make it to a committee hearing. More at The Drive.
+ Lucid Motors has named Silvio Napoli, the former CEO of Schindler Group, a Swiss manufacturer, as its next CEO, replacing Marc Winteroff, who returns to his COO post. More at Car and Driver.
+ A Jeep Wrangler caused a 20-acre wildfire in Ocala National Forest in central Florida when it became stuck in the mud off-road and its exhaust system set dry grass ablaze. More at Autoblog.
+ Early consignments to the RM Sotheby’s Monterey auction in August include a 1931 Duesenberg J Tourster by Derham and a 1947 Talbot-Lago T26 by Figoni et Falaschi. More at Old Cars.
+ NASCAR has adjusted the length of the three stages for the Cup Series race at Talladega on April 26 to discourage the fuel economy strategies that dampen competition. More at Motorsport.com.
Photo courtesy of RM Sotheby’s.
Review the previous MCG Executive Briefing from April 13 here.
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According to google, the Stellantis and Microsoft deal is to shortcut a foothold in the budget EV market. Stellantis already holds a 20% stake in the Chinese firm Leapmotor. Discussions are ongoing regarding giving the Chinese state-owned firm Dongfeng Motor access to underused Stellantis factories in Europe and North America in exchange for Stellantis building cars in China.
The sourcing for all AV/EV technology should be the highest regulatory priority due to national security concerns- according to AOL.com, the U.S. government has signaled it may bar Chinese hardware and software from “connected vehicles” as early as 2027, citing “national security and data privacy concerns”. Recently disclosed by http://www.fortressinfosec.com 90% of software products reviewed for managing the U.S. power grid (ncluding renewable energy and data centers) contain code contributions from developers in China or Russia…
Old news, the rule (not law or treaty) was already issued last year by the Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) under the authority of Executive Order 13873. It establishes a phased ban on software (starting Model Year 2027) and hardware (starting Model Year 2030) from “foreign adversaries,” primarily China and Russia, to prevent potential data exfiltration and remote manipulation of vehicles.
Microsoft has already “begun moving parts of its supply chain out of China, aiming for up to 80% of components for surface devices and data centers to be made elsewhere” by end of 2026.
Selling the Brooklyn Bridge is a False Authority fallacy combined with a False Premise, a confidence scam built on pretending to have authority you don’t have.
BTW, the FHWA has never conducted an audit on any federally funded ODOT project in the history of Ohio. There is no single, effective, independent oversight body of any sort that actively monitors ODOT’s decisions, spending, project execution, AV test programs, experiments or any MUTCD compliance whatsoever. FHWA → ODOT is basically a professional pinkie swear: FHWA says to ODOT: “You promise you’re following MUTCD, CFR, federal design standards, procurement rules, and safety requirements… right?” And ODOT aways says: “Yep. We certify it.” And FHWA always replies: “Approved.” That’s the system in Ohio…
Directly from the horse’s mouth: “The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) has assumed the responsibilities of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The environmental review, consultation, and other actions required by Federal laws are being, or have been, carried out by ODOT pursuant to 23 U.S.C. 327 and the Memorandum of Understanding dated December 14, 2020, and executed by FHWA and ODOT, and the Memorandum of Understanding dated December 3, 2024, and executed by FRA and ODOT.”
When ODOT in Ohio signed the NEPA M.O.U. with FHWA and FRA, something huge happened, ODOT takes over these federal agency’s jobs.
ODOT becomes the applicant, the reviewer, the approver, the compliance enforcer all at once.
These loopholes were an exclusive coordination between Gov. Dewine and Pres. Biden, hatched out of the brainpower of Ohio Northern University law alumni, surely indicative of why ONU is ranked bottom tier nationally #177 out of 194 law schools, ha ha.
The fact is that there is no longer any independent federal review at ODOT in Ohio of anything, especially impacts and risks, alternatives and safety, crash data and design decisions, spending, public concerns or compliance with any federal standards of road infrastructure like MUTCD and 23CFR. This is the root-cause of the genuine post-modern “legal to the letter of the law” crash tax laboratory called Ohio…
According to ODOT and FHWA, this NEPA Assignment “allows ODOT to assume federal agency authority during transportation projects” and formally assigns FHWA’s NEPA responsibilities to ODOT under 23 U.S.C. 327. The MOU between FHWA and ODOT was orginally executed in 2015, amended 2018, renewed 2020, FRA added in 2024. This started under the Kasich adminstration and President Obama, neither of whom are ONU law alumni. Be aware that Ohio’s NEPA Assignment agreements with FHWA and FRA apply ONLY to ODOT. The Ohio EPA, ORDC, PUCO, etc. are NOT included, NOT signatories, and NOT delegated federal authorities.
This means ODOT is the sole entity acting as FHWA/FRA in Ohio. No other state agency has federal decision‑making power like this in Ohio.
Dewine, Biden, Kasich and Obama? Four lifetime government ambulance chasers who never set foot in a court room. The first modern roundabout in Ohio wasn’t built until 2009. Wind farms began appearing in Ohio around 2011–2012, while utility‑scale solar fields started popping up around 2009–2010. This shows how and why the Ohio GOP was
completely converted to the green new deal Republican division of the Democrat party in Ohio, right in front of our lying eyes.
Bottom line: allowing preventable harm because it benefits those in power and special interests is negligence, gross negligence, reckless disregard, willful indifference, and dereliction of duty all at once…
Epilogue:
The 2015 FAST Act contained the legal authority for all states to take NEPA Assignment, but Ohio’s actual NEPA Assignment was implemented through a special secret separate administrative agreement between Kasich’s ODOT and Obama’s FHWA. Because this agreement was never publicized or explained to residents, the public experiences major consequences without understanding that the oversight system had changed. The secret Ohio NEPA assignment between Dewine’s (Republican) ODOT and Biden’s (Democrat) Federal Railroad Administration in 2024 removed federal oversight from all Ohio railroad crossings.
NEPA Assignment is a secret bureaucratic agreement, not a public safety program at all. There was no public explnation of what changed in 2015 or 2024 in Ohio. This is the part that matters most, Ohio government never told taxcattle, “We now approve all of our own safety and environmental documents.” “Federal oversight of all planning, projects, detours and staging has ended.” “You can no longer escalate concerns to FHWA or FRA.” “We now define and self‑regulate all highway safety and railroad crossing safety in Ohio.”
So Ohio tax cattle experiences the negative consequences and crash taxes of fake safety by loopholes such as: AV testing in public with no oversight, predatory “car buster” infrastructure, post modern brutalist hostile archetecture, blatantly unsafe detours, long closures and no more corrections without ever being told why. There was no press tour, no public campaign and no billboard announcements to Ohio residents or any explanation of consequences whatsoever. It was originally signed quietly between ODOT (Jon Kasch, Mike Dewine Republicans) and FHWA (Barrak Obama, Joe Biden Democrats) as an administrative transfer of authority for executive branches of government.
Worst of all, the recent secret Ohio NEPA Assignment with the FRA also trumps all federal Fox River Grove school bus crash mandates in Ohio. To the public, it looked like nothing happened. Inside Ohio everything has changed for the worst…
2015 is the exact year Ohio took full NEPA Assignment
This is the key event. In December 2015, Ohio became the first state in the country to receive full NEPA Assignment from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). ODOT became responsible for reviewing its own compliance so FHWA stopped reviewing ODOT projects alrogether. ODOT became both the regulated party and the regulator.
This is the structural shift that changed everything.
Ohio’s world famous defective truck detours also became common after 2015 because this NEPA Assignment removed all federal oversight of ODOT’s detour and work‑zone decisions.
The Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, signed in December 2015, was a major federal transportation law and a farewell gift from the Obama adminstration via congress to then governor of Ohio John Kasich (not a lawyer, he has a BA in poly’sci from OSU ’74). The FAST Act morphed NEPA into the public safety disaster it has become when it was signed on December 4, 2015. Ohio received its NEPA Assignment on December 11, 2015, only one week after the FAST Act was passed, FHWA rubberstamoed Ohio’s application.
Ohio’s traffic fatalities did not decrease after NEPA Assignment
This is the part that matters. Ohio’s fatality numbers increased by 6.5% to 10.1% every year since Ohio’s NEPA assignment, not decreased at all except during covid. So the NEPA Assignment did not reduce fatalities.
Insurance premiums in Ohio did not decrease after NEPA Assignment either.
Insurance premiums are influenced by crash frequency, crash severity, medical costs, repair costs, litigation, inflation and vehicle prices. Ohio’s auto insurance premiums have risen steadily since 2015, and have never decreased a single penny after ODOT’s NEPA Assignment, including Ohio’s massive roundabout expansion and “safety‑focused” projects since 2015. So no evidence at all of NEPA lowering insurance premiums in Ohio.
Look at the timing of Ohio’s federal NEPA Assignments, FHWA on December 28, 2015 and FRA on December 3, 2024. Both last minute gifts from outgoing Obama/Biden Democrat administations to Ohio Republican governors Kasich/Dewine. The special one of a kind FHWA/FRA NEPA Assignments to Ohio grants the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) all federal-level authority to perform all of it’s own federal oversight and environmental reviews. It can be described as a political “gift” because of how it balances national Democratic environmental goals with Ohio Republican procedural goals. This bipartisan political manuever loopholes all safety and environmental oversight under special interests in Ohio.