MCG Executive Briefing for April 18, 2022

This 2018 Ford GT ’67 Heritage Edition was among the top sellers at the Barrett-Jackson Palm Beach auction, bringing $1.43 million. Get all the latest auto industry news in the Executive Briefing.

 

Today’s Headlines: 

 Toyota has confirmed that the 2022 Supra will soon be available with a conventional manual transmission, but did not disclose which engines will be coupled to the gearbox. More at Car and Driver. 

 Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has shuttered assembly plants in Eastern Europe and led auto industry watchers to cut production and sales forecasts for the next two years. More at CNBC. 

+   Consulting firm McKinsey & Company predicts that the market for internal-combustion components in auto manufacturing could fall to a fourth of the previous volume by 2035. More at The Drive. 

+   Ferrari Team Principal Mattia Binotto says it would be positive development for Formula 1 if Porsche and Audi were to join the series, calling it “great for the sport.” More at Motorsport Week. 

+   A federal judge in San Francisco has ruled that Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s 2018 tweets about having secured financing to take the company private were false and misleading. More at Reuters. 

 BMW Chief Executive Officer Oliver Zipse said automakers must be careful not to become too dependent on a select few markets by focusing only on electric vehicles. More at Autoblog. 

 Both candidates in the French presidential election, Marine Le Pen and incumbent Emanuel Macron, have criticized the generous salary of Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares. More at The Detroit News. 

+   EV Semi-Fleet, a trucking company startup in Orlando, Florida, is betting big on electric trucks, placing reservations for 50 Tesla Semis which it hopes to receive by mid-2023. More at Commercial Carrier Journal. 

+   The Barrett-Jackson Palm Beach, Florida auction reported $60.7 milllion in total sales, led by a pair of second-generation Ford GTs that each brought more than $1 million. More at Hemmings Daily.

+   NASCAR broadcasting personality Randy Pemberton, the host of Inside Winston Cup Racing on the Speed Channel in the 1990s, has passed away suddenly at 62. More at Jayski. 

Photo courtesy and copyright Barrett-Jackson.

Review the previous Executive Briefing from April 15 here.