Hybrids, Trucks, and EVs: The Auto Winners Today

Sam Vardis (0:00)

Welcome back to Market on Close. I'm Sam Vardis on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange alongside Marlee Caden over in Chicago. Let's check in on this automotive industry here. And welcome in our next guest, Brian Moody, automotive expert, a Capital One auto navigator. Brian, thanks so much for your time. Good afternoon. A lot going on in the auto industry as we discussed. I think we only talked to you about a month ago. We've got everything from the macro headwinds, obviously to the policy and regulatory challenges and the competitive shakeups as well. I'm just wondering, which company are you seeing right now that's sort of best positioned to navigate all of the headwinds?

Brian Moody (0:35)

Yeah, there's a couple that I think are worth keeping an eye on, and it's not the ones that we would think of as typically strong in the past few years. They're the ones that maybe are headed for a big turnaround. One of those being Nissan, they have new technology. They have a hybrid system that works different than everything else. They took a few of us behind the curtain and showed us what they have coming. It's very impressive. And I would also put Stellantis in that same group. They've shown some modest gains ahead of a huge product onslaught. But more importantly, they have new executives, one of those being a chief of communications.

One of the things that I think people get is it doesn't matter if you do a great thing. If you didn't communicate that great thing effectively, you may as well not have done it at all. So I think Stellantis is one to watch.

They have this new executive coming in. I think that's one to watch. She's been a journalist before. I also think GM, they have next year, a very profitable full-size truck is gonna be all new if they can get that right. Huge upside for them for new electric small pickup. Hyundai and Kia, I think, are worth watching. And here's why. They already have a sizable domestic manufacturing footprint here in the US. Kia just came off one of their best months sales-wise in the company's history here in the US. People like the vehicles. They already are entrenched in the US in terms of where they build stuff. I think both Kia and Hyundai have a lot of new things coming and are worth watching into 2027 and maybe even into 2028

Marlee Caden (2:10)

And you mentioned GM there, Brian. I mean, we saw them number one in US sales in the second quarter, and they pulled back on their EV strategy. And you've highlighted they've got this all new full-size Silverado, not an EV for sure, coming out. Right. But you also add that EVs are down, not out. So as we look at GM as a potential opportunity, how are you also looking at the EV space and who is doing something right in that space right now?

Brian Moody (2:38)

Well, sometimes who's doing something right is not always reflected in massive sales. So I think who's doing something right is Rivian. They have great products, but it hasn't really reached that Tesla critical mass in terms of sales. Tesla is going to continue to do well. I'm not worried about them. I think Volvo was one to look for when it comes to EVs because remember, just because there isn't room for all of the EVs that we have seen, doesn't mean that there's none. When you look at certain counties in California, for example, the number of new car sales that are electric is 25 or 30 percent. So there's still plenty of room at the table for electric cars. They just have to be good. I mean, like really good. So that's why you mentioned GM. They have the profits from the big trucks. They can bring about some new affordable electric vehicles. And I think consumers will respond to that.

Sam Vardis (3:33)

I want to go back to Nissan because it's such a fascinating story to me. I was sitting out in Asia for many years. That was a struggling company for a while there. Obviously, there was the Renault story. It's got a little bit of French blood, but then it was obviously trying to do this merger with Honda. That kind of fell apart and it was like what to do with Nissan.

Is this more of a turnaround story? Is this just coming from a low base? I am fascinated with this one as far as the strategy.

Brian Moody (4:01)

Well, it is a turnaround story because it's one of the fastest growing brands in the US along with Hyundai. So consumers are responding. But I think what we have to look at with Nissan is they've cut, okay? They've cut things that maybe they didn't need. And I was able to speak to the CEO recently, and he has a great commitment to the company. He wants to keep their enthusiast portion of the company, but he also wants to make great mainstream vehicles. The new Rogue Hybrid is a perfect example. It doesn't work like any other hybrid. It's dramatically different. And I think once consumers get the idea of how that works, they're going to respond with their dollar. So it's easy to say, you know, yeah, low base, that's fair. That's a fair criticism, I think. But I also think that they've realized, hey, it's now or never. We need to get this done, or it's not going to work out too well on the future. And I think that they have that fire lit under them. And I see the passion from the leadership at the company of really making great things that consumers want.