Summary

This week in the automotive industry, Volkswagen invests $1 billion in Rivian amid slow EV adoption, while Nvidia's stock surge supports S&P 500 amidst economic slowdown. General Motors Cruise names Mark Whitten CEO amidst autonomous vehicle relaunch efforts, as Cox Automotive predicts slowing sales growth and increased incentives amid rising inventory levels and election-year scrutiny. Join us Friday for more business updates on C2 Business!

For those who read...‍

Welcome to Wednesday business enthusiasts, my name’s Jake, and you're listening to C2 Business! So far, this week has been a big one for the automotive industry. If you haven’t been keeping up, don’t worry, you did the right thing by tuning in with us at Current2. Now get ready to join me as we dive into the latest stock market updates, as well as potential challenges and successes for the future of the American auto industry.

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In Stock Market News:

• Volkswagen is taking a $1 billion stake in auto manufacturing startup Rivian, joining Ford Motors and Amazon. Rivian has been working to cut costs and get more money from investors following the slower than expected adoption of electric vehicles by the general public. Volkswagen and Rivian announced the deal when markets closed yesterday, as Rivian hopes to begin making up for its $1.45 billion loss in the first quarter of this year.
• Nvidia, one of  Wall Street’s most influential companies, rose 6.8%, playing a big hand in preventing the S&P 500 from sliding to a loss Tuesday. High demand for Nivida’s chips to power artificial intelligence technology has helped propel the company's growth, even as growth in the overall economy slows due to high interest rates (of course, among other things as well).

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Automotive industry news:

• General Motors Cruise — their autonomous vehicles unit — announced Mark Whitten as its new CEO Tuesday. Previously, Whitten worked as a founding member of Microsoft’s Xbox, before leaving to work for Sonos and then Amazon. This new leadership comes at a crucial time for Cruise as they work towards relaunching their autonomous vehicles on public roadways following an accident last fall.
• The American auto industry is expecting sales growth to slow during the second half of 2024, according to a new report from Cox Automotive. As vehicle inventory levels are increasing, more auto manufacturers are providing incentives to customers. The auto industry as a whole has become an increasingly contentious issue in the upcoming presidential election–FYI, the presidential debate is tomorrow at 9 p.m. eastern time. This may provide consumers with cheaper options — a welcome relief after cars reached record high prices during the pandemic.

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Thanks for tuning into this episode of C2 Business! If you liked it, please share the love and send it to a friend. We will see you on Friday for more of the latest business news and, until then, make sure to listen to all the other news we’re putting out here at Current2 to make sure you stay in the know!

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Bulletin Brief

Rivian shares soar 30% after Volkswagen takes $1 billion stake (⁠CNBC⁠)

Nvidia rebounds, and it’s back to masking losses for the rest of Wall Street (⁠AP⁠)

GM’s Cruise names former Amazon, Microsoft Xbox executive as new CEO (⁠CNBC⁠)

U.S. auto sales are expected to slow during the second half of 2024 (⁠CNBC⁠)

Election uncertainty may impact U.S. auto industry, report says (⁠Reuters⁠)