Interest Hikes, Carvana Suspension, Cadillac Kids

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Working through a Wednesday of movement and stalling as we talk about the Fed’s position and posture toward inflation. We also talk about Carvana’s license suspension in Illinois, and Cadillac’s move into the younger demographic.

• Fed Chair Powell says the Fed will not hesitate to keep raising rates
  • Fed Chair Jerome Powell said he will back interest rate increases until prices start falling back toward a healthy level.
  • Powell said he will back interest rate increases until prices start falling back toward a healthy level.
  • “If that involves moving past broadly understood levels of neutral we won’t hesitate to do that,” the central bank leader told The Wall Street Journal in a live streamed interview.
  • “You’d still have a strong labor market if unemployment were to move up a few ticks. I would say there are a number of plausible paths to have a soft as I said softish landing. Our job isn’t to handicap the odds, it’s to try to achieve that,” he said.

• Carvana’s Dealer license gets suspended in Illinois
  • “Illinois Secretary of State Police temporarily blocked Carvana's dealer license on May 10 because the company failed to properly transfer titles for vehicles it sold and misused issuing out-of-state temporary registration permits, said Henry Haupt, an Illinois Secretary of State spokesman.”
  • There is no information on when the license may be reinstated
  • "Carvana has compliantly operated as a licensed dealer and good corporate citizen in the State of Illinois for several years, and we strongly disagree with the State’s characterization of both the facts and the law leading to this action," a Carvana spokesperson said in a statement. "We are actively working with the State to resolve this issue, and they have agreed that we will continue delivering already purchased vehicles. We look forward to resolving this issue with minimal disruption to customers."
  • Last year the company received a 180 day suspension in North Carolina and nearly averted a similar situation in Florida

• The new Cadillac Lyric EV snaggs a younger market share
  • 70% are new to the brand
  • 68% are Gen X or Gen Y
  • 30% are from the Western US
  • The company had 250,000 interested, yet uncommitted, "hand raisers," but will not begin deliveries until later in the summer.
  • TAKE AWAY: When building marketing campaigns, audience strategies may need to be adjusted as market share opportunities when product realignment occurs. Be the authority and early adopters will follo

Join Paul J Daly and Kyle Mountsier every morning for the Automotive State of the Union podcast as they connect the dots across car dealerships, retail trends, emerging tech like AI, and cultural shifts—bringing clarity, speed, and people-first insight to automotive leaders navigating a rapidly changing industry.

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