More Than Cars Makes News, Unusual Toyota Annual Meeting, $3B Worth of Electric

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Welcome to a fresh week in Retail Auto as we talk about the automotive show that made news over the weekend…OURS! We also talk about dissension in the Toyota Annual Meeting, as well as a calculation on Tesla’s charging win. 

• From reporting the news to making the news. We want to thank Dan Shine, Editor of Automotives News Fixed Ops Journal, and writer Abigail Ham for publishing this piece on our More Than Cars Series
  • "More Than Cars" hosts Paul Daly and Kyle Mountsier grew to love the auto industry while working in it. Now, they want to teach others to love it, too.
  • "More Than Cars" aims to highlight what Daly and Mountsier feel is an overlooked side of car sales and service: the humans behind it.
  • The duo, who run the auto retail content creation company Automotive State of the Union, hope to make seven more episodes. They will film the second episode in Atlanta this month.
    
    
• Amongst a rare show of dissension, Toyota's annual meeting has sparked a debate over Chairman Akio Toyoda's cautious approach to electric vehicles, with shareholders including the New York City comptroller’s office and the California Public Employees’ Retirement System considering voting against his board reappointment due to his resistance to an all-electric lineup.
  • “Even in this difficult business environment, Chairman of the Board Akio Toyoda has been strengthening our competitiveness from a long-term perspective,” a spokesman for the company said.
  • Although the probability of Toyoda's removal from the board is low, even a slight reduction in support could be seen as an embarrassment in Japan's consensus-driven corporate culture.
  • It is not uncommon for shareholders to tearfully thank Toyoda, the grandson of the company’s founder
  • He received a 96% approval for renomination to the board a year ago
  • Under new CEO Koji Sato, Toyota is accelerating its push into EVs without setting a definitive date for an all-EV lineup, contrasting with automakers like GMand Honda. The company plans to be carbon neutral by 2050 and aims to halve new-vehicle carbon emissions by 2035, compared with 2019 levels.
    
    
• Tesla could be adding $3B to its revenue by 2030 and up to 5.4B by 2032 from GM and Ford partnerships alone according to Piper Sandler analyst Alex Potter who released a research note late last week
  • While these revenue figures may not be significant compared to Tesla's existing annual revenue exceeding $80 billion, the agreements could impact the margins of Tesla's competitors, GM and Ford, who have stated their EV programs are currently unprofitable.
  • According to Potter, “Other brands will be forced to join this consortium, effectively establishing Tesla’s ‘North American Charging Standard’ as the preferred approach for EV charging — at least in the United States.” 

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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