00:00 Josh
Well, the New York Auto Show is in full swing here with some of the world’s largest auto makers showcasing their slate of new vehicles. The industry is also facing a slew of challenges, of course, from tariffs, supply chains and inflation. Yahoo Finance’s Pras Suramani is on site, joining me now. Pras, what what are you hearing there on the ground? What what’s the vibe, Pras?
00:27 Pras
Yeah, you know, Josh, it’s first day of media day. People are kind of wondering about what does the industry have in have in store for for the for the rest, you know, for the rest of the year. What kind of cars are we going to see, you know? People talking about more hybrids, more SUVs, of course, nothing nothing nothing new there. But it’s really when the show actually opens up, Josh, in the next couple of days for the the larger attendees, all the people that come in, the the families, the kids. You know, they’re going to see, yes, those hybrids and those SUVs, but also a couple of sports cars here. There’s a Nissan Z. The new Z is pretty cool, and also the new Corvette Grand Sport. I just saw that back over there in Chevy Land. Uh, really cool stuff. So it’s a mix of practicality, but also uh newer cars, sportier cars. You know, basically the industry’s trying to get what trying to get to the point where what what what do buyers want these days? And we’re going to get to that now next because you’re going to ask me about executives, aren’t you?
01:23 Josh
I am. What do you got to say there?
01:27 Pras
So, a lot of the thing is coming down to affordability, right? That’s the big thing I’ve heard about from people. Toyota, Nissan, Hyundai, things like that. Basically, how can you get the cars in people’s hands in the face of things like tariffs, right? That are going to increase prices and what does that mean? It comes back to domestic production, localized production. Again, those same companies, Toyota, Nissan in particular, building a lot of cars in the US. That’s one way to insulate themselves from those tariffs. And and again, like I just mentioned, how do you get buyers in the in the showroom? You got to give them a reason to come in. It’s got to be beyond one of the latest. It’s got to be about uh exciting cars, got to be sports cars, uh off-road type SUVs. We just saw Hyundai unveil the new uh Canyon, I’m sorry, the Canyon, the new uh Boulder. Boulder, sorry. This is their new sort of body-on-frame truck. They think that’s a new segment for them. Eventually you’re going to get a pickup from Hyundai. And they think that the really a true truck will do really well in America. And that’s what they see as the future for the for for this country at least, is localized production, affordability, but also excitement.
02:30 Josh
On that affordability question, Pras, you know, obviously American consumers, you know, prices at the pump, they popped quickly, went from three to four. You know, is that being talked about there?
02:46 Pras
Yeah, definitely. I mean, when when you talk about affordability, they’re saying it’s not just about the price of the car, right? It’s it’s interest rates. It’s gas prices. These are all big concerns for Americans. So the question is then, how do you then bring that kind of monthly payment down for Americans who are dealing with these expe added expenses? Uh what ends up happening is you start seeing the the the explosion of 84-month term loans, uh which blew my mind. You’re also seeing a lot of people who actually have larger and larger amounts of negative equity in their cars when they roll over into a new car, they put more debt into it. That’s getting higher. So, that’s a big concern for for for the automakers because if people can’t afford cars, they don’t sell any.