Sup. This is Plugged In. We’re like that cool aunt that changes the subject when your grandma asks about your love life. We’ve got your back. wink

Here’s what we’ve got for you today:

• Mercedes' Shares and Profits Fall 📉

• Cruise Self-Driving License Revoked ❌

• Honda and GM Break-Up 💔

MERCEDES’ SHARES AND PROFITS FALL 📉

Mercedes-Benz had a bit of a tough Thursday.

Their shares did the whole "Gravity works!" demonstration by going down. Why?

Well, they're dealing with the "fun" world of electric vehicles and apparently, everyone wants a piece of that electric pie.

Share price?

In the fast lane heading downwards. Like me trying to maintain my GPA in college.

Their explanation for the downturn? It’s like if you tried selling lemonade on a street where everyone suddenly got the recipe for the same price. Except your lemonade needs extra-expensive lemons.

That's the EV market for Mercedes right now.

Their Chief Financial Officer (big title with big problems), Harald Wilhelm, summed up the EV scene as a “pretty brutal space."

That's like calling outer space "a bit chilly."

Anyway.

Apparently, some carmakers are out there practically giving away EVs at prices even lower than the traditional vroom-vroom engines. Even though EVs cost more to make.

Like that generous friend who buys a round of drinks but forgets they're broke.

Wilhelm, channeling his inner philosopher, mused, "I can hardly imagine the current status quo is fully sustainable for everybody."

A gentle way of saying, "We're all screwed, aren’t we?"

Their earnings dropped 7% to a casual 4.8 billion euros in the third quarter.

Yep. Billion. With a B.

So tough Thursday in the office? Guess you could say that.

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CRUISE SELF-DRIVING LICENSE REVOKED ❌

Hold up.

California has given Cruise the "You can't sit with us" treatment.

The DMV just told Cruise to take their driverless cars off the roads.

Why, you ask?

California bigwigs think these cars are about as safe as texting while rollerblading down a hill.

And there's the whispers about Cruise maybe-not-so-accurately representing the safety of their tech.

So the DMV has gone full parent-mode and grounded Cruise's autonomous car plans. "You’re not driving around without a human babysitter."

Cruise, being the mature entity it claims to be, took a moment of silence.

"Fine, we're pausing our driverless antics in San Francisco. We just wanted to save lives, okay?"

Then, they threw in some stories about an incident where their robot car got all dramatic and didn’t stop after a mini accident. But failed to mention that the car had dragged a pedestrian for 20 feet.

Before this, some officials were already side-eyeing Cruise’s antics on the roads.

There was that awkward incident where a Cruise car tried to play bumper cars with an emergency vehicle.

Rumor has it that some regulators are now on the detective trail too. They're wanting to see if Cruise is actually playing safe around pedestrians.

It was only a little while ago that California was all cool. Letting Cruise and Waymo chauffeur paying humans around San Francisco.

The situations around robotaxis is swinging back and forth. And we'll be here keeping a close on eye on it.

HONDA AND GM BREAK-UP 💔

Honda and GM.

Corporate synergy and electric dreams.

A grand plan to tag-team against Tesla and create some affordable EVs.

They shook hands, smiled for the cameras, and said, “Let's throw $5 billion at this problem.”

Did it work? Well, they've just pulled a Ross and Rachel from Friends and saying, “We’re on a break.”

GM: “Maybe instead of releasing a ton of new EVs, let's focus on, you know, actually making money.” That’s a novel concept! Plus, there’s some drama with the United Auto Workers that’s costing them a cool $200 million a week.

Both companies had a sit-down, one said "It's not you, it's me", and decided, “Yeah, let's hit the brakes on this joint EV thing.”

So what happened?

Deep diving into the past, these two had plotted it all out. An epic vision of producing cheaper EVs together, all set to start rolling out in 2027.

But after years of brainstorming and death by PowerPoint, enough was enough.

Honda's CEO was like, “Eh, this might be harder than we thought.” Classic.

But like all mutual separations there's some details to sort out. Honda and GM still have another deal going with driverless cars in Japan.

So they're not completely breaking up, just "redefining the relationship."

Bottom line? Big car companies. Big plans. And a big reversal.

THE JUICE 🔋

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China ‘wake-up’ call forces Nissan to reconsider affordable EV plans

BYD to launch an electric truck by the end of 2023

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Hertz pulls back on EV plans citing Tesla price cuts, high repair costs

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DISCLAIMER: None of this is financial advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. Please be careful and do your own research.