What the Super Bowl tells us about the automotive industry’s direction of travel
For many years now, I’ve been monitoring the ads during the Super Bowl intermissions, which provide a mirror of the impact of technology on consumer goods.
This year, my focus was on automotive ads, and I was struck by the absence of US brands, reflecting the chaos within a sector still unable to grasp the reality of the inevitable transition toward EVs, which is being encouraged at all levels of government as it creates opportunities for the country not only to make savings at all levels, but also to protect countless lives.
The huge public investment in the electric transition is creating a nationwide network of charging stations, and is beginning to convince about half of the country’s car owners to purchase an EV within the next two years, but is an uphill struggle: despite having a wealth of information about the benefits of the transition and an average income that makes it possible for many people to make the move, Americans have a hard time falling in love with EVs. Which is why GM is once again focusing on hybrid cars, despite knowing that this will solve virtually no problems and simply allows drivers to pretend they are making a difference, even thoughthey have testimonial autonomies of some 30 miles or less, and 90% of the time they are running them on petrol.
