Robotaxis produced by Google&#8217;s sister company, Waymo, rolled out onto New York City streets earlier this week as it tests the vehicles with &#8220;human safety operators&#8221; in America&#8217;s most populous city for the first time.
Waymo submitted its application to the New York State Department of Transportation (DOT) last month to roll out a &#8220;small fleet&#8221; of robotaxis, but to comply with state law, the company must place a human in each car, at least for now, The New York Post <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/07/09/us-news/self-driving-robotaxi-service-waymo-launches-nyc-pilot-testing/?utm_source=twitter&amp;utm_campaign=nypost&amp;utm_medium=social">reported</a>. Waymo and the DOT are currently pushing for the state to change its law that requires human drivers in each vehicle. Two bills introduced earlier this year to overturn the state&#8217;s ban on self-driving vehicles are still in committee.
“We are working hard to bring Waymo to New Yorkers in the future, starting with this testing and advocating for changes to state law,” a DOT representative told the Post.
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We&#39;re on the move in the Big Apple! 🏙️ We&#39;ve begun testing in New York – be sure to give us a wave and snap a pic if you see us in the city. <a href="https://t.co/0cu2XSWAoi">pic.twitter.com/0cu2XSWAoi</a>
&mdash; Waymo (@Waymo) <a href="https://twitter.com/Waymo/status/1942377604985618487?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 8, 2025</a></blockquote>
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“The data to date shows that Waymo outperforms human drivers, significantly reducing the frequency of injury-causing traffic collisions,” said a spokesman for Waymo.
The manually driven Waymo vehicles in NYC will be servicing Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn, according to <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2025/07/07/waymo-heading-to-philadelphia-and-nyc/">TechCrunch</a>. They will also map out parts of New Jersey, focusing on Jersey City and Hoboken. Waymo vehicles also hit Philadelphia this week, where the vehicles will be seen throughout the downtown area as well as driving “at all hours throughout various Philadelphia neighborhoods, from North Central to Eastwick, University City, and as far east as the Delaware River.”
Waymo&#8217;s move to NYC and Philadelphia this week is part of the company&#8217;s &#8220;road trips,&#8221; a plan used to send small batches of human-driven vehicles to cities across the United States to map out areas where Waymo could expand its services in the future. Waymo also plans to embark on &#8220;road trips&#8221; to Houston, Orlando, Las Vegas, San Diego, and San Antonio this year, TechCrunch reported.
&#8220;Once the Waymo Driver understands the lay of the land, the vehicles can begin driving autonomously. During these trips, human specialists provide feedback to our engineering teams on the driving experience and flag unique nuances that might come with operating in new areas. Simultaneously, our engineering team can evaluate the Waymo Driver&#8217;s performance in a virtual replica of the new location,&#8221; Waymo <a href="https://waymo.com/blog/2023/11/road-trip-how-our-cross-country-testing-helps-advance-the-waymo-driver">said</a> in November 2023.
Waymo&#8217;s self-driving robotaxis are currently <a href="https://waymo.com/">operating</a> in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Phoenix, Atlanta, and Austin.
As Waymo looks to roll out robotaxis in more cities, it has also been forced to address some issues with its driverless cars. In May, Waymo <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/over-1200-self-driving-robotaxis-recalled-due-to-software-glitch-that-led-to-crashes">recalled</a> more than 1,200 of its robotaxis after a software glitch caused multiple crashes into chains, gates, or other roadway barriers, objects that road safety regulators said &#8220;a competent driver would be expected to avoid.&#8221;
Waymo said that it fixed the issue with a regular update to its fifth-generation self-driving software in November 2024.
Some Los Angeles and San Francisco residents have also recorded incidents involving driverless Waymo vehicles, including confusion, backing into oncoming traffic, and blocking emergency vehicles.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Waymo turned into oncoming traffic on the way to work.
It sat there confused for 45 seconds with its hazards on.
Then it proceeded to back up into oncoming traffic.
And they’re about to let these guys on the freeway 😂 <a href="https://t.co/ZLRKx2loo1">pic.twitter.com/ZLRKx2loo1</a>
&mdash; Jake Glaser | LA Multifamily (@LAMultiBroker) <a href="https://twitter.com/LAMultiBroker/status/1885370114054512921?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 31, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Videos like this is why I have my doubts on Waymo. 
Blocking three emergency vehicles in the middle of an intersection, and it just looks confused. <a href="https://t.co/wUe7RDltzL">pic.twitter.com/wUe7RDltzL</a>
&mdash; Nic Cruz Patane (@niccruzpatane) <a href="https://twitter.com/niccruzpatane/status/1929590206488883246?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 2, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Waymo

NYC Finally Allows Driverless Cars – But Only With ‘Human Safety Monitors’ Behind The Wheel

Business

Cars

General

Google

New York

New York City

Robots

The Department of Transportation (DOT) is revising fuel economy standards to make cars more affordable for Americans.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is resetting the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards and medium and heavy-duty fuel efficiency programs (MDHD). NHTSA&#8217;s Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards regulate how far vehicles must travel on a gallon of fuel. The Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) of 1975 directs the Secretary of Transportation and the NHTSA to prescribe average fuel economy standards for vehicles.
“Under President Trump’s leadership, we are making vehicles more affordable and easier to manufacture in the United States. The previous administration illegally used CAFE standards as an electric vehicle mandate – raising new car prices and reducing safety. Resetting CAFE standards as Congress intended will lower vehicle costs and ensure the American people can purchase the cars they want,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy <a href="https://www.transportation.gov/briefing-room/trumps-transportation-secretary-sean-p-duffy-announces-key-step-toward-making-cars">stated</a>.
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/gift/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=wisepops&amp;utm_campaign=dad&amp;utm_content=fathersdaygiftpopups" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gift Dad an All Access Membership. Use code DAD40 at checkout to save 40%!</a>
“EPCA was passed in the context of the Arab oil embargoes of the 1970s when American consumers and the U.S. economy were threatened by gasoline shortages and high fuel prices,” DOT <a href="https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.gov/files/2025-06/cafe-interpretive-rule-2127-ZA26-web.pdf">notes</a>, adding, “the purpose of the CAFE program was to induce automakers into offering America’s consumers more efficient vehicle options to advance the national goal of conserving energy &#8230; The statutory prohibition was clear at the time of enactment and has remained clear: it is impermissible for NHTSA to consider the fuel economy of dedicated automobiles in setting maximum feasible fuel economy standards.”
“NHTSA will reset the CAFE and MDHD standards programs consistent with the law,” DOT stated. “This interpretation lays the appropriate groundwork for standard-setting rulemakings that will rest the agency’s regulatory programs as determined necessary to bring them into compliance with Administration policy and applicable substantive statutory requirements as enacted by Congress &#8230;”
On the day he was inaugurated, President Donald Trump issued <a href="https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2025-01956.pdf">Executive Order</a> 14154, in which he stated, “It is the policy of the United States to ensure that all regulatory requirements related to energy are grounded in clearly applicable law; to eliminate the ‘electric vehicle (EV) mandate’ and promote true consumer choice, which is essential for economic growth and innovation, by removing regulatory barriers to motor vehicle access; by ensuring a level regulatory playing field for consumer choice in vehicles; by terminating, where appropriate, state emissions waivers that function to limit sales of gasoline-powered automobiles &#8230;”

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy Marks Newark Airport Runway Reopening

Trump Admin Is Slashing Fuel Efficiency Standards, Claims It Will ‘Make Cars Affordable Again’

Automobiles

CAFE standards

Department of Transportation

Electric cars

Politics

Sean Duffy

Transportation

This week, the Republican-controlled Senate aims to dismantle the former Biden administration&#8217;s move giving California room to implement a green agenda for cars across the country, Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) announced on Tuesday.
During <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4856qr2PN0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">remarks</a> on the Senate floor, Thune said the upper chamber will take up Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolutions to overturn Clean Air Act preemption waivers the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) granted to California, which <a href="https://www.axios.com/2024/12/18/epa-california-electric-vehicles-waiver" target="_blank" rel="noopener">allowed</a> it to proceed with a plan to ban the sale of new gas-powered vehicles by 2035.
The waivers allowed California &#8220;to dictate emissions standards for the whole country – effectively imposing a nationwide electric vehicle mandate,&#8221; said Thune, who called the state&#8217;s rules an &#8220;improper expansion of a limited Clean Air Act authority and would endanger consumers, our economy, and our nation’s energy supply.&#8221;
A key conflict is whether the CRA, which allows bypassing a filibuster to undo regulations, applies to the waivers. Both the Senate <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/5233436-senate-parliamentarian-says-lawmakers-cant-overturn-california-car-rules-but-republicans-may-try-anyway/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">parliamentarian</a> and Government Accountability Office (<a href="https://www.gao.gov/products/b-337179" target="_blank" rel="noopener">GAO</a>) have assessed the waivers are not rules that qualify.
But the Senate is poised to press forward, as Thune contended the EPA submitted the waivers as rules. He also noted the GOP-led House already <a href="https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2025114?Date=05%2F01%2F2025" target="_blank" rel="noopener">voted</a> to pass a Congressional Review Act resolution of disapproval with the support of 35 Democrats, and did so &#8220;without objection from the House parliamentarian.&#8221;
Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA), the top Democrat for the Committee on Rules and Administration and a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, declared in a <a href="https://www.padilla.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/padilla-places-holds-on-epa-nominees-until-republicans-cease-efforts-to-abuse-the-cra-to-revoke-californias-clean-air-act-waivers/#:~:text=But%20if%20my%20Republican%20colleagues,the%20CRA%2C%E2%80%9D%20added%20Senator%20Padilla" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a> that he was placing a hold on EPA nominees until Republicans back off and warned of future consequences if the GOP refuses to relent.
“None of these actions are rules, which is why they’ve never been submitted to Congress as rules,&#8221; Padilla said. &#8220;But if my Republican colleagues open this door and overturn the Parliamentarian’s wise safeguards on this type of abuse, there would be no practical limit, and the Senate could be forced to vote repeatedly on such matters that are clearly not ‘rules’ notwithstanding the plain language of the CRA.&#8221;
Thune suggested there will soon be repercussions for GAO, which <a href="https://www.gao.gov/about" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bills</a> itself as being an independent and non-partisan agency that &#8220;works for&#8221; Congress, because of the stance it took on the CRA in the California waiver debate.
&#8220;It is true that we are facing something of a novel situation,&#8221; Thune said. &#8220;Because for the first time ever, the Government Accountability Office has decided to insert itself into the process and affirmatively declare that an agency rule submitted to Congress as a rule is not a rule. It’s an extraordinary deviation from precedent for an agency that should be defending Congress’ power instead of constraining it.&#8221;
He added: &#8220;And frankly &#8230; I think we need to act to ensure that this intrusion into the Congressional Review Act process doesn’t become a habit, and that the Senate doesn’t end up transferring its decision-making power on CRA resolutions to the Government Accountability Office. That’s why this week I intend to bring the question of GAO’s unprecedented interference to the floor.&#8221;
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Thune: Senate to Overturn California Waiver Rules" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/w4856qr2PN0?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Senate Majority Leader John Thune

Senate Gears Up To Stop California’s 2035 Gas Vehicle Sales Ban

California

Congress

Environment

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

John Thune

U.S. Senate

Waymo, the software company that was first known as the Google Self-Driving Car Project, recalled more than 1,200 of its robotaxis this week after a software glitch caused multiple crashes into chains, gates, or other roadway barriers.
The recall comes after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened an investigation into Waymo robotaxis after reports of the automated cars violating traffic laws, CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2025/05/14/waymo-recalls-1200-self-driving-vehicles-after-minor-collisions.html#:~:text=Alphabet's%20Waymo%20is%20recalling%20more,opened%20a%20probe%20last%20year." target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. Waymo said it was aware of 16 collisions with barriers between 2022 and 2024, none of which were serious. The company currently has more than 1,500 robotaxis operating in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Phoenix, and Austin.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Waymo turned into oncoming traffic on the way to work.
It sat there confused for 45 seconds with its hazards on.
Then it proceeded to back up into oncoming traffic.
And they’re about to let these guys on the freeway 😂 <a href="https://t.co/ZLRKx2loo1">pic.twitter.com/ZLRKx2loo1</a>
&mdash; Jake Glaser | LA Multifamily (@LAMultiBroker) <a href="https://twitter.com/LAMultiBroker/status/1885370114054512921?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 31, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Road safety regulators said that some of the crashes “involved collisions with clearly visible objects that a competent driver would be expected to avoid.”
Waymo said it has fixed the issue with a regular update to its fifth-generation self-driving software in November of 2024.
“Waymo provides more than 250,000 paid trips every week in some of the most challenging driving environments in the U.S.,” the company said, according to CNBC. “Our record of reducing injuries over tens of millions of fully autonomous miles driven shows our technology is making roads safer.”
It&#8217;s at least the third time in the past year that Waymo has recalled robotaxis over potential software issues. In February, the company recalled 444 automated vehicles after two robotaxis crashed into the same truck that was being towed, according to <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/05/14/business/waymo-recalls-1200-robotaxis-over-glitch-linked-to-crashes/?utm_campaign=nypost&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The New York Post</a>. Last June, 700 robotaxis were recalled after one crashed into a telephone pole in Phoenix. No one was injured in that crash.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is also looking into Tesla&#8217;s planned launch of its own robotaxi service, which it hopes to start up in June. The federal government has <a href="https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/inv/2024/INIM-PE24031-62887.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">asked</a> Tesla to provide more information on its Full Self-Driving (FSD) system to “understand how Tesla plans to evaluate its vehicles and driving automation technologies for use on public roads.” The feds also want to know how many robotaxis Tesla plans on sending out and if the vehicles will be monitored by Tesla in real time.
In a social media post in April, Tesla announced, &#8220;FSD Supervised ride-hailing service is live for an early set of employees in Austin &amp; San Francisco Bay Area. We&#8217;ve completed over 1.5k trips &amp; 15k miles of driving. This service helps us develop &amp; validate FSD networks, the mobile app, vehicle allocation, mission control &amp; remote assistance operations.&#8221;
This article has been updated to clarify that Waymo said it fixed the issue with a regular update to its fifth-generation software.

Over 1,200 Self-Driving Robotaxis Recalled Due To Software Glitch That Led To Crashes

Recall

Technology

A 2020 research paper titled “Car Seats as Contraception” has once again become the springboard for debates over why so-called “family vehicles” such as minivans and SUVs are unable to accommodate multiple car seats easily.
Social media users argue that it’s just another way that large families are discouraged or even discriminated against. They question why car seat manufacturers are not intentionally designing their products to be more streamlined so three can fit across a bench seat in the back of a high occupancy vehicle, and why car manufacturers are not similarly concerned with making their vehicles big-family friendly.
The <a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/731812">paper</a>, which appeared in The University of Chicago Journal of Law &amp; Economics, argues that people are less likely to have more children due to the limitations posed by fitting many car seats into a standardly equipped vehicle.
“Women with two children younger than their state’s [car seat] age mandate have a lower annual birth probability of .73 percentage points,” the paper says. It notes that this trend began in 1977 when car seat laws were passed.
This concept has become a hot topic of conversation on X as parents with big families relate with this particular struggle.
“I’ve been saying this. [T]here is NO reason you shouldn’t be able to easily fit 3 car seats of any brand in any car that has 3 back seats. so many people I know have had to buy a bigger car for a third kid and I don’t think people realize this is actually a serious consideration for everyone thinking of growing their family beyond 2 kids,” one reaction <a href="https://x.com/smalltown_wife/status/1922026703070597141">said</a>.
“I’m a car seat fan — my kids max out weight limits rear facing &amp; in 5 pt harnesses,” one person <a href="https://x.com/OliveSprouts/status/1921767411428020290">shared</a>. “HOWEVER. Carseat design &amp; car design appear to be 2 fields so separate they’ve never even contemplated the existence of the other.”
“If your minivan seats 7 you should be able to fit 5 car seats,” the social media user added.
“I find this 100% believable,” another person <a href="https://x.com/peterjhasson/status/1921692058294628771">wrote</a>. “We have two toddlers. Our third child is on the way. Federal regulations mean that we are *required* to buy a bigger car than our CR-V if we want our family to legally ride together in the same car. I have 0 idea how that’s supposed to work if you’re a working class parent.”
“We just had to buy a bigger vehicle to accommodate #5 which who’ll be here October,” another commenter echoed. “We had a Grand Caravan, and I wasn’t able to fit 4 in properly because of the rear bench seatbelts and anchors. We just did the best we could which meant not using the seats as per the manual.”
The topic went viral once before when a resurfaced clip of Vice President J.D. Vance weighed in on the topic during a 2023 congressional hearing. A clip of his statements was circulated in September 2024 ahead of the election.
&#8220;American families aren&#8217;t having enough children. I think there&#8217;s evidence that some of the things that we&#8217;re doing to parents is driving down the number of children that American families are having,&#8221; Vance said in the <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@whattheactualkaren/video/7416820046808321323">video</a>.
&#8220;In particular, there&#8217;s evidence that the car seat rules that we&#8217;ve imposed, which of course I want kids to drive in car seats, have driven down the number of babies born in this country by over 100,000. So as we think about how to make kids safe here, I think we should do it in a way that&#8217;s accommodating to American families.&#8221;
Social media accounts dedicated to making multiple car seats work in standard American cars have become popular, with one of the most well-known, “The Car Mom,” promising “Car reviews and car buying tips for families.”

Car Seats

Are Car Seats Making It Harder To Have More Kids? Online Debate Reignites

Children

family

Parenting

Safety

President Donald Trump&#8217;s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is on a mission to &#8220;fix&#8221; the despised start/stop technology in newer cars that shuts down a vehicle&#8217;s engine when stopped in traffic or at a red light in the name of conserving fuel and saving the planet.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said on Monday that his agency would begin looking into how it can modify the start/stop feature. The EPA currently incentivizes car manufacturers to make cars with the start/stop system. The technology can give vehicles anywhere between a 3% to 10% fuel economy boost.
&#8220;Start/stop technology: where your car dies at every red light so companies get a climate participation trophy. EPA approved it, and everyone hates it, so we’re fixing it,&#8221; Zeldin wrote on X.
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Start/stop technology: where your car dies at every red light so companies get a climate participation trophy. EPA approved it, and everyone hates it, so we’re fixing it. <a href="https://t.co/zFhijMyHDe">pic.twitter.com/zFhijMyHDe</a>
&mdash; Lee Zeldin (@epaleezeldin) <a href="https://twitter.com/epaleezeldin/status/1921894994769575972?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 12, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Zeldin did not elaborate on specific plans to change the feature.
Start/stop technology was first used by European car manufacturers on hybrids, but over the past decade, most automakers began implementing the system in many of their new vehicles, including SUVs and pickup trucks. By 2019, however, more automakers began giving drivers the option to shut off the start/stop system as people began to complain. Buick first gave drivers that option with its 2019 Envision based on &#8220;customer feedback,&#8221; according to <a href="https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a19561461/automakers-increasingly-offer-ways-to-deactivate-stopstart-systems-temporarily/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Car and Driver</a>. Ford, GM, Volvo, and Lincoln also began including the shut-off option in their start/stop vehicles between 2017 and 2018.
While most cars with start/stop technology allow drivers to deactivate the system, they can&#8217;t turn it off permanently, and owners of start/stop cars who don&#8217;t want to use the tech still have to turn it off every time they get back in the car. The EPA’s fuel-economy test results for vehicles with the start/stop system are affected if drivers turn the system off. According to Car and Driver, &#8220;If a vehicle’s stop/start system can be permanently turned off, then the vehicle’s fuel economy is tested both when stop/start is active and when it’s off. The EPA then averages the two tests for a resulting fuel-economy rating found on the car’s window sticker—which is certain to be lower.&#8221;
The response to Zeldin&#8217;s announcement was overwhelmingly <a href="https://x.com/epaleezeldin/status/1921894994769575972/quotes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">positive</a> on social media, with many people calling the objective &#8220;common sense.&#8221;

Traffic

Trump Admin Sets Out To ‘Fix’ Everyone’s Least Favorite Car Feature

Auto Companies

Donald Trump

Lee Zeldin

Trump Administration

Americans will soon feel the pinch of President Donald Trump&#8217;s tariffs if they&#8217;re looking to buy certain Ford vehicles, according to a notice sent to dealers and obtained by Reuters.
Citing Trump&#8217;s tariff on foreign vehicle imports, Ford is increasing the prices of its Mustang Mach-E electric SUV, Maverick pickup truck, and Bronco Sport by as much as $2,000, Reuters <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2025/05/07/ford-hikes-prices-on-mexico-produced-models-citing-tariffs.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. The price increase will only affect vehicles built after May 2, which are expected to arrive at U.S. dealerships in late June, according to a Ford spokesman.
The spokesman added that the price increase reflects “usual” mid-year actions &#8220;combined with some tariffs we are facing.&#8221;
&#8220;We have not passed on the full cost of tariffs to our customers,&#8221; the spokesman added.
The price increase will likely be seen after Ford ends its major <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/from-america-for-america-ford-offering-major-discounts-as-tariffs-kick-in" target="_blank" rel="noopener">discount offer</a> for American buyers. Ford is currently offering customers employee pricing until June 2, which it says is &#8220;worth thousands of dollars&#8221; in savings.
In an effort to push for more American car production, Trump imposed a 25% tariff on auto imports, affecting around eight million vehicles imported to the United States each year. Late last month, Trump<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/a-major-victory-trump-makes-deal-with-auto-industry-for-tariff-relief" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> made a deal</a> with the auto industry to relieve some of the tariff pressure, signing an order to prevent auto tariffs from “stacking” on top of each other in exchange for manufacturers&#8217; continued focus on domestic production. While auto manufacturers will continue to pay the 25% tariff on auto imports under the new deal, they won&#8217;t be hit with additional tariffs, such as the 25% tax on steel and aluminum.
Car companies, including Ford, suspended their annual earnings guidance for 2025 over the tariffs. Ford said earlier this week that it expects to see a $2.5 billion impact from Trump&#8217;s tariffs, CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2025/05/05/ford-motor-f-earnings-q1-2025.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. The Michigan-based auto company has yet to announce any plans to ramp up domestic manufacturing or move plants from Mexico to the United States. After Trump relieved some tariff pressure on car companies, Ford CEO Jim Farley <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/29/trump-auto-tariffs.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">vowed</a> to “continue to work closely with the administration in support of the president’s vision for a healthy and growing auto industry in America.&#8221;
&#8220;Ford sees policies that encourage exports and ensure affordable supply chains to promote more domestic growth as essential,&#8221; Farley added.
Some of Ford&#8217;s foreign competition, such as Hyundai, BMW, and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/mercedes-says-it-will-make-another-car-in-the-u-s-after-trump-tariffs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mercedes-Benz</a>, have announced plans to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tariffs-very-strongly-work-trump-announces-21-billion-hyundai-investment-in-u-s" target="_blank" rel="noopener">invest</a> in more U.S. manufacturing as they seek to navigate the tariffs.

Ford

Ford To Jack Up Prices On Vehicles Made In Mexico Over Tariffs

Economy

Ford Motor Co.

Mexico

Tariffs

People ditched their cars on the road and kept moving on foot as they escaped the wind-fueled <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/los-angeles-area-neighborhood-goes-up-in-flames-as-wind-driven-blaze-rages" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wildfire</a> in Pacific Palisades on Tuesday that engulfed the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/los-angeles" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Los Angeles</a> neighborhood and prompted officials to order thousands of residents to evacuate, making for apocalyptic scenes in images shown on news reports and across social media.
CBS News <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/pacific-coast-highway-shut-down-drivers-told-to-flee-their-cars-as-palisades-fire-jumps-in-size/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that authorities told drivers to leave their cars behind as Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) was shut down in the Malibu area. The news outlet also noted that all lanes of Topanga Canyon Boulevard were closed as the wildfire grew in size and, on part of Sunset Boulevard, drivers were told to leave their cars and move on foot as the blaze approached.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
The Palisades Fire moved in so quickly, evacuees panicked. Every car represents someone or a family that, in fear, abandoned their cars, and fled on foot. The wind could reach 100 mph tonight. <a href="https://t.co/z0weB3WS2d">pic.twitter.com/z0weB3WS2d</a>
— Jonathan Vigliotti 🐋 (@JonVigliotti) <a href="https://twitter.com/JonVigliotti/status/1876800633505763674?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 8, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;The fire came right down to the road and the fire department came up and said get out of your cars now — because the fire was right up against the cars,&#8221; said Marsha Horowitz, who was driving down Sunset Boulevard at the time, according to the <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/pacific-coast-highway-shut-down-drivers-told-to-flee-their-cars-as-palisades-fire-jumps-in-size/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> from CBS News. &#8220;There were three lanes of cars, and the fire was right down and there was nothing to stop it.&#8221;
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Fire crews are using a bulldozer to move abandoned cars to make way for firefighters fighting the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PalisadesFire?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#PalisadesFire</a><a href="https://t.co/IOu5ZtSubn">pic.twitter.com/IOu5ZtSubn</a>
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) <a href="https://twitter.com/Phil_Lewis_/status/1876767802645741973?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 7, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Fox 11 Los Angeles <a href="https://x.com/FOXLA/status/1876778574079983787" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that fire crews used a bulldozer to move cars out of the way so that they could respond to the wildfire. A <a href="https://x.com/Phil_Lewis_/status/1876767802645741973" target="_blank" rel="noopener">segment</a> from KLTA, which was posted to X, showed a large red bulldozer shoving multiple vehicles as a reporter on the scene explained that drivers &#8220;panicked&#8221; and took their keys as they left their cars behind for as far as he could see.
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&#8220;I have friends up there that can&#8217;t get out&#8221;: Actor Steve Guttenberg urges those living in the Pacific Palisades area to evacuate. He advises people leaving vehicles behind to leave their keys inside so they can be moved. 
More: <a href="https://t.co/G7qJkk06mI">https://t.co/G7qJkk06mI</a> 
NewsNation affiliate <a href="https://twitter.com/KTLA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@KTLA</a> <a href="https://t.co/rLxfPCNewH">pic.twitter.com/rLxfPCNewH</a>
— NewsNation (@NewsNation) <a href="https://twitter.com/NewsNation/status/1876763870531854777?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 7, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;Police Academy&#8221; actor Steve Guttenberg, a local, <a href="https://ktla.com/entertainment/actor-steve-guttenberg-helping-fire-crews-by-moving-cars-near-pacific-palisades-brush-fire/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> KTLA that he was moving abandoned cars on Palisades Drive to help people who got stuck in the gridlock. &#8220;What’s happening is people take their keys with them as if they’re in a parking lot. This is not a parking lot. We really need people to move their cars,&#8221; Guttenberg said. &#8220;If you leave your car behind, leave the key in there so a guy like me can move your car so that these fire trucks can get up there.&#8221;

Los Angeles-Area Fires Erupt As Dangerous Wind Storm Begins

People Abandon Cars As They Flee Palisades Fire In Southern California

Los Angeles

Los Angeles County

Natural Disaster

U.S.

Wildfires

It’s great to be back after a long Christmas break. Much has happened in the world since my last post. Today, however, I’d like to begin with a story that’s unfolding in New York. 
There’s one thing we know: Government officials, whether they&#8217;re elected politicians in this country or despots in the third world, do not like being reminded of their failures. This is why the greatest crime in any dictatorship is noticing. You aren’t supposed to notice things that are embarrassing to the ruling regime. It’s also why comedy and satire are banned in places like North Korea, just like they&#8217;re banned on late-night talk shows in this country. Petty, corrupt and ineffective people can&#8217;t stand it when their incompetence is exposed. They&#8217;re willing to take extreme measures to prevent that from happening. Right now, in the city of New York, we&#8217;re getting a very clear sense of what those &#8220;extreme measures&#8221; look like, in practice.
If you&#8217;ve seen the news lately, you know that the subway system is one of the most obvious and unavoidable signs of New York&#8217;s decline. It&#8217;s a monument to the many failures of the city government. As of late last year, ridership on New York&#8217;s subway system is <a href="https://gothamist.com/news/nyc-subway-ridership-hits-new-milestone-but-still-far-short-of-pre-pandemic-levels" target="_blank" rel="noopener">down</a> more than 25% from pre-pandemic levels. That means that, every day, there are at least a million fewer people riding the subway in New York, as compared to five years ago.
It&#8217;s not exactly a great mystery as to why people are avoiding it. There&#8217;s a constant stream of violent attacks on the trains and the platforms — from people being <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/assailant-charged-after-allegedly-shoving-man-directly-iin-path-of-oncoming-ny-subway-train" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pushed in front of the trains</a> to a woman getting <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nypd-identifies-woman-burned-to-death-on-subway" target="_blank" rel="noopener">burned alive</a>. Yes, if you didn’t hear about that, a woman was burned alive, on a train, in New York, in front of a crowd of people. This is what’s happening now in the third world country known as New York City. And that&#8217;s just within the last few weeks. These attacks are effectively endorsed and enabled by New York&#8217;s government, which has made the political decision not to incarcerate most criminals.
That explains why a man named Jamar Banks was able to use the subway the other day. The New York Post <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/01/05/us-news/madman-accused-of-two-nyc-train-stabbings-is-busted-carrying-large-knife-sources/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reports</a> that, &#8220;A subway maniac with 87 prior arrests was just busted for two transit stabbings — carrying the large knife he allegedly used in the violence &#8230; Banks&#8217; rap sheet includes arrests for alleged attempted murder, weapons possession, assault, criminal trespassing, turnstile jumping and petty larceny.&#8221;
If politicians in New York didn&#8217;t want to destroy the city, they&#8217;d immediately throw every criminal like Jamar Banks in prison. They&#8217;d start enforcing the law. It’s actually not hard to prevent people from getting randomly stabbed, torched, or thrown in front of trains. This is a very easy issue to address. The city could effectively end all of this madness overnight, in one fell swoop, if they wanted to. All you have to do is take all the people who are already known violent criminals and put them in prison. Then you have to ban homeless people from setting up camp in the tunnels or on the trains, and arrest anyone who causes a disturbance. This could all be done in one day.
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But none of that is happening. Instead, rather than admit they&#8217;ve failed their constituents, politicians in New York have just decided to compel citizens to use the subway. They&#8217;ve opted to make it financially untenable for most New Yorkers to avoid public transit. That&#8217;s their solution to the fact that no one in the city wants to ride the subway anymore. They&#8217;re going to force them to do it.
I&#8217;m talking about so-called &#8220;congestion pricing.&#8221; After several years of debate, this &#8220;congestion pricing&#8221; has just taken effect in Manhattan. In essence, this is a tax on anyone who wants to drive a vehicle into the heart of New York during work hours — as if it wasn&#8217;t already expensive enough to live in that diseased, rat-infested, crime-riddled, reeking, filthy, godforsaken hellhole of a city. This new tax is a very clear effort to force New Yorkers to use the subway system, which has become an international embarrassment. People don’t want to use it because they don’t want to be assaulted by schizophrenic vagrants. So the solution isn’t to get rid of the schizophrenic vagrants. Instead it’s to simply force everyone to use it, basically offering law abiding citizens up as sacrifices to the dregs of the community.
Specifically, this new tax covers the vast majority of vehicles entering Manhattan between 60th Street and the Battery, which includes Times Square, Hell&#8217;s Kitchen, the theater district, and other high-traffic areas. From 5:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. on weekdays, and from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m on weekends — which is obviously a huge block of time — the so-called &#8220;peak period toll rate&#8221; is in effect. For all &#8220;passenger and small commercial vehicles,&#8221; that toll rate is $9.00 during the peak period.
To be clear about the political dynamics here, the majority of New Yorkers oppose congestion pricing, as far as I can tell. A Sienna College <a href="https://abc7ny.com/nyc-congestion-pricing-nearly-two-thirds-of-new-yorkers-oppose-plan-siena-college-poll-finds/14721916/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">survey</a> from last summer found that nearly two-thirds of people living in the city didn&#8217;t want a $15.00 &#8220;congestion toll.&#8221;
In response to the outcry, the governor of New York briefly suspended the plan. Then she said she&#8217;d lower the toll a few dollars, claiming it would save New Yorkers some money. To reiterate, she claimed she was saving New Yorkers money by taking less of their money than she was originally going to take. This was a prime example of political &#8220;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUMgX7-yZZs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">girl math</a>,&#8221; as I outlined at the time. And now it&#8217;s taken effect.
Naturally, some Left-wing New Yorkers rallied in response to their government gouging them even more. But instead of rallying against it, they actually rallied to thank their overlords for the privilege of being bilked by them. Some of these scenes are so absurd that they don&#8217;t even seem like they can be real. 
Here for example is a crowd cheering as the signage for the congestion pricing is unveiled:
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&quot;3, 2, 1… Happy congestion pricing!&quot; &#8211; New Yorkers *applaud* as the MTA unveils new regulatory tolls on them <a href="https://t.co/o55GtYlw92">pic.twitter.com/o55GtYlw92</a>
&mdash; End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) <a href="https://twitter.com/EndWokeness/status/1875782069361766504?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 5, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Yes, you just heard someone shouting, &#8220;Happy congestion pricing.&#8221; They are celebrating the implementation of an unprecedented tax, as if it&#8217;s a national holiday.
 This would seem to be boot-licking taken to an unparalleled extreme, and it is. But we should also understand that really they&#8217;re celebrating the fact that, because of this tax, wealthy New Yorkers will have to contend with fewer working class people on the roads in Manhattan. The same people who celebrated the assassination of the health care CEO as some kind of twisted &#8220;victory for the little guy&#8221; are very, very happy about using a tax to keep poor people away from them.
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That&#8217;s a pretty big clue that none of these people actually care about &#8220;the little guy.&#8221; If you ask them, of course, they&#8217;ll pretend otherwise. In particular, they&#8217;ll say that congestion pricing is necessary because it will help pay for improvements to the subway system. 
For example, when the governor briefly halted the plan for congestion pricing last summer, this was the response:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Pro-congestion pricing rally held in Manhattan" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/y-nnHGHfXi4?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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If you want to explain to someone how cities like New York are collapsing, just show them that clip. According to the residents of New York, it&#8217;s a &#8220;great betrayal&#8221; that the government isn&#8217;t taxing them enough. That is how these people think.
To be fair, the first guy was arguably a little less pathetic. He was talking about all of the alleged benefits that will result from congestion pricing. He&#8217;s saying they&#8217;ll be able to improve the subway system to make it more &#8220;accessible,&#8221; which is a talking point a lot of these protesters used. Watch:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Parents with strollers rally in favor of congestion pricing in NYC" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qTGJf7Y3NeI?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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One of the many false assumptions these people are making is that more money will improve the subway system. But that&#8217;s not true. And we know that because the New York subway system is a comically obvious example of waste and mismanagement in government.
For example, the Second Avenue subway that was recently constructed in Manhattan somehow cost more money than any other similar subway system on the planet — by a lot. As <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-02-23/in-nyc-subway-a-case-study-in-runaway-transit-construction-costs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bloomberg reports</a>: &#8220;At $2.5 billion per mile, construction costs for the 1.8-mile Phase 1 of the Second Avenue Subway were 8 to 12 times more expensive than similar subway projects in Italy, Istanbul, Sweden, Paris, Berlin and Spain.&#8221;
So that&#8217;s one potential way to raise revenue, right off the bat. They could stop lighting money on fire. Secondly, if you&#8217;re worried about congestion in Manhattan, you could try a lot of things besides charging people to drive their cars. You could, for example, try opening more lanes, instead of closing them for cyclists and construction. Anyone who&#8217;s ever driven through Manhattan could tell you that. Here&#8217;s one example:
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Couldn’t have said it better myself.
The city caused this “congestion”. And now anti-car activists are celebrating by taunting drivers at toll gantries.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FuckCongestionPricing?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FuckCongestionPricing</a> <a href="https://t.co/nMIYOiWQLY">pic.twitter.com/nMIYOiWQLY</a>
&mdash; The Fight against Anti-Car (@NoBikeLanes) <a href="https://twitter.com/NoBikeLanes/status/1875717693355298824?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 5, 2025</a></blockquote>
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This is something no one ever mentions as a possible solution. Get rid of the stupid bike lanes. You’ll find this same thing in cities all over the country. You have to sit in traffic because the city has blocked off entire lanes so that people can ride their bicycles in the street. As I’ve said many times, they might as well block off lanes so that you can use your ab roller or bench press in the middle of the street. If you want to exercise — that’s great, I support it. But you shouldn’t be doing it in the road when everyone is trying to commute to work.
One of the arguments you&#8217;ll hear from these activists is that, somehow, this new tax will reduce carbon emissions and change the weather and save the planet. This is science, you see. Step 1: you pay a toll. Step 3: hurricanes stop happening. The problem is that Step 2 is a bit foggy. And anyway, even if you assume that reducing carbon emissions by a tiny amount will change the weather for the better, it’s a moot point, because this won’t actually reduce carbon emissions. Instead, traffic is going to move elsewhere. People living in New Jersey understand that pretty well, which is why they&#8217;re suing to stop this tax.
<h3><a href="https://www.amiracist.com/?_gl=1*jtghwp*_gcl_au*ODQ1NjYzNTg2LjE3Mjg5MDk3OTE.*_ga*MTc2NzM0NDQ2NS4xNzI4OTA5Nzkx*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*MTczMDEyMDgwOS40OS4xLjE3MzAxMjA4MzkuMzAuMC4w" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MATT WALSH&#8217;S &#8216;AM I RACIST?&#8217; NOW STREAMING ON DAILYWIRE+</a></h3>
But regardless, even if you don&#8217;t buy any of the counter-arguments — even if you think that New York&#8217;s government urgently needs more money to improve the subway — it&#8217;s still not clear why &#8220;congestion pricing&#8221; is the best way to raise that revenue. Why not raise taxes on those evil corporations that the Left claims to hate so much? Why are they raising taxes on regular citizens instead?
It only makes sense when you realize, again, that the objective is to force more people into public transit, and get them off the roads.
Admittedly, this whole fiasco may seem irrelevant to anyone who has the good sense to not live in New York. But this sort of madness can be found, in varying degrees, wherever Democrats have power. The idea that Trump’s re-election would be some kind of wake up call for Democrats is a fantasy. They can’t be woken up because they aren’t asleep or in some sort of trance. They’re doing exactly what they want, and their policies are having precisely the effect they intend. 
Here for example is an image from the New York subway system:
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🚨 NYC subway riders are all terrified of being shoved in front of a train. <a href="https://t.co/HCXmcRJ69S">pic.twitter.com/HCXmcRJ69S</a>
&mdash; Breaking911 (@Breaking911) <a href="https://twitter.com/Breaking911/status/1876039855458979983?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 5, 2025</a></blockquote>
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You&#8217;ll notice that everyone is standing against the wall, because they don&#8217;t want to get pushed on the tracks by some psycho. It&#8217;s straight-up dystopian and you have to wonder how long people will put up with it.
If there’s any waking up that can happen and must happen, it’s among the average citizens in places like New York. If they ever come to their senses and realize that the people they put in power are actively and intentionally making their lives worse in just about every measurable way, then maybe things will start to change for the better.
Unfortunately, for everyone living in New York, based on the celebrations we&#8217;re seeing in support of &#8220;congestion pricing&#8221; — which is really a tax on using your own property and going about your daily life — it doesn&#8217;t look like that will happen any time soon.

NY Congestion Pricing Plan’s Fate Unclear After Court Ruling

2025 Just Started And Things Are Already Getting Crazy

Kathy Hochul

Manhattan

Matt Walsh

Opinion

Subway

Even those who have never considered purchasing a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/cars">Jaguar</a> are confused by the brand’s latest <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/advertising">relaunch</a>, which has been getting attention for all the wrong reasons. Viewers are saying the luxury car brand has gone <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/woke">woke</a> and in doing so, has destroyed more than 100 years of legacy.
Some thought the colorfully bizarre, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/woke-is-dead-jaguar-gets-mocked-for-colorful-car-free-brand-re-launch">car-free car commercial</a> and the introduction of the “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/new-jaguar-concept-car-revealed-mocked-for-being-pink-batmobile">Pink batmobile</a>” electric concept car this month came out of nowhere. However, the descent into madness at Jaguar has been going on for decades, even if most people weren’t paying attention.
There may be no exact date to point to in terms of steering this <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/united-kingdom">British</a> brand in a new direction. But it may have started around 2002 when brand reps conducted a survey and determined that they should be marketing to gay and lesbian car buyers who at the time commanded $450 million of purchasing power in the United States, as The Advocate <a href="https://www.advocate.com/news/2002/12/19/jaguar-targets-gay-drivers-7249">reported</a> at the time. 
&#8220;[LGBT buyers] spend more money on luxury cars, and they have more money to spend,&#8221; Jaguar spokesman Simon Sproule said. &#8220;They are very loyal to brands and organizations that talk to them in a way that is relevant.&#8221;
“In recent years, Jaguar has targeted gay consumers on a smaller scale and found the brand is very appealing to this segment,” Jaguar North America marketing vice president George Ayres <a href="https://www.just-auto.com/news/usa-jaguar-targets-new-ad-campaign-at-gay-and-lesbian-buyers/">agreed</a>.
Their <a href="https://www.jaguar.co.uk/partnerships/jaguar-x-attitude.html">website</a> offers further clues to the brand’s progressive shift, touting that since 2016 Jaguar has been “a proud partner to the world’s biggest LGBTQ+ media brand, Attitude Magazine.” 
The brand also sponsors Attitude Magazine’s big annual event, the Attitude Awards, claiming to be the largest of its kind anywhere in the world. In 2019, in partnership with Attitude Magazine, the brand <a href="https://www.thedrum.com/news/2019/10/04/jaguars-long-term-attitude-partnership-births-jag-race-mini-series">launched</a> an online mini-series – Jag Race – featuring four drag queens, which happened to coincide with the popular American reality show “Ru Paul&#8217;s Drag Race” premiering on the BBC.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Courtney Act and The Vivienne actually drag race | Heat One – Jag Race S1, E1" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4OLZnksXD4U?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Jaguar Land Rover UK marketing director Anthony Bradbury told media outlet The Drum that their goal was, &#8220;challenging stereotypes of what an automotive campaign can be.”
&#8220;The industry has a stereotypically masculine image, so it’s important we use our platform to challenge that perception and reflect the diversity not only in our customer base but our employee network,&#8221; he said of the campaign, also noting that the Jaguar Land Rover Pride community had more than 450 members.
Mike Buckley, head of partnerships at Attitude, said he’s been thrilled with the collaboration with Jaguar. He said “Jag Race” is just one example of the brand’s “commitment to the LGBTQ+ audience.”
&#8220;They&#8217;ve been a dream partner since the start, committed to providing bespoke content for our audience,” Buckley said. “A number of concepts were initially presented by us to them but they wanted to be even more fearless than we thought they did. So Jag Race was their idea which we developed, produced and distributed for them.&#8221;
Also in 2019, Jaguar partnered with Queer Screen to present its 26th Mardi Gras Film Festival. Their “Fit for a Queen” campaign to promote the festival had the <a href="https://campaignbrief.com/jaguar-launches-new-fit-for-a/">intention</a> of  “celebrating individualism and queer storytelling.”
Mark Cameron, managing director of Jaguar Land Rover Australia, said of the sponsorship, “Inclusion is integral to the way that we do business at Jaguar and we recently established the Jaguar Land Rover PRIDE LGBTQI network in the UK. We are excited to celebrate creativity, equality and diversity with the incredible line-up of LGBTQI talent and films in this year’s festival, and of course to have some fun at our Jaguar Service Centre.”
There’s more. In 2022, Jaguar highlighted “the voices of two queer creatives” to discuss topics like representation and not caring what people think. Layton Williams <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eggWFSxN3XM">discussed</a> being cast as the first black Billy Elliot cast in a stage production of a show. “As queer people, sometimes we have to… well, you have to work a little bit harder sometimes. Well, I feel I have.”
The work that Jaguar started in 2002 and has been dutifully working toward ever since – to turn the brand into an homage to LGBTQ ideals – should not have been a surprise at all. During an appearance at the Virgin Atlantic Attitude Awards in October, Santino Pietrosanti, UK Brand Director at Jaguar Land Rover, said the company rebrand was exactly what it looked like.
&#8220;We&#8217;re on a transformative journey of our own. Driven by a belief in diversity, inclusion, creativity, policy and, most importantly, action. We&#8217;ve established over 15 DEI groups such as Pride, which are here tonight, and Women in Engineering and Neurodiversity Matters,&#8221; Pietrosanti <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/media/jaguar-marketing-directors-comments-celebrating-commitment-dei-resurface-after-woke-rebrand">said</a> at the time.
&#8220;We&#8217;ve launched major policy revisions such as transitioning at work to drive equity and support for our communities, embracing individuality as our superpower,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;We&#8217;re not just talking about new cars. We are talking about all new ways of thinking and embracing the full spectrum of human potential and creativity. Because Jaguar has always stood for fearless originality, striving to be a copy of nothing. And we believe that every person has the potential to be something unique, something original, and that&#8217;s what makes us strong.&#8221; 
He said, &#8220;At Jaguar we proudly stand with the LGBTQ+ community because we know that originality and creativity thrives in spaces where people are free to be themselves.”
Despite Bud Light’s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bud-lights-parent-company-lost-over-1-billion-in-revenue-after-dylan-mulvaney-partnership-report">billion dollar advertising train wreck</a> and several high-profile companies shying away from hot button social issues and abandoning <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/companies-are-running-from-dei-lgbt-initiatives">DEI initiatives</a>, Jaguar is all in for progressive values and unashamed to say so. Time will tell if that works out for them.

Screenshot 2024-12-10 at 12.01.19 PM

Jaguar Has Been Going Woke For Two Decades, Even If We Just Noticed It

Jaguar Has Been Going Woke For Two Decades, We Only Just Noticed It Now

advertising

LGBT

United Kingdom

Wokeness

The new <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/cars">Jaguar</a> concept car has been revealed, and just like the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/woke">woke</a> advertising that preceded its debut, the electric vehicle is being mercilessly mocked online.
The Type 00 two-door coupe has an extra long hood and a low roof with no rear window. Jaguar chief creative officer Gerry McGovern <a href="https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/jaguar-unveils-polarizing-concept-ev-as-part-of-its-rebrand-133026168.html#:~:text=All%20of%20this%20is%20part,officer%20at%20Miami%20Art%20Week.">said</a> of the vehicle, “When Jaguar was at its best, it threw away the design rulebook and created E-Type and the XJS; objects of desire.” 
Futuristic design elements aside, the detail about the Type 00 that’s getting the most attention is the car’s colors: Satin Rhodon Rose, dubbed ‘Miami Pink,’ and Inception Silver Blue.
Podcaster Jay Anderson addressed the redesign on X, <a href="https://x.com/TheProjectUnity/status/1863576689764147470">writing</a>, &#8220;Go woke&#8230;You all know the rest.&#8221;
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&#8220;I have a feeling [Jaguar] may be about to find out that there are fewer well off non binary woke lesbians of color than their echo chamber assured them there were,&#8221; another commenter <a href="https://x.com/LozzaFox/status/1863593708081324519">wrote</a>.
“Copy Nothing, i.e. upsize a 2008 Chrysler Crossfire and &#8230; make it a Mary Kay Cosmetics sales prize,” another commenter <a href="https://x.com/iowahawkblog/status/1863671960472842466">wrote</a>, referencing the brand’s tagline that goes along with the redesign.
&#8220;Jaguar has successfully copied nothing. Nobody has ever demolished a brand more quickly or efficiently than this. Kudos,” Babylon Bee CTO Dan Dillon <a href="https://x.com/dandillondev/status/1863639336840737152">agreed</a>.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Jaguar has successfully copied nothing. Nobody has ever demolished a brand more quickly or efficiently than this. Kudos. <a href="https://t.co/qiTUy9EoCY">pic.twitter.com/qiTUy9EoCY</a>
&mdash; Dan Dillon (@dandillondev) <a href="https://twitter.com/dandillondev/status/1863639336840737152?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 2, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
“Copy nothing? It’s a pink Batmobile,” former Kevin McCarthy speechwriter Charles Correll III <a href="https://x.com/_CharlesCorrell/status/1863648971098325157">added</a>.
The Jaguar brand redesign had already been <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/woke-is-dead-jaguar-gets-mocked-for-colorful-car-free-brand-re-launch">making headlines</a> as of last month after it premiered a bizarre ad with no cars in it. The colorful commercial included people dressed in vibrant, outlandish outfits, making gestures such as grabbing sledgehammers, painting over the camera lens, and striking poses.
It also featured disjointed phrases such as “create exuberant,” “live vivid,” “delete ordinary,” “break molds,” and “copy nothing” on the screen.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk responded to the ad by asking, “Do you sell cars?”
The car brand’s chief creative officer Gerry McGovern is quoted as saying, “Jaguar has its roots in originality. Sir William Lyons, our founder, believed that ‘a Jaguar should be a copy of nothing.’ Our vision for Jaguar today is informed by this philosophy. New Jaguar is a brand built around Exuberant Modernism.”
He continued, “It is imaginative, bold and artistic at every touchpoint. It is unique and fearless. We are creating Jaguar for the future, restoring its status as a brand that enriches the lives of our clients and the Jaguar community.”

JAGUAR_TYPE00_SIDEPROFILE_16x9_021224

New Jaguar Concept Car Revealed, Mocked For Being ‘Pink Batmobile’

New Jaguar Concept Car Revealed, Mocked For Being 'Pink Batmobile'

As the mockery of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/cars">Jaguar</a>’s massive brand relaunch continues, one company exec is speaking out against the “intolerance” from the public. 
Managing director Rawdon Glover said in a recent <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/e164df19-54e2-48d8-b07c-50687813bf56">interview</a> with the Financial Times that the campaign messaging was drowned out in “a blaze of intolerance” on social media. Glover also claimed that the colorful new ad was not meant to be “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/woke">woke</a>.”
“If we play in the same way that everybody else does, we’ll just get drowned out. So we shouldn’t turn up like an auto brand,” Glover told the outlet.
“We need to re-establish our brand and at a completely different price point so we need to act differently. We wanted to move away from traditional automotive stereotypes.”
The Jaguar exec said there have been “very positive” reactions to the campaign but that he’s been dismayed by “the level of vile hatred and intolerance” to the viral ad.
Glover added that the rebrand was done in part to attract new customers. “This is not a depiction of how we think our future customers are,” he said. “We don’t want to necessarily leave all of our customers behind. But we do need to attract a new customer base.”
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A senior advertising executive who previously worked with the brand agreed with the criticism, telling the outlet, “You can destroy a brand in 30 seconds that took a lifetime to build. Strong brands reinvent themselves but always remain true to the core of their DNA. For luxury brands in particular, authenticity is key and this fails the test.”
The new ad campaign includes a commercial of people dressed in vibrant, outlandish outfits. The characters can be seen grabbing sledgehammers, painting over the camera lens, and striking poses as the music plays. It also debuts the new logo, which strips away personality and removes the iconic jaguar graphic.
The entire campaign has been <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/woke-is-dead-jaguar-gets-mocked-for-colorful-car-free-brand-re-launch" target="_blank" rel="noopener">derided and mocked</a> on social media, especially since the commercial does not feature vehicles. 
Tesla founder Elon Musk responded to the ad by writing, “Do you sell cars?”
The official webpage says the brand will now be built upon “exuberant modernism.” A new concept car will debut at Miami Art Week the week of December 2.

Jaguar

Jaguar Exec Whines About ‘Vile Hatred And Intolerance’ Over Woke Rebrand

Jaguar Exec Whines About 'Vile Hatred And Intolerance' Over Woke Rebrand

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