Automotive

Slowly but surely, sedans are going extinct

Rest in peace to many peoples beloved high school car. Late last week, GM announced that it will be stopping production of its Chevy Malibu for good. The Malibu is General Motors’ last sedan model, but it’s scrapping it anyway to prioritize the company’s focus on EV production.

It’s been a long time coming

Chevy started phasing out non-spacious vehicles in 2023 (with one exception), when it got rid of the Camaro, so the exit of the Malibu was all but expected for this year. Now the company’s fleet only consists of SUVs, trucks, and the Corvette (which is the exception).

However, GM isn’t the only automaker to embrace larger vehicles:

• In 2019, Ford stopped producing sedans, though it still makes the 2-door Mustang.

• Stellantis (Chrysler, Aston Martin, Dodge, Jeep, Maserati, etc.) has said it’s focusing on SUVs and trucks but plans to unveil an electric version of the Dodge Challenger next year.

• Foreign automakers, such as Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, and Subaru have followed in American automakers footsteps and limited production of sedans amid falling demand.

There’s a reason: In 2020, sedans held around 80% of the market share in the US, according to the EPA. But now, according to JD Power, cars (sedans, coupes, etc.) accounted for less than 23% of auto sales in the US in 2021.

Carmakers have been glad to cater to this trend since SUVs, trucks, and crossovers are more profitable than sedans. Going forward, GM just invested nearly $400 million to redesign the Malibu factory to produce its new all-electric Chevy Bolt. This comes at a time where waning demand hits the electric vehicle industry.

Economy

Germans are riled up over kebabs

The famous turkish dish is extremely popular in Germany, but high prices have consumers (and officials) irate. After a large price hike on doner kebabs, a widespread staple food in Germany, the country’s Die Linke party said it would propose a government price cap on the food.

It’s pretty popular then?

Yes. Very popular. Over $7.5 billion worth of doner kebabs, which is assorted shaved meat and toppings wrapped in a flatbread, are sold annually in Germany. But due to rising prices, citizens and politicians alike are grumbling that the once cheap staple food has become an occasional splurge.

• According to Germany’s Die Linke party, some businesses have raised kebab prices nearly $7 (which is almost double what they used to cost).

• The political party wants a $5.30 maximum cap per sandwich.

  • They also proposed the German government subsidize the doner kebabs, saying every household should get a voucher for the popular food.

Inflation effects food, too: And people don’t like it. In 2023, the Italian government had an emergency meeting over pasta prices skyrocketing 16% for two consecutive months. French President Emmanuel Macron even discussed how to protect the baguette from increasing energy prices. And don’t even get me started on the $18 Big Mac meal.

The economy has a generational divide

The current inflation situation must have central bankers sweating. Earlier this month, the Fed announced interest rates won’t be coming down (for now), basically saying the same thing from its two previous interest rate statements.

However, April’s numbers drop on Wednesday, and the consumer price index is expected to climb 3.4% over last year, which would be about the same as last month’s reading, and well above the 2% target.

What stands in the way of interest rates going down?

Essentially, its boomers. Well, rich boomers, to be more specific. The current economy has Gen Z and Millenials cringing but boomers dancing in the rain. Why is that?

• Those who are 60 and over (and have a higher net worth) have already paid off their debts: a house, a car or two, and don’t have to fret over borrowing costs like younger generations without those assets do.

• They also have had their money compounding interest for years, and the increased price of goods doesn’t mean much, so splurging on vacations, and new sofas (or whatever old rich people spend their money on) has kept the price of goods and services up.

Another reason interest rates and inflation haven’t bothered seniors much:

• Retirees received an near 9% cost-of-living-adjustment bump to Social Security payments earlier this year, the largest single-year increase in 43 years.

It turns out it’s pretty hard to bring down the price of goods and services when some consumers… don’t care about the price.

• Americans age 70 and older now hold nearly 26% of household wealth, the highest since records began in 1989, according to the Federal Reserve.

• Boomers alone have amassed over $77.1 trillion in wealth, a statistic which some analysts think can thwart a potential recession, since there is so much money, well, left to spend.

  • Some economists believe a recession is on the brink, due to a lack of spending power as consumers run out of pandemic savings.

Looking forward: While the whole ‘generational divide’ can sort itself out with time, the Fed may want to be a bit more strategic if it wants younger generations to splurge the same way older folks have been.

Grab Bag

The northern lights went on a world tour

My girlfriend actually took the photo but I’m taking credit anyway. Sue me. Onlookers across the globe were allowed to see a rare view of the aurora borealis this weekend, which is typically only available to those in the more northern half of the globe.

Why could so many of us see it?

For the first time in 20 years, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center issued a severe geomagnetic storm watch as exceptionally strong flashes of plasma from the sun reached Earth, which started Friday and lasted through Sunday.

• It was classified as a G5 geomagnetic storm, which is the strongest possible on NOAA’s scale.

• It was the strongest one since 2003, where the GOES system recorded the largest solar flare in history. Several communication industries and spacecraft were either affected or damaged.

The solar storm triggered a once in a lifetime phenomenon, allowing all to see the aurora borealis, commonly known as the northern lights.

However, the same radiation from the sun that allowed some to take awe-inspiring pictures (that are much better than mine) can also disturb communications, power grids, and GPS systems used by many industries.

Minor disturbance, major sightseeing

Fortunately, there wasn’t many reported issues or interference with communications:

• Flights from the Gulf to the US’ West Coast took a detour to the south, as the geomagnetic storms could disrupted guidance systems onboard.

• Elon Musk’s Starlink satellites were “under a lot of pressure” but Musk said on X that they withstood the storm.

You might still have a chance to see them: The aurora is expected to stay until later today, so here are tips from the NOAA for how and when to see the lights.

This portal pop-up let’s you see into another country

This is about as sci-fi as we can get, portal wise at least. This week, two giant portals appeared in New York City and Dublin, connecting the two cities in real time with a constant, live video feed.

Portals? What?

The portals were placed in New York’s Flatiron district, and in Dublin’s O’Connell Street, the city’s main street. The organization behind the portals, aptly named Portals.org, has placed sculptures in Vilnius, Lithuania, and Lublin, Poland, in 2021. It is also planning on connecting New York and Dublin to the other portals they’ve placed in the near future.

However, the portals don’t have a rather expected feature… audio. The portals are designed without sound because, well, New Yorkers and Dubliners probably couldn’t understand each other anyway and, according to the Portals.org website, it forces people to use body language, the only universally understood language.

Although… while some have been seen dancing, giving out numbers, holding up signs, there have been some other rather, well, interesting (for lack of a better word) interactions. The portal in Ireland’s capital even closed for a few hours due to a small minority of people engaging in “inappropriate behavior.” This is why we can’t have nice things.

Fast Facts

Dumb Dinosaur: A team of Earth sciences researchers from across Europe and Canada published new research that showed T-Rex's were much dumber than we initially thought.

Cheap Combine: Farm equipment suppliers have a plethora of unsold tractors due to falling crop prices. If you need a combine now is the time to get one.

Noise & Nature: A three-year analysis of the impacts of human noise on cricket survival and reproduction found that crickets coming of age in areas with a sound level of 70 decibels (equivalent to a busy street or a washing machine) were 35% less likely to survive into adulthood. 

Emotional Electronics: Your phone knows when you’re sad, but can it help?

New Name: The Boy Scouts of America, after 114 years, is changing its name to Scouting America to move past controversies involving sexual abuse and also prioritize inclusion.