🏎🚙🛺Car-buying à la carte

Plus: "Expensive brunette" hair | Monday, January 03, 2022

Open in app View in browser     Axios What's Next By Jennifer A. Kingson, Joann Muller and Erica Pandey ·Jan 03, 2022 Welcome back! It's the inaugural edition of What's Next for 2022. A hearty greeting to Axios Future subscribers who are joining us today for the first time. A question for all of you: What makes you optimistic about 2022? Tell us something that fills you with hope — or take a picture of something that encapsulates that feeling — and email us at whatsnext@axios.com. Today's Smart Brevity count: 1,239 words ... 4.5 minutes.     1 big thing: Car shortage could change buying behavior forever Illustration: Gabriella Turrisi/Axios   Car dealers' annual year-end sell-a-thons have turned into wait-a-thons for many shoppers unable to find the vehicle they want on dealer lots — but that could be about to change as some companies modernize the way they sell their cars, Joann Muller writes. Why it matters: Supply chain disruptions could have a silver lining for automakers if Americans can be trained to order the exact car they want — color, features, bells and whistles — and then wait a month or so for it to be delivered. This is how Europeans have been buying cars since World War II, when money and materials were in short supply and factories were struggling to recover. But Americans are accustomed to going to the dealership and driving home in a shiny new car off the lot. What's happening: Some companies say they plan to capitalize on the inventory crunch to permanently shift to an order-based system, starting with their new lineups of electric vehicles. Ford Motor, for example, is trying a build-to-order scheme with its new Mustang Mach-e, which is in high demand. And Ford is offering a $1,000 discount to customers who pre-order any vehicle. What they're saying: "You cannot imagine ... how much money we waste by not — by guessing what our launch mix is for a new product," Ford CEO Jim Farley told investors and analysts in October. A build-to-order model, he says, is a far more efficient way to run the business. Yes, but: Automakers have tried before to switch to a build-to-order model, with little success. "Americans have no patience. We're too impulsive," said Michelle Krebs, executive analyst at Cox Automotive. The bottom line: The pandemic finally made it possible to complete your car purchase online without ever setting foot in a showroom. The big question is whether ordering the exact car you want from the factory is next. Read the full story.     2. What's next for NYC: Mayor Eric Adams The inauguration of NYC Mayor Eric Adams, as seen on CNN. Photo: Jennifer A. Kingson for Axios   New York City's charismatic new mayor, Eric Adams, was sworn in just after midnight on New Year's Day, promising to bring a fresh set of eyes to a thankless job in a COVID-weary town, Jennifer A. Kingson writes. Why it matters: New York's urban problems — always a national bellwether — have spiraled during the pandemic. This tough-on-crime mayor, a longtime NYC police captain, vows to clean things up but has his hands full. Problems include rampant homelessness, a rising murder rate, small businesses in turmoil, the devastation of the corporate tax base due to COVID-19, and economic inequality that prompted Adams to characterize New York as "a tale of two cities." If Adams succeeds, he could go far: He has called himself "the future of the Democratic Party." Biography: The fourth of six children of a single mother who cleaned houses, Adams, 61, grew up in Queens. At age 15, he "was arrested on a criminal trespass charge for entering the home of an acquaintance," Mara Gay wrote in the New York Times. "He has said he was beaten so severely by police officers that his urine was filled with blood for a week." He joined the New York Police Department in 1984 and served for 22 years, after which he was elected to the New York State Senate. He rose to political prominence in Brooklyn, where he was elected borough president in 2013. "Stylistically, Mr. Adams could be the most flamboyant mayor New York City has seen in decades," per a New York Times profile of Adams. He's "an early riser, a vegan and a wellness enthusiast who keeps a frenetic schedule." The race factor: Adams is NYC's second Black mayor — David Dinkins, in the early 1990s, was the first. With his election, "working-class Black New York, which makes up the heart of the Democratic base but has long been shut out of City Hall, will finally have its moment," per Gay's piece in the Times. Despite his appeal to the working class — whom he told in his November victory speech, "I am you" — he is moderate in his politics and has a habit of frustrating the left with his tough-on-crime stance. Out with the old: Adams' predecessor, Bill de Blasio, had become a punchline (and a punching bag) by the time he left office, blamed for everything from rising crime to the mismanagement of COVID, the city's economy and its schools. "Sayonara sucker!" Andy Cohen jeered at de Blasio during a New Year's Eve broadcast on CNN with Anderson Cooper. Read the full article.     3. The "most anticipated tech products of 2022" Rivian R1T electric truck. Photo: Rivian   From the department of great headlines, it's Fast Company's list of the 12 "gadgets, software, gaming gear, and vehicles that are already generating plenty of buzz." Here are a few: Panic's new Playdate handheld video gaming device, a cute yellow square thing with a crank that controls some of the games. Apple iPhone 14. Per Forbes: "Multiple sources this week are claiming that Apple will remove the iPhone's physical SIM card slot, which will leave the range entirely reliant on digital eSIMs." Rivian's R1T and R1S, the hot company's electric pickup truck and electric SUV, respectively. (Check out our own Joann Muller discussing Rivian on CNBC.) Apple Universal Control. This would "let users control a Mac and an iPad from one keyboard and one mouse or touchpad," Fast Company says. "For example, you might use a Mac keyboard to type text on the screen of the iPad, or use the mouse to drag content from the iPad over to the Mac."     A message from Axios Checklist for more engaging communications     Axios HQ's checklist is informed by Axios' Smart Brevity® methodology, which is shaped by shifting reader behaviors and optimized to keep them engaged. It works for any form of communication, from a roundup of industry news to a rundown of your organization's most vital, internal updates. Get the free checklist     4. Brunette nation Hailey Bieber — former blonde and wife of Justin — on Dec. 22 in Los Angeles. Photo: Bellocqimages/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images   Blondes are dyeing their hair brown, in shades like "expensive brunette," The New York Times tells us. "Warming, feel-good colors like chocolate milk, gingerbread and sable will be big in 2022, stylists say," according to the Times. Why it matters: If hair color is a sign of the times, the shift away from bleached locks may signal a desire by the hair owner to be perceived as more serious and hardworking. "This new spin on darker, more lustrous hair appears to be spurred in some part by the craving for change that came in the wake of the pandemic, when many people got to embrace their natural color in a good way," the Times article says. The pop culture angle: Celebs who have gone brown include Hailey Bieber, Billie Eilish, Florence Pugh, Dove Cameron and Gigi Hadid, per the Times. "On TikTok, blond hair was declared 'cheugy,*'" the paper said. "Expensive brunette," which Glamour magazine declared in November was "the color you'll be seeing everywhere this fall," seems to be a sort of variegated brown, full of different hues rather than monochromatic. "Expensive brunette is all about giving deeper hair energy, dimension, and detail," celebrity hairstylist Tom Smith tells Glamour. [*Note to the uninitiated: "Cheugy" — pronounced chew-gee — is a putdown used by Gen Z to diss millennials.]     5. Reader photo of the day Photo: J. Scott Cathcart   What's next: Smart school buses Last month, Jennifer wrote about cities that are using GPS systems to track pupils' rides on the school bus. One reader, J. Scott Cathcart, wrote in to show us what that looks like on the ground: "My school district in Chesapeake, Virginia already has a school bus tracker, thankfully. It comes in really handy for rainy and cold days! I attached a screenshot if you're interested to see what it looks like. "It's not perfect — there are days the bus isn't in the tracker. But, for the most part, it works well and allows me to motivate my daughter to get ready before the bus gets here."     A message from Axios Checklist for more engaging communications     Axios HQ's checklist is informed by Axios' Smart Brevity® methodology, which is shaped by shifting reader behaviors and optimized to keep them engaged. It works for any form of communication, from a roundup of industry news to a rundown of your organization's most vital, internal updates. Get the free checklist   Was this email forwarded to you? Get your daily dose of What's Next magic by signing up for our free newsletter here. Like this email style and format? Bring the strength of Smart Brevity® to your team — more effective communications, powered by Axios HQ.   Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. 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