I have a sense from reading the news and talking to friends in Britain that things are extremely not alright over there. Not since the heights of Thatcherism have different levels of society eyed each other with such contempt. They’ve been going through Ministers Prime like most of us go through 10 mm sockets. The royal family is on the rocks, and people keep invoking Charles I. Bad times.
The UK and the US enjoy a “special relationship,” and it’s in times of trouble that we do our best to help out the other. In this case, General Motors will be aiding the United Kingdom by offering various giant trucks. I love giant trucks. Giant trucks make some people happy, and who am I to deny our friends some happiness? If you’re a Ford truck owner, though, your happiness might be limited by the massive recall that’s impacting millions of trucks. It’s about lighting! No one tell Jason.
Yesterday, there were some questions about whether or not Stellantis execs were recouping big bucks while workers were left out in the cold. At least one guy did, and you’ll absolutely guess who it is if you read The Morning Dump often. It’s not fun to get passed over for a bonus, but it’s worse if you’re one of the 300 Lucid workers who are out of a job as the company tries to right-size before the launch of its new midsize offering.
May Joyous Escalades And Glorious Silverados Be His Companions
The photo above was sent in a press release from GM Europe and importer/distributor/homlogator Clive Sutton. I assume it’s the Cotswolds. The Western Cotswolds. The Far Western Cotswolds.
GM mostly retreated from Europe when it sold Opel and Vauxhall, but the company has made a fun little side business of exporting its largest vehicles to various corners of the world. If you want an Escalade or a Silverado, no one outside of North America makes a true equivalent. You may prefer an Alpina XB7 to an Escalade-V, but they are not the same thing.
Now, with the help of Clive Sutton, here’s what’s coming. Here’s what the founder had to say:
“This is an exciting moment for UK customers who have long admired GM’s premium and performance lineup. For the first time, buyers in the UK can view vehicles such as luxurious Cadillac Escalade and GMC Yukon Denali SUVs, or US favourite pickup trucks including the popular Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra – with, warranty, finance, UK homologation, and nationwide servicing. We are delighted to be the first GM Specialty Vehicles franchise in the UK and to lead development of the nationwide network.”
As of this spring, you can get the following:
- Cadillac: Escalade, Escalade ESV, Escalade-V
- GMC: Yukon Denali, Sierra 1500 Denali, Sierra 1500 AT4
- Chevrolet: Tahoe, Suburban, Silverado
Right on.
Now, I’m going to stop some of you right here. I can just hear the complaints. “Matt, these things are huge.” “Matt, the roads are not big enough.” “Matt, no one needs a Silverado in London.”
Sorry. Wrong. Wrong ideas. Yeah, they’re big, I mean, look at this via CarSized:
You can fit an entire Dacia just between the wheels of a Suburban. And, having driven a few different cars around England, I’m always surprised that so many of the roads can barely fit two small European hatchbacks at the same time. Any of these, in certain parts of the country, will sometimes be a challenge to drive. That being said, An Escalade is not much bigger than a full-sized Sprinter or Transit. It’s possible.
Also, if you’re American, I don’t understand the complaint. Britain has trains, walkable cities, congestion pricing, and high-density/transit-oriented development. If you do all of those things and build a society that doesn’t absolutely need cars, I think you’re allowed to have a few more fun cars. For every 100 miles of reliable regional rail, you get at least one Silverado. That seems fair to me.
The country also only got five medals at the Winter Olympics; they deserve a few Yukons as consolation.
Ford Recalls 4.4 Million Trucks Over Trailer Lights
If you bought a Ford truck or SUV capable of towing between 2021 and 2026, there’s a new recall you might need to worry about, via Bloomberg:
The callback involves a software glitch that could cause taillights, turn signals and brakes on trailers to lose communication with the towing vehicle and stop working, increasing the risk of a crash, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in a notice about the recall posted Thursday.
“These conditions result in a noncompliance with federal safety standards and can reduce a driver’s ability to control an attached trailer while making it less visible to other drivers,” Ford said in a statement. The automaker is not aware of any accidents, injuries or fires related to the issue.
Ford will issue an over-the-air software update for trailer control modules in the affected vehicles to fix the issue. Drivers may also bring their vehicles to dealerships for the repair at no cost.
It’s nice that more of these issues can be fixed by OTA updates, but this ain’t gonna help Ford shed its “most recalled brand” title for 2026.
Stellantis CEO Got $6.37 Million, Old One Got $14.1 Million
Yesterday, many of you were concerned that Stellantis execs were walking home with big bonuses while UAW workers got nothing. I don’t have a full answer to who did and didn’t but, right on cue, Reuters provided an update on executive compensation for 2025:
Antonio Filosa, who took over as head of Stellantis in June 2025, received €5.4 million ($6.37 million) in total compensation last year, the company said.
The compensation topped the company’s earlier projection that Filosa would earn at least $4 million annually in his first two years as CEO. His pay could rise to as much as $23 million a year from 2028, including bonuses.
Former Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares, who resigned from the automaker in December 2024, had a pay package of €11.4 million ($14 million) in 2025, according to the company’s annual filing.
Mwhahahahahahahahahaha. So Filosa, who is trying to save the company, will get less than half of what Tavares (pictured above) will get for trashing the company. Amazing.
Lucid To Cut Ahead Of 2026
Can I get away with this joke twice? Let’s see! Lucid sold more cars last year and earned more revenue in 2025, but the cost of doing so led to bigger losses. Is that good? Is that bad? We’ll see, I guess. I’ll be going to the big Lucid Investor’s Day in a couple of weeks, and I’ll be able to answer that question better.
In the interim, Interim CEO Marc Winterhoff (pictured above) told CNBC that the company is going to adjust its staffing accordingly:
Lucid’s results come days after the company laid off 12% of its U.S. salaried workforce in an effort to streamline operations and “operate with greater efficiency and deliver on our commitments to gross margin improvement and long term growth,” according to a statement from the company.
Interim Lucid CEO Marc Winterhoff described the cuts Tuesday to CNBC as a needed realignment of the company’s workforce amid broader market and economic concerns as well as needed gains in efficiency.
“We are adjusting and going to a level where we think we want to be and need to be,” he said. “But it’s nothing that will continue in the future.”
Lucid is in an interesting position as it makes probably the best electric sedan available in the United States and, also, the best electric SUV. Is that enough? This year will be a big test of the company as it can now build things pretty well, which means it has to prove it can sell them. The company hopes to have a midsize vehicle of some sort to show soon, but that’s not going to be sold in any serious numbers this year.
What I’m Listening To While Writing TMD
I was reminded recently that Neko Case was briefly the drummer for Canadian Cuddlecore band cub. Here’s her drumming on “Nicolas Bragg.” It’s almost unfathomable now to have Neko Case in your band and not have her sing everything, though, incomprehensibly, she’s playing the bass here?
The Big Question
What American vehicle would you give the world today?
Top photo: GM
Are these trucks in LHD only? That’ll be fun given the width of UK roads Vs the vehicle itself.
I’d image a RWB Yukon Denali would be seen as more bad ass than the Range Rover, its not common, slightly bigger, and looks great.
Similarly, if I was a contractor there with a Sprinter van or Ranger, a Silverado could check the whole family car and work truck box, and take up the same space as a Sprinter.
@Adrian Vallejo whats your take on this being the local Brit??
I’m going to take this opportunity to say, this is absurd amounts of compensation. Regardless of the status of Stellantis’ finances.
How much money a day would absolutely be life changing for you? Can I suggest $5000 a day ($3170/day after tax)? Well, you’d still be making 3.5 times less money than Antonio.
The billionaires don’t want you to hear this, but any compensation over $1.825M/year is absolutely insane.
Anyone making $1.825M+/year should be taxed similarly exorbitantly.
That’s gonna make 6.2 long block replacements much more difficult.
I think the EV charger would make a nice daily as an alternative to something like a BMW 4 series or Audi A5. We have Silverados and Tundras and F150s and RAMs here in Aus and whilst really they aren’t that much bigger than the Rangers and Hiluxs everyone drives due to friendly tax reasons even those cars are often too big and poke out of normal carparks. They sell a few but a lot of people really really hate them because lets be honest, unless they are towing a boat or a horse box they are a really stupid vehicle that does nothing a 4 pot diesel 40k ( US pick ups are all 100-160k aud here btw) chinese pick like a Great Wall can do. I say this of course but if I went to the US on holiday you bet week one I’d hire an F150 or Silverado and just yee-hah all over the flyover states loving life and looking at amazing landscapes.
It’s one (already horrible) thing for CEOs to get paid so much. It’s another for CEOs to get paid extra after completely failing and being replaced. If only that worked for other jobs! People would…probably still not do it, because they don’t have a massive accumulation of wealth or lack of shame.
I’d give them what they’re paying for: Spartanburg built X3’s.
Big, massive, cumbersome SUVs and trucks are not “fun”. At all. Except maybe to laugh at when the fool driving can’t get out of a parking spot.
“I think you’re allowed to have a few more fun cars.”
Cheekiness aside what would be fun about a Silverado in Britain? Crushing locals with “oopsie, didn’t see ya” plausibility? Terrorizing supermini drivers? Solving the right side/left side debate by hogging both sides? Burning twice the gas? Hauling/towing more air? Endlessly searching for parking and causing a road block when you do manage to squeeze in somewhere? Getting wedged between stone buildings like an overfed Pooh Bear? Getting cussed out and making enemies everywhere you go?
If so make sure to get a Harley too for the full ‘Murican! package.
I’m way late to this TMD but fwiw I laughed at Marc Winterhoff’s, ah, selected portrait.
Ford Maverick hybrid
“If you do all of those things and build a society that doesn’t absolutely need cars, I think you’re allowed to have a few more fun cars.”
Are the fun cars in the room with us?
UK-ers will absolutely not be not buying these behemoths in droves.
They probably won’t sell in droves but they don’t have to, it’s not like GM has a dedicated factory for the UK/EU, the costs are low for GM. If they sell in the 4 digits they are doing fine.
These will sell well for people who have private security & politicians, influencers, and people who don’t live in London who have lots of money and want something different.
“If they sell in the 4 digits they are doing fine.”
I believe that’s overly optimistic by two digits.
Brits already have Range Rovers – after shipping and tariffs, the base Cadillac will cost more than the RR.
I don’t see many Footballers making that choice for a gargantuan tarted up Chevrolet.
I’d be very surprised if they sell more than 100 per year. There’s thirty two Silverados in the UK, and one hundred and twenty five Escalades. And that’s the total sold over all models of each, since 1995.
Anyway, if you want to drive a massive, heavy, attention-getting, vehicle in the UK, you can legally drive a tank on the road over here (with the appropriate driving license).
Challenger II > Escalade 😉
“ GM To Export Freedom To The UK In The Form Of Giant Trucks”
You call that pitiful toy a giant GM truck ? I was expecting at least a Terex like this, https://youtu.be/5Nvg8TIXz-o?si=N_I_h-fNEDLOj-8H
Are you speaking about the UK? Did we ride the same trains?
Also, I suspect that an Escalade is comparable in size to a Defender 130 or an Ineos Quartermaster.
Longer and higher, but about the same girth.
that’s what she said
A LWB Escalade ESV is nearly 41cm longer and 6cm wider than a Defender 130