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Episode #1122: Ford’s Doug Field maps a Silicon Valley–style path to a $30K EV truck, Mitsubishi debuts a luxury-inspired “Gallery” store concept, and OpenAI brings GPT-4o back after users missed its supportive “yes man” tone.

• Meet the man behind Ford’s push for affordable EVs: Doug Field, Ford’s EV chief, is channeling his inner Elon Musk by leaning on hardcore engineering, radical manufacturing changes, and first-principles thinking.
  • Field’s career spans some of the most ambitious mobility projects of the last 20 years—Segway, Tesla’s Model 3, and Apple’s secretive car program.
  • Applying “first principles thinking,” he’s cutting battery size, body weight, and part count by 20% while keeping Mustang-like acceleration.
  • “Physics isn’t proprietary,” Field noted when asked about similarities to Tesla’s approach. “The best part is no part.”
  • He admits shifting a century-old company isn’t easy: “Doing something new at an established company requires overcoming inertia… I came in with slightly unrealistic expectations of how quickly [things could be changed], but that’s an industry thing, not just a Ford thing.”

• Mitsubishi Motors will open its first U.S. “Gallery” dealership in Antioch, Tenn., by Q1 2026, blending luxury-style retail with mass-market appeal as part of its Momentum 2030 growth plan.
  • Located in the Century Farms mixed-use development, the store will be designed for browsing, with a no-pressure, open-format showroom more common in luxury brands.
  • Instead of a traditional lot packed with vehicles, the Gallery will store inventory off-site at its partner dealer—City Auto Mitsubishi—and bring in vehicles as customers progress toward a purchase.
  • Trained brand specialists from the partner dealer will walk shoppers from discovery through final paperwork, focusing on experience rather than volume.
  • CEO Mark Chaffin says Mitsubishi is “underrepresented” in the U.S., aiming to grow from one-third to over half of new-car markets by 2030.
  • “The Gallery dealership program is key to introducing customers to our vehicles in a welcoming, surprise-and-delight way,” Chaffin said.

• Responding to user backlash over GPT-5’s cooler tone, OpenAI has reinstated the beloved GPT-4o model for Plus subscribers, promising to make GPT-5 warmer over time. CEO Sam Altman says many missed GPT-4o’s overly-agreeable “yes man” style — for some, it was the only real encouragement they’d ever received.
• GPT-4o’s style, removed earlier this year, was criticized as “too sycophant-y,” gushing over mundane prompts with “absolutely brilliant” and similar praise.
• Altman says some users found it life-changing: “Please can I have it back? I’ve never had anyone in my life be supportive of me.”
• He warns even small tone tweaks can impact billions of chat

Join Paul J Daly and Kyle Mountsier every morning for the Automotive State of the Union podcast as they connect the dots across car dealerships, retail trends, emerging tech like AI, and cultural shifts—bringing clarity, speed, and people-first insight to automotive leaders navigating a rapidly changing industry.

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