Liberty Mutual, an insurance company, recently debuted a new mascot: a yellow puffball named Liberty Biberty. It joins the ranks of America’s surprising deep bench insurance mascots: the Gecko from Geico, Flo from Progressive, and of course its LiMu Emu and Doug, also from Liberty Mutual. 

It’s unclear why an industry built around deductibles and actuarial tables has produced some of advertising’s most elaborate fictional universes, Jeff Maurer writes. At this rate, we’re one Super Bowl commercial away from learning the Geico Gecko’s origin story.

Stocks finished up on Tuesday.

As fuel prices reach record highs, Americans have another reason to switch from their gas-guzzlers to an electric vehicle or hybrid. So far, that hasn’t come to rescue Lucid Motors. 

The American EV company delivered 3,806 vehicles in the quarter ending September 30, coming in well below the roughly 4,700 analysts were expecting. It also produced only 2,954 cars in the quarter, coming in below Wall Street estimates and down 38% from the previous quarter.

For the past year Lucid has produced more cars than it has sold.The company said it is now reducing stockpile amid a cost-cutting campaign. “As part of its operating reset, Lucid continued to align production with near-term demand,” it said.  

As is often the case, this appears to be a Lucid-specific issue rather than an industry bellwether. All other signs seem to suggest that after poo-pooing EVs for several years, US consumers are starting to look at cars that may hurt their wallet less. 

Both Tesla and Rivian, two of the largest electric vehicle makers in the world, reported more deliveries than expected during the same quarter.

Toyota recently reported that its “electrified vehicles,” consisting mostly of hybrids, kept it afloat in its most recent quarterly report. General Motors plans to introduce hybrid models into its US lineup, a company executive told CNBC on Monday, telling the outlet “we’re not tone-deaf to our customers.” 

Lucid Motors has failed to make a dent in the electric vehicle market for several reasons. The company’s new CEO, Silvio Napoli, started in June and immediately cut staff and eliminated a second production shift at its Arizona factory in an effort to “simplify the company.”  

Now he’s trying to shrink the pile of unsold cars, too. Lucid says its broader operating reset is targeting $1.4 billion in cash-flow improvements this year.

— J. Edward Moreno