Executive Summary

• This week’s note “From the Desk of Deborah Weinswig” provides an update on the entry of German grocery discounter Lidl into the US market.
• According to the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, US consumer confidence is going gangbusters, as The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index for March spiked to 125.6 versus an expected reading of 114.
• German business morale was high in February, but the Ifo Institute for Economic Research reported that many German companies doubt that the good conditions in the economy will last. New technologies could lead to “structural upheaval” and disrupt current business conditions.
• Toyota and NTT are teaming up to work on research and development of connected vehicle technology. Through the partnership, the two companies will share tech and expertise, and create big data research projects using vehicle information collected from Toyota’s fleet of connected cars.