Listen to “AD #3372 – North America Carries Stellantis; New Colorado Drops V6 and Diesel; Simple Solution for Home Charging” on Spreaker.
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Runtime: 11:33
0:07 Cap on EV Tax Credit Could be Lifted
1:04 Rivian Cutting 6% of Workforce
1:50 U.S. Senate Passes Bill to Help Chip Production
2:51 Apple Poaches Another Auto Exec
4:20 North America Carries Stellantis
5:16 Rivian Drags Down Ford
6:08 VW Shows VTOL for China
8:16 New Colorado Drops V6 & Diesel
9:54 Hyundai/Kia Thefts on the Rise
10:19 Simple Solution for Home Charging
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CAP ON EV TAX CREDIT COULD BE LIFTED
Good news for EV buyers, well most of them anyway. Congress is on the verge of lifting the 200,000 vehicle sales cap for the federal EV tax credit in the U.S. That means Tesla, GM and Toyota customers will once again be eligible for the full $7,500 credit. Democrats struck a deal in the Senate that would not only bring the EV tax credit back but also includes tens of billions of dollars for loans to build new clean vehicle manufacturing facilities and retool existing plants. But not everyone gets the EV tax credit. Trucks, vans and SUVs that cost more than $80,000 and passenger cars that cost more than $55,000 would not qualify. The bill is expected to be voted on by the Senate next week and, if approved, it will move to the House of Representatives.
RIVIAN CUTTING 6% OF WORKFORCE
Too bad for Rivian. Most of its electric trucks and SUVs cost too much to qualify for the credits. In fact, things are getting tough for Rivian. It’s going to cut 6% of its workforce. CEO RJ Scaringe told employees he blames the economy and says he can’t raise enough money to expand production. Rivian has around 14,000 employees so the cut would probably come out to about 840 people, but it won’t include any of them in manufacturing. As of May, Rivian had around $17 billion in cash on hand, so it’s a bit alarming to hear Rivian needs to let go of workers to help save money.
U.S. PASSES BILL TO HELP CHIP PRODUCTION
Going back to the Senate for a moment, it just passed a $76 billion bill to subsidize chip production in the U.S. The U.S. auto industry threw its support behind the bill. $39 billion will go directly to companies that will or are planning to expand chip production, $2 billion of that is earmarked for “legacy” chips used by automakers. Another $11 billion will be provided to companies for research and development, and it includes a 25% tax credit for companies that invest in new manufacturing plants or equipment. To get the money, companies must agree to not open new factories in China or “other countries of concern” for 10 years. And It prevents companies from using the money for stock buybacks or paying shareholders. The bill must now be approved by the House of Representatives before President Biden can sign it into law.
APPLE POACHES ANOTHER AUTO EXEC
Yes, Apple is still working on an autonomous, electric car and it just poached a Lamborghini executive to develop it, Luigi Taraborrelli. He worked at Lambo for 20 years and was most recently the head of its chassis and vehicle dynamics. He helped develop the Urus, Huracan and Aventador. He joins a list of former auto execs that Apple has hired, including ones from Ford, BMW and Tesla. Apple also hired dozens of former auto engineers and designers to work on the car, which supposedly will come out in 2025.
NORTH AMERICA CARRIES STELLANTIS
Carlos Tavares showed the automotive world once again why he’s considered one of the top CEOs in the industry. Stellantis just posted its first half earnings and the numbers are really impressive. Stellantis sold just over 3 million vehicles, down more than 7%. But its revenue jumped 17% to €88 billion and €8 billion of that dropped to the bottom line, which was 34% higher than a year ago. North America is the real money machine for Stellantis, and what was the old Chrysler, accounted for 60% of the company’s profits. Even more amazing, the old Chrysler group hit an operating profit margin of 18.1%. That’s even better than Tesla which hit an operating margin of 14.6% last quarter.
RIVIAN DRAGS DOWN FORD
Ford posted its second quarter numbers and they’re pretty impressive except for one, and that’s the most important number. Ford sold just over a million vehicles the last three months, which was up an amazing 35% compared to a year ago. Obviously the company got its hands on more chips to boost production that much. Revenue shot up 50% to just over $40 billion. But Ford only posted a profit of $638 million. That was up 15% from a year ago, but is nowhere near the kind of profit the company should be posting. That’s because Ford had to book a loss of $2.4 billion on its investment in Rivian stock. If not for that, Ford would have posted a comfortable net profit for the quarter.
VOLKSWAGEN REVEALS VTOL FOR CHINA
Automakers are getting more and more interested in passenger drones. Now it’s VW. Volkswagen’s group in China unveiled a eVTOL prototype that it plans to test later this year. Nicknamed the ‘Flying Tiger’ the aircraft features 8 rotors for vertical lift and 2 propellers to move it forward. It’s currently based on existing autonomous and battery technology, but in the future could carry up to 4 passengers and their luggage up to 200 kilometers or 124 miles. The next step is to build an improved prototype that will undergo more advanced tests in the summer of next year. VTOL by the way stands for vertical take off or landing.
Did you know that Tesla has the highest owner loyalty in the business? In fact, in March, 76% of the people who bought a new Model 3 in the American market already owned one. That’s the highest loyalty rate that’s ever been documented. Auto analyst Tom Libby from IHS Markit is the one who dug that up. And he’s our guest on Autoline After Hours this afternoon. He’s got a lot of great insight into who’s going well and who’s owner loyalty is in the dumps and we invite you to listen in on what he’s got to say. Joe White from Reuters will also be on the show, so join John and Gary for some of the best insights into the automotive industry when we go live at 3 pm eastern time on our YouTube channel.
NEW COLORADO DROPS V6 AND DIESEL
Chevrolet is bringing out a completely new Colorado later this year, and it truly is all-new. No more V6 and no more diesel engine. Instead it gets a 2.7 liter 4-cylinder turbo that comes with three different power ratings. The base version gets 237 horsepower, the next step up takes that to 310 horsepower, and the next step up from that has the same horsepower but adds another 40 pound feet of torque, bringing it to a total of 430 pound feet. Max towing is 7,700 pounds. And all 3 versions get an 8-speed automatic. There are other significant changes. The wheelbase is over 3 inches longer and the front axle was moved further forward. That improves the stance and minimizes the front overhang. And they’ve added a new trim line called Trailboss that gives you the look of the hard-core ZR2 off-roader, but not all the suspension bits, so it’s more affordable. The ZR2 gets what they call a Desert Package which includes 10 different camera views around the truck, including an underbody camera, for when you don’t have a spotter while rock crawling. The Z71 also gets those cameras. Inside the interior was redone and features an 11.3-inch screen. Sales of the existing Colorado are up strong this year and it’s actually outselling the Ford Ranger. So the new Colorado is probably going to do even better.
HYUNDAI/KIA THEFTS ON THE RISE THANKS TO SOCIAL MEDIA
Car thieves have really turned their attention to Hyundais and Kias ever since someone posted a social media video that showed that models without an engine immobilizer, which is standard on new models, could be started with a simple USB cable. Now it’s turned into a TikTok challenge. Viewers are supposed to report the videos right away, but the thefts continue to rise.
SIMPLE SOLUTION FOR HOME CHARGING
It’s estimated that nearly half of all U.S. homes would need an upgrade to their electrical panel to allow the installation of a typical Level 2 charger for an electric vehicle. But help is on the way. Siemens partnered with a company, called ConntectDER, to launch a new device that goes between the meter on the outside of your house and the meter socket. A cable then snaps into the adapter that goes directly to the charger. It said that it only takes about 15 minutes to install and reduces installation cost by 60-80%. We love simple solutions like this and it should help with EV adoption.
But that brings us to the end of today’s show. Thanks for tuning in and we’ll be right back here again tomorrow.
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Seamus and Sean McElroy cover the latest news in the automotive industry for Autoline Daily.