Listen to “AD #2971 – Chinese EV Startups Delisted in U.S.; Reverse Mergers Could Hurt EV Industry; Audi Reveals Limited Edition R8” on Spreaker.
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Runtime: 10:34
0:38 Wuling Continues To Rake In EV Sales
1:27 Chinese EV Startups De-listed From U.S. Stock Exchanges
2:33 Reverse Mergers Could Hurt EV Industry
4:10 BMW Drops Out of Formula E
4:53 Japan to Ban Sales of ICE-Only Vehicles
5:31 Nissan Leaf Turns 10!
5:54 Correction on VW’s PPE Platform
7:16 Audi Reveals Limited Edition R8
8:35 How VW Got Bentley But Not Rolls-Royce
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WULING CONTINUES TO RAKE IN EV SALES
Chinese automaker Wuling sure found the sweet spot of how to sell electric vehicles in China. It sold more than 33,000 Hongguang MINI EVs in November, making it the best-selling EV in the market for the third month in a row. It only went on sale in China in June but nearly 86,000 have been sold since then. So why are buyers interested in a tiny two-door vehicle with a top range of 106 miles? Well its $4,400 starting price sure doesn’t hurt. And it’s not fleets that are snapping it up. 96% of sales in November went to private buyers and interestingly 60% of them are women. This is a raging success and we fully expect to see other major automakers come out with tiny, inexpensive EVs.
CHINESE EV STARTUPS DELISTED FROM U.S. STOCK EXCHANGES
The U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed a bill yesterday that will delist Chinese EV startups who’s stock trades on the NASDAQ and the New York Stock Exchange. All foreign companies listed on U.S. stock exchanges have to get financial audits by auditors who are reviewed by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. But apparently the Chinese EV companies have not met that requirement. So far this year those companies have posted fantastic returns. Li Auto is up 44% and has a market cap of $29 billion. XPeng is up 145% with a market cap of $41 billion. And NIO is up a jaw-dropping 1,189% and has a market cap of $65 billion. Let’s put that market cap into perspective. Li Auto is worth more than FCA. XPeng is worth more than Ford. And NIO is worth more than Daimler.
REVERSE MERGERS COULD HURT EV INDUSTRY
So are we seeing the beginnings of an EV stock bubble? That’s the warning from Mate Rimac, the guy who started the specialty vehicle company Rimac. He says that reverse mergers, or SPACs, are not held to the same level of liability as companies that go through the traditional IPO or initial public offering process. He says all these startups doing SPACs are getting a ton of money even though they’ve never even made a car. And that worries him. He says a lot of these SPACs will fail and that could hurt the EV industry.
Speaking of SPACs and EV startups, have we got a great Autoline After Hours coming up later today. Henrik Fisker will be our guest. Henrik just did a reverse merger so that will be interesting. He also has a completely different business plan from any other EV startup, and that will be even more interesting. So join John and Gary along with Autoline’s West Coast correspondent Chase Drum for some deep insights on what it takes to launch a new car company.
BMW DROPS OUT OF FORMULA E
Yesterday we told you VW is dropping out of all motorsports, including Audi dropping out of Formula E. Today it’s BMW’s turn. It says it essentially exhausted all the opportunities it could for the development of e-drivetrains. Remember, the battery packs are supplied by Lucid Motors, so BMW didn’t have to worry about that. But it says it was able to improve the energy management, efficiency and power density of its e-motors with what it learned on the race track. And learned how to transfer software of power electronics from racing to production. And that’s what BMW says it’s focused on now, figuring out how to scale up production of electric vehicles.
JAPAN TO BAN ICE-ONLY VEHICLES
We’ve seen a number of countries announce plans to ban sales of vehicles with internal combustion engines. And now Japan is the latest… sort of. By the mid-2030s, it wants all new vehicles sold to be electrified vehicles and that includes hybrids. It’s including all electrified vehicles because of worries small factories and suppliers could be hurt if hybrids are banned too. Currently, about 30% of Japan’s 5.2 million new vehicle registrations are hybrids and electrics. The proposal is part of Japan’s goal to become carbon neutral by 2050.
NISSAN LEAF TURNS 10!
And speaking of Japan and EVs, we have to say Happy Birthday to the Nissan LEAF! It’s 10 years old today. More than 500,000 have been sold worldwide, with nearly 150,000 of those in the U.S. The LEAF is built at plants in the U.S., Japan and the UK and sold in 59 countries around the globe.
CORRECTION ON VW GROUP PPE PLATFORM
I need to make a quick correction from yesterday’s show. At the end of the story about Audi’s Artemis project I said the first vehicle to come from its new development process will use components from VW’s PPE platform, which underpins the Porsche Taycan. Well, Autoline viewer Philipp Paul Klose must have been sitting on the other side of his computer screen doing the Dikembe Mutombo finger wag. He says, “Hi Sean, the Taycan is on its own platform. PPE cars are not available yet.” And he’s totally right. The Taycan rides on the J1 platform, which is for performance EVs and what Audi will use for the production version of the e-tron GT. The PPE platform is for larger vehicles, like the A4 to A8 and Q5 to Q8. It’s rear-wheel drive based, but also allows for a 2-motor AWD setup and features an 800-volt electrical system.
AUDI REVEALS LIMITED EDITION R8
Audi is coming out with a limited edition of the R8 sports car that is unique to the U.S. market. Only 30 examples of the R8 Panther will be made and right now it only comes in RWD and as a coupe. This is really a cosmetic package. The 5.2L V10 under the hood is unchanged and puts out the same amount of power and sprints from 0-60 in the same 3.6 seconds. The engine will sound a little bit different, thanks to a sport exhaust system. But the R8 Panther really stands out with its exclusive black paint job, unique 20-inch wheels with red accents, black rings on the Audi logo and carbon fiber side mirrors. The interior is almost all black, save for the bright red seats and red accents throughout the car. It also features Alcantara gear selector, steering wheel and headliner. The R8 Panther edition goes on sale this month with a suggested price of just under $186,500, including destination charges and gas guzzler tax. That’s over $40,000 more than a base R8 RWD, but obviously that won’t include features that are standard on the Panther, like LED lighting, Audi Virtual Cockpit and premium sound system.
HOW VW GOT BENTLEY BUT NOT ROLLS-ROYCE
Daimler has been struggling to find a new chairman, but it looks like they found him. Bernd Pischetsrieder. Interesting guy. Here’s a story you may not know. Back in the late 1990s Ferdinand Piech, the chairman of Volkswagen went on a buying binge to corner the market on luxury brands. VW bought Lamborghini, Bugatti and Rolls-Royce. Or, at least it thought it bought Rolls-Royce. You see, Rolls-Royce the car company actually did not own the name “Rolls Royce.” It used it under license from Rolls Royce the jet engine company. How Rolls Royce the car company got split from Rolls Royce the jet engine company is a whole other story. But at the time BMW and Rolls Royce collaborated on making jet engines. And Bernd Pischetsrieder, who was then CEO of BMW, knew that the jet company actually owned the name. So Pischetsrieder watched as Ferdinand Piech paid $780 million to buy Rolls Royce the car company. Then Pischetsrieder quietly cut a deal with Rolls Royce, the jet engine company, to legally get the name for $65 million. Volkswagen was furious about what happened. It only had legal rights to the Bentley name, because Bentley was a sub-brand of Rolls Royce. But Ferdinand Piech was so impressed that Pischetsrieder had screwed him over so thoroughly that two years later he hired him as VW’s CEO. And now you know why Volkswagen has Bentley, and why BMW has Rolls Royce.
But that’s a wrap for today’s show. Thanks for watching.
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John McElroy is an influential thought leader in the automotive industry. He is a journalist, lecturer, commentator and entrepreneur. He created “Autoline Daily,” the first industry webcast of industry news and analysis.