AD #3056 – Citroen Unveils New C5 X; Car Sales Soar in China; LG & SK Reach Battery Settlement

This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry.

LG & SK REACH SETTLEMENT
You know the old saying: Money talks. And that’s what it took for Korean battery suppliers LG and SK to settle their legal battle. As you’ll remember, LG sued SK for stealing secrets on how to make batteries. And LG won. SK was going to be banned from importing cells to the U.S. to make EV batteries. And that set Ford’s and Volkswagen’s hair on fire. Both of them had lined up SK to make batteries for them. But over the weekend cooler heads prevailed, and SK agreed to pay LG $1.8 billion to make the problem go away.   

U.S. EV INCENTIVE DETAILS
Not only did Ford and VW heave a sigh of relief, so did the Biden Administration. It really wants to ramp up EV production in the U.S., which is way behind the EU and China. The Administration is allocating $174 billion for EVs, and $100 billion of which is for incentives. Here’s what they’re talking about. The 200,000-unit cap gets lifted, which helps GM and Tesla, who already hit that mark. Some of the money goes to building more charging stations, but most of it goes to consumers. Instead of a $7,500 tax credit you’ll get a $10,000 rebate when you buy the car. But it only applies to EVs made in the U.S. The Senate is also talking about limiting that incentive to EVs that are “affordable.” We’re just guessing here, but they may cap that to vehicles that cost less than $50,000.

WHITE HOUSE CHIP SHORTAGE SUMMIT
The White House really has its sights set on the auto industry. It’s holding a summit today with 20 different companies to figure out how to deal with the chip shortage, which is crippling automotive production worldwide. GM, Ford, Stellantis, Cummins and Paccar are part of the meeting as well as tech companies and chip manufacturers. And it doesn’t just involve American companies. The Biden White House also invited companies from Europe, South Korea and Taiwan to help solve the problem.  

CAR SALES SOAR IN CHINA
Car sales in China were strong in March. The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers says automakers sold more than 2.5 million vehicles, up nearly 75% from a year ago. It’s the 12th consecutive month sales increased and they’re now running at pre-Covid levels. BEVs, PHEVs and fuel cell vehicles, or what China calls New Energy Vehicles, were up a stunning 239% to 226,000 units. The Wuling Hong Guang MINI EV set another sales record. 40,000 were sold last month. Tesla also had a spectacular month. It sold more than 35,000 Model 3s and Model Ys, which is three times higher than a year ago, including 25,000 Model 3s and just over 10,000 Model Ys.

CITROEN UNVEILS NEW C5 X
We think if you asked Citroen designers to make a version of the Subaru Outback, you’d get the new C5 X. And while those vehicles share a similar shape, the styling of the C5 X is actually heavily influenced by the CXperience Concept that debuted in 2016. Power will come from a range of gasoline engines, including a plug-in hybrid setup that combines for 225 horsepower and an EV-only range of 50 kilometers or about 31 miles. The interior looks pretty standard, but is still modern in appearance and is highlighted by a high-mounted 12-inch center display screen and a push button gear selector. Like Citroens of the past, the C5 X will be the first vehicle equipped with its new active hydraulic suspension, called Advanced Comfort suspension. It says it brings back the sensation of travelling on a magic carpet. The C5 X goes on sale in the second half of this year.

MG REVEALS CYBERSTER CONCEPT
Here’s a better look at MG’s EV concept, called the Cyberster. You can really see the intricacies of the grille design as well as details like the LED strip down the side of the car and kamm back rear. The interior features a separated cockpit with a race-inspired steering wheel and huge digital instrument cluster for the driver. MG says more information is coming next week when the Cyberster makes its debut at the Shanghai auto show.

FORD EXPANDS RANGER LINEUP IN EUROPE
Ford must be selling enough Rangers in Europe that it decided to come out with a couple limited edition models that make the truck look more rugged. The Stormtrak and Wolftrak packages add things like electronically locking rear differential, underbody skid plates and all-terrain tires. You may also notice new paint colors, exclusive grille patterns and body decals. Both trucks arrive at European dealers this October.

CRUISE SIGNS DEAL WITH DUBAI
Autonomous taxis just took another step forward. Cruise, which is mostly owned by General Motors, signed a deal with Dubai to start running robotaxis in 2023. It gets an exclusive contract to do that through 2029. And expects to have about 4,000 Cruise Origins in the fleet by the end of the decade. Dubai has a goal of 25% of all trips to be in these autonomous vehicles. 

ROLLS-ROYCE CREATES TAILGATING FEATURE FOR CULLINAN
Most tailgate parties involve a lot of brats, burgers and beer. Somehow, we get the idea that’s not what Rolls-Royce had in mind when it designed what it calls a “Recreation Module” for the back end of the Cullinan. Rolls describes it as a motorized cassette that, and we quote, “slides open to reveal equipment, accessories and paraphernalia personally selected by the motor car’s commissioning client, each item ensconced in its own individually tailored container.” We can’t wait to see what it costs. Last year Rolls came out with a portable, telescoping seat for the Cullinan priced at $8,800. That’s the thing about selling luxury items to the rich. As long as it’s well made and looks cool, you can mark it up as much as you want.

MYSTERY CAR REVEALED
I hope Mr. Dana from Canada had a chance to go through the comments from Friday’s show. If he did, Mr. Dana would have realized the car he spotted and asked us to help identify is actually quite unique. It’s a Volvo 262C, which was made from 1978 to 1980. Volvo was inspired to make the car after Henry Ford II brought several Lincoln Mark IVs with him on a visit to Volvo’s factory. The 262C was based on the 260 sedan, but since Volvo didn’t have room to build a low volume vehicle, it turned to Italian coachbuilder Bertone. It had to custom make the roof pillars, roof pan, windshield surround, cowl, and the upper parts of the doors because the roof of the coupe is significantly shorter than the sedan. Another interesting aspect of the 262 is that it’s powered by a V6 engine that was jointly developed with Renault, Peugeot and Volvo. Only 6,622 262Cs were made in its 2-year run, which makes the car spotted by Mr. Dana pretty rare. 

But that brings us to the end of today’s show, thank you for watching.