Listen to “AD #3266 – Look for Massive EV Exports from China; Could VW Spin Off Porsche?; Tech Details on Ford's Ranger Raptor” on Spreaker.
Follow us on social media:
Runtime: 10:39
0:07 Rumor Mill Says VW Will Spin Off Porsche
0:37 Is Porsche a Safer Bet Than VW?
1:22 GM Stumbles on Way to the App Store
2:09 U.S. Readies Raw Materials Strategy
3:14 Mercedes’ Strategy to Transition to EVs
4:16 More Details on Ford’s Ranger Raptor
5:43 Opel Launches R&D Effort Into Lighting
7:01 Look for Massive EV Exports from China
8:20 Hyundai’s Sales Collapse in China
9:00 Faraday Future Finally Getting Ready to Make EVs
Visit our sponsors to thank them for their support of Autoline Daily: Bridgestone, Intrepid Control Systems and Schaeffler.
This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry.
RUMOR MILL SAYS VW WILL SPIN OFF PORSCHE
Could the Volkswagen Group spin off Porsche? Reuters reports that no decision has been made, but it sure sounds like the plans are set. VW would make 25% of Porsche shares available to investors. That would allow the performance vehicle maker to tap into the equity markets for more capital to pay for its conversion to electric cars. The IPO could value Porsche at over $100 billion, making it more valuable than companies like General Motors and Ford.
IS PORSCHE A SAFER BET THAN VW?
But here’s where the story gets complicated. Volkswagen is controlled by Porsche SE, a holding company that has over 53% of the voting rights in Volkswagen. And Porsche SE, in turn, is controlled by the Porsche and Piech families. And the families are interested in buying a lot of the stock in Porsche if and when it does an IPO. In fact, it looks like the families are more interested in maintaining control of Porsche than they are in holding onto Volkswagen. And maybe that gives us a hint of how they think this industry transition to electric cars is going to play out…that is to say, they have a lot more faith in Porsche successfully making the transition.
GM STUMBLES ON THE WAY TO THE APP STORE
Sometimes when it comes to trying out new technology it’s two steps forward and one step back. GM is going to discontinue the app it developed for buying things in your car. That app, called Marketplace, has been in service since 2017. It allows car owners to buy things like coffee, doughnuts, make hotel reservations and pre-pay for gas. But it sounds like customers weren’t really interested in that, which is probably why they’re dropping it. But GM isn’t giving up. It’s developing a new app. Even so, it won’t be ready by the time Marketplace goes out of service next month. Apps like these are an important part of GM’s strategy to generate $20 to $25 billion a year from subscription services by the end of the decade.
US READIES RAW MATERIALS STRATEGY
The United States has a lot of catching up to do when it comes to securing the raw materials for EV batteries. But it is making progress. There’s a big press conference that’s going to take place at the White House today that will include the President, administration officials, industry executives and labor leaders. Reportedly they’re going to unveil plans to not only mine raw materials but also refine and recycle them. The White House wants to make changes to mining regulations to strengthen environmental and labor standards. And it wants to build up a stockpile of critical materials, like nickel, which is used in EV batteries. The goal is to become less dependent on China which controls 75% of global battery cell production.
MERCEDES-BENZ STRATEGY TO TRANSITION TO EVS
We’re getting a clearer picture of how Mercedes will transition to electric cars. Like BMW and Jaguar, Mercedes started with a strategy that uses flexible vehicle architectures that accommodate ICE or BEV powertrains. And that also allows them to make ICE and BEV cars on the same assembly lines. But flexible architectures involve a lot of compromises. And plants that are dedicated to making only BEVs are 25-30% more efficient. So, Mercedes is going to bite the bullet and go with clean sheet BEV designs made on assembly lines dedicated to making only BEVs. But it’s not going to build new factories. It’s going to convert some production lines to EV-only in the next few years, and in the second half of the 2020’s it will start switching whole factories to electric. It’s a smart strategy. Mercedes says it will save money by not building all-new plants and flexible production lines will help it keep up with market demand.
MORE DETAILS ON FORD’S RANGER RAPTOR
When Ford teased the new Ranger Raptor a little more than a week ago, I speculated that it might have a nicely tuned turbo 4 based on the soundtrack of the video. But commenter I’m Not Using My Real Name was quick to point out, “The Ranger Raptor, if it comes to the US, will have either the 2.7L V6 or 3.0L V6. Their turbo 4-cylinders, the 2.0L and 2.3L, are not powerful enough. Well, spot on I’m Not Using My Real Name. Ford fully revealed the performance truck and it will indeed come with a twin-turbo 3.0L V6 engine. In European spec, it puts out roughly 285 horsepower, but there’s also a version for Australia and South Africa that’s rated at nearly 400 horsepower. And Ford CEO Jim Farley confirmed on Twitter that the Ranger Raptor will come to the U.S. as well. The engine can also take advantage of an active exhaust system that has four settings to adjust the sound depending on the driving situation. Underneath is a unique chassis that has mounts and reinforcements that are specific to this truck. And the suspension setup is also unique. It features aluminum upper and lower control arms, long-travel front and rear suspension, a revised Watt’s link rear end, FOX dampers and a series of bash and skid plates. Deliveries in Europe start in the 4th quarter of this year.
OPEL LAUNCHES R&D EFFORT INTO LIGHTING
Vehicle lighting is so much more advanced than it used to be. Today systems can be linked to numerous assistance technologies. So, in order to develop new lighting for future vehicles Opel is teaming up with the Technical University of Darmstadt in Germany. They’ll focus on solutions for driver assistance systems, interior lighting, lighting that can communicate with other road users, including pedestrians and bicyclists, and not only adaptive headlights, but self-adapting tail-lamps. The initial project will cover the next four years, but they hope to expand it beyond the end of the decade. And the first lighting technologies developed by the partnership will be on the road by 2028.
LOOK FOR MASSIVE EV EXPORTS FROM CHINA
Sales of EVs in China are really taking off, and will continue to grow strongly for years. Our colleagues at Sino Auto Insights compiled this list of the best selling EVs in January in China. The list also includes some PHEVs because it’s difficult to get sales numbers of only pure battery electrics. But the list provides some valuable information. Wuling sits on top. No surprise there. The Hongguang Mini EV has been a smash hit. And even though the Tesla Model Y only shows up as 4th on the list, Tesla sales gyrate wildly from month to month as it deliberately holds back sales in China to export cars mainly to Europe. Probably the most important thing here is that 5 companies dominate BEV sales in China. Yet there are dozens more manufacturers, like XPeng, Geely, all the state-owned car companies and the foreign ones, too. That means the market is getting sliced very thin. And that could make it hard for a lot of these car companies to get the manufacturing volume they need to be profitable. One likely outcome, these companies are going to really start pushing exports. And their most likely market will be in Europe.
| MAKE | MODEL | JAN. SALES |
|---|---|---|
| Wuling | Hongguang Mini EV | 26,682 |
| BYD | Qin | 26,541 |
| BYD | Song | 20,722 |
| Tesla | Model Y | 16,358 |
| BYD | Han | 12,781 |
| Li Auto | One | 12,268 |
| BYD | Dolphin | 10,602 |
| Chery | QQ Ice Cream | 9,984 |
| Chery | eQ | 9,407 |
| BYD | Tang | 8,847 |
HYUNDAI SALES COLLAPSE IN CHINA
While sales of EVs are soaring in China, Hyundai is struggling with sales of IC cars. Gasgoo news reports that Hyundai has the capacity to make over 1.3 million cars a year in China, but last year it only sold 385,000. It also reports that Hyundai is going to idle an assembly plant in Beijing for months. That plant was making cars like the REINA, ENCINO, LA FESTA, and ix25. But Korean cars seem to have lost favor with Chinese consumers. They only account for a 1.7% share of the entire Chinese market.
FARADAY FUTURE FINALLY GETTING READY TO MAKE EVs
Better late than never I suppose. EV startup Faraday Future announced it finally has the manufacturing equipment it needs to start building its FF 91 model at its plant in Hanford, California. Deliveries are expected to start in the third quarter of this year. But it’s taken forever for Faraday to bring this car to market. We actually drove one five years ago at CES. And we’ll learn more about the model when the production version is unveiled tomorrow.
FORD HAS BIG PLANS FOR E-TRANSIT
Ford’s EV strategy was to electrify its most iconic models, and it’s working. The Mach E doubled the global sales of Mustang. There’s so much demand for the F-150 Lightning that Ford had to cut off orders. And now comes the E-Transit. We’re going to take a deep dive into Ford’s strategy with electric vans on Autoline After Hours when our guest will be Tim Baughman, the General Manager of Ford Pro in North America. That’s the new commercial business unit that the company expects to hit $45 billion in sales by the end of the decade, or almost double of what it’s doing right now. And of course we invite you to sit in on the conversation.
But that brings us to the end of today’s show. Thanks for joining us.
Thanks to our partner for embedding Autoline Daily on its website: WardsAuto.com
Seamus and Sean McElroy cover the latest news in the automotive industry for Autoline Daily.
