AD #3288 – John Deere’s 1,000 kWh EV Tractor; U.S. Car Sales Falling Fast; Ranking OEMs by Capex.

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

U.S. NEW CAR SALES PLUMMETING
New car sales are dropping like a rock in the American market. Blame it on sky high gasoline prices, raging inflation and higher interest rates. Wards Intelligence predicts that the SAAR will drop to only 13.4 million vehicles in March. That’s down a staggering 24% from a year ago, when the SAAR was at a healthy 17.6 million rate. Ward’s is reporting that all the major automakers will report sharp declines in sales but it really looks like a bloodbath at Nissan, where sales are down 40% so far this month. With the whole market going down this could take the edge off car prices. Dealers have been charging well over the MSRP and in some cases, downright gouging their customers. But a sharp drop in demand could finally force them to stop doing this.

NIKOLA FINALLY STARTS MAKING TRUCKS
EV startup Nikola has had its ups and downs, but now it finally started making electric trucks at its plant in Arizona. It’s also going to begin production in Germany for the European market in June 2023. The news sent the company’s stock up 9% in pre-market trading. Nikola plans to deliver between 300 to 500 of its semis this year.

BYD & SHELL TEAM UP FOR EV CHARGING
The charging infrastructure for electric cars is really ramping up in Europe and China. Now Chinese automaker BYD is partnering with Shell to build more stations. Their first one will open in Shenzhen with 10,000 charging points and expand to other cities after that. In Europe, Shell will provide membership services for BYD customers on its charging network. That includes fleets as well. On top of that, Shell will provide BYD with e-fluids and cooling liquid for batteries and they’ll work together on R&D for better battery performance and charging.

FORD LIGHTNING SHOWS OFF TOWING CAPABILITY
Ford wants to show that the all-electric version of the F-150 is just as capable as any piston powered, fuel burning truck. So, it took the Lightning through a couple of really demanding towing tests. One saw it go up some pretty steep grades in freezing cold temperatures, while the other was through quick elevation changes in scorching hot temperatures. The trucks seem to handle the 10,000 pound trailers just fine, which Ford hopes will show customers that it can cover whatever they throw at it. But Ford left out the most important part that everyone wants to know. What impact does towing have on range? It’s great if it can tow a heavy load but if it can’t get you to your destination, what’s the point?

HONDA e:Ny1 IS A NEW ELECTRIC SUV
Honda is coming out with a utility version of its little electric city car, the Honda e. Here’s a look at the prototype, who’s name we think is pronounced ‘anyone’ (e:Ny1). The little B-segment compact SUV is scheduled to hit the European market next year and a version could be sold in China as well. Also, check out how the Honda name is spaced out in letters across the rear hatch. Only the ‘H’ is capitalized, while the rest are in lower case. That’s how it’s done on the Honda e, but its letters are more bunched up and off to the side of the rear end.

FERRARI SNEAK PEEK OF PUROSANGUE SUV
And speaking of teasers, Ferrari is giving us our best look yet at its first SUV, the Purosangue. There’s not much to see, but its lighting is similar to the SF90, it has two massive lower air vents and it looks to be rather low-slung for an SUV. The Purosangue will be fully revealed later this year.

POLESTAR 2 SINGLE MOTOR IS $4,000 CHEAPER
Polestar just launched the single motor version of the Polestar 2 in the U.S. It has a starting price of $45,900, before the federal tax credit. That makes it $4,000 cheaper than the dual motor version. The single motor version has a range of 270 miles, compared to 249 miles for the dual motor. Polestar says adding the single motor version with its lower price will help it hit its global sales target of 65,000 cars this year.

DEERE’S MASSIVE 1,000 KWH EV TRACTOR
It’s not just cars and trucks that are going electric and autonomous. So are farm tractors. John Deere is showing off this sci-fi looking autonomous and fully electric tractor. And talk about big battery packs. This thing comes with a 1,000 kilowatt hour pack. It also has a 500 kW or 670 horsepower electric drivetrain, and 1,000 kW of power off-boarding. It can operate fully autonomously, but there’s also a modular cab that can be attached so an operator can drive it. Obviously this tractor will be whisper quiet compared to a typical tractor and won’t be pumping out a lot of diesel emissions. No word yet when something like this will go on sale, but it’s the second generation of electric tractor that Deere has developed, so it’s clearly dead serious about making it.

RATING OEMS BY CAPEX
To stay competitive in the automotive industry you’ve got to be constantly investing in plants, property and equipment. So we compiled a list of the top 10 automakers who spent the most last year. First let’s take a look at how much money each of these companies spent on their capital expenditures, or capex. And then we’ll look at what percentage of their total revenue that they spent. Volkswagen spent more last year than any other OEM, over $11 billion, followed by Toyota at just under $11 billion. BMW spent over 8, followed by Ford and GM which spent about 7.5. Tesla is number 6 on the list, which is no surprise as it poured so much money into its new assembly plants in Austin and Berlin. Mercedes spent $5 billion, while Stellantis spent 4.6, and Hyundai and Nissan round out the list, at about 3.5 billion.

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2021 OEM Capex.
1. VW Group	$11.5 Billion
2. Toyota	$10.9 Billion
3. BMW	$8.2 Billion
4. Ford	$7.6 Billion
5. GM	$7.4 Billion
6. Tesla	$6.4 Billion
7. Mercedes	$5.0 Billion
8. Stellantis	$4.6 Billion
9. Hyundai Group	$3.5 Billion
10. Nissan	$3.4 Billion

So now let’s look at what percentage of their total revenue that each company spent on capex. That sure changes the rankings. Nissan suddenly goes from the bottom to the top, but that’s because its revenue has dropped so much that, on a percentage basis, its capex looks high. What’s more impressive is that Tesla has the second highest capex percentage, for the reasons we already mentioned–the new plants in Austin and Berlin. BMW had the third highest percentage spend, followed by GM and Ford in fourth and fifth. Toyota and VW are in 6th and 7th, so even though they spend the most amount of money outright, they’re devoting less of their total revenue to capex. And then Hyundai, Mercedes and Stellantis round out the list of top 10. The top 10 automakers are spending over $68 billion a year on new plants and equipment. We figure that if you include all automakers, the number is probably close to $80 billion.

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2021 OEM Capex. as % of Revenue
1. Nissan	15.9%
2. Tesla	12.7%
3. BMW	6.7%
4. GM	5.8%
5. Ford	5.5%
6. Toyota	4.3%
7. VW Group	4.1%
8. Hyundai	3.7%
9. Mercedes	3.4%
10. Stellantis	2.7%

NVIDIA BRINGING MASSIVE COMPUTING POWER TO CARS
Chip maker, NVIDIA, is about to bring massive computing power to cars–two to three times more than they have today. That’s going to really ramp up a car’s capabilities in artificial intelligence, sensor fusion and autonomy. So which automakers are signing up for NVIDIA’s newest microprocessors, and how do they plan to use them? We’ll get into that on Autoline After Hours later today, when Danny Shapiro, the vice president of automotive at NVIDIA joins John and Gary. Joe White from Reuters will also be on the show. So if you want to get up to speed on the most bleeding edge technology in cars, we invite you to pull up a chair and learn all about it.

But that’s a wrap for today. Thanks for joining us.