AD #3321 – Rivian Loses Billions In Market Cap; Chinese Car Market Takes A Bath; Tesla Takes Big Steps Forward in Recycling

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

CHINESE CAR MARKET TAKES A (COVID) BATH
Well, we knew this was going to be bad. New car sales in China fell off a cliff last month. The country is grappling with its zero-Covid policy that has many cities, including Shanghai, in a near total lockdown. That kept car production well below where it would normally be, and kept hundreds of thousands of consumers from going out and buying new cars. Only 1 million new cars were sold last month, down 35% from a year ago. And production was down 45%. Just to give you an idea of how hard the market was hit, Tesla sold an average of 60,000 cars in China every month in the first quarter. Last month it only sold 1,200 cars.  

RIVIAN LOSES $100 BILLION IN MARKET CAP
When Rivian went public, the stock soared to the stratosphere. Now it’s coming back down to earth. At its peak 5 months ago, Rivian had a market cap of $127 billion. It was worth more than General Motors and Ford put together. But the EV startup started missing its production targets, and the market did not like that news. The stock started dropping. Then, yesterday, word got out that Ford was going to sell off 8 million of the 102 million shares it owns in Rivian. And the stock dropped even more. As of now, Rivian has a market cap of $20 billion. It has lost over $100 billion of value in only 5 months.  

FOREIGN EVS CRACK SOUTH KOREA’S PROTECTED MARKET 
Car buyers in South Korea are some of the fastest EV adopters in the world. According to Bloomberg, EV sales topped 100,000 units for the first-time last year. And new EV entrants to the market are seeing quick success. Tesla sold nearly 18,000 cars in South Korea last year, making it the 4th largest foreign automaker, pulling ahead of VW and Volvo. Yet Volvo’s EV brand, Polestar, had the top-selling foreign EV model in April, even though it only opened its first showroom there in December. So, foreign automakers are seeing some success in South Korea’s EV market. But it’s only in EVs. The South Korean market is dominated by Hyundai and Kia, which account for more than two out of every three vehicles sold. 

TESLA TAKES BIG STEPS FORWARD IN RECYCLING
Tesla is taking big steps forward with battery recycling. Last year, it recycled 1,500 tons of nickel, 300 tons of copper and 200 tons of cobalt. With the surge in raw material prices, that copper is now worth $16 million and the nickel is worth $45 million. Tesla also said that at the end of 2021, it was recycling 50 tons of material per week. But because most of its customer batteries are relatively new, it’s only receiving a small number of batteries to recycle and most of them are from vehicles used as taxis or are scrap batteries from its R&D and Quality Control departments. Tesla says it will be some time before it starts recycling customer batteries in large volumes.

GEELY BUYS PART OF RENAULT-KOREA
We were talking about South Korea before the break but we’re not done there yet. About twenty years ago Renault bought Samsung’s automotive assets and has been selling and manufacturing cars ever since. But not with a lot of success. So it’s selling about a third of its stake in Renault Korea Motors to Chinese automaker Geely. The two are going to build ICE and hybrid vehicles off of Geely’s CMA platform, which is used by many Geely brands, including Volvo. They’ll be made at Renault’s plant in South Korea starting in 2024. These models will likely be sold in other markets as well, possibly including the US, which has a free trade agreement with Korea. When this partnership was first reported last year, we said the vehicles could be branded as Renaults and sold in China, since it ended its partnership with Dongfeng. And Geely could also use it for Lynk & Co vehicles in South Korea. 

BOLLINGER & ROUSH TEAM UP FOR PRODUCTION
EV startup Bollinger Motors announced that Roush Industries is going to build its electric platforms and chassis cabs for Class 3 through 6 commercial vehicles. Bollinger will source and provide the materials needed to assemble the parts that will be done at Roush’s facility in Livonia, Michigan, which is not too far from Bollinger’s headquarters. Even though Roush is most famous for its racing activities, the company has extensive experience in vehicle development and assembly. It is especially good at low volume assembly. And this will help Bollinger avoid the manufacturing hell that’s bedeviled so many other EV startups.  

HYUNDAI DEPLOYS 30 HYDROGEN SEMIS IN CALIFORNIA
Hydrogen power continues to make progress, at least in trucks. Hyundai announced plans to deploy 30 of its Class 8 6×4 XCIENT fuel cell heavy-duty trucks at the Port of Oakland, California in 2023. It made the announcement at this week’s Advanced Clean Transportation Expo in California, where it will also discuss the challenges, policies and business plans regarding hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. Visitors to the show can get a first-hand experience in Hyundai’s fuel cell trucks as part of a ride and drive program that it’s running.

BENTLEY BENTAYGA BELIEVES BIGGER IS BETTER
The Bentayga is already Bentley’s best-selling model and now it’s getting a new, long-wheel base variant. It’s 180 mm or a little over 7 inches longer, has rear-wheel steering and the Bentayga’s Dynamic Ride suspension as standard. There’s not a whole lot different in the styling department, but the interior features three seating configurations, including an all-new 4+1 layout. There’s also a cool feature on the doors. The leather is perforated with a bunch of little holes that let light through, which is meant to mimic the diamond stitch pattern you see on so many luxury cars. The new Bentayga LWB launches in the 4th quarter of this year. 

FIRST LOOK: SIERRA DENALI ULTIMATE & AT4X
GMC invited us to test out the Sierra Denali Ultimate and Sierra AT4X models, which are new to the truck’s lineup. First, the similarities between the two. Both come standard with a 6.2L V8, that’s mated to a 10-speed automatic transmission. The Denali Ultimate is also available with a 3.0L diesel. Both models come standard with a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, a 13.4-inch infotainment screen and a 15-inch head-up display. And both come with leather-wrapped, massage seats. Ok, now onto the differences. Each truck has its own grille design and different styling cues in the interior. The Denali Ultimate comes standard with Super Cruise, which is optional in the regular Denali. It’s the latest version which adds automatic lane change and towing capability. While we only got to experience it briefly, the hands-free system performed well and handled the auto lane changes smoothly. Moving on over to the AT4X, it’s the off-road version of the Sierra. It features Multimatic DSSV spool-valve dampers, front and rear e-locking differentials, along with 18-inch wheels and 32-inch tires. It also has a two-speed transfer case with selectable modes, including Terrain Mode which allows one-pedal driving, which is especially helpful going up or down steep off-road trails. Speaking of which, the AT4X’s off-road capabilities are pretty impressive and smooth thanks to the Multimatic dampers. But it’s also a comfortable ride out on paved roads. Both models are available now and are aimed at a premium audience. And the pricing reflects that. The Denali Ultimate starts just under $83,000, while the AT4X is $77,400, including destination charges.

LINCOLN DESIGNER KEMAL CURIC ON AFTER HOURS
What did you think of that concept car that Lincoln showed off last month? They call it the Star. We’re wondering if this is a signal that Lincoln is heading in a new design direction as it goes electric? Is this the future face of Lincoln? And all those cool features on the car, are they gimmicks or are they really headed into production? Those are some of the questions we’ll be asking Kemal Curic, who’s the head of design at Lincoln, and who’s also our guest on Autoline After Hours this Thursday. So join John and Gary to learn more about how Lincoln hopes to transform itself as the auto industry goes electric.

But that’s it for today, thanks for tuning in.