AD #3475 – BYD Now 3rd Most Valuable Automaker; Tesla Q4 Production Outpaces Deliveries; Zeekr Claims 1,000km EV

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

BYD NOW 3rd MOST VALUABLE AUTOMAKER
Chinese automaker BYD is on a tear. It sold a record number of EVs in December and more than tripled its overall sales in 2022. And now the automaker has passed the Volkswagen Group as the third most valuable car company in the world. According to Sino Auto Insights, BYD is worth $93.7 billion compared to the VW Group which is worth $69 billion. Volkswagen is actually 5th on the list because it was overtaken by Porsche as well, which is worth $92 billion. Tesla, of course, is number one, well ahead of second place Toyota, which is worth $219 billion. But while Tesla is firmly in the lead it did lose nearly 70% of its value in 2022 and had gone as high as $1.2 trillion dollars but now has a market value of $386 billion.

TESLA PRODUCTION OUTPACES DELIVERIES
And speaking of Tesla, it announced it delivered more than 405,000 EVs in the fourth quarter of 2022, which is a record for the company. And it boosted deliveries by 40% to 1.3 million for all of 2022. However, both of those numbers fell short of estimates. The company was expected to sell 420,000 vehicles in the fourth quarter and the company was targeting a 50% growth rate. The problem is with logistics and delivering vehicles to customers. Tesla built nearly 440,000 EVs in the fourth quarter, exceeding deliveries by nearly 35,000 units.

TESLA CHINA HEAD TO TAKE OVER U.S. & EUROPEAN OPERATIONS
But perhaps Tesla’s head of China, Tom Zhu can help turn things around. According to Reuters he’s just been promoted to oversee the company’s U.S. assembly plants and he will be in charge of sales operations in North America and Europe. Zhu will also remain as vice president of China and he’s now Tesla’s highest profile executive after Elon Musk.

ZEEKR 001 BOASTS OVER 1,000KM OF RANGE
Chinese automaker Zeekr, which is part of Geely, claims it has “the world’s longest-cruising-range EV.” It’s making that claim with the refreshed version of its 001 hatchback, which it says gets up to 1,032 kilometers or 641 miles of range on the Chinese test cycle. That’s made possible by CATL’s Qilin battery, which is its latest generation cell-to-pack design, and comes in sizes of 100 or 140 kWh. The 100 kWh version provides 741 kilometers of range, which is 460 miles. But Zeekr will only make 1,000 vehicles with this battery, which only comes in RWD. But there’s also AWD versions with ternary lithium batteries that get up to 656 kilometers or 407 miles of range. The new Zeekr 001 comes out in the 2nd quarter of this year in China with a price range between $43,500 up to about $56,000.

U.S. SALES EXPECTED TO RISE IN 2023
Good news for automakers. Despite inflation and rising interest rates, car sales are expected to rise in the U.S. in 2023. According to Cox Automotive, sales in 2022 likely will be below 14 million units. But sales are expected to grow by more than 1 million units this year to around 15 million. They’re expected to improve because of a recovery in vehicle production and pent-up demand. Toyota’s VP of Sales for North America says that shortages the past two years have kept anywhere from 4 to 7 million customers away from showrooms and he expects many of them to be back this year.

VOLVO TAKES FULL CONTROL OF AV SUBSIDIARY
Autonomous driving will be a big part of Volvo’s future. In fact, its flagship electric SUV, the EX90, which is supposed to launch in 2024, will come standard with self-driving features. And now the automaker has taken 100% ownership of Zenseact, its subsidiary that’s developing software for autonomous driving. It says this is a key step in taking ownership of important vehicle functions and will help it be a leader in the space.

HYUNDAI GROUP MOVING TO SOFTWARE DEFINED VEHICLES
Top executives at the Hyundai Group revealed some interesting details about the company’s future plans at a recent town hall meeting in South Korea. First on the docket? Software Defined Vehicles or SDVs. This is any vehicle that manages operations, adds functionality or enables new features through software. Hyundai says it will be transforming all models to SDVs by 2025. One of those added functions is over-the-air updates. By the same time, 2025, it says all models sold in global markets will have OTA functionality and provide personalized services, like subscriptions. Another area of focus for the Group will be autonomous vehicles. In the first half of this year, Hyundai will launch a version of the G90 and Kia the EV9 in Korea equipped with Highway Driving Pilot, a Level 3 AV system that is capable of operating on highways and “vehicle-only” roads. It’s also in the process of commercializing Level 4 robotaxis for North America. Through Motional, Hyundai’s AV joint venture with Aptiv, it plans to work with car-sharing companies, like Uber, to launch a fleet of self-driving Hyundai IONIQ 5s. And one of its last areas of discussion revolved around Purpose Built Vehicles or PBVs. It plans to expand the number of PBVs, like the Kia Niro Plus, this year and will launch a dedicated PBV on a skateboard platform by 2025.

PEOPLE DON’T KNOW WHAT KIA’S NEW LOGO SAYS
Speaking of the Hyundai Group, it may regret its decision to change Kia’s logo. Two years ago it transitioned to this, which is more minimalistic and was meant to look more modern. REREV, a publication that provides car advice, showed this picture to over 1,000 survey participants and asked them “which letters do you see in the logo?” Almost half couldn’t identify what the letters stood for. 44% did not get the letters right with most people guessing “KN.” REREV even found that there are around 30,000 monthly searches for “KN car.” When so much of brand identity is wrapped up in a logo, it’s probably not a good sign that a good chunk of people don’t even know what it says.

But that wraps up today’s show, thanks for watching.