Listen to “AD #3563 – NEV Sales Slip in China; Lucid Burns Through Half Its Cash; 1st Fisker Returned to the Factory” on Spreaker.
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Runtime:9:50
0:00 GM Snags Apple VP
0:44 Lucid Burns Through Half Its Cash
1:50 NEV Sales Slip in China
2:41 EU Told to Raise Chinese Import Tariffs
3:34 Mitsubishi Continues to Shrink
4:24 Was New Toyota Tacoma “Leak” Deliberate?
5:18 Ford Ready to Unveil the New Ranger
5:42 Consumers Wary of Subscription Services
6:41 Iveco Buys Out Nikola JV Shares
7:18 NextEra to Invest Heavily in Green Hydrogen
7:52 First Fisker Returned to the Factory
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GM SNAGS APPLE VP
General Motors just snagged the former vice president of engineering from Apple’s Cloud Services. Mike Abbott will report directly to GM’s CEO and Chairman Mary Barra. He’s going to lead a new organization at GM that will combine all of its software activities for vehicles and digital services and for both retail and commercial customers. GM recently said it would not offer Apple CarPlay or Android Auto in its EVs, and would develop its own system instead. And getting a guy from Apple adds more credibility to its effort.
LUCID BURNS THROUGH HALF ITS CASH
Lucid Motors reported its first quarter earnings and the numbers show that the EV startup is still struggling with production. It only delivered 1,406 cars, which brought in $149 million in revenue. That’s up 159% from a year ago. But it posted a net loss of $779 million which was 858% worse. Lucid also burned through nearly half of its cash and says it only has enough to last about a year. It plans to deliver 10,000 cars this year which would generate about a billion dollars in revenue. But its expenses in the first quarter alone were $921 million. So it’s on track to lose between $2 and $3 billion this year. Even so, many analysts believe that the Saudi Public Investment Fund, which already invested $1.5 billion in Lucid, will step in to make sure the startup has enough money to keep going.
NEV SALES SLIP IN CHINA
Uh-oh, here’s something that we didn’t expect to see. Sales of new energy vehicles in China fell 3.6% compared to March, and lost a percentage point of market share. ICE sales were up slightly, but the Chinese car market seems to be struggling to gain traction after several years of severe Covid lockdowns. Analysts believe part of the problem is that Chinese consumers believe that they should wait to buy a new car because prices will come down. Tesla started slashing prices in January and several other Chinese car companies followed suit. The China Passenger Car Association says Tesla’s recent price increase was meant to be a signal to customers that they better not wait.
EU TOLD TO RAISE CHINESE IMPORT TARIFFS
Chinese brands are just getting going in Europe but other carmakers are starting to get worried about them. The CEO of Peugeot, Linda Jackson, said Chinese-made EVs pose the biggest threat to Europe’s automakers because they’re good vehicles that are priced competitively. And a new study from German auto insurer Allianz says that Chinese built EVs could cost European automakers $7.7 billion a year in lost profits by 2030. The report says policymakers need to boost tariffs on imported Chinese EVs. Carlos Tavares, the CEO of Stellantis, says the EU only charges a 10% import tariff, while China has a 15% to 25% tariff on European imports.
MITSUBISHI CONTINUES TO SHRINK
Mitsubishi used to sell over a million vehicles a year worldwide, but last year that dropped to only 834,000. Its sales in Europe were almost chopped in half. In China they were down 41% and they dropped 15% in North America. And though its operating profit nearly doubled to $1.4 billion in the first quarter of this year, Mitsubishi expects its net profit to fall 41% for the full year.
DID TOYOTA DELIBERATELY “LEAK” THE TACOMA?
A war over mid-size pickup trucks is about to kick off. Toyota is going to reveal the all-new Tacoma on May 19th. We’ve even shown off a few of the teasers when we reported about its first-ever hybrid powertrain. But what looks mostly like a fan forum, called tacoma4g.com, is showing off this image of what it claims is the new version of the pickup truck. It says it used links from the Toyota website for previous images of the Tacoma and changed the parts that indicated model and model year. And that’s how it got the picture. If it is the new Tacoma, it should come as little surprise that it bears a lot of resemblance to its big brother, the Tundra. In a response to Automotive News, all Toyota would say is that it “looks forward to the official reveal on May 19th.”
FORD READY TO UNVEIL NEW RANGER
Toyota is probably not happy about the leak but it got a leg up on Ford. The new Tacoma leaked today and tomorrow Ford officially unveils the all-new Ranger. It used the Raptor version of the mid-size pickup as the highlight in this teaser video, but like the Tacoma, the new Ranger should be available with a hybrid powertrain as well.
CONSUMERS WARY OF SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES
Automakers are banking on subscription services to be a big revenue stream but a study from Cox Automotive found that consumers don’t know much about them, and they don’t like them. Only 21% of respondents were familiar with the services. Nearly 60% said they would be too expensive and 70% said they would shop for another brand if certain features were only available through subscription. And there’s concern over data security and privacy. But some shoppers liked the idea of trying out a new technology without having to fully pay for it. The five features buyers are willing to pay a monthly fee for are remote start, vehicle locator, heated seats, dash cams and a digital key. And Tesla, Jeep, Dodge and Ford buyers were more likely to say they’re willing to pay for subscription services.
IVECO BUYS OUT NIKOLA JV SHARES
Nikola and Iveco had a joint venture to make electric and hydrogen powered heavy trucks. But now Iveco is buying out Nikola’s shares. It’s paying $35 million and will give back 20 million shares to Nikola. Iveco, which is based in Italy, will now focus on the European market, while Nikola will focus on North America. But the two companies aren’t completely severing ties. Iveco will retain 5 million shares of Nikola and they’ll continue to share and develop technology and Iveco will continue to supply parts to Nikola.
NEXTERA INVESTS HEAVILY IN GREEN HYDROGEN
The Inflation Reduction Act or IRA isn’t just bringing new EV investments to the U.S. it also provides generous tax credits for hydrogen projects. NextEra Energy, which has the highest market cap of any power company in the U.S., will invest more than $20 billion in green hydrogen production. While demand for hydrogen fuel is low now, NextEra believes new laws and an increased push to reduce emissions will drive growth in the market.
FIRST FISKER RETURNED TO THE FACTORY
Last week Fisker delivered the first Ocean to a customer in Denmark. But Bloomberg reports that the car had to be returned to the factory because software issues made it inoperable. Sources say the software bugs could take months to fully iron out, and earlier today Fisker cut its production forecast for the year by as much as 10,000 units. It now expects to make between 32,000 to 36,000 Ocean SUVs. The delays have something to do with integrating the software, so it’s sending out vehicles with more basic software that limits functions. But it looks like that’s not even working.
And that brings us to the end of today’s show. Thanks for making Autoline a part of your day.
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Seamus and Sean McElroy cover the latest news in the automotive industry for Autoline Daily.