AD #3607 – BYD Becoming Tesla’s Biggest Threat; Battery Shortage Shuts Down GM’s CAMI; Magna Develops Drop-In E-Axles

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

CHINA GRABBING GLOBAL MARKET SHARE
Not only does China have the largest automotive market by far, it’s taking over a good chunk of the rest of the world market. In 2020 China exported about a million vehicles. In 2021 that jumped to 2 million. Last year it was 3 million. And this year it’s on track to export 4 million. That includes Tesla, which is the 3rd largest exporter of New Energy Vehicles from China. Some of the biggest export markets include South America, Central America, Mexico, Australia, Europe, Saudi Arabia, India, Thailand, and Russia. In other words, just about everywhere except the United States. But we don’t expect that to last long. With the price of an average car in the US close to $50,000, that’s opened the door for Chinese automakers to take over the entry level part of the market.

BYD BECOMING TESLA’S BIGGEST THREAT
BYD is now the top selling car company in China, ahead of Volkswagen and Toyota, and it says it’s going to triple its profits in the first half of the year, to $1.6 billion. Not only does BYD sell more pure electric cars in China than Tesla does, several industry insiders tell Autoline that BYD is out Tesla-ing Tesla. They point out that it’s more vertically integrated, it makes its own batteries and sells them to other automakers, including Tesla. It has a broader model line-up than Tesla, and it gets products to the market faster than it does. BYD now has a market cap of $103 billion. That’s the third highest of any automaker in the world, only behind Tesla and Toyota. Keep an eye on BYD. It probably represents Tesla’s biggest threat.

TESLA LAUNCHES CHARM CAMPAIGN IN GERMANY
Tesla ran into an environmental buzzsaw when it built its assembly plant in Berlin, which delayed construction of the factory. Now it wants to expand that plant, but this time it’s making sure that it has public support on its side. So it’s holding a public question and answer session with local citizens today. Environmental groups worry about the plant’s water usage and its emissions because Tesla wants to double production at the site to 1 million vehicles a year, which would make it the largest auto plant in Germany. It currently produces about 5,000 cars per week. And it’s not just environmental groups that are scrutinizing the plant. German union IG Metall is calling for better staffing and working conditions, which currently employs around 11,000 workers. A IG Metall representative claims Tesla laid off hundreds of workers in June alone without reducing its weekly production target.

FISKER TO TEST INDIA MARKET
India seems to be on the cusp of turning into a very important automotive market. That’s why EV startup Fisker is going to stick its toe into the country to test the market. It’s going to produce 100 Ocean SUVs for India and launch them in the fourth quarter. It’s calling the model the Ocean Extreme Vigyan Edition, named after the company’s Indian subsidiary. The EV will be priced just under 70,000 euros or more than $78,000, which is about the same that it costs in Europe. But that doesn’t include import taxes or other charges.

CHEVROLET TRAVERSE GETS MAJOR MAKEOVER
The Chevy Traverse just got a significant update. It gets a new look both inside and out and each of the four trim lines gets its own design accents. Speaking of the trim, a new more off-road capable ZL1 version is available for the first time. Its ground clearance was raised by one-inch, it comes with unique 18-inch tires, it has a better approach angle with an aluminum skid plate and it has its own unique dampers. All models are powered by a new 2.5L turbocharged engine that’s mated to an 8-speed automatic transmission and all-wheel-drive is optional. The setup produces 315 horsepower and 317 lb-ft of torque according to GM estimates, which is more than the previous model. It’s available with GM’s SuperCruise hands-free driver assistance technology, which includes trailering and automatic lane change capabilities. Other new features include a standard 17.7-inch touchscreen and more safety technology. The new Traverse goes on sale early next year and we’ll learn how much they want to charge for it then.

BATTERY SHORTAGE SHUTTERS GM’S CAMI
But at the same time General Motors is getting ready to launch the Traverse, it’s struggling to ramp up production of its Ultium batteries. And because of that shortage, the company shut down production at its CAMI plant in Ontario, Canada all this month. That’s where GM builds its electric Brightdrop vans. The plant’s union representative says there’s a shortage of batteries because GM can’t get the raw materials it needs to make them. But the good news is demand is high for the vans. The CAMI plant has four years of back orders on the books.

MAGNA DEVELOPS DROP-IN E-AXLES
Magna is so certain that EVs are going to dominate global sales in the next 10 years that it’s devoting 70% of its engineering efforts to them. And it sees this happening from the smallest A-class cars to the largest pickups and SUVs. That includes 4-wheel drive off-road vehicles. So it’s developed front and rear electrified axles that can be dropped into existing vehicles like the Jeep Gladiator, without any architectural modifications. The axles offer 150kW of continuous power and up to 200kW of peak power, and an astonishing 7,000 Nm of torque. Magna calls the package Etelligent Terrain. We got the opportunity to test it out at an off-road park near Detroit recently, including back-to-back drives of an electric Gladiator versus a standard ICE one. The electric was easier to control going up and down slick rock conditions, with less wheel slip. And obviously it was much, much quieter. In fact, we think that off-roaders and overlanders are going to love driving through the wilderness in electric 4x4s listening to the sounds of nature as they go down the trail.

PORSCHE VISION 357 SPEEDSTER HINTS AT NEXT BOXSTER
Porsche publicly unveiled its Vision 357 Speedster at the Goodwood Festival of Speed that’s going on this week. Pay attention here because Porsche says it strongly hints what the all-electric version of the 718 Boxster is going to look like when it hits the market in 2025. It gets two motors with a combined peak power of 1,058 horsepower, and an estimated 0-60 kilometers an hour in under 3 seconds. The retro design kind of looks like a 356-bathtub speedster that was propelled 60 years into the future. And all we can say is that Porsche sure has a knack of making its current customers want to add another car to their collections.

And that brings us to the end of today’s show. Thanks for watching Autoline Daily.