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Runtime: 11:06
0:00 Subaru Boosts BEV Targets
1:11 Toyota To Produce New Subaru Electric SUV In U.S.
1:42 UAW Ramps Up Demands
2:44 Ferrari Boosts Profit Despite Sales Drop
3:41 Uber Posts First Quarterly Operating Profit
4:59 VW Looks to Acquire More Chinese EV Technology
5:45 Ford Restarts F-150 Lightning Production
6:24 Porsche Unveils Special Edition 911
7:27 New Toyota Land Cruiser Looks Impressive
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SUBARU BOOSTS BEV TARGETS
Subaru is spending nearly $10.5 billion by 2030 to shift its focus to electrification. Three of its main organizations, Production, Product Development and Supply Chain, will start to work more closely together with the goal of cutting planning, design and production time as well as the number of vehicle parts and configurations in half. It will start making a next-gen hybrid vehicle in Japan sometime around 2025, followed by the U.S. about a year later. BEV production starts in Japan just behind the hybrid and it’ll make pure electrics in the U.S. around 2027 or 2028. By that time, Subaru says it will have 8 BEV models in its lineup that feature the latest technology and even what it calls Subaru-specific OTAs. It hopes to build 1.2 million pure electric vehicles and have BEVs make up 50% of its global sales by the end of the decade.
TOYOTA TO PRODUCE NEW SUBARU ELECTRIC SUV IN U.S.
And like the Solterra, Automotive News reports that at least one more of those electric cars will come from Toyota. It says Toyota will start production of an all-new electric crossover at its Kentucky plant in 2025, which will also include a version of the 3-row vehicle for Subaru. Batteries are expected to come from Toyota’s new battery plant that it’s building in North Carolina, which would also mean the vehicles qualify for the full federal tax credit.
UAW RAMPS UP DEMANDS
Shawn Fain, the president of the UAW, is ramping up his list of demands. Besides wanting double digit raises, more profit sharing, the elimination of different tiers of workers, full pensions, the restoration of automatic cost of living raises or COLA, he’s added a couple more to the list. First, no more 40-hour work week. Fain wants a 32-hour week. And he also wants the union to be able to go on strike if GM, Ford or Stellantis close a plant. For example, Stellantis closed the Belvedere plant that makes the Jeep Cherokee because sales practically collapsed. Here’s our Autoline Insight. We think that Fain is going to get most of what he wants, except COLA, pensions and a 32-hour work week. And he’s probably not going to get that strike clause if a company closes a plant. After all, if customers aren’t buying your cars, why would you keep on making them?
FERRARI BOOSTS PROFIT DESPITE SALES DROP
Ferrari saw its sales go down in the second quarter, but it still managed to rake in more money and park more of it on the bottom line. Ferrari sold 3,392 cars in the last three months. That was down 1.8% from a year ago, and sales fell in every region of the world, except Europe. Even so, it was able to get customers to pay more for the cars it did sell, and revenues went up 14% to 1.4 billion euros. And its net profit shot up 33% to 334 million euros. It also managed to improve its free cash flow 74% to 138 million euros. Interestingly, Ferrari says that 43% of all the cars it sold were hybrids, and maybe that bodes well for when it starts going electric.
UBER POSTS FIRST QUARTERLY OPERATING PROFIT
Hey, maybe this ride sharing stuff is starting to make financial sense. Uber, which has been around since 2009, just posted its first quarterly operating profit. Thanks to record bookings, it brought in $9.2 billion in revenue, up 14% from a year ago, and it made a $326 million operating profit, versus a $713 million loss in the second quarter of 2022. It also generated $1.1 billion in free cash flow. Uber’s stock is up nearly 60% from a year ago and it currently enjoys a market cap of $94 billion.
VW LOOKS TO ACQUIRE MORE CHINESE EV TECHNOLOGY
Volkswagen is once again looking to acquire EV technology from a Chinese automaker. Last week, it made a deal with XPeng to get its electronic architecture and the software and hardware that goes along with it. And last month, Audi also struck a deal to get an EV platform from SAIC. Now Reuters reports that VW is in talks with China’s Leapmotor to buy an EV platform that would be used for VW’s Jetta brand. VW and Leapmotor both declined to comment on the report. But VW is making these deals because its software division, Cariad, which was tasked with developing these technologies, ran into all kinds of problems which delayed the Group’s future EVs.
FORD RESTARTS F-150 LIGHTNING PRODUCTION
Ford has restarted production of the F-150 Lightning at its Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Michigan. The automaker halted production for six-weeks so it could retool the plant to boost manufacturing capacity. By this Fall, Ford expects the Lightning to be running at a 150,000-unit annual rate. It’s prioritizing high-demand models like the XLT, which accounts for more than 50% of new orders. Updates to the plant include new equipment that automatically measures and validates body fitment. And a new station for wheel alignment and headlamp aiming.
PORSCHE UNVEILS SPECIAL EDITION 911
Porsche is coming out with a special edition of the 911, called the S/T, a name it used in the early 1970’s for lightweight racing models. And the new 911 S/T is no different. It shed 70 pounds or nearly 32 kilograms thanks to things like leather door pulls, lightweight glass and exhaust system, mag wheels, ceramic brakes and even a lithium-ion battery. The car is like a molding of the 911 GT3 Touring and the GT3 RS and it’s the first time the RS’s nearly 520 horsepower engine has been paired with a manual transmission. It’s also the first time a 911 with its new multi-link rear suspension hasn’t been paired with rear-wheel steering. It sounds like a real driver’s car, but Porsche is going to make less than 2,000 examples and each one will cost just shy of $300,000.
NEW TOYOTA LAND CRUISER LOOKS IMPRESSIVE
Off-road enthusiasts are rejoicing, while Jeep executives probably cried themselves to sleep. Toyota revealed the all-new Land Cruiser, which for many of us is going from a long-in-the-tooth, somewhat clunky, V8 powered SUV that was probably overpriced, to a much more efficient vehicle that rides on Toyota’s TNGA-F platform, which is also used by the new Tacoma and Tundra. It’s over 4 inches narrower and over an inch shorter than the model that left the U.S. a few years ago. There’s another version of the Land Cruiser, called the 300 series, sold in other parts of the world that came out in 2021, but it’s much bigger and more closely related to the Sequoia. The new Land Cruiser is called the 250 series and is powered by everything from a low-output 6 cylinder to the top-of-the-line 2.4L hybrid that makes 326 horsepower and 465 lb-ft of torque. But it depends on the market. For example, only the 2.4L hybrid will be offered in the U.S. Living up to its heritage, the new Land Cruiser is very off-road capable and features a multi-mode 4X4 system that includes a standard sway bar disconnect. But it also brought the vehicle into the new age with digital display screens and driver assistance tech. The new Land Cruiser will be built in Japan and it says sales will kick off in 2024. In the U.S., it will carry a starting price in the mid-$50,000 range. And this has got to put Jeep on even higher alert. Ford already swooped in and stole sales with the Bronco and Bronco Sport and on paper this new Land Cruiser looks really competitive. And Land Cruiser fans in Japan and Australia will be happy to know that Toyota is also updating the old Land Cruiser 70, which has been around since 1984. It will now be available with a 2.8L diesel engine that makes nearly 200 horsepower and it comes with a more modern interior. The diesel is the only engine offered in Japan but Australia will still sell a V8 and pickup version as well.
And that brings us to the end of today’s show. Thanks for joining us.
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Seamus and Sean McElroy cover the latest news in the automotive industry for Autoline Daily.