AD #3677 – It’s Been a Bad Week for GM’s Mary Barra; Japan Goes Concept Car Crazy; LG Warns of Slowing EV Growth

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

UAW HITS D3 WHERE IT HURTS
The UAW is really cranking up the heat on the Detroit automakers and going after the companies most profitable plants. Yesterday, it ordered 5,000 workers at GM’s plant in Arlington, Texas to go on strike. That plant builds the Chevy Tahoe and Suburban, GMC Yukon and Cadillac Escalade. Many automotive analysts believe it is the most profitable assembly plant in the world. The strike at Arlington was announced shortly after GM reported a $3.1 billion net profit for the third quarter. UAW President Shawn Fain immediately issued a statement saying “record profits, equal record contracts.” GM said it was “disappointed” by the expansion of the strike and called it “unnecessary and irresponsible.” After 41-days, which is longer than the 40-day strike against GM in 2019, the UAW is now hitting the Detroit 3 where it really hurts. In addition to GM’s Arlington plant, it shut down Stellantis’ Ram truck plant in Michigan, and Ford’s Kentucky truck plant. And those closures will start to cause immediate financial pain for the car companies.

IT’S BEEN A BAD WEEK FOR MARY BARRA
It’s been a really bad week for GM CEO Mary Barra. First, the union shut down her most profitable plant, Then, despite Shawn Fain saying GM made record profits, that’s not the case. GM’s Q3 profit was actually down 6%. And now GM’s autonomous unit, Cruise, was shut down in California. The California Department of Motor Vehicles suspended Cruise’s deployment and testing permits because it says the robotaxis “are not safe for the public’s operations.” Cruise will pause its driverless operations in San Francisco but the company can still operate vehicles as long as there is a human safety driver on board. The California DMV’s decision comes after Cruise vehicles recently interfered with emergency responders and has been involved in two pedestrian collisions, one of which is under federal investigation. Even so, Waymo is still running robotaxis in California.

GM, HONDA DROP LOW-COST EV PROJECT
This morning, Honda announced it’s not going to collaborate with General Motors to develop low-cost electric cars. Bloomberg reports it’s due to GM delaying some of its EVs for up to a year, partly because of the UAW strike. That strike is now costing GM $200 million a week in lost profits, on top of the $800 million it’s already lost. GM and Honda were going to jointly develop a low cost EV platform with a 2027 launch date that would give them enormous economies of scale. But now they’re going to develop low cost EVs on their own. 

LG WARNS OF SLOWING EV GROWTH
Speaking of EVs, the battery maker LG Energy Solution, warns that EV growth could be lower next year, especially because of economic slowdowns in Europe and China. The chief financial officer of LGES also said that higher wages at the battery joint ventures with GM, Stellantis and Ford could have a significant impact on the car companies profits and operations. But even though the growth in EV demand may be slowing, it’s still growing. LG is building 8 battery factories in North America that will have a combined 300 gigawatt-hours of annual production. It’s also going to start making 46-series cylindrical batteries and lower cost LFP batteries.   

JAPAN GOES CONCEPT CAR CRAZY
The Japan Mobility Show officially kicked off and we’ve got a number of things to show you, so let’s dive into it. Toyota revealed the physical versions of several of the concepts it’s been teasing recently, including the FT-3e, the FT-Se and the IMV 0, which is a modular pickup it says will launch in Asian markets soon. No word if the other two will make it to production, but Toyota talks about how it wants to develop smaller and lighter components for its EVs, which will result in smaller, lower and lighter models, as well as offer the benefits of a Software Defined Vehicle through its new software system, called Arene. Toyota CEO Koji Sato says Lexus will be the first brand to get models with these new core values. And as luck would have it Lexus revealed two models that take advantage of the company’s next-gen BEV platform. The LF-ZC is a wild-looking sedan that’s slated to come out in 2026 and will feature large castings, the ability to drive itself down certain sections of the assembly line and next-gen prismatic battery cells that it hopes will nearly double the range of its current EVs. Then there’s the LF-ZL, an SUV that it calls its flagship luxury model, but doesn’t say when it will be out, just that offers a glimpse into the brand’s future.

MITSU’S FUTURISTIC DELICA
Mitsubishi revealed this futuristic looking van concept called the D:X, that hints at what its Delica van could look like in the future. The concept is a plug-in hybrid but Mitsubishi didn’t share any details about the powertrain other than it features electric 4WD. It has a spacious interior that can seat up to six passengers and the seats can rotate and move up and down to help optimize space. Another unique feature is that the windshield extends further down into the hood to help expand the driver’s field of vision.

GODZILLA SIGHTED IN TOKYO
There was also a Godzilla sighting in Tokyo. Nissan pulled the wraps off another one of its Hyper concepts, this one called the Hyper Force, that clearly has GT-R vibes. Not only the overall shape but also those taillights. Oh, and the fact that there’s a GT-R logo in the grille. That’s a dead giveaway as well. Nissan says a car like the Hyper Force would have solid-state batteries, AWD and up to 1000 kW or 1340 horsepower. 

INFINITI CONCEPT IS BOLD, BUT NOT CRAZY BOLD
Nissan’s sister company, Infiniti debuted an all-new electric sedan concept, called the Vision Qe. While the styling is bolder than its current lineup, the Vision Qe is not nearly as wild as Nissan’s concepts. As you would expect from a premium brand, the styling is more sophisticated. We should expect to see elements of this concept in upcoming models because Infiniti says it’s a preview of its electric future.

MAZDA STILL FIXATED ON ROTARY EREV
Next up, is this sleek compact sports car concept from Mazda called the Iconic SP. It’s powered by the company’s two-rotor rotary EV system, which uses a rotary engine that runs carbon-neutral fuel as a range extender. Mazda says the car has a low-center of gravity and a near 50:50 weight distribution to help improve driving performance.

HONDA’S LOW-COST EV CONCEPTS
As we mentioned earlier in the show, GM and Honda are going to make low-cost EVs on their own and Honda is giving us an idea of what those could look like with the SUSTAINA-C and CI-MEV concepts. The SUSTAINA-C is made of acrylic resin, which makes many of its components more recyclable and easier to reuse. The CI-MEV is meant to be accessible to anyone and to be used for short trips. But the thing that’s got everyone’s heart thumping in Honda’s booth is a new Prelude concept. It may call this a concept, but that doesn’t look like concept styling to me. It’s refined and I won’t be surprised to hear about a production version within the next year.

BYD TAKES ON THE JAPANESE MARKET
It’s good to see Japanese automakers showing off so many new electric vehicles for their home market and the world because they’ve been lagging behind. But they still need to move fast because Chinese automakers have already swooped in to fill that hole and they continue to expand. BYD displayed mass-market EVs like the Seal sedan, but also a premium van called the DENZA D9 and the ultra-luxury Yangwang U8, which starts at $150,000. So, now it looks like Chinese automakers want to start attacking other EV segments in Japan.

But that brings us to the end of today’s show. Thanks for tuning in.