AD #3747 – Sony & Honda To Launch 3 Models By 2030; BYD To Build Plant in Mexico; Forvia Replaces Fuse Box w/ Electronic Controls

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

VW IN TALKS WITH SAIC OVER CHINA PLANT
Volkswagen may be forced to leave a region of China. It operates a plant in the country’s Xinjiang province with its joint venture partner SAIC. A local minority group, called the Uyghurs, say they have been put into forced labor, among other right’s violations, including to build a test track near the plant. VW hired a German audit firm to look into the accusations and at first said it found no evidence of forced labor. But soon after 6 executives from the audit firm said they had nothing to do with the report and did not support it. And now Handelsblatt reports that another independent researcher says they did find evidence of forced labor at the site, including documents and pictures to back it up. So, now Volkswagen says it’s in talks with SAIC over its future involvement at the plant. But it’s hard to see how it can carry on.

BYD TO BUILD PLANT IN MEXICO
BYD is on a tear expanding outside of China. Yesterday we reported it’s exporting its most-popular EV in China, the Seagull, to South America, where it will be called the Dolphin Mini. And now Nikkei reports that BYD will build a plant in Mexico. It’s already kicked off negotiations with officials and is looking for a site to build the factory. The company is spending $620 million to build a new industrial complex in Brazil as well, but no doubt a Chinese automaker setting up shop just south of the U.S. border will raise a number of eyebrows. 

BYD TO SELL PICKUPS IN AUSTRALIA
BYD could also have its eye on popular pickup truck markets. Back in October it filed patent pictures for a new pickup and now spy shots of prototypes are starting to pop up in China. CarNewsChina reports it will likely be offered in RHD and sold in Australia before the end of the year, possibly followed by South Africa. It looks to be either a mid- or full-size truck and it’s expected to be offered as both a plug-in hybrid and pure-electric vehicle. 

SONY & HONDA TO LAUNCH 3 MODELS BY 2030
Sony and Honda’s joint venture will launch three models before the end of the decade, according to Nikkei. Sony Honda Mobility previously announced that it will start delivering a sedan under its Afeela brand name in North America in early 2026. And now the reports say it will also launch an SUV the following year in 2027 and a compact vehicle in 2028 or later. The Afeela sedan is said to use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon platform to run its infotainment system and enable up to Level 3 autonomous driving in some conditions. Production is expected to be somewhere in North America.

CALIFORNIA REJECTS STELLANTIS BID TO OVERTURN EMISSIONS DEAL
The California Office of Administrative Law rejected a petition from Stellantis to overturn an emissions deal the California Air Resources Board or CARB made with other automakers. The agency said the automaker can file a lawsuit or take the matter up with CARB instead. Stellantis filed the petition in December because it claimed the deal favored its competitors and put it at a competitive disadvantage. In 2019, CARB made separate voluntary agreements with Ford, BMW, Volkswagen, Honda and later Volvo to reduce emissions. Stellantis says those automakers only have to meet standards based on national sales, while it and other automakers have to follow rules based on sales in the 14 states that adopted California’s vehicle emission standards. Because of that Stellantis says it has limited shipments of some ICE models to those states in order to comply with the rules, which is where it says disadvantage comes from.  

FORMER VW CEO WINTERKORN DENIES INVOLVEMENT IN DIESEL SCANDAL
Former Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn is still claiming he had no involvement in the company’s diesel emission cheating scandal. Winterkorn, 76, testified in a German court earlier today, as part of a 9-billion-euro investor lawsuit, that claimed he did not inform financial markets in a timely manner about the diesel defeat devices. Winterkorn says he didn’t find out about the cheating until later and that he was not given all the details. He said if he had all the info he would “not have hesitated to take the right steps” and that he “would have traveled to the U.S.A. myself to negotiate with authorities.” This was the first time Winterkorn appeared in court for his role in the cheating, which cost him his job as CEO eight years ago.

GREAT WALL TARGETS ROLLS-ROYCE
Chinese automakers sure are ambitious. They’re not afraid to tackle any segment in the market. And now, Great Wall Motors, which has specialized in affordable SUVs, is going right after Rolls-Royce and Bentley. It’s coming out with a 4-door limousine later this year, with a long hood, chopped greenhouse, and short trunk. And it’s working on an SUV that will compete with the Rolls-Royce Cullinan. Both vehicles will be NEVs, but it’s unclear if they will be BEVs or PHEVs or both. Ward’s reports that Great Wall sold over 1.2 million vehicles last year in 60 markets around the world.

FORD LAUNCHES RACE-INSPIRED COMMERCIAL VEHICLES IN EU
The commercial version of any model is usually the ugliest, most boring example the automaker has to offer. Often coming with steel wheels, panel sides and extended roofs. But Ford doesn’t think it has to be that way. In Europe, Ford Pro is expanding its MS-RT trim line to the commercial versions of the Transit Custom and Ranger. They come with bigger, more stylish wheels, design elements, like the lower air intakes, that you might expect to see on sportier models and better-looking interior materials. The Transit Custom also features bright paint colors and even a spoiler on the back. Ford says both models can be ordered now and deliveries kick off in the middle of the year.

FORVIA REPLACES FUSE BOX WITH ELECTRONIC CONTROLS
Automakers are working on new ways to simplify their electric and electronic architectures in cars. Whether it’s zonal computing, edge computing, 48 volts, or Ethernet connections, they’re all working on it. Now Forvia has come up with a way of eliminating the fuse box in a vehicle and replacing it with electronic controls. Ben Cohen, the VP of Strategy, Sales and Marketing, told us what it’s all about.

(The Foriva interview is only available in the video version of today’s show.)

By the way, Ben Cohen says they’re working with an OEM to develop this approach and that we’re going to see it on cars very soon.

But that brings us to the end of today’s show. Thanks for making Autoline a part of your day.