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Runtime: 10:36
0:00 First Cracks Appear in China’s Auto Industry
0:49 BYD Jumps Into 2-Wheel Market
1:27 BYD’s Yangwang U8 Targets Mercedes G-Wagon
2:17 Yangwang U9 Targets Ferrari, Lamborghini
2:53 Lobbying Group Calls for Blocking Chinese Imports from Mexico
3:53 Toyota Drops Mirai Price to Only $12K
4:36 Lucid Turns to Detroit for R&D
5:07 Renault 5 Goes All-Electric
6:47 Jeep Abandons Wagoneer As Separate Brand
7:27 Jeep CEO Slashes Prices to Boost Sales
8:36 New Fiat Concepts Hint at Future
9:18 NIO Using Humanoid Robot on The Production Line
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FIRST CRACKS APPEAR IN CHINA’S AUTO INDUSTRY
Are we seeing the first cracks in the Chinese auto industry? A dramatic slowdown in sales last month, coupled with a raging price war seems to be crippling a couple of the weaker automakers. The luxury car maker HiPhi stopped building cars last week. HiPhi says it’s merely pausing production for 6 months, but the employees who remain will take a 30% pay cut and after March 18 they’ll be paid minimum wage. And another car company, Neta Auto, is delaying bonus payments to employees. That sure sounds like two companies with severe cash flow problems.
BYD JUMPS INTO 2-WHEEL MARKET
But while some of the smaller Chinese car companies look like they’re starting to flounder, BYD continues to expand. The biggest car company in China is now jumping into the two-wheel market. But it’s not going to make e-scooters or motorcycles, instead it will make batteries for them. BYD currently makes batteries for cars and stationary storage and it’s the second largest EV battery maker in the world with a nearly 16% share of the market. Adding the two-wheel market to its portfolio is going to help BYD achieve even greater manufacturing scale.
BYD’S YANGWANG U8 TARGETS MERCEDES G-WAGON
And that’s not the only new market BYD is expanding into. It’s now going to compete in the luxury segment in Europe with its Yangwang brand. It just unveiled the U8 SUV at the Geneva Motor Show, which will compete with high-end SUVs like the Mercedes G-Wagon. The U8 is an extended range electric vehicle. Its 2.0L turbo engine charges the battery and does not drive the wheels. It also features a roughly 49-kWh LFP battery and four electric motors that each have 220-kW of power or nearly 300 horsepower. The SUV has a combined range of 1,000 kilometers or 620 miles and in China, it has a starting price of $150,000.
YANGWANG U9 TARGETS FERRARI, LAMBORGHINI
And over the weekend, Yangwang unveiled its second model, the U9, which is a high-performance electric car to compete with Ferrari and Lamborghini. It can move from 0 to 100 km/h in 2.36 seconds and has a top speed of 309 kph or 192 MPH. The model has a starting price of more than $233,000 and will only be sold in China. It goes into production in the second quarter and deliveries will start in the middle of the year.
LOBBYING GROUP CALLS FOR BLOCKING CHINESE IMPORTS FROM MEXICO
A lobbying group called the Alliance for American Manufacturing is urging the U.S. Congress to block imports of Chinese cars made in Mexico. In fact, it’s calling those imports an “extinction level event” for the American auto industry. But what we’re trying to find out is, who is the Alliance for American Manufacturing? It claims that some leading manufacturing companies are members, but we can’t find any info on who its members are, except for the United Steelworkers union. We’ve reached out to the Alliance and hope to learn more about it, and when we know, we’ll report what we found.
TOYOTA DROPS MIRAI PRICE TO ONLY $12K
Toyota is practically giving away the Mirai. The automaker is offering a $40,000 sales incentive for the fuel cell powered model, which drops its price to just $12,000. Toyota is offering the discount because Shell recently announced it’s closing seven hydrogen stations in California. The Mirai is only sold in California and Wards reports there are only two dozen left in dealer inventory. Toyota also offers a complimentary $15,000 credit for hydrogen fuel that’s good for six years, so you can pretty much drive for free during those years with the discount. Well, if you can find a place to fill up now.
LUCID TURNS TO DETROIT FOR R&D
EV startup Lucid is planning to open an R&D center in the Detroit area. According to Crain’s Detroit Business, the company will invest $10 million and will create 260 jobs. Lucid is seeking state incentives for the project and representatives from the company are traveling to Michigan tomorrow to speak with public officials. Lucid is based in California and we find it interesting that it chose to open an R&D center in Detroit and not Silicon Valley.
RENAULT 5 GOES ALL-ELECTRIC
It seems like every automaker is developing an affordable electric car and this is what Renault plans on introducing to the European market early next year, the all-new Renault 5. Its styling stays very true to the concept, which itself takes inspiration from the original version that debuted in 1972. The platform for the car was developed by Renault’s new EV and software division Ampere, who completed it in 3 years, instead of the usual 4. The platform is called AmpR Small and is dedicated to B-segment sized EVs. It’s a connected platform that offers technology like Google built-in, bi-directional charging, OTAs and up to Level 2 autonomous driving. One electric motor that comes in outputs of 70-,90- and 110-kW is available, which is 93, 120 and 147 horsepower. The new Renault 5 will come with an up to 52 kWh battery pack that provides up to 400 kilometers or about 248 miles of range on the WLTP test cycle. Renault says it will even be able to tow up to 500 kilograms or just over 1,100 pounds. The interior is pretty simple without a lot of clutter, but there’s a modern touch with digital screens and we like the use of fabrics as well as the similar styling of interior and exterior air vents. The new Renault 5 is expected to go on sale early next year with a starting price that’s said to be around 25,000 euros.
JEEP ABANDONS WAGONEER AS SEPARATE BRAND
Jeep is abandoning its plan to create Wagoneer as a separate brand. When the current Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer debuted three years ago, they didn’t have any Jeep logos or branding on them. The plan was to create a new, more upscale brand, within the Jeep family. But it didn’t work. So now it’s bringing the Wagoneer brand name back into the fold. In the second half of this year Jeep will come out with the Wagoneer S, an electric crossover built on the Stella Large platform, with 600 horsepower and a 0 to 60 time under three seconds. It will have Jeep logos on it and they hope to sell 10,000 of them.
JEEP CEO SLASHES PRICES TO BOOST SALES
Antonio Filosa, the new global CEO of Jeep, is launching a flurry of initiatives to energize the brand, which has been losing sales and market share. He brought in a new management team, is boosting advertising, cutting prices, adding content, focusing more heavily on product quality, and is streamlining dealer programs. Those price cuts cover 90% of Jeep’s lineup. The Compass gets a $2,500 price cut, which brings the base price under $26,000. The Grand Cherokee gets a $4,000 price cut. The Wrangler gets $3,000 worth of equipment made standard, and the Gladiator gets that plus a $1,700 price cut. Filosa is also going to expand the product line with more models. In addition to the Wagoneer S, Jeep is coming out with a model called the Recon EV that looks to be the size of a Ford Bronco. Filosa says the new models will take Jeep from 60% market coverage in the SUV segment, to 85%.
NEW FIAT CONCEPTS HINT AT FUTURE
Fiat is showing off a new lineup of concepts that hint at its future. The family of vehicles are inspired by the Panda, although they are a bit larger. They’re all built on the same platform, some models will share up to 80% of their parts, and they can accommodate ICE, strong hybrid or pure electric powertrains. The models will be offered in Europe, South America, the Middle East and Africa and Fiat says it thinks it can be successful with a pickup in Europe as well. More production-intent versions will be shown starting this year and then every year until 2027, but Fiat isn’t saying when they’ll go on sale yet.
NIO USING HUMANOID ROBOT ON THE PRODUCTION LINE
NIO has a new intern on the production line. It’s testing out a humanoid robot from a Chinese robotics company, called UBTECH. They showed how the robot, called Walker S, could be used to perform quality checks on things like door latches, seat belts and light covers. It also uses obstacle detection to move around the plant and to possibly install precision parts like the company’s logo. A lot of training and development still needs to be done, but UBTECH says it’s the first bipedal humanoid robot to complete a specific workstation task on a mobile EV production line.
But that brings us to the end of today’s show. Thanks for tuning in.
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It seems to be difficult to find out who the Alliance for American Manufacturing is, but I found this from an April 2007 NYT article. These were apparently the members when the organization was founded, but that may have, or probably has changed.
“U.S. Steel, Alcoa, Goodyear, Allegheny Technologies, Mittal Steel and AK Steel, and participants say they hope other companies and unions will either join the alliance or cooperate with it.”
A thought occurred to me, the US and European countries should create a law that if a car company was found in the past to have stolen IP/patents or copied trademarks/copyrights from other automakers, they can not be allowed to do business in that country forever. Their products could not be brought in under another manufacturers name, nor can any money find its way to the company that stole IP/patent/copyright/trademark. That would give some real teeth in the protection of copyrights, trademarks, patents, and IP theft that went unabated by China for decades and continues to this very day. I doubt there would be a Chinese car company that could ever sell outside of China under such a law. Nor should they be allowed to sell outside of China based on their ill gotten gains. A real shame that the chinese government did not care to protect IP, but oh well.
Jeep spinning off the Wagoneer as a brand was about as dumb as GM spinning off Corvette. You guys just closed the doors on Plymouth, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Saturn to consolidate and make yourself more profitable and here we are 15 years later trying to make up new divisions. To be honest GM could close up GMC and Buick too and move those few vehicles under the remaining GM brands.
To be prepared for the Chinese they had better start thinking about how to get real lean and not expanding with more divisions and other off-shoots.
Did Shawn Fain see the Nio robot that he will soon be representing. Thats the future Shawn and you’re doing more to make it happen than anyone else.
If companies that had ever stolen/copied were banned from selling, every car company in the world would probably be guilty if you look hard enough. Yeah, the Chinese companies would be worse than most.
Aren’t most Cadillac dealers, except in larger metro areas, combined with Buick and GMC? That might be why they are keeping GMC.
Re: 2:45 in, some car makers will do anything to not have to provide a spare tire for their vehicles 🙂
If BYD is, in fact, subsidized by the Chinese government, their cars from Mexico should be treated differently than Chevys and Fords from Mexico. Is there a way to know if they are subsidized any more than GM, Ford, and Chrysler are subsidized, in the form of the US government and most state and local governments buying their products, rather than Toyotas or Hyundais?
The NIO bipedal robot is rather silly and designed more for PR than real-world applications. Why engineer the sophisticated technology necessary to maintain balance and facilitate walking when a motorized rolling base would be simpler, cheaper and provide far more stability for a wide variety of tasks? It could look the same from the waist up and accomplish the same tasks at a much lower cost.
Establishing Wagoneer as its own brand while using the world-famous Jeep seven slot grille seemed like marketing guys run amok. Having it at some Jeep dealerships but not others just created confusion. Very similar to the Land Rover Range Rover nonsense. I still can’t keep that straight!
So, will Wagoneer, Grand Wagoneer and the new Wagoneer S (another naming mistake) be available at all Jeep dealers now? Will the non-Wagoneer Jeep dealers have to make the same investment in training, parts and customer experiences that the initial Wagoneer dealers did? What about smaller market dealers that can’t afford to make that investment? Is this Jeep’s secret plan to get rid of smaller market dealers like Cadillac and Lincoln have?
FYI: Cadillac’s initiative has been so successful that there is only one Cadillac dealership in the northern half of the state of Michigan. It’s in Traverse City. Hope no Cadillac customer needs service on their vehicle while vacationing in the beautiful north country of the Great Lake State.
No half dozen Cadillac/Buick/GMC dealers?
GM Veteran — I agree with you on the NIO robot. While it may be the same size as the average human, it will be a long time before anyone can built something that is as light, nimble and flexible as the average human! It would have been, as you point out, far less expensive to build a robot arm, or some other type of mechanize tooling, that is flexible enough to handle a number of different tasks.
Speaking of automotive tooling for assembling vehicles, as I think about it, I’m a little puzzled by the current state of the startup OEMs and their production lines. Being the son, grand son, brother, nephew and cousin of auto assembly workers, one of the constant fears they have faced, is the thought of having their jobs replaced by robots/machines. My question is, as a startup, knowing that you will have to purchase machines and other equipment to build your vehicles, why wouldn’t they go the 100% automation route (or as close to it as possible)? I’m sure we are today closer to that reality then ever before! With machines experiencing less injury from repetitive motion, a clean sheet assembly plant would include most of the cost of the equipment, which can be included with the initial cost of the complex, or financed over time and maybe even leased?! I understand that machines break down and from time to time must be replaced, so they would never get completely away from human contact with repairs or a replacement is a given. But, a start up doesn’t have to reduce the human workforce through attrition, like a Legacy auto maker may have to, due to labor contracts. So, why are companies like Tesla, use people to build their vehicles, when they could have had machines and robots, do it for them instead? Just a thought.
GM would not get rid of GMC because they make too much money on them with trucks. Buick makes more more for GM in China then Cadillac, so those two are joined together at the hip! Chevrolet (and Corvette), Buick and Cadillac are they only international brands that GM has at present. Once GM sold their UK subsidiaries to Stellantis, the thought was to reintroduce Chevrolet into the UK and the EU, but things have not gone to plan. IMHO, the Wagoneer and the Grand Wagoneer, should have been introduced as either a Dodge (W) and a Chrysler (GW) [with the appropriate styling and names associated with each respective brand], if they weren’t going to be branded as Jeep’s! Jeep is the premium brand, to Chrysler’s luxury and Dodge’s mass market, in Stellantis’ NA operations. As others have said, creating a sub brand for the Wagoneer line only confuses customers, when they still have to go to a Dodge/Ram/Chrysler/Jeep store to get it anyway!
The Jeep Recon could be a hit for Jeep! While the Wagoneer S will probably be more expensive and would more the likely push R1S, Model X, iX and EQE SUV type money! Done right, the Recon could be the bargain price and much more assessable Hummer SUV and would hit the market before the Rivian R2. With the potential R2S not leaving the assembly line until the third or fourth quarter of next year, the Recon could have a good year on the market, should Jeep release it into the wild later this year, as Jeep has suggested. Speaking of off-road EVs, I don’t know why GM hasn’t played with the idea of doing a mini Hummer SUV, from the bones for the equinox EV? I wouldn’t be surprised if they could get buyers for such a vehicle for about $45-50K! This is possibly where the base price for the Recon and R2 will probably begin.
Some companies, like Stellantis like lots of brands, with about 10 or 12 of them. Others like Daimler like few brands, with Mercedes-Benz and smart, and Maybach as a sub-brand. To me, Maybach is best known as the brand of engines on the Hindenburg.
The continued existence of GMC probably has more to do with dealer assignments than anything else. Other than the ridiculous Hummer thing, Chevy trucks and GMC have, basically, the same products.
Should Chrysler group have even done the Wagoneer? Are they selling enough of them to pay the bills for creating it? It’s not my type of vehicle at all, but for similar price to the Grand Wagoneer, I’d go with an Escalade if I want a big, trucky luxury SUV.
Saw the new Jeep Avenger today, a tiny crossover ideal for the global market. Looks like a smash hit to me. Available as either a pure electric, of PHEV. Seems to have garnered the ‘Swiss Car of the Year ’24’ award.
Given that Ford’s best-selling car in Europe isn’t the Fiesta anymore, but the Puma, a similar-sized CUV, the market is just continuing its evolution.
By the way, I consider an electric drive not in simple equivalency terms. It’s an upgrade, unless you have a V12 under the hood. And while presently, there’s a price premium involved, the curve continues on a downward trend.
Battery innovation still has a way to progress – it’s far from done yet, and presently, some of the most innovative and nimble players are from China. This is not a time for share buybacks, if survival of the legacy industry is a consideration. The downside risks are stark. Either domestic production and suppliers get going, or China will be more than globally dominant (that’s practically a given now).
We’re currently progressing from the stage where expert ‘artisans’ are tailoring battery chemistries, to the use of models that replicate all the chemical, physical, and electrical intricacies of cells and packs. If you don’t understand German, use translated captions for a deep dive into the state of the art:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hNT4aiT5Sk
The expert information in above vid isn’t readily available anywhere else, I think.
Wagoneer came in with both guns blazing but the product, other than arguably the interior just matched or didn’t match what was already there. Sales were weaker than they thought, and that put the kebash on creating a new division. Heck, the product, as is, may not survive the current sales environment.
As far as GMC goes, I believe there is a big enough differentiator, at least in my area, that it is a vital division for GM. As impractical as it may seem, Denali, sells very strong (as opposed to “High Country” Chevrolets). There are quite a few who won’t buy a Chevy but will, a GMC.
No surprise about Stellantis, Them with others need to reduce prices. Local dealer has more vehicles on their lot than I’ve ever seen in 15 years of residency. Finally started to move metal with 20% off MSRP on Ram 1500’s. We’ll see if they survive.
Yep, Chuck, those “professional grade” ads actually convince some people there is a difference between Chevy and GMC. The Denali trim really hits it with some people. Is there much difference between a Denali and High Country? The Denali may be nicer. I’ve never looked.
While I really like inline six engines, in the right place, I think it is a mistake to use that 3 liter turbo in those huge Wagoneers. Even though it seems to work well enough, I’d think most buyers would rather have a V8.
Sean, as you say, electric would be a big upgrade, performance-wise, in most small cars sold in Europe. The diesel Golfs, Fiestas, Corsas, et. al. that used to be the big sellers are probably 10+ second 0-60 times, and the EV equivalents, probably 6-7 seconds.
Jeep Avenger got a good review from Top Gear.
https://www.topgear.com/car-reviews/jeep/avenger
It looks like it won’t be coming to north America, because it’s too small. It’s bigger than my Mini, though.
wmb-Robots are getting better and better each year and even our plant has implemented about a dozen cobots this year alone. Cobots are robots that do NOT need to be fenced in and work in conjunction with an operator. But robots still have their limitations and only work great in very repeatable situations. In a job like installing say interior trim pieces where a part needs flexed and snapped in multiple spots it’s very difficult to do with a robot currently.
Camera technology is making it possible to make adjustments to inconsistencies and allowing robots to do a lot more.
The obvious advantage if you fully automate an assembly line is it can run 24/7. Only going down for maintenance. There are no breaks, Lunches, Team meetings, weekends, sick days, Holidays, bathroom breaks, workman’s comp claims, Union negotiations, insurance, pay role, HR, Employee advocates, and all the other expenses that go come with humans. A plant can even save utilities as robots don’t need lights, much heat, fans in the summer. They don’t need rubber matting to walk on or an Ergo team to make sure no one is lifting or twisting too much. So, beyond all the costs of human workers and support staff the work is done consistently and continually the same. They don’t make mistakes or forget steps. Never come into work drunk, hung-over or sleepy. So, with all these advantages you can see why once the cost gets even close the robot wins out hands down. It just requires a lot more pre-planning when you automate a line and design the tasks and components with automation in mind.
As for GMC I think GM should offer the Chevy with its various trim levels and leave the Denali trim as the GMC and just sell it as a Chevy Denali. Then Chevy still has Work Truck, Custom, Custom Trail Boss, LT, RST, LT Trail Boss, LTZ, High Country and then add Denali as the top-level letting customers know that it is the old GMC version. Then you can consolidate and probably make Chevy the top selling truck over Ford when those two are combined. As together they have outsold Ford occasionally.
Oh I almost forgot the other big advantages of robots are when you can cut the staff down you also save on real-estate. No need for a big lunchroom Cafateria, vending machines or locker-room & bathrooms for 2000 workers a shift. Don’t need meeting rooms and no need for a parking lot for 2000 workers to park their cars. The plant needs less walkways and equipment can be placed closer together. With an overhead crane to replace a robot if needed you could actually eliminate most the aisleways.
Kit, we reached out to the Alliance for American Manufacturing for more info, but they didn’t get back to us until after the show was posted. There are no automakers in the Alliance. The Alliance would only say the Steelworkers Union is a member, and that a “some companies” also belong. Thanks for digging up that NYT story.
John, thanks for the update. The article I found was really old, so I thought there might be auto companies now. Interesting. Maybe it’s still just steel companies and the Steelworkers Union.
It looks like Neta is actually a brand of car and the company that produces it is called Hozon. See wiki here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hozon_Auto