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Runtime: 11:10
0:00 VW Workers Vote to Join UAW
1:55 Tesla U.S. Sales Drop 25% In February
2:25 Tesla Slashes Model 3, Y & FSD Prices
2:57 Wall Street Braces for Tesla Earnings Drop
3:21 Four Legacy Stocks Outperform Tesla
4:10 BMW’s Battery Partner Expands U.S. Production
4:57 Nissan Reveals New Qashqai SUV In Europe
6:21 Honda & VW Dealers Worried About New Brands
7:12 Range Rover Sport SV Gets Biggest Brakes in Company History
8:24 EVs Boosting Demand for Copper
9:08 BYD Names New Pickup the Shark
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This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry.
VW WORKERS VOTE TO JOIN UAW
They did it! The UAW organized Volkswagen’s plant in Tennessee. I wasn’t sure if they’d be able to pull it off, but workers strongly voted in favor of the union. 2,628 out of the 3,613 that voted or 73% said they want UAW representation. Past attempts to organize the non-union plants in the U.S. would sometimes seem promising at first, only to see workers vote ‘no’ at the ballot box. But this time around the UAW also had freshly minted contracts with the Detroit Three in its back pocket that included historic pay raises for their workers. No doubt the folks at VW will want the same. Now all the focus will shift to Mercedes to see if the UAW can convince the majority of its 6,100 workers in Alabama to vote in favor of the union. That vote takes place May 13th to the 17th. And if successful there, it might make sense to go after another German automaker. BMW’s plant in South Carolina, where it makes a lot of its expensive SUVs. But that makes us wonder, will the UAW have a harder time organizing the Japanese automakers? Will we see more pay raises for line workers at other non-union plants in an effort to keep the UAW out? And when will it start working on those new contracts for VW workers? These are some of the reasons we have Wayne State University business professor Marick Masters coming on Autoline After Hours this Thursday. So, don’t miss out.
TESLA U.S. SALES DROP 25% IN FEBRUARY
Tesla is facing some tough times in the marketplace. S&P Global says U.S. registrations of new Teslas fell 25% in February, which is a significant drop in sales. S&P says total EV sales in the U.S. fell 2.8% in February, meaning that Tesla lost market share. But if you don’t count Tesla, EV sales in the U.S. were up a strong 32%, led by Ford, Rivian and Hyundai.
TESLA SLASHES MODEL 3, Y & FSD PRICES
Also, over the weekend Tesla cut prices by up to $2,000 for the Model 3 and Y in the U.S., China and Germany. And in a shocking move, Tesla slashed the price of its full self-driving option to $8,000, which is $4,000 cheaper than it was recently, and $7,000 lower than its peak price. That will likely lead to more customers adopting FSD, but we’ve got to think it’s going to upset buyers who paid a lot more for it.
WALL STREET BRACES FOR TESLA EARNINGS DROP
And all these price cuts have Wall Street bracing for a drop in earnings at Tesla. The stock price was down 4% early this morning and Reuters quotes one Wall Street analyst, Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities, as saying Tesla’s Q1 earnings report will be a moment of truth, and “one of the most important moments in the company’s history”.
FOUR LEGACY STOCKS OUTPERFORM TESLA
As you know, Tesla was once the most amazing automotive stock to invest in. But over the last year, four legacy automakers performed much better. Toyota’s stock is up an astonishing 70%, Stellantis is up 38%, Honda is up 31% and General Motors 21%. So how did the other legacy automakers do? Check out the link in today’s script to find the answer.
COMPANY | YOY CHANGE |
---|---|
Toyota | 70% |
Stellantis | 38% |
Honda | 31% |
GM | 21% |
BMW’S BATTERY PARTNER EXPANDS U.S. PRODUCTION
At a time when many companies are pulling back on EV investments, BMW’s battery partner in the U.S. is expanding its operations. Battery maker AESC announced that it’s investing $1.5 billion to build a second EV battery plant near its first facility in South Carolina. The new plant is expected to start operations in 2027 and will supply lithium-ion batteries for BMW’s EVs produced in Mexico. AESC’s other plant provides batteries for BMW’s EVs built in South Carolina. The new investment is expected to create over 1,000 new jobs. In total, AESC has invested $3.12 billion in its South Carolina operations.
NISSAN REVEALS NEW QASHQAI SUV IN EUROPE
Nissan revealed the updated version of its Qashqai crossover in Europe. It gets a new front-end design and the rear styling has also been massaged. The interior features new materials and design patterns, depending on the grade, and it’s the first vehicle in Nissan’s lineup in Europe with Google built-in. Other new features include an updated version of its Around View Monitor, which gives a bird’s eye view of the vehicle to help with parking and its suite of driver assistance features have been upgraded as well. Two powertrains are offered. The first is a mild hybrid but Nissan didn’t provide any details about it. And the second is what Nissan calls e-Power, but this e-Power operates differently than some other e-Power vehicles. It uses a three-cylinder turbo engine to generate electricity for the 140-kW electric motor or send it to the 1.8 kWh battery pack. There is no transmission, the electric motor powers the wheels. The new Qashqai is now in production at Nissan’s plant in the UK. And the model is also sold in Canada, so it will likely see the updated Qashqai. Some of you may remember that the Qashqai had a U.S. version called the Rogue Sport, but that model went out of production in 2022.
HONDA & VW DEALERS WORRIED ABOUT NEW BRANDS
Automotive News reports that Honda and Volkswagen dealers in the U.S. are getting mighty nervous about Afeela and Scout. Afeela is the name of the joint venture that Honda formed with Sony to sell electric cars, while Scout is the new brand that Volkswagen created to sell electric pickups and SUVs. Both Afeela and Scout want to sell directly to customers, and dealers feel they’re getting cut out of the picture. So a group of different dealer associations at the state level have banded together to threaten legal action if Afeela and Scout adopt a direct sales model. The group, called the Automotive Trade Association Executives, took out a full-page ad in Automotive News. But they say that so far, they haven’t heard any response from the automakers.
RANGE ROVER SPORT SV GETS BIGGEST BRAKES IN COMPANY HISTORY
The new Range Rover Sport SV will have the biggest brakes the company has ever used. It’s available with massive 8 piston Brembo front calipers and 440 mm or over 17-inch carbon ceramic brake rotors. That’s bigger than the wheels on some cars and actually ties it with the Lamborghini Urus as the biggest brakes in the entire automotive industry. They’re also 34 kilograms or 75 pounds lighter than the standard cast iron brakes and thankfully shouldn’t wear out too fast. Range Rover said four models at a track event did 1,000 miles of on-road driving and 615 miles of track driving and the brake pads still had around 30% of their life left. For someone spending money on a vehicle that starts at $180,000, the cost of brakes is probably not top of mind, but they’re still thousands if not tens of thousands of dollars to replace. And will probably add at least $15,000 to the price tag. And I’m pretty sure that’s on the low end.
EVs BOOSTING DEMAND FOR COPPER
The price of some raw materials needed for electric vehicles, like lithium, is plunging but others are soaring. According to commodity trading company Trafigura, copper demand is expected to surge over the next decade, due in large part to the growth in electric vehicles. It says that one third of the 10 million tons of new demand will come from the EV sector. The price of copper on the London Metal Exchange has soared to $10,000 a ton. That’s because supplies are tight and demand is outstripping the supply. Analysts estimate that the copper market will face shortages of 26 million metric tons this year.
BYD NAMES NEW PICKUP THE SHARK
Maybe BYD feels like it’s circling all the other global truck makers in the water because it just announced that its first pickup will be called the Shark. We know it’s a plug-in hybrid with up to 480 horsepower and will feature an active suspension system, but we should get even more details when it debuts at the Beijing auto show later this week.
And that brings us to the end of today’s show. Thanks for making Autoline a part of your day.
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Lambo2015 says
Everyone is pretty familiar with the costs of stuff fluctuating due to supply and demand. Probably most notably with the price of gas. Any hot or cold snap, tanker crash, hurricane in the Gulf and the price jumps. So I’m not sure how upset Tesla owners will get with the price cuts in the vehicles or FSD. They obviously felt it was worth the money at the time of purchase so if the price drops oh well.
However, what it does do is raise concerns over any of those paid subscription services that automakers are trying to peddle now. They will charge whatever they think the market will support and lower as needed to get sales moving. So early adopters are going to take in on the chin. The price to be first, I guess.
Kit Gerhart says
Since Tennessee is a so-called “right to work” state, does that mean the VW workers will have the benefits of the union, but not have to pay union dues? I guess the local might not get much help from the national organization in negotiating contracts if the members don’t pay dues.
Kit Gerhart says
Speaking of pricing of things, mightn’t Automotive News take in more money, if it weren’t obscenely expensive to subscribe? I’d probably subscribe for $50/year, but $299/year? No way. I’d think there might be a lot of people like me in that regard.
Ziggy says
Kit, you should check your local library for Automotive News, in the magazine section mine has a subscription and I go every couple of weeks to read the back issues along with the current one, taking advantage of my tax dollars hard at work.
Kit Gerhart says
Ziggy, I’ll do that. I don’t know if they have it, but I’ll find out.
Kit Gerhart says
I’m kind of an “early adopter,” or at least a middle adopter with some things, knowing that they would get cheaper. It was that way with a hifi stereo VCR, a CD player, and most recently, a 70 inch TV. I paid $2500 for the TV, and they are now ~$600, but I’ve had the use of it for 6-8 years, and it’s great for watching sports and racing.
I normally expect cars to slowly go up in price, so if I bought a car and the price went down $10K the next day, I wouldn’t like it. As far as this level 2 autonomy stuff, I would never pay anything for it, as it now exists. If there was truly full self driving, I’d be interested, but I probably won’t live long enough to see it.
Yeah, gas prices fluctuate, but that’s a commodity affected by dozens of things that happen around the world. I spend far more on restaurant food than on gas, and maybe more on wine than on gas, so I don’t worry about the fluctuations in the price of gas.
Merv says
Out in B.C. West coast of Canada, level 3 and above autonomous driving has been banned.
Kit Gerhart says
Maybe not a bad idea in B.C., given the current state of autonomous driving. Isn’t level 3 supposed to be “sleeping ok,” at least under some conditions?