AD #3866 – Rivian Burns Through Cash to Prepare for New Models; Honda Posts Record Operating Profit; Waymo Expands Service in California

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

RIVIAN BURNS THROUGH CASH TO PREPARE FOR NEW MODELS
Rivian is burning through cash as it makes upgrades to its U.S. plant in Illinois for the significant refresh it did to its R1 models and as it prepares for the all-new R2. It sold nearly 14,000 EVs in the second quarter, but those plant upgrades slowed production to 9,600 units. And also, contributed to its operating expenses, which grew to nearly a billion dollars. Total revenue came to over $1.1 billion, but Rivian is still losing almost $4,300 on every vehicle it sells. The refreshed models and plant upgrades are helping to slash costs, so that’s why they’re so important to the company, but it will take time before we see the full effects they have. Rivian says it still has nearly $5.8 billion in cash and cash equivalents and is sticking with its most recent full-year production forecast of 57,000 vehicles.

HONDA POSTS RECORD $3.3 BILLION OPERATING PROFIT
Honda also posted the results from its most recent quarter and it’s really benefiting from an increase in hybrid sales. While car sales fell a little more than 3.5%, those sales helped generate $36.7 billion in revenue for the quarter, up almost 17%. And its operating profit hit an all-time record of $3.3 billion, a jump of nearly 23%. A weaker yen was part of the reason for the increase, but Honda also made more money by selling higher priced hybrid models. That growth mostly came in the U.S. and Japan, but in China sales were down about 33%. Honda says the ICE market shrunk faster, while the NEV market grew faster than it expected. And it cut its sales forecast in China by 220,000 units. 

HONDA LAUNCHES NEW EV IN CHINA
But Honda hopes to make up for some of those lost sales with a new brand-new series of EVs for China, called Ye. And now we have some of the specs for the Ye S7, which is a small-ish SUV. The model will have a dual-motor AWD setup with a 150 kW or 200 horsepower unit in the front and a 200 kW or 265 horsepower motor in the rear. And the nearly 90 kWh battery pack, which comes from CATL, provides 620 kilometers or 385 miles of range on the Chinese test cycle. Honda’s Ye series of vehicles is supposed to go on sale before the end of the year and pricing for the S7 will reportedly start a little under $30,000.

BMW TESTS HUMANOID ROBOTS IN SOUTH CAROLINA
Another humanoid robot is making progress with its training to become an automotive assembly line worker. BMW and robotics company Figure recently completed a test with the latest generation of its robot, the Figure 02, where it loaded stamped sheet metal parts into a fixture so they could be welded together. BMW says it’s learned valuable insight in how to integrate robots into automotive manufacturing, including how they communicate with the production system. And will continue to collaborate with Figure on future applications in its plants. 

MERCEDES GOES AFTER COUNTERFEIT PARTS MAKERS
Every year, Mercedes-Benz highlights its effort to keep counterfeit parts from being sold in the aftermarket. This includes things like wheels, brakes, body and steering components. Working with law enforcement agencies, Mercedes says it was able to seize more than 1.6 million fake parts worldwide last year. That was about the same as 2022, but last year raids increased by 20%, averaging just over two a day. And not surprisingly Mercedes says more counterfeit networks are moving online and last year it deleted more than 142,000 offers for fake parts on social media and other online platforms.

WAYMO EXPANDS SERVICE IN CALIFORNIA
Waymo continues to expand its autonomous service. Last month, it opened up to everyone in San Francisco. And now it’s adding more cities in the San Francisco Bay area as well as growing to more areas around Los Angeles. The service operates 24/7 and in all weather conditions. In San Francisco, anyone can use it by just downloading the app. But in Los Angeles there’s a waitlist of about 150,000 people and Waymo is inviting them to join in chunks. It also operates the autonomous service in the Metro Phoenix area. And between the three cities, Waymo says it now provides paid rides to more than 50,000 users per week.

SOFTWARE UPGRADE CUTS HYUNDAI & KIA THEFTS IN HALF
A software upgrade Hyundai and Kia rolled out early last year to prevent vehicles from being stolen is having a big impact. As you probably remember, the automakers were hit with a big wave of thefts after videos on social media showed how to easily steal vehicles. Without engine immobilizers, which prevents the car from starting if the key isn’t nearby, they were easy to steal with a simple hack. So, in February 2023, Hyundai and Kia began offering a software upgrade for around two dozen 2011-2022 models to fix the issue. According to research from the Highway Loss Data Institute or HLDI, theft claim frequencies for vehicles with the update were 53% lower than ones without it. It only looked at data as of December 2023 when about 30% of the eligible vehicles had received the update. But the automakers claim that has doubled to about 60% as of July. Even though the upgrade is working, HLDI says Hyundai’s and Kia’s theft claim frequency is still higher than other brands. But it expects that to decline as thieves learn they’re not as easy to steal.

FORD LAUNCHES NEW EXPLORER POLICE VEHICLE
Ford is now shipping the new police version of the Explorer to law enforcement agencies across the U.S. Officially called the Ford Police Interceptor Utility, the model is the best-selling police vehicle in the U.S. Departments will have three engine choices; a 285-horsepower 3.3L V6, a 400-horsepower 3.0L EcoBoost V6 or a 3.3L V6 with a hybrid system that produces 318 horsepower. Since police vehicles idle so much, Ford says the hybrid can save up to 838 gallons of gas a year. Upgrades include new safety equipment, standard advanced driver assistance technology and a new 12.3-inch instrument cluster with a clearer display.

But that’s it for today’s show, thanks for watching.