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Runtime: 11:02
0:00 China Files WTO Complaint Over EU Tariffs
1:12 F1 Owner Under U.S. DOJ Investigation
2:03 Toyota Makes Changes to Avoid Certification Issues
3:11 CATL Dominates Global EV Battery Market
4:20 Great Wall Motor SUV Gets a Diesel Engine
5:08 BYD Updates Seal Sedan
6:16 Stellantis Boosts Investment in eVTOLs
7:04 Archer Aviation to Launch Air-Taxi Network in LA
7:40 Drivers Need to Change Cabin Air Filter More Often
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CHINA FILES WTO COMPLAINT OVER EU TARIFFS
In a not too surprising development, China has filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization over Europe’s new tariffs on imported Chinese EVs. In a statement, China’s Ministry of Commerce said the tariffs “severely violated WTO rules and undermined global cooperation on dealing with climate change.” It also said they “lack factual and legal foundation.” Europe already has a 10% tariff on Chinese imports but last month the EU slapped an additional tariff of up to 37.6% on Chinese made EVs. It’s trying to prevent a wave of low-cost Chinese EVs flooding the market, claiming Chinese automakers benefit from government subsidies, which allows them to undercut European brands. This isn’t the only battle China is waging over tariffs. It also filed a complaint with the WTO over the U.S.’s new 100% tariff on Chinese vehicles, which China calls discriminatory.
F1 OWNER UNDER U.S. DOJ INVESTIGATION
And speaking of legal disputes, Liberty Media, which owns Formula 1, confirmed its under investigation by the U.S. Justice Department over its refusal to allow Andretti Global to enter F1. The investigation was sparked in May by six U.S. Senators who asked the Justice Department to see if Liberty violated anti-trust laws. Liberty says it will fully cooperate with the investigation. Andretti Global, which is led by racing icon Michael Andretti, formed a partnership with Cadillac to join F1 but Liberty Media rejected the bid claiming they would not be a competitive team, that the Andretti name wouldn’t bring any value to the series and that it would not be able get a team on the grid in the next two years.
TOYOTA MAKES CHANGES TO AVOID CERTIFICATION ISSUES
Toyota continues to make changes at the company after several high-profile cases of improperly certifying dozens of models. The “irregularities,” as it called them, in the certification process for safety and emissions on some models at Toyota and a few of its subsidiaries goes back over 20 years. It led authorities in Japan to call on Toyota to make “drastic reforms.” So, it just issued a new 3-step report on how it plans to keep things like this from happening again, which includes company-wide reforms. It also announced a new Leader of Vehicle Safety System Development because Toyota seems to put most of the blame on a lack of management being involved in the certification process. The company lost a lot of credibility as the true scope of the “irregularities” came to light, which resulted in production stops, several models being discontinued, some people lost their jobs and I think it’s a part of the reason approval in chairman Akio Toyoda has dropped sharply over the last few years.
CATL DOMINATES GLOBAL EV BATTERY MARKET
Chinese battery maker CATL continues to dominate the global EV battery market. According to SNE Research, CATL’s battery shipments rose 30% in the first half of the year to 137.7-GWh. BYD was a distant second at 57.5-GWh, which was a 22% increase from a year ago. South Korea’s LG Energy Solution was number three in the first half of the year, shipping 46.9-GWh of batteries, up about 6% compared to last year. All other battery makers in the top 10 shipped less than 20-GWh in the first half but the only company that posted a decrease was Panasonic, which was down 25%.
GREAT WALL MOTOR SUV GETS A DIESEL ENGINE
With Chinese automakers ramping up exports, could they start catering their vehicles to overseas customers? We think that might be why Great Wall Motor is going to introduce a diesel engine in one of the vehicles from its Tank brand. The Tank 400 has only been offered with a plug-in hybrid setup, but a listing with government regulators shows it will come out with a 2.4L diesel that makes 137 kW or 183 horsepower. While the diesel Tank 400 will be sold in China, Great Wall also exports to the Middle East, Africa and Australia where diesels are more popular. And the starting price should be lower than the roughly $40,000 for the plug-in Tank 400, which should make it even more attractive.
BYD UPDATES SEAL SEDAN
Speaking of new Chinese models, BYD made some pretty significant updates to its Seal sedan. The 2025 model sits on an upgraded platform that features a more powerful control system, an 800-volt architecture and is the first sedan from BYD to feature lidar, which is mounted on the roof to help enhance its driver assistance system. Two battery sizes are available; a roughly 61 kWh pack that provides 510 kilometers or 316 miles of range or a 80 kWh battery that provides 650 kilometers or 382 miles of range. A 228 horsepower or 308 horsepower electric motor powers rear-drive models, while the top-line AWD model makes 390 kW or 523 horsepower and does 0-100 km/h in 3.8 seconds. Pricing starts at about $24,500, which is about $8,000 cheaper than a Tesla Model 3 in China.
STELLANTIS BOOSTS INVESTMENT IN eVTOLS
Stellantis is deepening its partnership with Archer Aviation, a company that’s developing eVTOLs or electric vertical take-off landing aircraft. Earlier this year, the two companies announced that Stellantis will help build its Midnight VTOL at Archer’s plant in Georgia. And now Stellantis is funding up to $370 million to cover labor costs to make 650 of those units a year. In exchange, Stellantis will receive shares in Archer. The new funds are in addition to the nearly $300 million Stellantis has already invested. And Archer also announced that it secured an order from Future Flight Global to purchase up to 116 Midnight VTOLs for up to $580 million.
ARCHER AVIATION TO LAUNCH AIR-TAXI NETWORK IN LA
And you could soon see Archer’s VTOLs flying over Los Angeles. It announced plans to launch an air-taxi network in the city and is aiming to start operations in 2026. It will have locations at LA International Airport, the University of Southern California, Orange County, and Santa Monica. It’s also in talks with the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams to have a location at its stadium. Archer says the goal of its network is to replace car rides that normally take 1-2 hours with 10-20 minute flights.
DRIVERS NEED TO CHANGE CABIN AIR FILTER MORE OFTEN
Research suggests that 1-in-3 cars are contaminated with bacteria, mold, particulate matter, pollen and harmful gasses. And that has led supplier Mann+Hummel to believe that people just aren’t changing their cabin air filters enough. It’s the last line of defense between you and the air you breathe if the windows are closed and many modern cars feature cabin air filters. But like any filter they clog up over time. I got to see this first-hand as a tech for over 13 years and in general people seemed less concerned about having it changed out. Unless it was like my aunt’s car whose filter was completely covered by dog food put there by a mouse or rat. And aside from the health reasons, Mann+Hummel says a clogged filter could be a safety risk because the HVAC system might not be able to clear off the window as effectively. I think it’s sensationalizing the issue a little bit, but it is a good opportunity to remind you to check your cabin air filter.
And with that we wrap up today’s show. Thanks for making Autoline a part of your day and I hope that you have a great weekend.
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A few years ago, a friend thought something was seriously wrong with the HVAC in his Prius, because not much air was coming out. The problem was that the cabin air filter had never been changed, in over 100K miles, and was plugged up. He is a now-retired aeronautical engineer.
We get the Bolt tires changed twice a year. The dealership says they check over things when they do that and all was ok. This spring, I asked if the cabin air filter had been changed in the past and it hadn’t! 7 years is a long time. Feels fresher now, even if it’s my imagination.
Our dealer isn’t a stealership.
I have noticed that the cabin air filter gets dirtier that the engine air filter over the same period of time. You would think that the engine would pull in more air then than ventilation system, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.
I would like to see a serviceable cabin air filter
George Ricci, I’d thought the same thing. Most cabin air filters have less filter area than engine air filters, and maybe lint from clothing and flaking skin from humans plugs the cabin filters. Still, I’d think many times as much air would go through the engine air filter as the cabin filter. Does anyone here know for sure?
China filing a complaint with the WTO over tariffs, is like the pot calling the kettle black, isn’t it?! Didn’t they for years do the exact same thing, requiring legacy OEMs to form partnerships with local manufacturers, to assemble and build their good vehicles in China, or face huge tariffs on imported goods? Then when local companies copied or stole foreign product and IP, they were only given a slap on the wrist at worst and in most cases they got off Scott free! Now that the Chinese auto industry can stand on its own and the government no longer requires foreign OEMs to partner with local companies. Yet, they are still incentivizing the purchase of local purchases in their country. Then, when other countries add tariffs to Chinese automobiles coming into their countries, they complain to the WTO?! While it may be true that the Chinese auto industry has benefited from the decisions from the countries leaders of the past. To this day, though, those decisions AND current legislation is still benefiting those companies, especially now as they are looking to export those goods to other countries at prices that undermine goods in the markets they want to enter! Encouraging Chinese companies to build their products in the local markets they want to enter is a win-win. In that those companies will have to live up the the same assembly standards and work place rulers as the local OEMs have to in their home market, creating a much more level playing field! IMHO, complaining to the WTO only says that China leaders do not feel that their local businesses can not compete with those companies in their home markets, unless they have the advantages that building those products at home (with the incentives and the home jobs that doing so saves) brings!
China wanted joint ventures with US and European car companies, and took advantage. US companies could take adavantage of joint ventures in the US with Chinese companies, but political forces seem to want to quell the idea.
I am soon to replace my cabin air filter, but for this specific car you have to disassemble the entire lower dash to do it. There are no odd smells or low air flow, I am just doing it because it has not been done in 100K miles because it is so much of a pain to do.
On another car I have, the cabin air filter is very easy to get to and replace. I exchanged that at 13K miles and it will be done frequently because it is cheap and easy to get at. Seems that items that should be serviced regularly should be easy to get to. Ease of service would make Cabin Air Filter changes ubiquitous at most oil change intervals.
When manufacturers make the cabin filter more accessible, they will get changed more regularly. But when they bury them and make it an hour job to replace it people will wait until it has to be replaced.
The WTO is just an arbitrary negotiator to try and settle disputes. What they really need to be doing is establish a countries trade value. They should take into account the countries cost of living, average pay for manufacturing, The benefits and healthcare provided, and Regulatory requirements or government assistance provided. Then each country is given a number value that would establish what the trade deficit would be between the countries just like the dollar value. Then there would be no dispute. It is what it is. It would be a much leveler playing field and the only advantage would be quality, reputation and design. If that number determines China only gets a 20% tariff and we can’t compete then we need to figure out how to be better. But if it’s determined that tariff is 120% then they cant complain. It would really make trade fair and should be done on all commodities. A value given for clothing, electronics, produce, automotive, heavy equipment and so on.. Essentially it would also help keep jobs local too when you take away the advantage of exploiting developing countries labor force.