AD #3947 – There’s No Going Back From Here for Jaguar; GM Pivots to Prismatic Cells; Configurator Opens for Mini U.S. EV Pickup

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

JAGUAR BURNS THE SHIPS
In one of the most stunning brand revamps in the history of the auto industry, we think Jaguar is dumping its current customer base and is veering off towards a new generation of buyers. Yesterday, in Miami, during Art Week, Jag showed what it calls the Type 00, which breaks away from every line in the brand’s historic form language. Jaguar calls it exuberant modernism. Note the extra long hood for a dash-to-axle proportion that hasn’t really been popular since the 1930s. The sharp corners at the front end emphasize the width, while the cabin is pushed as far back as possible. And there’s no back window, or backlite as they call it in the industry. The rear taillights are hidden in what Jag calls Strikethrough horizontal graphics. And butterfly doors open to a minimalist interior that’s highlighted with brass accents. But we caution you to keep in mind that these renderings are computer images, not an actual car. And designers always like to cheat the design in these renderings, meaning the greenhouse probably won’t be chopped so low, the gap between the tires and wheelwells will likely be much larger, and the car will sit higher. Moreover, the production version will be a 4-door, not the 2-door shown here. We’ll have to wait a year before we see the actual production car, and that’s when we’ll see how much this electric sedan appeals to the new set of buyers it’s aimed at.

TAVARES WANTED MORE COST CUTTING
OK, over to Stellantis where we’re learning more about how and why Carlos Tavares got dropped as CEO. The Wall Street Journal reports that Tavares wanted to double down on his cost cutting crusade and proposed to postpone payments to suppliers to provide a cash windfall to end the year on a high note. But that was the straw that broke the camel’s back and when the board of directors rejected his latest plan, Tavares quit.

STELLA’S 10 PERSON EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
And as we reported yesterday, it didn’t sound like the board had a Plan B to replace him. So it’s forming a 10-person committee to run the company until they find a new CEO. The committee will be run by John Elkann, Stellantis’ chairman. Committee members include Antonio Filosa, who runs North American Operations, Maxime Picat who runs Purchasing, and Doug Ostermann the CFO. While Richard Palmer, the retired CFO is coming back as an advisor. Let’s hope they find a new CEO soon. Running a car company by a 10-person committee could be disastrous.

MUSK’S HUGE PAY PACKAGE REJECTED AGAIN
It hasn’t been a good day for Elon Musk or Tesla. First up, a Delaware judge has once again rejected Musk’s huge pay package. The $56 billion pay package was rejected by the judge in January because she ruled it was excessive and was given the green light by a board that isn’t independent enough from Musk. Tesla held a shareholder vote in June to reinstate the package, which was approved by 77% of shareholders. With that vote, Musk’s lawyers argued his pay package should be re-instated but the judge once again rejected it for the same reasons as before. That pay package is now worth $100 billion due to Tesla’s stock surge since Donald Trump was reelected. Musk blasted the latest rejection and called it “absolute corruption” and Tesla released a statement saying the decision is wrong and is going to appeal it.

TESLA DELIVERIES FALL IN CHINA
Meanwhile over in China, Tesla’s deliveries slumped in November. According to the China Passenger Car Association, Tesla shipped nearly 79,000 vehicles from its Shanghai factory last month, which was down 4.3% from a year ago. However, it was a 16% increase from October. Tesla is making a big push to increase sales globally this quarter and needs to sell a record 515,000 vehicles to hit its target for the year.

LOOKS LIKE CYBERTRUCK DEMAND IS FALLING
But at the same time it also looks like demand for the Cybertruck is slowing. Tesla lowered its lease price by 10% and Business Insider reports that the company told line workers at its plant in Austin, Texas that make the Cybertruck to take three days off this week. Workers will still be paid for their scheduled shifts. But it’s not clear why Tesla told the workers not to report and Tesla didn’t respond to a request to comment. However, some workers told Business Insider that their schedules have been inconsistent since October and they now feel lucky to get 40 hours a week. At one point people bragged that Tesla had over 2 million reservations for the Cybertruck but the company is now accepting orders from anyone and it’s estimated that Tesla has delivered between 40,000-50,000 units.

  

100,000 VW WORKERS WENT ON 2-HOUR STRIKE
Volkswagen workers in Germany are taking action over the company’s threat to close plants and slash wages. The union IG Metall said nearly 100,000 workers across 9 plants participated in a two-hour strike yesterday. And while the strike was short, the union did say it disrupted production. VW and the union are scheduled to resume talks next week but more strikes are likely if they can’t reach a deal.

GM PIVOTS TO PRISMATIC BATTERIES
GM is selling its stake in one of the three battery plants it’s building in the U.S. to LG Energy Solution. Selling the Ultium Cell Plant in Michigan will allow GM to recoup its investment and allow LG to start installing new equipment right away. It’s entirely possible that new equipment will be used to make prismatic cells that will go into future GM EVs. Nearly 3 years ago the two companies announced a partnership to build those 3 U.S. battery plants. Their plant in Ohio opened in September of 2022 and supplies batteries for the Hummer and Lyriq. Earlier this year their plant in Tennessee started shipping batteries for Blazer, Equinox and Silverado. But the Ohio and Tennessee plants only make pouch cells and GM also announced yesterday that it’s extending its partnership with LG to include prismatic battery cells. It talks about how prismatic cells offer efficient packaging that can reduce weight as well as simplify manufacturing that can cut costs, which is why GM says they’ll be used to power future EVs.

CHINA BANS EXPORTS OF KEY MATERIALS
Trade tensions between the U.S. and China are heating up. Yesterday, the Biden Administration placed restrictions on U.S. companies exporting materials to Chinese semiconductor chip makers. In retaliation, China is banning exports of gallium, germanium and antimony to the U.S. They’re needed to make advanced microprocessors and infrared technology. Most of the minerals go to military applications but it could have an impact on the auto industry. China, which accounts for most global production of the minerals, already started limiting exports last year, which caused prices to spike. And now with the latest crackdown, prices will likely continue to soar.

FORD UNVEILS PUMA GEN-E IN EUROPE
Ford revealed the new all-electric version of the Puma, which it calls the Puma Gen-E. It features a 43 kWh battery pack that returns up to 376 kilometers or about 230 miles of range. The car’s roughly 165 horsepower electric motor is actually built at a Ford plant in the UK and then shipped to Romania, where the Puma is produced. That motor drives the front wheels and Ford claims the setup will do 0-100 km/h in 8 seconds. Maximum charging speed is 100 kW, which allows the Puma Gen-E to charge from 10-80% in 23 minutes. Customers in Europe can place orders now, but deliveries won’t start until the spring of next year.

TELO OPENS CONFIGURATOR FOR MINI-PICKUP EV
Here’s an interesting EV startup that might be worth keeping an eye on. TELO is a silicon valley-based startup that wants to introduce an electric pickup in the U.S. that’s about the size of a Mini Cooper, but can still carry 5 passengers or a 4X8 sheet of plywood with the rear seats folded down. It just revealed an online configurator, which reveals the price for the truck starts at $41,500, before any incentives. That’s for a 300 horsepower single motor version with a nearly 80 kWh battery pack that returns an estimated 260 miles of range. There’s also a dual motor version that makes 500 horsepower, does 0-60 in 4 seconds and has a 106 kWh battery that provides 350 miles of range. The company currently has around 4,000 pre-orders for the truck, but we’ll have to see if it can hit its projected launch, which is said to be at the end of next year.

SCOUT’S CHRIS BENJAMIN ON AAH
Be sure to join us for Autoline After Hours this Thursday, when we’ll have Chris Benjamin, the head of design at Scout. We want to learn how he took an iconic brand that dropped out of the market in 1980 and updated it for today’s world. Also, Tony Quiroga, the editor of Car and Driver will also be on the show, so join John and Gary for a great inside look at what’s going on at Scout.

But that’s a wrap for this show. Thanks for tuning in.