AD #3948 – GM Ready to Close Plants in China; U.S. November Sales Look Good, Maybe; Honda Launches Police Motorcycles in U.S.

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

GM READY TO CLOSE PLANTS IN CHINA
General Motors is facing up to the reality that it will never again get back to the sales position it once had in China, so it’s taking a $5 billion charge to restructure its Chinese operations. A decade ago, GM sold more cars and made more profits in China than it did in the United States. But since then, sales have plummeted and it’s losing money. GM said it will write down the value of its joint venture with SAIC and Wuling by up to $2.9 billion, and will book a $2.7 billion charge for plant closures and what it calls portfolio optimization. Those plant closings will send shock waves through the Chinese auto industry, and could be the beginning of the big shakeout we’ve been expecting in the Chinese auto industry. But that “portfolio optimisation” phrase is intriguing. Could GM do something extreme like drop the Chevrolet and Baojun brands, or maybe merge them together? Last year Chinese consumers bought 169,000 Chevrolets and only 106,000 Baojuns. That’s not enough to keep a dealer network healthy and the only solution may be big changes.

CHINA NOVEMBER SALES UP 18%
Meanwhile, car sales in China look like they’re really picking up steam. Based on preliminary data from the China Passenger Car Association, sales of light vehicles hit 2.4 million units in November, up a whopping 18%. NEVs, did even better. Sales of EVs and PHEVs shot up 52%, hitting 1.3 million units. One reason NEVs were up so strong is that a government rebate of $2,750 expires at the end of the year. 

U.S. NOVEMBER SALES LOOK GOOD, MAYBE
It’s hard to tell how new car sales did in the U.S. in November because the only ones who report on a monthly basis anymore are Toyota, Honda, Mazda, Subaru and the Hyundai Group. Collectively, they reported that sales were up nearly 6%. We’ll have to wait until early January when everyone reports their fourth quarter sales to get the full picture of what’s really going on.

  

MAZDA SAYS EV SALES SLUMP WILL HELP THE AUTOMAKER
One bright spot in the U.S. has been Mazda. Automotive News reports the automaker delivered over 350,000 vehicles in the U.S. through October, which is an increase of 19% and the company’s CEO thinks that sales will continue to increase next year as well. Part of that success is because Mazda hasn’t made a big push into EVs yet. Sales of electrics aren’t growing as fast as they once were, which could be further impacted if the Trump Administration gets rid of the EV tax credit. The CEO sees this as a benefit, making it easier for the company to adapt and giving it more time to develop technology. But Mazda’s also in the unique position that 88% of its vehicles are imported to the U.S. Some come from Japan, but the Mazda 3 and CX-30, two of its best-sellers, come from Mexico. So, any increase on import tariffs could really impact the company.

HONDA PROLOGUE SALES TOP 25,000 IN 2024
In one last bit of U.S. sales news, the Honda Prologue is selling pretty well. Last month Honda sold over 6,800 examples and for the year more than 25,100 have been sold. The model really started to take off after it cut the starting price by $9,500, while also slashing monthly leases. 

HONDA LAUNCHES POLICE MOTORCYCLES IN U.S.
In other Honda news, it’s going to help bust criminals. In May, it’s going to start offering motorcycles to police departments in the U.S. The two-cylinder bikes are based off a European model, called the NT1100, which it claims will have unmatched maneuverability and will cost roughly $14,500.

LI AUTO TO CHARGE IDLE FEE AT CHARGING NETWORK
As more and more EVs hit the road there’s less public charging spots to go around, so station operators are starting to do something about it. Chinese automaker Li Auto says it’s going to try an idle fee throughout its charging network after getting complaints about vehicles staying plugged in for well after they’re fully charged. The company will first send four alerts; one shortly before the battery is full, another after charging is finished, another 10 minutes later and finally 15 minutes. After that the customer – and it doesn’t matter what brand of vehicle – is charged about $0.28 cents every minute they stay plugged in, but there’s a cap at roughly $27. That’s actually better than others that charge an idle fee. Electrify America gives you 10 minutes before it starts charging $0.40 cents a minute and Tesla charges $0.50 cents a minute for partially empty stations and $1.00 a minute for full ones. And we wouldn’t be surprised to see the practice spread across the entire industry.  

EXXON NAMES DAN AMMANN HEAD OF OIL & GAS BUSINESS
Former General Motors executive Dan Ammann was just promoted to president of Exxon Mobil’s oil and gas business. After leaving GM two years ago, Ammann joined Exxon to run its clean energy business called Low Carbon Solutions. Ammann became president of GM in 2014 and in 2018 he was appointed CEO of the automaker’s autonomous unit Cruise. But he left the company after GM CEO Mary Barra rejected his plan to take Cruise public. Exxon also named former GM North America president, Barry Engle, to take over Ammann’s position as president of Low Carbon Solutions.

FORVIA HIRES ZF’S FISCHER AS NEW CEO
And speaking of management changes, the supplier Forvia announced that its hired former ZF executive, Martin Fischer, as its new CEO. Fischer, who will formally take over the top spot in March, is replacing Patrick Koller, who has been CEO since 2016. Fischer has extensive experience working with automotive suppliers. Between 2019 and 2024 he was a member of ZF’s Board of Management and prior to that he worked at suppliers BorgWarner, Hella and Siemens.

BYD’S 2ND CARGO SHIP HEADS TO EUROPE
Despite getting slapped with an additional 17% tariff by the European Union recently, BYD isn’t slowing its expansion into the region. The Chinese automaker announced that its second cargo ship just went into operation and it’s currently heading to Europe with 5,000 vehicles on board. As we reported earlier in the week, BYD is growing at an eye-popping rate and it is on track to become the fourth largest automaker in the world by the end of next year.

But that brings us to the end of today’s show. Thanks for making Autoline a part of your day.