AD #3963 – Mustang Mach-E Outsells Gas-Powered Mustang; Lawsuits Filed Over Blocked U.S. Steel Deal; BYD Brazil Sales Surge 327%

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

U.S. STEEL & NIPPON FILE LAWSUITS OVER BLOCKED DEAL
U.S. Steel and Japan’s Nippon Steel aren’t giving up on their merger. Last week, President Biden blocked Nippon’s $14.1 billion deal to acquire U.S. Steel because he says U.S. Steel should remain American owned and operated. But now the companies have filed a lawsuit in the U.S. Court of Appeals challenging the decision and they filed a separate lawsuit against U.S. steel producer Cleveland-Cliffs, its CEO, as well as the president of the U.S. Steelworkers union, over their opposition to the deal. National security concerns are being raised over Nippon’s acquisition of U.S. Steel, but the companies say their deal will enhance, not threaten, national security. The auto industry is in favor of the merger but President-elect Trump has said he’s against it, so this dispute could drag-on for some time.

STELLANTIS’ ITALY PRODUCTION DROPS 37%
As we’ve reported, the European auto industry is struggling. Last week, VW announced it’s cutting 35,000 jobs and slashing production by 734,000 units in Germany. And now over in Italy, Stellantis’s union says the automaker only produced 475,000 vehicles in the country last year, down 37% from the more than 750,000 vehicles it produced in 2023. The automaker’s passenger car production was down 46% to its lowest level since 1956. And production at its historic Mirafiori plant slumped 70% last year. But last month, the automaker pledged to invest €2 billion at its 6 plants in Italy this year to prepare for the launch of new models in 2026. But it remains to be seen if that will offset the drop in production.

UK EV SALES UP 60% LAST MONTH
And staying in Europe for the moment, EV sales in the UK were up 60% last month to about 44,000 units. EVs accounted for 31% of sales, the highest monthly share in two years. But the boost in EV sales was fueled by automakers slashing prices in order to avoid fines. Despite the increase last month, the industry fell short of the UK’s mandate for EVs to account for 22% of sales. Automakers face fines of $18,600 per vehicle for failing to comply, though they may use a credit-trading system to avoid penalties. The UK’s EV mandate increases to 28% this year but automakers say it will be difficult to hit that target, so the government is now reviewing the rules to potentially ease them.

GM PATENTS NEW WAY TO PACKAGE BATTERY CELLS
General Motors has patented a new way to package battery cells. Instead of using a “jelly-roll” style where the anode and cathode are wound together, they’re packed in an “inverted-u” or like an upside-down taco. By packaging the cells this way, GM claims it leads to better heat dissipation, which improves longevity and charging performance and could also help prevent thermal runaway. 

BYD SHOWS OFF NEW SUSPENSION TECHNOLOGY
It’s pothole season across large parts of the U.S. right now and it’s never fun finding one. But BYD can make it so you never have to worry about a pothole again. It developed a new suspension family called DiSus, which ranges from your basic damping system, all the way up to an active hydraulic setup that’s able to apply over 1 ton of force to the road. When it debuted the system in the Yangwang U9, it had the car dancing on stage, but now it’s showing more practical uses like jumping over a pothole that’s 2.5 meters or over 8 feet long. The folks at CarNewsChina posted a video from Yangwang of the U9 racing up to 120 km/h or about 75 MPH and jumping over obstacles like the pothole and a patch of giant tacks. And it does it all without a driver behind the wheel. Check out the link in the transcript or description box to see more.

BYD SALES IN BRAZIL SURGE 327% IN 2024
Speaking of BYD, traditional automakers said Brazil wasn’t ready for electric vehicles, but BYD is proving them wrong. Last month it sold over 10,000 NEVs in Brazil, it has the best-selling EV in the country and for the whole year it registered nearly 77,000 vehicles, an increase of 327% compared to 2023. 

 

SAIC-GM-WULING BUILD 30M VEHICLES
And speaking of record sales, SAIC-GM-Wuling say it’s the first Chinese vehicle manufacturer to build 30 million vehicles. The joint venture was officially established in 2002 and the record vehicle was a Wuling SUV. 

VOLKSWAGEN & XPENG FORM EV CHARGING PARTNERSHIP
Let’s stick in China and speaking of legacy automakers teaming up with Chinese companies, VW and XPeng are not only coming together to develop electric vehicles, but now they’re combining their EV charging networks. The two operate roughly 20,000 chargers in China and now vehicles from both companies will have access to the combined network. There’s also plans to create a new joint brand of fast chargers in the future. 

HONDA TO USE HUAWEI SMART DRIVING TECH IN CHINA
And then CarNewsChina reports that Honda is teaming up with Huawei on smart driving technology. Honda has developed its own system that it planned to launch in models under its Chinese EV brand, called Ye. But it says that tech hasn’t lived up to expectations, which is why it’s turning to Huawei. So, those Ye models have been postponed until they get that Huawei tech in Q1 of this year. And it sounds like Honda will use the knowledge to further develop its own system for China. 

MAZDA TO OPEN BATTERY MODULE PLANT
Mazda is going to start making its own battery modules and packs for EVs. The automaker is building a new module plant in Japan, which will get cylindrical lithium ion cells from Panasonic. It will be able to make 10 GWh a year and the batteries will go into Mazda’s first EV built on a dedicated EV platform.

FORD MUSTANG MACH-E OUTSELLS GAS-POWERED MUSTANG
The all-electric Ford Mustang Mach-E easily outsold the gas-powered Mustang in the U.S. last year. Mach-E sales were up nearly 27%, to just under 52,000 units in 2024, while gas-powered Mustang sales totaled 44,000 vehicles, a 9.5% decline. When the Mach-E was unveiled back in 2019, Mustang enthusiasts weren’t happy about it using the Mustang name, so it’s interesting to see it become the most-popular Mustang in a relatively short amount of time.

As a reminder, John is already out in Las Vegas getting ready to attend CES, so look for our coverage of that soon. And that’s a wrap for this show. Thanks for tuning in.