Follow us on social media:
Runtime: 10:44
0:00 Nissan Calls Off Merger with Honda
1:33 Toyota Expects Net Profit Drop
2:10 Unboxed Assembly for China? Lexus Builds a New Plant There
2:46 Toyota’s U.S. Battery Plant Ready to Start Production
3:13 German Morale Down in The Dumps
3:40 Bentley Opens Luxury Apartments in Miami
4:42 DS Announces Pricing for Number 8 EV
5:43 French Mint Launching DS-Inspired Coins
6:19 GM Axes 1,000 Cruise Employees
7:04 Tesla EU Sales Plummet, Mostly Because of Elon
8:07 Watch the Super Bowl, Win A Kia
Visit our sponsor to thank them for their support of Autoline Daily: Bridgestone, Intrepid Control Systems and Teijin Automotive.
This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry.
NISSAN CALLS OFF MERGER WITH HONDA
Things move really fast in this industry. Yesterday was all about President Trump backing off threats to slap tariffs on Canada and Mexico. Today the big news is that Nissan is backing out of its plans to merge with Honda. It was just a little over a month ago that Honda and Nissan surprised the industry with plans to join forces, which would have made them the third largest automaker in the world. But neither company seemed to have its heart in the project and we thought it looked like the Japanese government was quietly orchestrating the merger behind the scenes. Honda’s CEO, Toshihiro Mibe, couldn’t even come up with a good reason why the two should merge when asked by reporters. At first, the two automakers were going to operate independently as part of a holding company. But then Honda decided it wanted to run the show and make Nissan a subsidiary. And that’s when Nissan decided to back out of the deal. Honda’s shares jumped more than 8% on the news, while Nissan’s fell nearly 5%. Renault, which owns 36% of Nissan, saw its stock fall 3.4%. Now the question is, what will happen with Nissan? It’s in a downward spiral and there are hungry investors, like Foxconn, that want to take an ownership position in the company. But one thing’s for sure, this story is far from over.
TOYOTA EXPECTS NET PROFIT DROP
Let’s stick with Japan for a moment, where Toyota posted its latest financial earnings. The company sold almost 8.3 million vehicles over the last three quarters, down 3%. Its revenue hit $233 billion, up almost 5%; its operating profit fell over 13% to $24 billion, while its net profit rose 4% to $26 billion. But by the time the current quarter is over, Toyota expects its net profits to fall 11.3% for this fiscal year.
UNBOXED ASSEMBLY FOR CHINA? LEXUS BUILDS A NEW PLANT THERE
Toyota also announced its going to establish a new EV assembly and battery plant in Shanghai for Lexus. It will feature a new BEV platform and the plant will be tooled to make 100,000 cars a year with 1,000 employees in 2027. We think it’s possible that this new platform and plant will come out of Toyota’s skunk works project called the BEV Factory. We know that Toyota has been working on its version of unboxed assembly, and that would be one way for it to quickly catch up or to even possibly leapfrog the best Chinese EV companies.
TOYOTA’S U.S. BATTERY PLANT READY TO START PRODUCTION
As long as we’re talking about Toyota and batteries, we need to note that the giant automaker is ready to start producing batteries outside of Japan for the first time. Its $14 billion battery factory in North Carolina will start shipping batteries in April for hybrid, plug-in hybrid and pure electric vehicles. By 2030, Toyota is aiming for the plant to produce 30-GWh of batteries a year.
GERMAN MORALE DOWN IN THE DUMPS
Things seem to be going from bad to worse for the German auto industry, and morale is really down. A recent survey asked companies to gauge the business climate in Germany and it found that sentiment in the auto industry has reached a new low. Companies are concerned about the industry’s ability to compete with strong competitors from China, falling sales in Europe and Trump’s tariff threats on car imports.
BENTLEY OPENS LUXURY APARTMENTS IN MIAMI
If you’re going to own a Bentley, you may as well look like you live in the lap of luxury. Bentley is opening its own luxury residences in Miami and with starting prices of $5.8 million they have some pretty nice amenities. That includes a private elevator for your car. No need to park and walk to the elevator, you just ride up with your car. Owners will also have a private heated swimming pool on each balcony, a beauty salon and even their furry friends get their own 114 square foot pet spa. But there’s room for it when each unit is 20,000 square feet and has three floors with views of the beach.
DS ANNOUNCES PRICING FOR NUMBER 8 EV
DS Automobiles, which is part of Stellantis, revealed pricing for its all-new BEV, the Number 8, which launches in the second half of this year. The base front-drive version with 230 horsepower and a 74-kWh battery pack that provides 550 kilometers or about 340 miles of range starts at just under 60,000 euro. There’s also a 245-horsepower front-wheel drive model that can be paired with a 97-kWh battery, which provides up to 750 kilometers or roughly 465 miles of range. Or that pack can be combined with an AWD version that makes 350 horsepower. The top-line trim of the Number 8 starts at just over 74,500 euros. DS says the Number 8 is the first of its designs to be solely electric, so we will be interested to see if sales and market conditions allow it to stay on that path.
FRENCH MINT MAKES 1955 CITROEN DS €10 SILVER COIN
And speaking of DS, the automaker is celebrating the 70th anniversary of the original DS model in a unique way. It partnered with the French Mint to create a one-off silver 10 Euro coin that depicts a 1955 DS 19 mirrored with a 1975 DS 23. Only 5,000 coins will be made which cost €15 each and the coins go on sale today on the French Mint website. On top of this one, DS and the French Mint plan to introduce more special coins throughout the year.
GM AXES 1,000 CRUISE EMPLOYEES
At the end of last year, General Motors pulled the plug on developing robotaxis and folded its autonomous unit Cruise back into its existing engineering operations. And now it’s cutting the Cruise workforce in half or by about 1,000 people. It’s not just engineers, many high-level executives are headed for the door, including CEO Marc Whitten. GM said it decided to stop funding Cruise because of increased competition as well as the cost and time it would take to scale it. Now it will focus on developing its SuperCruise hands-free driving system. GM says it will save it $500 million this year by absorbing Cruise’s operations and twice as much in the coming years.
TESLA EU SALES PLUMMET, MOSTLY BECAUSE OF ELON
Earlier this week we reported that based on preliminary data Tesla’s sales in Europe were dropping fast. Well, today we’ve got more numbers and the situation may even be worse than we first suspected. On Monday, we told you that sales of Tesla’s were down 63% in France last month. Well, they were also down 44% in Norway, 38% in Sweden and 42% in the Netherlands. In the UK, Tesla sales slipped 12% even though overall BEV sales surged 35% to an all-time record. Tesla has slipped to only 7th in EV sales in the UK, behind companies like Volkswagen, Mercedes, BMW and Peugeot. It seems like there’s a number of factors here. Several polls show that European EV buyers have had it with Elon Musk’s politics. Tesla is also transitioning to the new Model Y and typically has low inventory in the first quarter when it tries to boost end-of-year results.
WATCH THE SUPER BOWL, WIN A KIA
Kia is giving away free cars during the Big Game this Sunday, doing its own version of football squares. If you’ve never heard of squares, people pay to have their name put in the square of a large grid with the rows and columns representing the teams. Before the game each square is assigned two numbers from 0-9. Those numbers correspond to the last digit of a team’s score. If both your numbers match the last digit of the team’s point total at the end of the quarter, then you win. And since there’s 4 quarters, there’s 4 chances to win. But instead of handing out cash, Kia is giving away cars. It has a special website, called kiasquares.com, for people to sign up, which requires your name, email address and zip code.
But that brings us to the end of today’s show. Thanks for tuning in.
Thanks to our partner for embedding Autoline Daily on its website: WardsAuto.com
I signed up for kiasquares. There’s no Kia I’d buy right now, but I wouldn’t mind taking a one in a million chance of winning one.
The DS coin is shown as “out of stock” on the French Mint web site. I was going to order one, if you could do that from the US.
Who’s surprised with tesla sales decline? I’d be embarrassed to drive such a thing these days. Hard to decouple. I project it will be cheaper to buy a used Tesla than a Pontiac Aztec.
Nissan has a history of egocentric leadership, they need to come down to earth and humbly submit to Honda’s demands. I think any option where Nissan leadership stays on top will kill the company.
Surprising how persistent Toyota is with the Chinese market. I hear they are practically giving their EVs away there, and still not selling very much.
Perhaps Mr. Musk should step down or step away as the leader of Tesla and hus other companies. I’m not saying that because of any political interests, but leading his various organizations was a full time job in and of itself, but his newest ‘job’ would seem to be one that could/would/should demand his fullest attention! Whike all of his company responsibilities will and do affect people, his assignment in association with the new administration, could touch every individual in the US and could even impact the lives of people around the world, in one way, shape or form. So being focused and giving THAT job your undivided attention, would seem far more important. It also seems that running these businesses, may not be top of mind fir him either.
Kit,
I own a 1968 DS and am thinking I need to get one of those coins too.
Reading the article on Musk, the author attempts to correlate the two things which do not necessarily have direct connections. It is high on inference. Then later on in the article the expert weighed in and said this: “It’s not due to Musk’s views or British motorists’ views about Musk – they stopped innovating after the Model Y,”
That is something that I have seen in Tesla. Their cars are just not innovative anymore. They are old hat and the design of both the interior/exterior is old as well. In fact, when the Y was released 4 years ago the design language was already old and tired. Focusing on the CyberTruck and not refreshing the entirety of their line up was a huge mistake. They also canceled the $25K EV in favor of the cybertruck. In my view that was yet another huge blunder. The model Y is getting some new headlights and tail lights in the spring, but that is likely not going to be enough to get anyone interested in their blob of a car.
Gee it must have taken a team months to create the name of the new DS. Number 8. How inspiring.
Unfortunately I won’t be enjoying the Bentley lifestyle in those fancy condos. John,fun to hear you own a ds. There was a small shop where I live that took care of those and a few other quirky cars for many years,now long gone.
John, the DS was/is a cool car. I suspect parts are hard to come by, especially in the US, but it would be a fun car drive occasionally, and take to shows.
wmb, “his (Elon’s) assignment in association with the new administration, could touch every individual in the US and could even impact the lives of people around the world, in one way, shape or form.”
That’s an understatement. Xi and the CCP will love what he’s doing, killing USAID. China has been increasing influence around the world, especially in Africa and South America. Now, it will be open season for them to increase influence there, and other places, like the Middle East and Muslim Southeast Asian countries.
Tesla would be better off free of Elon, because of Elon, more than the products. If Chinese consumers are fond of their leadership, I would expect Tesla sales to suffer because of competition more than Elon, but in most of the rest of the world, not really. Musk’s other main enterprise, SpaceX, will be fine. Much of their business is with the government, which will be safe with Trump, and after Trump, if they continue doing their job well as they have been.
The Model Y is four years old, but so is the current F-150 which is selling in normal numbers. The new Model Y is greatly improved in one way. The turn signal stalk is back. It’s too early to know the long term effects of Elon’s politics on Tesla sales. It will depend on how much damage he does, and how apparent it becomes to people in the US, and around the world.
I’m not surprised that Bentley’s condos for billionaires are going to be in Miami. I’m in Miami occasionally, and see more Bentleys, and true exotics on the street there than any other place I’ve been, at least in the US.
MERKER/Kit —
Regardless of one’s politics, his roll in the new admin to over haul and cut, what they feel to be, wasteful spending, is such a HUGE task. Even if he actually has staff doing the physical work, one would think it would require his full attention. When you look at how big and sprawling the federal government and the many individual departments, programs and sub sections and the like are, it might take more then Trump’s current term to just get a change to LOOK at everything, what their spending encompasses, how those funds are used and what organizations and institutions will impacted and how, and to then honestly determine whether the federal funds are being used responsibly or not!
Then, on top of that government job and its work load, he’s got to run his companies, one of which is Tesla, in the highly competitive and fast pace automotive industry. While I personally feel that Tesla is still the tip of the arrow in the EV sector for both hard and software, as others have mentioned, they are not as far out front as they use to be. The slack hand of the Tesla’s ‘man-in-charge’, is not fair to those how look to him for direction: His employees and shareholders! He can still have influence over the direction of Tesla as the Chairman of the board of directors, but the companies day-to-day operations as CEO, he should hand off to someone else!
….IMHO1
Other than SS and Medicare, the military accounts for 57% of the budget. Elon could save a lot more by ending programs the military branches don’t even want, than shutting down USAID, resulting in death and suffering in places where it’s effective. So far, Elon’s absence hasn’t hurt SpaceX much. Three of their rockets have launched successfully near me in the last three weeks.
Kit, you’d be surprised. It’s not that hard to get most parts for a DS. I’ve replaced the exhaust, the water pump and tires. Not only were they relatively easy to get, they weren’t exorbitantly expensive. Thanks goodness for the internet.
Yeah, the internet is very useful for finding most things. Even tubes for older audio equipment are impossible to obtain any other way.