Follow us on social media:
Runtime: 9:15
0:00 Auto Stocks Jump on Hint of Tariff Relief
0:52 Honda Considers 90% U.S. Production for U.S. Market
1:32 Nissan Stops Rogue Imports to U.S., For Now
2:00 Nio, Xpeng, Li Auto Won’t Survive, Says Expert
2:33 Next-Gen Corvette Due In 2029
4:18 Supplier Dispute Threatens GM Pickup Production
5:24 CATL’s Net Profit Up 33%
5:51 Shareholders Mad About Tavares’s Pay Package
6:24 Stella’s Shortlist for A New CEO
6:52 Startup Aims to Cut Cathode Cost in Half
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.
AUTO STOCKS JUMP ON HINT OF TARIFF RELIEF
Another day, another change in Trump’s tariff policy. Now the President says he wants to give automakers temporary relief on the parts they bring in from Canada and Mexico. He says automakers need more time to make the transition to building more cars and components in the U.S. But he didn’t say when or how this tariff relief might happen. Even so, investors jumped at the news. GM’s stock was up 3.5%, Ford was up 4.1% and U.S. suppliers were up an average of almost 2%. Of course, that’s what’s happening today in this on-going tariff soap opera, and tomorrow could be completely different.
HONDA CONSIDERS 90% U.S. PRODUCTION FOR U.S. MARKET
Meanwhile, Honda is reportedly looking at moving production from Mexico and Canada to the U.S. with the goal of hitting 90% U.S. production for vehicles sold in the American market. That would involve moving the CR-V out of Canada and the HR-V out of Mexico, and going to 3-shift operations at a U.S. assembly plant. That would result in a 30% increase in U.S. production over the next two to three years. The U.S. is Honda’s biggest market, accounting for 40% of the company’s global sales.
NISSAN STOPS ROGUE IMPORTS TO U.S., FOR NOW
And Nissan will stop exporting the Rogue from Japan to the U.S. for three months starting in May. It will use that time to assess where the tariff situation is going. If it decides to make this a permanent move, that would cut imports of the Rogue by 52,000 units a year. Nissan also makes the Rogue at its plant in Smyrna, Tennessee, and presumably it will boost production there.
NIO, XPENG, LI AUTO WON’T SURVIVE, SAYS EXPERT
OK, enough with the tariff stuff already. Now, over to China, where an auto expert says any EV maker in China that sells fewer than 2 million EVs a year will not survive. He says that Nio, XPeng and Li Auto will either have to merge, restructure or go bankrupt. Professor Zhu Xican from the School of Automotive Engineering at Tongji University says the odds of these EV startups surviving on their own is zero.
NEXT-GEN CORVETTE DUE IN 2029
We’ve got some intel on the next generation Chevrolet Corvette. Autoforecast Solutions says the next gen ‘Vette will go into production in June of 2029 at the Bowling Green assembly plant in Kentucky. Interestingly, the internal code General Motors is using for the platform still calls it a C8. Maybe that means it’s just a highly modified version of the current platform. But we’re also curious to know if the next-gen Corvette will look anything like the concept hypercar that it unveiled a week ago.
SUPPLIER DISPUTE THREATENS GM PICKUP PRODUCTION
General Motors could see production of its most profitable trucks and SUVs come to a screeching halt and it has nothing to do with tariffs. Two of its suppliers are arguing over pricing: South Korean tie-rod maker Primax and Chinese-owned steering column supplier Nexteer. Primax stopped shipping parts to Nexteer because it wants higher prices due to raw materials costing more. Nexteer said no, and filed a lawsuit against Primax to force it to continue supplying parts. GM is in danger of running out of steering columns by the end of the week and that would force it to stop production of models like the Chevy Silverado, Tahoe and Suburban as well as the GMC Sierra and Yukon and the Cadillac Escalade. And as everyone in this business knows, any supplier that causes an automaker to shut down its assembly lines is in danger of never getting any new business again.
CATL’S NET PROFIT UP 33%
The largest EV battery maker, CATL, had a super-strong first quarter. Its revenue hit $11.5 billion in the first three months of the year, up 6% compared to a year ago. That’s its first revenue increase in five straight quarters. But the big news is that CATL’s net profit soared 33% to $1.9 billion.
SHAREHOLDERS MAD ABOUT TAVARES’S PAY PACKAGE
Carlos Tavares was pushed out of Stellantis as CEO last year as sales and profits plummeted, and it fought with suppliers, dealers and unions. Even so, Tavares is walking away with a pay package worth over $40 million. And investor groups are hopping mad that he’s getting so much money after the stock dropped 67% from a year ago. They’re advising shareholders to vote against the payout at the company’s annual meeting today.
STELLA’S SHORTLIST FOR A NEW CEO
And speaking of Stellantis, the automaker is closing in on choosing a new CEO. Reuters reports that it has reduced its shortlist to five candidates. Two of them are internal: Antonio Filosa, who’s the head of North America and Maxime Picat, the head of procurement. Stella has also interviewed three external candidates, and wants to hire its new CEO by the end of the first half.
STARTUP AIMS TO CUT CATHODE COST IN HALF
Did you know that the cathode is by far the most expensive part of an EV battery? In fact, it accounts for 51% of the cost, or as much as $3,600 for a typical battery. So a startup based in Blacksburg, Virginia, called Fermi Energy, is working on a new type of cathode that will cut the cost in half. It’s a lithium iron phosphate cathode made with what the company calls mechanofusion dry processing. It can boost the range of an EV that gets 250 miles of range up to 320 miles, with no other changes. And with a fast charger it can add 25 miles a minute. Fermi Energy was one of the winners of this year’s GAMIC awards. GAMIC is the Global Automotive and Mobility Innovation Contest, and the winners are selected by a panel with automotive and technological expertise.
That brings us to the end of today’s report. Thanks for making Autoline Daily a part of your day. And a special thanks to all of you who have signed up for Patreon and YouTube memberships because you’re the ones that make it all possible.
Thanks to our partner for embedding Autoline Daily on its website: WardsAuto.com
John, Honda Canada separately assured the Canadian and Ontario governments that production is NOT shifting from Canada to the US. Honda did say that the planned expansion at the Alliston plant may move to the US however.
The problems the tariffs are going to face is many of these automotive suppliers have contracts with companies overseas so moving production may not even be an option. They would likely not have a plant here in the states so the only option would be to resource and break the existing contract.
These corporation boards have to get smarter about hiring CEOs and put in clauses for failed leaders. No one should run a company into the ground and walk away with millions of dollars. Not sure why they aren’t smart enough to figure this out. I hope they vote down Tavares package. Not voting it down is irresponsible and borderline criminal.
If the next Vette is still a C8. I doubt it will look anything like the recent design concept. Have to wonder if hybrid or any electrification is still in its future.
I don’t think the Corvette needs very much, except some minor restyling. The C8 drives great, even in its base form. The interior is perfectly ok, given the price of the base car. The Corvette is less of a bargain if you get the ~$40K or $90K engine options in the Z06 or ZR1, but there are people willing to pay the price for those.
I hope the Corvette powertrains remain pretty much the same, for now. I don’t know how the E-Ray is selling, but ~$30K seems like a big price premium for that one.
This tariff thing is a mess, and the way things are going, will stay that way. Suppliers run on very tight margins, and are more likely to go out of business, that to move large amounts of manufacturing to the US.
If Honda moves CR-V manufacturing to the US, RAV4 will lead Canadian sales by an ever wider margin than it already does.
@Kit on tariffs: Apparently exemptions are or will be made for parts and components and complete vehicles. Also for high-value electronics such as phones. It is my understanding that the administration puts the tariffs on imported goods to get manufacturing to the US. The tariffs remain on all other goods such as apparel and cheap plastic widgets. Is the objective to have American workers fold tee shirts or manufacture high value products? If the latter, I would expect the tariffs on the high-value products and exemptions on the tee shirts and shorts.
It is hard to follow for me, but hey, what do I know?
I read that a Chinese battery for a laptop will have a 125% tariff, a Chinese battery IN a laptop from China will have a 20% tariff, and a Chinese battery in a laptop from Vietnam will have a 0% tariff. That wouldn’t seem to encourage making laptops in the US, if the imported parts have many times, or infinitely higher tariffs than if they are used to build a device in China or Vietnam.
@Kit on tariffs: yes, I agree. And it seems to me that with the many different tariffs per product group per country we will have another round of screaming in future of “They charge x% and we y%, this is unfair trade.” A systematic consistent, well-thought-through approach is needed to make this better, while the chaotic back-and-forth makes it worse.
The countries with the highest tariffs on the President’s board were Vietnam, Indonesia and other East Asian countries. Those have zero or low single digit tariffs among themselves and with Canada and Mexico. We could also have had those if we had not left the Trans Pacific Partnership on January 23, 2017. I am surprised that this has not been mentioned in analyses on the news channels. The fact of the matter is that leaving TPP was a blunder. TPP excluded China and included all countries around China. By leaving TPP in 2017 we gave up the only leverage we had before starting the first trade war against China. Now we have huge tariffs with all ASEAN countries while Canada and Mexico don’t and maybe we get with a lot of negotiation and drama to low double digit tariffs. The past eight years since leaving TPP have inflicted an enormous economic damage on us.
Without low tariffs with the countries surrounding China and high tariffs on China, too, we end up sewing and folding tee shirts in the USA. What we should be doing is importing that cheap stuff with lowest possible barriers and use our labor for higher value-added products.
Big corvette fan since seeing a 53 in 55, and owned a 58 in my teen years.
Two high school class mates, class of 1964, got Corvettes as graduation presents. Seeing how those cars were almost “beaters,” when 5-6 years old, you realize that the pristine C1 ‘Vettes you now see at shows are, putting it mildly, not very original. While they drove well, my friends’ cars had cracked body panels, rough interiors, etc. I would loved to have them, though.
A refreshed C8 would be a welcome blessing. They have run the course of special models to keep buzz going now that the ZR1 is released. Time for a refresh at a minimum. But waiting to 2029, 10 years after the initial C8 release, is a very long time. Reminds me of the old Bugatti Veyron that was special model this, limited edition that as they drug that thing on for 10 years until they mercifully refreshed it into the Chiron. I get it as they only sold 450 Veyrons in 10 years so they couldn’t refresh it every year, but still, we were all getting a little tired of the Veyron after 10 years. If we were tired of Veyrons after 10 years, you can be rest assured we will be done with mass market C8 vettes in 10 years. Of course I am OK with that as used prices on C8s in 2029 will be low making it the perfect time to pick up a C8 on the extreme cheap.
Kit maybe you can comment on the C8 interior but the ones I’ve seen it was nice and not the typical cheap shared component type of interior that GM tends to do with Cadillac. How that compares to the likes of Ferrari, Porsche or Lamborghini I’m not sure. As they seem all about the same to me. Does GM need to step up on the interior? Cause when I look at the C8 I think they’ve basically nailed it on the exterior. Performance is on par so at this point it’s a bargain. The design is only 5 years old so I can’t see them making a drastic change like toward the concept design. A slight refresh would make sense but I’m not sure how you improve on perfection. My guess is the changes will be minimal.
Lambo, I’ve never seen the interior of a recent Ferrari or Lamborghini, so I don’t know what they are like. The comparison I’ve had is C8 and Porsche Cayman. The C8 is “flashier,” with a lot more options to customize displays, etc., but both are fine to me. There are seat options with certain packages to “dress it up,” but my standard seats looked good, and were comfortable to me. Cosmetic options can run the price up, without making the car drive any better. The C8’s HVAC controls in a long row, front to back between the seats seems a little gimmicky, but it works ok. The interior of a Porsche 911 seems “classier” than a C8 or Cayman, but it should be, given the price of the car.
As far as the C8 needing a refresh, sales are down a little in early 2025, but that could be partly because of declining “consumer confidence.” It’s been around as long as the C7 was, but the C8 was such a drastic change, I’d expect it to be around longer. So far, C8s are holding their value pretty well. According to KBB, a “base” 2021 in excellent condition has a trade-in value of $61K.
As far as VW Bugattis costing more than $3M, I don’t know what that has to do with Corvettes, or much else. I haven’t seen one in my life. I’ve seen a few old Bugattis in museums, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen one being driven.
CEO pay is a disgrace 99% of cases, and Tavares’ is just one more example.
Why? Because CEOS get to appoint their own Compensation Boards!
and second, because all of these clowns should be subject to what the great Elon Musk’s compensation was a few years ago:
Zero salary, AND he would not get a dime if he did not deliver to the shareholders, then if he did very well, he would make billions, as he ended up doing (but he sure did not know that when he signed the agreement!)