AD #4089 – BYD #3 Globally by Market Cap; U.S. Smuggles in Chinese Minerals; AV Race Car Smashes Track Record

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

U.S. SMUGGLES IN CHINESE MINERALS
U.S. buyers of critical minerals have figured out how to get around to China’s crackdown on supplies. After the U.S. restricted Chinese access to semiconductors last year, China retaliated by banning exports of antimony, a metal that’s used in batteries and chips, as well as gallium and germanium, which are used in telecommunications, chips and military technology. But imports of those minerals have surged in the U.S. and they’re on pace to equal or exceed the levels before the ban. That’s because shipments are being re-routed via third countries, specifically Thailand and Mexico. Reuters reports that the workaround involves a buying agent in China who gets minerals from producers, then a shipping company routes them, relabeled as iron, zinc or art supplies, via another Asian country. China is aware of the practice and in May it implemented penalties, fines, bans and even jail time to try and stop it.

BYD #3 GLOBALLY BY MARKET CAP
Tesla seems to be getting hit by one wave of bad news after another. Sales are falling, profits are dropping, Elon and President Trump are throwing hands on social media, and yet, despite all of that, Tesla is still worth more than every other car company put together. We’ve got a comparison here of the top 22 publicly-traded automakers in the world, based on their market capitalization, as of the close of market yesterday. And there’s some real shockers in there. Look at BYD, which is third on the list. And notice how Li Auto is worth nearly as much as Stellantis. It’s also kind of shocking to see that Rivian is worth more than Renault. But Tesla is still worth more than all of them put together.

OEM Mkt Cap Billions
Tesla $943
Toyota $271
BYD $141
VW AG $59
M-B $57
Honda $53
GM $50
BMW $49
Ford $47
Hyundai $39
Stellantis $30
Li Auto $29
Geely $21
Rivian $16
Renault $14
Subaru $12
Nissan $8
NIO $7
Lucid $7
Mazda $4
Total $1,855
Total w/o Tesla $912

CHINA LOVES TRUMP’S “ONE BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL”
The head of China’s Passenger Car Association loves the part of President Trump’s One Big Beautiful bill that gets rid of EV subsidies. He says it’s a big win for the Chinese auto industry because now the U.S. will mainly concentrate on producing obsolete internal combustion technology, while China will surge ahead with New Energy Vehicles, which includes BEVs, PHEVS and EREVs. So far this year, China’s global exports of these types of vehicles are up 48% and will probably top 2 million units before the year is over. 

FORD STILL QUALIFIES FOR U.S. BATTERY SUBSIDIES
And yet, that One Big Beautiful Bill didn’t gut everything to do with EVs. The Ford Motor Company says the battery plant it’s building in Michigan using CATL technology to make LFP batteries will still qualify for U.S. government subsidies. Ford says those batteries are critical for it to come out with profitable electric vehicles that cost under $30,000. Jim Farley says they’re working on the EV equivalent of a modern-day Model T that will be out in 2027. We don’t have all the details yet, but it looks like Trump’s bill is keeping at least some of the battery production tax credits in place.  

TEENS CAN RENT WAYMO AVs
You no longer need a driver’s license to get a car. At least not in Phoenix, Arizona you don’t. Waymo is now allowing teens from 14-17 years old to order rides for themselves. A parent or guardian needs to have an account first, but then they can add a kid to it. There’s even specially trained remote operators to assist and they can contact account owners if necessary. Trip status can also be shared in real-time and account owners receive all bills. This is kind of big news. Most states require you to be 21 years old to rent a car, and some rental companies have special policies for anyone under 25.

   

BAIDU RENTS AVs BY THE WEEK
In somewhat related news, Chinese autonomous provider Baidu has partnered with a car rental service to offer its robotaxis to users. So, instead of ordering a ride to go from point A to point B, you can now have a Baidu robotaxi all to yourself for as little as 4 hours or as much as 7 days. You need to be 18 or older, but no word on if you need a driver’s license or what the service will cost.

AV RACE CAR SMASHES TRACK RECORD
Speaking of autonomous cars and the progress they’re making, a race car from the Indy Autonomous Challenge just smashed the track record at the Autodromo of Modena in Italy. The previous record was held by a Lamborghini Huracán STO with a human driver and the autonomous Indy Autonomous car beat that record by a second. And if you know road racing, that’s a big margin. The autonomous race car uses an Indy Lights chassis with a 2-liter Honda engine with 450 horsepower. It’s equipped with 4 Luminar lidars, 2 radars from Continental, 6 cameras and uses processors from Intel and NVIDIA. All told it has 14 terabytes of on-board storage. Students and researchers from the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia are the ones who set the record.

RIVIAN LAUNCHES GEN 2 QUAD MOTOR
Rivian fans will be happy to know that the EV maker is bringing its quad-motor setup to its second-gen R1 models. The setup was previously offered on the first-gen R1T and S, but only the dual- and tri-motor versions had been offered on the second-gen up to this point. The quad-motor offers 1,025 horsepower and nearly 1,200 lb-ft of torque, which rockets both R1 models from 0-60 MPH in about 2.5 seconds and they’ll cover the quarter mile in 10.5 seconds. EPA range is estimated at 374 miles, while a NACS charging port is standard. The quad-motor R1T starts at about $120,000 and the R1S version is about $126,000.

RIVIAN SPIN-OFF VALUED AT $1B
In other Rivian news, Also Inc, the micromobility company it spun off in May, just raised another $200 million in funding, which takes its total valuation over $1 billion. Also is scheduled to launch its first product early next year, which is expected to be some kind of e-bike.

U.S. USED CAR PRICES CLIMBING 
Used car prices in the U.S. are on the rise and they’re expected to continue going up. The Manheim Used Vehicle Index, which tracks prices of used vehicles sold at wholesale auctions, increased 1.6% last month from May on a seasonally adjusted basis and it’s up 6.3% compared to last year, which is the largest annual increase since August 2022. A couple of factors are contributing to the increase in price. Trump’s tariffs prompted buyers to snap up new vehicles before they set in, which impacted supplies and forced some buyers to the used market and led to price increases. Also, supplies of used vehicles were already tight because of a shortage of new vehicles caused by the pandemic and chip shortage a few years back. So, there aren’t as many vehicles coming off lease into the used market, which is also boosting prices.

VW AG EKES OUT GLOBAL Q2 SALES GAIN
Despite a big drop in North America, the Volkswagen Group increased sales in the second quarter. The Group sold 2.3 million vehicles worldwide, which was up just over 1% compared to a year ago. North America was the only market to see a decline, which was down 16%. Europe saw a slight increase, less than 1%, and China was up almost 3%. The VW Group’s fully-electric sales were also strong in the second quarter. It sold over 248,000 BEVs globally, up 37%. That was mainly in Europe, where VW’s BEV sales surged 72%. But BEV sales were down 5% in the U.S. and 32% in China.

BENTLEY REVEALS JAG-LIKE EV CONCEPT
Bentley revealed an all-new EV concept, called the EXP 15. While it takes inspiration from Grand Tourers of the 1930s, the model’s design hints at upcoming electric cars we’ll see from Bentley. It says three key traits; Monolithic Presence, Muscular Form and Carved Precision; make up the core of what its future vehicles will look like. And that will include a slight modification to the wings on Bentley’s logo. The EXP 15 is over 5 meters or about 16.5 feet long, but yet it only has three seats. The passenger side features coach doors and a section of roof that opens to provide a massive entranceway. The seat will even swivel to make getting in and out easier and it can also be moved all the way forward, next to the driver, or all the way back, creating room for luggage or a pet. Thanks to a hatchback design that’s paired with a tailgate, there’s even the option for a little lounge area in the back. We’ll have to see if any of this actually makes its way to Bentley’s first production EV, which is going to be revealed sometime next year. 

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