AD #4094 – Stellantis Throws In the Towel with Fuel Cells; Volvo To Shift SUV Production to U.S.; Mercedes Reveals 1st All-Electric Wagon

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

STELLANTIS ENDS FUEL CELL DEVELOPMENT
Stellantis is giving up on hydrogen fuel cell technology. It announced that it has discontinued the development of the program because it says there’s “no prospects of mid-term economic sustainability.” The company blames a lack of a refueling network, high investment costs and the need for purchase incentives as the reasons why it doesn’t think fuel cell commercial vehicles will be bought in the kinds of volume needed to sustain the business. Stellantis’ commercial division, called Stellantis Pro One, had planned to launch a new range of hydrogen-powered vans this year, but will now focus on hybrid and electric vehicles instead. Those vehicles were also part of a hydrogen joint venture, called Symbio, which was formed between Forvia, Michelin and Stellantis and has ties to the supplier Scheffler. But Stellantis plans to be gone from that partnership by next year as well. It says it’s in discussions with shareholders to evaluate the consequences of it leaving and to preserve the best interests of Symbio, but the future of the joint venture is unclear without Stellantis on board. Honda also recently announced it would be delaying and scaling back its next-gen fuel cell program. However as of right now, it’s still moving forward with its production plans.

FORD PLANS MORE PASSENGER CARS FOR EUROPE
10 years ago, Ford sold 1.3 million passenger cars in Europe, but last year it sold under 430,000. That’s a huge drop, caused by chopping models from its passenger car lineup to focus on light commercial vehicles because they were seen as more profitable. But it’s extremely difficult for an automaker as big as Ford to maintain a business with that kind of volume without making any changes. As crazy as it sounds, we wondered if Ford might drop out of the European passenger car market altogether. But help is coming. Automotive News reports that dealers in Europe were told that CEO Jim Farley is planning to develop a new lineup of models for the region and they won’t just be EVs. I’m sure dealers wished they already had these cars on their lots, but no word on when we’ll see them yet.

VOLVO TO SHIFT SUV PRODUCTION TO U.S.
More automakers are shifting production to the U.S. to avoid tariffs. Yesterday, we reported that Nissan is looking into moving the Armada and Infiniti QX80 from Japan to its plant in Canton, Mississippi. And now Automotive News reports that Volvo is planning to build the XC60 and XC90 at its plant in South Carolina. The two crossovers are currently imported from Sweden and they accounted for nearly half of Volvo’s U.S. sales in the first half of the year. In addition to avoiding tariffs, shifting production to the U.S. will also help improve volumes at the South Carolina plant, which is severely underutilized. Last year, the factory only produced 20,000 vehicles, just 13% of its capacity.

   

UBER & BAIDU FORM ROBOTAXI PARTNERSHIP
Last week we made a chart with the top 22 car companies in the world based on market cap. And it seems like investors really like the potential of robotaxis with Uber only raking behind Tesla and Toyota and China’s Baidu surging past Stellantis and 9 other automakers. And now those two giants are teaming up. By the end of this year, users will be able to order a Baidu robotaxi from Uber’s app in cities across Asia and the Middle East. The service will then expand to other international markets to help give Uber and Baidu a more global presence. In the U.S. Uber also has robotaxi deals with Waymo and Volkswagen.

RENAULT NAMES CFO INTERIM CEO
Renault has a new CEO…for now. The automaker announced that it has appointed Chief Financial Officer, Duncan Minto, as its interim CEO. He’ll run the day-to-day operations along with Renault’s Chairman until a new CEO is hired. Renault is looking for a new leader after former CEO Luca de Meo unexpectedly resigned last month to run the luxury group Kering.

RENAULT LOWERS 2025 FINANCIAL GUIDANCE
Renault also shared its first-half financial guidance for the year which disappointed investors. The company said June sales were weaker than expected and it also lowered the targets for its operating profit margin and free cash flow for the year. As a result, Renault’s shares tumbled as much as 18% and are on track for its worst day since March 2020.

MERCEDES REVEALS 1ST ALL-ELECTRIC WAGON
Earlier this year, Mercedes revealed the new all-electric CLA sedan and now it’s showing off the station wagon version, the first electric wagon in Mercedes’ lineup. Like the CLA sedan, the wagon or the Shooting Brake, features a 200-kW or nearly 270-horsepower electric motor for rear-drive models while AWD versions come with 260-kW or 450 horsepower. The wagon also features an 85-kWh battery pack, like the sedan, but it gets less range because of the extra weight. Rear-drive wagon models have 761-kilometers or 472 miles of range while AWD versions are at 730-kilometers or 453 miles, based on the WLTP cycle. The electric CLA wagon goes on sale next year in Europe, which will be followed by a hybrid version as well.

HONDA HELPS U.S. BOBSLED TEAM IMPROVE AERODYNAMICS
Honda is pitching in to help the U.S. Olympic bobsled and skeleton teams. It’s letting them use its wind tunnel in Ohio to help improve aerodynamics. Bobsleds are capable of hitting speeds of 90 miles an hour. And on skeletons, how athletes position themselves, including where they place their head, hands, arms and legs, can have a significant impact on aero. Honda’s wind tunnel has a moving ground plane that simulates the ground rushing by underneath the sleds, which gives them more accurate measurements. Honda has a 5-year commitment to the program and will use the Acura brand as the sponsor. We’ll see the results of this effort at next year’s Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy, as well as through multiple seasons of the World Cup and World Championship competitions, all the way to the Winter Olympics in France in 2030.

  

ONLY 8 CHINESE AUTOMAKERS POST Q1 NET PROFIT
We found an interesting comparison that Car News China did looking at the profitability of Chinese automakers in the first quarter. There are at least 8 automakers who are profitable, though in most cases their bottom lines are mighty slim. BYD leads the list with a healthy $1.2 billion in net profit. And Geely came in second place with $790 million. But then it really starts to drop off. SAIC made $421 million, Great Wall Motors made $244 million, Changan made $188 million, BAIC made $129 million, Seres came in at $104 million, and LiAuto made $90 million. Except for BYD’s profit, none of these other companies are making much money. And that means the rest are all losing money. I think there’s two things to read into this. The price war in China is really taking a toll on the bottom line, and this also shows why Chinese automakers are exporting so heavily because they can get higher prices overseas.

10% OF SPRINTER’S CONVERTED INTO CAMPERS
Here’s a real quick stat that I found interesting, so I thought you might too. Mercedes claims that worldwide last year one in every 10 Sprinter vans sold was converted into a motorhome or camper. That seemed like an awful lot at first, but the Sprinter is an awfully popular platform for conversions. So, now that’s what I’m going to be looking for every time I see a Sprinter van on the road. 

But that’s a wrap for today’s show. Thanks for making Autoline a part of your day.