Follow us on social media:
Runtime: 11:20
0:00 Rivian Sues Ohio Over Direct Sales Ban
0:48 Tesla’s Sales Nosedive in Europe Again
1:42 Buick Unveils Sleek EV Sedan in China
2:51 Mazda Posts Loss on U.S. Tariffs
4:53 BMW Electric Paint Shop is More Efficient
6:04 Hyundai Launches 1st BEV in China
7:03 GM More Than Doubles U.S. EV Sales
7:57 JLR Taps Tata Exec for New CEO
8:26 IM Motors EREV w/ 605 Miles of Range
Visit our sponsors to thank them for their support of Autoline Daily: Bridgestone, CSP and Intrepid Control Systems.
This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry.
RIVIAN SUES OHIO OVER DIRECT SALES
Now it’s Rivian’s turn to fight U.S. states banning direct sales. The EV startup filed a lawsuit yesterday against Ohio, arguing the ban is unconstitutional and limits competition by protecting franchise dealers from new competition. Rivian also says the law is unfair because it includes a special exemption for Tesla, which allows it to operate three stores in the state and still sell directly. Rivian does operate service centers in Ohio and helps customers register vehicles in the state, but buyers have to finalize their purchase in another state and then arrange delivery.
TESLA SALES NOSEDIVE IN EUROPE, AGAIN
Yesterday we reported that Tesla sales in China have fallen for 9 of the last 10 months. And it’s a similar story in Europe. Last month Tesla’s sales in France were down more than 26%, in Germany they fell 55% and in the UK it was 59%. Meanwhile, sales of other BEVs in Europe were up 58% in July. Even more worrisome is that BYD is now selling as many pure EVs in Europe as Tesla does. The slump really started when Elon Musk began putting himself in the middle of European politics with loud support for far right parties and politicians. That turned off so much of Tesla’s customer base that sales took an immediate nose dive. And as the latest sales figures show, there are still no signs of it turning around.
BUICK UNVEILS STUNNING SEDAN IN CHINA
The Wildcat Concept that debuted in 2022 has strongly influenced all of Buick’s design since then, but could it be transitioning to a new look? It just revealed the Electra Orbit Concept in China, an all-electric 2+2 sedan that’s roughly 19.5 feet long. While it still has a shark-nose front end, it’s much lower, almost forming the bumper of the car. And the winged headlamps are gone too, replaced by three individual light bars on the left and right that kind of look like little hockey sticks turned on their side. Moving along the body, the roofline doesn’t stop at the trunk, forming a hatchback rear end, which comes to a sharp point and extends particularly far from the back wheels. All of the doors on the Orbit Concept scissor up just behind the wheels and feature lights that project beams into the sky. That leaves a pillarless opening leading into the interior, which has four individual seats for passengers. To me, this kind of seems like Buick’s version of the Cadillac Celestiq.
MAZDA POSTS LOSS ON TRUMP TARIFFS
Mazda reported its latest financial earnings and the numbers are dismal. It sold 3% fewer vehicles in the last quarter. Revenue fell 9%. It posted an operating loss of $312 million and a net loss of $285 million. U.S. tariffs alone took a $334 million bite out of its earnings. A stronger yen didn’t help either. Mazda thinks it can turn a profit for the year, but its biggest market by far is the United States, and except for a plant that it shares with Toyota in Alabama that makes the CX-50, it imports everything else. And that means everything else is now subject to a 15% tariff. Toyota and Honda will report their earnings later this week and are expected to see profits drop by at least a third.
BMW ELECTRIC PAINT SHOP IS SUPER EFFICIENT
The paint shop is the most expensive, the hardest to maintain and produces more emissions than any other part of an automotive assembly plant. But previously we covered a story about BMW switching out natural gas for electricity in the drying section at one of its paint shops in Germany. Over the New Year break it installed a new thermal oil system, which uses electricity to heat the oil to several hundred degrees Celsius, then the hot oil is passed through a heat exchanger and that warms the air in the drying chamber. The oil-based system can also be heated by almost any energy source, so BMW can more easily make changes in the future or use a different energy source depending on where the plant is located. In this German trial, BMW says the energy consumption of the drying equipment was reduced by about 40% and will cut the plant’s carbon footprint by the equivalent of 480 tons of CO2 per year, which according to AI is roughly the same as 104 gasoline-powered vehicles.
HYUNDAI LAUNCHES FIRST BEV IN CHINA
It’s hard to believe that Hyundai doesn’t currently sell any electric vehicles in China, but that’s about to change. The automaker, along with its joint-venture partner BAIC, is launching its first pure-EV in China called the Elexio. However, CarNewsChina reports it will be called the EO in China. It comes in both front and all-wheel-drive. Front-drive models have a 160-kW motor, while AWD versions have a combined output of 233-kW or 312 horsepower. The EO features an LFP battery from BYD with an estimated 700 kilometers or 435 miles of range based on the Chinese test cycle. The EO goes on sale next month in China and is estimated to cost around $20,000. The model is the first of at least five pure EVs that Hyundai plans to launch in China over the next three years.
GM DOUBLES U.S. EV SALES
While Tesla’s sales are falling in the U.S., it’s still the top EV performer. But where do the others stack up? According to Electrek, GM sold 19,000 EVs in July, more than double what it sold last year. And the Equinox EV made up about 45% of that total, selling roughly 8,500 units. That was the most EVs that any automaker other than Tesla has ever sold in the month of July. It was also over 2,000 units more than the Honda Prologue and about 3,000 more than the Hyundai IONIQ 5 and Ford Mustang Mach-E. Since GM only reports on a quarterly basis, Electrek estimates Chevy has sold about 36,000 Equinox EVs in the U.S. so far this year, which would put it about 9,000 units ahead of the Mach-E.
| Vehicle | July | YTD |
|---|---|---|
| Equinox EV | 8,500 | 36,000 |
| Honda Prologue | 6,318 | 22,635 |
| Hyundai IONIQ 5 | 5,818 | 24,910 |
| Ford Mustang Mach-E | 5,308 | 27,093 |
JLR TAPS TATA EXEC FOR CEO
Last week, Jaguar Land Rover CEO Adrian Mardell retired after holding the position for three years and spending more than three decades at the company. So, now the automaker has named P.B. Balaji as his replacement. Balaji has been the chief financial officer at Tata Motors since 2017 and Tata as you know owns Jaguar Land Rover. Balaji will officially take over as CEO of JLR in November.
IM MOTORS EREVs WITH 605 MILE RANGE
They call them REEVs or EREVs. Range extended EVs, or Extended range EVs. Either way, they’re the same thing and they happen to be the fastest growing segment in China. A good example is the latest models from IM Motors, the LS6 and LS9 SUV. They offer 1,500 kilometers of total range, and 450 kilometers of pure battery range. That’s on the CLTC test cycle, China’s rather generous mileage test. We think an equivalent EPA rating would be 605 miles of total range and 181 miles of battery range, which are still really good numbers for an EREV. But that’s accomplished with a rather large 66 kWh battery. The 800 volt system can add 310 kilometers of range in 15 minutes using a fast charger at 268 kilowatts. IM Motor uses a 1.5 liter IC engine as the range extender and uses noise cancellation to keep the cabin under 36 decibels when it’s running. The LS6 starts around $32,000. No word yet on the price of the LS9 SUV, which will be the flagship of the brand. We also think this is worth reporting on because IM Motors is owned by SAIC and the new AUDI brand that Audi is launching in China will leverage IM Motors’ EV platform. So, it’s possible AUDI will have the same EREV tech in China.
But that’s a wrap for this show. Thanks for tuning in.
Thanks to our partner for embedding Autoline Daily on its website: WardsAuto.com
Buick concept: All hat, no cattle.
Hyundai EV name: For the next one, try the “Dyslexion”, geniuses. I wonder how much money Hyundai wasted on some chick to come up with the silly name.
I figured GM had a hit with the Equinox EV. The base price is 32K which compares with the ICE variant at 29K. A difference for sure, but not to the degree typical of most EVs. You could almost offset the added 3K expense in fuel savings. With the federal tax credit, quickly expiring, you can walk out with a base model Equick EV for 25K or even 23K when combining it with other offers GM has going at this time.. Or you can opt for a higher spec trim or even AWD for the same price as a base model Equinox ICE. Not many SUVs can be had for 23K these days.
To be sure it has the same limitations as all EVs such as range/charge times. If you are using it as a go around town car though, it is a good choice. When the federal credit goes away it becomes a little harder to justify but might still be an OK choice even without the federal credit. The EV equinox is slighty smaller than the ICE variant so that does factor into things for those wanting to haul family and their gear. I would get an equinox EV well before even considering a Tesla Model Y. It is just more stylish to me both interior and exterior.
With all GMs EVs including the Buick Concept one has to question GM or SAIC
I’m shocked. You mean GM built an EV that isn’t a $35k econobox. Or a $70k electric truck that no one asked for. They managed to build an affordable SUV that is popular and also happens to be electric and people are surprised how well it’s selling. Really? I and others have been saying in here for years to just make a version of what sells in an EV and not throw every electronic feature at it that runs the price up into the 60k range and just make an affordable EV. Maybe someone was finally listening. Just sad that it took them 5+ years to figure it out. Now kill the EV trucks as that was a dumb idea to begin with and use that platform for the full size SUVs to at least get some payback on all that investment.
Lambo: The question our investigative journalists never ask, much less try to find out, is how much $ does GM lose on every EV Equinox it sells? FORD loses 5 billion a year from its EVs, and it makes the so called Mustang Mach E porker in MEXICO. Where does GM make the Equinox?
Dealerships hopefully see the writing on the wall that the day of New car sales is a dwindling job segment like elevator operator, switchboard operator and milkman. Times are changing and they might be able to hold on for a few more years but direct sales is the future more so than EVs. So much is purchased online and why not a vehicle? Other than test drives or trade in’s I see no advantage in using a dealership to buy a vehicle. I’d rather save a few grand and buy online. Riven should have no problem winning their lawsuit as those laws are not written with any public service or logic behind them. It was protectionism for the dealerships and nothing more.
Regulus- The equinox EV is made in GMs Ramos Arizpe plant in Mexico. That plant also makes the blazer ev.
Also according to GMs 4th quarter 2024 report they do not lose any money on equinox EV sales. However GMs goal for 2025 was to have low single digit profit margins on all its EVs. So they aren’t making much.
Lambo-thanks. However, I thought that unlike Ford, GM does not break down its profits or losses into EVs and ICEs.
Also, will those Mexico-made EVs now have to pay tariffs?
A piano tuner friend bought an Equinox EV about a month ago and likes it, except for the silly motorized door handles. A day’s driving is well within the range on a charge, and he charges overnight at home.
Our fool-in-chief seems intent on killing GM with the tarrifs on Canada and Mexico. If they are barely making money on Equinox EV now, they will be losing a lot if they keep the prices the same, and the car won’t sell if the raise the price 15%
Well then maybe GM should be building the Equinox EV in the US and they would not have a tariff problem. They made the decision to build in Mehico to save a buck, so I do not feel sorry for them at all. The only fool-in-chiefs I see are the auto industry executives, while the US rakes in billions in tariff revenue that we should have had long ago.
Joe G., the auto companies have shared production, parts and car sales across north America for 100 years, and with NAFTA and Trump’s own USMCA, it was quite reasonable for car companies to expect that to continue without difficulty. Yeah, Trump likes tariffs, which lower the standard of living for lower income people who spend all of their money. Tariffis, along with debt, pay for tax cuts for Elon.
@Joe G on “the US rakes in billions in tariff revenue”. Paid by the American customer after the OEMs have paid the import duties when clearing U.S. Customs.
My understanding is that there would be no tariffs on the Mexico-produced Equinox or even the Mach E because automobiles fall under the rules of the USMCA. Only non-USMCA goods get the 15% tariff.
The tariff on non-USMCA cars, like the Mazdas in this report, would only be seen as a tax on consumers if 1) the manufacturer/importer passes the cost on rather than eating it and 2) the consumer actually buys it instead of opting for a non-tariffed alternative good at a lower price. Honda and Toyota build some of their biggest sellers here, a win for them.
Mazda, for example, has been eating the cost and that’s why they’re so far in the red. Once they raise prices, their sales will fall and they may still be in the red. Loss of market share in the world’s biggest market is the incentive to move production here, and the tariffs go away.
Another thing that’s happening is US companies just cancel orders and stick Chinese companies with inventory they have produced but can no longer sell. This has caused a wave of bankruptcies in China and put pressure on Xi to make a deal.
Daily, is there any info saying there is not 25% tariff on Equinox EV, Mach-E, Pacifica, Charger and other “Detroit 3,” vehicles from Canada and Mexico, just as with RAV4, RX, and Hondas from Canada? I found that there is exemption for some parts, but nothing saying there aren’t tariffs on cars built in Canada and Mexico.
Many Mazdas and Subarus are from Japan, so get a discount compared to those from Canada and Mexico, with only a 15% tariff for cars from Japan.
Some manufacturing will be moved to the US, especially when there are plants with excess capacity, but I doubt if a lot of new facilities will be built based on the daily changing whims of a certain person. There will probably soon be a lot of excess capacity, as prices go up dramatically, and sales go down. Maybe whoever bought the Vega plant from Foxconn will do something with it.
Wim. Those who gaze in crystal balls eat broken glass. You also have a very weak understanding of economics, so if I were you, I would NOT pontificate of how tariffs will or will not work. Leave it to those who at least are experts in the field.
And study your History. Most of its 250 years, the US was a high tariff nation, in the 19th century and late 18th and early 20th, the Fed Income tax was a 20th century novelty. The US did FINE when it had the tariffs and no income tax, thank you.
Daily,
That is technically correct but with conditions. The USMCA applies for vehicles produced using USMCA compliant parts. If the vehicle is built using non-usmca compliant parts (For instance using a plant in mexico to build knock down kits from China like BYD wanted to do), then a 25% tariff is applied. That was true before this administration but the tariff was 2% then. So automakers themselves were skirting the USMCA by dumping chinese parts in Mexico/Canada, paying the 2% tariff, and then washing the origin of parts by crossing the US border. The 25% tariff stops this practice in its tracks. The administration gets blamed by the media, and some here fell for the lie, for “breaking the USMCA agreement”.
In fact they have never broken the USMCA agreement. They are in fact enforcing the USMCA by applying a 25% tariff penalty when the OEMs do not comply with USMCA instead of the prior 2% penalty. In other words, the only people violating the USMCA has been the automakers themselves and now it is time for them to pay. Of course they don’t like it but too bad. Don’t violate the USMCA and you don’t pay the 25% tariff. It is really as simple as that. So GM can continue building Equinox EVs in Mexico, but they must use USMCA compliant parts or be faced with tariffs. Those parts may come from Canada, the USA, or Mexico but overall the Equinox EV must be USMCA compliant at the end of the day.
Thanks for the details of the USMCA intricacies , MERKUR.
Why would any mfgr choose to build a factory where the cost of all raw material is subject to seesaw taxes that raise expenses by double digit percentages. There is no saving on the sale if your labor and materials costs are 25% – 50% higher.