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Runtime: 10:38
0:00 Chip Shortage Spreads to Japan
1:04 Tesla Earnings Drop Along with ZEV Credits
1:55 Samuelsson Delivers, Volvo’s Stock Goes Up
2:40 Renault Up Strong in Weak EU Market
4:24 GM Reveals All-New Centralized Computing System
6:37 Opel Could Rebadge Leapmotor Model for EU
7:23 Stellantis Could Get Broken Up
8:08 BMW Wants EU to Consider Biodiesel for CO2 Reduction
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This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry.
CHIP SHORTAGE SPREADS TO JAPAN
That chip shortage is going from bad to worse. Yesterday, Germany’s lobbying group for the auto industry warned that automakers are only days away from having to shut down production. Volkswagen says its main plant in Germany will continue production next week but it may not have enough chips beyond that. And now the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association is warning that it faces “serious” chip shortages and that it’s working with automakers to secure supplies. As you may have heard us say, the issue started when a Dutch chip maker called Nexperia got bought out by a Chinese company called Wingtech. The Trump Administration then warned the Dutch that the Chinese were planning to move operations to China, so the Dutch government took the company over. China retaliated by cutting off exports of Nexperia components made in China, and that’s what has triggered this new chip shortage.
TESLA EARNINGS PLUMMET ALONG WITH ZEV CREDITS
Several automakers reported their Q3 earnings and there’s some surprises, both positive and negative. Let’s start in Austin, Texas, where Tesla sales were up strong, both year over year and month over month. The company sold nearly half a million units, and that helped boost overall revenue by 12%, coming in at $28 billion. But its operating expenses shot up 50%, and that dragged down earnings. Its operating profit fell 40% and its net profit was down 37%. One key metric to keep an eye on is all the money that Tesla gets from selling ZEV credits to other automakers. That dropped 43% and we think it will fall even more in the quarters ahead. Investors didn’t like the news and the stock was down about 4%.
| Tesla Q3, 2025 Earnings | ||
|---|---|---|
| Sales | 497,099 | +7.4% |
| Revenue | $28 Billion | +12% |
| Operating Profit | $1.6 Billion | -40% |
| Net Profit | $1.3 Billion | -37% |
| ZEV Credits | $417 Million | -43% |
SAMUELSSON DELIVERS, VOLVO STOCK UP 40%
Now let’s move over to Sweden. You may remember that back in April, Volvo fired its CEO and brought his predecessor, Hakan Samuelsson, back out of retirement. Well it looks like he knew which levers to pull, because investors were wowed with the results. Volvo’s stock price went soaring 40% in one day. The company’s sales and revenue were actually down 7%. But its EBIT shot up 10% and its net profit inched up 2%. Its EBIT margin was over 7%. And that was far better than analysts expected, which is why the stock did so well. But there are danger signs ahead. Cash flow was negative and that’s not healthy for any company.
| Volvo Q3, 2025 Earnings | ||
|---|---|---|
| Sales | 160,500 | -7% |
| Revenue | $9.1 Billion | -6.9% |
| Operating Profit | $680 Million | +10.3% |
| Net Profit | $480 Million | +2.2% |
RENAULT REVENUE UP STRONG IN WEAK EU MARKET
And now let’s slide down from Sweden to France, where Renault posted some of its Q3 results. It sold over 529,000 vehicles, up almost 10% from a year ago. That drove its revenue up almost 7% to more than €11 billion. Renault doesn’t release full financial data until the end of Q4, but what it did release are pretty good numbers considering the tough time the European auto industry is going through. However, it wasn’t enough to thrill investors and Renault’s stock was down almost 2% on the news.
| Renault Q3, 2025 Earnings | ||
|---|---|---|
| Sales | 529,486 | +9.8% |
| Revenue | €11.4 Billion | +6.8% |
GM REVEALS ALL-NEW CENTRALIZED COMPUTING SYSTEM
GM is going to launch an all-new electronic architecture for both electric and gas-powered vehicles starting in 2028, which will lead to a number of advancements. The architecture features a centralized computing platform, which consolidates dozens of control units into a liquid-cooled computing core that controls all the vehicle’s main functions, like propulsion, steering, braking, infotainment, and safety, through a high-speed Ethernet system. A source tells Autoline that GM will now do most of its own validation work in-house, for things like suspension and brakes, because sensors and control units for those systems have to be able to communicate properly with the new computing core, which is all being controlled by the company. But GM claims it will be able to deliver 10-times more software updates, faster connectivity and infotainment, and eyes-off driving. That piece of tech will launch on the Cadillac Escalade IQ in 2028 as well. It will use a roof-mounted lidar, radar and cameras to perceive the environment around the vehicle and turquoise lights indicate it’s operating in eyes-off mode. Although, we will note that only California and Nevada currently allow Level 3 systems for private owners to operate on roads, but that could change by 2028. Before this new architecture launches, GM will also launch a new AI voice recognition system next year that’s powered by Google Gemini. But it says it plans to develop its own, custom-built AI for vehicles that will come out in the future, which will likely be powered by the new electronic architecture. However, the company says it will all be connected by OnStar and we believe that will mean more payments and subscription services for all these connectivity features to work. And in one last bit of unrelated GM news, the company says it’s also advancing its work on robotics and as part of that it will start installing more cobots or collaborative robots in its U.S. plants this year.
OPEL COULD REBADGE LEAPMOTOR MODEL FOR EUROPE
Stellantis’ partnership with Leapmotor could expand in new and interesting ways. The deal currently allows Stellantis to build and sell Leapmotor vehicles outside of China. But now a report out of Germany says that Opel, which is part of Stellantis, is considering selling a rebadged version of Leapmotor’s B10 model in Europe starting next year. The compact electric SUV is currently being imported to the region from China with a starting price of just under 30,000 euros. Next year, the B10 will go into production at Stellantis’ plant in Spain that also builds the Opel Corsa and Mokka and the Citroen C3 Aircross. Leapmotor plans to launch a range extended version of the B10 in Europe next year as well.
STELLANTIS COULD GET BROKEN UP
But will Stellantis survive long enough to see that day. The company didn’t come into existence until 2021, when Fiat-Chrysler merged with Peugeot. And though it’s the 5th largest global automaker by sales, it may not make it to the end of the decade– at least not as Stellantis, that is. Carlos Tavares, the company’s former CEO who was pushed out last December, says he worries that Stellantis will likely be broken up. Tavares wrote a book about his career and in it he says that a Chinese automaker could end up buying Fiat and Peugeot, while Chrysler goes back to U.S. ownership. Wow. That would be pretty crazy. But let us know what you think.
BMW WANTS EU TO LOOK AT BIODIESEL FOR CO2 REDUCTION
BMW is trying to keep diesels alive with renewable fuels. The automaker is now putting biofuel into all of its diesel models at the factory in Germany before delivering them to dealers. The fuel, called HVO100, is made by a Finnish renewable fuel maker and it reduces CO2, for what they call well-to-wheel, by up to 90% compared to regular diesel. BMW says it’s also made deals with fleet operators in Germany and Italy to start testing the fuel. BMW will collect data from the tests to demonstrate how the fuel can contribute to CO2 reduction with the hopes that the EU will adopt legislation for more widespread use.
But that’s a wrap for today’s show. Thanks for tuning in.
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It seems that China “holds more cards” than Trump and others in the west want to realize, as they engage in trade wars and nationalize parts of companies. It would certainly be good to reduce reliance on China, but that doesn’t happen in a day.
Chrysler being separate from Peugeot/Citroen/Fiat/Opel/Vauxhall etc. would seem to make sense, at least in a world where the US was not in a trade war with Canada and Mexico. The markets for Stellantis’ North American and European products have essentially no overlap, and it seems that both parts of the business may be suffering in trying to run the vastly different North American and European businesses as one company.
If Carlos had stayed at Stellantis I can guarantee that what he said would have come true. It would also be very welcome news for everyone to have Stellantis broken up again just to get rid of Carlos. Luckily he was booted and Stellantis has a chance at surviving under proper leadership.
The new leadership seems more in tune with what their customers want and what will sell. It is going to take time, but I think they will turn the ship around.
Maybe Daimler-Benz would like to buy the Chrysler group or whatever it’s called again, it was supposed to be a merger of equals. But it didn’t work out that way.
Great – will need to start looking out for blue lights on >9,000 pounds, school bus sized realtor shuttles going down the road without human supervision. Just great.
Stellantis has a plant in Canada that is already doing nothing. Maybe they can assemble Chinese cars there for the Canadian and Mexican market.
The Daimler-Chrysler thing sounded good to me, when announced, but it certainly didn’t turn out that way.
With CAFE being cancelled, at least the penalties for not complying cancelled, the Chrysler group will benefit for a few years in that they can sell all of the gas hogs they want, with no incentive to improve fuel economy. They, as all car companies, will be hurt by Trump’s trade war, though, with lots of parts and raw materials being imported from around the world. Both cars and parts come from Canada and Mexico. They plan to re-start closed US plants, like Belvidere, but it’s still going to be a rough few years for the auto industry in general.
Separating Stellantis may not be the best idea, in that, the FCA side is what has kept the company in business for a number of years! Remember, record sells and profits are year or two ago?! Its when leadership began to strangle the FCA side before the other components could great their footing, was when things began to good south. Add to that, Stellantis is maxed up of a number of failed brands, fused with brands that are/were more successful. When the focus was placed on reviving the other brands with little to no investment in the money makers, they began to suffer. How they fix it will be the respond those much smarter then I am!
Given Trump’s trade war and China’s entering global markets, and taking back their domestic market, it will be hard to predict what happens in the auto industry. I suspect it won’t be pretty for a number of companies.