AD #4203 – Sterling Anderson Could Be GM’s Next CEO; Time to Invest in European Auto Stocks?; The Battle Over Stop-Start Tech

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

TIME TO INVEST IN EUROPEAN AUTO STOCKS?
There’s an old saying about how to invest in the auto industry. When automakers are in deep trouble and the situation looks hopeless, that’s when you buy their stock. And when sales are going through the roof and they’re raking in the profits, that’s when you sell. That’s why it’s fascinating to see that a European investment fund, called Divas Asset Management, is buying up stock from Mercedes-Benz and the supplier Forvia. Divas seems to know what it’s doing. Over the last 5 years it’s delivered 20% returns per year to its investors. And it’s investing in European automotive stocks because it believes they’re at the bottom and won’t go lower. Even more interesting, it says that if the overall stock market takes a nosedive, autos won’t be hurt because none of the big investment firms are heavily into autos and so you won’t see them dumping shares.

RENAULT REGAINS INVESTMENT RATING
As if to drive that point home, Renault was just upgraded to investment status by S&P Global Ratings. That bumped the stock up almost 3% after it dropped 23% this year. Renault seems to be managing its operations very astutely. It spun off its powertrain operations into Horse, a startup that it created which now makes engines for Volvo, Geely, Mercedes and Nissan and expects to land other automakers. Renault also just signed a deal to co-develop small EVs with Ford. And it has a strong balance sheet and decent free cash flow. Put it all together and that’s why S&P upgraded its investment rating.

STERLING ANDERSON COULD BE GM’S NEXT CEO
Could Sterling Anderson be the next CEO of General Motors? That’s the buzz in Detroit. The 45-year-old now oversees all product and software development at GM, and if those products are successful, he could go all the way to the top. Before joining GM, Anderson worked at Aurora, the company developing autonomous technology for semi-trucks. Before that he was at Tesla where he worked on Autopilot and the Model X. Anderson told Bloomberg that GM will continue to push ahead with EVs rather than risk falling behind Tesla and the Chinese. He says it would be short sighted for GM to focus only on internal combustion cars just for the sake of short term profitability. He’s also very bullish on GM’s push into LMR or lithium manganese rich batteries. Anderson says they will allow GM to cut the cost of the EV versions of the Silverado pickup and Escalade SUV by $10,000. 

TOYOTA TO EXPORT US-MADE MODELS TO JAPAN
The Trump Administration wants to narrow the trade deficit with Japan. Last year, Japan’s trade surplus with the U.S. was nearly $60 billion and 82% of that gap was Japan’s surplus of cars and parts. So to help improve trade relations between the U.S. and Japan, Toyota is going to start selling U.S.-made Camrys, Highlanders and Tundras in Japan next year. The Camry and Highlander were previously sold in the country, Toyota stopped Camry sales in 2023 and the Highlander was sold until 2007 under the Kluger name. Here’s our Autoline Insight. These vehicles likely won’t sell very well because if Toyota thought they could do well, it would already be selling them in the country.

CHINA TO BLOCK “USED” CAR EXPORTS
China is issuing new rules to crack down on the sale and export of what are called “zero-kilometer” cars. These are vehicles that leave the factory with zero or little mileage, but are then sold through used car channels at discounted prices. The practice is done to help ease China’s overcapacity issues but the government wants to stop it because it hurts dealer profits, the value of vehicles and many that are exported don’t have proper localization or after-sales coverage. Industry experts estimate that 1 million zero-kilometer used vehicles were sold in China last year. And zero-kilometer exports are expected to be more than 500,000 units this year, which is about 70-80% of all exported used vehicles. So the government just issued new rules that go into effect on January 1, that require any vehicle exported within 180 days of initial registration must include an after-sales service confirmation document issued by the manufacturer. The document must specify the export destination, vehicle information and feature the manufacturer’s official seal.

THE BATTLE OVER STOP-START TECH
As you may remember, earlier this year EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin blasted stop/start technology, saying “everyone hates it” and that the agency is “fixing it.” But NHTSA’s new proposed fuel economy rules project the continued use of stop/start. It expects that around 30% of 2031 model-year vehicles will be equipped with a 12-volt non-hybrid version of the technology. While that’s down from the 38% of 2026 model-year vehicles that are equipped with it, it’s still much higher than it would be under the Biden Administration’s rules. Stop/start adoption under Biden’s rules was estimated to be 6% because the standards were stricter which would have required automakers to use different technology to meet them.

KIA K4 STARTS UNDER $26,000
Kia revealed pricing for its sleek new K4 Hatchback for the U.S. market. There’s three trim lines available that range in starting price from about $26,000 to $30,000, including destination charges. We first got to check out this vehicle in person back in August and if you’d like a quick rundown of what the K4 Hatchback is all about, we’ll post a link to the video we posted at that time. 

CHINA FORD BRONCO BEV & EREV PRICED TO SELL
Speaking of vehicle pricing, CarNewsChina reports that the electric Ford Bronco for the Chinese market will cost between roughly $32,000 and $40,000. While its dimensions are pretty much the same as the 4-door version of the U.S. Bronco, it looks like everything else, from the fascia, to the body panels and the interior, have all been redone by Chinese designers. It also only features BEV and EREV powertrains. The pure EV version has a roughly 105 kWh battery pack and two electric motors that put out 445 horsepower. The EREV has a 1.5L gas engine, a nearly 44 kWh battery and two electric motors that combine for about 415 horsepower. Despite all the differences to the U.S. version, the Chinese Bronco is still meant to compete with other off-road-focused SUVs.

SPACEX BUYS 1,000 CYBERTRUCKS
The Cybertruck is selling well below expectations and I think that’s putting it nicely. Tesla tooled up to make between 200,000 and 250,000 units a year, but while its bundles Model S & X with the Cybertruck, Electrek estimates it will struggle to sell 20,000 this year. And it also says that if it weren’t for SpaceX, which is owned by Elon Musk, that Cybertruck number would be even lower. Its source claims that SpaceX has purchased over 1,000 Cybertrucks and could buy more than 2,000 over time. Although, with pictures and videos of hundreds of Cybertrucks sitting in SpaceX parking lots it doesn’t seem like they’re getting any use. But it is a nice little bump in sales and revenue for Tesla.

LAST AUTOLINE DAILY OF 2025
But that brings us to the end of today’s show. And actually, to the end of the year. While we’ll post little things here and there. This was our final Autoline Daily for 2025. So, I’d like to say a humongous THANK YOU to everyone out there. Thank you for watching. Thank you for your comments, your likes and your subscribers. And a special thank you to all Patreon and YouTube members. We’ll see you again after the New Year, right in time for CES.