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Runtime: 9:09
0:00 GM Says EVs Still the End Game
0:52 GM Moving Into New Headquarters
1:51 BYD & Geely Overtake VW in China
2:38 Robots Help Boost Hyundai’s Market Cap
4:12 President Trump Visiting Detroit
4:50 Renault Reveals New Geely-Based SUV
5:46 NEVs Drive Sales Growth in China
6:35 Ferrari Patents Predictive Active Aero
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This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry.
GM’S BARRA: EVs ARE STILL THE END GAME
Despite writing off billions in EV investments, GM’s CEO Mary Barra says the company is still committed to electric vehicles. Speaking to the Automotive Press Association in Detroit yesterday, she said that 80% of customers who buy an EV will buy another, and that once the United States has a robust public charging infrastructure it will unlock a lot more EV adoption. Barra also expressed surprise that some automakers are backing out of the segment so quickly. She said no one knows what the situation will be in 2029, 2030 or 2031, and maybe she’s hinting at a possible political change in the U.S. that would change government policy regarding electric vehicles.
GM MOVING INTO NEW HEADQUARTERS
Speaking of GM, it started moving into its new headquarters this week. Located on the site of an old Hudson’s department store in the heart of Detroit, GM will occupy two-thirds of the newly constructed 12-story building. While the human resources, legal, finance and corporate strategy teams will all work out of the new headquarters, there’s only 4 permanent offices and two of those are for the President and CEO. The rest is made up of flexible seating spaces and conference rooms as well as an open kitchen area. It was actually the GM Design team that came up with the inside look of the building and they took inspiration from all around the automaker. The overall style is similar to the GM Tech Center in Warren, Michigan, which was crafted about 70 years ago. There’s door handles that are wrapped and stitched like leather steering wheels. And some seating uses fabric re-created from a 1959 Cadillac.
BYD & GEELY OVERTAKE VW IN CHINA
Due to slumping sales in the U.S. and China, the Volkswagen brand was down globally last year. The automaker sold 4.73 million vehicles in 2025, a drop of 1.4% from the year before. VW dominated the Chinese market not too long ago but last year it fell to number three in sales behind BYD and Geely, respectively. And VW blames tariffs for its sales drop in the U.S. But despite a tough year in China and the U.S., VW managed to boost sales 5% in Europe and nearly 20% in South America. And the automaker sold 382,000 fully-electric vehicles globally last year, a drop of just 0.2%.
ROBOTS HELP BOOST HYUNDAI’S MARKET CAP
At CES last week, Hyundai really emphasized its development with humanoid robots. Well, no wonder. Investors looking for a robot play have driven Hyundai’s stock up 36% just this month alone, adding another $24 billion to the company’s market cap. And there’s more to come. Hyundai announced at CES that it will start building 30,000 robots a year at its U.S. manufacturing complex in Georgia. It’s even going to lease them as a robots-as-a-service model. Don’t forget, Hyundai bought Boston Dynamics several years ago and it’s one of the leading robotics companies in the world. And even at their current state of development, these humanoid robots can do just about any job in an automotive assembly plant.
PRESIDENT TRUMP VISITING DETROIT
President Trump is visiting Detroit today to tout his manufacturing agenda. He’ll speak at the Detroit Economic Club and also tour Ford’s plant in Dearborn, which makes the F-150. The trip also coincides with the start of the Detroit auto show. One thing the Detroit automakers hope to hear from the president is clarity on the trade deal with Canada and Mexico. Trump promised that his tariffs would lead to a boost in manufacturing but last month factory employment fell by 8,000 jobs nationwide. And Trump’s approval on cost-of-living issues is at just 27%.
RENAULT REVEALS NEW GEELY-BASED SUV
Renault took the wraps off a new SUV for global markets called the Filante. The model is based on a Geely platform and will be built at Renault’s plant in South Korea, which is part of a strategic plan the two companies first announced 4 years ago. This CMA platform will be used for higher-end D- and E-segment models, with 2- and 4-wheel drive and available in most cases with a hybrid powertrain. The Filante is a traditional hybrid that’s powered by a 1.5L engine and two-electric motors that produce 247 horsepower. That setup returns an estimated 35 MPGs or 6.6L per 100/km. The Filante first goes on sale in South Korea in the coming months with a starting price of just under $30,000. It will also be sold in South America and the Middle East.
NEVs DRIVE SALES GROWTH IN CHINA
We’ve got a good wrap up of what happened in the Chinese car market last year. Automakers sold 23.7 million passenger vehicles, up 3.8%. Chinese domestic brands captured 65% of the market, up 4.8 percentage points as most foreign automakers continued to lose share. New Energy Vehicles hit more than 12 million vehicles, accounting for 59% of all sales. We think this shows that demand for EVs and plug-ins is now driven by the market, not by regulations. Luxury brands accounted for 39% of all NEV sales. And yet, China’s overall sales fell 14% in December, suggesting that 2026 could be off to a much slower start.
FERRARI PATENTS PREDICTIVE ACTIVE AERO
Ferrari is considering a new approach to active aerodynamics. The automaker filed a patent in the U.S. for a system that uses predictive algorithms to anticipate when and how to deploy aero elements, rather than just relying on driver inputs to make adjustments. Aerodynamics can have a massive impact on a vehicle’s performance, handling and efficiency, so there could be a lot of benefit to a system like this.
But that wraps up today’s show. Thanks for tuning in.
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This just in (maybe a mention in tomorrow’s Autoline Show); Chevrolet has announced performance numbers for the Corvette ZR1X for drag strip times. 0-60 1.7 seconds, quarter mile in 8.675 seconds at just shy of 160 mph.
ChuckGrenci
I love the numbers, but there has to be a point where we are giving average people way too much horsepower/acceleration. If OEMs keep messing around, there will be a law to rein it in. Maybe a special license to purchase a vehicle that has X amount of performance similar to having a motorcycle endorsement.
@MERKUR, can’t argue with that, just passing along some info; there are already a whole bunch of vehicles that needn’t be as powerful (dangerous), in dare I say, fool’s hands. BEV and ICE inclusive, and in a fool’s hands, even the ‘pedestrian’ vehicles…………… 😀
I wonder if they were using regular street tires to get those numbers with the ZR1X, or if they used some kind of extra sticky racing tires. Those numbers seem awfully good, even with all four wheels driven.
A car that was conspicuously “over the head” of some buyers was the first generation Viper, with no traction control or ABS. The buyer of the first one in my home town very embarrassingly crashed one into a guard rail when showing off as he exited a big car show. He wasn’t hurt, but his ego would have been hurt very badly.
Merkur Driver: Amen to that! These hyper-performance vehicles are beyond the capabilities of most drivers. They shouldn’t be sold to just anyone.
On the interwebs, there was talking of the slight/shade being cast toward GM and Mary Bara, as Trump was going to tour the Ford plant in Dearborn, the the Gord CEO in tow, but no scheduled face time with the head of GM! Trump’s meeting in downtown Detroit is taking place at one of its casinos, which is only a few blocks away from the new GM headquarters. Yet, after that meeting, he’s going to drive several miles away to tour the F-150 plant, with Jim Farley! Maybe he’ll meet with the leadership of GM and Stellantis after his meeting, but before he goes to the tour in Dearborn? Perhaps the President is meeting with the CEO of Ford, since he made it clear that he would not be available to go to Congress on the January 14th, to discuss the question of affordability in the automotive sector, sense the CEO of Tesla was not invited/told to attend/appear for this congressional hearing?
Having worked with Mary Barra when she was plant manager at Hamtramck I know she’s no dummy. But very well chosen words when it comes to GMs stance on EVs. Kinda hard to write off billions and still keep a firm stance. So saying they’re committed is vague enough to maintain some development work while I fully expect the 100% EV platform plan for Cadillac will certainly change. No doubt leaving the door open to shift in three years should a democrat win the election. I don’t think 80% is a great number when talking about return EV buyers. Means 20% aren’t sold on it being the future. Think about it like this. When flat screen TVs came out. Do you suppose 20% would have said nope going back to a tube TV next time. If they are really great then very few would ever go back. Just saying.
From what I have found from ChatGPT and elsewhere, a high percentage of those going from EVs back to gassers bought EVs without having home charging, and found that needing to depend on public charging is inconvenient, and not even particularly cheap. Even with home charging, you don’t save that much with an EV compared to an efficient hybrid. Where I am in Florida, a Tesla Model 3 would cost about $.035/mile with home charging, and a Prius would cost about $.05/mile. The EV would save you ~$180 a year, if you drive 12,000 miles. With public charging a Prius, or Camry or Accord hybrid would have lower fuel cost than the EV. The EV doesn’t need oil changes, which is great, but if you depend on public charging, the extra fuel cost more than negates that.
To me, GM’s EV mistake is having so many different models. Cadillac has 3 CUVs. Chevy has Equinox, Blazer, and soon, Bolt. Then there’s the Hummer and Silverado. Probably the Hummer and Silverado EVs should never have existed, but also, they could probably sell almost as many EVs with only two each CUV/hatchbacks for Cadillac and Chevy. Of course, hindsight is always 20-20.
I believe that the 20% not returning to EV‘s has to do with the lack of incentives. Monthly payments will be significantly higher going forward.
I always felt the GM pricing on their EVs was their greatest mistake. The only GM EV that I felt was priced well is the Equinox EV. The new Bolt is getting closer to be priced correctly but GM really got the price right with the Equinox. The sales seems to reflect where GM got it correct and where they didn’t. The 75K base price of the Silverado WT EV is absolutely ludicrous when a base WT ICE variant starts at 46K for the crew cab. For 75K you can get an ICE Silverado that is extremely loaded with options or a stripped out base model EV Silverado. The choice is pretty obvious unless you are really wanting an EV and are willing to pay for it.
The Chevy web site shows the Silverado EV as starting at $58,490, not $75K. Yeah, the Equinox EV is the bargain of the GM EVs, about $15K less expensive than the platform mate Cadillac Optiq.
We’ll see how the revived Bolt does, but to most people, I’d think the Equinox would be more attractive for not a lot more money.
Where is this grand charging infrastructure she pins the GM’s future on going to come from? Trump clawed back the remaining billions that Biden didn’t spend in building those eight, yes eight chargers over his last two years. I don’t think those eight chargers will make a difference. Private firms who may otherwise build chargers seem to be bailing since EV sales have crashed. Perhaps magic elves will plant them about.
Also incentives are history, and states are even starting to charge surtaxes on EV owners to recoup the gas tax losses. Even in libtard California.
Gotta love that progression in the liberal mind:
1) Hey you planet killing jerks, buy EVs because the world will end in 10 years (again). Here’s free money and our wind farms will charge them!
2) Hey you selfish EV owners, our wind farms and solar can’t keep up with demand and we have brown outs. In fact we just shut down a hint solar farm because it couldn’t even pay for itself. So you can only charge your cars during these 6 hours of the day.
3) hey you freeloading EV punks, your heavy cars tear up our roads and you don’t pay gas taxes so now you get a yearly EV tax to pay your fair share. Also, we spent all your tax money on free healthcare for illegals while you citizens do without coverage. So no more state level sales incentives because we can’t afford it. Dirty EV ingrates!