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Runtime: 10:14
0:00 Canada Plays the China Card
1:18 China Threatens OEMs Over Price War
1:50 China to Recycle 1 Million Tons of EV Batteries
2:21 Stella Drops Dodge Hornet on Dismal Sales
2:58 No $25,000 Jeep for U.S. Market
4:20 Farley Talks Updates on Ford’s UEV
5:16 Ford to Buy BYD Batteries for Non-U.S. Cars
5:52 Rivian Takes Important R2 Manufacturing Step
6:19 Zeekr Upgrading To 900V
6:52 Ford, GM Unveil F1 Cars in Detroit
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CANADA PLAYS THE CHINA CARD
All last year we were warning that this could happen. And now it’s happened. Canada is playing the China card. It’s going to slash tariffs on imported Chinese EVs as part of a new strategic partnership with China. Mark Carney, the Canadian Prime Minister, says his country’s longstanding and close relationship with the United States is over. The tariffs on Chinese EVs was 100%. Now it will be 6.1%. And Canada will allow 49,000 Chinese EVs into the country. This news broke just as we learned that the market share of U.S. made cars in Canada hit a historic low. GM, Ford and Stellantis used to have almost 50% market share. Now it’s down to 36%. Many Canadians are mad at President Trump for announcements like he wants to make Canada the 51st state, and with all the tariffs he slapped on Canadian products. So they’re avoiding American products and even avoiding travel to the US. And it’s stunning to see that it was American policy that pushed its Number One trading partner and ally into the arms of the Chinese.
CHINA THREATENS OEMs OVER PRICE WAR
China is cracking down on its auto industry. The country’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology met with the heads of 17 automakers this week and warned that they face “severe penalties” if the price war continues. The government has previously warned the industry over cutting prices but companies continue to do so because of overcapacity issues and slowing sales. China is now warning automakers that it will step up investigations into production costs and price monitoring.
CHINA TO RECYCLE 1 MILLION TONS OF EV BATTERIES
China also introduced new rules to prevent old car batteries from being recycled illegally. There’s a growing number of uncertified shops in the country, leading to environmental and worker safety concerns. China expects 1 million tons of car batteries to be recycled by 2030, so it’s setting up a system to track batteries, which starts in April. Companies that break the rules will face fines of more than $7,000 or they could have their business licenses revoked.
STELLA DROPS DODGE HORNET ON DISMAL SALES
Stellantis is axing a couple of vehicles in the U.S. The Dodge Hornet is officially discontinued. Last year, Stellantis said it would postpone sales of the model for 2026 but now it’s officially dead. That’s because it faces tariffs since it’s built in Italy along with its sister model, the Alfa Romeo Tonale. The Hornet, which debuted in 2023, also wasn’t a big seller. Just over 20,000 were sold in 2024, its first full-year on the market. And last year that dropped to fewer than 10,000 because of an abbreviated production schedule.
NO $25,000 JEEP FOR U.S. MARKET
Stellantis is also cancelling plans to bring the Jeep Renegade EV to the U.S. market. In 2024, former CEO Carlos Tavares said the $25,000 model would be coming to the U.S. “very soon.” It was going to be based on Citroen’s eC3 platform. But new CEO Antonio Filosa told reporters at the Detroit Auto Show this week that it won’t be bringing the Renegade EV to the market. The company says the decision is based on “shifting customer demand,” along with the elimination of the $7,500 federal EV tax credit.
FARLEY TALKS UPDATES ON FORD’S UEV
Ford CEO Jim Farley says the megacasting machines for its new Universal EV platform are already up and running at the company’s plant in Kentucky. As reported by InsideEVs, Farley provided several updates about the program’s progress, including that it’s taken on many experimental approaches to new suppliers, but that all the parts are quoted and designed. The company is deep into retrofitting its Kentucky plant for the new EVs, which will require a totally different way of building vehicles and is part of the reason it stopped Escape production. Beyond the assembly line, Ford is able to control prototypes with its in-house developed zonal electronic architecture and software, but it’s still basic vehicle functions, like turning and stopping. Even so, Farley says the entire program “is literally like the Apollo or Gemini mission within Ford.”
FORD TO BUY BYD BATTERIES FOR NON-U.S. CARS
Speaking of Ford, it could expand its partnership with BYD beyond China. According to reports, it’s in talks with BYD about supplying batteries to Ford’s factories around the world for its hybrid vehicles. While that wouldn’t include the U.S., vehicles made at those factories are shipped to the U.S. However, most of Ford’s U.S. hybrids will still come from North American facilities. And sources say no deal is imminent yet. BYD has been a battery supplier to Ford in China since 2020 and the American automaker also has a battery deal with China’s CATL.
RIVIAN TAKES IMPORTANT R2 MANUFACTURING STEP
Rivian is now building validation versions of its upcoming R2 model at its plant in Normal, Illinois. The EV startup was able to get the plant production-ready in 12 months and the model is on schedule to start delivery in the first half of the year. Rivian will take one of the validation R2s on a road trip along Route 66, its first real-world drive. And it will document the journey on Instagram if you want to follow along.
ZEEKR UPGRADING TO 900V
Zeekr claims some of the fastest charging time for its 007 model with LFP batteries, which can go from 10% to 80% charge in only ten and a half minutes, thanks to its 800-volt architecture. But that was then. In the second quarter of this year, Zeekr says it will upgrade the 007 and its 7GT model to a 900-volt architecture. And while it did not announce how that will affect charging time, at the very least it will be more efficient and put less stress on all the charging components.
FORD, GM UNVEIL F1 CARS IN DETROIT
Big news in Formula One in Detroit this week. Cadillac sort of unveiled the livery for its F1 car that included its logo emblazoned on the back of the car, and the name of every person involved with the team written on the nose. But GM President Mark Reuss later made it clear that this is a test car, not one of the actual race cars, and that is not the livery that we will see on the track. Meanwhile, last night, Red Bull unveiled its new livery in Detroit in conjunction with Ford, since Ford is a development partner with the team. A lot of people have the wrong idea that Ford is supplying the engine, which it is not. Red Bull is making its own engine and Ford is lending its expertise in software and other technical areas. We’ll soon see how these cars stack up against each other. They will be part of a pre-season shake-down test in Spain in two weeks, and the first race is just a month and a half away in Australia.
Cadillac F1 Livery:
That brings us to the end of today’s show. Thanks for tuning in and I hope that you have a great weekend.
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It’s no surprise that Hornet is being dropped. It didn’t sell well and received generally poor reviews, except for being quicker than most in its segment. Also, being made in Italy, was a victim of Trump’s trade war.
Was the Renegade EV to come from Europe? If so, the tariffs would have made it a big money loser if sold for $25K, even with the smallest battery offered.
Sean, Your first comment demonstrates a point of view that only people with no knowledge of history ever have, Here is a different way to view it. Canada, a sovereign nation, made a decision that only affects themselves and is none of your business. Why would anyone outside Canada even care unless they were a control freak?
Canadians don’t like Trump because he offered to destroy our economy (last USMCA negotiation), casually offered to INVADE us, casually observed that our hundreds of years old border means nothing to him and got offended when we pointed out that he has a history of making promises and treaties then breaking the. (1994 treaty guaranteeing Ukraine border security in return for it giving up its nuclear weapons, 1916 US acknowledges Danish ownership of Greenland in return for Denmark selling the Danish West Indies – now called US Virgin Islands)
If the US wants foreigners to trust the US, start by electing someone who keeps their word. If the person who runs your country and is supposed to be the best and brightest of you, is a liar, how does that reflect on the rest of you? Why would anyone outside your country want to buy goods or even visit a place with people like that?
I suspect many shoppers did not know the Hornet existed. It received little to no launch communications. It’s not a bad product… but it was lost in the market.
I am very saddened and concerned about the degradation of the business and political relations between North American “cousins”. Can 1600 Pennsylvania be “that” ignorant of the importance of North American solidarity and “that“ ignorant of the lead time to plan, build, and prove-out new manufacturing facilities? I’m trying hard to be polite with my words, but couldn’t think of an appropriately polite word to replace “ignorant”. Sorry if I offend anyone.
Drew, sadly, the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania seems to be “that” ignorant of the importance of North American solidarity and “that“ ignorant of the lead time to plan, build, and prove-out new manufacturing facilities.
I checked 2025 sales figures for Canada, and while Ford and GM sales were down there, they were still #1 and #3 in sales volume, because like those in the U.S., Canadians are infatuated with big pickup trucks. After Ford and GM big pickups, the Canadian built RAV4 was the 3rd best selling vehicle in Canada. No Ford, GM, or Stella non-pickups were in the top 5 in their segment in Canada.
Kevin, well put perspective, we’re sore on both sides of the same border line. I don’t sense malice or naiveness on Sean’s comment though – it’s a report on change of winds of commerce partnerships as a consequence of deliberate policy change in Washington. Situation sucks for everyone, and it shows how consequential these changes have been.
Kit, I suspect you are now in Florida, not Indiana this time of year. I’m in Florida, too. Canadians and Europeans are traveling here in much lower numbers. Isolation policies are not good for many businesses.
Kit- When a vehicle only sells 20k its first year and falls to half that the second year. It’s likely going to be dropped like a hot potato. Ferrari sells more cars than hornets were sold. So I doubt if trade wars had anything to do with its demise. Nice try throwing that in tho.
The hornet problems are solely the design and price of the Hornet on day 1. On top of the already too high price tag and ho hum design, it sprinkled in that legendary italian/dodge lack of reliability and poor build quality. It was a flop on day one and I was surprised it even made it to 2024 for a full year of production. It was already a dead man walking in 2025. Nobody wanted them at launch and nobody wants them now. Not even used. You can buy a 2023 Hornet for the price of a half eaten ham sandwich on the used market and still nobody wants to buy it. The tarriffs may have been the final brad nail in the hornet coffin, but it was dead in 2023. Just took Stellantis 2 years to realize it.
Drew, yep, I’m in Florida, and I suspect the theme parks are being hurt by lack of Canadian and European visitors.
Lambo, if they have to charge $7K more to break even on a fairly low end vehicle, it’s not likely to work at low, or even somewhat higher volume. I guess they are still making the Alfa version of Hornet for other markets, but I don’t know how well it is doing.
Hornet actually has fairly good “owner satisfaction” in CR’s survey. Maybe the few people who bought them knew what they were buying, a relatively quick, but otherwise very mediocre compact crossover. The reliability in their surveys is fairly bad, but not nearly as bad as some others, like Mazda CX-90 and Rivian R1T.
I found that the Alfa Tonale sold 82,000 globally in 2024, much better than the similar Hornet in the U.S. That’s still not very good volume for a vehicle in that segment.
As a Chrysler mechanic the only Hornet I would have considered was the RT model but at $40,000 it was not worth it.The quality issues with electronic gremlins was another reason. I miss my 2004 Dodge SRT4 I bought new for $22,000 and was as quick as a Hornet with less mechanical issues.
@kevin
Did Trump negotiate and sign the 1996 Ukraine defense deal or the 1916 deal? No, he didn’t. Obama and Biden were in office both times Russia invaded Ukraine and it was they and the rest of NATO that failed to live up to that deal. Get pissed at them. As for Greenland, we’ll see what happens.
Also from what I’m seeing, Trump is indeed crushing the Canadian economy already. It’s in a world of hurt. And every time Carney and Ford opened their mouths, they made it exponentially worse. Which province is looking to secede this week.. Alberta? Quebec? Maybe Seskatchewan.
Everyone knows that EVs are great in the frigid cold though; practically designed for it from the word go. So I’m sure demand will be gangbusters and this China deal will turn it all around. Not by generating any manufacturing jobs or anything like that but maybe a salesman position or two? Yay.
Daily, it’s so great that psychopath Trump is doing what he can to destroy a hundred+ years long alliance and trading partnership with Canada NOT.
Kit, I think 11 years of green and DEI insanity under Trudeau and Carney’s policies have done 95% of the damage. They should elect more fiscally competent leaders. Trump taking them off of the US tit has a larger impact because they’ve nothing of scale to fall back on. Oh well.
Trudeau and Carney didn’t start the trade war, and violate NAFTA 2.0 that Trump begat, and bragged about.
NAFTA 2.0 covered products have not been subject to tariffs so Trump has not violated it. Now that it’s up for its six year review, though, I’m sure Trump will expect better terms or it may well not get renewed and tariffs may fall upon the auto sector.
Many experts, trading partners (Canada, Mexico), and companies like Volkswagen and others argue that Trump’s broad tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods violate the spirit AND TEXT of USMCA.
So Trump will want “better terms” to completely destroy the North American auto industry?
@Daily Driver.
Wow. I will never understand people that use their anti-DEI attitude, as a way to justify destroying someone else’s economy. Like, seriously, man. Spoken like a truly entitled straight white man. Not throwing stones, just stating the obvious.
DEI did nothing to you. All it did was to try to create actual “fairness”, a thing we should consider. That, as as opposed to just prolonging the already long history of bigotry. Are you pro-bigotry? Sheesh…..
And as a word to the wise, you also might fact check yourself on how ‘terrible’ the Canadian economy has done under Carney. Especially with the blatant attacks on Canada by – I’ll say it – a malignant narcissist mafia boss. He can not be trusted. He is cruel to the core, because cruelty is his brand. Especially now with his declining mental state. Had Pierre Poilievre, the leader of the opposition, been elected PM, he would have already sold us off by the pound months ago. He, and the Conservative Party of Canada, are GOP operatives.
So here we are. The days of a trusted trading relationship are clearly over. Tyranny and authoritarianism in the US is now well entrenched. There is also little sign I can see that anyone had the guts to stand up against it. Talking, talking, talking, that is all that is happening. And it just keeps getting worse.
On a related note, it is clear to anyone that Trumpy’s plan is to insight waves of pushback, from the open violence he is indiscriminately doling out all over the US. He is hoping that it escalated to the point of armed pushback too. He wants that so he can declare an “Emergency”, and suspend the mid-terms, just stay in control.
And on a final note, Alberta separation is fully funded by the US. So is Saskatchewan separation. For that matter, so was the so called ‘Trucker Convoy”. It was yet another CIA operation meant to destabilize another country, so the US could take it over. It’s a manipulation.
And FWIW, the separatists in Alberta, still don’t number that high. They make a lot of noise, but they are still floating around the 15% level. Saskatchewan separatists is even less.
Quebec separatists are a different animal. But there is zero, and I mean ZERO chance that they would ever join the US. They are an almost entirely french speaking province, that has their own media, film, music industry, and yes, CULTURE. All Alberta and Saskatchewan separatists have, is an excess level of entitlement – brought on by the CIA and GOP’s manipulation and distortion of reality.
But that’s just me. Your mileage may vary.
Who says I’m white? Not CIA either but they’re probably hiding under your bed or in your attic transmitting straight into your brain right now.
I was in Vancouver in 2020 and all that was on the news, papers, and commentary 24/7 was a bunch of outcry over supposedly missing First Peoples women, or something. It was never clear who was missing or when, what century – that was never laid out with any sort of evidence or even a single case – but it consumed the entire Canadian government and its agenda. That’s the kind of thing I’m referring to, outsize emphasis on things like that rather than running a country and economic concerns. DEI creates constituencies, each concerned with their own interests over that of the nation. It’s destroys any sense of unity and common culture. And Canada has suffered greatly as a result. As even you pointed out above. Even without Trump your country was in dire economic straits. France has learned that and the UK is getting a crash course right now.
So wrap that tin foil a little tighter around your noggin and go get yourself a Chinese EV. That’ll stick it to the US and fix all your worries. Except maybe whether to park it inside so that it will not freeze and actually charge, or outside in case the battery spontaneously combusts and burns your house down. That and getting any service when it breaks down. So a few worries still.
EVs lose range in cold weather, as do ICE vehicles. It won’t be much different in most of Canada, than in the northern US. About 80% of Canada’s population is within 100 miles of the U.S. border.
I don’t necessarily think selling Chinese EVs in Canada is a good idea, but if they set up dealerships with shops, getting service might be easier than with, say, Tesla, Rivian, and Lucid. Time will tell.
The issue of missing and murdered indigenous women in Canada, including BC, is very much 21st century, not ancient history. Between 2009 and 2021, Indigenous women and girls were six times more likely to be murdered than their non-indigenous counterparts. Specific to BC, in the 20th and 21st centuries, is a 725 km “highway of tears” stretch of Highway 16 in British Columbia where dozens of women—mostly Indigenous—have gone missing or been found murdered since 1969. This stuff was not made up by Trudeau.
Nice google but so what? Thousands have died along America’s highways since 1969 but we don’t shut down our government over legislation about it. You put out PSAs about the dangers of hitchhiking. Which is what the US did. Outsize focus, as I said.
Yes, I used google, but multiple sources were saying much the same thing. Yeah, maybe they don’t whitewash history as much in Canada as in some countries.
@Daily Driver.
Are you so stupid that you think that you, as a guy that claims to have ‘visited Vancouver 5 years ago’, would have a deep understanding of how the CIA has and does repeatedly undermine countries, operates?
“I visited Italy – therefor I understand the fall of the Roman Empire” Seriously? Wow.
There’s a reason that the phrase “Banana Republic” exists. It was because corporate interests wanted something, so the CIA went into the country to get it. Don’t believe me? Google it.
You are a sham account, now spouting Trump/Project 2025 lies. Good luck.
But on the benefit of the doubt…… Funny about where the Alberta independence twitter accounts are actually from though. Not Canada, and not from Canadians……
https://www.facebook.com/reel/850762250877598
Miradart, interesting link. I’m not surprised about the info.
@Miradart
So the CIA stirred up the missing natives thing that embroiled your government above all other concerns for months? That’s wild. I’m hardly a sham account, I post here more than you, but we’re getting too far afoot from the auto industry so let’s just see how it all shakes out in the next few months observe which GDP is higher and trending in the right direction.
Daily, yes, Trump’s hate and derangement, abetted by this Congress and Supreme Court, can mess up the world economy. Neither the “founding fathers” nor earlier Congresses envisioned that the U.S. would ever have such a deliberately destructive president as the current one.
@Daily.
There is no space where your ‘frequency-of-response’ on this page, will usurp facts, nor mimize my views. Even that concept is preposterous, as a defence. You know nothing about me, and you give me zero respect. So, thanks for that……
Even though you know nothing about me, and it is clear that your main goal is moving the goalposts, once challenged. You did it on a different post. So, ya….
Under the current administration, you crowing about “Well, we’ll see who has a greater GDP growth” is simply a preposterous proposition. When destruction is the goal, who gets screwed less is an entirely unrelated concept. Picking international fights will not work out in favour of the US.
But seriously. We need to be clear.
Trumpy, a malignant narcissist, suffering from syphilitic dementia, is running your country. Full stop. No takeaways. Everyone outside of the US sees it. Even international leaders like Carney. See his speech from today to understand it.
And even if you don’t understand it, there is no ‘winner’ coming out of his decisions. GDP has already been one of the many economic fields he has hidden from the American citizen. All he wants to hear are ‘inventions’ of facts that make him look like a ‘saviour’. That is how desperately his psychosis is, that he needs to look like a ‘good guy’.
So let’s pick a field. Let’s say, illicit drugs. Drugs are bad, right? Trumpy just pardoned one of the big shots in the drug business. And in reply, he JUST named her as the “Pardon’s Czar”. From there, she pardoned yet another drug king. This is a repeated concept. He pardon’s drug kings. All anyone needs to do us suck up to your ‘dear leader’, and no matter what they’ve done, he’s let them skate away. Just suck up. That is the instruction. From there, you get what you want.
And more on the drug thing. Trumpy’s move on Venezuela was because of “Drugs”. That was his thing. Seriously? Once he stole multiple tankers, and kidnapped the leader of a foreign country, he changed his tune that it was ‘protecting’ oil – for Americans….. Ya, right. Sure, the leader was a dick, but it was never about the drugs.
You are backing the wrong horse. You really need to listen to commenters like Kit, and Drew.
https://www.facebook.com/reel/2548011075761414