AD #4251 – Porsche Cuts Costs and Plans New Luxury Models; BYD Explores Entering Formula 1; Mercedes Reveals Luxurious Electric Van

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

PORSCHE CUTS COSTS AND PLANS NEW LUXURY MODELS
With 10 new CEOs taking over at automakers in roughly the last year, including the fresh announcement from Slate, there were going to be a lot of changes. Yesterday we reported on Renault’s new future plan under new CEO Francois Provost and today we’re learning about Michael Leiters’ new strategy for Porsche. He says the company “will streamline our management structure, reduce hierarchies and cut back on bureaucracy.” So, it sounds like more job cuts are coming. But Leiters also talked about making its “products even more desirable.” “We are looking at models and derivatives both above our current two-door sports cars and above the Cayenne.” The hope is to sell more vehicles that make Porsche more money. But the company is still forecasting that 2026 won’t be much better than 2025. Last year it delivered about 280,000 cars, a drop of 10%. That cut its revenue to just over 36 billion euros, which was down 9.5%. Operating profit was really hammered, going from about 5.5 billion euros in 2024 to 413 million euros last year. The company says 3.1 billion euros of that was for its EV write-offs, while U.S. tariffs ate up another 700 million euros. 

U.S. NEW VEHICLE INVENTORY HITS 3 MILLION UNITS
Looks like dealers in the U.S. could be gearing up for the spring selling season. The number of new vehicles sitting on their lots rose last month to just over 3 million units, about where they were a year ago. However, there is one ominous sign we’ll want to keep an eye on. Models are sitting around longer than they were in 2025, which has pushed the average inventory to 75-days supply or 10-days higher. EVs had the most supply in February at 109 days, but like hybrids (61-days) and ICEs (75-days), those numbers were down from the previous month. Price seems to be the bigger reason for the increase in days supply, with vehicles over $80,000 sitting on lots for an average of 80-days.

      

BYD EXPLORES ENTERING FORMULA 1
In an effort to broaden its appeal around the world, BYD is considering entering Formula 1 or the World Endurance Championship. Bloomberg reports that the company could create its own team or acquire an existing one, but a final decision hasn’t been made yet. And don’t expect to see BYD on the race track anytime soon. It often takes years of negotiation to get a car in F1 and the cost of entering could also hold back BYD. Developing and entering a car in F1 can cost as much as $500 million a season.

ZOOX AND UBER PARTNER FOR ROBOTAXI LAUNCH
Waymo has grabbed a lot of attention with all its recent expansion. But autonomous company Zoox, which is part of Amazon, is also growing quickly. As we reported yesterday, it added Phoenix and Dallas to the list of U.S. markets it operates in, which now sits at 10. And today, the company announced it signed a multi-year partnership with Uber. Beginning later this year in Las Vegas and starting next year in Los Angeles, Zoox robotaxis will be made available through the Uber app. Uber has also been aggressive in growing autonomous rides. It has partnerships with 25 autonomous vehicle developers and it offers robotaxi rides in Phoenix, Austin, Atlanta and Dubai and it plans to expand to 15 more cities globally by the end of the year.

    

WAYVE AND QUALCOMM PARTNER ON AI DRIVING SYSTEM
And speaking of autonomy, self-driving startup Wayve and chipmaker Qualcomm are partnering to develop an AI driving system for automakers. It will combine Wayve’s “AI Driver” software with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon chips, which will be able to support entry-level driver assistance up to advanced driving. Or in other words, hands-off assistance up to hands-off and eyes-off driving. Wayve and Qualcomm say their product can help automakers reduce the complexity of combining chips, safety systems and software from multiple suppliers.

RAM PROMASTER CITY VAN RETURNS TO U.S. MARKET
Once upon a time the U.S. small- to mid-size commercial van segment looked mighty enticing to 5 automakers. There was the Ford Transit Connect, Mercedes Metris, Ram ProMaster City, Nissan NV200 and a Chevrolet version of that, the City Express. But between 2021 and 2023 they all dropped out of the market. One reason is that their small footprint, measured as wheelbase times track, meant they had to meet the fuel economy requirements for small cars. And that dragged down the Corporate Average Fuel Economy ratings for those companies, exposing them to big fines. But Stellantis realized that a van with a longer wheelbase would move up a class, meaning it could meet a lower mpg target. So the ProMaster City is making a comeback. It’s merely a rebadged version the vans Stellantis sells mainly in Europe under the Peugeot, Citroen, Fiat and Opel brands. It’s powered by a 1.6-liter turbo made in Michigan with 166 horsepower and 221 pound-feet of torque. All that goes through an 8-speed Aisin transmission. The vehicle itself will be made in Turkey and to get around the 25% chicken tax on commercial trucks, it will be imported as a passenger vehicle, then converted to a commercial van at a facility at the port of Baltimore. It will not go on sale until Q1, 2027, so upfitters and Ram dealers have time to prepare for it.

    

MERCEDES REVEALS LUXURIOUS VLE ELECTRIC VAN
And speaking of vans, Mercedes said it was going to make its vans more luxurious like its passenger cars and here’s the best example of that so far. It revealed the all-new electric VLE. It’s the first model built on its newly developed modular Van Architecture. Thanks to 800-volt technology, the VLE can add up to 355 kilometers or 220 miles of range in just 15 minutes of charging. It will first be available with an NMC battery with 115-kWh of usable energy and a 203-kW motor. That setup provides more than 700-kilometers or 435 miles based on the WLTP cycle. Later on, a higher performance version with the same battery and 300-kW of power will be available. It can move from 0 to 100 km/h in 6.5 seconds. And then two versions with 80-kWh LFP batteries will be added to the lineup. The VLE, which goes on sale early next year, starts at €66,000 and runs up to about €133,000 for the top-end model.

TOYOTA bZ3x SALES TOP 80,000 UNITS IN CHINA
Toyota seems to be doing better with its ‘in China, for China’ EVs than other foreign automakers. When it launched the bZ3x a year ago it claims it got so many orders within the first hour that it crashed the company’s servers. And it just announced that deliveries topped 80,000 units for the vehicle’s first full year on sale. The model was even the best-selling EV from any joint venture in China for five straight months. Toyota didn’t have as much influence on the bZ3X as its other models. It’s actually largely based on an electric SUV made by its joint venture partner GAC and is built in China. While it carries a starting price right around $15,000, there’s also the option for upgraded tech, like an ADAS system, including Lidar, from Momenta. 

And that brings us to the end of today’s show. Thanks for making Autoline a part of your day.