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Runtime: 10:02
0:00 Stellantis & Hyundai Only U.S. Sales Winners So Far
0:46 Tesla Sells 358K Cars Globally But Misses Estimates
1:15 EV Sales Surge for Rivian, Toyota & Cadillac
2:02 Auto Alliance Wants to Scrap Gas Tax for Weight Fee
2:56 Congress Proposes New Fees for EVs & Hybrids
3:49 Hyundai Developing Body-on-Frame Trucks for the U.S.
5:12 Mercedes Finishes Winter Tests of 1,000HP Pancake Motor
6:13 Subaru Debuts All-New 3-Row Electric SUV
6:51 Akio Toyoda Not Involved in New CEO Decision
7:39 Stock of the Day: Pony.ai Surges After Posting Net Profit
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This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry.
U.S. Q1 SALES FALL: STELLANTIS & HYUNDAI ONLY WINNERS
We’ve got first quarter sales numbers for most automakers in the U.S. market and they don’t look good. Of those that have reported so far, only Stellantis and the Hyundai Group reported an increase in sales. But keep in mind that’s compared to a strong quarter from a year ago, when people were rushing out to buy a car before the tariffs kicked in. And we still haven’t seen sales from Ford, Volkswagen, Mercedes or Volvo. However, we’ve seen enough to know that the industry is off to a rough start and with a war going on and gas prices sharply higher, it’s probably not going to get better anytime soon.
TESLA HITS 358K GLOBAL SALES BUT MISSES ESTIMATES
Tesla doesn’t break out its sales by region, but it sold over 358,000 vehicles globally, up more than 6% compared to last year. And they were up nearly 9% in China, which we know because the China Passenger Car Association publishes those numbers. But Tesla’s total sales were down compared to the 4th quarter, and they came in under expectations, so the stock was down this morning more than 4% in pre-market trading.
EV SALES UPDATE: RIVIAN SURGES, CADILLAC EV MIX GROWS
So, have higher gasoline prices pushed more consumers into electric cars? We’ll have to wait until all the automakers report their sales numbers to know for sure, but here’s some of what we know so far. Rivian reported its sales shot up almost 20%, which was quite a bit better than analysts expected. Toyota says the all electric bZ and Lexus RZ were up 149% and 171%, respectively, though the numbers are still quite small. And while Chevrolet posted a 30% drop in EV sales, Cadillac posted an 18% gain. In fact, 30% of all Cadillacs sold in the first quarter were electric, which bodes well for the brand.
AUTO ALLIANCE: REPLACE FEDERAL GAS TAX WITH WEIGHT FEE
The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which represents most major automakers in the U.S., wants to scrap the federal gas tax and replace it with a vehicle fee to pay for road repairs. The federal gas tax, which is currently 18.4 cents per gallon, hasn’t been raised since 1993. And with vehicles becoming more fuel efficient and EVs becoming more popular, gas tax revenue hasn’t kept up with highway maintenance needs. Since 2008, more than $275 billion has been shifted away from the general fund to pay for road repairs. So, the Alliance is proposing to impose a single fee on every vehicle based on weight. It says the current tax is unfair to owners of older, less fuel-efficient vehicles and those who drive long distances since they pay more.
CONGRESS PROPOSES NEW ANNUAL FEES FOR EVs & HYBRIDS
There’s also a proposal in the U.S. House to impose a $250 annual fee on EVs and $100 on hybrids, to help pay for road repairs. But that bill is being criticized as unfair to EV drivers since the average gas-powered vehicle pays just $88 a year in federal gas taxes. And we have an interview with Consumer Reports that takes a deep dive into the issue. It’s available for our YouTube and Patreon members to watch right now. And it will be available for everyone to watch this weekend.
HYUNDAI CONFIRMS BODY-ON-FRAME PICKUP FOR U.S. MARKET
Last week Hyundai announced that it will introduce 36 new models into the North American market by 2030 and with that many new vehicles it almost had to expand into new segments. And now we know that will include mid-size pickup trucks. It revealed the Boulder Concept, which is an SUV, but it’s meant to be a design preview of what we can expect from the new truck, which is scheduled to launch at the end of decade. The model will be designed, developed and built in America and will debut the brand’s first ever fully-boxed body-on-frame platform. Last year Hyundai announced a partnership with GM, which among other things you may remember includes joint development of an all-electric van and mid-size pickup. The original announcement said those trucks are going to Central and South America, but we think GM could be involved in these U.S. pickups. When asked about a possible link a Hyundai spokesperson responded, “At this time, the company has not made any decisions regarding potential partnerships related to the development of these North-American-bound body-on-frame Hyundai vehicles. Beyond those previously announced programs, Hyundai continues to explore potential areas of collaboration with GM and will share additional details as the partnership progresses.”
MERCEDES FINISHES WINTER TESTS OF 1,000HP “PANCAKE” MOTORS
Mercedes revealed it just completed final winter tests of its upcoming Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door Coupe. This is noteworthy to us because the model will feature axial flux or what are also called pancake motors. Developed by a company called Yasa, they only weigh 28 pounds but are capable of making over 1,000 horsepower. The magnets and coils inside an axial flux motor are much closer together and there’s a much larger surface area for them to interact. That leads to impressive power density, however YASA estimates the continuous power output would be more in the range of 470-535 horsepower. But the new Mercedes‑AMG GT 4‑Door Coupe will have three of these motors on tap, which should offer some pretty impressive performance. We’ll learn just how impressive when the model makes its debut in a few weeks.
SUBARU DEBUTS “GETAWAY” ELECTRIC 3-ROW SUV
Subaru pulled the wraps off the Getaway, an all-new electric 3-row SUV. While it’s based on the same stretched version of Toyota’s eTNGA architecture as the new Highlander EV, the Getaway’s standard AWD system puts out a lot more power than the dual motor Toyota; 420 horsepower vs. 338 horsepower. Two battery sizes are available; 77- and roughly 96 kWh, which can provide more than 300 miles of range. The Getaway launches in the U.S. late this year, but no word on pricing yet.
AKIO TOYODA NOT INVOLVED IN CEO DECISION
Despite being the grandson of the company’s founder, Akio Toyoda refers to himself as “the president that no one wanted” when he took over the role in 2009. But since that time the company has transitioned to an Executive Appointment Meeting to discuss executive changes, including president. And even though Akio is now chairman of Toyota he says he wasn’t involved at all in the decision to replace President and CEO Koji Sato with CFO Kenta Kon. And it sounds like Sato, who’s now Vice Chairman and Chief Industry Officer, wasn’t ready to give up his previous roles. When asked about his 3-year term, compared to Akio’s 13 years, Sato said “Honestly, I do think it’s short.”
STOCK OF THE DAY: PONY.AI SURGES 9% AFTER POSTING NET PROFIT
Our Autoline Automotive Stock of the Day yesterday was Pony ai, the Chinese robotaxi company, which was up 9.5%. You may remember that we reported it turned the corner in the 4th quarter and posted a net profit, and investors clearly think the company is headed to better times ahead.
But that’s a wrap for this show. Don’t forget to tune into Autoline After Hours at 3PM EST today and I hope to see you there.
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Sean,
In what way is it unfair to charge higher road taxes to people who use the road more? That is exactly how the tax should be charged!
Agree with Kevin more use of road more tax however way back in troglodytes times class 8 trucks especially if overloaded did a lot of wear and tear on roads as well as studded snow tires really take down asphalt perhaps more tax there as well. but then there is social justice aspect of the poor needing to pay less. Hey what are the poor driving anyway? and public transit is subsidized already. Just asking questions no lynching please
Both the Auto Alliance and congressional Republicans want to tax vehicles in a way totally unrelated to how much the vehicles are driven. The house, packed with antienvironmental extremists, wants to tax EVs and hybrids much more than federal gas tax would be on ICE vehicles driven the same miles. It seems that Auto Alliance wants to stick it to EVs which aren’t driven many miles.
Any “fair” tax should be based on both vehicle weight and distance driven, especially distance driven. Most of what I’ve read is that the difference between a 3500 pound and 5500 pound vehicle doesn’t make a lot of difference in road wear/damage, and 80,000 pound trucks are what cause most of the damage. Gas tax is at least based on miles driven by a specific vehicle.
I think studded tires are illegal in a lot of states, are are legal for only a limited time of year in others. They apparently cause a lot of road damage, even on light weight vehicles.
From the image in today’s report, it do not look like either the Highlander EV or the new Subaru three row EV with have a frunk. They both appear to be midsize like the Model X and Gravity, so it’s just curious as to why they couldn’t figure out how to add one, with they are thought to be clean sheet vehicles.
The Boulder concept looks great as a FJ, land cruiser, Wrangler and Bronco competitor, but as a pickup it seems to be more of a competitor to the premium Gladiator, than the average midsize pickup set.
From a video I saw comparing a Mach-E and an ID4, the frunk/no frunk tradeoff seemed to be between the vehicle length and compactness for parking, etc. Also, some people like the longer hood look. The Mach-E is a little longer, the additional length about equal to the amount of space in the frunk. To me, an extra 6 inches of length wouldn’t matter much and the frunk would be handy. A non-frunk argument, in addition to shorter vehicle length, is that serviceability is generally easier without a frunk.
It is looking like Hyundai/Kia are wanting to be “full line” companies, even as GM and Ford have abandoned that. H/K need a sports car, though, to be closer to full line, even with the trucks they are planning.
MB pancake motor is some cool tech.
I wish Akio Toyoda well. He acquitted himself well during the unintended acceleration/pedal misapplication “scandal” of circa 2010. It’s gonna be a long time, however, before I will again consider buying any Toyota product after Akio’s gross, pandering MAGA cosplay. That said Toyota build a solid product and compete in just about every conceivable viable North American product segment.
What country in America will Hyundai’s be manufactured?
R B Quinn, I think U.S. is the plan for the trucks.
Kit —
Frunk/no frunk probably will not dissuade most potential buyers away from taking either of those two vehicles home, for, when you look at ICE vehicles, all of them have no frunk and life goes on. Yet, ever since Tesla demonstrated with no engine, that space under the hood could be used for more storage, it almost seems like a let down not to be able to take advantage of area. Then to see the Lucid Gravity pickup on that and expand on it turning into storage AND a seating area, it just seems like a missed opportunity. The R1, R2, the EV Volvos , Polestars and a number of other makes, with their ground up EV designs were able to add them and some bigger then others in the midsize space. It just seems that those two Toyota based EVs may not be as clean sheet as one may have thought?! Or maybe that was a misconception on my part and it wouldn’t be the first time I made a mistake! Just ask my wife and daughter!
I’ve had 3 gas cars with frunks.
My bad, Corvette and Porsches have frunks, but I think that was before coin the phrase.
I don’t know when “frunk” became a word, but my 1970 VW Beetle was my first car that had one.