AD #4269 – Grand Wagoneer Sales Soar After Model Realignment; Used Trucks & Hybrids Retain Highest Resale Value; Chery Shares Soar 15% On Record Growth

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JEEP GRAND WAGONEER SALES SURGE AFTER MODEL REALIGNMENT
Jeep’s decision to drop the Wagoneer from its lineup and only offer the Grand Wagoneer is paying off. Sales of the Grand Wagoneer in the U.S. were up more than 660% in the first quarter, to more than 14,000 units. That number is a little misleading because it compares the old Grand Wagoneer with the new one, which has a significantly lower starting price. But even if you combine Q1 sales from last year of the Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer it comes to about 7,250 units, compared to more than 14,000 now, so the refreshed Grand Wagoneer is more than offsetting sales of both models. Jeep decided to drop the Wagoneer because customers mistakenly believed the model was smaller, so Jeep gave the Grand Wagoneer a lower starting price and fewer trim options than before. It now starts just under $66,000, about $4,000 more than the previous base Wagoneer.

USED TRUCKS AND HYBRIDS RETAIN HIGHEST RESALE VALUE
Used vehicles are retaining more value compared last year. According to a new study from ISeeCars, the average 5-year depreciation improved to nearly 42% in 2026, nearly 4 percentage points higher than last year. Among vehicle segments, Trucks and hybrids retain the most value, losing 34.2% and 35.4%, respectively. Meanwhile, EVs lose the most value, falling just over 57% in 5 years. Here’s our Autoline Insight. We think EVs will show improvement in residuals going forward because the $7,500 federal tax credit is gone and automakers are no longer slashing prices to offset its loss.

APTIV SPINS OFF VERSIGENT AS NEW PUBLIC SUPPLIER
It’s time to learn the name of the newest automotive supplier. It’s called Versigent, and it’s a business unit of Aptiv that’s got spun off and began publicly trading on the New York Stock Exchange on April 1st. Versigent makes electrical distribution systems, which includes low-voltage wiring harnesses for everything from windows to sensors; as well as high-voltage cables for EVs. It also makes copper and fiber optic data cables, and aluminum wiring to cut weight. The company is expected to generate over $9 billion in sales this year, with a net income around $350 million. Aptiv shareholders got one share of Versigent for every three shares of Aptiv, and Versigent is now trading for about $28 a share.

CHERY SHARES SOAR 15% ON RECORD GROWTH
Speaking of stock, as you may know, we’ve created the Autoline Stock Index, which is a listing of over 100 publicly traded automakers, suppliers and retailers from around the world. And it really gives a good perspective of the economic clout the industry has. Last Friday investors traded 230 million shares with a dollar value of $424 billion. That gave the companies on the Autoline Stock Index a total market capitalization of $2.6 trillion. But keep in mind that Tesla alone accounts for $1.1 trillion of that. As we went to press, the biggest mover of the day was Chery Automobile, up an impressive 15%. It trades for 32 Hong Kong dollars per share on the Hong Kong exchange, which converts to $4 a share in U.S. dollars. Investors clearly like the fact that Chery is reporting record sales and profits, that it strengthened its balance sheet and just launched a new brand called Freelander that it’s doing in partnership with Land Rover. 

FORD USES VISUAL CODING TO ACCELERATE VEHICLE DESIGN
Ford is slashing a bunch of time and money from its design process by using an approach called parametric design. Team members use visual coding to build solutions around input from designers, like the curves and dimensions of a part and the environment it will be used in. The program can spit out hundreds of variations of a part, which allows them to come up with solutions quickly. And if the part doesn’t quite have the look that a designer wants or it doesn’t perform well, then changes can be made in real time. Ford says this had one of the biggest impacts on its trim shop, especially while working in the development stages of a vehicle. The entire process for coming up with something like the perforation pattern on a seat, from start to finish can take up to four weeks. But with parametric design it can be done in a few days. And there’s even some processes that can be cut down to a few hours. The company is applying the approach to a Lincoln concept, which to us looks like a continuation of the Star Concept that was first shown about 4 years ago. Lincoln showed another concept, the Model L100, that also shared a similar design language, so if the brand is still working on it 4 years later, we think it’s pretty safe to say we’ll see these form factors on upcoming models. 

CHINA ESTABLISHES NEW LITHIUM BATTERY RECYCLING STANDARDS
China looks like it wants to be at the forefront of setting global standards for the automotive industry. It’s working on standards for solid-state batteries, battery safety, EV charging, driver assistance systems and AVs. Now China is turning its attention to battery recycling. Piggybacking on a new program that will require producers to make tracking a battery throughout its lifecycle easier, the country is also introducing a new policy around standardizing lithium battery recycling, including technical guidelines and how to expand operations. 

GAC SELLS LITHIUM MINING STAKE TO BOOST PROFITS
This could help stabilize the lithium market, which has seen wild price fluctuations over the last few years as demand for the metal has flip- flopped. But that may be one of the reasons Chinese automaker GAC is selling its stake in a lithium mining company. Its 12% share is worth an estimated $280 million. However, this is also likely the case of GAC needing money. It wants to funnel more resources into manufacturing and R&D and it expects the transaction to boost its profit to shareholders.

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