AD #4271 – GM Reviving Buick Sedans in The U.S.; EU Rules Threaten U.S. Pickup Imports; Xiaomi Likely to Miss Ambitious Sales Target

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

GM REVIVING BUICK SEDANS IN THE U.S.
We have a little more clarity on a story we reported about last November. A source told us then that Chevrolet is developing a vehicle from the same platform as the next-gen Cadillac CT5. We speculated that it could be a new Malibu sedan or maybe even the new Camaro. Well, a major supplier to GM told Automotive News that it will be the Camaro that rolls down the line with the CT5 at GM’s Lansing Grand River plant in the fall of 2027. Even more intriguing, that supplier also says GM has started requesting quotes for key parts for Buick’s first sedan for the North American market since it discontinued the Regal in 2020. Our source says these models will have a more centralized computing system with fewer control modules and that manual transmissions and V8 engines are still part of the mix. One analyst believes production of the Buick model might be limited to 10,000-20,000 units, but GM expects to make between 60,000 and 70,000 CT5s and Camaros, so the Lansing Grand River plant would have been even more underutilized without the Buick. That facility was supposed to go EV-only and the company committed over $1.2 billion to make that happen, but that changed with GM writing off billions in EV investments. 

EU RULES THREATEN U.S. PICKUP TRUCK IMPORTS
General Motors, Ford and Stellantis are accusing the European Union of blocking imports of their large pickup trucks and the dispute could impact the tariff deal that the U.S. and the EU reached last year. Under the EU’s Individual Vehicle Approval rule, automakers are allowed to sell a limited number of models, like full-size trucks, without having to go through the entire homologation process. In 2024, about 7,000 large pickups were sold in Europe, the majority of which were Ram 1500s. But the EU is planning to tighten rules on those types of imports and the U.S. ambassador to the EU says that could violate the spirit of their previous trade deal. The U.S. automakers are urging the Trump Administration to block the EU from changing the import rules, which they claim would reduce consumer choice.

TRUMP ADMIN DENIES FORD RELIEF ON ALUMINUM TARIFFS
The Trump Administration is denying requests from Ford and other automakers to give them relief on aluminum tariffs. Two fires at aluminum supplier Novelis’ plant in New York last year disrupted production and caused shortages for automakers. The plant is the largest domestic supplier of aluminum to the auto industry. To help make up for the lost production, Novelis is sourcing aluminum from its plants in Europe and South Korea but the imported metal gets slapped with a 50% tariff, which is raising costs for automakers. Ford, which needs aluminum for the F-150, has been especially hit hard. It’s already taken a $2 billion hit from the fires and expects to pay $1 billion more this year. But as of now, the administration is not planning on giving automakers any relief.

XIAOMI LIKELY TO MISS AMBITIOUS ANNUAL SALES TARGET
Despite being one of the hottest brands in China, Xiaomi is probably going to miss its sales target for the year. The company sold roughly 80,000 vehicles in the first quarter. That’s not terrible for only having two models, but it’s just a 5% increase over last year when it only had one model on sale. Xiaomi set a sales target of 550,000 units this year, after selling 410,000 last year. However, it would have to sell 156,000 vehicles each remaining quarter, or about double Q1, to hit that target. Even so, Xiaomi will grow this year. It recently launched the second-gen SU7 sedan and continues to scale up its production capacity.  

STELLANTIS & LEAPMOTOR PARTNER FOR NEW OPEL EV
Stellantis is in talks to develop an Opel EV with its Chinese partner Leapmotor for the European market. Leapmotor will supply the technology and components, while Opel will be responsible for the design. The model will share an architecture with Leapmotor’s B10 compact SUV and will be assembled at a Stellantis plant in Spain. Production of the Opel model is expected to kick-off in 2028 with an annual production target of 50,000 vehicles. Leapmotor’s B10 model will also be built at the same plant starting later this year for the European market. While nothing is official yet, Reuters reports an agreement could be finalized as early as this month. Stellantis is also in early talks with Leapmotor about developing a model for Alfa Romeo on the same platform, which would also be built in Spain.

U.S. PUBLIC FAST CHARGING STATIONS SEE RAPID GROWTH
Despite slumping EV sales, more and more public EV chargers are opening up in the U.S. According to Bloomberg, 605 public fast-chargers were installed in the first quarter, up 34% from a year ago. There are now 13,500 stations across the U.S., an increase of 25% from last year. And despite sales of EVs falling after the elimination of the $7,500 EV tax credit, the U.S. charging infrastructure is expected to grow 8% this year. That’s because the U.S. has one of the worst ratios of cars to chargers among developed global EV markets. There are about 109 EVs for every fast-charging cord in the U.S. compared to just 19 EVs per charger in China.

TESLA RAISES PRICES ON FINAL MODEL S & X INVENTORY
Tesla offered some pretty nice discounts on the Model S and X over the last couple of years in an effort to help kickstart sales. But it wasn’t enough and in late January the automaker announced it would no longer produce the models. That means the only new Model S or Xs left are what’s remaining in inventory. However, with those numbers shrinking, Tesla is jacking up prices. It just added another $15,000 to the price tag. 

SKODA DEVELOPS HIGH-FREQUENCY BELL FOR SAFER URBAN CYCLING
For the first time the number of cyclists or bike riders in London is expected to outnumber car drivers this year. But even in 2024 the number of accidents between riders and pedestrians was up 24% over the previous year. So, it could likely get worse with more cyclists. Skoda thinks part of the problem is people that wear noise cancelling earbuds and headphones, so it came up with an innovative solution. It worked to create a bicycle bell that operates in a frequency range that noise cancelling systems can’t cancel out. It calls this band between 750 and 780 Hz the “safety gap.” Compared to a standard bell, people wearing noise cancelling headphones heard Skoda’s bell 22 meters or 72 feet and 5 seconds earlier. Skoda says it’s working to launch the bell in London and that anyone can download its research for free on its website. 

But that brings us to the end of today’s show. Thanks for tuning in.