AD #4274 – Tesla Receives First FSD Approval in Europe; Nio Says Common Specs Will Save Billions; Ford Uses AI for Robot Weld Repairs

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

TESLA RECEIVES FIRST FSD APPROVAL IN EUROPE
Big news for Tesla. The Netherlands Vehicle Authority, known as the RWD, approved Supervised FSD for use in the country after 18 months of rigorous testing on the track and public roads. It said that FSD “makes a positive contribution to road safety.” But it hastened to add that the software stack used for FSD in the United States is not the same as the one it tested for Europe. The RWD says it will submit an application to the European Union for FSD to become legal across the continent, though a majority of countries have to approve it. If they do, this should help Tesla boost sales in Europe, which dropped sharply after Elon Musk interjected himself in European politics, but have begun to turn around. And it should provide Tesla with a nice revenue boost as customers pay an extra €99 a month for the service.   

NIO CEO SAYS ADOPTING COMMON SPECS WILL SAVE BILLIONS
China leads the world in parts commonization, thanks to standards set down by CATARC, the China Automotive Technology & Research Center. This allows China’s automakers to use common parts across the industry, providing massive economies of scale. These are commodity parts that are largely invisible to customers. They also help cut product development time, since engineers can use so many parts right off the shelf. Now, Nio’s CEO and founder, William Li, is calling for battery cells and microprocessors to be common. He says they account for 50% of the cost of a car and that the Chinese auto industry could save $14.5 billion a year if it adopted common specs. He points to AA and AAA batteries as great examples of common battery specs.  

FOREIGN BRANDS GAIN GROUND AS CHINA EV SUBSIDIES FADE
Foreign automakers used to dominate sales in China but not anymore. Domestic brands now dominate thanks to the growth of electric vehicles. But last month, that trend reversed slightly. Domestic brands sold more than 1 million vehicles in March, down 16% from a year ago, while foreign brands sold more than 400,000 vehicles, down 13%. Because of that, the domestic brand share of the Chinese market was around 62%, a slight dip of about 1%. Domestic brands sales are down in part to China phasing out subsidies for EVs and because companies are offering fewer more affordable models to help protect margins. So, some consumers turned to foreign brands because their gas-powered models are more affordable. However, analysts expect the dip in domestic brand sales to be short-term.

VW GROUP SALES SLUMP AMID U.S. TARIFF CHALLENGES
The Volkswagen Group got hammered in the U.S. the first three months of the year, blaming it on “the tariff situation as well as changes in regulations.” Sales were down just over 20% in the U.S., compared to a 13.3% drop in all of North America. EVs played a role in that decline, falling more than 80% in the U.S. to only 4,000 units. And as for its worldwide sales, every brand in the Group, except for Skoda, VW commercial vehicles and truck maker MAN, was down in the first quarter. However, its overall performance wasn’t that bad. The VW Group sold nearly 2.05 million vehicles in Q1, a drop of 4% compared to last year. The three brands that were up, performed well enough to offset a good portion of the Group’s other losses and VW also saw a healthy 31% increase in plug-in hybrid sales, coming in at 109,000 units.

VOLVO U.S. SALES PLUNGE AS INVENTORY LEVELS RISE
And it wasn’t just Volkswagen that had a rough quarter in the U.S. Volvo sold a little over 22,500 vehicles the first three months of the year, a drop of 32%. That’s its third consecutive Q1 decline in the U.S. and its worst start to a year since 2020. Volvo dealers say part of the problem is an aging combustion vehicle lineup and “in the mind of the consumer, the current price exceeds its value.” Now Volvo is asking retailers to contribute to lease incentives to help drive sales and with inventory piling up, going from 81- to 93-days supply in Q1, there should be some good deals out there. The automaker is also relying on a boost from new models like the EX60, but it will still be hard for Volvo to hit its goal of increasing retail sales 14% in the U.S. this year.

CHERY PURSUES EUROPEAN PRODUCTION THROUGH PARTNERSHIPS
Chinese automaker Chery is looking to expand production in Europe. But it wants to do it through partnerships with other automakers, and by using existing plants. Chery already has a joint-venture with Ebro to build vehicles at a former Nissan plant in Spain. It’s aiming to build 200,000 cars a year there by 2029, but Chery says that won’t be enough to meet demand or meet the EU’s local content rules, so it’s talking with other potential partners. Last year, Chery sold more than 120,000 vehicles in Europe. Here’s our Autoline Insight. This is a brilliant strategy. By using existing plants, Chery is more likely to be welcomed with open arms by unions and governments that want to keep those jobs. And it won’t add to Europe’s excess manufacturing capacity.

BYD TESTS NEW AFFORDABLE PLUG-IN HYBRID PICKUP TRUCK
BYD is developing an all-new pickup truck that reminds us a lot of the Hyundai Santa Cruz. The automaker launched its Shark PHEV pickup two years ago but it’s a body on frame truck mainly sold outside of China. Car News China reports the new truck is being developed for the Chinese market. BYD has been spotted testing a camouflaged version, which looks like a unit-body construction, and has received production approval from the Chinese government. Not many details are known about the new pickup but it’s expected to have a plug-in hybrid like the Shark, although it will be more affordable and not as powerful as the Shark.

FORD USES AI FOR REAL-TIME ROBOT WELD REPAIRS
Here’s one example of how Ford is leveraging AI, in this case helping to improve its manufacturing process. Welding robots have a pre-defined path and sequence when performing their task, but a team at Ford’s Thailand plant took historical data of what constitutes a good weld and then used AI to create an algorithm that can teach the robot to recognize a bad weld. The robot can then go back on its own and fix it. It’s like real-time self-repair, rather than hoping another mechanism will catch the issue further down the line. 

CARS.COM SHARES JUMP FOLLOWING MAJOR WORKFORCE COST CUTTING
Our Autoline Stock of the Day is Cars.com, the online buying and selling platform. It closed up 7.3% on Friday at $9.75 a share, giving it a market cap of $571 million. Investors like some of the actions the company is taking, like cutting 11% of its staff, and ramping up its stock buy-back program to the tune of $90 million, up from $60 million. But they’re hoping that better times lie ahead. Cars.com saw its profits drop 58% last year and we’ll see if things are getting better when it reports its Q1 numbers on May 7th.

But that’s a wrap for today’s show. Thanks for making Autoline a part of your day.