AD #4275 – Geely Wants Toyota’s Hybrid Crown; Sky-High Diesel Stalls U.S. Trucking; Tesla Requires Quiz for FSD

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

SKY-HIGH DIESEL STALLS U.S. TRUCKING
The war in Iran continues to have an impact on the auto industry. Diesel prices in the U.S. are soaring which is hurting truckers. Since the start of the war, diesel prices have jumped $1.89, or 50% and as of Monday, U.S. fleets are paying an average of $5.52 per gallon of diesel, which is an all-time high. A recent poll from DAT Freight & Analytics found that 18% of the over 540 trucking companies it surveyed had halted operations due to the spike in fuel prices. About 44% of the firms were being more careful about load weights and about 45% were driving fewer miles. The surge in prices has wiped out profits for most small trucking companies and one analyst warns that the high diesel prices could force thousands of small operators out of business.

FUEL COSTS SPARK EUROPEAN EV RECORD
Meanwhile, over in Europe, rising gas prices led to record electrified vehicle sales in March. According to data from Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, registrations of BEVs and plug-in hybrids hit 540,000 vehicles, a 37% increase from a year ago and a monthly all-time high. Globally, more than 1.7 million electrics were registered, up 3% from last year. And that’s pretty impressive since electrified vehicle sales in China were down 14% and they fell 30% in North America.

           

TESLA REQUIRES QUIZ FOR FSD
As we reported yesterday, Tesla just received approval for Supervised FSD in the Netherlands, the first in Europe. But in order for owners to activate the feature, they must pass a short quiz. A mandatory in-car tutorial explains FSD’s controls and what each button does. And at the end there’s a quiz to make sure they understand when the system is active and that they’re still accountable for the vehicle when it’s enabled. As we said yesterday, if more countries in Europe approve the system, it should help boost Tesla’s sales and revenue.

NISSAN SLIMS DOWN TO SPEED UP
Nissan is laying out its new long-term plan under new CEO Ivan Espinosa. In an effort to help turn around declining sales and profits, it’s cutting its global lineup from 56 models down to 45, which we think could save Nissan billions. To make those vehicles more attractive to customers, the company will introduce new technology, expanded powertrain options and fresh designs. The next-gen version of ProPilot with point-to-point hands-free driving will launch in early 2028 on the new Elgrand van. And in the long term Nissan expects 90% of its lineup to feature some sort of driver assistance technology. Building on its ePower series hybrid, it will also introduce plug-in hybrids, extended-range electrics and a new V6 hybrid system for a new lineup of body-on-frame vehicles. That includes the return of the Xterra as well as two new SUVs for Infiniti. The company also showed off the new X-Trail and Rogue, which are the same depending on the market they’re sold in and will likely have an Infiniti version as well. It pulled the wraps off the next-gen Juke EV, whose body panels look like unfolded origami. And it teased a new Skyline and says Infiniti will get a new performance-oriented V6 sedan. Nissan expects these vehicles to provide it with a nice little bump in sales by 2030 or 2031. It’s aiming to sell over 1 million vehicles in the U.S. by that time, which would be up from 926,000 last year. But China is where it expects its biggest growth, going from 653,000 in 2025 to 1 million units by the end of the decade.

GEELY AIMS FOR TOYOTA’S HYBRID CROWN
Geely is bragging that it’s going to surpass Toyota’s dominance in hybrid technology. It developed a hybrid system that uses artificial intelligence to take actual driving conditions into account, such as ambient temperature, humidity and terrain to maximize fuel savings. It also developed a gasoline engine rated at 48.4% thermodynamic efficiency which we believe is the highest for any mass produced engine in the world. The hybrid system is going into a 4-door sedan, the Preface, and a 4-door SUV, the Monjaro. The sedan is rated at 59 miles per gallon, while the SUV is rated at 49. But that’s on the WLTC test procedure. We think an EPA rating would be 50 for the sedan and 42 for the SUV. That compares to 51 mpg for a hybrid Toyota Camry and 35 for a Highlander.

NEW CEO, FRESH CASH FOR LUCID
Lucid is getting a new, full-time CEO. Silvio Napoli replaces Marc Winterhoff, who was acting as interim CEO after Lucid let Peter Rawlinson go. Winterhoff will now become the company’s COO. Napoli was formerly the CEO of the Schindler Group, a company based in Switzerland that makes elevators, escalators and moving walkways. Lucid also announced it raised another $550 million from the Saudi Private Investment Fund and a public offering, as well as another $200 million from Uber.

LUCID IS AUTOLINE STOCK OF THE DAY
Investors loved the news. Lucid stock rose 7.7%, making it the Autoline Stock of the Day, outperforming all global automotive stocks. Shares closed at $9.24, giving Lucid a $3 billion market cap.

BANKRUPTCY PRO TAKES MARELLI REINS
Speaking of new CEOs, Marelli, the big Italian supplier, which is going through Chapter 11 bankruptcy, named former General Motors CEO Fritz Henderson as its CEO. Henderson was only CEO of GM for 8 months in 2009, and took over when President Obama’s Automotive Task Force fired Rick Wagoner. But those 8 months undoubtedly gave Fritz good insights into the bankruptcy process. And when companies like Marelli face bankruptcy, they always turn to a CEO who’s already gone through the process.

UAW TARGETS U.S. AUTO SUPPLIERS
And while we’re talking about suppliers, they need to be aware that the UAW is launching an organization drive to unionize US based suppliers. Automotive News reports it successfully organized two plants in Michigan, one from Webasto and another from a company called Ground Effects, which does spray-in bed liners for GM pickups. That organizing effort added 750 new UAW members. As tariffs force suppliers to move more production to the US, the UAW believes it has an opportunity to add more members. Most suppliers want to avoid the union, as it generally reduces a plant’s flexibility through work rules and lines of demarcation, and adds more cost through higher wages and benefits.

RENAULT TWINGO BECOMES LIVING CARTOON
This might look like a cartoon, but it’s a real car. Artist Joshua Vides has gained popularity over the last year making creations like this Renault Twingo, but this is the first time we’re stumbling across his work. It’s not uncommon for automakers to team up with artists for specialty cars. We don’t normally cover that kind of stuff, but this one really grabbed our attention.

And with that we wrap up today’s show. Thanks for making Autoline a part of your day.