AD #4283 – Stellantis Limits Funding to Four Core Brands; China’s Price War Is Back; Beijing Auto Show Reveals

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

CHINA’S EV PRICE WAR IS BACK
Three years ago, Tesla helped kick off a price war in China that spread like a virus through the industry. Today, Chinese automakers are caught in a race to the bottom that has left most of them unprofitable. The Chinese government warned automakers that the price war could hollow out its auto industry. It even came up with a word to describe it: involution, which means a shrinking or regression. The government warning worked…for a while. Automakers temporarily eased up on cutting prices, but market forces are hard to control. And when BYD saw its sales sinking this year, it cut prices 10%. So it seems like the price war is back in full swing. It goes without saying that this is not sustainable. And we think that when the inevitable crash comes, everyone will be stunned at the scale of it all.  

STELLANTIS LIMITS FUNDING TO FOUR CORE BRANDS
Stellantis has 14 brands in its portfolio, which is a lot of mouths to feed. And after writing off $26 billion in EV investments, eating almost $2 billion in Trump tariffs, and posting negative cash flow of $5.4 billion last year, it just doesn’t have enough money to feed all of them. So it’s going to concentrate its investments in its four biggest brands: Ram, Jeep, Peugeot and Fiat. Reuters reports those brands will get a significant boost in new products, while the others will get derivative models and become regional players. The interesting part is that CEO Antonio Filosa is not axing any of these brands, and believes they’re still important to the company. Last month, design executives at Stellantis’ North American studios told us that they had big news coming for the Chrysler brand, which should come at the company’s Investor Day next month. 

CHINA PUSHES AI TO BREAK CHIP DEPENDENCY
As part of its five-year plan released earlier this year, China is pushing its automakers to integrate AI into just about everything. The goal is to break its dependence on high-end semiconductors, a segment dominated by the U.S. Recently, Chinese automakers and suppliers have introduced new AI systems along with other investment commitments. For example, tech company Huawei announced it will invest more than $10 billion over the next five years to boost computing for smart vehicles. And automakers including Xpeng, Li Auto, BYD, Geely and Leapmotor have all started designing their own chips to reduce their reliance on Nvidia. While most companies outside of China are using AI to help improve their business, an analyst at AlixPartners says China is focusing on using AI to make the car easier to drive and interact with.

FORD FREE CHARGING PROGRAM SAVES TEXAS DRIVERS
To encourage EV and plug-in hybrid owners to charge at home at night, when there’s less demand on the energy grid, Ford launched a free charging program in Texas two years ago. It partnered with TXU Energy to give customers a credit on their bill for all electricity used to charge their vehicle during off-peak hours during the year. Ford showed participating owners can save an average of $1,200 a year on electricity with an F-150 Lightning, $800 with a Mustang Mach-E and $300 with a plug-in hybrid Escape. And thanks to the program, 94% of participants are charging during off-peak hours and around 515-MWh of electric charging was shifted to off-peak hours, enough to power 39 average Texas homes for an entire year.

           

CHARGEPOINT LAUNCHES WORLD’S FASTEST EV CHARGER 
And in other EV charging news, ChargePoint just introduced what it claims is the world’s fastest standalone EV charger, delivering up to 600-kW of charging speed for a single vehicle. That’s about 40% higher power density than other standalone DC fast-chargers. The new unit can also charge two vehicles at once or it can be paired with another cabinet to charge up to four vehicles. When charging multiple vehicles, it can deliver any combination of power levels up to 600-kW per port. And thanks to its compact design, ChargePoint says it’s ideal for sites with limited space.

HYUNDAI REVEALS NEW IONIQ V FOR CHINA
The wedge-y sedan concept that Hyundai previewed earlier this month is actually the base for a similar-looking production version, called the IONIQ V. It’s the first dedicated IONIQ production model for the Chinese market and also an introduction of Hyundai’s new design language. The company didn’t say when the IONIQ V will go on sale, but added it will come out with an SUV model in the second half of next year, which could look like the Earth concept it revealed earlier this month along with the Venus concept. And those are part of a bigger 20 model expansion in China over the next 5 years, which will also include extended range electrics. 

NISSAN DEBUTS NEW PHEV CONCEPTS IN CHINA
Hyundai wasn’t the only foreign automaker showing off new models in China. Nissan revealed two new plug-in hybrid SUVs. One is a concept that’s inspired by its NX8 model and is aimed at younger buyers and the other is a rugged off-road SUV that revives the Terrano nameplate. Nissan says it will debut production versions of both as well as three additional NEV models for the Chinese market within a year.

 

PEUGEOT UNVEILS NEW EV DESIGN CONCEPTS
Peugeot had a couple of concepts on display, too, which are meant to push the boundaries of design. The Concept 6 is a large sedan that’s meant to look elegant and sporty and the Concept 8 is a big SUV that Peugeot calls refined and powerful. 

GEELY UNVEILS DEDICATED ROBOTAXI
And in one more bit of China news, Geely officially unveiled Eva Cab, its first dedicated robotaxi. Thanks to 43 sensors, including lidar, it doesn’t have a steering wheel or pedals, which frees up more space for riders. The company says production and commercial operations will start sometime next year.

VISTEON STOCK SOARS ON STRONG PROFIT MARGINS
Twenty-six years ago, Ford spun off its parts plants to form the second biggest automotive supplier in the world. They named it Visteon and it was doing nearly $20 billion a year in business. But it was a high cost operation with UAW labor and Visteon found it difficult to compete with nimbler suppliers who had much lower costs. Slowly but surely the company began to shrink. Last year it did $3.7 billion worth of business, a fraction of what it used to be. But now it’s growing again, it’s posting healthy 13% profit margins, and it has a strong book of business. Investors really like what they’re seeing. Yesterday Visteon was the Autoline Stock of the Day. It closed at $109.40 a share, up 9.4% and giving the company a market cap of $2.9 billion. 

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