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Runtime: 8:47
0:00 China Price War Spreads to Europe
0:46 Xiaomi Opens Munich R&D Center
1:38 Joby Aviation Starts NYC Air Taxi Trials
2:18 Apollo Buys Forvia Auto Interior Business For $2 Billion
3:52 Ford Mustang Cobra Jet Sets New EV Drag Record
5:02 Tesla Offers Free Supercharging to Boost Model 3 Sales
5:47 Bosch & Chery Partner On 48-Volt Vehicle Architecture
6:56 Nexteer Ready to Launch Advanced Steer-By-Wire Tech
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This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry.
CHINA PRICE WAR SPREADS TO EUROPE
Uh-oh, looks like the price war in China is spreading to Europe. Chinese automakers are growing quickly in Europe, far outpacing the rest of the market. So automakers in Europe are cutting prices to try and hold onto market share. That’s good news for car buyers, but the price war in China has crippled the profits of automakers, which is a key reason why they’re so fixated on exporting cars to other markets, like Europe. And a price war in Europe would be devastating for an industry that lost 100,000 jobs the last two years just in the supplier sector alone.
XIAOMI OPENS MUNICH R&D CENTER
And Chinese automakers don’t just want to compete in Europe on price. They want to compete on design, dynamics and technology. That’s why Xiaomi is opening an R&D center in Munich and has head-hunted key personnel away from Mercedes, BMW, Porsche and Lamborghini. It wants to develop cars specifically aimed at European consumers, so the center will focus on performance cars, vehicle dynamics, advanced technology and premium design. Xiaomi is getting ready for a big push to get into the European market next year, starting in Germany with a high-performance version of the electric YU7 SUV that will reportedly be priced around €50,000. That would be about €10,000 less than a Tesla Model Y Performance and €30,000 less than a Porsche Macan electric.
JOBY AVIATION STARTS NYC AIR TAXI TRIALS
Joby Aviation is going to demonstrate its electric air taxis in New York City this week. Joby will fly its electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, or eVTOLs, between JFK Airport and Manhattan over the next 10 days. The aircraft will make multiple trips but they won’t be carrying any passengers. The trips are part of a Department of Transportation pilot program to allow cities to develop infrastructure for eVTOLs and for the public to gain familiarity with them. Joby is aiming to start passenger flights in New York, Texas and Florida in the second half of this year but it still needs approval from the FAA.
APOLLO BUYS FORVIA AUTO INTERIOR BUSINESS FOR $2 BILLION
U.S. asset management company Apollo Global Management is acquiring French supplier Forvia’s auto interior business. The deal is worth €1.8 billion or $2.1 billion and Forvia says it will help cut its net debt by at least €1 billion. The interiors unit, which represents about 18% of the group’s revenue, has 59 manufacturing sites and 8 R&D centers in 19 countries with 31,000 employees.
FORD MUSTANG COBRA JET SETS NEW EV DRAG RECORD
Ford has the fastest EV in the world, at least for a quarter mile on a prepared dragstrip. The company beat its own previous record set two years ago by about ¾ of a second, running a quarter mile in 6.87 seconds at 221 MPH. Ford’s Racing team improved on the all-electric Mustang Cobra Jet, taking it from 1,800- up to 2,200 horsepower, and even dropped the weight to just over 3,300 pounds. The battery can be charged in about 20 minutes, so the team can get ready for another run within 45-minutes, which is the standard for drag racing. While most EVs are direct drive, the Mustang Cobra Jet 2200 has a 5-speed transmission and Ford even got a patent for the clutch that it had to design. The clutch on a drag car normally slips a little at launch to kind of ease the power in, but Ford’s is fully locked to harness all that EV motor torque and only slips at the top of a gear so it doesn’t spin the tire when the driver grabs the next gear.
TESLA OFFERS FREE SUPERCHARGING TO BOOST MODEL 3 SALES
Tesla’s global deliveries were up a little over 6% in the first quarter and it’s bringing back an incentive it likes to use to help boost sales. It’s offering free Supercharging for a year in North America with the purchase of a new Premium or Performance version of the Model 3. To help entice potential buyers even more, the company claims non-Tesla owners pay about 40% more to use a Supercharger station than a Tesla owner does. Electrek estimates the average is closer to 30-35%, but even at that rate it still makes Tesla’s $13 a month Supercharger Member attractive, which gives you the Tesla owner charging rate and could pay for itself with 80-100 kWh of charging a month.
BOSCH & CHERY PARTNER ON 48-VOLT VEHICLE ARCHITECTURE
From the first horseless carriages, all the way to the mid-1950’s, cars ran on 6 volt electric systems. But the auto industry recognized that 12 volt systems would be much more efficient, and we’ve mostly been running on 12 volts for the last 70 years. However, everyone knows that 48 volts would be significantly more efficient, but automakers have been reluctant to make the switch because it requires most components to be redesigned for 48-volt. Even though that would save money in the long run, it’s the upfront cost that they don’t want to pay for. But that’s beginning to change. Tesla’s Cybertruck was the first to adopt 48-volt tech, and now Bosch, the largest component supplier in the world, is joining forces with Chinese automaker Chery to develop a 48-volt architecture. So maybe we’re on the verge of seeing an industry-wide change because this is the tech that makes drive-by- wire, brake-by-wire, electric turbocharging, autonomous driving and a host of other technologies both feasible and affordable.
NEXTEER READY TO LAUNCH ADVANCED STEER-BY-WIRE TECH
Supplier Nexteer is eliminating some of the traditional components in cars. It completed development of its Electro-Mechanical Braking system, so no hydraulic brake lines, and says it’s now market ready. The system and its software helps support L3 and higher-level advanced driver assistance systems. And Nexteer’s Steer-by-Wire technology, so no mechanical link between the steering wheel and tires, will go into production vehicles from several global automakers in the next 12 months.
But that brings us to the end of today’s show. Thanks for making Autoline a part of your day.
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I believe VW bug was the last to use 6volt in auto???
My parents’ ’65 VW Beetle was 6 volt. That was the last, or next to last year for 6 volt.
Those old VW bugs were great cars, probably not a great daily driver in 2026 but in early to mid 60’s they were great.
I had a ’70 Beetle when I was in Scotland in the navy. I spent most of my free time driving around sight seeing, etc. My car was U.S. spec, left hand drive not the best for seeing to overtake on two lane roads, but it was a lot cheaper than buying a new, or late model British market car. I had to agree to take it out of the UK when I left. 1970 was the peak U.S. sales year for the Beetle, with over 500,000 sold.
By today’s standards, an air cooled Beetle is slow, noisy, thirsty, not very roomy, and the heater was bad, but compared to a lot of the competition at the time, it was pretty good. The 0-60 time for the 1970 was about 18 seconds. Top speed was about 80.
I enjoy the older vehicles such as from the 1960s and how their design reflected the physical geography of the country they were designed in, the fuel efficiency demands of said country at that time, the road conditions they had to drive on, & design philosophy of the manufacturer and the environment. Whether this was in the US or Europe or Australia, or Asia –Yes, indeed, geography affects vehicle design!!
Regarding the VW Beetle say from the mid 1960s, as a vehicle to drive around in today on US roads, just looking at one single aspect can illustrate the reality of this & the effects of 60 years of modern engineering: The 0-60 times for these cars was, with the upgraded 50 gross hp models (such as a 1966 version), ideally about 25 seconds. With the 40 hp model in a 1964 MT (Motor Trend) test, it was almost 30 seconds to 60 as I recall. That’s about mid to upper 50s in the hp per pound ratio if the rough estimate of net hp (perhaps 20% lower than the 40 hp rating) is used & the weight of a 1700 vehicle + a 180lb driver is utilized. This is fine if driving on side streets with a maximum of 35 mph speed limits, but it is a real shocker on any real highway driving today. I was doing about 80 mph in metro Detroit last week on I-275 (a metro Detroit expressway) of course in a modern 20 year old vehicle! (ha!). The Chevrolet Corvair 0-60 times were jet-like compared to the VW Beetle. A shame that GM gave up on the Corvair just as it was getting really good with 1963&1/2 suspension upgrades, & the updated 1965 models, which would have been something if the wagon versions were kept!
I remember my ’70 VW having 57 hp. I think it was still gross at that time, and ratings changed to net in ’71 or ’72.
I took a couple weeks vacation on the European continent, and drove on no-speed-limit sections of autobahn. You really needed good lane discipline with the very wide speed difference among vehicles. As I remember, there were 3 lanes in each direction on most of those roads. There were a lot of cars going about the same speed my VW would go wide open, trucks going substantially slower, but some cars going very fast. You really needed to watch for quickly closing cars, especially if going to the left lane to pass a car that is passing a truck. As I remember, the 1584cc beetle got barely 20 mpg flat out at ~80 mph. My C7 Corvette got 30 at similar speed.
A high school class mate had a 1966 Corvair two door with the highest power non-turbo engine, and 4-speed manual. As I remember, it was about 140 hp, pretty good for a ~2500 pound car at the time. That was a really cool car.
Who would have thought, an EV Mustang would have 5 speed transmission! LOL! Of course, it’s not the transmission that most people have in mind, but transmission nonetheless. And its not a “fake” one with simulated shifts either! With Ford having built this rocket EV, they can technically say that they did build a two door Mustang EV! I’m sure that enthusiasts and Mustang fans never thought that they would live see the day of an electric dMustang and I’m sure most wished they were dead, just so they can roll over in their grave!
I don’t think I’m ready for a steer-by-wire driving. I guess I’m a little more comfortable with break by wiring, since it would be easy enough to install a hand pulled, emergency break, like in many vehicles today. But what could you do if, for some reason, the electrical system goes in your steer-by-wire vehicle and you loose control of your vehicle on the freeway?! I guess you could stop, but how would you get off the road and out of the way of oncoming traffic behind coming from behind you?
If the Mustang EV drag car has a 5-speed transmission, they probably use only two of them.
wmb, I don’t like the idea of steer-by-wire either, but we are already sharing the road with it in Cybertruck and maybe a couple others. I hope there is both mechanical and electrical/software redundancy.
Yep wake up people, for those that think allowing Chinese cars into the US is a good thing. As Europe loses over 100,000 jobs in the last 2 years, and that’s just on the supplier side of things. It’s going to be hard to compete in normal capitalist markets with companies that are government funded and do not meet the same employee pay, benefits and safety requirements. China will purposely undercut everyone until they go under then dominate the market and roll in the cash when everyone else has closed their doors.
Gary- GM has a habit of giving up on vehicles like the Corvair and the Fiero. Just as they start to become a well developed vehicle.
I developed the manufacturing equipment for GM electronic gas pedals about 26 years ago and there was a lot of work being done on Brake and steer by wire then. They all require multiple redundancy systems so I believe they will be reasonably safe. I personally don’t care just from a drivers perspective of the feedback from braking and steering is really hard to replicate. But for the moderate average commute probably doesn’t matter. A very hard or aggressive drive where you need to feel the tires just on the edge of traction in a curve like on a track. Well I don’t think drive by wire would work well. But with each century we get further and further away from the driving experience. Certainly the autonomous driving has to be easier with complete DBW systems. Which is okay cause before I’m too old to be taken off the road looks like I might be able to get a self driving car for mobility long into my retirement years.
This whole air taxi thing is just whacky to me. I guess I’m not progressive enough to see how it can work. It appears they are only about a 4-passenger vehicle to begin with. To replicate the capacity of the taxis, Ubers, trains, and other means of getting from an airport or anywhere else to a downtown area will take thousands of these things. And what type of air support and infrastructure will it require. For crying out loud, when on a commercial flight, it takes dozens of people and redundancies to make one flight get in the air – how is this going to work? You can’t just have these air taxis taking off willy nilly and going wherever they want without some sort of flight plan or air control. And the cost? I’ve not heard any estimates of what it will cost to fly in one of these things. This will just be another one of those ventures for the wealthy folks to separate themselves from the rest of us. The air taxis will be few and far between, and will cost more than any normal person or someone traveling on business can afford.