AD #4291 – Hybrid Popularity Surges as Gas Prices Rise; BMW, Daimler, Lucid Post Big Q1 Earnings Drop; Rivian Eyes In-House Lidar with Chinese Tech

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

Three automakers just posted their Q1 earnings and it looks like a financial massacre. We’ve got the results from a legacy automaker, BMW; a legacy heavy truck manufacturer, Daimler, and an EV startup, Lucid. Despite the diversity of their products, they all have one thing in common: they saw a big drop in earnings. 

BMW Q1 EARNINGS PLUNGE AMID FALLING EV SALES
Let’s start with BMW. It sold 565,000 cars, down 3.5%. Revenue fell 8% to €31 billion. Its EBIT fell a significant 36% and its net profit fell 23%. Here’s two more alarming numbers: free cash flow fell 88% and its EVs fell from 17% of sales to just over 15%.

DAIMLER TRUCK PROFITS CRATER 80% IN Q1
Now to Daimler Truck. It sold almost 69,000 heavy rigs, down 9%. Revenue dropped 13% to just under 10 billion euros. Its EBIT plummeted 71% and its net profit fell an alarming 80%.

LUCID MOTORS LOSES $1 BILLION IN Q1
As bad as that is, the numbers look even worse at Lucid. It sold just over 3,000 cars in the first quarter, about the same as a year ago, but down 42% from Q4 of last year. Lucid blames its seat supplier Camaco for causing production problems which crippled sales. It says that issue has been resolved, but the damage was already done. Lucid’s revenue fell 20% from a year ago and 95% from the prior quarter. And it ended up losing $1 billion over the last three months.

USPS CELEBRATES ROUTE 66 WITH NEW STAMP SERIES
OK, enough of all that bad financial news. Let’s end this first segment of the show on a happier note. The U.S. Post Office is issuing 8 stamps that celebrate the famous Route 66, which originally meandered 2,400 miles across the country from Chicago to Los Angeles. The stamps show famous places along the route. Many of you have probably heard of the song “Get Your Kicks on Route 66.” Everyone from the Rolling Stones to Depeche Mode did covers of it. But did you know that it was first recorded in 1946 by Nat King Cole? Nope, neither did I.

RIVIAN EYES IN-HOUSE LIDAR PRODUCTION WITH CHINESE TECH
Rivian already makes a number of its own components in-house, but it could become even more vertically integrated. CEO RJ Scaringe told Reuters that the kind of advanced solid-state lidar it wants to use for the hands-free driving system in the R2 is really only available from Chinese companies. But buying directly from China comes with higher risk to its supply chain, like if the technology is determined to be a national security concern. So Scaringe says the company is in “active discussions” to build its own lidar using Chinese technology, possibly through a joint venture. But Rivian will have to move fast, the first lidar-equipped R2s are supposed to start rolling off the line late this year. R2s being built now, which go on sale soon, are based on an “elevated version of the Gen2 architecture,” similar to the one used by the current R1 models, but with an improved camera and radar system. However, these versions cannot be upgraded with the lidar in the future. 

VW GROUP BECOMES LARGEST SHAREHOLDER IN RIVIAN
Speaking of Rivian, while it’s held the title since 2021, Amazon is no longer the EV maker’s largest shareholder. According to a new SEC filing the Volkswagen Group now has a nearly 16% stake in Rivian, compared to about 12% for Amazon. It made the jump after a recent $1 billion share investment at the end of April. That means the VW Group has pumped $3.3 billion of the $5.8 billion-dollar commitment it made to Rivian in 2024. The two companies recently completed winter tests of vehicles equipped with Rivian software and the first models are expected to launch sometime next year.

TESLA SEMI RECEIVES MASSIVE ORDERS IN CALIFORNIA
Tesla is starting to see a lot of interest in its Semi trucks. Last week, the first Semi rolled off its new high-volume production line near its Gigafactory in Nevada. And now Tesla is receiving significant orders for the truck. WattEV, which is based in California, just ordered 370 Tesla Semis, making it the largest single EV truck deployment in the state. Tesla will deliver 50 Semis to WattEV this year and the rest will be delivered by the end of 2027. And more than 300 of the trucks will be used in a joint program with the Port of Oakland. In addition to that, two California port operators have ordered a combined 60 Tesla Semis. And according to California’s Clean Truck & Bus Voucher program, the Tesla Semi accounted for 965 of 1,067 applications between January 2025 and February 2026.

NISSAN CUTS JOBS AND PRODUCTION LINES IN EUROPE
Nissan is making big cuts in Europe to slash costs. The automaker is planning to close one of two production lines at its Sunderland plant in the UK. Nissan says it’s looking into partnering with another automaker to take over the closed line, which could end up being a Chinese automaker. The plant currently builds the Leaf EV, Juke and Qashqai crossover. In 2016, it produced more than 507,000 vehicles but last year that was nearly cut in half to 273,000. In addition to that, Nissan will ax 900 jobs across Europe, mainly white collar and warehouse workers, but not any in manufacturing. Nissan’s current European head count is around 9,300 employees.

           

HYBRID VEHICLE POPULARITY SURGES AS GAS PRICES RISE
Due to rising gas prices, hybrids, both new and used, are gaining in popularity in the U.S. According to data firm Catalyst IQ, new hybrids were selling more quickly and had the lowest days supply at the end of April. Advertised models spent an average of 59 days on dealer lots, compared with 75 days for gasoline-powered vehicles and 114 days for EVs. Hybrids also had 67-days supply, while gas vehicles had supplies of 77-days and EVs had 79 days. Meanwhile, in the used segment, ISeeCars reports that in the first quarter, the market share for 1- to 5-year-old hybrid vehicles increased nearly 42% compared to a year ago. At the same time, used EV market share was up about 16%, while gas vehicle share declined about 3%.

AUDI RECREATES RECORD BREAKING 16-CYLINDER LUCCA RACECAR
In 1935 Audi set the record for ‘fastest road racing car in the world.’ The Auto Union Lucca, powered by a 16-cylinder engine, hit a top speed of nearly 327 km/h, which is just over 200 mph. Now Audi has carefully recreated that car, stretching the almost 15-feet of body panels over a wooden structure, which results in a vehicle that weighs less than 1,000 kilograms or just over 2,100 pounds. Audi will unveil the new Lucca to the public later this month and then it will go into the company’s historic collection.

But that’s a wrap for today’s show. Thanks for tuning in.