AD #4296 – New BMW CEO Faces Sinking China Sales; Kia Targets Japan With Electric Vans; Jeep Debuts Refreshed Avenger 

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

NEW BMW CEO FACES SINKING CHINA SALES
BMW’s board officially handed the keys to the company to its new CEO, Milan Nedeljkovic, as its former CEO, Oliver Zipse retired after 35 years with the company. One of the first things the new CEO will have to deal with is BMW’s sinking sales in China. And here’s one of the nightmares he faces. The Maextro S800 has clawed its way past all the German luxury cars to claim the top spot in China, while BMW’s 7-series has sunk to fifth position. Other Chinese luxury cars like the Nio ET9 and Yangwang U7 are also moving up the sales charts for luxury cars.   

PORSCHE SE WANTS VW TO OVERHAUL ITS BUSINESS
Porsche SE, which is controlled by the Porsche and Piech families, and in turn controls the Volkswagen Group, is pressuring the automaker to significantly overhaul its business model, after its first quarter earnings sank. Porsche SE posted an adjusted net profit of €382 million in Q1, a 21% drop from a year ago. However, when you include a €1.3 billion write-down on its VW stake, it posted an unadjusted net loss of €923 million. So the families are now looking into increasing Porsche SE’s investments in defense and artificial intelligence, to help offset its auto losses. The investment group owns about 32% of Volkswagen shares and 53% of voting rights and it also owns 12.5% of Porsche.

KIA TARGETS JAPAN WITH NEW ELECTRIC VANS
Japan does a pretty good job of keeping foreign made cars out of its home market. Imported cars account for only 5% of total sales. Four years ago, Hyundai decided to give it a go, and while it’s highly successful almost everywhere else in the world, it only managed to sell 759 cars there last year. So its sister-brand Kia is taking a different tack. It’s going to sell its electric PV5 van to both commercial and retail customers. It will launch with cargo and 5-passenger versions, with a 7-seater and wheelchair version coming later. Then in 2028 Kia plans to launch the PV7, which is a larger electric van. It’s an interesting strategy. The electric van market in Japan is in its early stages and is mostly served by tiny kei-car sized vans, while the PV5 is mid-sized. And by entering the commercial market Kia is doing something different than what we’ve seen from other foreign automakers. The base PV5 commercial van starts at $39,000, while the passenger version starts at $43,000.

BYD ADDS LIDAR TO CHEAP SEAGULL HATCHBACK
China’s automakers are starting to bring their top technology to their cheapest cars. BYD is launching the updated version of its Seagull small hatchback, which is available with its advanced driver assistance system, including lidar. But the tech isn’t cheap compared to the car’s overall price. The Seagull starts between $10,300 and $12,600 and it’s an extra $1,800 to $3,100 for the ADAS system depending on the version. The updated Seagull features a 55-kW or 74-horsepower motor and two battery sizes; a 30-kWh pack that provides 305-kilometers or 189 miles of range and a nearly 39-kWh battery with 405-kilometers or 251 miles of range.

RISING GAS PRICES BOOSTS EV SALES GLOBALLY
Rising fuel prices are boosting sales of electrified vehicles globally. According to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, registrations of BEVs and plug-in hybrids reached 1.6 million units worldwide in April, up 6% from a year ago. Europe was most responsible for the growth, with registrations hitting 400,000 units, a 27% gain. But in North America, registrations tumbled 28% to 120,000 units and in China they dropped 8% to 850,000 units. And while electrified vehicle sales fell in China, they accounted for over 61% of the market in April, which is a record. Chinese automakers also exported 400,000 EVs last month, which contributed to the overall number as well.

ELECTRIC MODELS DRIVE EU MINICAR GROWTH
The minicar segment is starting to see a bit of a revival in Europe. According to Dataforce, small car sales topped 136,000 units in the first quarter, up 6.5% from last year and outpacing the overall market which grew 4%. While gasoline powered models account for more than half of the minicar segment in Europe, sales were down 27% in Q1, compared to a nearly 50% increase for electric minicars. The Fiat Panda is the top selling model, with more than 40,000 sales. But then it’s a big drop to the Toyota Aygo X in second at nearly 31,000 units. And then it’s an even bigger drop to the Kia Picanto in third place which sold more than 15,000 units in Q1.

VOLVO TRUCKS DEVELOPING HYDROGEN POWERED COMBUSTION ENGINES
Volvo Trucks says it’s investing hundreds of millions of dollars into both internal combustion and electric technologies. That includes launching new body configurations and a longer-range version of its electric semi. But we’re more interested in the two all-new engines it’s coming out with that can run on gas, diesel and liquid hydrogen. The gas and diesel versions come out in the third quarter of this year, about the same time as the new electric variants. However, it will be longer before we see a hydrogen truck. While Volvo is testing hydrogen-powered combustion engines on the road right now, it only says commercial launch will take place before 2030. You may know Daimler Truck is also working on hydrogen-powered combustion engines and has a fuel cell partnership with Volvo Truck, but so far, they seem to be developing their liquid hydrogen solutions separately. 

JEEP DEBUTS REFRESHED AVENGER 
Jeep recently teased a new lighting element that would help spice up its iconic 7-slot grille on the refreshed Avenger, which is mainly sold in Europe. Now that refreshed Avenger has been fully revealed and we can tell you the grille was the main update to its styling. While there are a few other tweaks here and there, the next big improvements were made to internal engine components, which provide better fuel economy, emissions and durability. The Avenger comes with a wide powertrain lineup, including gas, hybrid and pure electric, as well as front- and all-wheel drive and with manual or automatic transmissions. Orders for the refreshed model are open now in Europe.

BOSCH INVESTS MILLIONS IN QUANTUM COMPUTING STARTUP
Gen AI is all the rage right now, but the next big thing could be quantum computing, which is so fast, it can solve complex problems in minutes that would take today’s top supercomputers thousands of years. So we sat up and took notice when Bosch Ventures announced it’s investing in a British start-up called Quantum Motion. One of the features of its quantum computer that caught our eye is that it uses standard silicon transistors, instead of special QPUs, or Quantum Processing Units. QPUs use a technology called qubits that need to operate at absolute zero temperatures. So by using standard processors, the startup Quantum Motion says it can cut the cost of a quantum computer 100-fold, and a 1,000-fold reduction in the energy it needs. Bosch says it’s “technologically compelling and economically sustainable,” which is why it’s investing $160 million into Quantum Motion.

But that brings us to the end of today’s show. Thanks for making Autoline a part of your day.