AD #4360 – Chinese Automakers Help Outsiders Reach China Speed; Canada Won’t Follow EPA Anymore; Genesis Debuts 1st Full-Size SUV

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

GEELY PROVIDING TECH TO FOREIGN AUTOMAKERS
In 1994 China formalized its joint venture rule, forcing foreign automakers to team up with Chinese car companies if they wanted to sell cars there. It was all about the Chinese learning how to develop and manufacture cars. Well, that was then. Fast forward to today and the student is now the teacher. Geely is even offering programs to foreign automakers on how to get up to China speed, like Ford and Renault. It will provide hundreds of engineers, a modular car platform, an advanced electronic architecture, and advanced manufacturing techniques. All the legacy automakers have to do is put their own top hats on it and they’re good to go. Ford, as we’ve already reported, is developing a compact, multi-powertrain crossover with Geely that it will make at the Ford plant in Valencia, Spain.

STELLANTIS CO-DEVELOPING CARS WITH DONGFENG
Meanwhile, Stellantis formed a joint tech center with Dongfeng in Wuhan. They’re working on 4 BEV and PHEV models for urban commuting, family hauling and off-road driving that will come out next year. Dongfeng will do all the core engineering and provide all the tech for connectivity, while Stellantis will design the top hats for its different brands and sell them globally. Remember, Stellantis is also working with Leapmotor to develop cars faster and cheaper.

 

CHINA HELPS OUTSIDERS REACH CHINA SPEED
Here’s our Autoline Insight. These are just a couple of examples of how legacy automakers are turning to China to learn how to develop cars faster. Especially software defined cars with zonal, centralized electronic architectures. So why are the Chinese so eager to help their competitors? Because it helps them in a number of ways. It expands their automotive eco-system, which will give them greater scale and lower costs. It reduces trade tensions. And obviously, they’re not doing this for free. They’re going to make money on these deals.

LONDON EMISSION ZONE IMPROVED CHILD HEALTH
London’s efforts to reduce vehicle pollution are paying off. In 2019, the city created the London Ultra Low Emissions Zone, which is an area where vehicles that don’t meet modern emission standards have to pay a fee of $16 per day. Though there are some exemptions for delivery vehicles and buses. Last year, London released a report which found that nitrogen oxides and particulate matter dropped by a third compared to if the restrictions hadn’t been put in place. And now a new study shows that lung function of children in London has improved since the zone was created. They also saw faster improvement compared to children in a neighboring city, which doesn’t have a low emission zone.

CANADA WON’T FOLLOW EPA ANYMORE
And speaking of emissions, Canada has traditionally followed standards and test procedures created by the U.S. EPA. But now that the Trump Administration has rolled back stricter rules put in place by the Biden Administration, Canada isn’t going to follow the new EPA guidelines. Instead, it will build on the rules that were created during the Biden Administration and will chart its own course on emission standards.

    

SOLID-STATE BATTERY VOLUME STILL YEARS AWAY
While there’s a lot of hype around solid-state batteries, it’s likely it will be years before we see them in any significant numbers. Chinese Battery makers like CATL and automakers including BYD and Geely, are only planning to launch trial production and real-world tests next year. They don’t expect to start mass production until the end of the decade at the earliest.

CHINESE AUTOMAKERS MISS PAYMENTS TO GERMAN DEALERS
Sales of Chinese vehicles are growing by leaps and bounds in Germany. But some dealers are complaining that they’re not being paid by automakers in a timely fashion. One German dealer that sells Xpeng vehicles says it has been waiting six months for payments that were agreed to in contracts, including leasing subsidies and quarterly bonuses, which amount to several hundred thousand euros in some cases. Xpeng blames the payment delays on its surging registrations, which were up 246% through July. But BYD dealers in Germany also have similar payment complaints, although they say the situation is improving. Chinese automakers plan to significantly expand in Germany but if they don’t improve dealer relations, that could really derail their growth.

OPEL STRIPS DOWN FRONTERA FOR CHEAPER PRICE
Here’s something we’d like to see more of. Opel is offering a new decontented or stripped down version of the Frontera SUV, called the Frontera Start. It still has a few amenities, like a six-way adjustable driver’s seat and air conditioning, but it also features steelies, 16-inch steel wheels, and a new lower-output 1.2 turbocharged gas engine. Including taxes, the model starts at 22,000 euros, a price cut of 2,750 euros. As automakers have backed off EV plans and profits have been squeezed by things like tariffs, we’re seeing more new model variants, rather than all-new vehicles. And many of those have been more expensive models. So, it’s nice to see Opel go in the opposite direction.

GENESIS DEBUTS 1ST FULL-SIZE SUV
But we can’t say that about the new Genesis GV90 with top-line trims surely to be priced well north of $100,000. Highlights of the big electric SUV include optional coach doors that open automatically, available swivel front seating, high-end materials throughout the cabin and a large central display screen. But there will also be variants with conventional doors and seating for up to 7. The GV90 features a 123 kWh battery pack, the largest in the entire Hyundai Group, which returns an estimated 500 kilometers or 310 miles of range. All models are all-wheel drive and each motor comes with its own limited-slip differential. Maximum output is rated at 490 kW or just over 655 horsepower. With that much power and both an air suspension system and rear-wheel steering, the GV90 won’t behave like a typical big SUV.

HYUNDAI REVEALS 5TH-GEN TUCSON
And sticking with the Hyundai Group, the Hyundai brand revealed the new Tucson. It still features hard-edge styling with raised wheel arches, but I think it’s more rugged-looking than before and the lighting has been simplified. The interior also still features a multi-layered dash, but rather than the driver and infotainment screens combined into one thin display, there’s a small driver display mounted high on the dash and a large rectangle screen in the center. No official word yet on when the new Tucson will launch.

AFS QUARTERLY UPDATE
Hey, check out the video we just posted of our quarterly update with Autoforecast Solutions. Joe McCabe and Sam Fiorani report on the current status of the global industry, region by region, covering a variety of topics, from EVs to affordability. They’ve got some great insights and the numbers to back it up.

And if you want to know what it really takes to build and run a battery plant in the US, tune in to Autoline After Hours later today. We’ve got Anthony O’Donovan who’s the head of operations for LG Energy in Michigan. We’re going to get a shop-floor view of what it takes to get the right people, the right materials, the right equipment and how to run it at maximum efficiency. Tom Murphy from CarBuzz will also be on the show, so join John and Gary when it all goes live at 3 pm eastern time on our website and YouTube channel.

And with that we wrap up today’s report. Thanks for watching Autoline Daily.