Stellantis is shifting to ship plug-in hybrids instead of gasoline-only vehicles to 14 US states with zero emission mandates, signaling a broader industry trend. Ford Pro is rapidly growing its commercial vehicle profits by expanding sales and services. Stellantis is also investing in Archer Aviation to support electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft production. Meanwhile, EV startups Nicola Motors and Faraday Future face operational challenges and delays. Polestar partners with a Chinese tech firm for a new vehicle operating system, and Renault unveils the Refale SUV with hybrid powertrains. Acura launches the powerful Integra Type S with a manual option, and Toyota reveals a unique TRD Pro paint color.
Topics:plug-in hybridszero emission vehicle mandatesford pro commercial vehicleselectric vertical takeoff and landing aircraftev startup challengesvehicle operating systemsrenault refale suvacura integra type stoyota trd pro paint colors
- Stellantis Only Shipping PHEVs To ZEV States - Ford Pro on Pace to Double Profits - Stellantis To Build eVTOLs Next Year - Nikola Lays Off Employees to Cut Costs - Faraday Delays Deliveries Again - Polestar Partners to Create New OS For China - Renault Unveils New SUV - Toyota Reveals New TRD Paint Color - New Acura Integra Type S Starts At $52,000
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Stilantis stops shipping gasoline only vehicles to dealers in fourteen US states and is sending them plug in hybrids instead. Those are the states that adopted California's zero
emission vehicle mandate, and they are count for about a third of new car sales in the US. And remember it's the states that are enforcing this mandate,
not the federal government. Automotive News reports that Stillantis will still ship gasoline
vehicles to dealers in those states, but only if customers order them. The
pH Stilantis currently sells in the US right now are the Chrysler PACIFICA, the Jeep Wrangler, and Grand Cherokee four by E the Alpha, a mail to knowledgeist one on sale. The plug in Dodge Hornet should be coming soon,
and we think the Jeep Grand Wagon near four by E hits the market next year. Interestingly, five automakers are exempt from the ZEV mandate. Ford,
BMW, Honda, VW, Involvo. In twenty twenty, they reached an
agreement with the California Air Resources Board to comply with a blend of their national fleet, not just the vehicles they sell in those fourteen states that mandate calls for thirty five percent of new light duty vehicles to be b evs or phives in twenty twenty six, sixty eight percent in twenty thirty, and one hundred percent by twenty thirty five. So what's happening with Stillantis right now is likely
a preview of what's to come. Last year, Ford Pro, which is
the business unit in the company dedicated to commercial vehicles, made an EBIT profit of about three billion dollars. This year, it's expected to double that to
nearly six billion dollars, and one reason ford Pro is growing so fast is that it now has direct responsibility for all of the company's super duty truck sales, as well as the transit van, and in Europe it also gets the Ranger pickup Ford Blue. The icy side of the business actually makes those vehicles,
but it then sells them to ford Pro under an arranged transfer price.
Ford Pro is also selling services to customers, including service analytics, mobile services, and EV charging packages, and sales of those services are growing rapidly.
Stilantis is lending its automotive manufacturing know how to a US based company that wants to build aircraft. Stillantis first invested in Archer Aviation at the beginning of the
year, then it recently bought more stock in the aircraft company, and now it's providing personnel to help with manufacturing, automation and components sourcing. Archer is
building an ev tall manufacturing site in Georgia, which it says is quote well under way and hopes to be ready for production by the middle of next year.
By the way, an ev tall is an electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft. Initial production will have a capacity of about six hundred and fifty ev
talls a year, but the hope is to expand that to twenty three hundred a year. And while Stilantis didn't reveal how much it invested in the company,
it said it's helping Archer quote avoid hundreds of millions of dollars of spending during the manufacturing ramp up phase. Commercial ev startup Nicola Motors is shaking up
its operations. The company announced its laying off two hundred and seventy employees in
order to cut costs by fifty million dollars a year. More than half of
those workers were involved in its European operations, and that's because Nicolas says it's going to concentrate on the North American market instead. It's also selling off its
stake in a joint venture with European commercial truck maker i ve Echo. Nicola
expects that its annual cash burn will drop below four hundred million dollars a year by twenty twenty four. And despite the cuts, Nicolas says it's on track
to launch its fuel cell powered semi truck in the third quarter of the year.
And speaking of struggling ev startups, Ferreday Future announced its delaying the delivery of its FF nine one vehicle again from the end of the second quarter to August, and the company will perform a reverse stock split in order to meet NASDEC requirements. To be honest with you, I'm getting absolutely tired of reporting
on fair Day's struggles. But the reason it's doing this is because the company's
stock must remain above a dollar to stay on the nasdeck, and Faraday's fell below that mark. Lordstown Motors also decided to do a reverse stock split because
it too fell below a dollar a share. Polestar announced it's forming a joint
venture with Chinese technology company Zingi may Zoo to create an operating system for its vehicles sold in China and in your full Circle Automotive Moment of the Day.
Geelie, the parent company of Polestar, also owns Zingi may Zoo, which it bought last year. The new operating platform will include INCR apps, streaming
services, and intelligent vehicle software, and it can be integrated with cell phones, augmented reality devices and apps to create a broader digital ecosystem. Geelie says
it will equip the operating system in its other brands as well. Pollstar says
it will continue to use the Android auto operating system that it currently uses in the rest of the world. Renault revealed a brand new SUV called the Refale.
Its name comes from a Renault powered airplane of the nineteen thirties that set a speed record around the time, and Renault calls the new Refale the flagship of its brand. It's the first vehicle entirely styled under its new design language
that's going to spread across the entire lineup. We'd say the interior is rather
blocky and is highlighted by two floating digital display screens that are kind of combined into one unit. Other technical highlights include Ota capabilities, a large dimmable glass
roof, and four wheel steering. The standard power train is a strong hybrid
setup that produces two hundred horse power, but there will also be an all wheel drive hybrid that makes three hundred horse power. That base setup launches in
the spring of next year, with the more powerful Rafali to follow after that.
Every year since twenty fifteen, Toyota's design team in California has come up with a unique paint color for its TRD Pro models, which currently include the Tundra, Sequoia, Tacoma, and Forerunner, and this year's color looks like a deep orangeish red called Tera. I know it may sound simple to do,
but they take picking a paint color very seriously. They chat with customers
and they may find tune a color three or four times before they get it just right. And not only do these special colors become very sought after,
they can also retain their value more than a similar model. Acura announced pricing
for the new Integrat Type S, which goes on sale today. It starts
just under fifty two thousand dollars including destination charges. The model is the most
powerful Integra ever and features a two liter turbo that cranks out three hundred and twenty horsepower and three hundred and ten pound feet of torque. That's an increase
of one hundred and twenty horses and one hundred and eighteen pound feet over the base Integra. And better still, it can be made it to a six
speed manual transmission and that brings us to the end of today. Thanks for
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