Tesla is expanding its full self-driving (FSD) efforts in China by building a local R&D team and data center to comply with data storage rules, potentially unlocking significant revenue. Ford is enhancing its BlueCruise driver-assist tech with new payment plans and appointing a former Apple executive to lead integrated services. The UAW labor negotiations are gaining political attention as President Biden seeks a fair deal ahead of a possible strike. Tesla also cut prices on Model S and X base models, while Ford's switch to LFP batteries in the Mach-E offers similar range at lower cost. Chinese automaker Wuling launched a new electric sedan, and automaker revenue per vehicle rankings reveal Mercedes leads, with Tesla third.
Topics:tesla fsd chinaford bluecruiseuaw labor negotiationstesla model s and x pricinglithium iron phosphate batterieswuling starlight sedanautomaker revenue per vehicleford integrated servicespolitics and automotiveelectric vehicle range
- Tesla Builds FSD Team in China - Ford Raids Apple Again for More Talent - Ford Installs BlueCruise on More Vehicles - Biden Wants to Avoid UAW Strike - Tesla Creates New Base Model S and X - LFP Mach-E Gets Same Range - Wuling Adds Another NEV to Lineup - Top OEMs by Revenue/Car
"... drive Machi with the old NMC or nickel manganese cobalt pack hasn't estimated two hundred and forty seven..."
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This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry.
Tesla is building an FSD, R and D team in China that could unlock massive amounts of revenue for the company. Today, It's full self driving
has yet to be a proof for use in China, partly over concerns that the data generated by its vehicles is not stored in China. Tesla vehicles have
been banned from military bases, and an airport in eastern China just banned the evs from its parking lots because it's worried about Tesla's centry mode, which records video when the car is parked. Tesla responded by saying the data is saved
on a USB drive inside the car and no one can view it online.
And now gas Scout reports that Tasla has built its own data center in China and all the data generated by its vehicles sold in the country will be stored there and this could pay the way for FSD, which would be huge for the company because it isn't offered in China yet. Tesla is reportedly building a
team that will start to train the system for Chinese roads and if Tesla is able to bring FSD to China, it would cause a massive revenue spike.
Right now, owners in the US are paying fifteen thousand dollars to unlock the self driving technology. Ford CEO Jim Farley once again rated Apple for the tech
talent that he needs. The former VP of Apple Services, Peter Stern,
will lead a completely new division called Ford Integrated Services. He'll be in charge
of building a team that creates and markets experiences for ICEV and commercial vehicle customers that also integrates hardware, software and services together. And right on q Ford
announced its installing Blue crew Was hardware and more vehicles for the twenty twenty four model year. It expects to build half a million Ford and Lincoln vehicles that
have Blue Crews capability. It's also offering a free trial for the tech as
well as a three year, yearly or monthly payment plan. The three year
plan has to be activated at purchase and cost twenty one hundred dollars, or it can be unlocked later for eight hundred dollars a year, or customers can pay seventy five dollars a month. And if customers decide they don't want Blue
Crews at all, they've still got adaptive cruise control. But this is clearly
a money making move for Ford. The UAW labor negotiations with the Detroit Three
keeps getting more politicized. In May, UAW President Sean Fayne said the union
would not endorse President Biden for reelection unless he gave the union more support.
That was a shock because historically the UAW has always endorsed the Democratic nominee for president. Last month, twenty eight Democratic senators sent letters to the CEOs of
the Detroit Three saying they backed the union's push for higher wages, and yesterday President Biden urged both the union and the automakers to come to a fair agreement before the current contract expires on September fourteenth. However, this is a tricky
situation for Biden. Politically, he has to show support for the union,
but if a costly strike starts to hurt the US economy, it could damage his reelection campaign and he might have to step in. So these contract negotiations
are already getting a lot more attention than they normally do. Attaching automotive technologies,
we combine world class composite materials expertise with cutting edge designs because frankly, there are better ways to lightweight vehicles lighten up with Taging automotive technologies the Formula for Better Mobility. Just a day after it cut the price of the Model
Y in China, Tesla in a way is slashing the starting price of the Model S and X in the US by ten grand. It came out with
new base models that have less range and are slower. The models now starts
just over eighty thousand dollars and has a range of three hundred and twenty miles compared to four hundred and five miles for the regular version, and the Model X now starts just over ninety grand, with two hundred and sixty nine miles of range compared to three hundred and forty eight for the regular model. While
sales of the Model Y and three are going strong in the US, the S and X have struggled this year. According to Experience, Model S registrations
fell fifty five percent in the first half, and Model X registrations were down nearly six percent. Looks like Ford made a smart move by switching to LFP
or lithium iron phosphate batteries for the standard range version of the mache. According
to the EPA, a rear drive Machi with the old NMC or nickel manganese cobalt pack hasn't estimated two hundred and forty seven miles of range, but the LFP battery is nearly the same at two hundred and fifty miles. The LFP
pack is bigger seventy two versus seventy kilowatt hours, but that also means there's some packaging efficiencies. Plus, LFP batteries tend to be about twenty percent cheaper
and last longer on average, so Ford is saving money and customers are getting a more reliable product, which is something that Ford hasn't been doing a great job of. Recently, Chinese automaker Wu Ling revealed a new sedan called the
Starlight. The model features its new design LANG which and it will be offered
as both a BEV and a P have. The BEV features a one hundred
kilowatt motor and an LFP battery, but its capacity wasn't revealed, and the pH is powered by a one and a half leader engine, but no details on the electric part of the power train were shared. The Starlight will be
produced by GM's Chinese joint venture in China, and it will go on sale in the fourth quarter of the year. While pricing wasn't revealed, Car News
China speculates it could start a little over twenty thousand dollars. Yesterday we showed
you how the world's biggest automakers rank in terms of how many cars they sell, and Toyota top the list. Another fascinating way to rank them is by
how much revenue they generate for each vehicle they sell, and this is something of an eye opener. Mercedes tops the list, earning over eighty one thousand
dollars in revenue for every car it's sold, that substantially better than BMW in second place at about fifty seven thousand dollars. Tesla is in third place,
just behind BMW at fifty four thousand, and then there's a big drop down to Ford. The Volkswagen Group, Stilantis, and Toyota all in the thirty
thousand dollars segment. GM is in eighth place, and one thing that hurts
it are all those cheap five thousand dollars ruling Mini evs that it sells in China. Nissan is right behind GM, with another drop to Honda and it's
very surprising that the Hondai group was in last place, with an average of only nineteen thousand dollars in revenue for each vehicle it's sold. But we have
to remember that Hondai and Kia sell a lot of cheap cars in developing markets around the world, and that brings us to the end of today's report.
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