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AD #3634 - Hybrid Sales Expected to Triple; Ultium Battery Workers Getting Raises; GM Testing L4 AVs in China

AD #3634 - Hybrid Sales Expected to Triple; Ultium Battery Workers Getting Raises; GM Testing L4 AVs in China

Autoline Daily Aug 24, 2023 10 min
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General Motors is raising wages at its Ultium battery plant to combat high turnover, while Chinese automakers are rapidly expanding in Latin America, challenging Western brands. Battery swapping gains traction for long-haul trucks in China, and automakers are transitioning to USB-C ports amid mixed approaches. Volkswagen launches the upgraded ID.7 EV in Europe, aiming to boost sales. Tooling investments in North America are set to rise with new model introductions, though EV targets face skepticism. Hybrid sales in the US are projected to triple by 2028. GM begins Level 4 autonomous vehicle testing in Shanghai, navigating data restrictions. Plus, a unique Toyota minivan DJ booth highlights automotive creativity.

Topics: gm ultium battery plant wages chinese automakers in latin america battery swapping for trucks usb-c adoption in cars volkswagen id7 ev launch north american tooling investment hybrid sales growth gm level 4 autonomous testing automotive sound system innovation
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This was on a line daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the Global Automotive industry. UAW president Sean Faine has been hammering General Motors for paying only
sixteen fifty an hour to new employees at its joint venture Altium battery plant in Lordstown, Ohio. GM said it couldn't pay them more because it had to
wait until the joint venture in the UAW negotiated a contract. Well that wasn't
working. Bloomberg reports that the JV is now going to bump that pay up
to over twenty dollars an hour and give back pay to existing employees, and that pay will likely go even higher with the new UAW contract. This may
give GM some negotiating leverage with the union, but the real reason it's increasing their pay is that it's almost impossible to hire new people for factory jobs at only sixteen fifty an hour. McDonald's Wendy's are paying that kind of money and
offer more flexible work hours. Sean Faint says turnover at the plant is terrible,
and we believe it. Last year, Ford converted half of its attempts
to full time workers because turnover was fifty percent, meaning half the people quit after working the job for just a few weeks. Ford found it was cheaper
to make them full time and pay them more money rather than suffer through that kind of turnover. Chinese automakers are taking the Latin American market by storm.
Zozo Go reports that China now exports more cars to Mexico than the United States does. Even more surprising is half the cars that General Motors sells in Mexico
are imported from China. In Chile, by D just started importing electric double
decker buses, and in Chile, Bolivia and Ecuador, Chinese automakers have more market share than Western automakers. Zozogo says American and European automakers seem to have
no answer to China's low cost manufacturing advantage. The jury is still out on
battery swapping. In China. The government provides generous subsidies for battery swapping,
but only a handful of evy automakers offer it. But here's an application that
makes a lot of sense. Coatl and the Fujian Expressway Group are building four
battery swapping stations for long haul semi trucks. The stations will be on a
four hundred mile long section of the Coastal Highway that runs between Shanghai and Hong Kong. They can swap out batteries in only six minutes, which is faster
than it takes to fill up the tanks on the diesel semi. They hope
this will eliminate any anxiety over driving range or charging time for commercial operators.
Automakers are putting the newest USB ports in their cars. That's the smaller USBC,
which provides more power, transfers more data, and has reversible cords.
But customers still have a lot of devices that only use USBA, those bigger rectangular ones that came into cars in two thousand and six. But we're seeing
a bit of a mixed bag approach from automakers. All new models that come
from BMW, Mercedes, Volkswagen a Toyota will come exclusively with USBC ports, but others like four GM and Stillantis are offering both, So USBA is likely to stick around for a while longer, even though USBC will eventually become the standard. So how about you. Do you want your car to offer both
or are you ready to just go with the C ports. We want to
know what drive you're testing Ota connected car diagnostics, remote testing. Intrepid Control
Systems is here to help you work from anywhere. Intrepid Control Systems driven by
your data. Sales of Volkswagen's IDY family of evs have underperformed, but we're
about to see if upgrades to its MB architecture are going to pay off.
It's now taking orders for the all new ID seven in Europe and announced a starting price for its Pro model of fifty seven thousand euros or just over sixty one five hundred dollars at today's exchange rate. The Pro model comes with more
standard features like aid AS tech and AAR head up display and all new navigation system, keyless entry, and nineteen inch wheels. But this also means that
we should see cheaper models which will include some of THEMYB upgrades that we were talking about, like an all new, in house de developed electric motor, better battery cooling, improved charging, and a new smart HVAC system. So
what do you think will this be enough to help turn around VWS EV sales?
Good news for tool and die companies in North America, According to a new study from Harbor Results and Auto Forecast Solutions automakers will significantly boost spending on tooling in the next few years to help support the introduction of new models.
Tool and die companies have struggled the last three years, but the study says tools spending will hit seven billion dollars in twenty twenty five, up from five billion dollars last year. Automakers plan to introduce one hundred and thirty new models
between now and twenty thirty, and they'll convert or build fifty six plans to produce those models, but most of the tooling investment will still go towards internal combustion vehicles, and the researchers are skeptical that automakers will hit their EVY targets in the coming years because of high costs, a poor charging infrastructure, and range anxiety. And along those lines, hybrid sales are expected to grow significantly
in the US in the next few years. According to SMP Global Mobility,
hybrid sales will more than triple over the next five years, accounting for twenty four percent of sales in twenty twenty eight, but pure electrics are still expected to remain more popular and will account for thirty seven percent of sales by then.
Automakers like Ford, Toyota, and Stellantis are boosting hybrid production because there's still a lot of consumers not ready to make the switch to pure electric.
General Motors just got permission to start testing level four autonomous vehicles in Shanghai.
It's partnering with Chinese AV startup Momenta using Cadillac lyrics. They'll operate the vehicles
in a designated area in downtown Shanghai for one year, and they'll have a safety driver on board for the tests. Interestingly, this does not seem to
be connected with GM Crews, which is expanding AV operations in the US market.
No doubt that's because GM ran into the same kind of issues that Tesla did. China is very sensitive about the data captured by these systems and insists
all the data must remain in China. It's summertime, which means are more
likely to see someone with their windows open or top down in favorite tunes on full blast. But we bet this Toyota has a better sound system than anything
you've seen so far. It took a CNA minivan and fitted it with a
professional grade sixty speaker sound system, a high resolution video screen, and led lighting to create what is basically a DJ booth on wheels. Will provide a
link if you'd like to learn more, but we expect to hear tunes blasting from this thing at upcoming auto shows and events, and be sure to join us for Autoline After Hours this afternoon. Paul Eichenberg, one of our favorite
automotive experts, and Hannah Lots from the Detroit News will be on the show and they'll join John and Gary to dig into some of the hottest topics in the industry right now, from autonomy to electrics to the confrontational negotiations with the UAW. But that brings us to the end of today show. Thanks for
tuning in. Autoline Daily is brought to you by Bridgetone Solutions for your journey
intrepid Control Systems over the year engineering boost your game, Scheffler we Pioneer Motion and by tajin Automotive Technologies, The formula or Better Mobility at Scheffler We Pioneer
Motion, electrifying mobility, manufacturing smarter, reducing CO two emissions, making energy production clean, Scheffler Pioneer's Motion to advance how the world moves. But at
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