Toyota resumed production after a costly system malfunction halted operations, while European car sales rose for the twelfth month, driven by a surge in electric vehicle demand. Chinese automakers are aggressively expanding exports to Europe, with Kia pricing its EV5 competitively in China. GM integrates Google's AI for customer service, and Citroën simplifies its lineup with fixed pricing to boost online sales. Innovative EV charging programs are launching in the US, including a low-cost grid-friendly pilot with Duke Energy, and Ford's hands-free Blue Cruise system gains approval in Germany, highlighting ongoing advances in EV infrastructure and autonomous tech.
Topics:toyota production halteuropean car sales growthelectric vehicle demandchinese car exportskia ev5 pricinggm google ai integrationcitroën fixed pricingev charging programsford blue cruise germanyautomotive technology advancements
- Production Blip Cost Toyota $356 Million - EVs Help Drive EU Sales - Chinese OEMs Buying Their Own Cargo Ships - Kia Aggressively Prices EV5 In China - AI Handles 1 Million Questions a Month for GM - Citroen Wants Direct Sales and Fixed Pricing - BMW, Ford and GM Join North Carolina EV Charging Program - Ford Pro Improves AC Charging Unit - BlueCruise Gets German Approval
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This is Autolne Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry.
Toyota is back up and running again in Japan after it was forced to suspend production at all of its plants in the country yesterday. At first,
it was speculated that the company was hit with a cyber attack, but reports say it was a malfunction that occurred during an update of its parts ordering system.
Toyota itself has still not revealed details about what went wrong. Reuters estimates
that the company lost production of about thirteen thousand, five hundred vehicles, which is about three hundred and fifty six million dollars in revenue. Car sales in
Europe were up for the twelfth consecutive month in July. According to the European
Automobile Manufacturers Association. Automakers sold one point zero two million vehicles last month,
up seventeen percent from the year before. Part of the growth was fueled by
pure electric vehicles, which soared sixty two percent to nearly one hundred and fifty thousand units. The other reason for the growth is inventory levels are improving thanks
to chip and other part shortages easing through July automakers have sold seven point six million vehicles in Europe, up eighteen percent from a year ago, but it is still twenty two percent lower than pre pandemic levels. Some European executives are
already worried about a rush of Chinese cars into the market, and this isn't going to help ease their minds. Chinese automaker SAIC just revealed its first cargo
ship that will start transporting up to seven thousand, six hundred cars at a time to Europe next year, but it doesn't stop there. In the next
three years, SAIC plans to add twelve ships to its fleet, with the biggest one being able to carry up to nine thousand cars. Last year,
SEIC exported over a million vehicles, and this year exports are up even more and Chinese market leader by D is also in the market for eight cargo haulers, so lookout. Kia is getting really aggressive with the price for the EV
five in China. The smaller electric crossover will have a starting price around twenty
two thousand dollars, which significantly undercuts other similar sized evs like the Tesla Model Y, which currently sits right around thirty six thousand dollars for an. Automakers
except for Tesla, have been struggling in China, so we're very interested to see how the EV five performs. GM started integrating Google Ai into its business
over a year ago, and now it's sharing how it's been going since it debuted in July of twenty twenty two. On Star's Virtual Interactive Assistant has been
powered by Google's Conversational AI technology, which can provide navigation assistance as well as handle non emergency calls from customers. GM says the virtual Assistant is handling a
million questions a month in the US and Canada and is available in most vehicles equipped with on Star from twenty fifteen onward. GM is also using Google's AI
technology to deploy chatbots on its websites to answer customer questions, and it says it will integrate the technology into other areas in the future as well. Sitroan
has its ion direct to consumer sales with fixed pricing. It announced that it's
chopping the number of trim levels in its lineup from five down to three, so each model will offer trims called U, Plus and Max, and there will be up to five option packs in each of those levels. By simplifying
the range, Satron will be able to reduce manufacturing complexity, improved delivery time, and cut costs to help make the buying process even easier. It's also
launching what it calls a fair Price pilot in Belgium, Austria, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, the UK and Germany, which is basically a fixed price program so buyers will pay the same price if they buy online or through the dealer, and ultimately online sales is what satron is going after. It says that's
what more and more customers want, and we wouldn't be surprised to see Stilantis's other European brands do the same. BMW, Ford and General Motors are teaming
up with electricity provider Duke Energy in North Carolina to try out what we think is an interesting EV charging program. EV owners that sign up for the year
long pilot will be given up to eight hundred kilowatt hours a month to charge their vehicle at a fixed price. Depending on the service area. They'll be
charged either twenty dollars or twenty five dollars a month, which is dirt cheap about two and a half to three cents per kilowatt hour, but you also have to agree to let Duke Energy determine when your EV is charged so it can better support the electrical grid. Eight hundred kilowatt hours over a month that
has thirty one days equals out to be almost twenty six kilowatt hours a day, which Duke Energy says is more than the average fifteen kilowatt hours that an EV typically uses in a day. But we want to know what you think
now that you got all the facts, is this a program you'd sign up for? Speaking of EV charging, in Ford, its commercial division, ford
Pro is launching a new generation of its eighty amp AC charging station. The
big changes for us are the Series two version now comes with an RFID card reader, which allows fleets to only allow their vehicles to use the charger and that also includes non Ford evs, and the charger will be able to accept over the air updates. One such upgrade could be a plug in charge function.
Ford Pro didn't reveal pricing for the new charger, but it looks like the current version sells for about two thousand dollars. The commercial division also revealed
that it's offering new DC fast charger options of one hundred and eighty and two hundred and forty kilowatts. And speaking of Ford, Ford received the go ahead
from German authorities to offer its Blue Cruise hands free driver assistant system to customers in the country. The technology will first be available in the Mustang Maquee.
Germany is the second European market to get Blue Crews, after the UK, where it launched in April. BMW and Mercedes have also been authorized to offer
hands free systems in Germany as well, But that brings us to the end of today's show. Thanks for tuning in. Autoline Daily is brought to you
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