AD #3652 - UK to Delay ICE Sales Ban; Lexus Details Future Lineup Plans; Toyota Claims Breakthrough in Teaching Robots

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

A day after extending the deadline for its expiring contract with the Canadian union, Uniform and Ford announced they have reached a tentative deal. However, no

details were given and the new three year contracts still needs to be ratified by Ford's fifty six hundred Uniform members. But if the deal goes through, it's

a big victory for Ford and will pave the way for new contracts for union members at GM and Stalantis in Canada. So does this have any impact on

the UAWS negotiations with the Detroit Three. We think it would have no matter

what way it went with Uniform. If there was a strike at Ford in

Canada, it would have impacted part supplies in the US, which could have caused shutdowns the UAW wasn't ready for. But now with that avoided and a

tentative deal on the table, puts more pressure on the UAW to get its own deal done. Our most countries rushing too quickly into evs. The current

British Prime Minister seems to think so. According to the BBC, Rishi Sunac

will soon announce that the UK is delaying plans to ban ICE sales by twenty thirty five, which were put into place by then Prime Minister Boris Johnson in twenty twenty. Sunak says people haven't been honest about the costs and other trade

offs needed in the EV transition, and that delaying the plans doesn't mean the UK is quote losing our ambition or abandoning our commitments, but that they should get there in a quote more proportionate way. But not everyone is receiving the

news with open arms. Reuters reports that the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders,

which is the association that represents the UK auto industry, is worried this will hold back and sent a charging infrastructure and any sort of push to get consumers to switch to evs. Ford also said that it undermines the transition to

electric vehicles and could put future investments at risk. As well. As I

said yesterday, Toyota takes a long time to make up its mind, but once it does, it moves pretty quickly. Now we know the modular body

structure for evs that was also part of yesterday's Toyota news will be out no later than twenty twenty six, Lexus revealed that's when it's going to introduce a next Geneve, which will feature the new structure as well as a new software platform. It also wants to quote inspire the love of driving in cars even

with battery evs by injecting the spirit of recent concepts like the eighty six RZ Sports and Electrified Sport into future models. It's near term lineup will include vehicles

like the LM Luxury Van, LBX small crossover, the GX large suv, and the TX three row suv for North America. Lexus is also launching customer

experience programs where people can go off roading in an ROV or side by side concept, which features a hydrogen powered IC engine. We can expect to see

more of Lexus's electric future starting in October at the Japan Mobility Show at Schiffler we pioneer Motion Electrifying Mobility, manufacturing smart, reducing CO two emissions, making energy production clean. Scheffler Pioneer's Motion to advance how the World moves. Volvo

is completely ditching diesel engines. The automaker announced it will end production of all

diesel powered models by early next year. And it has ended all R and

D spending on developing new internal combustion engines. Just four years ago, the

majority of Volvo cars sold in Europe were diesel powered, but by twenty thirty it only plans on selling pure electrics. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety or

IIHS, says minivans need better second row protection. It just performed updated moderate

overlap front crash tests on four models, and none of them received good or acceptable ratings. The Chrysler pacifica Kia Carnival, and Toyota Sienna all earned marginal

scores, while the Honda Odyssey was rated poor. However, these ratings don't

apply to kids that are properly secured in a child safety sat. The IIHS

launched the updated test last year because research shows the risk of a fatal injury is now higher for belted second row occupants than it is for those in the front. The IHS says this is because second row seats lack the same safety

technology as front seats, and it's calling on automakers to make the change.

Toyota says it developed a breakthrough to teach robots using generative AI that can be done faster and more accurately than current methods. Those current methods include engineers having

to spend many hours writing sophisticated code and or performing many tests of program behavior, but Toyota says its method doesn't require writing a single line of new code.

It uses camera images, demos from a human, tactile sensing, and a description of the goal. It has already taught robots sixty skills this way,

including pouring liquids, using tools, and manipulating objects. It wants to

add hundreds of new skills by the end of the year and a thousand by the end of twenty twenty four. The company says it's technique will one day

allow robots to support people in everyday situations and in different environments instead of specific tasks in a constrained environment. Russian government officials and heads of state run corporations

prefer to ride in foreign cars, especially BMW's Mercedes and Audies, but now Russia is banning government purchases of foreign made cars to help domestic production. It's

estimated that federal and state government agencies purchase thirty to fifty thousand vehicles a year, valued at three hundred to four hundred million dollars. Most Western brands have

ceased operations in the country after Russia's invasion of Ukraine and car production is plummeted from one point three million units in twenty twenty one to under four hundred and fifty thousand last year. So now the Russian government is looking to Russian made

vehicles to help fill out its fleet, and it's even considering Chinese made vehicles.

Fiat is now taking orders in Italy for the cute little Topolino, which is its version of the satroanamy the small ev cells for between roughly seventy five hundred and ten thousand euros or eight thousand to ten thousand, seven hundred dollars depending on the model, or customers can get a four year lease for thirty nine euros a month with about twenty six hundred euros down. Fiat says it

already has ten thousand orders for the Topolino, which we think makes it quite a bit more popular than the Satroan. But that brings us to the end

of today show. Thanks for making autoline part of your day. Autoline Daily

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