AD #3654 - Toyota Going Full Steam Ahead on EVs; UAW Extends Strike At GM and Stellantis; BMW Stops All ICE Motorcycle Sales in U.S.

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

The UAW and the Detroit three automakers still haven't reached a deal on a new contract, so it's likely that the union will expand the strikes starting at noon today, and we're recording this before Sean Feigne's live stream at ten am.

But new leak messages obtained by The Detroit News have auto executives concerned.

The uaw's communications director wrote in a private group chat on as formerly Twitter, that the union is aiming to inflict reputational damage on the automakers and that it wants to quote keep them wounded for months. The messages also indicate that the

UAW is ditching its pattern bargaining strategy it is used in the past, where it makes a deal with one automaker to set the tone with the other two.

Instead, the u wants to turn the automakers against one another to get the best deal for its members. For GM and Stealantis release statements saying they're

disappointed about what was said in the messages and question whether the union is bargaining in good faith. The negotiations have already been contentious, and this is creating

even more bad blood. Earlier this year, the EU carved out an exemption

of its ICE band to allow vehicles to run on e fuel after twenty thirty five, but Reuters reports that the EU will set strict rules for cars running on e fuels. It's proposing to require them to run on one hundred percent

carbon neutral e fuels, meaning they can't have any climate impact. It would

also require automakers to prevent vehicles from starting if it's filled with a non carbon neutral fuel, but there's already pushback for the proposal. The E Fuel Alliance

says it's nearly impossible for a one hundred percent reduction in emissions and that the proposal would still effectively ban IC engines from twenty thirty five. Use car prices

have soared in the US the past several years due to shortages of new vehicles caused by pandemic shutdowns, which push consumers into the use market and drove up prices, and a new study from iccars dot Com found that it's forcing US car buyers to purchase even older models. In twenty nineteen, you could buy

a three year old car for twenty three thousand dollars, but that same amount today is not enough to buy an average six year old car. The study

analyzed twenty one million used cars from twenty nineteen to twenty twenty three and found that the average age of a used car rose from four point eight to six point one years, and that the average price increased from twenty thousand, four hundred dollars to just over twenty seven and grand, an increase of a third.

There's twenty eight percent fewer one to three year old used cars on the road today than there were in twenty nineteen because of those production disruptions from a few years ago and a correction here. Yesterday I reported that a UAW strike

at a ZAF plant that makes axles for Mercedes could shut down the Mercedes plant in Alabama. We've since learned that the ZAF plant is still making axles,

and so that could prevent any disruption in production for Mercedes. Only some of

the workers in that ZAF plant belonged to the union, and the rest of them are still at work. Toyota thinks I can sell a lot more electric

cars than it currently does. Last year, Toyota and Lexis sold less than

twenty five thousand evs globally, but the nick A newspaper reports that Toyota wants to ramp up production to nearly two hundred thousand electrics by next year and more than six hundred thousand by twenty twenty five, and it doesn't stop in twenty twenty six. It plans to make one and a half million evs and three

and a half million, or a third of its sales by twenty thirty.

That's a massive jump in a short amount of time, so we should expect to see a lot of investments into plants over the next couple of years.

It will also require more than the three models it has now, and Toyota teased it will expand it's Beyond zero or BEZ naming structure with the Beezy compact suv. The concept was revealed last November and it will slot below the Beez

four X. It strongly suggests this will be the next electric Toyota is coming

out with, and we suspect the exterior styling won't be that far off from the concept. Honda is strengthening its performance capabilities. Honda Performance Development, which

is located in the US, is now going to be known as Honda Racing Corporation USA. Honda Racing Corporation is the same name for its performance arm in

Japan, and the two will combine their expertise and resources to expand Honda's motorsports capabilities and that includes Formula One. The new HRCUS will be involved in engine

development and race support starting in twenty twenty six, which is when Honda will become the official engine supplier to the Aston Martin Racing team. Honda currently supplies

engines to the championship leading Red Bull Left one team. Volkswagen's improvements to its

electric MEB platform are starting to trickle down through its brands. Audi is launching

the updated Q four Etron SUV, which used to be just known as the E Tron. It receives the same in house developed electric motor that was first

shown for the vw I D seven sedan. It makes two hundred and ten

kilowatts or two hundred and eighty six horsepower, and when bolted to the rear axle, it provides acceleration from zero to one hundred kilometers an hour in six point seven seconds. Another big improvement is in the charging. It goes from

a base of one hundred and thirty five kilowatts up to one hundred and seventy five kilowatts for all wheel drive models, which allows it to charge from ten to eighty percent in twenty eight minutes. Audi also updated the suspension and steering,

made its digital display standard, and even added the option for a unique character sound. All evs have to make a noise up to twenty five kilometers

an hour or just over fifteen miles an hour for safety reasons, and Audi says the sound for the Q four e Tron will be different from any other electric, even its own other models. The updated model starts going on sale

next week in Europe with a starting price of roughly fifty three thousand euros or about fifty six thousand, five hundred dollars. BMW motorad, the company's motorcycle

division, has stopped all sales of its motorcycles in the US, including use models, with the exception of one It's all electric CEO four. The company

released a statement saying there's an issue with the fuel system, which affects both new and older models. BMW says the problem isn't safety related and owners can

continue riding their bikes, which suggests it's an emissions problem. The company says

the stop sale is temporary, but it did not give a timetable to when it will start selling ice motorcycles again. The CEO four is the only electric

motorcycle that BMW sells in North America and it features a thirty one or forty two horsepower motor and it has a top speed of seventy five miles an hour.

That's it for today, Thanks for watching, and I hope that they have a great weekend. Altoline 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 for better Mobility. We

want to know what drives your testing. OTA Connected Car Diagnostics, Remote testing

in Trepid Control Systems is here to help you work from anywhere Intrepid Control Systems driven by your data. At Schiffler, we pioneer Motion, electrifying mobility,

manufacturing smarta, reducing CO two emissions, making energy production clean. Scheffler Pioneer's

Motion to advance how the world moves. At Taging Automotive Technologies, we combine

world class composite materials, expertise with cutting edge designs, because frankly, there are better ways to lightweight vehicles, so lighten up with taging automotive technologies the formula for better mobility. Wards is the industry leader for news, data and

analysis. That's why companies across the globe subscribe to our premium service. Maybe

even your own log in for subscriber access. Now check your company's Internet for

details and rely Onwards auto dot com to keep you informed.

AD #3654 - Toyota Going Full Steam Ahead on EVs; UAW Extends Strike At GM and Stellantis; BMW Stops All ICE Motorcycle Sales in U.S.

Audi Etron

About this episode

Original notes