The episode covers a range of global automotive industry updates, including Neo's $2.2 billion investment for expanding EV offerings in Europe, France's new incentives favoring locally produced EVs over Chinese imports, and GM Cruise's pause amid rising competition in robotaxi services. Volkswagen's ID.7 is notably cheaper in China than Europe despite similar specs. Nippon Steel's acquisition of US Steel marks a major industry milestone. Nissan previews disaster support and customization concepts for the Tokyo Auto Show. BAIC's BJ60 SUV draws Jeep comparisons as the brand expands overseas. The episode also teases an upcoming debate on the polarizing Tesla Cybertruck.
Topics:ev investmentschina vs europe pricingrobotaxi competitionautomotive subsidiessteel industry mergernissan conceptsbaic jeep lookaliketesla cybertruck debate
- Nio To Launch Low-Cost EVs in EU - France Removes Incentives for China EVs - As GM Cruise Pauses, Competitors Race Ahead - VW ID.7 Is Way Cheaper in China Than EU - Nippon Steel to Buy U.S. Steel - Sneak Peek of Nissan’s Upcoming Concept Cars - BAIC BJ60 Sure Looks Like a Jeep - AAH With Sandy Munro
"...been a new product launch as controversial as the Tesla cyber truck. Depending on the reviews, It's either the most g..."
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This is Outline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry.
Remember when nearly everyone was buying stock and EV startups at the beginning of twenty twenty two. While those days are long gone, stock prices have crashed
as investors worry about how those companies are burning through cash while generating very little income. But Chinese automaker Neo is just thrown a lifeline from an investment firm
in Abu Dhabi. CYVN Holdings is buying two point two billion dollars of the
company stock. Neo, which is a pioneer in battery swapping, has gone
after the higher end of the EV segment. In fact, it's even developing
an executive sedan to take on the BMW seven series Mercedes S class in Audi A seven. But it's also going to launch two other brands called Firefly and
Alps that will sell low cost family evs in Europe Stars next year, and talk of more Chinese evs coming to the EU is goating France into action.
It isn't waiting around for the bureaucrats at the European Union. Instead, France
change rules for which vehicles qualify for incentives to favor models produced in France and Europe over ones made in China. The subsidies now take into account CO two
emissions from producing vehicles, and since China relies more heavily on coal to generate electricity, those vehicles no longer qualify. But it's not just Chinese brands.
Tesla's Model three and the Dashia Spring that are made in China no longer qualify for the incentive either, which is between five and seven thousand euros. General
Motors slam the brakes on its av business unit crews. It's going through an
internal review of the entire business after backlash for regulators, first responders, and unions in California. But GM better get through that review pretty quickly because its
competition isn't sitting still. Weimo added forty five miles of robotaxi service in Phoenix,
Arizona, last summer, bringing its total service area to one hundred and eighty square miles, and last week it added curbside service to the Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix. This morning, May Mobility announced its offering robotaxi rides in
Sun City, a giant retirement area in Arizona, in Beijing, Mercedes got approval to start testing level three autonomous cars on highways, and im Motors, which is part of SAIC, is seeking government permission to start selling level three cars in China. Whoever cracks the code on selling robotaxi services profitably is probably
going to become a cash machine, and right now it looks like it's coming down to a technological race between the US and China. The Volkswagen IT seven
is nearly half the price in China than it is in Europe. In August,
VW announced that the all electric sedan would start at just under fifty seven thousand euros, which is about sixty two thousand bucks, but the version for China, called the ID seven Vision just one on sale for about thirty two thousand dollars or a little over twenty nine thousand euros. There are a few
differences between the two models the ID seven Vision is built in China. Both
come standard with rear wheel drive. However, the Chinese version has a less
powerful motor one hundred and fifty kilowatts versus two hundred and ten, but it has a slightly bigger battery which provides about twenty kilometers or twelve miles more of range, So I'm having a hard time seeing why there's such a big price difference between the two. Japan's biggest steel producer, Nippon Steel, is acquiring
US Steel. The deal is worth fourteen point nine billion dollars, the largest
ever purchase for Nippon Steel, and this is really something of a historical milestone.
In nineteen oh one, US Steel became the first company in the world to be valued at over a billion dollars. But steel's dominant role in today's
information economy is long gone. With Nipon Steel buying US Steel, it looks
like Cleveland Cliffs maybe the last remaining integrated steel maker that's American owned. Nipon
wants to grow its business in the US because demand is falling in Japan.
Nissan revealed its lineup for the Tokyo Auto Show, which kicks off in January, right as CES is ending. One of the concepts that caught our eye
is a disaster support vehicle based on the Nissan Caravan. Now, we've seen
these disaster support vehicles before, but what makes this one a little unique is that it uses portable generators that use old leaf batteries, which is an actual product that Nissan is now selling on the market for a little under twelve hundred bucks. The other concept that grabbed our attention is the March Customized concept.
This model is actually a fourth generation which first came out in twenty ten, and Nissan wants to show how customers could upgrade their used cars. That's something
it also did at last year's show with the Nissan Cube. You know,
we thought the days of Chinese copycats were over, but Baic just introduced its b SUV in Dubai and the front end looks like it was rolled right out of the Jeep design studio. While it doesn't have a seven slot grill,
it looks like a Jeep. The BGA sixty is an off roader with features
like on demand four wheel drive, difflocks in a crawl mode. Baic has
been significantly expanding overseas. It plans to enter several more markets in the Middle
East, and it's selling vehicles in Mexico, South America and Europe, which are other regions where it will compete directly with Jeep. Has there ever been
a new product launch as controversial as the Tesla cyber truck. Depending on the
reviews, It's either the most glorious thing that's ever happened in the history of the universe or it's the ugliest, stupidest, most moronic product that's ever launched.
So that sets the stage for auto Line after Hours This Thursday will have none other than sandyman Ro himself preaching the cyber truck gospel, while Joe White from Reuters and two Lee from sino Aauto Insights will weigh in with steely eyed realism, so you're not going to want to miss this one. And a
programming note here, Thursday will be the last day of the year for autu Line. The crew is going to take a well deserved break and be back
on January third, when we have to hit the ground running to get ready for cees. But that's it for this show. Thanks for tuning in.
Auto Line Daily is brought to you by bridgetone Solutions for your Journey and by Intrepid Control Systems over the Air engineering boost your game. See yes January ninth
through twelve, twenty twenty four, and Trumpet's looking forward to seeing you at our booth three six sixty sixth Las Vegas Convention Center in the West Hall.
We'll be demonstrating the latest and greatest in the software defined vehicles and jurnal architectures automotive ethernet technologies like ten based T one S and multi gigibbit c U s CS twenty twenty four, Las Vegas Convention Center in West Hall, Booth three six sixty six, or visit INTREPIDCS dot com slash sales
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