General Motors reported strong 2023 earnings despite challenges, projecting U.S. EV sales to reach 1.6 million in 2024. Renault postponed its EV software division IPO, focusing on cost reduction and new models. Charge Point highlights surging EV charger demand, while Ford faces scrutiny over a Michigan battery plant partnership with Chinese firms. Ford also unveiled the plug-in hybrid Transit Connect for Europe, and Ecolab plans to expand its Ford EV fleet. Peugeot introduces an 8-year warranty to boost EV adoption, and Mazda launches the CX-70 crossover with hybrid options, targeting increased cargo space.
Topics:gm earningsus ev sales forecastrenault ev divisionev charging demandford battery plant scrutinyford transit connect plug-in hybridecolab ford fleetpeugeot ev warrantymazda cx-70 launch
- GM Posts Solid 2023 Earnings - GM Suggests U.S. EV Sales Could Hit 1.6 Million - Renault Axes Ampere IPO - EV Chargers Can't Get Installed Fast Enough - Republicans Demand Investigation Into Ford, China Relationship - CATL Growth Slows, Loses Market Share - Ford Reveals All-New Transit Connect - EcoLab Buys a Bunch of Ford EVs - Peugeot Offers 8 Year, 100K Mile EV Warranty - Mazda Shows New 2-Row Crossover, the CX-70
"...allure Care, which covers the electric motor, the charger, powertrain, and the main electrical and mechanic..."
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This Asadolne Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry.
General Motors reported its earnings for twenty twenty three, and it showed improvements despite the UAW strike and continuing losses with its electric and autonomous vehicles. GM brought
in one hundred and seventy one billion dollars in revenue, which was up nine point six percent. Its earnings before interest in taxes or EBIT came to more
than twelve billion dollars. It posted a net profit of ten point one billion
dollars, which was up almost two percent from the year before, but its net profit margin was only five point nine percent. GM continues to struggle in
China, where its income came to four hundred and forty six million dollars, down a sharp thirty four percent. Even so, GM is fairly bullish on
how it will do this year. It boosted its guidance on revenue, profits,
cash flow I earnings per share in One interesting tidbit from CEO Mary Barra's letter to shareholders is that GM expects to post a variable profit with its evs in the second half of the year. She also expects total US ev sales
to hit ten percent market share, and since GM is forecasting that new vehicle sales in the US will top sixteen million units, that suggests that Americans will buy about one point six million evs in twenty twenty four, up from about one point one million last year. Renault is no longer spinning off its EV
and software division am Peer. It first said it was going to do an
IPO with amper in twenty twenty two, but it's been delayed several times since then, and now Renault says due to current marketing conditions, it's not in its best interest at this time to go forward with the process. It doesn't
think ampeer will hit its break even point until twenty twenty five, so it will continue to fund the development of the division on its own. Reno claims
it's been doing better than it expected and has been able to generate enough money to finance its future, including Ampeer. Those future endeavors include reducing EV costs
by forty percent, developing software and AI solutions, and launching six new EV models, the Senec, Reno five, Reno four TwinGo, as well as two additional cars. So far, the legacy auto makers aren't making any money
on their EV and software divisions, which requires a lot of investment as well, So this could be seen as a good move, but we've also been told by industry experts that the legacy auto makers are behind on their EV and software development and this could slow ampeer down even more. So it doesn't sound
like an easy balancing act, but the ones that do it the best will have the best chance for success. And while EV demand is slowing, evs
still represent the fastest growing segment in the market, and because of that growth, charge Point says demand for EV chargers is growing faster than they can be installed. Last year, charge Point says there was a fifty three percent increase
in annual charging sessions across its entire global network that resulted in over one terrawatt hours of energy being dispensed, a seventy percent increase. Charge Point has two
hundred and seventy four thousand ports worldwide, and in the third quarter of twenty twenty three it passed one million active users globally. Charge Point says this data
shows the need to continue to build out the charging network to keep pace with demand. Ford's planned evy battery plant in Michigan with Chinese battery makers COTL is
drawing more scrutiny from Republican lawmakers. Last September, Representatives Mike Gallagher and Kathy
McMorris Rogers, who chair two committees in the US House, demanded documents from Ford over its partnership with COTL, and even threatened to force CEO Jim Farley to testify before Congress. They claim their concern that the US tax subsidies will
go to Chinese companies and that Ford will become more reliant on Chinese technology.
Now Reuters reports the same representatives sent a letter to the Biden administration asking it to investigate four Chinese companies involved in the deal. They claim the companies have
ties to the Chinese military, the Chinese Communist Party, the North Korean government, and have all ledged human rights abuses in China's shing Jiang region. The
companies were not named in the letter because they're not allowed to be made public.
In response, Ford says it follows quote all government regulations across our business, and it also says the battery plant is wholly owned and operated by the company, and this ordeal indicates to us that evs are going to be a big part of this year's presidential election. And if this isn't a big enough
headache for COTL, the battery maker is also dealing with weaker demand. The
company said it expects a net profit in twenty twenty three between five point nine and six point three billion dollars, up forty eight percent from the year before, and while that's incredible growth, it's significantly below the ninety three percent net profit gain it posted in twenty twenty two. And not only are its profits
slowing, CTL is losing market share in China. Last year, it had
forty three percent of the market, down from forty eight percent in twenty twenty two. Meanwhile, BYD and COLB, the number two and three EVY battery
producers in China, saw their combined market share grow from thirty percent in twenty twenty two to about thirty six percent. Last year. Ford revealed the all
new transit Connect for Europe, and one of the big additions is the model's first ever plug in hybrid powertrain. The turbocharged one and a half liter engine,
which pairs to a six speed automatic transmission, combines with an electric motor to produce around one hundred and fifty horse power. Ford doesn't say how big
the battery is, but it must be a decent size because it's targeting a range of up to one hundred and ten kilometers or about sixty eight miles.
A two liter turbo diesel engine that comes in two power outputs is also available.
Possible combinations include front wheel drive, all wheel drive, a six speed manual, or a seven speed automatic transmission. Both long and short wheelbases and
two or five seat body styles are available as well, and the five seat version, which Ford calls comby, has a trick second row that folds up and allows owners to carry around more people or quickly convert into a work van.
Ford says orders kickoff in the spring and buyers can expect delivery by the summer. And speaking of Ford orders, Eco Lab, which makes water hygiene
and infection prevention solutions, is buying over a thousand Lightnings and mock Ease to add to its fleet by the end of next year. Ecolab and Ford already
have a pretty strong history. Ecolab has over ten thousand vehicles in its total
fleet, ninety five percent of which are Fords, and over the last ten years it's bought more than thirty one thousand Ford models. Some car dealers are
worried that as more EV's hit the road, they'll see fewer repair bills because evs require less maintenance. But Pougeou is testing out a new warranty program for
the all Electric E three thousand and eight that looks like it's intended to make sure that the dealer gets as much of that repair work as possible. It's
offering what it calls Pougeo allure Care, which covers the electric motor, the charger, powertrain, and the main electrical and mechanical components for up to eight years or one hundred and sixty thousand kilometers, which is roughly one hundred thousand miles. It already offers that same warranty on the battery pack, but the
Pougeo allure Care coverage is automatically activated for two years or twenty five thousand kilometers, only after each maintenance service is done within the pougo network. The company
thinks this will help accelerate EV adoption, so it's possible it could spread to other models and other brands. Mazda is officially unveiling the CX seventy crossover in
the US market today. It sits on the same platform as the CX ninety
and even has the same wheelbase, so it's essentially the two row version of the three row CX ninety, and by removing the third row of seats, Mazda has greatly increased the luggage space and it's really targeting customers who want to be able to carry around more things. Like the CX ninety. This rear
drive CUV is powered by an inline turbocharged six cylinder engine, or there's an optional plug in hybrid version as well. We don't have pricing on the CX
seventy, but the CX ninety starts at about forty grand, while the p HAVE is closer to fifty thousand dollars, and we expect the CX seventy will be priced a little bit lower than that, and we should have those numbers soon. But that brings us to the end of today's show. Thanks for
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