AD #3742 - UAW Claims +50% VW Workers Want A Union; Ford Earnings Decent But Not Great; Chrysler Adopts New Logo

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

The UAW claims that over fifty percent of the four thousand line workers at Volkswagen's assembly plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, have signed cards saying they want a union. The uaw's goal is to get to seventy percent, at which time

it will demand that VW either recognize the UAW or hold a vote that's sanctioned by the National Labor Relations Board. The UAW started its card signing push only

two months ago, so it's moving fast and maybe this time it will be successful. But this could be like similar situations in the past where thousands of

workers signed a card saying they wanted a union, only to see a majority vote against the UAW when they voted in secret at the ballot box. We'll

have to see how it goes if or when it reaches that seventy percent threshold.

Even though Toyota chairman Akio Toyota keeps talking up hybrids, the automaker continues to put more effort into evs. It just announced that it's investing one point

three billion dollars at its plant in Kentucky to build a new three to row all electric suv. It's also adding a battery pack assembly line to the factory,

with the batteries being supplied by its new battery plant in North Carolina.

Toyota didn't reveal when production of the suv will start or how many plans to build. Since twenty twenty one, the automaker has invested seventeen billion dollars in

its US plants to expand its electrification efforts. Ford reported its earnings for twenty

twenty three, and the results are good, but not great. It's sold

over four point four million vehicles last year, up four percent. That brought

in one hundred and seventy six billion dollars in revenue, up more than eleven percent, meaning its revenue grew faster than its car sales, and it posted a net profit of four point three billion dollars compared to a loss of two billion dollars in twenty twenty two. And one way Ford boosted its bottom line

was by reducing its spending on eves, saying it will increase spending when demand for eves grows faster and it can get better returns. It also announced a

fifteen cent dividend per share plus an eighteen cent dividend supplement. Investors liked that

news, and Ford stock was up more than five percent in pre market trading.

Another interesting tidbit, Ford says it now has six hundred and thirty thousand subscribers for software services like Blue Crews, up eight percent in the fourth quarter alone. But here's what most people want to know. How did Ford compare

to GM? GM sold six point one million vehicles last year, but one

point two two million of those were from wuling and GM doesn't count them in its total sales and revenue, so let's take them out. That means GM

really sold four point nine million vehicles last year compared to four point four million for Ford. GM brought in one hundred and seventy one billion dollars in revenue

compared to one hundred and seventy six billion for Ford. GM posted a net

profit of nine point eight billion compared to four point three for Ford. This

shows that Ford is better at getting higher prices for its vehicles, and while Ford took a one point seven billion dollar charge for adjustments to its pension and retirement plans, it also shows that GM is a whole lot better at putting money on the bottom line, ZF wants its transmissions to be ready for whichever

way the market goes, ic hybrid or PHEV. Yesterday, it announced plans

to invest five hundred million dollars in South Carolina to build the fourth generation of its eight to nine speed transmissions that can handle conventional power trains, mild hybrids, or plug in hybrids. The trans can handle loads of up to two

hundred and fourteen horse power and three hundred and thirty two pound feet of torque, and it will be available to automakers in twenty twenty five. The Jeep

Wrangler and Grand Cherokee plug ins use the current version of that transmission right now.

ZF also announced that it has thirty billion euros on its order books for high voltage electrification. There's two ways to store hydrogen used in fuel cell vehicles,

either in gas or liquid form, and the vast majority store hydrogen as a gas, but Daimler Truck is going the liquid route. The main advantage

is you don't need those high pressure tanks like with gas, which means you typically have more storage capacity in driving range. The big downside is that you

have to store liquid hydrogen at cryogenic temperatures, otherwise it will boil. It

can also take longer to refuel, and there's no set standard yet for refueling with liquid hydrogen, But in cooperation with Linda Engineering, Daimler claims that they have made a breakthrough that allows for a higher storage density, a greater range, faster refueling, lower costs, and superior energy efficiency of liquid hydrogen, and they're opening up the tech to everyone. They've developed a new process and

pump to increase the pressure of the liquid so the hydrogen becomes sub cooled liquid hydrogen, which unlocks a number of benefits like reduced energy losses while refueling, faster fill up time, and less cost. A pilot station they built can

pump out four hundred kilograms of liquid hydrogen an hour, which could fill up eighty kilograms, enough for one thousand kilometers or six hundred and twenty miles of range in the heavy duty truck in ten to fifteen minutes. They also say

investment in a refueling station is two to three times less and that operational costs are five to six times lower. This is a great move to take out

some of the hassle with refueling with liquid hydrogen, but there still remains challenges with the vehicles themselves, which require very robust and well sealed systems. There's

a big battle being waged in the heavy duty truck industry in the US over new emission rules for big trucks that the EPA wants to implement. The new

standards are planned to go into a f effect in twenty twenty seven and would help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and become tougher over time, but some big truck makers like Volvo and Daimler want to delay the rules until twenty thirty, and they want the standards to automatically end or be weakened if certain infrastructure metrics aren't met. However, Ford Commons, borg Warner, and Eaton issued a joint

statement saying they're in favor of the stronger standards and want the EPA to finalize the rule on March thirty first. The companies are calling themselves the Heavy Duty

Leadership Group, and they say they're willing to make the investment in new technologies needed to meet the stricter rules. The EPA says the projected net benefits from

the heavy duty truck rules will range from one hundred and eighty to three hundred and twenty billion dollars. Ford revealed a refreshed Puma for Europe, and it's

getting the same kind of updates that we've been seeing lately from the company.

Light on the styling changes, heavy on the tech. Each trim line has

their own front, bumper, grill, and wheels, and all come with a new headlight design. The interior gets two rather large digital display screens that

run on a newer version of Ford Sync four infotainment system, which has twice the computing power of the previous Puma. The release doesn't say when it will

go on sale, but it does say it will reveal the all electric version later this year. It looks like Chrysler is getting a new logo. It's

now shown the same new logo three times, I believe, first on the Synthesis interior concept, then on the airflow concept, and now it's showing it again on a teaser image of a new concept that it's going to reveal next Tuesday, February thirteenth. It looks nothing like its current wing logo and it's

very simple, really, just a couple of lines. Biler says we'll get

to see more of this potential path of its all electric future. Later this

week and next, before its official debut, Porsche is launching a significantly refreshed version of the Tychon. While styling changes are subtler, it has more power,

more range, it's faster, and it has faster charging. All versions

come with a new rear axle electric motor that has up to eighty kilowatts or over one hundred horse power, more than before. Even the slowest model is

over half a second faster than before, and the Tychon turbos will do zero to sixty and two point three seconds point three seconds faster than before. Porsche

also improved the software, gave it more powerful batteries, improved the thermal management, including a new heat pump, and the regenerative braking is a little better.

The Performance battery Plus now has a gross capacity of one hundred and five kilowatt hours, up from ninety three, which returns a WLTP range of up to six hundred and seventy eight kilometers or four hundred and twenty one miles, and that is up to thirty five percent more than before. Also more than

before is the price, which is up by about eight grand The base version in the US starts just over one hundred and one thousand dollars including destination and a top of the line crossed Tureismo version starts at just under two hundred and fourteen thousand dollars. Say did Kyle vote at GM Cruz? Lie to Mary

Barr about what's going on there? And with the slowdown in EV sales,

are pee has going to come on stronger? And is China about to get

into the American market via the back door in Mexico? Those are going to

be some of the topics on Autuline After Hours Tomorrow. We'll have Michael Robinette

from S and P Global, two Leaf from Sino Wato Insights, and David Welch from Bloomberg coming on the show, and you'll want to listen in on what they have to say. But that's the end of today's show. Thanks

for tuning in. Auto Line Daily is brought to you by Bridgetone Solutions for your Journey

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