AD #3748 - BorgWarner Gets Rights to Build BYD's Blade Battery; U.S. Impounds VW's Luxury Cars; Ford Thinks Chinese Prepping to Enter the U.

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

Thousands of Porsche, Audi and Bentley vehicles have been impounded by US custom officials because they reportedly have an electronic component that was made with forced labor in China. VW says it's replacing the part and expects to get the vehicles delivered

to customers by the end of March. The Financial Times reports that the component

was made in western China, and it's against US law to import products that were made with forced labor in China's western shing Jiang region. The VW Group,

which those luxury brands are a part of, is under immense pressure to sever ties with a plant that a subsidiary of its joint venture partner operates in the region. As we reported yesterday, VW is in talks with SEIC about

ending its involvement at that plant because forced labor may have been used to build a test track near it. Stillantis reported its full year earnings, and we

think it did really well. It sold six point one million vehicles, up

five point seven percent. Revenues came in at one hundred and eighty nine billion

euros. Up six percent. It posted an operating profit of more than twenty

four billion euros with a twelve point eight percent profit margin, and its net profit was eighteen point six billion. It also generated free cash flow of nearly

thirteen billion euros, which gives the company a substantial war chest Globally. It

handed out nearly two billion euros in profit sharing to employees. UAW workers in

the US will get an average of thirteen thousand, eight hundred and sixty bucks, but that's down from last year's fourteen thousand, seven hundred and sixty dollars.

So why did UAW members get less profit sharing. It's because of the

strike that cut into Stalantas's US profits and cut nine hundred dollars from union members profit sharing checks. The Italian government is butting heads with Stalantis over building more

vehicles in the country. Italy wants Fiat, which is part of the Stalantis

group, to boost production to a million vehicles a year, up from seven hundred and fifty thousand last year, but Stilantis wants more subsidies and incentives to increase that production. Italy has set aside six billion euros to support domestic auto

production next year, and part of that funding is being used to lure another automaker to the country because of its battle with Stalantis. But in our mind

the only real viable options would probably be a Chinese company or Vinfest and many countries in the EU want to keep the Chinese out, but governments are also courting them because they want to bring in more jobs. And here's something you

should expect to see more of. German supplier Continental announced that it's laying off

seven thousand, one hundred and fifty workers to help cut costs. It's acting

seventeen hundred and fifty jobs in research and development, while the rest are administrative positions, and forty percent of the cuts are in Germany. It's also looking

at merging sites in Germany and elsewhere. Last year, the company said it's

looking to save four hundred million euros annually starting in twenty twenty five, and it needs to cut costs because IC sales are dropping. EV demand is slowing

and price cuts are forcing it to be leaner. Borg Warner expects to sell

a lot more EV parts this year by supplying to a lot more Chinese companies.

We think the most important is a partnership with a subsidiary of byd finn Dreams for LFP battery packs. Not only will Borg Warner get the cells to

make the packs, it's also getting the rights to its battery pack design and manufacturing process. Borg hopes to be the go to supplier of LFP packs for

class three and above commercial vehicles in Europe, North and South America, and parts of Asia Pacific. Another deal involves making electric motors for Xpong. The

motors have an operating range up to eight hundred volts and can produce up to three hundred kilowatts or just over four hundred horse power. Xpung will use them

on its X nine minivan and a new B class sedan. Borg's other deals

involve inverters. It formed a joint venture with Shanji Fast Auto Drive Group to

develop a high voltage inverter for the Chinese electric commercial vehicle market, and a deal with an unnamed major Chinese OEM to supply a more power dens inverter for plug in, high ybrid and range extended electric vehicles. For the whole year,

Borg Warner expects to sell twenty five to forty percent more E products than it did in twenty twenty three. In twenty twenty two, GM doubled its

Supercrews network, and now it's nearly doing the same. The last expansion took

it to over four hundred thousand miles of roads where the hands free driving technology works, and now it's going to a total of about seven hundred and fifty thousand miles by the end of next year. Many of the new roads include

minor highways that typically connect smaller cities and townships. The expansion has already started

going out to customers via an Ota update at no additional charge. In speaking

of GM, its first all electric Corvette sports car will likely go into production in twenty twenty eight. Auto four cast Solutions reports that the Corvette Stingray EV

will start rolling down the line at GM's Lansing Grand River plan in February of twenty twenty eight. But it's possible this won't be the first electric corvette.

The Corvette SUV could take that crown. It's supposed to launch next year sometime,

initially with a V eight engine, but it could also go electric.

The head of Ford's EV group warns that Chinese auto makers are preparing to enter the US market and they represent a massive competitive threat. Maren Jaja, the

head of Ford Model E, admits that Chinese auto makers have a technological lead, especially when it comes to electric cars. He predicts that they'll establish assembly

plants in Mexico to gain access to the US market without having to pay a twenty five percent import tariff. Ford is particularly concerned about cars like the BYD

Seagull, which has a base price under eleven grand in China. It estimates

that the BOM or bill of material of all the components needed to make the car is only eight thousand dollars, and that's exactly why Ford launched a top secret skunk works program to develop an electric car that significantly slashes costs. Maren

ja Ja says the US auto industry better get fit now or it doesn't have a future. He created the first ev skateboard, pushed the development of hydrogen

fuel cells, and was one of the pioneers of autonomous technology. So what's

he up to now. Larry Burns is the former head of R and D

at General Motors and is a fountain of information on the future of automotive technology.

He's also our guest on Auto Line after Ours today, and we invite you to sit in to hear what he has to say. Frank Marcus from

Motor Trend will also be on the show, so join John and Gary to learn about the latest tech trends in the automotive industry. But that brings us

to the end of today's show. Thanks for tuning in. Auto Line Daily

is brought to you by Bridgestone Solutions for your journey and by Intrepid Control Systems over the air engineering boost your game. We want to know what drives your

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AD #3748 - BorgWarner Gets Rights to Build BYD's Blade Battery; U.S. Impounds VW's Luxury Cars; Ford Thinks Chinese Prepping to Enter the U.

X9 Xpong

Chevrolet Corvette

Toyota Crown

Seagull

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