The discussion covers the expansion of Chinese EV makers like BYD and Xpeng into Europe, with BYD planning plants in Hungary and potential Italy ventures. Cadillac targets European markets using direct sales to grow beyond China and the US. Loyalty awards highlight Tesla and GM's strong customer retention. Liatto showcases ultra-fast EV charging technology, while the IIHS tightens safety standards. Yanfeng reveals a cost-saving modular seat design. Jeep introduces a new AWD Avenger model, and the Microlino EV may enter the US as a low-speed neighborhood vehicle. BYD's affordable Seagull impresses with vertical integration and low costs, signaling shifts in EV manufacturing strategies.
Topics:chinese ev expansion in europecadillac europe market strategyautomotive loyalty awardsfast ev charging technologyvehicle safety standardslow cost seat designjeep avenger awd modelmicrolino us launchbyd seagull vertical integration
- Italy Rolls Out Welcome Mat for BYD - XPeng Expands Sales Network in EU - Cadillac Needs New Markets - Tesla Conquests More New Buyers Than Anyone Else - Li Auto Charges 102 kWh Batter in Under 11 Minutes - Hyundai Group Tops Safety Awards - Yanfeng's Low-Cost Seat Module - Jeep Avenger Adds AWD in EU - Microlino Eyes U.S. Market - BYD Seagull: The EV Everyone Wants to Benchmark
"...wheel driver four by four? Up until now, the Jeep Avenger, which is a compact crossover that it sells in Eu..."
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While many European countries are concerned about Chinese ev imports, they have no problem with Chinese companies building vehicles in the EU. Bloomberg reports that BYD has
been contacted by the Italian government to manufactures vehicles in the country. Fiat is
really the only major automaker that builds vehicles in Italy right now, and the government wants to lure another automaker to boost jobs, but BYD isn't committed to Italy just yet. It confirmed it will open its first EU plant in Hungary
and says a second EU plant will depend on its sales. And Chinese evmaker
x Pong is also looking to expand into Italy. It currently sells vehicles in
Norway, Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands. Later this year it will begin
selling vehicles in Germany, France and the UK. Hey and now Xpunk says
Italy will be added to the list, but it didn't say when or what models it will sell in the country. If Cadillac really wants to grow,
it needs to get into new markets, and that's exactly what it's doing.
Cadillac sells well in China in the US, but it's unlikely to dramatically grow its sales in either of those markets, and so it's looking to Europe as its best opportunity to find more customers. It's already selling the Lyric in Switzerland,
where it retails for over ninety three thousand dollars, and now it's going into France and Germany is likely to be next on the list. But rather
than establish a dealer network, it's using a direct sales model that will reduce the time and expense of re establishing itself in the EU market. General Motors
pretty much got out of the EU market in twenty seventeen, and it sees battery electric cars as its opportunity to get back in. This also helps explain
GM's strong interest to go into Formula one racing with Cadillac, since F one is so popular in Europe. We estimate that Cadillac sells about three hundred and
thirty five thousand cars a year globally, with one hundred and eighty three thousand sales in China, one hundred and fifty thousand, five hundred in North America, and about fifteen hundred in the rest of the world. Meanwhile, Mercedes
sells about two million cars globally a year and BMW sells two and a half million. SNP Global Mobility released its annual automotive Loyalty Awards and General Motors and
Tesla took home the top awards. GM won the overall Loyalty to Manufacture category,
while Tesla won the overall Loyalty to Make award, and that's a repeat for both companies. Tesla also won the highest conquest percentage alternative of Powertrain to
Make and the Ethnic market Loyalty to Make categories, and those are repeat wins as well. The Lincoln Nautilus won the newly created overall Loyalty to Model category
and overall loyalty levels in the industry had declined the past several years, but in twenty twenty three it was zero point eight percent to fifty one percent, and S and P says it increased thanks to improve inventory levels, new products, and unique marketing initiatives. Charging an EVY battery can almost be as fast
as filling up a tank of gas. Now. Chinese automaker Liatto has demonstrated
real world sessions of its new Megavan charging from ten to eighty percent in under eleven minutes, adding five hundred kilometers or about three hundred and ten miles of range in that time. But it takes a lot of power to charge that
fast, thanks to the Megavan's eight hundred volt electronic architecture and one hundred and two kilowat hour keelan battery pack from COTL charging power peaked at over five hundred and twenty one kilowatts. For comparison, a Tesla supercharger tops out around two
hundred and fifty kilowats, and the fastest public chargers in the US are around three hundred and fifty kilowatts. So to make sure its customers get the best
charging experience, le Auto also plans to build out its own charging network, and each site will have at least one four hundred and eighty kilowat charger.
It currently has about three hundred and fifty charging spots in China, but wants to increase that to two thousand before the end of the year and ten thousand by the end of twenty twenty five. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is
making it harder for vehicles to earn its top safety pick plus and Top Safety Pick awards. The organization updated its test to evaluate backseat safety and revised its
requirements for pedestrian crash avoidance systems. But despite the tougher criteria, seventy one
models qualified for the awards. Twenty two received the Top Safety Pickplus, while
the rest earned a Top Safety Pick. The Hyundai group including Kia and Genesis
had the most with sixteen, followed by Toyota and Lexus at thirteen, and Mazda had the most Top Safety Pick Plus awards of any brand with five.
That price war in China that kicked off over a year ago looks like it's starting to spread to other parts of the world, and unless automakers figure out how to cut the cost of making their cars, any price cuts are gonna come right out of their profit margins. And the best way to cut costs
is to come up with clever designs that are cheaper to make. And here's
Young Fun's idea for a low cost seat module. The frame, foam and
covers, seatbacks, headrests, floor training console all get assembled as one unit that goes into the car. The center console houses a display screen mounted on
a goose neck, where the screen also doubles as the steering wheel. We
think it's likely the whole module lends itself to automated assembly to further bring down costs. Yan Fung is just showing this concept off to automakers, so it's
probably still a number of years away from production. Did you know Jeep has
a model without all wheel driver four by four? Up until now, the
Jeep Avenger, which is a compact crossover that it sells in Europe, only powered its front wheels, but it's launching a new four bi E version that customers can order by the end of the year. The system pairs the Avengers
one point two liters three cylinder engine, which features forty eight volt mild hybrid technology, with two twenty one kilowat or twenty eight horse power electric motors and a six speed automatic transmission. Not only will the system provide more traction,
the Avenger four YE is capable of driving solely on electric power, and just for a little extra info on the Avenger, it's also available as an IC and pure electric model, and its platform, which is also used by the Fiat five hundred eight and Nu launchia Epsilon, was developed with its Chinese joint venture partner Dong Fong, the Microlino, which is like an all electric modern day version of the Ista, could be coming to the US. Regular viewers
of this show will know that we've been following this cute little electric car ever since we first laid eyes on it at the Geneva Auto Show in twenty twenty one. The company has already started selling some versions in Europe that cost around
thirteen thousand dollars, but now it's coming out with a new, less powerful model that it would like to have in the US before the end of the year. The micro Lino Light is limited to forty five kilometers an hour or
twenty eight miles an hour, which means it could qualify as a neighborhood vehicle like all those golf carts you see roaming around Florida. In Europe, the
micro Lino Light can be leased for about one hundred and seventy dollars a month for two years. While the cyber truck is grabbing all the headlines these days,
the auto industry is actually a lot more interested in a car at the other end of the spectrum, the byd Segull, and that's because this compact or electric car comes very nicely equipped with a retail price in China of only eleven five hundred dollars. Even though it doesn't meet US crash standards. The
Seagull has stunned auto executives with its level of execution and low price. So
how did BYD pull it off? Well, we just got a chance to
test drive the car, and Tarry Wachowski, the president of Caresoft, pointed out one of the reasons why BYD's costs are so low. Another thing very
interesting here the headlamps made in house. And that's one of the secrets to
BYD, Right, they're very vertically integrated. I think that's the secret sauce,
to be honest with you, is it's incredibly vertically integrated. When you
look at the car in totality, you know it starts with the batteries LFP blade batteries. They make them, well, they make a million cell phone
batteries and either will make batteries for the car and leverage your expertise in making these batteries. The electric motor made by BYD. These headlamps, you can
see the logo in the lamp is a very attractive lamp. By the way,
the front facia made in house. The rear facia maid in house,
the door trim panels maiden house, the IP is made by bid, the council is made by a bid. So all these things that typically you know
you'd have a supply base in loop, but then they're also in the value chain and they have their own pricing and markup and margins to meet and such things. Here they've just integrated that all. And by the way, you
can watch that entire video on our website or on our YouTube channel. But
that brings us to the end of today's show. Thanks for making autoline a
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