AD #3786 - BYD Makes More Per Car Than Ford; Tesla Slashes Supercharger Install Time; Ford Dropping Direct Sales in Europe

This is aut Aligned Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry. Last year, BYD made more money per car than Ford. The

Chinese auto maker brought in a net profit of about four point one billion dollars and sold just over three million vehicles, which means it would have made about thirteen hundred and fifty bucks on every car it sold. But because BYD makes

more than just cars, statistics company late Finance puts its profit per vehicle closer to twelve hundred and fifty dollars. Even so, that compares to Ford,

who brought in a net profit of about four point three billion dollars and sold about four point four million cars worldwide, which means it made just under a thousand bucks on everyone it sold, and BYD is not too far behind the VW Group or GM, who made just under and just over sixteen hundred dollars per car respectively. However, they're all way behind Tesla, who makes over

eighty two hundred dollars on every car it sells. But it also makes a

lot of sense these other automakers would earn less than Tesla because they sell less expensive models like BYD, Seagull, which is now under ten grand in China.

I'm sure it's one of the reasons BYD introduced its upscale brand Yangwang to sell higher price models that earn more profits, and BYD also hopes to increase profits by coming out with even cheaper battery technology. According to reports, the

company's chairman said during a meeting that it's working on the second generation of its blade battery. He said it will be smaller, lighter, and offer lower

power consumption while still providing the same range if you'll like to nerd out on some numbers. The current blade battery is capable of one hundred and fifty hours

per kilogram, but the next gen is expected to be a round on one hundred and ninety hours per kilogram. That would probably make it the most energy

dense LFP or lithium iron phosphate battery and puts it closer to traditional batteries, which are more expensive. The new BYD Blade battery could come out as early

as this year. Tesla settled a lawsuit over a fatal crash involving its autopilot

system a day before the trial was going to start. The terms of the

settlement weren't disclosed, but the case involved Walter Wong, a thirty eight year old Apple engineer who was killed in twenty eighteen when his Tesla Model ACTS veered off the highway in California and struck a roadside barrier at seventy one miles an hour. The vehicle was operating on autopilot at the time of the crash,

but an investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board also found that the driver was probably distracted by a video game on his iPhone. Tesla two previous trials in

California involving autopilot crashes, but obviously it felt it was better off settling this case than going to trial, even though the driver was partially at fault.

Speaking of Tesla, it slashed the time it takes to install a supercharger station in half. Several years ago, it started making its own prefabricated superchargers,

and in twenty twenty two it said it could build a twelve stall station in eight days, but now it says it's down to four days. Tesla is

now pouring its own concrete blocks into molds that have spots for the wires to go through and the charger units to be bolted down. To cranes can then

lift the concrete blocks with the charger units already installed and take them wherever they need to go. With so many automakers getting access to Tesla's charging network,

it's probably a good thing that it figured out a way to install the new chargers even faster. When the elements are working against you, being confident in

your grip on the road is what really matters. Breach through the lens of

tires, improved acceleration in wet conditions. General Motors is set to resume testing

its Cruise robotaxis. Bloomberg reports the company could make an announcement as early as

today. According to two people familiar with the plan, the test will initially

resume in Phoenix, Arizona, with safety drivers on board. The company is

also in talks with twenty cities it already operated in or had started mapping to begin tests once again. Last year, Cruz suspended all of its operations in

the US after one of its vehicles dragged a pedestrian who was already struck by another vehicle in San Francisco. That led to the resignation of its founder and

CEO, and nine other executives were fired. Getting crew news back on track

is very important to GM CEO Mary Barr has said it could generate revenue of fifty billion dollars a year by twenty thirty. Good news for four dealers in

Europe. The automaker is dropping its plan to move to a direct sales model

and instead will develop the quote advanced franchise model. Ford did a direct sales

pilot in the Netherlands and then plan to roll it out to the rest of Europe. It previously delayed that plan until twenty twenty six, but now Ford

is scrapping it all together. While this will give dealers some relief, it's

not all good news. Ford is also planning to downsize its dealer network in

Europe as it transitions to an electric only brand in the region. But Ford

isn't the only automaker moving away from the direct sales model stillantis, BMW, Audi, and Jaguar land Rover have all delayed or revised plans to do so.

In Your BMW announced that it's forming a partnership with Croatian supplier Rimac Technology to jointly develop electric drive technology and solutions for high voltage batteries. Rimac Technology,

not the car maker, makes battery packs, eaxls, as well as electronic and software components. The two companies didn't reveal any other details, but

they say they'll share more info at a later date. And you may remember

Rimak, the car company also bought Bugatti. In twenty twenty two. Porsche

debuted its new active ride suspension on the Panamera and will also launch a version on the new Tychon as well, but it's forming a partnership with another active suspension company to expand its use of the technology. Porsche signed a deal with

clear Motion, who regular viewers of this show may remember we had on Autoline after Hours in November twenty twenty two. Clear Motion bought its tech from Bows

and it kind of acts like noise canceling headphones, creating exact opposite outputs of the inputs the system is getting from the road. It does this at extremely

fast speed with an electronic hydraulic pump that's attached directly to the damper. Porsche

is also working with clear Motion on crowdsourced road data that includes sensor infro from inside the car to provide details like a pothole or traffic ahead, or the need to slow down for a fast turn. We wonder if technology like this

might also be applied to the racetrack, and when we had the CEO of Clear Motion on the show, he said the suspension technology could be used to improve the in cabin experience and just imagine watching Jurassic Park and being able to feel the footsteps of the t Rex approaching. Ford revealed the updated twenty twenty

four Mustang Machi and it's taking orders now in the US. It has more

performance, more range, and faster charging times than previous Mocheas with the new GT performance upgrade, the car can go from zero to sixty in three point three seconds and run the quarter mile in eleven point eight seconds at one hundred and fourteen miles an hour. DC. Fast charging from ten to eighty percent

is now thirty six minutes, which is about nine minutes faster than before.

All Mockes have ten to twenty miles more of range depending on the model, and Ford also revealed the off Road Focus mock E Rally will come to the US as well. Pricing for the twenty twenty four models starts just under forty

grand. And here's something for all of our off road enthusiasts. Toyota has

been teasing the new four Runner for the last week or so, but the model will finally make its debut today at ten pm Eastern or seven pm Pacific time. But that brings us to the end of today's show. Thanks for

making autoline a part of your day. Auto Line Daily is brought to you

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AD #3786 - BYD Makes More Per Car Than Ford; Tesla Slashes Supercharger Install Time; Ford Dropping Direct Sales in Europe

Seagull

Tesla Model

Porsche Panamera

Ford Mustang

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