Labor tensions heat up as Mercedes workers in Alabama reject UAW unionization, while BYD employees strike over drastic pay cuts linked to overtime elimination. Stalantis sees leadership changes with Dodge and Ram brands getting new CEOs. Tesla's European sales heavily rely on fleet customers, but residual value drops and service issues push some toward Chinese EVs. Honda and GM collaborate on more affordable hydrogen fuel cell trucks. BYD launches an affordable Level 4 robotaxi in China, and Neo pilots autonomous battery swapping on highways. Supplier relations reveal Ford and Stalantis lagging behind, while Cadillac explores bespoke coachbuilding to revive its image. Fiat faces controversy over 'Made in Italy' labels on Morocco-assembled cars.
- Mercedes Workers Reject the UAW - BYD Workers Strike Over $5,000/Year Pay - Kuniskis Retires from Dodge - Tesla EU Sales Are 44% Fleet - Honda Offers Fuel Cells for Class 8 - Baidu Launches $28,000 EV Robotaxi - Baidu Considers Using Tesla’s Robotaxi - Ford and Stellantis Have Worst Supplier Relations - Cadillac Offering More Customization Options - Nio Now Offering Autonomous Battery Swaps - Italy Forces Fiat to Remove Italian Flag on The Topolino
"...drop the name of its newest crossover, called the Milano, because it's made in Poland. Alpha now calls it ..."
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This is out Aline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry. In a stinging rejection to the UAW, workers at the Mercedes Benz
plant in Alabama resoundingly voted against the union. Over ninety percent of the workers
at the plant voted in the union election, and fifty six percent of them voted to keep the union out. The result was surprising because the UAW claimed
that it had a super majority of workers who signed cards calling foreign election.
UAW President Sean Fain accused Mercedes of engaging in quote egregious illegal behavior, so it may be setting itself up to go after the company in other ways.
But now all eyes turn to the Hyundai assembly plant in Alabama and a Toyota engine plant in Missouri, where the UAW currently has organization efforts going. And
in other labor news, workers at a by Id plant staged a strike last week over wages. And it gives you an idea of the kind of money
a Chinese line worker. Earns BYD just implemented a four shift schedule, with
those shifts working eight hours a day for five days a week, but it also eliminated overtime pay and workers rely on that time and a half overtime to boost their income. With the overtime, those workers earned eighty three hundred dollars
to ten thousand, seven hundred dollars a year, but without it they only make five grand a year, and that's why they went on strike. There's
an unexpected shake up in management at Stalantis. Tim Kiniskus, who is the
head of the Dodge and Ram brands, is retiring after nearly thirty two years with the company, and his roles are being filled by two people. Christine
Fuel will take over Ram in addition to being the CEO of the Chrysler brand, and Matt ma akka Lear, who had led all of Dodger's sales operations, will become CEO of that brand. The moves take effect on June first.
Caniscus doesn't look like your typical grade haired retiree, and he always seemed really passionate about the cars that he sold anytime he was on our shows like atw and After Hours. But it wasn't easy booking him for all those shows
because of a busy schedule, and Keniscus has a family. I guess this
is all to say, I don't know what he'll do, but he always seemed like a decent guy, so I just want to wish him the best of luck. Did you realize how heavily Tesla relied on fleet sales in Europe?
Reuter's reports that forty four percent of all Teslas sold in Europe and the UK go to fleet operators. That includes daily rental companies, but it also
includes corporate fleets, where company cars are a perk offer to many executives to take advantage of generous tax breaks. But all of Tesla's price cuts have hurt
the residual value of its cars, which in turn has hurt fleet and leasing companies that handle Teslas. So the automaker is offering them unofficial discounts to try
and offset the drop in residual values. But the fleet and leasing companies are
also complaining about slow service and expensive repairs, and some of them are now looking at getting Chinese evs instead. Slowly, but surely, hydrogen fuel cells
keep making progress, and now Honda is making them for semi trucks in North America. It's showcasing a concept truck at this week's Advance Clean Transportation Expo in
Las Vegas. The Class eight truck is powered by three fuel cell systems that
provide an estimated range of four hundred miles. The fuel cells were jointly developed
with General Motors and their being built at a joint venture production plant in Brownstown, Michigan. Honda says the cost of the fuel cell system is two thirds
less than the one used in the twenty nineteen Clarity. It didn't say when
the truck will launch, but it is currently looking for customers. There's nothing
wrong with heavy metal, hey light enough, but with world class composite material taging automotive technologies makes vehicles lighter, safer, and more eco friendly. There's
a lot of skepticism about autonomous vehicles becoming a reality, but Chinese tech giant by Dew just launched its sixth generation Robotaxi, called the RT six. It's
a Level four av with five light ours and forty censors. But despite all
that tech, the model costs a little over twenty eight thousand dollars, which is fifty percent less than its previous generation Robotaxi. The vehicle is built by
Jianling Motors and features a one hundred and ten kilowatt electric motor from byd and a swappable LFP battery pack, but its size wasn't disclosed. It has a
top speed of one hundred and thirty five kilometers an hour or about eighty four miles an hour. The RT six robotaxis will operate in the city of Wuhan,
and by De plans to deploy a thousand of them by the end of the year. But that's not the only Robotaxi it may have in its fleet.
A by Do executive says it's considering using Tesla's robotaxi in China, but this wouldn't be the first time the companies have partnered up. Bidu has been
providing Tasla with InCAR mapping and navigation tax since twenty twenty, and recently Tesla expanded that deal to have Bydu provide it with all the mapping data for full self driving in China. Ford and Stalantis have the worst relation with suppliers in
the North American market, according to the latest suppliers survey from Plant Moran.
That survey is called the Supplier Working Relationship Survey, and it measures how well automakers treat their suppliers and how well they communicate with them. Toyota and Honda
dominate the survey, with suppliers rating them as the best in the industry.
General Motors lags behind them, but it is making progress. Nissan is a
ways behind GM but is rising strongly, while Ford's rating is plummeting and Stillantis is rated the worst, though it has improved a bit lately. One reason
why suppliers are so down on Ford many of them invested heavily in its EV programs, and with sales well below projections, they're losing money on those programs.
Now, many industry experts believe that automakers with the best supplier relationships tend to perform the best. Cadillac was once known as the standard of the world,
but on Autulne After Hours a few weeks ago, the auto extremist Peter de Lorenzo says the brand no longer knows who are, what they are and why. In other words, Cadillac has a marketing problem. But one way
it could build itself back up is by going back to old school coach building, where luxury cars were hand assembled and decked out to their owner's wishes.
Of course, it offers these services for the three hundred thousand dollars plus Celesti.
The Cadillac also came out with a special edition of the CT five V Black Wing that gives customers a similar a la carte customization for the paint materials.
A team spends around two hundred hours painting, hand assembling, and validating the cars, which adds about thirty six thousand dollars to the price. But
the director of the team would like to grow and you even more. Chinese
automaker Neo is coming out with what I think is the ultimate road trip technology.
Gascou reports that it's launching power swap on pilot. Basically, a vehicle
equipped with its latest self driving tech driving autonomously on the freeway can now exit the freeway, drive itself to a battery swap station, swap out the battery on its own, and then get back on the freeway. Neo says there
are two hundred and forty three swapping stations along highways that are now compatible with the service. Fiat says the Topolino was designed and engineered in Italy, so
it put a little sticker of the Italian flag on everyone that rolled off the assembly line. The only problem is that assembly line is in Morocco and Italian
authorities say those stickers violate the Countries Made in Italy rules, so Fiat no longer puts those little stickers out the cars. And here's something that adds a
little wrinkle to the story. The Topolino is actually based on the Satroan Ami,
which was designed and engineered in France, and Opal also has a version of the Ami called the Roxy. A month ago, Italian authorities forced Alpha
Romeo to drop the name of its newest crossover, called the Milano, because it's made in Poland. Alpha now calls it the Junior. Ah. Yes,
isn't the auto industry interesting? We've got labor strife, management shakeups,
suppliers mad at car companies, a global price war, and a major brew haha over a sticker on a car. One thing about this auto industry,
there's never a dull moment. But that brings us to the end of today's
show. Thanks for making autoline a part of your day. Line Daily is
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