Tesla dominated global car sales last year, with over 1.2 million units sold, while Toyota and Ford also made strong showings. Stillantis faces challenges with supplier relations and declining margins, prompting a shift to low-cost countries. A new study debunks the myth that fast charging damages EV batteries significantly. Ford lowers barriers for dealers to sell EVs amid slow sales. Tesla’s $56 billion CEO pay package was approved by shareholders but faces legal hurdles. Warranty costs are soaring for European automakers, and luxury brands top maintenance expenses. The UAW is embroiled in leadership conflicts, and Smart unveils a new electric SUV with impressive specs.
Topics:tesla salesstillantis challengesev battery fast chargingford ev dealer policyelon musk pay packagewarranty costscar maintenance expensesuaw leadership conflictsmart electric suvautomotive industry trends
- Tesla Model Y #1 World Seller - Stellantis Pivots Sourcing to Low-Cost Countries - Fast Chargers Don’t Hurt Batteries - Ford Allows All Its Dealers to Sell EVs - Shareholders Approver Musk Pay Package. He May Not Get It - Canadian Steals Tesla Secrets - EU Warranty Costs Up Sharply - 4 Most Expensive Cars to Maintain - UAW’s Boyer Hits Back at Fain - Smart Unveils Mid-Size SUV
"...yota takes the next three spots with the Corolla, Corolla Cross and Camry. This is Zotoline Daily, the show dedic..."
Select text to request an explanation
This is Zotoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry.
Once again, Tesla had the best selling car in the world last year.
According to Jado Dynamics, Tesla sold more than one point two million model wise, up sixty four percent. The Toyota Rev four was number two with
just over a million sales, and it was followed by the Honda CRV.
Toyota takes the next three spots with the Corolla, Corolla Cross and Camry.
The Ford F one to fifty ranks number seven was six hundred and twenty three thousand sales. Toyota shows up again with the Hi Lux at number eight.
The Nissan CenTra was next with five hundred and thirty four thousand sales, and Tesla bookends the top ten with the Model three, which sold five hundred and three thousand units. Stillantis held its Investor Day presentation yesterday at the headquarters for
its North American operations in Auburn Hills, MISSIONCHI, and it probably held the meeting there because North America delivers most of the company's profits, but it's also where the company is running into its stiffest headwinds. It has the worst relations
with suppliers in the business. Dealers are complaining that inventory and prices are too
high, sales profits, market share and margins are falling, and a number of senior executives left the company. CEO Carlos Tavares blamed himself, saying it
was his own arrogance that led him to ignore the problems until they started getting out of control. He presented a plan of how he's going to turn that
around, and one thing is crystal clear outsourcing the low cost countries is a key part of that plan. Stillantis has already diverted forty one billion euros of
business to suppliers and countries like Morocco, Turkey, Algeria, South Africa and Egypt, and it plans to move even more business there. Auto Line has
heard that existing suppliers are being told to cut their prices thirty percent or future business will move to low cost countries. Using fast chargers for your electric car
will destroy the battery over time, Right, Well, that was conventional wisdom, but a new study from Recurrence says that's just an urban legend. It
looked at more than thirteen thousand teslas in the US and found that there was no statistically significant difference in range degradation between fast charging more than seventy percent of the time and fast charging less than thirty percent of the time. However,
many drivers don't fast charge frequently. Only three hundred and forty four of the
Teslas that it looked at use fast chargers more than seventy percent of the time.
The Tesla models were from twenty twelve to twenty twenty three, but ninety percent of them were from twenty eighteen and later. Recurrent says baddegradation from frequent
fast charging may still happen when evs get older. Ford is doing a complete
one eighty and will allow any of its dealers to sell evs. In its
previous plan, they had to sign up for a certification program to sell electrics, and it was expensive. Dealers had to invest one point two million dollars
to be part of Ford's top tier, or they could pay up to five hundred thousand dollars to be in a lower tier. Each tier required a certain
number of chargers to be installed at the dealership, and it limited EV inventory for lower tiers. But the new reality is that evs are not selling nearly
as well as expected, and Ford needs a lot more sales volume to make them profitable. Dealers who want to sell evs still need to invest in training
employees and installing level two chargers for both ccs and nax ports, but the cost of entry is now a lot lower. Intrepid's NEOVIPI allowing automotive engineers to
interface, capture, and monitor vehicle data using Raspberry Pie. As a matter
of fact, it's the automotive industry's first robust platform for Raspberry Pie. Featuring
Intrepid canefting technology and Raspberry Pie compute module. The NEOVIPI is designed for automotive
environments, allowing use with relative power ranges and applications. In addition, the
NEOVIPI enables you to use the Raspberry Pie for compute while avoiding additional development to adapt to network environments. That makes the NEOVIPI powerful enough to solve your vehicle
network problems, yet small enough to fit in your backpack. One of many
Intrepid tools used for developing zonal architecture and software divined vehicles. Taskless shareholders officially
voted in favor of CEO Elon Musk roughly fifty six billion dollar pay package.
The news was revealed at the company's annual meeting, and Must indicated that it was approved by a wide margin, but the CEO and Tesla still have to get the same Delaware judge that originally voided the pay package in January to recognize the new vote as valid, which will require them to prove that Must didn't have any improper influence during the process, and even if it is passed, there's always the possibility of a new lawsuit being filed. But moving on.
Shareholders also approved a proposal to move Tesla's legal home from Delaware to Texas, and it revealed a number of product updates. Tesla will allow a one time
FSD transfer for one more quarter. According to Musk, the option was only
first made available last year, and it has gone away and come back a couple of times, so it's hard to say what will happen. FSD transfers
now over to Optimus, Tesla's humanoid robot. Elon says the company will have
a quote thousand to a couple thousand working in its factories next year, that the robot would be in limited production. It would cost ten thousand dollars to
build, but it would sell them for twenty thousand dollars, and that they would eventually bring in a trillion dollars a profit. In all, the CEO
thinks Tesla could be worth around thirty trillion dollars some day. Its evs will
also play a role in its projected rising market cap. Not only did it
ramp up cyber truck production to thirteen hundred units a week, three new models were teased under sheets in a slideshow to at the annual meeting, but there was no official word on what's coming. In other Tesla news, a Canadian
man pled guilty to stealing trade secrets from the EV maker. The man and
another associate, who is still at large worked for High Bar, a Canadian based company that makes battery assembly lines and was bought by Tesla in twenty nineteen, but the two left High Bar informed, a China based company that sells technology used in evs. At some point they tried selling some of those battery
manufacturing trade secrets to undercover government agents and now face up to ten years in prison. European automakers are seeing their warranty claims going up significantly and it's costing
them billions. Last year alone, seven European automakers spent twenty two point seven
billion euros on warranties, according to the publication Warrant Week. Volkswagen accounted for
almost half of that, paying out ten billion euros to fix customers cars.
Stillantis was next at five billion euros. Mercedes paid out three point three billion,
while BMW spent two point six billion euros. Renault and Volvo paid out
far less than that, but their costs were up significantly. Same goes for
Ferrari. It didn't pay that much, but it's warranty costs went up by
double digits. Now we need to figure out why these costs are going up
so fast, and if you've got any ideas, we'd love to hear them.
While automakers are paying more to fix customers cars, customers also have to pay more to maintain them. The average car costs about nine hundred dollars a
year to maintain over a ten year period. According to Consumer Affairs. That
number includes two oil changes a year, tire rotation, new wipers, cabin and engine filters and inspection, a front end alignment, and new brake pads.
That probably sounds like a lot to you and as a high number, but it's an average for all vehicles, and remember it's over a ten year period, and according to the website go Banking Rates, Porsche tops the list, with customers spending twenty two hundred dollars every year on average over those ten years. Obviously, the cost is less when the car is brand new,
what it goes up significantly as the miles accumulate. BMW's costs an average of
nineteen hundred dollars, land Rovers cost eighteen hundred bucks, and Jaguars there're seventeen hundred, and that's something to keep in mind if you're thinking of buying one of those vehicles. The infighting among the uaw's leadership is heating up. Earlier
this week, the US Justice Department opened an investigation into UAW President Sean Fain, alleging he's obstructing and interfering with an investigation into infighting amongst the top UAW leaders. One of the leaders Faine is quarreling with is Rich Boyer, the
VP of the UAW who represents Stalantis workers, but Faine stripped him from that position because he says Stalantis isn't delivering on the commitments it may in the new union contract, and Faine accuses Boyer of not holding Stialantis accountable and agreeing to quote watered down language to backtrack on what was agreed upon. But Boyer fired
back saying it's quote shameful Fane is accusing him of that, and that he was transparent with the UAW leadership about the negotiations with Stilantis, and he called Fane's decision to remove him from that position quote a direct attack on my character.
Back in April, the Smart brand, which is equally owned by Mercedes and Jili, showed off in all new mid size electric suv called the Smart Number five, but that was an off roady concept with big tires and a light bar on the roof. Now we're getting a look at the more mainstream
version. Thanks to Chinese regulators. Smart is now applying for the number five
sales license in China, which is why we're getting the new picks. But
we also get some fresh details like it will come in both rear and all wheel drive, with power outputs ranging from three hundred and thirty five horse power up to six hundred and thirty eight. In April, it said the Smart
Number five is based on an eight hundred volt architecture and would have a one hundred plus kilowatt hour battery pack that returns a WLTP estimated five hundred and fifty kilometers or three hundred and forty one miles of range. Car News China reports
rear drive versions will have an LFP pack. In all wheel drive versions,
we'll have NMC. We think these are pretty impressive facts, especially for the
Smart brand, so we wouldn't be surprised to see Mercedes and jeli's other brands build similar models off the same platform if they haven't already. That brings us
to the end of today's show and this week. Thanks for tuning in,
and I hope that you have a great weekend, and remember, if you like what we're saying here, please subscribe to our YouTube channel. Auto Line
Daily is brought to you by Bridgestone Solutions for your Journey, Intrepid Control Systems, over the Air, Engineering Boost Your Game, MEDC where Michigan businesses are powering the future of mobility, Tagent Automotive Technologies, the Formula for Better Mobility, and by z F. When the peace and quiet of your morning commute
is as comforting as your morning machiato, that's what really matters. Bridgetone toronzo
Evy tires, less noise for more quiet comfort. Michigan is leading the charge
in mobility and innovation, and I can't think of a better state to be in. 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. Wards is the industry leader for news, data and analysis.
That's why companies across the globe subscribe to our premium service. Maybe even your
own log in for subscriber access. Now check your company's intranet for details and
rely on wardsauto dot com to keep you informed.
Request an explanation for:
3 cars
3 cars featured
Request an Explanation
Heard something you'd like explained? We'll add it to this episode.
Sign in to request explanations for terms you heard.
Want to learn more?
Browse our glossary for plain-English explanations of automotive terms, jargon, and concepts.
See something that's not quite right? Our annotations are AI-generated and can sometimes miss the mark.
Click the flag icon on any annotation to suggest a correction.
