Kia plans to build pickups at its new Savannah, Georgia plant by 2028, possibly including electric or hybrid versions, while Ford refreshes the Maverick with improved towing and all-wheel-drive hybrid options. Toyota faces new certification violations affecting production. Recaro files for bankruptcy, impacting its automotive seat business. Ford expands its BlueCruise hands-free driving tech across Europe. Audi unveils the A6 e-tron EV with impressive range and performance. Cadillac introduces a Precision package for the CT5-V Blackwing, enhancing its track capabilities. Stellantis offers buyouts amid cost-cutting, with executives moving to Goodyear. The episode also previews an upcoming Cadillac Escalade deep dive.
- Kia To Build Pickup in U.S. - Ford Maverick Gets Major Overhaul - Uber and BYD Cut 100,000 EV Deal - Toyota Gets Its Hand Slapped…Again - Recaro Files for Bankruptcy - Ford BlueCruise Now Available Across EU - Audi’s All New A6 EV - Cadillac Upgrades CT5-V Blackwing - Stellantis Enticing More U.S. Employees to Leave - Two Stellantis Execs Land at Goodyear
"...nt that he wants. The twenty twenty five Cadillac Escalade went through a major refresh and to get into all ..."
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Speaker 1: This is Autolne Daily, the show dedicated to enthusias of the global automotive industry. Kia will start making a pickup
truck at the Hondai Group's brand new assembly plant in Savannah, Georgia, in December of twenty twenty eight. According to Autofourcast Solutions,
We wonder if there will be an electric version, since Kia already announced it's developing a battery powered pickup, and with a job one date that's over three years away, Kia would have plenty of time to fully develop it, as well as allow the EV market to grow. Auto
Forecast also reports that production of the Hondai Santa Cruz pickup will move from Alabama to Savannah in May of twenty twenty nine, and putting both trucks in one facility would greatly simplify manufacturing and logistics. The plant in Savannah,
which Hondai calls its Metaplant, was originally only going to build evs. With a possible Trump administration promising to cut
support for Evshundai announced the plant will also build hybrids, and so it's entirely possible these will be hybrid trucks, but either way, it's pretty significant that Kia is getting into the pickup segment in the American market, and speaking of small pickups, the Ford Maverick just got a big overhaul.
Despite being the smallest pickup you can buy from a major automaker in the US, Ford claims that almost half of all Maverick owners still tow with their trucks. That's
one of the reasons that made a number of towing improvements to the refresh twenty twenty five version. Ford says
the biggest request from customers was to make all wheel drive available on hybrid models, which doubles its towing capacity to four thousand pounds, the same as non hybrid models with all wheel drive. It also updated the Maverick with
trailer hitch and backup Assist, which takes advantage of a new three hundred and sixty degree camera that displays on a bigger and standard thirteen point two inch center screen.
You've probably already noticed the front end styling changes as well, which includes more body color in the facia and headlights that kind of swoop down off the sides of the grill.
Each grade will also get its own unique grill design and the lariat and tremor trim lines get Ford's new flatter and chrome less logo. I believe the new Maverick
is the first Ford vehicle outside of the new F one fifty to wear the badge. Pricing for an XLT
hybrid will start at just under twenty eight thousand dollars including destination charges, and sales will kick off late in the year. Uber is doing a deal with BYD to
make one hundred thousand low cost electric cars available to its drivers in Europe in South America. The deal does
not include the US market, undoubtedly because of the high import tariffs and Chinese evs are a touchy political topic right now, but Uber's goal is to have one hundred percent of its rides in evs in North America and Europe by twenty thirty.
Speaker 2: Toyota is going from bad to worse.
Speaker 1: Japan's Ministry of Transport says it found eight new violations in which Toyota did not properly certify its vehicles. The
company is stopping shipments of some models and doesn't know when they'll resume. Other models that were certified outside of
Japan are still in production, but Toyota blames on site and managerial oversights for the violations. The company was charged
with other violations in early June, which forced it to suspend production of three models, and it will only restart building them in September if they're found to be in compliance.
Speaker 2: Last year, Hino and.
Speaker 1: Iihatsu, which are Toyota subsidiaries, were also involved in certification scandals.
Speaker 2: In a shocking move to most of.
Speaker 1: US, seat maker Racaro filed for bankruptcy in Germany. The
company blames its financial troubles on price increases for materials and the loss.
Speaker 2: Of a major contract.
Speaker 1: The bankruptcy process only involves the company's automotive business, and not seats that it makes for airplanes and gaming consoles.
It supplies seats to a number of different automakers, but usually only as optional equipment. The only company using its
seats in series production is Ineos Automotive, a British company that makes expensive off road vehicles. Wherecaro was founded back
in nineteen oh six, and in nineteen sixty five it.
Speaker 2: Developed its very first car seat.
Speaker 1: Raerecio Automotive is currently owned by American investment firm Raven Acquisition, which bought the seat maker from Adiant in twenty twenty, but with the bankruptcy Wherecaro's automotive future is now up in the air.
Speaker 3: Michigan is leading the charge in mobility and innovation, and I can't think of a better state.
Speaker 1: To be in. Ford is expanding Blue Crews in Europe
following approval by the European Commission. The hands free driving
technology is now offered in fifteen countries in the EU.
It already had it in Great Britain, Spain and Germany, but added Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Sweden. Blue Cruise can now
operate on eighty two thousand, seven hundred and forty four miles or more than one hundred and thirty three thousand kilometers of highway in the region for charges two one hundred dollars for three years upfront in the US or seventy five bucks a month, so this could be a nice cash bump for the company. Audi revealed in all
new ev the A six e Tron. The styling stays
very true to the concept version that debuted way back in twenty twenty one. Part of the reason it's taken
this long for Audi to launch. The production car is
because of issues at VW software division Cariad that caused delays to its new EV platform PPE, which is used by both Porscha and Audi. The first vehicles were supposed
to come out in twenty twenty two, but the new Macon didn't get revealed until the beginning of this year.
Then came the Q six e Tron. Now there's the
A six e Tron, and soon Portia will debut the new Kyen as well. The A six e Tron will
be offered as both the sedan and wagon, and will be available in rear and all wheel drive. However, the
US is only getting the sedan for now. All versions
feature in eight hundred volt battery pack with nearly ninety five kilowatt hours of usable space that provides up to seven hundred and fifty six kilometers or about four hundred and seventy miles of range in the rear drive Sedan and seven hundred and twenty kilometers or about four hundred and fifty miles of range in the rear drive wagon.
And that's based on the WLTP cycle a two hundred and seventy kilowat or three hundred and sixty two horse power motor.
Speaker 2: Drives rear drive models.
Speaker 1: There's a non performance all wheel drive model that will be offered in the US before Europe. It makes three
hundred and fifteen kilowatts or four hundred and twenty two horse power, but Audi says more rear drive and all wheel drive models are coming. There's also an S six
version that produces three hundred and seventy kilowatts or almost five hundred horse power and does zero to one hundred kilometers an hour in three point nine seconds, but it also sacrifices a little more than ten percent of its range compared to the rear drive. The interior of the
A six Etron is pretty much identical to the new Q six Etron, and they come with most of the same technology in driver assistance features as well. Audi is
first launching mid to high range versions of the A six Etron. There's no pricing for the US yet, but
the first rear drive sedans will start at seventy five thousand, six hundred euros.
Speaker 2: In Europe, it's sixteen hundred and fifty.
Speaker 1: Euros more for a rear drive wagon, while all wheel drive models start at ninety nine thousand, five hundred euros for the sedan and just over one hundred and one thousand euros for the wagon.
Speaker 2: Orders open in Europe in September.
Speaker 1: Every enthusiast I know that's driven a Cadillac Black Wing raves about their capabilities, and now it's kicking it up a notch. Cadillac is launching a new Precision package for
the CT five V black Wing that includes increased spring rates along larger front stabilizer bar.
Speaker 2: It tweaked the suspension.
Speaker 1: Bushings, recalibrated the dampers, steering chassis controls, limited slip diff and added carbon ceramic brakes. And remember this builds on
the car which already came with a number of performance parts and a six point two leader supercharged V eight that cranks out nearly six hundred and seventy horse power.
No word on pricing, but the regular CT five V black Wing starts at over ninety three thousand dollars and it easily tops out at over one hundred grand with options Stillantis employs about eleven thousand white collar workers in the US, and it's offering voluntary buyout packages to sixty four hundred of them. Automotive News reports that it just
initiated another round of packages that now includes vice presidents.
If not enough employees accept the buyouts, Stilantis warns it will be forced to lay people off. CEO Carlos Tavares
is working on drastically cutting costs at Solantis and seems to be particularly focused on what we used to know as the Chrysler Group. Auduline has heard from employees there
who say morale is low and that it's not a happy place to work right now. Bloomberg reports that Stillantis
will get rid of twelve hundred engineers in Europe, the US, and China by the end of the year, but at least two Stalantis execs from the Chrysler Group have landed new jobs at Goodyear. Mamatha cham Arthy will be a
senior vice president and chief Digital Officer and Will Roland will become a senior vice president and CMO. The CEO
of Goodyear Mark Stewart left Stalantis late last year to join the tire company, and he's obviously taking advantage of Stalantis's head count reduction to bring in the talent that he wants. The twenty twenty five Cadillac Escalade went through
a major refresh and to get into all the details.
We're going to have the chief engineer, Martin Hayes on Autoline after hours tomorrow. We invite you to pull up
a chair and listen in when the show goes live on the Autoline website or on our YouTube channel at three pm Eastern Time.
Speaker 2: That's a wrap for today. Thanks for tuning in.
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