The episode covers significant shifts in the automotive industry, including the EU's reduction of tariffs on Chinese-made EVs, with notable cuts for Tesla and other brands amid ongoing subsidy investigations. GM announces major software workforce layoffs to focus on electrification and autonomy. The UAW threatens a strike against Stellantis over delayed plant reopening plans. Hyundai Group rises as the second-largest EV maker in the US, challenging Tesla's dominance. Huawei's growing influence in automotive tech is highlighted through a major investment. GM launches its Durant brand in China with high-priced models, while Mercedes cuts S-Class production due to declining sales.
Topics:eu ev tariffsgm layoffsuaw strike threathyundai ev market sharehuawei automotive techgm durant brand chinamercedes s class salesrobotaxi technologyautomotive softwareelectric vehicle incentives
- EU Lowers New China-Made EV Tariff - GM Laying Off Software Workers - UAW Threatens to Strike at Stellantis - Waymo Testing Brand-New Robotaxi - Hyundai Group #2 in U.S. EV Market - Huawei Gets Billion Dollar Auto Investment - Chevy Tahoe Starts at $91K in China - Mercedes Cuts S-Class Production Due to Slow Sales
"... Shanghai and launched its first model, the Chevy Tahoe. While a base Tahoe starts at about fifty six tho..."
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Speaker 1: This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry. The European Commission is tweaking its
new tariffs on imported Chinese made evs. It lowered the
maximum tariff to thirty six point three percent, a nearly two percent drop, and also lowered the rate for several individual companies. Chinese brands like Bydgle and Saic saw minimal
changes of less than one to two percent, while non Chinese brands got much bigger breaks. Kupra, which is part
of VW soughts tariff on the taviascan drop over sixteen percent to twenty one point three percent, and Teslas dropped to just nine percent, which is down from almost twenty one percent. The reason Tesla saw such a big change
is because the European Commission ruled that it received less subsidies from the Chinese government compared to other evs made in China, but there is hope for the other companies to see rates reduced even more. The EU is still
investigating how much those subsidies really benefit automakers, and the final tariff won't be determined until early November, at which time they'll likely lock in for five years. What's more,
the Commission said that some Chinese companies that have joint ventures with EU automakers may get lower duties on their EV imports. However, the EU is still worried about the
impact Chinese made evs could have on the European auto industry, so they're not likely to go away. And remember, the
Chinese made EV tariffs are on top of the already existing ten percent tariff on all cars imported to the EU.
General Motors is laying off more than one thousand software workers globally. Most of the cuts will be in the
US at its tech center in Warren, Michigan. It's letting
go of six hundred employees there. In a memo to
workers viewed by Automotive News, GM said it's making the cuts to enable it to quote move faster, pivot when needed, and prioritize investing in what will have the greatest impact.
Over the last several years, GM has been expanding its software team to help with its electrification and autonomous efforts because it believes those services can generate twenty five billion dollars a year in revenue by twenty thirty. The UAW
is threatening to go on strike against Delantis, accusing the automaker of backtracking on agreements made in their new labor contract.
Last February, Stilantis idled its plant in Belvedere, Illinois, but during last year's negotiations, it agreed to reopen the plant in twenty twenty seven and build a new mid size pickup there. It also agreed to open a Mopar distribution
hub at the site this year and open a stamping operation at the plant in twenty two twenty five. But
the UAW claims that Stalantis told the union the projects won't happen on the agreed upon timeline, so in order to get the automaker to stick with the original deal.
The union says seven local chapters are prepared to file grievances against Delantis and that it's also prepared to strike if necessary. The automaker released a statement confirming that it
is delaying plans for the Belvedere plant, but says it still committed to reopening it, and it rejected the union's claim that it violated their labor agreement and says it can't legally go on strike. Weimo finally showed off its
brand new six generation Robotaxi, which is the first model to come from its partnership with Gili. The model is
based on a Zeker van but also features thirteen cameras, four ledar in six radar, which the company says provides a view all around the vehicle up to five one hundred meters away. It's able to work at day or
night and in a range of weather conditions. Weimos says
the new system is cheaper than the previous version while providing more resolution, range, compute power, and capabilities. The company
has already been testing the new vehicle and says it has thousands of miles in real world driving and millions more in simulation, but no word on its official launch yet.
Speaker 2: 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 divine vehicles.
Speaker 1: The Hondai Group is now the second best EV maker in the US, reaching ten percent market share through the first seven months of the year. Tesla is still number one,
but at share of the US market fell below fifty percent for the first time in the second quarter. The
Hondai Group is ahead of Ford at seven point four percent market share and GM at six point three percent.
Sales of Hyundai's evs at all three brands are up so far this year, and several new models are on their way. Genesis especially is expanding quickly. It's gone from
a single dealership in the US two years ago to fifty six standalone stores, even adding twenty one dedicated retailers this year. The group is investing billions to make evs
in the US, including a brand new plant in Georgia, which means more models will soon qualify for the full seventy five hundred dollars EV tax credit. While other giant
tech companies have struggled to bust into the automotive industry, China's Huawei seems to be having some success. It already
has several Chinese partners and its automotive division, ying Wang, just got a big investment from Avatar, which is a joint venture between Changan CATL and Huawei. Avatar is buying
a ten percent stake in ying Wang for one point six billion dollars, which brought ying Wang's total valuation to sixteen billion. The deal is said to help strengthen their
partnership and will make sure Avatar always has Huawei's latest technology.
GM is launching the Durant Guild in China, which will import many of its iconic nameplates that are mostly built in North America. While these vehicles won't add much to
GM's overall sales numbers in China, which have been cut in half over the last seven years, they will help bring in more revenue. It's going to offer models like Corvette,
Escalate and Celestic, and it just opened its first store in Shanghai and launched its first model, the Chevy Tahoe.
While a base Tahoe starts at about fifty six thousand dollars.
In the US, the Durant Guild will only offer two versions, the Classic, which starts at about ninety one thousand dollars and the high Country, which starts at roughly one hundred and one thousand dollars. Is The Mercedes S Class no
longer seen as one of the pinnacles of luxury. According
to data from mark Lines, in the first half of the year, S Class sales were down thirteen percent in China, nineteen percent in the US and twenty seven percent in Europe.
So in response, Mercedes is reducing production to one shift for the first time ever. The S Class is built
at Mercedes Factory fifty six in Germany and has been made on at least two shifts since the factory opened four years ago. The plant also builds the electric EQS
as well as my boch In AMG models. Mercedes will
refresh the S Class next year, so demand could pick back up with the new model. And that brings us
to the end of today's show. Thanks for making autoline
a part of your day.
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