The episode covers major shifts in the automotive industry, including Stellantis' delayed mid-size pickup launch amid union disputes and Ford's cancellation of a three-row electric SUV with delays to its full-size electric truck. BYD is advancing plans for a Mexico plant despite US political pressure. Lucid is expanding its EV lineup with three new models, backed by Saudi investment. Chinese automakers like Japung and NEO are innovating in driver assistance and charging infrastructure. Notably, BMW outsold Tesla in EU EV sales for July, signaling changing market dynamics. Cadillac revealed pricing for its new Escalade and launched a luxury sneaker collaboration. The episode also previews a technical discussion on automotive Ethernet systems.
Topics:stellantis union disputeford ev delaysbyd mexico plantlucid ev lineupchinese ev technologybmw ev sales europetesla sales declinecadillac escalade pricingluxury sneaker collaborationautomotive ethernet technology
- Stellantis Says UAW Can't Strike Over Belvedere Delay - Tavares Spending More Time at Chrysler Group - Stellantis Hires Manufacturing VP Away From Rivian - Ford Axes 3-Row EV, EREV to Follow? - BYD Narrows Choices for Mexican Plant Site - Lucid Preparing 3 More Models - XPeng Develops Camera-Based Level 3 System - NIO Will Share Charging Revenue with New Partners - Chinese OEMs Spread Across the World - BMW EVs Outsell Tesla in the EU - Updated Escalade Starts at $89,590 - Cadillac Launching $5,000 Shoes
"...are inspired by Cadillac's electric vehicles, the Lyric, Optic, Celestic, and Escalatic, and they incorpo..."
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Speaker 1: This is Outline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry. As we reported earlier this week,
UAW president Sean Fain went after Stalantis at the Democratic National Convention, threatening to launch a strike against the company because it's going to delay the launch of a mid sized pickup truck at its planted Belvidere, Illinois. Now, Stilantis
is firing back, claiming the union can't call a strike just because it wants to delay a product launch. The
automakers cited specific language in an addendum to the contract called the Investment Letter. That letter gives Stalanta's veto power
over product investment based on changes in the market conditions and consumer demand, as well as plant performance. It was
going to launch that mid size pickup at its Belvidere plant in twenty twenty seven to compete with the likes of the Toyota Tacoma. Stillantis was also going to establish
a parts depot, stamping operations and battery assembly around the plant.
Those plans are on hold for now, and while Sean Fain can still make a lot of trouble for the company, it seems unlikely that he'll be able to legally call a national strike. Even so, the North American operations at
Stalantis have hit a rough patch. Sales have slumped, profits
drop sharply, and the Detroit Free Press reports that CEO Carlos Tavares is spending a lot more time at the Chrysler Group headquarters in Auburn Hills, Michigan. He's working on
a strategy to turn things around, and that plan should be finalized by the end of the week. The Free
reports that Tavares wants to show he's personally involved in that effort. Stillantis also just hired the head of manufacturing
from Rivian to run all of its plans in the US, Canada, and Mexico. Tim Fallon spent two years at Rivian, and
prior to that, he spent sixteen years at Nissan, ultimately becoming vice president of manufacturing in Kenton, Mississippi. And speaking
of changes in product plans, Ford just made it official it will acts a three row electric suv that it was going to make in Oakville, Canada. It will also
delay by two years the full size electric pickup that it's going to make at a new plant in Tennessee.
That truck is now scheduled for twenty twenty seven. As
a result, it's going to take a one point nine billion dollar charge in write down on the investments it already made for those products. We think Ford will likely
come out with an era version of that three row SUV and make it in Oakville. It's also going to
come out with an electric mid size pickup truck based on the platform that its skunk works team is developing in Irvine, California. And while Stilantis and Ford are delaying
manufacturing plans, BYD is closing in on a location for its first plant in Mexico. The automaker's director general of
Mexico told Reuters that it's narrowed its choice down to three states. BYD says the states have offered incentives, including
fiscal land management and preferential pricing. The US government is
reportedly pressuring Mexico's federal government to prevent those states from providing any incentives to Chinese companies. BYD didn't reveal which
states it's considering, but it plans to build a plant with an initial capacity of one hundred and fifty thousand vehicles a year and eventually ramp that up to four hundred or five hundred thousand vehicles.
Speaker 2: When we did our research for the talent that we need for this program, Michigan was really the top of the list. In order to be successful in this space,
you really have to have the right people, the right mindsets, the right environment.
Speaker 1: Lucid is working on a bigger lineup of evs than we realized. Last year, the CEO confirmed its developing new
mid size models in the fifty thousand dollars range that are quote a Tesla competitor of the Model three, Model Y, and it teased an SUVSH vehicle under a cover, but according to carbuzz, Lucid is also working on a third model.
Head of design Derek Jenkins called it a mid size program and talked about having three vehicles. It's probably another
SUVSH vehicle, but it is fun to imagine something like a truck or a van. But either way, these will
be really important models for Lucid. Its sales were up
seventy percent in the most recent quarter and the GRAVI the suv is entering production. But that big jump in
sales came on price cuts of more than sixteen five hundred dollars in some cases, because the market for bigger, expensive EVS is limited. The startup will also need a
lot more money to fund these new models. Right now,
it has enough assets to last until the fourth quarter of next year. But good thing for Lucid, its majority
owner has deep pockets and is willing to spend. The
Saudi PIF has already invested around nine billion dollars, and Lucid says it's committed to being a long term partner.
Chinese EV maker Japung is taking a page out of Testless book and is developing a vision based system for its hands free driving tech. The company's CEO says it's
P seven plus Sidan, which goes on sale later this year, will be the first vehicle equipped with its next gen x NGP driver Assistance package. Even though it no longer
requires light are, Japung says it delivers Level three plus capability with Level two hardware at a lower cost. The
P seven plus will be priced in the twenty thousand dollars range. Now that Neo has evy charging deals with
more than seven significant automakers, it's planning to expand its network across most of China by twenty twenty six. But
in order to do that, it's looking for partners to help fund new sites in exchange for some of the revenue.
Right now, NEO has seven thousand charging and swapping stations, but it wants to have traditional charging stations in all provincial level regions at China by the end of June of next year, and swapping stations in fourteen of those same regions. This will require partners and NEO envisioned several
ways they can help, from providing the site electricity and covering construction costs to investing in the equipment and charging location, and then NEO will share the revenue generated by the station depending on their investment. Alex Partner says Chinese companies
will control a third of the global automotive market by the end of the decade, and right on CUE they're spreading out across the world. GAC announced that it's launching
in Vietnam, testing the market with two models, a van and an SUV BYD continues its expansion in South America.
It just opened its ninth store in Chile, which also happens to coincide with the amount of models it has on sale in the country. And lastly, Avatar, which is
a joint venture between Chang'an Huawei and CTL is going to sell vehicles in Qatar. And here's something that's a
bit of a shocker to US. BMW just outsold Tesla
in electric cars last month in the European market, thanks to strong demand for the X four and IX one.
Bloomberg reports that BMW sold fourteen thousand, eight hundred and sixty nine evs in July, just squeaking past Tesla at fourteen thousand, five hundred and sixty one vehicles. That translates
to a nearly thirty percent increase for BMW's EV sales while Tesla's dropped sixteen percent. Overall EV sales in the
EU were down six percent, so Tesla's sales fell twice as fast as the overall market. For the full year.
Tesla is still well ahead of BMW and the Model Y is still the top selling model, but Tesla's year to date sales are down twelve percent while BMW's are up forty nine percent, so it will be interesting to see how the rest of the year plays out. Cadillac
revealed pricing for the new Escalade. It starts at eighty
nine thousand, five hundred and ninety dollars for two wheel drive models and four wheel drive versions start at ninety two thousand, five hundred and ninety bucks. Its other trims
range from roughly ninety nine thousand dollars to roughly one hundred and nineteen thousand dollars with two wheel drive, and about one hundred and two thousand dollars to one hundred and twenty two thousand dollars with four wheel drive, and the top of the line V Series with all wheel drive starts at roughly one hundred and sixty two grand.
All of those prices include destination charges. In speaking of Cadillac,
it partnered with a shoe company called Surgeon to create custom sneakers. The design of the shoes are inspired by
Cadillac's electric vehicles, the Lyric, Optic, Celestic, and Escalatic, and they incorporate features of the vehicles like interior leathers, a pulsary pattern, stitching techniques, pink colors, and other design cues.
Cadillac will only sell five pairs of each sneaker, or twenty in total, and they'll be available to purchase online beginning September eighth, But they aren't cheap, costing five thousand dollars each. But Cadillac is donating all of the proceeds
to charity. Ethernet communication technology that controls all the different
components in today's cars can be a very complicated subject.
That's why we've got Dave Robbins and Cult Korea from Intrepid Control Systems coming on Autoline after hours later today.
Not only are they experts in this field, they've also got great insights into what legacy automakers need to do to become more competitive in Tropic Controls. As you probably know,
is one of our sponsors, but you may not know just how deep their knowledge is. So join us when
the show goes live at three pm Eastern Time, or you can catch it later on our website or YouTube channel.
But that's a wrap for today's show. I help to
see you later.
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Keeping your heart racing in and out of the gym, that's.
Speaker 4: What really matters. Bridge don't pretend to sport as tires
with a fifty thousand mile limited warranty
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