AD #3890 - Europe Faces Overcapacity Issues; Ford in Talks to Return to India; VW Paves Way for Job Cuts in Germany

Speaker 1: This is Outline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry. While Ford could be headed back

to India, it stopped selling vehicles there in twenty twenty one and ended production in twenty twenty two. It sold

one of its two locations to Tata, but the chief minister of the Indian state where the other plant is located posted on social media that they had a discussion with a team at Ford about renewing their partnership. While

India has the potential to be a massive growth market for automakers and is a reason why so many are investing there, it doesn't sound like Ford would make vehicles for India. They would likely be exported. I also wonder

if Ford sees its India plant as an asset for Chinese automakers to produce models so they could potentially avoid new import tariffs. And to be fair, Ford never completely

left India. It has suppliers there and builds engines for

the Ranger. In other Ford news, its evy owners can

get paid to unplug. It teamed up in California to

help reduce demand on the electrical grid during peak hours by allowing Ford to automatically pause their charging. Owners will

earn a dollar for every kil awoud hour of energy reduced during those peak times. Lucid held a technology and

manufacturing day yesterday where it revealed details about upcoming models.

It says it will start making production versions of the Gravity Suv later this year, and that that model will get Tesla's next charging connector next year. The company has

started production on a new manufacturing site in Saudi Arabia, which is where its majority owner is located. It says

the plant will start making evs in twenty twenty six and eventually have the capacity to make one hundred and fifty thousand vehicles a year, but that's way more than it currently needs. Lucid expects to make about nine thousand

and vehicles this year, but twenty twenty six is when it also plans to launch its all new mid size model.

That vehicle will feature Lucid's next gen drive unit, called Atlas CEO. Peter Rollinson says it will be smaller, lighter,

more cost effective, and be much more efficient than its competition.

It will make less power as well. Lucid says around

three hundred and thirty five horse power compared to the six hundred and seventy horse power its current drive unit makes, but it could also make its way into the gravity and the air to give Lucid even lower priced options.

The new midsize will also help with the starting price under fifty thousand dollars. Honda is sharing an update about

its progress on its EV hub in Ohio. The automaker

is retooling its Marysville and East Liberty assembly plants and its Anna engine plant to prepare for its upcoming eves.

The changes will allow it to produce gas, hybrid and electric vehicles on the same lines. A model based on

the Accura Performance EV concept, which debuted at the Monterey Car Week this year, will be the first EV to go into production at the Marysville plant in late twenty twenty five. Honda says it has also started installing the

first of six six thousand ton die cast machines. The

megacastings make up the cases for the Intelligent Power unit, which houses the EV battery and serves as part of the structure of the vehicle. Honda is investing seven hundred

million dollars to retool the plants, and it's also building a three and a half billion dollar battery plant in Ohio with LG Energy Solution and Stillantes is also retooling plants in the US to produce electrified and IC models on the same line, and announce it's investing more than four hundred million dollars at three plants in Michigan to do so. The automaker confirmed its Sterling Heights plant will

be the first to build a fully electric vehicle in the US, the RAM fifteen hundred RAV, which launches at the end of this year. That plant will also produce

the range extended and IC version of the RAM fifteen hundred as well. Its Warren truck plant will make an

electrified Jeep Wagoneer that launches next year, along with IC versions of the vehicle and the Grand Wagoneer. And lastly,

the Dundee engine plant will be retooled to make components for batteries while still building IC engines.

Speaker 2: There's nothing wrong with heavy metal, hey light enough, but with world class composit material taging automotive technologies makes vehicles lighter, safer, and more eco friendly.

Speaker 1: Last week, Volkswagens sent shockwaves through the auto industry warning it could shut down plants in Germany due to slumping sales, which would be the first time in its history, and it just scrapped a jobs guarantee that was supposed to protect workers until twenty twenty nine at six plants in Germany, which paves the way for job cuts that could start in the middle of next year. VW says it may

need to close as many as two plants in Germany because its sales are down about half a million units since the COVID pandemic, but we think it could be more plants. VW has the capacity to make about fourteen

million vehicles, but last year it made roughly nine million.

Not surprisingly, labor unions and VW works councils have vowed to put up a fierce resistance to any plant closures, so this could turn into an ugly battle. But it's

not just VW that's struggling in Europe. Car sales in

the region are down about three million units from pre COVID levels, and that means automakers have had to significantly cut production. According to just Auto Data, nearly a third

of plants from Europe's five largest automakers VW, Stilantis, BMW, Mercedes and Renault last year produced less than half of the vehicles that they have the capacity to make. That

means those plants are likely losing money, so jobs are going to be at risk. But the auto industry is

very important to Europe's economy, accounting for over seven percent of the EU's gross domestic product in employing thirteen million people.

So this is why some European countries are trying to lure Chinese companies to open plants and help preserve those jobs.

Pedestrian fatalities have gone up sharply over the last decade in the US. Between twenty thirteen and twenty twenty two,

pedestrian deaths increase fifty seven percent, from almost forty eight hundred to over seven five hundred. So to help reduce that,

the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, or NITZE, proposed new rules to require all passenger vehicles ten thousand pounds or less to be designed to mitigate pedestrian deaths and injuries.

The standard would establish test procedures and requirements that simulate and reduce head injuries for children all the way up to adults. NITZA estimates that the standard will save sixty

seven lives a year and will cost the auto industry roughly fifty to sixty million dollars. Renault is helping to

determine the condition of roads in France by literally listening to the sounds that they make. It says the difference

in road noise between a good piece of pavement and a bad one can vary by a factor of one to ten. So Renaul is using the sensors on a

car and especially developed device called Apache to map the acoustic condition of roads. Thirty megons will measure noise levels

in a region of France over a two year period, which local authorities can use to determine the condition of the roads. But no word if it planned to expand

tests to other areas. And here's something for fans of

classic Satroan design. First, the CX, which was designed to

replace the iconic DS, is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary, so congrats.

And second, the DS brand, which is also under the Stalantus umbrella, showed a concept that's inspired by the Satroan SM of the early nineteen seventies. It has similar proportions

as the original and gets that funky rear end, but it uses a two tone paint job to break up the design. I especially like the cover over the rear wheels.

It's a styling element you rarely see anymore. But that

brings us to the end of today's show. I hope

you have a good rest of your day.

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Speaker 3: Electric Vehicle comedy.

Speaker 5: Forget the political noise. EVS mean good American jobs. Tens

of thousands of manufacturing jobs right here right now in Michigan and more on the way with billions in new investments.

Want those jobs in China instead, We don't. We're the

American EV Jobs Alliance. We say electric vehicles are a

big part of the future, and we want those jobs in America. So remember when politicians bash EV America loses

paid for by the American EV Jobs Alliance.

Speaker 6: Knowing that a little rain won't slow down your day, that's what really matters. In Toronto, Qui attract tires, confident

control in wet conditions.

Speaker 2: So when we did our research for the talent that we need for this program, Michigan was really the top of the list.

Speaker 4: In order to be successful in this space, you really have to have the right people, the right mindsets, the right environment.

AD #3890 - Europe Faces Overcapacity Issues; Ford in Talks to Return to India; VW Paves Way for Job Cuts in Germany

Ford Ranger

Lucid Gravity

Lucid Air

Jeep Grand Wagoneer

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