Tesla is reportedly gearing up to produce a $25,000 'Baby Y' model in Austin by mid-2025, aiming to revive sales amid declining growth and competition. Dodge launched its first electric Charger Daytona with special perks for early buyers, while the UAW is challenging Stellantis over potential Durango production moves and contract disputes. BYD dominates China's market, and Lotus reveals a lightweight, high-performance EV concept with advanced autonomous features. Meanwhile, a study finds that current driver assistance tech may increase distraction. Audi's new RS e-tron GT Performance and Chevy's BrightDrop commercial vans also debut with competitive specs and pricing.
Topics:tesla baby y productiondodge electric charger daytonauaw labor disputesbyd market dominancelotus lightweight ev conceptdriver assistance distraction studyaudi rs e-tron gt performancechevy brightdrop commercial vansautomotive steel industryev market competition
- $25,000 Tesla Finally on the Way? - Silicon Valley Turns Against Musk and Tesla - Scout SUV Still 3 Years Away - Electric Charger Daytona Officially On Sale - Dodge Durango Could Move to Mexico - OEMs Want Nippon Steal, Not Cleveland Cliffs - BYD Dominating Chinese Market - Theory 1 is Lotus' Lightweight EV - ADAS Leads to Driver Distraction - 1st All-Electric RS Performance Model from Audi - Chevy BrightDrop Undercuts Rivian Price
"...eleven hundred horse power. Pricing for the Chevy Bright Drop commercial vans were revealed. The front wheel dr..."
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Speaker 1: This is Autoline Daily.
Speaker 2: The show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry, is that twenty five thousand dollars Tesla finally on the way.
Auto Forecast Solutions reports that Tesla will start building a model it refers to as Baby Why at the gigafactory in Austin, Texas and June of next year. That model
will run until June of twenty thirty, at which time a second generation is scheduled to replace it, and Tesla could definitely use some help on the sales front. The
days of fifty percent year over year growth have gone, and this is especially true in Silicon Valley, which is where Tesla found its earliest supporters. But so far this year,
registrations in the area are down twenty two percent. Automotive
News reports that's because people in the valley are turned off by Elon Musk's vocal and controversial support of conservative politics.
On top of that, Tesla's styling is aging and it's facing more competition from other automakers. Electric reports that Tesla
is offering zero down payments on the three and y and financing as low as two point four nine percent as it tries to boost sales in its regular end of quarter sales push and now let's go back to that Auto Fourcast Solutions report for a moment. It also
says that Scout will begin building its suv at its plant in South Carolina in September of twenty twenty seven, and its pickup will not go into production until March of twenty twenty eight. Scout is expected to show what
those vehicles will look like sometime next month, but there could be a danger in showing a new vehicle three to four years.
Speaker 1: Before anyone can buy it.
Speaker 2: Dodge has officially kicked off orders for the Charger Daytona, its very first fully electric car. The model has a
starting price of about sixty five hundred dollars including destination charges, and Dodge included a low cater tooled just in case you need help finding one. It also launched a first
Call package, which is a play on its Last Call promotions for the IC only Charger and Challenger. It's for
anyone that gets their name on a sold order by the end of October and includes a two day racing school and exclusive point of contact to answer questions or to help with customer needs, and a welcome kit. That
comes with an official letter of authenticity, Dodge branded leather driving gloves and more. Speaking of Dodge, several local chapters
of the UAW have filed grievances against Stlantis over alleged attempts to move production of the Durango out of the US.
The SUV is currently made at the company's Jefferson North assembly plant in Detroit. But it's not just local chapters
going after Stillantis. The UAW filed charges of unfair labor
practices with the National Labor Relations Board because it says Stilantis has refused US to provide information about its future product plans, and this likely stems from the automaker delaying a commitment it made in its latest contract to build mid sized pickup trucks at its assembly plan to Belvidere, Illinois.
The UAW says this violates their labor contract.
Speaker 1: Whilst Lanta says it doesn't. So that's why the UAW
filed with the NLRB.
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Speaker 2: The auto industry is lobbing the Biden administration to approve a deal that would allow Japan's Nipon Steel to acquire US Steal instead of Cleveland Cliffs. Automakers and suppliers don't
want Cleveland Cliffs to acquire US Steel because they say it will create a monopoly for the type of steel needed for automotive production and cause prices to soar. And
while US Steel shareholders approve the sale to Nipon Steel back in April, the deal still needs approval from the White House, but the steel Workers' union opposes it and they're pressuring President Biden not to approve the deal, and with it being an election year, the White House hasn't okayed the deal to appeal to steel workers, and a final decision isn't expected until after the election in November.
It's hard to overstate just how dominant BYD is becoming in the Chinese market. Get this, Six of the top
selling domestic models in China last month were all from BYD, So we're nine of the top twelve and twelve of the top twenty.
Speaker 1: No one else was even close.
Speaker 2: And this is just part of the reason why we keep saying that BYD could become the largest car company in the world sometime in the next decade. Lightweight and
ev don't really go together, but if there was one brand that would want to bring those two together, it would probably be Lotus, known for its light, nimble, and minimalistic cars.
Speaker 1: Lotus is applying that same philosophy to the world of evs.
Speaker 2: Meet the Theory One, a concept that it says, quote, embodies the future of intelligent performance vehicles. It features a
seventy kilowae hour battery pack and dual electric motors that put out nearly one thousand horse power, but it weighs under sixteen hundred kilograms or a little over thirty five hundred pounds. The body is web shaped and it has
unique opening doors that slide back and kick up, which Lotus says is better for tight parking spots. The driver
sits in the middle with two passenger seats on either side like the McLaren F one, and those seats play a role in the vehicle's lightweighting.
Speaker 1: They're molded right.
Speaker 2: Into the composite monococ and also feature three D printed tech in the headrests. One of the few things that
is not minimalist on the theory one is its driver assistance system. Somewhat surprisingly, it has Level four autonomous capability
from Nvidia's Drive Compute platform, four deployable lightar five cameras, and a suite of radar sensors. As you know, these
driver assistance features are meant to help improve safety, but a new study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found that drivers get more distracted when using partially automated tech.
Speaker 1: The IIHS tested two.
Speaker 2: Systems with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, volvos Pilot Assist and Testless Autopilot. The researchers found that drivers were more
likely to check their phone or eat when using Volvo system, and with autopilot, drivers learn the timing interval of attention warnings to prevent them from escalating to more serious interventions.
The researchers say they then use this skill to engage in distracted driving, and because of these issues, the IIHS says the systems need more safeguards to prevent misuse. The
first all electric rs Performance model from Audi is now on sale. The rs E tron GT Performance is kind
of like Audi's version of the Porsche Taikon Turbos. The
Audi makes a little less power at six hundred and eighty kilowatts or about nine hundred and twenty horse power, but it gets a similar air suspension set up.
Speaker 1: As the Porsche.
Speaker 2: There's a few unique styling cues both inside and out, and prices start at one hundred and sixty thousand, five hundred euros. But even though the rs E tron GT
Performance is close to the Taikon Turbos, Porsche still has another evy rung above Audi, with the Taikon TURBOGT, which makes nearly eleven hundred horse power. Pricing for the Chevy
Bright Drop commercial vans were revealed. The front wheel drive,
short wheelbase version, with one hundred and fifty nine miles of range, starts at about seventy eight thousand, six hundred dollars including destination charges. That's a about five grand cheaper
than Rivian's commercial van, which has a range of one hundred and sixty one miles. It's also the first time
the bright Drop vans have been offered with front wheel drive.
Previously only all wheel drive was available, but the bright Drop four hundred is also available with all wheel drive and a larger battery pack, the booset's range to two hundred and seventy two miles. This version starts just under
ninety grand. The longer wheelbase Bright Drop six hundred with
a single motor and one hundred and sixty four miles of range starts at over eighty thousand dollars, and the dual motor version with the larger battery is about ninety one thousand bucks. And for comparison, Rivian's larger commercial van
starts at eighty seven thousand dollars and has one hundred.
Speaker 1: And fifty three miles of range.
Speaker 2: And we've got a great auto line after hours coming up Thursday, when none other than Bob Lutz will be back on the show. Now ninety two years old, he's
still plugged into what's going on and has great insights into where this industry is headed. Plus he's not at
all afraid to say exactly what he thinks, So make sure you don't miss this one.
Speaker 1: But that's a wrap for today's show. Thanks for tuning in.
Speaker 4: Autoline Daily is brought to you by Bridge Stone Solutions for your journey Intrepid Control Systems over the year, Engineering, Boost Your Game, MEDC where Michigan businesses are powering the future of mobility, and by Tagent Automotive Technologies the formula for better mobility 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?
Speaker 4: We don't.
Speaker 5: 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 2: Making a life full of memories, one road trip at a time, That's what really matters.
Speaker 3: Richdone Weather Peak tires.
Speaker 6: With a seventy thousand mile women at warranty. So 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 environments.
Speaker 4: There's nothing wrong with heavy metal, Hey light enough, but with world class composit material taching automotive technologies makes vehicles lighter, safer, and more eco friendly.
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