The episode covers key automotive industry developments including the end of a major US port strike that threatened vehicle imports, the EU's decision to impose tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles to strengthen negotiation leverage, and challenges faced by European EV startup Northfolk amid slowing sales. It also discusses potential Stellantis-Renault merger rumors, Hyundai and Weimo's partnership on robotaxis, Tesla's battery manufacturing issues, and Renault's innovative low-emission Emblem concept. Additionally, Ford previews its new Expedition SUV with off-road Tremor trim, highlighting ongoing shifts in EV production, trade, and vehicle technology.
Topics:us port strike resolutioneu tariffs on chinese evsnorthfolk ev startup challengesstellantis renault merger rumorshyundai weimo robotaxi partnershiptesla battery manufacturing issuesrenault emblem conceptford expedition new modelev market trends europeautomotive trade and regulations
- U.S. Port Strike Over - EU Votes to Impose Tariffs on Chinese-Made EVs - EV Battery Maker Northvolt Fighting to Survive - Czech Republic Wants to Soften EU CO2 Targets - Stellantis and Renault Deny Merger Rumors - Hyundai and Waymo Partner on Robotaxis - Tesla Running Into 4680 Battery Production Issues - Renault Unveils Hydrogen-Electric Concept - New Ford Expedition Revealed
"...d of the month. Lincoln recently revealed the new Navigator, so is only a matter of time before Ford showed o..."
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Speaker 1: This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry. Good news for automakers. The port
strike in the US is over for now. The dock
Workers Union announced they've reached a tentative deal with port operators to end the strike immediately. Reuter's reports that workers
will get a sixty two percent pay raise. But the
dispute isn't entirely over because they've only agreed to extend their current contract until January fifteenth of twenty twenty five, so they'll need to settle all other outstanding issues by then.
But if the strike had continued longer, it would have had a huge impact on the auto industry. The thirty
six ports affected by the strike handled nearly thirty eight billion dollars worth of vehicles a year, and they account for seventy percent of all US car imports. Spain said,
don't do it, Germany said drop it. But in the end,
the EU voted to impose tariffs on Chinese evs, which would start next month and last for the next five years.
And yet the EU says it will continue to negotiate with China right up until the deadline. More on that
in a moment. Ten European countries voted in favor of
the terraffs, five said no and twelve abstained, but the ten who voted yes were enough to move it forward. However,
the tariffs would only apply to evs, not pehas hybrids or ice vehicles. Evs made in China now account for
twenty percent of the European EV market, including evs made in China by European automakers, and last year China exported nearly half a million vehicles to Europe. One idea being
floated to avoid the tariffs is that China would agree to a minimum price for its evs and would not sell cars below that.
Speaker 2: One thing's for sure.
Speaker 1: By voting in favor of tariffs with the deadline only weeks away, the EU has a much stronger bargaining position with China, which it may need because China has promised to retaliate by targeting European products imported to China. Just
to show you how Europe is struggling with evs, the Swedish EV startup Northfolk is fighting to survive. It's running
into problems ramping up battery production right as EV sales are slowing down in Europe, and Chinese competition is heating up.
Northfolt was started in twenty fifteen by former Tesla executives, and it quickly raised billions from a number of companies, including Volkswagen, which owns twenty three percent, as well as Volvo, BMW and Goldman Sachs. But while Northfolk has built thousands
of batteries, they haven't met automotive standards. BMW recently canceled
a two billion dollar battery order from Northfolk. Then last
week nor laid off sixteen hundred employees and abandoned plans to expand its factory in Sweden. It says it's moving
ahead with plans to open new plants in Germany and Canada, but it hinted it may need to partner with Chinese battery companies to get up to volume production. With EV
growth slowing in Europe, there's more pushback coming to strict CO two emission rules that go into effect next year.
Last month, the ACEA, a group that represents most major automakers in Europe, said it wants to delay the targets by two years, and now the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic is calling on the EU to soften the targets.
He also wants to review the region's twenty thirty five IC ban because of slowing ev growth, something Italy has also called for. Luca DeMeo, the president of the ACEA
and the CEO over No, warned that automakers could face fines of fifteen billion euros next year for missing CO two targets. There's some interesting rumors coming out of the
European media about a possible merger between Stalantis and Renault. Actually,
what's most interesting is how the two have reacted to the rumors. Carlos Tavares, the CEO of Stialantas, said it
was quote pure speculation, while Luca DeMeo, the CEO of Renault, said they were just quote rumors. Now, if there was
nothing to it, wouldn't you say no, it's not true.
And so they're not actually denying there could be a possible merger. They're just saying it's a rumor, and that's
what makes this story so interesting.
Speaker 3: There's nothing wrong with heavy metal hy light enough, but with world class composite material taging automotive technologies makes vehicles lighter, safer and more eco friendly.
Speaker 1: Where it's out of Korea, a few weeks back, We're right.
Weaimo and Hyundai are partnering on robotaxis. The two officially
signed a deal so Weimo can get special versions of the Ionic five that will be made at Hyundai's new planted Georgia. The vehicles will roll off the assembly line
with modifications for AVS like redundant hardware and power doors, and then we'll get integrated with Waimo's autonomous tech. But
it's unclear exactly when we'll see Weaimo. Hundai's on the
road testing starts towards the end of next year, but they only say the vehicles will hit Weaimo's fleet quote in the years to follow. This will increase production of
the Ionic five, and Hyundai plans to produce avs in quote significant volume for Weimo over multiple years. But while
Weaimo is or will operate in Arizona, California, Texas and Georgia, its fleet has roughly six to seven hundred vehicles right now. However,
we think it's deal with Hyundai solves a few problems for Weimo. It was going to make robotaxis with Zeker
for the US, but since the US is going to restrict Chinese evs and tech, it really can't bring those vehicles into the market. Weimo says it's still working with Zeker,
but likely for other regions of the world now. Also,
Weimo uses Jaguar Eye Paces in its fleet, and Jaguar announced that it's killing off all of its models except one before it goes all electric, so I think the Ionic fives will eventually replace those Jaguars. Tesla's running into
manufacturing problems with a new type of cathode process for its forty six eighty battery cells. That's according to a
report from the website The Information. It says Tesla is
losing seventy to eighty percent of its cathodes to manufacturing defects, compared to two percent for other types of batteries. It's
trying to develop a dry coding process that would the cost and energy needed to make them, but the report says it can't get them up to the line speed that it needs. Tesla is developing four versions of the
forty six to eighty CEL using the dry coding process, including one code named NCO five for the Robotaxi that gets unveiled next week. Another version is slated to go
into the cyber truck. By the middle of next year.
Renault is showing off what its future models could look like with a new concept called the Emblem. A main
focus of the car is reducing emissions. Renault says it
would be able to reduce greenhouse gas emissions ninety percent compared to a similar car today by using more renewable energy in the production process, build with reused parts, and implement recycled in natural materials. Another way to reduce emissions
is to cut weight. It says designers and engineers hunted
for every kilogram they could to get its weight to seventeen hundred and fifty kilograms or by three eight hundred and fifty pounds. The Emblem is based on Renault's amp
R Medium platform and comes with a dual powertrain set up.
It features both a forty kilowatt hour and MC battery pack and a thirty kilowatt fuel cell. Also packaged into
the architecture is a two point eight kilogram hydrogen tank and a one hundred and sixty kilowatt or two hundred and fourteen horse power electric motor that drives the rear wheels.
The entire setup is estimated to provide one thousand kilometers or roughly six hundred and twenty miles of range. Look
for the emblem to make its debut at the Paris Auto Show, and it says we'll learn more about it at the end of the month. Lincoln recently revealed the
new Navigator, so is only a matter of time before Ford showed off the new Expedition. We'll have a video
coming out this weekend or early next week diving into a lot of the specifics with a few Ford experts, but let's go over some of the highlights until then.
Designers said they wanted the big suv to be more distinctive, especially at night, which is why they gave it a durl that wraps under and around the grill. Like the Navigator,
the Expedition gets a split rear tailgate, but Ford expects its customers to take advantage of the rear space more than Lincoln does. It doesn't get the Navigator's pillar to
pillar screen, but does come with a large display on top of the dash in front of the driver, as well as a decent sized infotainment screen in the middle.
Power comes from a three and a half liter Eco Boost V six, which is available as a standard version that makes four hundred horse power or a high output version that makes four hundred and forty horses The latter comes standard on the new Tremor Expedition. Tremor is Ford's
more off road focused trim line that it's offered on other models, but this is a first for the Expedition.
The new Expedition arrives in dealer showrooms next spring. But
that brings us to the end of the day's show and this week, I hope that you have a great weekend.
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