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AD #3915 - Ram 1500 Production Expands to Mexico; Audi’s Brussels Plant Likely to Close; IEA Says World Is Shifting To “Age of Electricity”

AD #3915 - Ram 1500 Production Expands to Mexico; Audi’s Brussels Plant Likely to Close; IEA Says World Is Shifting To “Age of Electricity”

Autoline Daily Oct 16, 2024 10 min
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About this episode

General Motors invests heavily in a Nevada lithium mine to secure battery materials amid US efforts to reduce reliance on China. Stalantis faces global sales declines and plans to expand Ram 1500 production in Mexico, likely to avoid UAW strikes. Audi’s Brussels EV plant may close due to lack of buyers, while VW considers factory closures. Honda targets zero fatalities by 2050 with new safety apps and educational games. EV sales surge, especially in China, as the IEA predicts a shift to electricity and declining fossil fuel demand. VW Group introduces longer-range plug-in hybrids to meet stricter emissions rules.

Topics: lithium mining and battery production ram 1500 production in mexico audi brussels plant closure global automotive sales decline honda safety initiatives electric vehicle sales growth iea energy transition vw group plug-in hybrids us-china battery supply chain automotive emissions regulations
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Speaker 1: This is underligned Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry. The US just took two important
steps to reduce its reliance on China for evy batteries.
General Motors is pouring another six hundred and twenty five million dollars into a lithium mine in Nevada that's run by the Canadian company Lithium Americas. The move will give
GM one hundred percent of the lithium that comes from that mine for the next twenty years. The US Department
of Energy has committed two point six billion dollars to the project to process the lithium and Lighten, the startup from Silicon Valley that's developing lithium sulfur batteries, is going to build a billion dollar battery plant also in Nevada, and remember Tesla makes batteries in the state too. Lighton's
plant will be capable of making ten gigawatt hours of batteries.
That's relatively small compared to most battery plants, which can make three to four times that amount, but it is slated to start production in twenty twenty seven. That production
will probably be directed at non automotive markets, but Lyton says it will be producing automotive batteries at scale before the decade is out. We interviewed the CTO of Lighton
at the Battery Show in Detroit last week, and you can check out that interview on our website or YouTube channel.
Carlos Tavares, the CEO of Stalantes, is complaining about plunging sales in the US market, which were down twenty percent in the third quarter, but he's actually having problems all over the world. Stalantis's sales also dropped in Canada and
Mexico they fell seventeen percent, In Europe Maserati alone was down to stunning sixty percent, and in China, India and Asia Pacific they fell thirty percent. So while mister Tavares
has been keeping scorn on his previous US management team, he has a global sales problem on his hands, and in a move that is sure to infuriate the UAW, Tavares is going to add pickup manufacturing in Mexico. Stillantis
already makes heavy duty pickups and vans in Mexico, but it's expanding its plant in Sawtio to make RAM fifteen hundreds.
Right now, those light duty pickups are only made in the US, so here's our autoline insight. While Mexico offers
lower labor costs, no doubt Tavares wants halftime pickups made in Mexico so the UAW can't choke off production during any future strike. We think that's the same reason why
Ford moved parts of its heavy duty truck production to Canada.
It's a game of chess, which is why Ford and Stillant has made these moves to prevent a check mate.
We've reported about the troubles at Audi's Evy plant in Brussels, and now it looks like the doors might have to close for good. Audi says it's been unable to find
a suitable buyer for the fact and has rejected all offers it's received. VW also looked into building future models
at the plant and study different uses for it, but says it wasn't able to come up with any alternatives.
Speaker 2: But this is likely just the beginning.
Speaker 1: Last month, Volkswagen warned that it may have to close factories in Germany for the first time in its history.
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Speaker 1: Honda doesn't want a single person to die in an accident involving one of its vehicles by twenty fifty, which includes all road users as well as old Honda as an accurast that are still on the road. Initial efforts
have focused on advanced safety and driver assistance tech, but now it's going after driver behavior. Last year, it launched
an iPhone app that tries to provide driving feedback in a fun and engaging way that could make the user want to improve their driving habits, and now it's coming out with a crash test video game that can teach people the physics of car crashes and how different factors like speeding can impact the outcome of an accident. On
top of that, it's offering a digital lesson that teaches pedestrian safety. Honda is focusing these new efforts at people
under the age of twenty five because they account for nearly a third of all traffic fatalities in the US every year. Sales of electrified vehicles were up big in September,
but pretty much all that growth came from China. According
to data from Row Motion, automakers sold one point sixty nine million beevs in phebs last month, which is a thirty point five percent increase compared to last year. China
accounted for most of that total, with one point one two million electrified sales, up nearly fifty percent. That's a
monthly record for China, and Roe Motion says the EV market is growing faster in China then expected, and it could set a record every month until the end of the year. In Europe, around three hundred thousand BEVs and
phubs were sold in September, up four point two percent, and in North America one hundred and fifty thousand electrified vehicles were sold, which is a four point three percent gain.
Speaker 2: The world is moving into the age of electricity.
Speaker 1: According to the International Energy Agency or IEA, it just reaffirmed its prediction that demand for all fossil fuels will stop growing by this decade because of the shift to electricity.
The IEA also predicts that gas and oil prices will drop in the next few years because of a surplus of supplies if it doesn't start making production cuts.
Speaker 2: The IEA says OPEC could have.
Speaker 1: Eight million barrels per day of unused capacity by twenty thirty.
But even though oil demand will soon drop, the world is going to run rely on it for decades. The
IEA estimates that fossil fuels will still account for almost a third of energy consumption by twenty fifty. Automakers face
up to sixteen billion euros in fines for missing CO two targets in Europe next year. One way the VW
Group is addressing this is with longer range plug in hybrids.
I believe it recently came out with a new Tigwan p have with a bigger battery pack, and now the Audi A three sportback is doing the same. The gross
capacity of the battery nearly doubled to almost twenty six kilowat hours, while the actual usable space is just under twenty On the WLTP cycle, it provides one hundred and forty three kilometers or nearly ninety miles of range, and despite having more capacity, AUDI says the pack has almost the same dimensions as the old one. Even though the
A three sportback is not offered in the US, we wouldn't be surprised to see more long range p has from the VW group. In twenty twenty six, the California
Air Resources Boards Advanced Clean Car Rules start kicking in which ramps up the requirement for pe haves from thirty miles of EV range to fifty miles. As you probably know,
the product cycle in China is a lot faster than the rest of the world, and Ford is coming out with a refreshed version of an suv that it sells in the country less than three years after its launch.
Speaker 2: The new Equator Sport also.
Speaker 1: Known as the Territory outside of China, is getting an all new front end in new wheel designs.
Speaker 2: The grill is now a thinner black panel.
Speaker 1: With almost like fangs at the ends that extend down into the bumper, which is incorporated just below the new LED headlamps that have a little turned down at the side.
The model is powered by a one and a half liter eco boost engine paired to a seven speed automatic transmission, but it's also supposed to get a plug in IBRID setup that uses a CAATL battery pack.
Speaker 2: And that brings us to the end of today's show.
Speaker 1: Thanks for making autoline a part of your day.
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Speaker 2: That's what really matters.
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Speaker 4: There's nothing wrong with heavy metal, hey light enough, but with world class composite material Taging Automotive Technologies makes vehicles lighter, safer, and more eco friendly.

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