Global automotive earnings reveal mixed results with Stellantis facing significant sales drops, especially at Maserati, while Chinese automaker Le Auto reports strong growth and profitability. Ford is pausing production of its F-150 Lightning due to inventory buildup despite rising sales. Hyundai plans to launch a new fuel cell passenger vehicle with improved range and bidirectional charging, signaling continued commitment to hydrogen tech. Meanwhile, McLaren may see new investment from Abu Dhabi, and Toyota partners with NTT to develop AI for safer self-driving cars. The episode also highlights exciting concept vehicles from Kia and Toyota ahead of SEMA.
Topics:q3 earningsstellantis sales declinele auto growthford f-150 lightning production pausehyundai fuel cell vehiclemclaren investment offertoyota ai partnershipbattery swapping stationssema concept vehiclesuaw strike developments
- Stellantis Had a Bad Q3 - UAW Locals Back Off Stellantis Strikes - Li Auto Has Blowout Quarter - Ford Idles Lightning Until Next Year - CATL Working on Heavy-Duty Battery Swapping - McLaren Auto Could Change Ownership Hands - Toyota Partners to Bring AI to AVs - Hyundai's Next-Gen Passenger FCEV - A Kia Off-Road Van? - Toyota Imagines Convertible 2-Door 4Runner
"...s steering upgrade. It's custom front axles and a Toyota Tandra rear end housing. And a quick note before we wrap..."
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Speaker 1: This is out Aligned Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry, and just a quick happy Halloween to everyone out there. We've got more Q three
earnings to report, some good, some bad. We start with
the bad. Stillantas sold one point one million vehicles worldwide
and alarming twenty percent drop At Maserati it was a blood bath. Sales fell sixty percent. Stillantis's total revenue dropped
by twelve billion euros, with nine billion of that drop in North America alone. But STILLANTIS did get some very
good news. On a totally different front, several UAW locals
are withdrawing their strike authorization votes against the company, and Local eleven sixty six and Cocomo, Indiana actually voted against authorizing a strike. That could be particularly painful for UAW
President Shawn because that's his home local where he first started working for the company. The union says it's going
to keep trying to educate those workers about holding the company accountable to its labor contract. Okay, back to the
earnings for a moment, and now the good le Auto had a blowout quarter. You'll remember that along with BYD
it's the only other NYV automaker in China that's turning a profit right now. Sales jump more than forty five
percent to almost one hundred and fifty three thousand units.
Revenue was over six billion dollars, up nearly twenty four percent.
It's operating profit shot up forty six percent to almost four hundred and ninety million, but its net profit barely budged, coming in at four hundred and two million. One thing
to keep an eye on is that le Otto's gross margin was twenty one point five percent, which is the kind of margin that Tesla used to brag about. Ford
is going to idle production of the F one fifty Lightning for seven weeks due to weaker than expected demand.
Ford will halt production at its Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Michigan starting in mid November and won't resume again until early January. This isn't the first time that Ford
has scaled back production of the Lightning. At the beginning
of the year, it cut its production target in half and reduced it to one shift. But sales of the
Lightning are actually fairly strong this year, up eighty six percent to nearly twenty three thousand units through September in the US, so that suggests the company is sitting on a lot of inventory and that's why it's idling production.
Chinese battery makers COTL just open a battery swapping station in China for heavy duty vehicles, which will be used by electric truck maker Deepway. Its trucks typically transport gravel
and can travel ford to five hundred kilometers or about two hundred and fifty to three hundred and ten miles a day, but with a full low mode they have a range of one hundred and ninety kilometers or one hundred and eighteen miles, so the swaps allow them to make multiple trips a day.
Speaker 2: Knowing that a little rain won't slow down your day, that's what really matters. Bridgetone to runs of Quia tract
tires confident control in wet conditions.
Speaker 1: CYVN Holdings, an investment company based in Abu Dhabi, has offered to buy all of McLaren's automotive division, which is currently owned by the Sovereign Wealth Fund of Bahrain. Cyvin
says it would give McLaren access to more money Advanced engineering and technology mostly centered around electric vehicles, and it's possible that ev tech could come from China because last year's Cyvin announced it's investing two point two billion dollars into Neo, but it's only entered in to a non binding purchase agreement, so nothing is final yet. However, it's
hard to see how McLaren can pass up that kind of money. Toyota is forming a partnership with Japan's Nipon
Telegraph and Telephone Corporation or NTT. They're going to develop
AI software for self driving vehicles with the goal of improving safety. The two companies will invest a total of
about three point three billion dollars by twenty thirty to create what they call a mobility AI platform, which will use AI to anticipate and respond to crashes. Toyota and
NTT will make the technology available to other automakers and companies, as well as government and academic partners. They say they'll
start developing the software next year, with the goal of introducing it in twenty twenty eight. Hyundai is not giving
up on fuel cell passenger vehicles, and we'll launch an all new model in the first half of next year, but it's going away from the styling of the ne Nexso and more towards the look of its new evs with the Initium concept, and we bet the production version is not too far off this either, since its launch is just around the corner. Hyundai says it's made a
number of updates to its fuel cell system and will offer up to six hundred and fifty kilometers or just over four hundred miles of range, as well as a one hundred and fifty kilowatt or two hundred horse power electric motor and bidirectional charging capability. Bidirectional charging with the
fuel cell vehicle is a little more interesting too, because you could use both the energy already in the battery pack plus generate more electricity with the fuel cell stack, so it offers a little more flexibility. There's no pictures
of the interior yet, but we should learn more when the Initium Concept makes its auto show debut in November.
And speaking of the Hyundai group and concepts, Kia teased a couple of models that it's going to show off at SEMA very fitting four Sema. One looks like an
off road capable truck or suv, but the other is more interesting to me because it also looks off roady, but it has the same lighting signature as the PV van lineup that Kia revealed at CES this year, and I hope that's what it is because that would be a fun setup. Toyota is also getting in the Sema
spirit with this one off version of the fore Runner called the TRD Serf Concept. Not only did designers hack
off two doors from a current forour Runner TRD Limited, they also slice the roof. Toyota says it used traditional
fabrication with CAD and three D printing to make it so the top can be removed by just one person and on top of the custom body and interior work, the Surf Concept also comes with a long travel suspension system with Billett aluminum front, upper and lower control arms steering upgrade. It's custom front axles and a Toyota Tandra
rear end housing. And a quick note before we wrap up,
to remember that Auto Line After Hours kicks off at three pm Eastern time today. We've gotten noted car Nut
and a head of all design at Stlantis Ralph Shields joining us today, so don't miss out. That's all for
this show, and I hope to see you later.
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