The episode covers several key automotive industry developments including China's WTO complaint against EU EV tariffs, October vehicle sales trends with Mazda and Honda performing well, and Paris implementing strict traffic restrictions to reduce pollution. Jeep is cutting prices to boost sagging sales, while Audi faces sharper sales declines in the US and Europe than in China due to supply issues. Honda is innovating with a new V3 motorcycle engine and expanding its electric bike lineup with swappable batteries. Ferrari reports strong profits despite lower sales, and major European suppliers announce layoffs amid industry restructuring.
- China Files WTO Complaint Over EU Tariffs - U.S. October Sales Look Good - Paris Limits Traffic from City Center - Turning Lampposts Into EV Chargers - Jeep Starts Chopping Prices - Audi Drops More in U.S. and EU Than China - Honda Shows Vision for EV Sport Bike - Ferrari Sales Down But Earnings Up - Suppliers Announces Layoffs and Plant Closings
"... bike. It says the model is compatible with a CCS charger so it could charge just about anywhere, and that ..."
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Speaker 1: This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry. China is ratcheting up its fight
with Europe over EV tariffs and have filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization. Last week, the EU boosted
tariffs on imported Chinese made evs up to thirty five percent because it claims they benefit too much from government subsidies, giving the EV makers themselves an unfair advantage. But China
says the tariffs lack factual and legal foundation and violate WTO rules. The two sides have been negotiating alternatives to
the tariffs, but so far no agreements have been reached, and those tariffs typically lock in for a five year period.
So now China is putting the heat on Europe by lodging a complaint with the WTO to help settle their dispute.
While some automakers only report their USA sales on a quarterly basis, Automotive New says automakers sold about one point three million vehicles in October, up a strong twelve percent compared to a year ago, and the SAR came in at sixteen point one million vehicles, but there were two extra selling days in October this year, which skewed the numbers upwards. Also, inventory rose above three million units, the
first time that's happened since the COVID pandemic, and the chip shortage and incentives shot up seventy one percent to an average of three thousand, one hundred and forty nine dollars per vehicle. Amongst the companies that publicly reported sales,
Mazda was on fire, with sales up more than fifty eight percent thanks to strong incentives. The Hondi Group and
Ford also had a great month, but Volvo and Toyota saw.
Speaker 2: Sales drop below where they were a year ago.
Speaker 1: And here's a trend we're starting to see more of.
To cut down on traffic jams and air pollution, Paris is restricting vehicles from driving in the center of the city.
Paris created a five square kilometer or about a two square mile, limited traffic zone that bans private vehicles from driving through it if their final destination is outside of the zone.
Speaker 2: Between one hundred.
Speaker 1: And seventy five thousand and two hundred and fifty thousand trips are made through the area every day. Residents that
live in the zone and people with disabilities won't face any restrictions, and there are exemptions for buses, taxis, and emergency and delivery vehicles. During the first six months, the
city will give out warnings to drivers who break the rules, but after that it will issue fines of one hundred and thirty five euros or about one hundred and fifty bucks.
Speaker 2: One way to.
Speaker 1: Inexpensively make evy charging a lot more convenient is to convert street lamps into level two chargers. Eight is partnering
with an EV charging startup called vault Post that retrofits lampposts and internet connected EV chargers. Vault Posts says they
don't cost as much to install as traditional units, partly because it only takes one to two hours to put in the level two chargers, which feature two or four retractable charging cables. The two companies have installed chargers in
Metro Detroit and will expand to New York and Illinois.
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Speaker 1: To address declining sales at JEEP, down eight percent in the US in the first three quarters. Brand CEO Antonio
Felosa has made price reduction part of his plan to help turn things around, and it's a move many think it needed to make. Through August, Jeeps transaction prices have
been six five hundred dollars over the industry average, so it cut price tags on the compass, the Grand Cherokee, and now it's the Wagoneer's turn. Base trims will see
the smallest reduction, three thousand dollars off, bringing the starting price to sixty two thousand dollars including destination charges, but other models like the Grand Wagoneer four by four will get up to seven grand off. Twenty twenty five Wagoneers
with the new prices will start arriving at dealers before the end of the year. And speaking of sales being down,
many foreign automakers, but especially German luxury brands, have seen big sales declines in China, and while that's dominated a lot of the headlines, AUTI has actually performed worse in the US in Europe. Through the first nine months of
the year, its sales are down nearly seventeen percent in the US yes and roughly ten percent in Europe compared to an eight and a half percent decline in China.
Audi blames limited parts availability and logistical challenges for why it dropped the most in the US, and as you would expect, this has had a negative effect on Audi's.
Speaker 2: Revenue and profits.
Speaker 1: Honda is working on a new three cylinder engine for motorcycles that's arranged in a V pattern. It says the
water cooled engine is being developed for larger displacement motorcycles and even revealed that it's testing out a version with an electric compressor, which it claims as a package that no one else offers in the world. But Honda is
also planning an EV bike lineup. It showed off the
ev Fun concept, which is its vision for a future electric sport bike. It says the model is compatible with
a CCS charger so it could charge just about anywhere, and that it would also aim for more than one hundred kilometers or over sixty two miles of range. Its
other vision is for a future electric scooter called the ev Urban concept. Honda didn't provide many details, but we
think this would be a great application for its other EV motorcycle venture, swappable battery packs. The Japanese automaker is
teaming up with Gosamo to test electric scooter rentals with swappable batteries in Sweden. Honda will provide Gosomo with a
fleet of em one e scooters to rent, as well as the swapping stations and batteries, which kind of look like a big vending machine. The test kicks off in
February and will last for a year. Even though its
sales fell twenty nine percent in China, Ferrari largely shrugged off that and went on to post higher earnings.
Speaker 2: In the third quarter.
Speaker 1: It sold three thousand, three hundred and eighty three cars globally, which was down two percent, Yet its revenue rose seven percent to one point six billion euros, its ebit rows ten percent to four hundred and sixty seven million, and its net profit of three hundred and seventy five million euros was up thirteen percent. Ferrari says it offset the
decline in car sales by selling a richer mix i e.
Selling more expensive cars, and by getting more customers to personalize their cars. It also saw a twenty percent jump
in sponsorship for its Formula One and World Endurance Championship racing teams, as well as merchandising and royalty payments, and despite the slight decline in sales, Ferrari says its order book stretches well into twenty twenty six.
Speaker 2: Yet, while the future looks bright.
Speaker 1: For Ferrari, two European suppliers announced layoffs i plant closings.
Michelin says it's going to close two tire plants in France by twenty twenty six, eliminating one thousand, two hundred and fifty four workers, and Scheffler, the big German supplier, says it's going to lay off three thousand, seven hundred employees in Europe, or about three percent of its workforce.
On top of that, another one thousand employees will move to other locations and two unspecified plants will close. Part
of the reason for the layoffs is the downturn in the European car market. Another part is due to its
acquisition of a Tasco, which used to be part of Continental.
As we've reported before, Volkswagen plans to close three plants in Germany. Audi is closing an assembly plant in Belgium,
and we're afraid that this is just the beginning of a painful restructuring that's getting underway in the European auto industry, and that brings us to.
Speaker 2: The end of today's show. Thanks for making autoline a
part of your day.
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