AD #3965 - Zeekr Aims to Be 1st Chinese Car Brand in U.S.; Honda Unveils 0 Series EVs; EREV Scout Model Orders Outpace EVs
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Speaker 1: This is underligned Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry. The CEO of Zeker, which is
owned by Gely, claims it will be the first Chinese car brand to enter the US market. It's planning to
do that through a partnership with Weimo, where Zeker is supplying Weimo with purpose built robotaxis that are based around its newest electric minivan, called the Mix. The model for
Weimo is called the Zeker RT and mass production starts this year, followed by deliveries sometime later in the year.
But will Zeker vehicles be allowed into the US. There's
currently a one hundred percent tariff on imported Chinese evs and a ban of Chinese connected car technology. Those could
possibly be lifted by incoming President Donald Trump, but as of now they're still in place. Weimo already operates an
autonomous fleet in the US. I could argue that all
the data generated by the vehicles would stay with it and doesn't pose a national security risk, and that it has a track record of safety, but it may have to look to other markets to launch the Zeker based robotaxi.
Weimo also has plans to launch in the UAE and in Japan, Volkswagen recently announced that it would cut thirty five thousand jobs and over seven hundred and thirty thousand vehicles from production by twenty thirty and that's just in Germany.
But it's not just the blue collar workers feeling the effects of the cutbacks. VW's board member for human resources
says that management will take pay cuts that total over three hundred million euros, while board members will take an even larger cut than management or the workforce, but didn't say exactly how much. Speaking of Volkswagen, when it revives
Scout back in twenty twenty two, it was going to be an all electric brand, but with the slowdown in demand, VW decided to add plug in hybrid models to the lineup, and that decision is already paying off. Even though Scout
won't launch its Traveler suv and tear a pickup truck until twenty twenty seven, the brand is already taking orders, and while he didn't provide specific numbers, Scout CEO Scott Key hotells Bloomberg that pre orders for the hybrid versions, which are extended range electrics, are outpacing the pure electric versions.
Usability may be part of that reason. E REV models
have five hundred miles of range, while the evs have three hundred and fifty miles. The Scouts will be built
at a two billion dollar plant that VW is building in South Carolina. BMW was the top selling luxury brand
in the US last year, according to Automotive News. The
German automakers sold more than three hundred and seventy one thousand vehicles in twenty twenty four, which was well ahead a second place Lexus, who sold over three hundred and forty five thousand vehicles. Mercedes was the third best selling
luxury brand with nearly three hundred and twenty five thousand sales, but after that, no other luxury brand sold more than two hundred thousand vehicles. If you're wondering where Tesla is,
Automotive News now classifies the evmaker as a mass market brand because it says Tesla moved down market to increase its sales volume. But overall, it was a good year
for luxury brands in the US. Was sales topping two
million units for the first time since the pandemic, and BMW, Lexus, Genesis, land Rover, and Portia set all time US sales records.
And speaking of record sales, according to the China Passenger Car Association, nearly twenty three million new vehicles were sold in China last year, and of that, almost eleven million of them were any vs. That's a record and up
from the seven point seventy five million that were sold in twenty twenty three. N evs, which includes beevs p
has an e revs, accounted for nearly forty eight percent of all new vehicles sold in China last year.
Speaker 2: Knowing that a little rain won't slow down your day, that's what really matters. Bridge done to runts of quiattract
tires confident control in wet conditions.
Speaker 1: As we reported yesterday, Tesla is in line for a nice payday in Europe because it's going to pool its emissions with four toyotas, Delantis, Mazda and Subaru this year so the automakers can meet emission targets and avoid fines.
Speaker 3: And now we.
Speaker 1: Know just how much Tesla stands to make. According to
UBS Group, Tesla could collect more than a billion euros from its pooling partner. Volvo also announced that it's pooling
with Mercedes and Ubs says that the Swedish automaker could make nearly three hundred million euros from that deal. Automakers
in Europe face big fines for missing CO two targets this year, which the auto lobbying group ACEEA says could total fifteen billion euros. General Motors has a new design chief.
Current Head of Design Michael Simcoe, who's been at that position since twenty sixteen, announced he's retiring after a forty two year career with the company. Simco is being replaced
by Brian Nesbitt, who's currently the head of Global Cadillac Design.
Nesbit will take over the top roll on July first.
Some of his recent work at Cadillac includes the Opulent Velocity and Solay concepts. BMW is showing off its next
gen I Drive infotainment system. The new version is highlighted
by a new head up display it calls Panoramic Vision, which displays info pillar to pillar on a black printed surface in the lower section of the windshield. There's also
a three D head up display above the panoramic vision that shows navigation and automated driving information in the driver's field.
A vision and the different functions can be selected on the large central touchscreen, with the buttons on the steering wheel, or with voice control. The new system is powered by
the new BMW operating system X, which is based on an Android open source project software stack, which the company says offers greater update and upgrade capability compared to its previous system. BMW will start equipping the new I drive
system in all models starting at the end of this year.
Honda took the wraps off its Zero series prototypes, an suv and a sedan, which are based on an all new dedicate EV architecture. The Zero Suv will be the
first model to enter production and will be built at the company's EV hub in Ohio and go on sale in North America in the first half of twenty twenty six.
It will then be launched in global markets, including Japan and Europe. The wedge shaped sedan called the Zero Saloon model,
will also be built in Ohio and will first launch in North America in late twenty twenty six, followed by global markets. The Zero series models will feature Level three
automated driving and also be equipped with a new operating system called Ossimo, named after the humanoid robot that the company's been developing for twenty years. Honda also announced that
it partnered with chip maker Renaissance to develop a system on the chip for the next gen Zero series models that launch at the end of the decade. Stillantis is
trying to speed up its vehicle development through new soube software partnerships. It announced a memorandum of understanding with d Space,
a company that specializes in simulation and validation solutions. Stillantis
will integrate d Space's platform for software and the loop testing into its virtual engineering system, which it says will speed up its development of customer focused features. I know
I've been saying to keep an eye out for our CEES coverage, but I really mean it today. There were
some Wi Fi issues which prevented us from posting yesterday, but we will have them up today. So thanks for
being patient. That brings us to the end of this show,
and thanks for making Autoline a part.
Speaker 4: Of your day.
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Speaker 4: This year at CES, Intrepid will be showcasing our new cloud based tools for OEM fleet management. We'll be sharing
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Catch us at Booth four six sixty four in the West Hall January seventh through the tenth at CEES twenty twenty five to learn more.
Speaker 1: M m hmmmm
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