AD #3969 - Trump Tariffs Could Cripple New Car Sales; Waymo/Zeekr AV Spotted Testing in California; Model Y Best-Selling Vehicle in China

Speaker 1: This is Autolying Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry. Six days from now, Donald Trump

gets sworn in as President of the United States, and the auto industry is stressed out over the terrace. He

said he's going to slap on imported cars and components.

Trump has promised anything from twenty five percent to two hundred percent tariffs, which would impact every automaker and almost every automotive supplier operating in the US. Every traditional automaker

imports vehicles in every vehicle in the US uses imported components, so those terraffs would drive up the price of new cars, which would likely cause a drop off in sales. Bloomberg

reports the Trump team is trying to figure out how to enact those tariffs with the least economic impact. They're

talking about phasing them in by two to five percent per month, and while that may so often the blow, they would still end up crippling new car sales. The

race is on between the US and China to see who will dominate autonomous vehicle technology. While the US has

strong players like Waimo, Zoukes, Aurora, and Tesla, China seems to be pulling ahead with actual applications. We Ride, which

was founded in Silicon Valley and is traded on the Nasdaq, is headquartered in China, and it's about to open a robovan shuttle service at the Zurich Airport in Switzerland. It's

going to use a bus made by Renault and powered by we Rides av Stack. Pony Ai is another Chinese

avy company that started in Silicon Valley and is traded on the Nasdaq, and it just got permission from the Chinese government to operate platoons of autonomous trucks where a lead semi truck with a driver is followed by other semis without drivers, which Ponyai says can significantly reduce logistics costs.

And Huawei, the giant Chinese telecommunications company that's getting into the auto industry, just started a pilot program at the International Airport in Shenzhen where cars can autonomously park themselves.

Drivers have to stop their cars in a designated area, then use an app to select a parking spot, which is also in a designated area. The car will then

drive itself to that spot, and if it's already occupied, it will find another spot. Audi showed a similar concept

years ago at CES in twenty thirteen, and there's a pilot program at the Smart Parking Lab in Detroit that opened in twenty twenty one, but it looks like Huawei will be the first to commercialize the technology.

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Speaker 1: The Biden administration is said to be finalizing rules today that will ban Chinese and rushing connected car software and hardware, as well as from Chinese companies testing self driving technology on US roads, starting with the software and the twenty twenty seven model year, and followed by hardware in twenty twenty nine. But they're not going to include Chinese software

that was developed before the new rules, as long as it's not being maintained by a Chinese company. That means

some Chinese made vehicles and vehicles with older Chinese tech, like models from GM, Ford, Hyundai, Toyota, and VW would still be allowed to be sold in the US. However, Pollstar,

which is owned by Chinese automaker Gli, hasn't received a definitive ruling on where its vehicles stand, but it will likely have to file for a special exemption to sell in the US. But it's going to be very hard

for any Chinese or Russian company to offer a vehicle in the US market, and the Commerce Department also set it's planning to propose rules that would ban Chinese software and hardware in larger commercial vehicles like trucks and buses.

We think this will have a much bigger impact than any tariffs the US could have implemented, but we wonder if it will have any effect on the robotaxis that Weimo is getting from Chinese automaker Zeker, which is also owned by Jee. However, Zeker's CEO is confident it will

be allowed in the US, claiming it will be the first Chinese car brand to enter the market, and thanks to autoline viewer sean great name by the way, we know that Weimo and Zeker are already testing vehicles in San Francisco. This is the Zeker RT, a purpose built

robotaxi that's based around a new electric Zecker minivan called the Mix. One thing we notice is that it looks

like the vehicle has a manufacturer's plate from Michigan. That

could be an indication of where they're getting upfitted with all their av censors. It looks like the refresh model

Why will first launch in China this March, but Europe won't be far behind. Reports say Tesla has already started

production of the new y for the European market at its factory in Berlin. In speaking of the model Why,

it was the best selling vehicle in China last year.

It sold just over four hundred and eighty thousand, three hundred examples, an increase of over five percent compared to the year before that was less than three hundred units.

I had a second place, the byd kN plus sedan.

Tesla's global sales were down slightly last year, but it set a record in China and The refreshed y got a report in fifty thousand orders on its first day, so it could repeat as the top seller in China again this year. But it wasn't just Tesla. Electric vehicles

as a whole had a record year in twenty twenty four.

According to research firm row Motion, sales of fully electric and plug in hybrid vehicles hit seventeen million units last year, an increase of twenty five percent compared to the year before.

Not surprisingly, China accounted for most of the total, with eleven million EV sales. And speaking of sales, like the

German luxury brands, the Volkswagen Group sought sales decline last year.

The automakers sold nine point zero three million vehicles, a drop of two point three percent compared to twenty twenty three.

It sold three point two million vehicles in Western Europe, which was slightly less than a year ago. Its sales

in China were down nine and a half percent to two point nine million vehicles, but its sales in North America topped to a million units, a six percent gain.

The VW Group sold just under seven hundred and forty five thousand pure electric vehicles globally in twenty twenty four, a decrease of three point four percent. EV sales were

up eight percent in China, but down five percent in Europe and down thirty percent in the US. And it's

not just passenger vehicle makers that are struggling in Europe, so are the big truck companies. Daimler Truck reported a

twelve percent decline in its annual sales last year, and Tratton, which is part of the VW Group, saw a one percent drop in sales last year. Daimler cut its annual

outlook and reduced hours for some workers in Germany due to weak demand in Europe. In Asia, as we reported

last week, Hyundai is bringing its Inster small electric suv to Japan, which will have a starting price of eighteen thousand dollars. It's already on sale in South Korea with

a nineteen thousand dollars price tag, so it's interesting to see that the model is much more expensive in Europe, where it starts around twenty seven thousand bucks. And the

automaker just announced it's launching a more outdoorsy version called the Inster Cross in the UK, which will start at thirty five grand. The model features seventeen inch alloy wheels,

new front rear bumpers, exclusive side skirts and black cladding, a roof rail, and more. It features a forty nine

kilowaate hour battery and has two hundred and twenty three miles of range based on the WLTP test cycle. Deliveries

are expected to start in May, but that brings us to the end of today's show. Thanks for making autoline

a part of your day.

Speaker 3: Auto Line Daily is brought to you by Intrepid Control Systems, over the Air Engineering Boost Your Game, and by Tajent Automotive Technologies the formula for better mobility. There's nothing wrong

but heavy metal hay light enough, but with world class composite material, Taging Automotive Technologies makes vehicles lighter, safer, and more eco friendly.

AD #3969 - Trump Tariffs Could Cripple New Car Sales; Waymo/Zeekr AV Spotted Testing in California; Model Y Best-Selling Vehicle in China

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