AD #3982 - IIHS Adopts NFL Concussion Metrics; Auto Industry In A Panic Over Trump Tariffs; Honda Reorganizes Corporate Structure

Speaker 1: The Zodolne Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry. Things sure are looking tough for the

auto industry right now. Alex Partners published a survey that

shows the auto industry is the most disrupted industry in the world right now, more than the media, more than telecommunications, and more than consumer goods.

Speaker 2: And here's why.

Speaker 1: Car sales have stalled out in every major market in the world. Interest rates are annoyingly high. Consumers are reeling

from high car prices. Automakers are struggling to develop software

defind vehicles and centralized compute platforms. Their big investments in

evs haven't paid off, and Chinese automakers are gobbling up global market share. But those problems could be a walk

in the park compared to what could happen tomorrow. President

Trump is promising to slap twenty five percent tariffs on imported cars and components.

Speaker 2: In the industry is in a full blown panic.

Speaker 1: One supplier CEO predicts that car production in North America could grind to a halt within a week.

Speaker 2: Could that really happen, Who knows.

Speaker 1: But if you want to get more details and insights, check out the latest auto line after hours. We're calling

it count down to the tariff disaster and it could be a real eye opener for you.

Speaker 2: And like I said, this is a global problem.

Speaker 1: Bosch announced that its operating profit fell thirty three percent last year. Its EBIT margin is now down to only

three and a half percent, half of what it was the year before. Bosh's problems were largely in Europe, where

car sales are millions of units lower than they were before COVID. In North America, Bosh's automotive component sales actually

grew by five percent to ten point seven billion dollars. However,

it has multiple plans in Mexico and can and they could be severely disrupted by the tariffs. With a profit

margin in the low single digits, it would probably be next when possible for Bosch to absorb the cost of those tariffs and not go.

Speaker 2: Into the red.

Speaker 1: Meanwhile, Continental, one of Bosch's biggest competitors, announced it will close four component plants in Germany and downsize two others that will eliminate five hundred and eighty jobs, which is part of the company's overall restructuring efforts to get rid of seven thousand employees. Yesterday, the ACEA, the lobbying group

that represents the auto industry in the European Union, put out a press release practically begging the EU to take an i quote urgent action to prevent irreparable damage to the European auto industry. The ACEA is heavily worried about

CO two emission fines, sluggish EV sales, and Chinese automakers who are growing their market share in the European market and over in Japan. It seems like Honda doesn't exactly

like what it's seeing going on, and it's shaking up the way it does things. Starting on April first, it's

bringing its EV development operations back into its general business ops.

For example, EV and IC development will be integrated together and controlled by a newly created unit called Automobile Development Operations.

Honda expects it to generate new value technology in products for the company. Honda's automotive strategy and software to find

vehicle development units, which are currently part of its EV business, will also be integrated into its greater Automobile Operations, and it's doing the same with motorcycles as well. The unit

in charge of electrifying its motorcycle fleet will be integrated into its overall motorcycle and power products operations. Honda believes

these moves will allow it to more sustainably offer the products it sells around the world.

Speaker 3: 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.

Speaker 1: Flexus, a commercial vehicle joint venture between Renault, Volvo and logistics company CMA CGM, revealed three vans at plans to start delivering to customers next year. The Panel, cargo and

step in vans are all derived from the same Evy skateboard platform and will enter into production at a Renault factory in France in the middle of twenty twenty six.

While it didn't share battery, pack or motor details, Flexus says the vans will be able to charge to eighty percent in less than twenty minutes and offer up to four hundred and fifty kilometers or about two hundred and eighty miles of range on the WLTP test cycle. The

skateboard platform is equipped with a software defined vehicle electronic architecture and will also offer embedded software and services that are tailored to commercial vehicle buyers. FLEXUS says it already

has ten potential partners signed up in France, the UK, and Germany, which could represent demand of up to fifteen thousand vehicles over three years.

Speaker 2: Despite a drop in.

Speaker 1: Global sales, Jaguar land Rover posted a nine percent operating margin in the fourth quarter, its highest in a decade.

Speaker 2: Those sales dipped.

Speaker 1: Two point six percent to just over one hundred and six thousand vehicles in Q four, and the US actually overtook China as the automaker's number one market. US sales

were up forty three percent to thirty five thousand, seven hundred and fifty vehicles, while China sales slump twenty percent to just under twenty one thousand units. Even so, unlike

its German luxury rivals, whose profits has slump due to falling sales in China, JLR was able to increase its margins thanks to models like the range Rover, Range Rover, Sport, and Defender. But land Rovers customers aren't just interested in its.

Speaker 2: Gas powered SUVs.

Speaker 1: The upcoming electric range Rover, which goes on sale later this year, now has fifty seven thousand buyers on a waiting list, and that's up from forty eight thousand in November.

After this first EV a smaller range Rover Electric will launch in the middle of next year as well.

Speaker 2: The Insurance Institute for.

Speaker 1: Highway Safety or IIHS, is integrating a new metric into its crash test that could help reduce concussions and other brain injuries. It says modern cars do a good job

of protecting occupants heads, but there's times when the head can whip after striking the airbag hard. Its current metric

to evaluate head injuries measures linear impacts, but the test doesn't capture high speed rotations that the head and neck can experience in an accident, so the IIHS is adopting a new evaluation that was developed by the University of Virginia, which is also used by the National Football League to evaluate helmets, and the euro end Cap, which crash test cars in Europe, adopted it for its ratings in twenty twenty two. The IIHS says it's not ready to add

the new test to its scores yet, but it will start using it in all crash tests going forward and record the results for its own technical reports. That could

lead to automakers making improvements to their airbags. Ford is

going back to lam It announced that Ford Performance will have a full factory team in the WEC Racing Series in twenty twenty seven, including a new LMDh race car.

As you probably know, Ford has a long history with LAMA.

It famously tried to dethrone Ferrari in the nineteen sixties, eventually winning four straight overall victories towards the end of that decade, and more recently it had class victories with the four GT and Mustang GT three. No doubt you've

heard the term new energy vehicle or any V that's used in China for all types of electrified vehicles, but battery makers CTL has a new term to describe electric vehicles, electric Intelligent.

Speaker 2: Vehicles or eivs.

Speaker 1: While it's not widely used yet, it's gaining popularity in China, and CTL says that's because electric vehicles can offer features that aren't possible in traditional gas powered cars. And that

brings us to the end of today's show. Thanks for

tuning in, and I hope that you have a great weekend.

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