AD #3984 - VW Dealers Sue to Block Scout's Direct Sales; Ford to Launch Maverick EV; Honda Cuts EV Orders from GM

Speaker 1: This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry. Remember all those things we told

you about Terras yesterday, Well, never mind, nothing happened. As

you know, President Trump set the auto windustry on edge with threats to slap twenty five percent tariffs on cars and components imported from Canada and Mexico, But after the show yesterday, he agreed to postpone them for a month because Canada and Mexico promised to take more action on preventing immigrants from illegally crossing the border and on stopping the flow of fentanyl. Even with the one month delay,

the auto windustry is still extremely nervous because we could just be going through the exact same things again. At

the beginning of March, VW dealers are gearing up their fight against the automaker over its plans to sell Scout Evis direct to consumers. A group of VWN OUDI dealers

in Florida file a lawsuit against Scout, claiming the brand really isn't independent from the Volkswagen Group since VW owns and controls thirty percent of Scout Under Florida law that thirty percent means that VW and Scout are common entities.

The dealers say that unless Scout sells vehicles at their stores, they'll be in violation of state franchise laws. They say

Scout cannot even take deposits from customers. The Florida dealers

are the first to actually file a lawsuit. At the

end of last year, the California New Car Dealers Association sent a season desist order to VW over selling Scouts directly, and they'll likely follow with the lawsuit unless VW and Scout comply. But in South Carolina, where Scout is building

its two billion dollar assembly plant, a bill was introduced in the House of Representatives that would allow Scout to sell direct While the bill has bipartisan support, the South Carolina Automobile Dealers Association says it opposes the legislation. Auto

Forourcast Solutions reports that the Scout Traveler SUV is supposed to start production in March at twenty twenty eight, but depending on how this all goes, it may be illegal for people in South Carolina to buy them. But despite

all the turmoil and upheaval going on in the auto industry right now, Ferrari didn't even notice. It had a

strong year in twenty twenty four, and it expects.

Speaker 2: To do better this year.

Speaker 1: It sold thirteen thousand, seven hundred and fifty two cars last year, which was less than a one percent gain from twenty twenty three. Sales were up in all regions

except for China, where they slumped twenty two percent. But

despite the drop in China and the small overall sales gain, Ferrari's revenue increased nearly twelve percent to six point seven billion euros. Its operating profit of one point nine billion

was up about seventeen percent, and net revenue increased twenty one percent to one and a half billion dollars. Ferrari

expects to hit most of its high end profitability targets for twenty twenty six, one year in advance. January sales

were up slightly in the US, according to Automotive News.

Since several automakers report sales on a quarterly basis, it only has the numbers for six automakers, but those automakers, including Ford, Honda, Hyundai, Mazda, Subaru, and Toyota, sold just under six hundred thousand vehicles last month, up one point seven percent. The Hondai Group in Mazda performed the best,

both increasing US sales by double digits, while Ford had a rough January, selling about one hundred and forty two thousand vehicles, down six and a half percent. Right now,

sales for the full year in the US are forecast to come in anywhere between fifteen point six and sixteen point two million units. And speaking of sales, yesterday we

reported that Tesla sales are falling in Europe, but they're also going down in the US's biggest EV market. For

the first time, the California New Car Dealers Association reported a yearly drop for Tesla registrations, which were down eleven point six percent compared to twenty twenty three. A number

of other automakers, including Chevy, Pollstar, Volvo, and especially VW, also saw big double digit drops and reservations, But as a whole, California's EV registrations were up one point two percent last year. It would have been up twenty percent

if you exclude Tesla, but that's only because Tesla controls more than fifty percent of California's EV market. And here's

one way it might be able to increase sales Tesla is offering an insurance discount to owners in Texas and Arizona the more they use Supervised FSD. It's based on

total miles driven versus miles driven on FSD over a thirty day period. Tasla says the maximum discount owners can

get is up to ten percent off certain coverages when they drive fifty percent or more on FSD. While that

will be a benefit for owners, Tesla will also get a boost in data which it can use to better train its system, as well as to launch unsupervised FSD, which is supposed to come out in Austin, Texas later this year. So it's probably not a coincidence that this

discount is being offered in Texas as well.

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Speaker 1: GM is cutting a shift at the plant where it makes evs in Mexico, which will eliminate about eight hundred jobs, but it's not related to any terraffs. While part of

the decision is based on GM adjusting its own production mix, the automaker claims the move is mainly due to Honda reducing its volume of the Prologue EV. As you may know,

GM builds both the Chevy Equinox EV and the Honda Prologue in Ramos Arispe, Mexico. Honda didn't confirm anything, but

says moves like this are normal to make sure its production and inventory are in line with customer demand. However,

customer demand for the Prologue seems to.

Speaker 2: Be quite good.

Speaker 1: Sales kicked off in March of last year, and Honda sold over thirty three thousand examples in the US in twenty twenty four, which was more than the Chevy Equinox or Blazer evs. But Honda is moving away from GM's

Ultium platform for its evs. It will start launching its

own dedicated electric vehicles next year that are built on its own EV platform at its own EV manufacturing.

Speaker 2: Hub in Ohio.

Speaker 1: Former Nissan executive Greg Kelly lost an appeal to have his conviction overturned in his alleged involvement in the Carlos Going scandal. Kelly was accused of helping former Nissan CEO

Carlos goin of concealing tens of millions of dollars in postpone compensation, which prosecutors say should have been disclosed to shareholders.

In twenty twenty two, Kelly was convicted on one of eight counts of financial misconduct by the Tokyo District Court.

He was eventually allowed to return to the US after his original trial, since he spent three years in Japan fighting his case in court. Kelly appealed the guilty verdict,

but the Tokyo High Court just upheld the conviction. Kelly,

who denies any wrongdoing, is planning another appeal. Ford carved

out a nice section of the market for its Maverick pickup when it was launched nearly four years ago, with sales running around one hundred and thirty thousand US and it's a year, and now the company wants to leverage that success by coming out with an electric version. Auto

Forecast Solutions reports that the Maverick EV will go into production in April of twenty twenty seven.

Speaker 2: AFS says the truck, with the code.

Speaker 1: Name P eight thirty three, will be tooled for one hundred thousand units a year, and curiously, it will be built at the company's assembly plant in Louisville, Kentucky, and not at its plant in Aramaico, Mexico, where the IC version of the Maverick is built.

Speaker 2: Louisville is where the Ford Escape is.

Speaker 1: Made, and since the two of them will be made side by side, that strongly suggests that Ford will be coming out with a b EV version of the Escape as well.

Speaker 2: Audi is changing up the naming.

Speaker 1: Structure for its vehicles a little bit. It will still

use the letter A for sedans and Q for crossovers in SUVs and body styles like Avant and Sportback, but even an I numbers will no longer provide a distinction between powertrains. The numbers will now signify positioning in the lineup,

smaller numbers for smaller vehicles and bigger numbers for bigger vehicles.

AUDI is also separating any powertrain distinction from the names of its vehicles, So, for example, the all electric Q six E Tron will now just be the Q six with an E Tron badge stuck to the side, while the IC version will also be the Q six with a TFSI badge to the side. The upcoming gas powered

A six will be the first to adopt the new naming structure, and that brings us to the end of today's show.

Speaker 2: Thanks for making autoline a part of your day.

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AD #3984 - VW Dealers Sue to Block Scout's Direct Sales; Ford to Launch Maverick EV; Honda Cuts EV Orders from GM

Traveler Suv

Honda Prologue

Chevrolet Equinox

Ford Maverick

Ford Escape

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