GM's Arlington plant continues to dominate full-size SUV production with plans for a new internal combustion platform through 2029, despite trade tensions impacting exports to China. Chinese car sales show signs of peaking, with new energy vehicles growing but overall market stagnating. BYD disrupts the market by offering advanced driver assistance systems for free across its models. Nissan discounts the Leaf heavily to clear inventory ahead of its next generation, while Rivian offers trade-in incentives. Chevy's Blazer EV makes a historic appearance as a Daytona 500 pace car. Winter EV range challenges are highlighted by a Canadian study, and Volkswagen adds new turbo engines to several models. Renault expands services to support classic car owners with parts and repairs.
Topics:gm full-size suvschina car sales declinebyd free driver assistancenissan leaf discountsrivian trade-in offerschevy blazer ev pace carev winter rangevolkswagen new enginesrenault classic car supportauto supplier challenges
- GM to Revamp Its Big SUV in 2029 - China Adds 10% Tariff to U.S. SUVs - Car Sales Drop, Has China Hit Peak Auto? - GM Bails Out Small Supplier - BYD Adds Self-Driving for Free - Big Discounts on 2025 Nissan LEAF - Trade In Your ICE, Get a Rivian Discount - Electric Blazer to Pace Daytona 500 - Chevy, Polestar Best in Canada EV Cold Weather Test - VW Adds New IC Engines - Renault Offers Spare Parts for Classic Cars
"...mpletely dead. The best performers were the Chevy Silverado EV and the Polestar two, which lost fourteen percent..."
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Speaker 1: This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry. We think the Cadillac Escalade, GMC Yukon,
and Chevrolet Suburban and Tahoe should be considered the crown jewels of General Motors. They're all made at GM's assembly
plant in Arlington, Texas, which cranks out over four hundred thousand of them a year. Though most are sold in
the US market, they're shipped all over the world. We
estimate they generate more than twenty five billion dollars a year in revenue, meaning that plant probably generates more revenue than McDonald's or MasterCard. And we've got some intel on
GM's future plans for these big SUVs. According to Auto
fourcast Solutions, the current platform will stay in production until twenty twenty nine, when the plant will go through a massive changeover to start making the next generation versions.
Speaker 2: They'll go onto a new platform.
Speaker 1: Called T one on XX two, and it looks like these will be IC powered SUVs, not battery electric. GM
dominates the full size suv segment and this investment in a new platform could likely keep it that way for a long time. But GM could have a harder time
selling the Tahoe and Yukon Denali through its Durant guild in China. As part of its retaliation against President Trump's
additional ten percent tariff on all imported Chinese goods, China is slapping an additional ten percent tariff on imported SUVs that are made in the US with engines larger than two and a half liters. That tariff is also going
to snag BMW and Mercedes, which make SUVs in South Carolina and Alabama that are exported to China. Hopefully the
tariffs will get negotiated away and we should know which way the trade winds are blowing before the month is over. Meanwhile,
Chinese authorities may be starting to wonder about the future of their home market. Sales of new cars fell twelve
percent last month to just under one point eight million units.
That was kind of expected, as customers rushed to buy cars in December before certain subsidies were phased out and the Chinese New Year kicked off at the end of January.
Speaker 2: The one bright spot, of.
Speaker 1: Course, was with new energy vehicles, which includes BEVs, phabs and e revs. They were up more than ten percent.
Exports were also up three percent compared to a year ago.
But all the good news on any of these and exports is hiding an unpleasant truth. Sales of passenger vehicles
in China really haven't grown that much over the last decade, suggesting that China, like most of the rest of the world, has hit peak auto. Now back to General Motors for
a moment. In a sign of the underlying weakness in
the supplier community, GM has to bail out a small supplier called Mission Spring and Stamping that's teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. GM is going to provide the financing
to keep the company alive until at least June, while it presumably looks for an alternate source of income. The
little company makes springs and torsion bars, amongst other products, and has been supplying the auto industry since nineteen forty six.
And it's not the only supplier facing financial problems.
Speaker 2: Here's our auto line insight.
Speaker 1: Sales of new cars in the US market are still a million units lower than they were before COVID, and the cost of materials and labor continues to go up.
Trump's twenty five percent terrace on steel and aluminum will only drive them higher, and so it's the smallest suppliers like Michigan Spring and Stamping that are the first ones to collapse under the pressure. But make no mistake, the
entire supplier community is feeling that pressure.
Speaker 3: Making the life full of memories one road trip at a time. That's what really matters. Bridgetown weather Peak Tires,
with a seventy thousand mile womened.
Speaker 1: Warranty BYD made a huge announcement yesterday that likely has most automakers on edge. The company revealed that it will
equip all of its models with its new advanced driver assistance system called God's I for no extra cost.
Speaker 2: Three versions will be available.
Speaker 1: God's I C is the entry level system, which is a three camera system behind the windshield. It will be
equipped in BYD branded models. The next step up is
God's IB, which adds lighter and will be available for the Densa brand and select BYD models.
Speaker 2: The top of the line.
Speaker 1: Is God's IA and it features three light ours and will be equipped in yang Wang vehicles BYD's luxury brand.
Automakers have been offering technology like this as a subscription service to customers and expected to generate big bucks, but with byd offering it for free, it will make it harder for the competition to keep charging for it. Nissan
is reportedly getting ready to reveal the next generation Leaf, so to help clear out inventory of the current version, it's offering a big discount. In the US, customers can
get seventy five hundred dollars cash back, which makes the Leaf even more affordable. Starting price for the twenty twenty
five model year was already just over twenty eight thousand dollars, so that discount brings it to nearly twenty grand, which is about thirty thousand dollars less than what the average EV sells for in the US, and that's before any federal or state ev incentives. If you happen to live
in Illinois, drive over half your time in low income areas, and are a calmed commercial customer, you can get a brand new twenty twenty five Leaf for just over nine thousand dollars. And speaking of making evs more affordable, Rivian
is offering discounts if you consider trading in your.
Speaker 2: Ic powered vehicle.
Speaker 1: Anyone who gets a trade in estimate on their hybrid or gas powered vehicle receives anywhere from three to six thousand dollars off certain models in inventory. The promotion is
being offered until the end of March, and even if you don't trade in your ice vehicle, you can still get the discount. Chevrolet announced that the upcoming SS version
of the Blazer EV will be the pace car for this weekend's Daytona five hundred, and it's the first time either an EV or the Blazers paced the race. The
model produces six hundred and fifteen horse power, six hundred and fifty pound feet of torque, and can move from zero to sixty to three point four seconds. It has
an EPA estimated range of three hundred in three miles, and it goes on sale later this quarter. Chevy will
also debut its Blazer EV R NASCAR prototype ahead of the race, which looks like Chevy's version of the electric NASCAR prototype that debuted last year, and like the Mustang moc E NASCAR prototype that was also seen doing burnouts recently.
Cold weather impacts any vehicle's range, but it can really drag in EV's down, So the Canadian Automobile Association released a study that shows which models fare the best in winter.
It drove thirteen evs and temperatures that range from negative fifteen to minus seven celsius or five to nineteen degrees fahrenheit until the batteries were completely dead. The best performers
were the Chevy Silverado EV and the Polestar two, which lost fourteen percent of their federally estimated range, while the worst performer was the Volvo XC forty reis charge, which fell short of its range by thirty nine percent. Two
thirds of EV owners in Canada say that lower range in winter weather has been a problem for them, but despite that, eighty seven percent of the same owners plan on buying an EV for their next vehicle. Volkswagen is
adding a new gas engine to the Pasat, Tigwe and Tehran.
It's a two liter turbocharged four cylinder that's offered in two outputs. One is about two hundred horse power and
the other is roughly two hundred and sixty horse power.
The tig One and Tehran can be ordered with both versions, while the Pasad is only available with the more powerful output, and all are paired with all wheel drive. VW says
that gives the Pisot and tig One a towing capacity of twenty two hundred kilograms or four eight hundred and fifty pounds, and they Tehran a capacity of twenty five hundred kilograms or about fifty five hundred pounds. Pricing starts
at around forty eight thousand euros. Almost anyone I've known
that's owned a classic car has talked about the difficulty of finding replacement or spare parts. So Renault is trying
to help. It's expanding a service that it launched about
three years ago called the Originals Renault Services. Since then,
owners of classic Renaults have been able to get paperwork with information about the original build of their car, including its color data left the factory and chassis, engine in gearbox numbers, as well as getting helped to register their vehicle as a classic. But now they can also get
help finding a repair shop that's qualified in fixing classic Renaults, although mostly in France, as well as help finding spare parts through a network of after sales sites and free access to repair manuals. But that brings us to the
end of today's show. Thanks for making autoline a part
of your day.
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