Speaker 1: This is Underline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry. Looks like we're going to be
reporting on President Trump's terriffs for some time to come. Yesterday,
the administration said it would grant a one month delay on its twenty five percent tariffs applied to vehicles imported from Mexico and Canada. The delay will only apply to
vehicles that comply with the USMCA Free Trade Agreement, but that's almost all of them. Automakers were quick to praise
the president. The American Automotive Policy Council, which represents gm
Ford and Stilantis, thanked him. Stillantis put out a separate
statement saying it would increase production in the US, and so will Volvo. Earlier this week, Reuter's also reported that
Honda would move production of the Civic Hybrid from Mexico to its Greensburg plant in Indiana, but in a statement, Honda said it made no such announcement and pointed out that it's been built the Civic Hybrid in Indiana since two thousand and eight. Well, here's our auto line insight.
Automakers can run more overtime and maybe even add a third shift at some plants to increase production relatively quickly, but it's unlikely that they'll be building new assembly plants in the US anytime soon, despite the President's claims. A
couple of exceptions could be Audi and Portia, which have no US production. If the President follows through on his
threat to match Europe's ten percent tariff, we think they'll probably just eat the cost. But a twenty five percent
tariff could have Audi and Porsha looking for a US assembly plant. Maybe they should consider giving Fox kind of
call about its plant in Lordstown, Ohio. Porsia could even
build disassembled versions of its vehicles there, but whichever way it goes, it will likely take years for most of these changes to take place. And speaking of Fox, con
it's interested in a partnership with Nissa and now. Automotive
News reports that former Nissan executive and Fox Cohn's current Chief Electric Vehicle strategy officer June Seki is a dark horse candidate to become Nissan's next CEO. The automaker's current CEO,
Makoto Yuchitah, is expected to step down because of slumping sales and profits at the company. Seki was one of
three executives who helped run Nissan after former CEO Carlos Gowens arrest in twenty eighteen, and he also worked at Nissan's alliance partner, Renault. But Seki is a long shot
because he's viewed as disloyal after he abruptly left Nissan in twenty twenty, shortly after being promoted to vice chief operating officer, Nissan's chief financial officer Jeremy Pappin and Nissan's Chief Performance officer. Not sure how to really pronounce this
guy's name, but it's something along the lines of Guillame Cartier are viewed as the favorites to replace Yu Cheetah.
And now let's stick with Japan for a moment, because Japanese automotive journalists just voted on something that has got to worry Japanese automakers. BYD only started selling vehicles in
Japan two years ago, but it's already winning over the car critics. Last year, the BYD Dolphin won the japan
annual Evy Awards, and this year, the BYD Seal took home the honor. The Seal finished ahead of the Honda
n Van E and the Hyundai Iyanik five The jury said the model has quote an extremely beautiful design and that it sets an industry benchmark with its high quality driving experience. The Seal also won the title of the
top ten best models of the twenty twenty four twenty twenty five Japan Car of the Year, which is awarded by the Japan Car of the Year Selection Committee.
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Speaker 1: Volkswagen says it's coming out with nine new models by the end of twenty twenty seven, and one of those will be the production version of the ID Everyone concept that just debuted. It's kind of like the all electric
successor to the UP, which went out of production in twenty twenty three. However, the ID Everyone is actually a
little bit bigger than the UP, while smaller than the current POLO and the ID two All concept, which we think will become the next gen POLO. The ID two
All is one of those other nine new models, and it comes out next year with a starting price around twenty five thousand euros. The smaller ID Everyone will be
VW's entry into its EV lineup when it launches in twenty twenty seven, with a starting price around twenty thousand euro but both models are based on the new front wheel drive version of the automaker's MEB platform. Although VW
says the ID Everyone quote will be the first model in the entire group to use a fundamentally new, particularly powerful software architecture, reports claim this is the new software system that VW is developing with Rivian. Volkswagen is paying
five point eight billion dollars over the next several years for that tech in twenty twenty seven seems like a reasonable amount of time to implement it into its vehicles.
The entry level EV concept also features a newly developed electric motor that makes seventy kilowatts or about ninety four horse power and is estimated to have at least two hundred and fifty kilometers of range. Volkswagen says the model
is quote from Europe for Europe, and we saw one report that said it will be built in Germany. Not
all automakers in Europe are on board with the EU CO two rules possibly being relaxed. Volvo CEO Jim Rowan
says he's quote extremely disappointed about the lee way the EU would be giving automakers. He says the industry was
given years a time to prepare for the standards and that if a small company like Volvo can make the investment to meet the targets, then quote certainly bigger companies could have done that too. But Rowan could also be
upset about Volvo possibly losing out on earning money from pooling CO two emissions with other automakers. UBS Group estimated
that Valvo could have earned as much as three hundred million euros, but if the CO two rules are relaxed, non compliant automakers may rethink they're pooling plans. Tesla's sales
have seen big drops in Germany, France, China and other major markets, and now comes word from Australia that they were down seventy two percent last month, with the Model three down over eighty one percent. But even so, the
three was still the best selling sedan, ahead of the Toyota Camry. And while it was a bad month for
EV's overall in Australia with sales down nearly forty four percent, Tesla's massive drop off is in line with what we're seeing in other markets. Here's some interesting stats showing Formula
one's rapid growth. The series had been showing steady increases
since twenty sixteen, when it brought in five hundred and seventy million dollars, until COVID hit hard in twenty twenty, but things really ramped up after that and in twenty twenty three, F one raked in over three point two billion dollars. It also claims its total fan base is
over seven hundred million people and that one point five billion people watched its races, while six and a half million attended them. These numbers come from Honda, who supplies
engines to the series and is also celebrating the sixtieth anniversary of its very first.
Speaker 3: F one win.
Speaker 1: It took the checkered flag at the Mexican Grand Prix in nineteen sixty five, and now with F one growing so much, Honda is thinking of launching its own memorabilia business, which could sell spare engines in parts like a V ten used for Irton Sennez nineteen ninety McLaren. Speaking of racing,
both Honda and Chevy are entering vehicles in the Mint four hundred, an off road race that kicks off this weekend, but their vehicles couldn't be much different. Honda is competing
in both the stock production truck and the unlimited truck two wheel drive classes with the new Passport Trail Sport, although the unlimited version is heavily modified and only takes inspiration from the production model. Chevy, on the other hand,
is entering an eleven hundred horse power version of the Silverado EV into the race. The main upgrades include prototype
multimatic adaptive spool valve shocks and thirty seven inch off road tires. While we might not see this truck in showrooms,
Chevy is applying the Trail Boss named to the Silverado EV, with a more off road focused version of the truck that comes out this summer with the Trumpet administration's policies literally changing from day to day. How do you put
a strategy together if you're an automaker to deal with that.
Mark Wakefield of alex Partners and David Welch from Bloomberg will give us their insights on today's autoline. After ours,
we'll also dive into top stories on Tesla, Rivian and Stalantis, so be sure to join John and Gary at three pm Eastern Time today. That's a wrap for this show,
and I hope to see you later today.
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About this episode
The episode covers key automotive industry updates including the U.S. delaying 25% tariffs on vehicles from Mexico and Canada, Volkswagen's reveal of its new ID Everyone EV using Rivian's software tech, and BYD's rising success in Japan's EV awards. Discussions include potential shifts in U.S. auto production due to tariffs, Nissan's leadership changes, and Volvo's disappointment over EU CO2 regulation relaxations. Tesla's sales declines in multiple markets and Formula One's rapid growth are also highlighted, alongside Honda and Chevy's participation in the Mint 400 off-road race with contrasting vehicle strategies.
- U.S. Delays Vehicle Import Tariffs - Could Audi and Porsche Build U.S. Plant? - Foxconn Exec a Dark Horse for New Nissan CEO - BYD Winning EV Awards in Japan - VW Reveals 1st EV with Rivian Tech - Volvo Disappointed with CO2 Easing - Tesla's Sales Fall in Australia Too - F1 Seeing Massive Growth - Honda and Chevy Take Different Approaches to Off-Road Racing
