Trade tariffs on steel and aluminum are impacting the US auto industry, with potential price increases looming. Tesla faces declining US sales and market share amid growing backlash, while Volkswagen cuts jobs at its software unit Cariad and partners with Chinese firms for tech development. Subaru plans a new three-row EV built in the US, and Toyota expands its EV lineup with improved batteries and new models aimed at Europe and possibly the US. BMW will offer a next-gen 3 Series with both electric and combustion engines. Mercedes consolidates US operations under a new CEO. JD Power's dependability study will be discussed on the upcoming Autoline After Hours.
Topics:us steel and aluminum tariffstesla sales declinevolkswagen software layoffssubaru electric suvtoyota ev lineup expansionbmw next gen 3 seriesmercedes us operationsjd power dependability study
- Trump’s 25% Steel and Aluminum Tariffs Take Effect - Tesla’s U.S. Sales Down 11% In January - VW Slashes 1,600 CARIAD Jobs - VW Signs Software Deal with Geely’s ECARX Unit - Porsche Axes 3,900 Jobs - Subaru To Add Another Toyota-Based EV To Lineup - Lexus Unveils New RZ EV - Toyota Reveals New C-HR+ EV - Next-Gen BMW 3 Series Includes ICE Version - Mercedes Creates New CEO Position for North America
"...d and seventy miles of range. Toyota says the new CHR Plus is scheduled to launch in Europe in the second ha..."
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Speaker 1: This is out Aligned Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry. The Trump administrations proposed twenty
five percent terraffs on US steel and aluminum imports went into effect today. That would be especially impactful because the
US imports more steel and aluminum from Canada than it does any other country in the world. But the terraffs
will hit the auto industry as a whole since they apply to any derivative product like bumpers, wheels, door latches, and lugnuts, So prices could go up across the board, which would have a significant impact on automakers and suppliers.
That's why the European Commission says it could respond with its own tariffs on twenty eight billion dollars worth of US goods next month. But let's see how this all
plays out. Trump has used terraces as bargaining chips in
the past. In his first term, he slapped the same
tariff on steel and a ten percent tariff on aluminum that did lower imports of the metals but also increased prices. However,
the teriffs were later dropped as part of the USMCA Free Trade Agreement and the US also came to agreements with the EU and other major countries, so how impactful this is could all come down to how other countries respond to the terrafs this time around. Backlash against Tesla
has been growing since Elon Musk's high profile involvement in the Trump administration. We've reported on big drops in sales
in Europe and China this year, and now new data shows that the same thing is happening in the US.
According to s and P Global Mobility, just over forty three thousand Teslas were registered in January, a decline of eleven percent compared to a year ago. Tesla's market share
also fell twelve percent compared to last January. It's now
down to forty two and a half percent. At the
same time, sales of non Tesla evs were just under fifty nine thousand units, a forty four percent increase from last year. Tasla's stock fell fifteen percent on Monday to
its lowest level since October, but it gained back four percent yesterday after President Trump held an event at the White House to help counter protests and slumping sales at Tesla.
Trump even vowed to buy a Tesla a red model less, but do you think this will be enough to help turn around Tesla's sales. In addition to production worker layoffs,
Volkswagen is also making additional cuts at its struggling software unit, Cariad.
According to reports from Germany, BW plans to layoff sixteen hundred of the fifty nine hundred workers it employs at Cariad.
Last year, it had an operating loss of two point four billion euros, and issues developing software were blamed for the lay of Audi and Porsche electric models. A major
part of the reason VW is making all the cuts at Cariad is because it's sinse partnered with Rivian and China's Horizon Robotics to help develop software, and now comes word that VW is going to work with another Chinese company on smart interior technology. The CEO of gly backed
e Carx says it's in talx with the automaker about using its proprietary computing system, which can run both digital and safety solutions, on VW brand models in Europe and the US. This would expand on a current partnership that
VW already has with e Carx, which includes using its tech on cars made in Brazil. In India. Now back
to job cuts at the VW Group, Porsche says it's planning to cut thirty nine hundred jobs due to lower profits, slumping sales in China and the thread of tariffs on exports to the US to your Portious. Sales slid twenty
eight percent in China, which contributed to a twenty three percent drop in its operating profits.
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Speaker 1: Subaru is getting another EV in its lineup. Auto Forecast
Solutions reports that an electric three row crossover will enter production in May of next year. Again, the model will
come from its partnership with Toyota, and like the Soltera, it's made on Toyota's ETNNGA architecture, but it looks like there's a number of modifications to that platform, which we'll have more on in a moment. And instead of the
new three row EV being built in Japan like the Soltera, it will be made in the US at Toyota's plant in Kentucky. The Subaru will reportedly have Toyota and Lexus siblings,
and news dropped about a year ago that the Toyota will use some version of the Highlander name. And we've
also got an update on Rivian Auto Forecast says that the R two, the EV startup's new slightly smaller SUV, will go into production in August of next year at its plant in Normal, Illinois, and that production of the R two and R three at its all new plant in Georgia won't start until early twenty twenty eight. And
now back to those updates on Toyota's ETNNGA platform. Lexis
is making a number of improvements to its first EV, called the RZ. More cells have been stuffed into the
battery pack, which now has seventy seven kilowat hours of capacity.
It says on front drive models with eighteen inch wheels, this contributes to a twenty percent increase in range. When
you apply that to the EPA estimated range, the new RZ could potentially drive up to three hundred and nineteen miles or five hundred and thirteen kilometers on a single charge.
Other improvements include a new thermal management system which has a preconditioning function that can help reduce charging time and improve front rear emotor output, which provide up to three hundred kilowatts or just over four hundred horse power in an all new F sport version. Lexis says it expects
the new RZ to start rolling out this fall. Similar
improvements are being made to the Toyota BZ four X, but it has a little less battery capacity and does not get a version with three hundred kilowatts of power.
But Toyota is also expanding its BEEV lineup with plans to launch three new models that are mainly aimed at Europe, but reports say the all new CHR plus could come to the US as well. This model gets the new
ETNNGA platform two, so it comes in front in all wheel drive. Two Battery sizes are available fifty seven point
seven and seventy seven kilowatt hours, with the larger providing up to six hundred kilometers or about three hundred and seventy miles of range. Toyota says the new CHR Plus
is scheduled to launch in Europe in the second half of this year. BMW is planning to introduce a next
gen version of the three series with an IC engine alongside the all electric version. Reports say that the combustion
model will have similar styling to the EV and will also feature similar technology. BMW may continue to produce the
IC version at its plant in Mexico, where it's built the three series since twenty nineteen, but it's stopped building the model at its plant in Munich because it's being converted to BEEV only models. The next gen three series
is expected to launch in twenty twenty seven. Mercedes Benz
announced that it's consolidating its US operations under a newly created CEO position. The automaker announced that its former head
of US production, Jason in Hoff, will be the CEO of Mercedes Benz North America starting on May first. Hoff
will be in charge of R and D manufacturing and sales.
And Marketing in the US, and he'll report directly to Global CEO Ola Collenius. Haff, a native of Oregon, began
his career at Mercedes in nineteen ninety three, and he also has experience working at the home office in Germany.
Mercedes sales in the US were up almost nine percent last year to more than three hundred and twenty four thousand units, but the automaker is losing market share to BMW in LEXUS and don't forget that. Autulne After Hours
goes live at three pm Eastern Time tomorrow. John says
he wants to talk about the most reliable cars that you can buy because we have Jason Norton from JD Power coming on the show. As you may remember, JD
Power recently released its annual dependability study and we thought that GM did surprisingly well. No no doubt. That will
be a topic. That's a wrap for this show. Thanks
for making autoline a part of your day.
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