AD #4023 - China Car Market Shows Signs Of Weakening; Volvo Dumps Rowan, Brings Back Samuelsson; Toyota Can’t Build Hybrids Fast Enough

Speaker 1: This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry, and we start off the week with the stock price of almost every single automotive stock around the world taking a nosedive and it's all because of US tariffs. Over the weekend, President Trump said he

really didn't care if tariffs cause imported car prices to go up because American car buyers would buy more American cars.

But the thought of higher prices did not sit well with investors. The stock prices of almost every traditional car company,

every evy startup, every supplier, and every retailer were down.

And this was true in the US, in Europe, in Japan, and even in China. But the threat of tariffs is

pushing more Americans to buy new cars now before the prices go up.

Speaker 2: Automakers will report their first quarter.

Speaker 1: Sales this week, and auto analysts say the earth signed show that sales are running strong, but they're also revising their outlooks, pushing them down more for.

Speaker 2: The rest of the year.

Speaker 1: Cox Automotive was forecasting that US sales would hit sixteen point three million.

Speaker 2: Vehicles this year.

Speaker 1: Now because of the tariffs, it's shaving half a million off that forecast. Meanwhile, things don't look that rosy for

the Chinese car market either. We now have the total

sales numbers for both January and February. They just top

three million units and we're down four point four percent compared to last year. It's important to combine the sales

for both those months because the Chinese New Year holiday can fall in either depending on the lunar calendar, and car sales plummet when the country is on its New Year's break. Combining car sales for both those months eliminates

any confusion, and the numbers show that the market is weakening.

Another important development is that sales of new energy vehicles lost market share. They hit forty four percent of the market,

and though there's always a seasonal dip in any V sales during the winter, this is something that will keep an eye on.

Speaker 2: Out with the new and in with the old.

Speaker 1: Valvo is bringing back former CEO Hakan Samuelson to once again leave the company. Samuelson was replaced as CEO in

twenty twenty two by Jim Rowan, who officially steps down today.

Speaker 2: Rowan, who is.

Speaker 1: Also leaving the board, was seen more as a tech guy previously holding positions at Dyson Vacuums in BlackBerry, but Samuelson will only serve as president and CEO for two years while the company searches for a long term successor.

It's surprising that Volvo did not let Rowan finish out the transition.

Speaker 2: To a new CEO. But here's a clue why.

Speaker 1: Valvo said that quote, the company is best served by leadership with deep industry experience, deep knowledge of our group, and approven ability to execute in challenging environments. Apparently the

board decided that Rowan was not that person.

Speaker 3: There's nothing wrong with heavy metal, hey light enough, but with world class composit material taging automotive technologies makes vehicles lighter, safer, and more eco friendly.

Speaker 1: Toyota got ripped by environmental groups for sticking with hybrids and being slow to introduce pure electrics, but now the automaker, especially chairman Akio Toyota, must feel vindicated Reuter's reports that the company can't keep up with demand for its hybrids.

Speaker 2: Suppliers are struggling to keep.

Speaker 1: Pace, which is causing parts shortages and leading some customers to wait months for their vehicle. The automaker is dealing

with low hybrid inventory in major markets including the US, Japan, China, and Europe, the global market for hybrids has grown significantly.

According to MC Automotive, automakers sold sixteen point one million hybrids including plug ins, around the world last year, up from five point seven million five years ago. Renaut and

Nissan are shaking up their partnership. They're both planning to

reduce their stake in the alliance while at the same time increasing product sharing. Each company currently holds fifteen percent

of the other shares, but they plan to cut that to ten percent. However, we would also note that a

French trust, which Renault is part of, holds a little over eighteen and a half percent in Nissan. Beyond the

reduced stakes in each other, Nissan wants to sell it share of their joint Indian operations to Renault. That means

Renault would own one hundred percent of the Indian business, but they will still collaborate on production, sales and service, and as part of the new strategy, Nissan would no longer be required to invest in ampeer Renault's EV and software division, but the two companies will continue to collaborate on new projects. As Nissan revealed last week it's bringing

the Micro back to Europe as a rebadged version of the Renault five, and now it says it will get its own version of the Renault TwinGo for Europe sometime in twenty twenty six. Renault will develop and build the model,

while Nissan takes care of the design. The companies say

they both benefit from a more agile alliance, expanded scale and reduce costs. Aston Martin needs cash, so it's selling

shares and a stake in its F one team and expects to raise around one hundred and sixty two million dollars.

Chairman Laurence Stroll's investment firm Utree is paying about sixty eight million dollars to raise at stake in Aston to three percent. Strolls Consortium has now invested seven hundred and

seventy five million dollars into the automaker since it acquired it in twenty twenty. Aston also plans to sell at

stake in Formula one and hopes to raise around ninety five million dollars. Aston has struggled the last several years

due to supply chain issues, delivery delays, and slumping sales in China and the company also recently lowered its guidance for this year because of President Trump's tariffs. BYD's one

thousand kilowat ev fast charger, which can add four hundred kilometers or about two hundred and fifty miles of range in just five minutes, is already being trumped by Zicer and Huawei. Zeker revealed a one thousand, two hundred kilowat charger,

while Wawei showed off one that can charge at one thousand, five hundred kilowats.

Speaker 2: That last one is.

Speaker 1: Capable of adding twenty kilowat hour per minute a charging and fully charging a battery in fifteen minutes. The key

will be how many models offer this capability and how many chargers are actually available to customers. But it looks

like the charging industry could be going towards ultra fast charging.

And here's something we were surprised to see President Trump pardon former Nikola Motors founder and CEO Trevor Milton. Milton

was sentenced to four years in prison in twenty twenty three after being found guilty of lying to investors about the company's technology, but Milton revealed in a social media post that Trump issued him a full and unconditional pardon. However,

he wasn't in prison at the time because he was appealing his case. It's not exactly clear why Trump pardoned Milton.

When asked by reporters why he did so, Trump responded that it was quote highly recommended by many people. But

we think it should be noted that Milton and his wife donated one point eight million dollars to Trump's re election campaign, and that two lawyers who defended Milton during his fraud case have ties to Trump, adding another wrinkle to the story. Nicholas stock shot up eighty percent after

Milton's pardon, and this got us thinking for our next Autoline poll, what do you think about President Trump pardoning Trevor Milton. Do you think it's another disgusting example of

corruption in the Trump White House. Two completely justified, Trevor

didn't do anything seriously wrong. Three I don't care one

way or the other or none of the above. See

my comments below, and remember you can find the poll on our YouTube homepage.

Speaker 2: Just look for the tab that says posts. And that's

a wrap for today. Thanks for tuning in.

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AD #4023 - China Car Market Shows Signs Of Weakening; Volvo Dumps Rowan, Brings Back Samuelsson; Toyota Can’t Build Hybrids Fast Enough

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