Global automotive markets are facing turbulence as tariffs and trade tensions cause stock declines in Europe and Asia, with major automakers like Mercedes, Mitsubishi, and GM affected. GM unveiled a futuristic Corvette hypercar concept from its new UK design studio, signaling a fresh design direction without immediate production plans. Meanwhile, rising tariffs in China are driving up prices for US-made vehicles. The US EV and battery plant sector is seeing significant project cancellations amid slowing demand and policy uncertainty. Toyota plans to ramp up EV production globally, while US EV sales surge due to subsidies and expanding model choices. Listener poll insights reveal varied reasons behind the EV sales spike.
Topics:automotive tariffsstock market impactgm corvette hypercar conceptuk design studiochina tariffs on us vehiclesev and battery plant cancellationstoyota ev production plansus ev sales trendsinflation reduction act subsidiesev market poll insights
- EU, Asia Auto Stocks Tank Again - Quick Recap, OEMs Move Quick to Counteract Tariffs - Classic Cars Exempt from Tariff Hike - Corvette Unveils Hypercar Concept - Corvette Z06 To Cost $220,000 In China - U.S. Battery Plants Cancelled Left and Right - LG Energy Profit Soars 138% - Toyota To Launch 15 EVs In Two Years - Autoline Poll Results
"...ade in the US. Speaker 1: The Chevy Tahoe and GMC Yukon only recently went on sale, and they already came..."
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Speaker 1: This was Autoligne Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry. Looks like we could be talking
about the impact of Trump's terraces for a while, as automotive stocks in Europe and Asia took a pounding. This morning,
the Auto Line Stock Index shows that European automakers fell another four percent on top of last week's losses. Mercedes
alone was down more than six percent, while European suppliers were down five percent. In Asia, the damage was even worse.
Japanese automakers were down five point seven percent, with Mitsubishi down twelve percent. In China, the traditional automakers were down
twelve percent, and for the NYV automakers the damage was profound.
They were down thirteen and a half percent, with Leap Motor dropping a whopping twenty four point six percent. And remember,
Leap Motor is now in partnership with Stilantis and investors must be worried about the future. But there's a lot
more happening than just stock prices going down. General Motors
hired about two hundred and fifty workers to increase pickup truck production in the US, but stilant has laid off one thousand American workers, many of whom make parts that are shipped to Canada and Mexico, because plants in those countries have temporarily stopped production. Infinity, Audi and Volkswagon have
stopped shipments to the US of all vehicles made in Mexico.
Mercedes and Nissan are considering moving more production to the US. Meanwhile,
Ferrari and ineosay they'll raise their prices by ten percent, which means they're ready to absorb fifteen percent.
Speaker 2: Of the cost of the terraffs.
Speaker 1: All this has happened in less than a week, but we expect to see a lot more changes and a lot more damage in the days to come. And you
may remember we reported that classic car importers and part sellers were worried they were going to get hit by the tariffs too, But the Trump administration spared classic cars.
Speaker 2: And components from the tariff barrage.
Speaker 1: Cars that are twenty five years or older only face the same two and a half percent tariff that's been in place for half a century. But it seems like
this was more for purely economic reasons. A classic car
that sells for ten million dollars can generate up to seven hundred thousand dollars in sales taxes, and Trump's treasury probably didn't want to miss out on that kind of revenue.
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Speaker 1: GM is showing off a new Corvette hypercar concept as part of a bigger announcement that it's opening a new advanced design studio in the UK. The thirty member team
headed up by Julian Thompson, we're asked to rethink what a Corvette could be with a true blank page approach, and this is what they came up with. The upper
half of the car is meant to capture classic Corvette design cues like the split windows, while the lower half focuses more on vehicle function like aerodynamics. There are no
production plans for this model, but the company has asked its other design studios around the world to come up with their own Corvette hypercar concepts, and it says we'll see those throughout the year. The new UK studio also
teased a new GMC concept that was developed with the GMC design team in Detroit, and it will be fully revealed sometime later this year. GM says that the new
design center helps demonstrate its commitment to Europe and gives it valuable insight into the market. Currently, Cadillac is scaling
up its EV business in Europe, and Chevy is preparing to launch Corvette sales in the UK and mainland Europe.
We'd also add that it probably doesn't hurt that GM is getting back into F one next year with the Cadillac brand, and another reason Chevy might want to expand Corvette's availability. Prices are going up significantly in China. Starting
this week, the Chinese government announced it will impose an additional thirty four percent tariff on all imported US goods, which is in retaliation to the US tariffs, and these will stack on top of existing tariffs, like the ten percent fee on US made vehicles that have engines two and a half liters are larger, so Car News China reports that the comprehensive tax rate on models like the Corvette Z six are expected to go to two hundred percent, which would bring its starting price to over two hundred
and twenty thousand dollars. And that's not the only area
where GM will be hit. It's set up a new
business called the Durant Guild, whose model is set up around importing higher end vehicles that are.
Speaker 2: Made in the US.
Speaker 1: The Chevy Tahoe and GMC Yukon only recently went on sale, and they already came with pretty high price tags. A
Yukondnali started at just under one hundred and eleven thousand dollars through the Durant guilden China, but now the new tariff will push that price.
Speaker 2: To over one hundred and forty eight.
Speaker 1: Thousand, five hundred dollars, which is nearly double the seventy seven thousand, five hundred dollars starting price of a Yukondinali in the US. More ev and battery plant projects were
canceled in the US in the first quarter of twenty twenty five than the previous two years combined. According to
Atlas Public Policy, nearly eight billion dollars worth of projects were canceled in the first three months of the year.
There was a flood of EV investment in the US after the Inflation Reduction Act was passed in twenty twenty two, which provided subsidies for EV and battery plants.
Speaker 2: According to the Rhodium Group.
Speaker 1: The US was even on track for making nearly all the batteries needed for electric vehicles by twenty thirty before the projects were scrapped. But with slowing EV demand, the
Trump administration worked to roll back fuel economy and emission targets, and the uncertainty caused by tariffs, companies have decided to cancel EV projects and here's an example of how important the subsidies provided under the Inflation Reduction Act are. LG
Energy Solution estimates that its operating profits sold one hundred and thirty eight percent to about two hundred and fifty six million dollars.
Speaker 2: However, excluding tax.
Speaker 1: Credits under the IRA, LG says it actually posted an operating loss of fifty six million dollars in the first quarter.
Because of slowing EV demand, Toyota is planning to significantly increase EV production over the next two years. Japan's Nike
newspaper reports that Toyota will introduce fifteen in house develop EV's globally, and it's aiming to produce a million evs a year by twenty twenty seven. Toyota currently has five
EV models developed in house, which which are produced in Japan and China, so in order to meet its new targets, the Nikkee reports that Toyota could expand its EV production to the US, Thailand, and Argentina. We've got the latest
results for Friday's autoline poll. We pointed out that sales
of EV's in the US, not counting Tesla, Mercedes, and Portia, shot up forty three percent in the first quarter, so we wanted to know what you thought was going on.
Thirty six point eight percent of our members that voted believe car buyers were rushing out to buy an.
Speaker 2: EV before the subsidies go away.
Speaker 1: Five point four percent of you said it was because there is significant demand for EV's. Thirty four point two
percent of you said EV sales were up because as more EV models come out, they're appealing to more customers, and twenty three point six percent said that customers were looking for an alternative to Tesla.
Speaker 2: Kevin Theobald said the global.
Speaker 1: Markets are going EV and as more US buyers get EV's and realize the miss about EV's are wrong, others will buy them as well.
Speaker 2: Philip Garreltz says.
Speaker 1: Twenty twenty five is set to be a pivotal year for electric vehicles, but he also wonders that as automakers adopt Tesla's North American standard, can Tesla's superchargers accommodate the increased demand from multiple brands using their charging system?
Speaker 2: And Keith Mensing.
Speaker 1: Points out quote there are also a lot of incentives at the dealership as the evs have been sitting on their lots for a while and they want to sell that inventory. Thanks for all your feedback. We know a
lot of automakers keep track of what we report on the show and they'll be interested in these results. And
remember our polls are open to viewers with autoline memberships, and if you haven't done so already, now's a good time to join, which only costs a few dollars a month.
Look for a link to Patreon in the description box, or click the button that says join on our YouTube homepage.
Speaker 2: But that brings us to the end of today's show.
Speaker 1: Thanks for making autoline a part of your day.
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