Tariffs on imports to the U.S. have been paused for 90 days except for cars and components, which still face a 25% tariff, causing automakers to seek relief. Stellantis faced criticism for misleading 'Made in USA' claims, leading to ad adjustments. BMW and Volkswagen shared mixed Q1 results, with BMW's EV sales growing significantly. Waymo begins autonomous vehicle testing in Tokyo, while Nissan partners with AI firm Wave to advance driver assistance tech. The episode also covers advancements in humanoid robots by automakers and suppliers, new fast Level 2 EV chargers by ChargePoint, and trends in longer car loans as buyers cope with rising vehicle costs.
Topics:us tariffs on carsstellantis made in usa controversybmw ev sales growthvolkswagen financial resultswaymo autonomous testing japannissan ai driver assistancehumanoid robots in automotivechargepoint level 2 ev chargersbidirectional charginglong car loans
- U.S. Pauses Tariffs Except for Car Imports - Jeep Not American Enough for "Made in USA" Badge - BMW's BEV Sales Jump in Q1 - VW Impacted by Fines and Restructuring Costs - Waymo Starts 1st Overseas Road Tests - Nissan Developing Lidar-Based AV System - More OEMs Jump Into Humanoid Robots - ChargePoint Launching Next-Gen Charging Units
"...now comes standard with an eleven kilowat two way charger, or there's an optional twenty two kilowat unit. ..."
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Speaker 1: This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry. It feels like tariffs are all
that anyone in the auto industry is talking about. And
yesterday President Trump put his tariff war on pause for the next ninety days after they threw the stock and bond markets into a meltdown. All imports going into the
US now face a ten percent tariff. All that is,
except for cars and their components. They still get hit
with a twenty five percent tariff. Automakers are practically begging
the President for relief. So that's going to be the
topic on Auto Line after Hours this afternoon.
Speaker 2: We have Glenn Stevens.
Speaker 1: The executive director of Mischado, coming on the show, and he's got a lot of behind the scenes info he can share. Henry Payne from the Detroit News will also
be on, so join John and Gary when the show goes live at three pm Eastern Time.
Speaker 2: Today. Stillant is pulling.
Speaker 1: TV ads after being accused of deceptive marketing. Truth in
Advertising or TINA, a nonprofit that follows misleading advertising, says Stilantis was not being truthful for claiming that its vehicles are built in the USA, says the automaker doesn't really make vehicles in America, it merely assembles them. Because of that,
Tina says the ads violate Federal Trade Commission rules, which stipulate that products marked as made in the USA should contain no or a negligible amount of form content. And
since the vehicles featured in the ads have parts like engines, motors, and transmissions that are foreign made, Tina thinks that should label them as assembled in the USA, not built in the USA.
Speaker 2: Stillantis says it will adjust.
Speaker 1: The language in the ads and then it will continue running them on social media. BMW reported its global Q
one sales and Volkswagen pro preliminary Q one financial results with a mixture of both good and bad news for both companies. And let's start with BMW sales were down
one point four percent, mainly because of a big drop off in China, though they were up almost everywhere else.
The company sold five hundred and eighty six thousand vehicles, including BMW Mini.
Speaker 2: And Rolls Royce. But the real story.
Speaker 1: Is with BMW's BV sales, which were up and impress of thirty two percent, accounting for eighteen point six percent of its total sales and EV sales should be even better this year. BMW will launch its new class evs
in a matter of months, which feature a dedicated EV platform that cuts weight by ten percent, cost by twenty percent, adds thirty percent more range, and charges thirty percent faster compared.
Speaker 2: To its existing evs.
Speaker 1: Meanwhile, Volkswagen reported that its Q one revenue rose by about three percent to seventy eight billion euros, but it's operating profit drop thirty nine percent. VW blames that drop
on six hundred million euros and CO two finds two hundred million on restructuring costs at Cariette software company three hundred million euros that it's still paying for its diesel emission scandal and from having to revalue the vehicles that it exports to the US due to Trump's tariffs.
Speaker 2: But remember these are just early.
Speaker 1: Figures and those CO two fines and tariffs could be negotiated down.
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Speaker 4: Do you want to see the automotive industry grow and thrive?
Speaker 2: So do we.
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you extra content that will be available only to members, but it will especially make sure that you and out a Line continue to drive the automotive industry forward. We
have a follow up from a December twenty twenty four report that Weimo is about to test vehicles on public roads outside of the US for the first time. The
autonomous right Hanling Company announced that it was going to Japan, and now it says it will start testing in Tokyo next week. It will first map the city with twenty
five human operated Jaguar eyepaces, with the goal of learning about the city's infrastructure and driving environment. After that, Weimo
plans to test autonomous vehicles with a driver on board, but it declined to say when the mapping phase will be finished.
Speaker 2: As you may remember.
Speaker 1: GM and high a plan to launch a self driving service in Japan, but that fell apart after gm acxd its Cruise autonomous unit. Nissan has partnered with an AI
company called Wave to develop the next generation of its driver assistance technology, or what Nissan calls Propilot. The automaker
will integrate Wave's AI driver software into a new light OAR based system that Nissan claims will set new standards for autonomous driving because of things like the ability to avoid accidents. It looks like they're working on predictive maneuvers
like swerving around an object that comes flying into your lane or around a crash that's happening in front of you.
Nissan says this next gen pro Pilot tech will launch from its twenty twenty seven fiscal year which runs from April to twenty twenty seven to the end of March in twenty twenty eight, humanoid robots seem to be getting more and more attention.
Speaker 2: In the auto industry.
Speaker 1: Automakers including Mercedes, BMW, High, Hyundai, and Tesla are all developing or testing them, and now the supplier Scheffler is jumping into the market with plans to produce the robots for automakers. The company is showing off the components it
can make for humanoids, including sensors for perception and electric motors and power electronics for limbs and joints. And along
the same lines, Chinese automaker GAC revealed next gen joints and servo drivers for humanoid robots that it developed in house, which allow for a range of uses from precise operations to heavy duty movements. Charge Point controls an estimated sixty
one percent of all public level two EVY chargers in the US, and now it's about to launch an all new generation. Level two chargers range an output from three
kilowatts up to nineteen point two and these new units will operate at that highest level. Charge Point claims that
they can double the charging speed of a typical level two unit with the ability to charge from zero to one hundred percent in as little as four hours. On
top of that, they'll also offer bidirectional charging capability, as well as solar and battery storage compatibility and both NACS and CCS connectors. Charge Point says the new unit's launching
Europe this summer, followed by the US at the end of this year. And speaking of bidirectional charging, that's one
of the upgrades that Renault is making to the electric version of the Senec. The vehicle now comes standard with
an eleven kilowat two way charger, or there's an optional twenty two kilowat unit. This gives the Senic the ability
to power almost any device that runs on electricity or to send power back to the grid, which allows owners in France to lower their electric bill.
Speaker 2: Other new features include one.
Speaker 1: Pedal driving and plug in charge services, as well as upgrades to the seats, safety and connectivity. New cars are
really expensive in most of the world, and yet lots of people need a new car, So in the US, car buyers are going with much longer car loans in order to bring down their monthly payments.
Speaker 2: The average new car.
Speaker 1: Loan is for five point eight years, for an average of forty one thousand, four hundred and seventy three dollars.
Speaker 2: But according to Edmunds.
Speaker 1: Last year, twenty percent or one out of five car buyers went with an eighty four month loan, which is seven years, and interestingly, the average loan duration for used cars is the same as new five point eight years, even though the average loan amount is twenty eight thousand, three hundred and thirty eight dollars, or over thirteen thousand dollars less than a new car. Edmunds says these long
loans show that consumers are financially stretched and that it will only get worse with more tariffs.
Speaker 2: But that brings us to the end of today's show.
Thanks for tuning in.
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