Tariffs on imported vehicles and parts are set to remain high, threatening the US presence of several brands without domestic assembly, including Audi and Jaguar. The Russian auto market is collapsing amid sanctions and economic woes, while China introduces new battery safety standards. GM recalls 721,000 trucks over engine issues, and Chinese EV maker Japung showcases a humanoid robot aiding production. US EV sales rose but market share fell to 6.8%, with prices increasing. Toyota and Waymo partner to accelerate autonomous vehicle development. Kenworth launches new electric heavy-duty trucks, though EVs remain a small share of truck sales.
Topics:import tariffsus car brands at riskrussian car market declinegm engine recallchinese battery safety standardsus ev market sharetoyota waymo partnershipkenworth electric truckshumanoid robots in manufacturing
- Tariff Relief Only for U.S. Assembled Cars - Trump Tariffs Are Here to Stay - Tariffs Could Kill Off These 11 Car Brands - Russia Car Sales Drop Big Time - GM Recalls V8s In Its Most Profitable Trucks - Another Humanoid Robot in China - CATL Meets Strict China Battery Safety Standard - EVs Losing Market Share in U.S. - Toyota and Waymo Join Forces - Kenworth Debuts Two New Electric Trucks
"...three, the Ford Mustang, Machi Chevy Equinox, and Hyundai Ionik five. Meanwhile, sales of used evs soared thirty ..."
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Speaker 1: This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry. Based on most of the media coverage,
you might be under the impression that President Trump ease the import terrafs for automakers and suppliers, But that's kind of misleading. It only applies to vehicles that are assembled
in the US, and it's only for two years. As
we reported yesterday, automakers can apply for a tariff rebate up to three point seventy five percent of the MSRP of a vehicle, which is meant to help offset the tariffs that they paid on imported components. That applies until
April thirtieth of twenty twenty six, and then the rebate drops to two and a half percent until April thirtieth of twenty twenty seven. After that it goes away completely. Also,
in the first year, the rebate only applies to imported components that account for fifteen percent of the MSRP, and in the second year it only applies to components that account for ten percent. So if imported components account for
more than that, then too bad. They don't count for
any terraf releef. So here's our auto line insight. Any
automaker or supplier that was hoping Trump would offer more relief on imports now has to face the grim reality that these tarraffs are likely here to stay. There's little
chance for relief unless individual countries are trading blocks like the EU are able to negotiate lower terraffs by offering to lower their own. That means all imported vehicles are
now stuck with a twenty five percent tariff, and that is going to land like a hammer on all automakers, suppliers and dealers. And the ones that will be hurt
the most are the automakers that don't have any US assembly, and that includes get this are you ready? Audi, Aston, Martin, McLaren, Jaguar,
Land Rover, Porsche, Fiat, Alfa, Romeo, Maserati, Mini, and miss It's Subishi. So it's possible this could be the end
for most of those brands in the US market. Some
very profitable high end brands like Ferrari, Lamborghini, Rolls, Royce and Bentley will probably be able to absorb some of the costs, and besides, their customers can probably tolerate higher prices.
But for the rest of them, it's gonna be a disaster.
We think consumers will rush to the showrooms to buy pre tear iff cars in May and that after that sales will nose dive. Speaking of car sales falling off
a cliff, the Russian market is in a free fall.
Sales plummeted in the first quarter due to a poor economy, high interest rates, and the effects of sanctions. According to
the Association of European Businesses, automakers sold two hundred and fifty four thousand passenger vehicles in the first quarter, down twenty six percent from a year ago, and sales aren't expected to recover this year, with analysts forecasting sales to be below a million vehicles compared to one point six million last year. Inventory mainly from Chinese brands, is piling
up and some dealers have had to resort to offering discounts as high as twelve thousand dollars to help boose sales.
And on top of that, some buyers are holding off on getting a new car because many analysts believe that some foreign brands like Hondai and Renault will return to the market.
Speaker 2: Performance that shines even in the rain. That's what really matters.
Rich don't pretends to tires, improved grip and wet conditions.
Speaker 1: Hey there, enjoy what you're watching, then consider becoming an Autoline member. Just click the join button on the Autoline
Network YouTube homepage or we've also set up a Patreon account under Autoline Now. Absolutely no thing will change with
the content that we already provide you, but we're giving exclusive access to even more like early viewing of Autoline exclusives, behind the scenes videos, and even live Q and as with John and I, there's no over the air update for this recall. GM is recalling seven hundred and twenty
one thousand full sized trucks and SUVs that are equipped with the automaker's newest generation of small block V eight, which may contain faulty components that can cause the engine to seize up. The six point two liter units made
at a GM plant in New York between twenty twenty one and twenty twenty four have crankshaft dimensions and surface finishes that are out of spec, which can cause damage from sediment building up on the connecting rods and in the oil galleries. Customers are going to be asked to
bring their vehicle into the dealer for inspection. If the
dealer determines nothing is wrong, they'll to a complete oil change and switch over to a higher viscosity oil. If
the engine fails the inspection, it will be replaced with a completely new engine. GM believes it will only have
to replace a small percentage of the engines in the recalled vehicles, but it will still be costly for the automaker even if it doesn't replace any A full oil change on seven hundred and twenty one thousand vehicles will cost tens of millions of dollars. Another day, another humanoid robot.
This time it's from Chinese evymaker Japung, which showcased its robot called Iron at the Shanghai Auto Show. The robot
was actually unveiled last November, but Japung says it's already being used in its production lines assisting with assembling vehicles.
It stands at five feet eight inches tall or one point seven to three meters and weighs one hundred and fifty four pounds or seventy kilograms. Chapung even adopted the
Voices Assistant from its Smart Cockpit for the robot's voice system, and the company's autonomous driving tech has also been integrated in In addition to using iron on the production line, Japung says humanoid robots could be used as a personal assistant or to handle tasks in retail spaces, offices, or in the home. At the end of last month, China
announced new national standards for battery safety that kicks in in July of next year. But we already have our
first company to meet those requirements. CTL says that its
Chilin battery is the first to be certified that it won't catch on fire or explode during a thermal runaway event, and that any smoke generated by the battery won't harm passengers in the vehicle. In order to get the certification,
the battery was put through a bottom impact test and three hundred fast charging cycles while short circuiting. Automakers sold
nearly one hundred and seven thousand, six hundred new pure electric vehicles in the US in March, and while that was an increase of eight percent compared to a year ago, EV market share actually declined to six point eight percent of the overall market. The average transaction price for new
evs increased four point four percent to about fifty nine two hundred dollars in March, and the price gap between new evs and ICs grew to twelve thousand, two hundred and twenty nine bucks, the highest it's been in years.
The top selling EV models in March where the Tesla Model Y and Model three, the Ford Mustang, Machi Chevy Equinox, and Hyundai Ionik five. Meanwhile, sales of used evs soared
thirty nine percent to just under thirty five thousand units, and for the first time ever, used EV market share reached two percent of the used market. The average price
for a used EV in March was just under thirty seven thousand dollars, a little over two percent higher than last year. Here's a pretty significant development in the world
of personal mobility. Toyota and Wemo reached a deal to
collaborate on speeding up the development and deployment of autonomous vehicles.
The two companies plan to develop a new autonomous platform, which will be built by Toyota and deployed in Weaimo's fleet, and they'll also explore integrating Weamo's technology into personal vehicles.
Earlier this month, Weamos started mapping roads in Tokyo, and once that's complete, autonomous test with a driver on board can kick off. Kenworth is coming out with a couple
of new electric heavy duty trucks. They're both based on
a platform developed by parent company Packhar that features a central drive unit which allows for more wheelbase flexibility and a bigger battery. That drive unit can produce between three
hundred and sixty five and four hundred and seventy horse power of continuous power and up to eighteen hundred and fifty pound feet of torque. The TAE class h T
tru has four battery packs available. The smallest provides about
one hundred miles of range, while the biggest six hundred and twenty five kilowat hour pack is estimated to deliver over two hundred and fifty miles of range. The T
six eight, which is meant more for short and medium haul operations, has three battery sizes, with the largest being a five hundred kilowat hour pack that provides over two hundred miles of range. Kenworth says it's taking orders now
from customers in Canada and the US, and deliveries are scheduled to begin later this year, but we don't expect evs to make up any meaningful volume in the truck maker's total sales. Volvo Trucks put out a press release
yesterday that it just cracked five thousand global sales of battery electric trucks, even though it started selling them six years ago. That brings us to the end of today's show.
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