Detroit's Big Three automakers criticize President Trump's UK trade deal, fearing cheaper imports with low American content could threaten USMCA-compliant vehicles. Toyota reports record revenue despite a slight sales drop and profit decline, warning tariffs will impact future earnings. Nissan cancels a new battery plant amid financial struggles and offers early retirements. California and other states sue over halted EV charger funding. Toyota refreshes the Corolla Cross with design and tech updates, while Jeep teases a subtly updated Grand Cherokee. Aurora Innovation advances autonomous trucking with driverless deliveries between Dallas and Houston. The episode also debates the potential revival of the YouGo EV.
Topics:us uk trade dealdetroit automakers criticismtoyota financial resultsnissan battery plant cancellationev charger funding lawsuittoyota corolla cross refreshjeep grand cherokee updateautonomous trucksyougo ev revival debate
- D3 Blast Trump’s UK Trade Deal - Audi Expects Trade Relief, Too - Toyota Posts Record Revenue, Profits Drop - Automotive Report Card Coming Out Soon - Trump Admin Sued Over Ending EV Charger Funds - Nissan Scraps EV Battery Plant in Japan - Toyota Refreshes the Corolla Cross - Jeep Teases All-New Grand Cherokee - Aurora Aims to Operate AV Trucks at Night - Autoline Yugo Poll
"... speaking of vehicle refreshes, Jeep teas the new Grand Cherokee. In terms of design, it doesn't look like there's..."
Select text to request an explanation
Speaker 1: This is Ontoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry. It's understandable that President Trump is
proud of his new trade deal with the United Kingdom, but gm Ford and Stillantis blasted the agreement through their lobbying group, the American Automotive Policy Council. They said it
will now be cheaper to import cars from England with almost zero American content than importing vehicles from Canada and Mexico that are compliant with the USMCA Free Trade Agreement.
Vehicles coming in from Canada and Mexico get hit with a twenty five percent tariff right now, even if they meet all the stipulations of the US MCA trade packed, the very trade pack that Trump negotiated in his first term.
Cars from England will now only pay a ten percent tariff, and gm Ford and Stallantis worry that Trump will cut trade deals like the one with the UK with other countries, notably Japan and South Korea. Earlier this week, we reported
that BMW believes it is going to get some tear for releaf by July, and now Audi is saying the same thing, and that will probably make Detroit's automakers even matter.
Toyota posted earnings for its twenty twenty five fiscal year, and the results are rather mixed. It sold nine point
three million vehicles globally, which was down ever so slightly.
But even with a drop in sales, revenue came in at a whopping three hundred and thirty billion dollars, up six and a half percent. But that wasn't enough to
prevent a drop in profitability. It made an operating profit
of thirty three billion dollars, which is quite an impressive number, but it's a ten percent drop from the year before, and its net profit of thirty two billion represents an almost eight percent drop. Any other automaker would kill to
report earnings like this, but no company likes to report a drop in profits. Yoda has already warned investors that
Trump's tariffs will shave twenty one percent off its operating profit in its new fiscal year. And by the way,
once Honda and Nissan post their earnings for their last fiscal year, we're going to publish our annual Automotive report Card, and we're going to give our Patreon and YouTube members first crack at all the data and analysis. So if
you haven't signed up to be a member, now would be a great time to do so. It only costs
a few dollars a month, and it really helps us in our mission to bring you the best insider news of what's going on in the global automotive industry. California
and sixteen other states are suing the Trump administration over ending a five billion dollar federal funding program for EV chargers.
The states claim that denying the funds they were promised will make it more difficult to build the necessary number of chargers to support growing EV adoption and make it more difficult to combat climate change and reduce pollution. Congress
approved the EV charging funding in twenty twenty one as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and the states say the administration doesn't have the authority to end the funds. Nissan is canceling construction of a new battery
plant in Japan, just months after announcing it. The automaker
revealed plans for the one point one billion dollar LFP battery plant in January, but it's scrapping it because it's quote taking immediate turnaround actions and exploring all options to recover its performance. Last month, Nissan said it expects and
net loss of around five billion dollars in the recent quarter, so it looks like the company is halting the plant to save cash. Nissan also said it's going to offer
early retirement to hundreds of workers in Japan, the first time it's done so in the country in eighteen years.
Toyota sold just over ninety three thousand Corolla Crosses in the US last year, an increase of nearly thirty one percent, and now it's refreshing the small crossover for the twenty twenty six model year. The company is especially trying to
provide more distinction between the gas and hybrid models. The
hybrid now features a more closed off body color grill, while the gas version is more open and meant to look more rugged. There's also some differences in the front
facia just below the headlights, and sticking with the exterior, customers can select a new blue paint finish and eighteen inch wheels as well. Now let's move inside, which has
been updated with the new center console design around the shifter and an available ten point five inch center display screen.
Toyota says the new Corolla Cross will start hitting dealerships in the US later this year, but no update on pricing yet. And speaking of vehicle refreshes, Jeep teas the
new Grand Cherokee. In terms of design, it doesn't look
like there's any massive changes, but the lower part of the front facia and possibly the hood have been massaged and the interior center screen gains knobs in some haptic buttons, but loses buttons and knobs for the HVAC system in favor of all haptic controls. Jeep says we'll learn more
about the new Grand Cherokee before it's launched later this year.
Last week, Aurora Innovation announced that it's the first company to operate autonomous heavy duty trucks on public roads as a commercial business, not as a test project. The trucks
are making autonomous deliveries without a driver on board between Dallas and Hue Houston, and they now have covered about four thousand miles. Aurora says the next step is to
validate the trucks for nighttime operation. They currently only run
during the day, which limits them to eight hour shifts, but by operating at night, Aurora can expand to sixteen hour shifts, which would be longer than the hours of service humans can drive. A truck. In the US, truck
drivers are allowed to drive a maximum of eleven hours after a ten hour break. You know, we got a
ton of comments about the report of a group of investors that want to bring back you Go. Many of
you are in favor of a car like this the newborc Time says, I'd rock the hell out of that new Ugo. Always down for any and all squared off
compact hatchbacks. But there's some skeptics out there as well.
Roughneck Delta worries a bit about charging. The range for
the Yougo next is fine if they can equip it with three hundred and fifty kilowatt fast charging, while micro Wilhelm claims quote that you Goo is not coming back.
The founder is a university professor. They have no people,
no factory, no money. No, it's just a marketing stunt,
like so many other evie startups that never get beyond the announcement phase. So let's put this to a vote.
What do you think will happen with you Go. One
I'd rock the hell out of that new you Go. Two,
the real world specs of the car will make it unappealing to most consumers. Three this is just a marketing
stunt like so many other ev startups, or none of the above. See my comments below. This poll is only
open to our Patreon and YouTube members, but we'll still report the full results to all of you on Monday, and that brings us to the end of today's show.
Thanks for joining us, and I hope that you have a great weekend.
Speaker 2: Auto Line Daily is brought to you by Intrepid Control Systems, over the Air Engineering Boost your Game, taj In Automotive Technologies, the formula for better mobility and by.
Speaker 3: There's nothing wrong with heavy metal. Hey light enough, but
with world class composite material Tagent Automotive Technologies makes vehicles lighter, safer, and more eco friendly.
Speaker 2: Wards is the industry leader for news, data and analysis.
That's why companies across the globe subscribe to our premium service.
Maybe even your own log in for subscriber access. Now
check your company's intranet for details and rely on Wards Auto dot com to keep you informed.
Request an explanation for:
3 cars
3 cars featured
Request an Explanation
Heard something you'd like explained? We'll add it to this episode.
Sign in to request explanations for terms you heard.
Want to learn more?
Browse our glossary for plain-English explanations of automotive terms, jargon, and concepts.
See something that's not quite right? Our annotations are AI-generated and can sometimes miss the mark.
Click the flag icon on any annotation to suggest a correction.
