AD #4052 - Detroit 3 Blast Trump’s UK Trade Deal; Toyota Posts Record Revenue, Profits Drop; Nissan Scraps EV Battery Plant

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.

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Toyota Corolla

Toyota Corolla Cross

Jeep Grand Cherokee

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