Speaker 1: This is Outline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry. Over the last decade or so,
the auto industry was in a mad rush to invest in electric cars, but that may be about to come to a screeching halt, or at least in the United States it could. Republicans in the House of Representatives are
introducing legislation that will effectively gut incentives to sell evs.
The House Ways and Means Committee introduced a bill yesterday that would get rid of the seven thousand, five hundred dollars credit for buying a new EV at the end of twenty twenty six, and starting in January, only companies that have sold fewer than two hundred thousand evs will qualify for the credit until it's phased out next year.
The bill will also eliminate the four thousand dollars credit for used evs and the seven thousand, five hundred dollars commercial vehicle credit, which is given to consumers who lease an EV. If the credits are eliminated, eb sales are
expected to decline since prices will go up, and by the way, they're also looking at getting rid of any incentives for hydrogen vehicles. Two of Japan's largest auto makers
posted their latest financial earnings today, and the numbers are miserable.
Honda sold three point seven million cars, trucks and vans last year, down nine point six percent due to a drop off in Asia and Europe. It earned one hundred
and forty six billion dollars in revenue, which was actually up six point two percent, but its operating profit fell twelve percent to eight billion dollars and its net profit dropped twenty three percent to seven point nine billion, and Honda expects its profits to drop sixty four percent this year because of President Trump's tariffs. And at Nissan, the
situation is far worse. It sold three point one million
vehicles last year, down about two percent. It brought in
only eighty five billion dollars in revenue, down just a fraction from last year, but it's operating profit plummeted eighty eight percent to only four hundred and seventy one million dollars, and it lost four and a half billion dollars. As
we've already reported, Nissan has a new CEO who is going to restructure the company, and as a result of that, Renault, which owns thirty seven point five percent of Nissan says it's going to take a two point four billion dollar hit to its first quarter earnings. Speaking of Japanese car
companies needing to cut costs to be competitive, word out of China this morning is that Mazda is teaming up with CATL to use its skateboard for future EV models.
Those models will be built at Chang'an Motors, which is Mazda's Chinese manufacturing partner. Mazda is investing one point three
billion dollars in China to double production, with a goal of hitting three hundred thousand sales by twenty twenty seven.
It's partnership with c ATL will give it a lower cost base and we'll get it to market sooner. What's
intriguing to us is how Mazda is not relying on Toyota to get this done, since Toyota is a five percent equity owner in Mazda. It just shows the strong
independent streak that exists at Mazda. The shaw Mee Su
said got all kinds of accolades when it debuted thanks to its portia esque styling and its blistering performance, like setting the lap record at the nurburgreenk for a four door sedan, but recently the car has come under a storm of criticism. First, it was involved in a horrific
accident while in semi autonomous mode, chilling three passengers. That
accident made headlines all across China and triggered a government crackdown on aggressive marketing of hands free driving. Then last week,
the Sioux seven came under all kinds of criticism for an optional hood it offered for the car for five thou eight hundred dollars that looked exactly like the hood on the Nurburgreen car. But it turned out the optional
hood was merely cosmetic with fake air outlets, and some customers are demanding a full refund. And now the China
Automotive Quality Network reports that the Sou seven has the absolute worst quality of the twenty nine new mid size and larger BEVs that are on sale. So far, the
sales of the Su seven are still good, but we're definitely going to have to keep an eye on this.
Neo is struggling financially, but the company continues to impress the industry with its technology. It just became the first
automaker to get certification for its steer by wire system in Europe. It already got certified in China. Lexis and
Mercedes are expected to come out with steer by wire soon, so this is quite a coup for Neo to beat them to the European market, even though the Tesla cybertruck already has steer by wire. Automakers are quite interested in
the technology since it eliminates the steering column, which can dramatically improve driver safety in front and collisions. It also
makes it quite easy to adopt speed sensitive steering, which can eliminate handover hand turns at lower speeds. General Motors
just got a good get it hired Stirling Anderson for a newly created position of Executive VP of Global Product and Chief Product Officer. Anderson co founded autonomous trucking startup
Aurora in twenty seventeen. Before that, he worked at Tesla,
where he led the Model X program and development of its autopilot system. At General Motors, Anderson will be responsible
for the end to end product life cycle for both gasoline and electric vehicles, including hardware, software services, and user experience.
Anderson will report directly to GM President Mark Royce, and he'll be based in GM's Mountain View Tech Center in California, which kind of makes us wonder if this is going to become GM's equivalent to Forge Skuntworks in Irvine, California.
Mercedes confirmed it will build the GLC crossover at its plant in Alabama, and it's all about President Trump's tariffs.
Mercedes would not say how much it'll invest at the plant to make the model there, but it did say it will be significant. Production is expected to start in
late twenty twenty seven, and Auto Forecast Solution says Mercedes could build fifty thousand GLCs in the first year of production.
Mercedes also declined to say if it will build the planned electric version of the GLC in Alabama. That plant
currently produces the GL and GLS and their electric variance.
We've got some more good future product intel from Auto Forecast Solutions. General Motors is going to stick with the
current generation of Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon until twenty thirty two. No doubt GM will have some refreshes between
now and then, but the next gen versions of those trucks will not be out for another seven years, and that's one way GM will boost their profitability. Auto Forecast
also says that Honda will start production of the Afila EVS at its plant in East Liberty, Ohio in August twenty twenty six. That's part of Honda's joint venture with Sony.
But Honda's dealers are undoubtedly going to pounce on that a FELA wants to use a direct sales model, claiming it can avoid using franchise dealers since it is a brand new company. But with a Filas getting built in
a Honda plan that's already making Honda crvs, dealers are going to claim that a Feeling is part of Honda and that it needs to sell its cars through them anyway.
That brings us to the end of today's report. Thanks
for watching Autoline Daily.
Speaker 2: Auto Line Daily is to you by Intrepid Control Systems over the Air Engineering, Boost your Game tag in Automotive Technologies, the formula for better Mobility, and by there's nothing wrong with heavy metal, Hey light enough, but with world class composite material taging, Automotive technologies makes vehicles lighter, safer, and more eco friendly.
About this episode
The U.S. House is set to cut EV incentives drastically, potentially slowing electric vehicle sales by eliminating key tax credits. Japanese automakers Honda and Nissan report significant profit drops amid global challenges. Mazda partners with CATL to boost EV production in China independently of Toyota. The Xiaomi SU7 EV faces quality criticisms despite strong sales. Neo achieves a milestone with steer-by-wire certification in Europe. GM hires Sterling Anderson as product czar to oversee vehicle development, while Mercedes plans GLC production in Alabama to avoid tariffs. Upcoming vehicle production updates include extended life for GM's midsize trucks and Honda's new EV launch in Ohio.
- U.S. House Ready to Gut EV Incentives - Honda Forecasts 64% Profit Drop - Nissan Operating Profit Drops 88% - Mazda Teams Up with CATL For EVs - Xiaomi SU7 Gets Lowest Quality Rating - Nio 1st In EU with Steer-By-Wire - GM Hires Sterling Anderson As Product Czar - Mercedes Moving GLC Production to U.S. - Next-Gen Colorado, Canyon Not Until 2032
