AD #4062 - U.S. Senate Blocks California EV Mandate; GM EV Market Share in U.S. Hits 14%; Used Car Prices Top $30,000 Once Again
0:00
11:50
LIVE
Speaker 1: This is Online Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry. The US Senate voted to repeal
California's waiver that allows it to set its own vehicle emission standards, which also blocks the state's planned and sales of IC only vehicles by twenty thirty five. The bill
now heads to President Trump's desk for his signature. California's
mandate was adopted by eleven other states, but automakers and dealers lobbied hard to get rid of it because they say the goals aren't achievable and will limit consumer choice.
And while they celebrated the vote, the battle isn't over yet.
California Governor Gavin Newsom announced that the state is filing a lawsuit because it claims Congress doesn't have the legal authority to rescind the waiver. Earlier this year, the Government
Accountability Office said the waivers can't be repealed using the Congressional Review Act, but Republicans in Congress did that anyway, which is setting up this legal battle. And the Senate
didn't stop at light duty vehicles. It also revoked California's
plan for stricter emission regulations for heavy duty trucks, which the EPA approved in twenty twenty three. And that's not
the only legal battle involving electric vehicles. Earlier this month,
California in sixteen other states filed a lawsuit over the Transportation Department freezing five billion dollars in funds that Congress approved during the Biden administration for EV chargers, and yesterday the Government Accountability Office ruled that it was illegal for the Transportation Department to withhold those funds because the administration can't block funding approved by Congress. Toyota chairman Akio Toyota
is winning back support from investors and shareholders. Over the
last several years, concerns of his governance have been growing.
Toyota was caught falsely certifying vehicles by the Japanese government, and some investors felt the company was dragging its feet on evs, so his approval started to fall. In twenty
twenty two, ninety six percent of shareholders voted to keep Achio in his role, but last year that dropped to seventy two percent. However, two of the investment firms that
had urged shareholders to vote them out a year ago are now changing their tune Iss and Glass Lewis are now recommending that shareholders reappoint Achio when the company holds its annual meeting in June, and why not. Toyota has
the highest profit margins and quality ratings of any of the full line automakers in the world. Gm Ford and
Stilantis are really ticked off that cars imported to the US from the UK only phase a ten percent tariff, while the vehicles that they import from Canada and Mexico face a twenty five percent tariff. They say that puts
US manufacturers at a disadvantage, but auto unlist Michael Robinette with S and P Global Mobility tells Automotive News that the terraffs on Canada and Mexico will probably drop to the same ten percent level that the UK has. He
says the UK was just the first in line to negotiate with the Trump administration, and Chris Fuel, CEO of the Chrysler and Alfa Romeo brands at Stalantis, predicts that if the tariff issue with Canada and Mexico can be resolved quickly, then the rest of twenty twenty five will be strong. Speaking of tariffs, the EU put a wide
range of terrafts on Chinese evs to prevent them from swamping the European market, but those tariffs don't apply to gasoline or hybrid vehicles, including plug in hybrids, so in April, sales of Chinese cars in Europe shot up seventy nine percent and doubled their market share to four point six percent, And even with the terrafs, sales of Chinese evs were up forty one percent to more than sixteen thousand, four one hundred cars, according to numbers from Data Force BYD
Cherry and MG led the way. About one hundred thousand,
five hundred evs were sold in the US in April, according to Cox Automotive, that was down nearly six percent from last month, but automakers like GM, Nissan, and Tesla were able to increase sales. Tesla's market share, which sits
a little below fifty percent, went up by three point seven percent last month thanks to selling over twenty five thousand units of the model Y. GM also gained EV
market share in the US, which now sits at fourteen point four percent, up two percent from last year, and for the entire first quarter, GM's EV sales were up ninety four percent to just under thirty two thousand units, which makes it the number two EV seller in the US, ahead of Ford and Hyundai.
Speaker 2: Developing today's vehicles, issues can happen in an instant. When's
the best time to solve a problem The minute you know you have one. Meet Wireless neovi Cloud. You're secure
off the shelf solution empowering real time collaboration for quick resolution.
With Wireless neov Cloud, your team can prevent issues before they can escalate. Driver communication, data and remote diagnostics to
analyze and resolve your problems using OTA, allowing your executives oversight throughout the process. Wireless neov Cloud your vehicle update
solution and production, and on the road intrepid control systems driven by your data.
Speaker 1: Chinese EV maker Shaomi saw success with its very first model, the sous seven, now having sold nearly two hundred and sixty thousand examples in just over a year, but recently it's come under a lot more scrutiny, mainly triggered by a fatal accident involving one of its vehicles operating in hands free driving mode. However, it hopes to turn things
around starting with the introduction of its very first SUV, the U seven. The model is just slightly larger than
the new Tesla Model Y and is based on Shaomi's eight hundred volt architecture called Modina. There's two battery sizes
available that provide ranges between seven hundred and sixty kilometers or about four hundred and seventy miles for the top range all wheel drive version, and eight hundred and thirty five kilometers or roughly five hundred and fifteen miles of range for rear drive models. Those rear drive models make
about three hundred and fifteen horse power, while there's two all wheel drive outputs of nearly five hundred horse power and a max version that makes six hundred and eighty horse power, which launches the U seven from zero to one hundred kilometers an hour in three point two seconds.
Tesla doesn't have a version of the model WHY with that kind of performance, but the others are about the same.
The Y has less range than the U seven as well, but the U seven has a bigger battery pack, so it's also heavier and less efficient. The interior is dominated
by a large center display screen, and while there's no driver cluster, a long, thin screen sits on top of the dash at the base of the windshield. Shaumi says
the U seven is scheduled to go on sale in China in July, and Car News China reports that there's already scalpers trying to sell build slots online for as much as twenty seven hundred bucks. Automakers operating in the
US face lawsuits in litigation unlike any other country. In
certain counties and cities in the US are practically lawsuit factories.
Los Angeles and Orange County have the distinction of filing more lawsuits against automakers than anywhere else in the world.
So it must be sweet revenge for the Ford Motor Company to file a racketeering lawsuit against three law firms in California, led by the Night Law Group. It says
they conducted a massive scheme to quote, deceive California judges, dupe their own clients, and to defraud auto manufacturers. Ford's
investigation uncovered over one hundred million dollars worth of fraudulent claims and over billing. One attorney built for fifty seven
and a half hours that he allegedly worked in one day, another build for thirty four hours he supposedly worked in one day, and that's just the tip of the iceberg.
All told, the law firms have filed five thousand lawsuits against Ford, an other automate. RICO, or the Racketeer Influenced
and Corrupt Organizations Act, was enacted in nineteen seventy to fight organized crime, and by filing a RICO lawsuit, Ford could be awarded triple damages. Used car prices are back
on the rise, and it's not just because of tariffs.
According to Edmunds, the average transaction price of used vehicles three years or less in the first quarter was over thirty thousand dollars for the first time since twenty twenty three.
The increase is mostly due to the chip shortage caused by the pandemic, which resulted in lower supplies of new cars.
Leasing also declined in twenty twenty two and twenty twenty three, which means there are fewer three year old vehicles returning to dealers now, so because there are fewer used vehicles in inventory, prices are going up. Edmunds also says that
it expects terrace could cause new vehicle inventory to s which will cause a similar shortage of used vehicles in the next few years that we're seeing now, and that means even higher prices. Rivian has already revealed the all
new R two, but it's still having a little fun with the camel wraps for test models. I'm sure you
remember those boring old wraps that automakers used to put on vehicles. Over the last ten years or so, we
have seen some more interesting designs, but they're usually a combination of black and white geometric patterns. Not Rivian, though.
It has much more brightly colored wraps that take inspiration from the outdoors and even children's books. And I'm willing
to bet that some customers would actually like this on their own vehicle. But that's a wrap for today's show
and this week, And as a reminder, we'll be off on Monday for the Memorial Day holiday, so I'll see you back here on Tuesday, and thanks, and I hope that you have a great weekend.
Speaker 3: 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 4: There's nothing wrong with heavy metal, hey light enough, but with world class composite material Tajent Automotive Technologies makes vehicles lighter, safer, and more eco friendly.
Speaker 3: 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.
0:00
11:50