The episode covers several key automotive industry developments including the 2027 Chevy Bolt's mild facelift and switch to LFP batteries, China's rare earth export dynamics affecting global supply, and BYD's stalled sales growth signaling challenges in China's auto market. It also discusses Tata Motors' interest in acquiring Iveco, Stellantis' significant Q2 losses, and Mercedes' aggressive EV price cuts after poor US sales. Additionally, the rise of semi-solid state batteries with MG's upcoming EV and a poll on US franchise dealer laws highlight evolving industry trends and consumer perspectives.
Topics:chevy bolt 2027 faceliftlithium iron phosphate batterieschina rare earth exportsbyd sales slowdowntata motors iveco takeoverstellantis financial lossesmercedes ev price cutssemi solid state batteriesus franchise dealer lawsev market challenges
- 2027 Chevy Bolt Gets Mild Facelift - China Resumes Magnet Exports, To A Degree - BYD’s Sales Growth Stalls Out - Neta and Zeekr Fudge Sales Numbers - Stellantis To Report Q2 Loss Of €2.5B - Tata Wants to Buy Iveco - U.S. Car Dealers Q2 Profits +27% - MG Claims Semi-Solid Battery Debuts Next Month - Mercedes Slashes EV Prices - Autoline Poll on Direct Sales
"...em, but I can tell you it looks just like the old Bolt EUV with the front and rear camouflaged. When the old..."
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Speaker 1: This is out of line Daily the shows.
Speaker 2: Dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry. When the
Chevrolet Bolt went out of production two years ago, General Motors promised it would bring it back using its altium platform and batteries, and based on some spy shots that just came out, the twenty twenty seven Bolt will look almost exactly like the outgoing one, with some minor front and rear end styling changes. That means GM saved a
ton of money by keeping the old tooling. We'll provide
a link if you'd like to see the spy shots, since we don't have the rights to show them, but I can tell you it looks just like the old Bolt EUV with the front and rear camouflaged. When the
old Bolt EUV went out of production, it was priced at thirty two thousand dollars. But the new one will
use lithium iron phosphate or LFP batteries, not NMC like the old one, and we think that will take prices even lower. M's assembly plant in Fairfax, Kansas, where the
new Bolt will now be produced, will also reportedly make other low priced evs, but no word on those models yet.
Looks like China made its point reminding the world how dependent it is on the country for rare earth magnets.
Last month, magnet exports from China to the US skyrocketed up six hundred and sixty percent from May, and globally, China's rare earth exports were up nearly one hundred and sixty percent. China started restricting rare earth exports at April
in retaliation to US tariffs, which caused a shortage that forced some automakers to halt production. But the US and
China reached a deal last month to speed up shipments.
Speaker 1: Of rare earths, which seems to be working.
Speaker 2: However, shipments are still below last year's levels, and we think that's to make sure that nobody forgets where they have to buy them from. The Chinese auto industry often
looks like an unstoppable steamroller, but behind the scenes there's a growing amount of turmoil. Bloomberg reports that byd sales
growth has stalled out and it won't hit it sales goal of five and a half million vehicles this year.
Analysts believe it will fall about half a million units short of that.
Speaker 1: It's still a big number and would push.
Speaker 2: It pass forward in global sales, but it may be a signal that the sunny days of China's biggest automaker are now in the past. And it's not just byd
that's running into problems. Reuter's reports that Netta and Zeker
artificially inflated their EV sales numbers by arranging for them to get insurance before any customers bought them. That allowed
them to technically report the cars as sold.
Speaker 1: And it wasn't just with a few cars here and there.
Speaker 2: More than half of Netta's sales over the last fifteen months were booked under this bogus reporting system. Zeker used
the same trick, and when the news broke today, its parent company Gely saw it stock take a four percent hit.
The Chinese government is becoming increasingly frustrated by the ongoing price war, the massive overcapacity issue, and the questionable business practices of its auto industry, and we expect it to clamp down hard any day now. Stillantis is officially going
to release its second quarter earnings next week, but the news is so bad that it decided to let everyone know ahead of time that it lost two and a half billion euros. We all knew the company was in trouble,
but this is worse than analysts expected.
Speaker 1: However, let me point this out.
Speaker 2: Whenever a new CEO takes over a troubled company, he or she will want to collect every bill, every write off, every restructuring charge that they can find and dump it into the first quarter on the job. That way, they
can get most of the bad news out of the way and legitimately blame it all on their predecessor. Then
the next quarter almost always looks a whole lot better, and everyone talks about how the new CEO is making so much progress. It's an age old practice, so don't
get too alarmed by Stillantis's Q two losses.
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Speaker 2: In something of a shocking development, India's Tata Motors says it's interested in taking over Iveco, which is the largest commercial truck maker in Europe. Bloomberg reports that Tata has
approached the holding company Xor, which is controlled by the Annelli family, about taking a controlling stake in ive Eco.
Speaker 1: Xor is also the.
Speaker 2: Largest shareholder of Stillantis, and the Annelli family helped form Fiat.
Iveco has a market value of five point three billion dollars, and it shares jump nearly ten percent on Friday after the takeover was reported. The sale won't include ive Echo's
defense business, which is going through its own sales process.
And by the way, way, do you know what IVECO stands for? Most people don't, so if you answered Industrial
Vehicles Corporation, give yourself a pat on the back. Automakers
and suppliers are reeling from President Trump's tariff barrage, but car dealers in the US can't believe their good luck.
The Presido Group, which tracks dealership's activities, reports that car dealers saw their pre tax profits shoot up more than twenty seven percent in the second quarter. But we also
have to point out that this is comparing profits to a year ago, when car dealers were reeling from the CDK dealer software fiasco that shut so many stores down.
After Trump announced that he was going to slap tariffs on imported cars, consumers rushed to the showrooms to buy a new car before prices went up, and with the rush on, dealers were able to slash the incentives that they normally offer. Their average gross profit rows more than
six percent, hitting two thousand and one one hundred and twenty eight dollars per vehicle. Solid state batteries have been
billed as the holy grail for evs, offering higher output, faster charging, in more safety, but the fully solid electrolyte that they require, like a ceramic or polymer, is hard to make, which is why some experts say it will take years before they ever reach mass production. However, hybrid
or semi solid state batteries are just starting to hit the market now. They use a combination of liquid like
most batteries, and solid components to form the electrolyte, which ends up looking like a gel or slurry and is easier to manufacture than a fully solid state ELECTROLT. They
don't offer the same levels of performance as fully solid state, but there are advantages over more standard batteries.
Speaker 1: MG which is owned by Saic, says Hiss.
Speaker 2: MG four model will be the very first mass produced EV with a semi solid state battery. It's scheduled to
debut in early August, will probably go on sale in China before the end of the year. Looks like Mercedes
is facing up to the fact that its EQ lineup of evs has fallen flat on its face in the US market.
Speaker 1: It's slashing prices left and right.
Speaker 2: It's knocking over fifteen thousand dollars off the twenty twenty.
Speaker 1: Six EQS SUV.
Speaker 2: The EQE Suv drops by nearly thirteen thousand dollars, the EQE Sidan gets a ten grand buzz cut, and the eqsiday And drops by just over four thousand dollars. Those
are significant cuts, and residual values of used Mercedes evs have dropped so much that you can now find used Eqsidan selling online for around thirty thousand dollars. While that's
for the base rear drive model. Even well equipped all
wheel drive models that originally sold for well over one hundred thousand dollars brand new are now going for about forty thousand bucks. These are desperation moves, and it's hard
not to say that these e have been a complete and total failure. Okay, it's time to go over the
results of our latest poll about franchise dealer laws in the US. Last week, automakers asked the Justice Department to
look into whether those laws limit competition, while dealers called it a direct attack on them. We asked our YouTube
and Patreon members if the law should be changed to allow automakers or brands that use franchise dealers to sell direct to consumers, like Volkswagen wants to do with Scout, and overwhelmingly you said yes they should be changed. Eighty
one percent voted in favor of making a change. Well,
just sixteen percent said keep them as is, and we got some great feedback as well. TX Craig had this
to say, Car dealerships have been a protected class for years, using their power to push state legislatures to make very anti competitive laws. They don't need to be protected, and
Garrett Stmans also echoed those thoughts. They have treated customers
badly for years. Do away with them and have service
centers set up to service all makes. But not all
of you had such negative feelings about dealers. Gscz R
one commented, be careful what you ask for when you select change the law. Franchise dealerships provide jobs, get involved
in their communities, and service what they sell. And lastly,
Kyle Robinson would like to see both options. The franchise
laws should be changed to allow both franchise dealerships and direct sales options. I see advantages in both systems. Allow
the free market to function and decide winners and losers.
The consumer loses if monopolies are allowed to exist. Thanks
to all who participated. We appreciate your feedback, but that's
a wrap for this show. Thanks for making autoline a
part of your day. Auto Line Daily is brought to
you by intrepid control systems over the air engineering boost your game and by
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