The discussion highlights GM's exploration of Corvette hypercar designs from global studios, showcasing distinct concepts hinting at future models. Despite record revenues, automakers like Kia, Hyundai, and Volkswagen report profit declines largely due to tariffs and global trade challenges. Volkswagen Group dominates Germany's BEV market with strong sales despite incentive removals, while Mitsubishi exits China amid industry shifts. The Russian auto sector struggles with plummeting demand. Honda's new Prelude adopts Type R components but retains a hybrid powertrain, and Mercedes AMG teases a high-performance V8 concept. The episode also promotes an upcoming live Q&A for deeper automotive debates.
Topics:corvette hypercar conceptsautomaker earnings and tariffsbev sales in germanyvolkswagen group market dominancemitsubishi exit from chinarussian auto market declinehonda prelude featuresmercedes amg v8 conceptautomotive industry challenges
- Corvette Drops More Hypercar Hints - Kia Profits Hit by Trump Tariffs - Hyundai Profits Hit by Trump Tariffs - VW Hit by Trump Tariffs - Skoda Makes More Money Than Porsche - BEV Sales Soar in Germany Without Incentives - Mitsubishi Pulls Completely Out of China - Russian Heavy Truck Sales Come to Screeching Halt - Honda Prelude Coming Out of Civic Type R Parts Bin - AMG Teases New GT Series - John and Sean Live Q and A
"...on, wider tracks and Brembo front brakes from the Civic Type R. Unfortunately, that won't be paired with ..."
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Speaker 1: This is Audolne Gaily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry. Is Chevrolet trying to warm us
up to the idea of a Corvette hypercar. In April,
GM opened a new design center in the UK, and along with it a sleek new Corvette concept developed by the new UK design team. But the company also revealed
that it invited multiple design studios to come up with their own Corvette inspired hypercars. And here's the second, which
comes out of GM's design center in California. I find
it interesting that the overall shape of the two concepts are pretty similar, but the details of the cars are vastly different between the two studios. The windshield of the
California Corvette concept is massive and extends down far into the hood, while there's no window out of the rear.
I think the interior looks like a futuristic fighter jet, but I also see little hints from the Corvette as well.
GM says that the rest of the Corvette concepts will be revealed throughout twenty twenty five, and we've probably got three more to go since there's also design studios in Michigan, China and South Korea, more automakers are reporting their second quarter earnings, and more automakers are complaining that terrace in the US are hammering their bottom lines. Kia said it
sold seven hundred and ninety two thousand cars in Q two, which was up four percent and pushed revenue six percent higher, but its operating profit and net profit sank by more than twenty three percent, amongst other things. Kia blames the
terraff for the profit hit, and it was a similar story at Hyundai. It sold more than a million vehicles
over the last three months, up fractionally. Revenue hit nearly
thirty five billion dollars, an all time record, but it's operating profit fell almost sixteen percent, coming in at two two point six billion dollars, and its net profit of two point three billion was down twenty two percent. You know,
it's gotta be really frustrating to set record revenue and see your profit fall off like that. Hyundai didn't blame
Trump's tariffs directly, but blamed it on the quote global trade environment. Meanwhile, Volkswagen didn't hold back. It blamed US
terrafs for its profit hit. The group sold two point
two million vehicles in the quarter, essentially flat compared to a year ago. Revenue was also flat at eighty billion euros,
but the group's operating profit dropped almost thirty three percent to three point eight billion, and its net profit fell more than thirty eight percent, coming in at two point two billion euros. Just to show you how much the
situation has changed at Volkswagen, Scota, one of its mass market brands, posted higher profits than Portia, and it wasn't even close. Scota's operating profit came in at seven and
thirty nine million euros, while Porsche made one hundred and fifty four million, and that wasn't the end of it.
Porsche is warning its employees to brace for more job cuts and says that its business model is no longer working.
Remember up until very recently, Porsia with the profit powerhouse within the VW Group, So to see it fall so far behind Scota is not only shocking, it's worrying, and from the sound of it, Porsche is getting ready for some major surgery.
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Speaker 1: BV sales are up sharply in Germany and the Volkswagen Group is leading the way. In the first half of
twenty twenty four, sales of bv's drop sixteen percent after the country eliminated incentives at the end of twenty twenty three.
But according to Data Force, BV sales in Germany in the first half of this year are up thirty five percent from a year ago, with automaker selling just under two hundred and fifty thousand electrics, and that easily outpaced the overall market, which was down five percent. The top
three selling b evs are all from the Volkswagen brand, the ID seven, ID three, and ID four respectively. In fact,
the VW Group has eight of the ten best selling BEVs, including models from Scota, Kupra and Audi. The only two
non VW models on the list are the BMWIX one in seventh place, and just behind it in eighth is the Tesla Model Y, which saw a sixty two percent plunge in sales. The overall increase in BEV sales in
Germany is impressive since those incentives have gone away completely.
Mitsubishi has pulled entirely out of the Chinese car market.
It stopped making vehicles there in twenty twenty three, and it just terminated a joint venture to make engines, which means it no longer has any operations in China. Mitsubishi
blamed its decision unquote, the rapid transformation of China's automotive industry, or in other words, it wasn't able to compete with China's shift to eves. Mitsubishi first entered China in nineteen
seventy three with medium duty trucks, and by the early two thousands its two engine joint ventures supplied thirty percent of the engines for vehicles built in China, But by twenty twenty two, Mitsu only sold thirty three thousand, six hundred vehicles in the country, and along with the drop in demand for IC engines, the automaker decided to throw in the towel and leave the market altogether. As we
reported earlier this week, the Russian auto industry is going from bad to worse. The country's largest automaker, Autovaz, whose
sales are down twenty five percent this year, says it's going to a four day work week to cut production, and now Russia's largest truck maker, Commas, is also going to shorten its work week. It says. The market for
trucks fourteen metric tons are larger, which is equivalent to Class four or five trucks in the US, has fallen sixty percent in the first half of the year. Kamas
claims it has thirty thousand trucks sitting around gathering dust because there's no demand for them, even though it's offering them below cost. Honda confirmed that the new Prelude, which
goes on sale in the US later this year, will feature the suspension, wider tracks and Brembo front brakes from the Civic Type R. Unfortunately, that won't be paired with
the Type RS three hundred and fifteen horsepower engine. Instead,
the sporty looking two door coup will come with the same two hundred horse power two motor hybrid setup that's found in the Civic Hybrid, but it does come with a new feature called Honda S Plus Shift that's supposed to provide a more sporty driving experience. But here's a
car that will be a real track star. These teasers
show a new concept for Mercedes AMG that's likely a preview of a new model for its AMGGT series of vehicles, and will be powered by a V eight engine. The
company says the vehicle is meant to quote set new standards and record times. Next Tuesday afternoon, we're going to
hold another live Q and a session with me and John.
We've got a couple of topics sure to stir up some controversy that we want to get into, but we also welcome your questions too. But you have to be
a YouTube or Patreon member. This is one of the
bonuses that we provide to those who directly support Autoline, and if you'd like to join in on the fund, please consider becoming a member. Two. But that's a rent
for this show and this week. Thanks for tuning in,
and I hope that you have a great weekend. Auto
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