AD #4105 - Ford Cuts EV Programs to Feed Gas Trucks; Could U.S. Tariffs Be Illegal?; Mercedes Seizes 1.5 Million Fake Parts

Speaker 1: This is online daily, The show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry.

Speaker 2: Are Canadian drivers better than Americans?

Speaker 1: Up until twenty fourteen, both countries had similar traffic fatality rates, but from twenty eleven to twenty twenty one, fatalities in the US increased thirty three percent to more than forty three thousand, while in Canada they fell eighteen percent. Traffic

deaths involving pedestrians and cyclists, and fatalities involving large trucks and young drivers all increased in the US while they declined in Canada. Even more telling is that Canada is

experiencing greater population growth, a growing number of licensed drivers, and more miles driven than the US. The Insurance Institute

for Highway Safety or IIHS, says the difference is due to stronger distracted driving and seat belt laws and more widespread use of speed cameras in Canada. That's why it's

calling on lawmakers in the US to adopt similar policies.

Ford posted a net loss of thirty six million dollars in the second quarter. That's not much of a loss,

but a year ago it made a one point eight billion dollar profit, so It's quite a swing, and the terraffs played a big role in the change. The company

sold one point one million vehicles in the last three months, up nearly four percent. Revenue hit fifty billion dollars, up

almost five percent, but costs on the car making side of the business went up dramatically by three point seven billion dollars, and so the company's operating profit dropped seventy three percent to only five hundred and eleven million dollars, and as noted, it posted a net loss of thirty six million. Here are several key takeaways from Ford's earnings.

Call its reallocating resources from future EV programs to commercial truck programs for Ford Pro and will come out with more E REV and p HAVE retail trucks. It's going

to save one point five billion dollars for not having to pay for CO two credits in the US, and will save several billion more over the next two years.

This will especially help the IC side of the business Ford Blue, which was hit with those charges. It will

rich in its mix with more IC commercial trucks and full size SUVs that it describes as a multi billion dollar opportunity. Its EVE operations, called Ford Model E doubled

its revenue to two point four billion dollars and improved its margins by forty four basis points, largely thanks to launching the electric versions of the Explorer and Puma.

Speaker 2: In Europe and over the air.

Speaker 1: Updates are cutting repair costs by ninety five percent, but one third of all of Ford's warranty costs are still software related problems. So far this quarter, every single automaker

that we've reported on posted significantly lower profits, and they all pretty much blame the teriffs.

Speaker 2: But what if it turns out that the tariffs aren't legal.

Speaker 1: Congress is supposed to have the only power for taxation and tariffs. What if the way that President Trump went

about enacting them is unconstitutional, those tariffs could get thrown out.

Two federal courts have already ruled that Trump cannot use the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose new tariffs.

The Trump administration is appealing those decisions and will get a ruling from the US Court of Appeals, probably in a couple of months, But this case is likely to end up with the Supreme Court, and it could set a historic president about the limits or freedom of power of the executive branch VERSUS Congress, and those tariffs took a bite out of Toyota supplier Denso's profits. The company

reported that it's operating profit declined eleven percent to seven hundred and twenty million dollars in the most recent quarter.

A stronger yen also played a role in the decline.

Denso's chief financial officer says it will offset the losses with price hikes and will lower the impact of tariffs by increasing US manufacturing, and Denso isn't the only supplier that's struggling. German supplier ZF says it needs to accelerate

its restructuring, which could involve even more layoffs. The company

says it needs to cut costs further because of a slow down in global vehicle production, the slower than expected transition to electrification, and US tariffs. ZF has laid off

eleven thousand, two hundred full time employees since the beginning of twenty twenty four, and another forty seven hundred employees have agreed to partial or early retirement packages.

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Speaker 1: Renault looked from within to hire its new CEO. Former

CEO Luca DeMeo kind of quit out of nowhere in the middle of June, so it's taken the company about a month and a half to announce Francois Provost as his replacement. Provost has been with Renault for twenty three

years and most recently held the title of Chief Procurement, Partnerships and Public Affairs Officer.

Speaker 2: As Chief Procurement officer or.

Speaker 1: Had a purchasing you have to deal with pretty much every part of the company, so he should have a deep knowledge of how Renault works. Provost says he has

already helped launch a new set of countermeasures to deliver on the company's targets, and he will now be part of finalizing a new strategic plan.

Speaker 2: In the first half.

Speaker 1: Of the year, the Renault Group sold about one point one seven million vehicles, up just over one percent. That

helped push revenue up two and a half percent to about twenty seven point six billion euros. However, mainly due

to a change in the way that it reports its Steak and Nissan, It's operating income dropped by over ten billion euros and its net income fell by over twelve and a half billion. But going forward, if there's any

change in the value of its stake in Nissan based on the performance of Nissan stock, that will no longer be reflected in Renault's net income. Honda opened up a

new website dedicated to the prelude that shows a few details I haven't seen before. There's a full view of

the production car's rear end, which is available both with and without a spoiler on the deck lid. The interior

is also on full display. It's offered in either a

two tone blue and white combination or all black accented with blue stitching. Those are the main things that we

wanted to highlight, but it's possible there's even.

Speaker 2: More that we're missing because the.

Speaker 1: Entire website is in Japanese and there's interviews with designers, engineers, and F one driver Yuki Sonoda gets behind the wheel.

Speaker 2: But even still, there are some cool pictures to check out.

Speaker 1: Including some behind the scene stuff, and watching Sonoda whip the car around the racetrack is cool too. The new

Prelude will first start going on sale this September. Last week,

we reported that India's Tata Motors is interested in buying Iveco, the largest truck maker in Europe, and now it's official.

Iveco has agreed to sell its truck business to Tata for three point eight billion euros or four point three billion dollars. As part of the deal, the holding company Xor,

which is controlled by the Anneli family, will sell its twenty seven percent steak.

Speaker 2: In Iveco to Tata.

Speaker 1: Tata plans to buy the remaining shares and delist the truck maker, and in a separate deal, Iveco agreed to sell its defense business to Italian defense firm Leonardo for one point seven billion euros or one point nine billion dollars.

But the deal for Tata will give it an even larger presence in Europe, where it already owns Jaguar Land Rover.

Speaker 2: Last year, Mercedes Benz.

Speaker 1: Helped law enforcement conduct nearly eight hundred raids securing over one and a half million fake Mercedes parts. As you

might expect, that includes things like the Mercedes logo, but there's also counterfeit wheels, lights, and even brake pads, which the company says can pose a safety risk to customers.

The Internet is also a popular place to find fake parts, so it's no surprise that the over two hundred thousand counterfeit product listings removed from social media and websites was a nearly fifty percent increase over twenty twenty three. Be

sure to tune in this afternoon for Auto Line After Hours.

Speaker 2: We'll have Michael Robinett from.

Speaker 1: S and P Global, as well as Keith Naughton from Bloomberg going through the latest news and developments. So join

John and Gary when the show goes live at three pm three pm Eastern Time today.

Speaker 2: But that's a rap for this show. Thanks for tuning in.

Speaker 4: Autoline Daily is brought to you by Intrepid Control Systems over the year engineering boost your game and by

AD #4105 - Ford Cuts EV Programs to Feed Gas Trucks; Could U.S. Tariffs Be Illegal?; Mercedes Seizes 1.5 Million Fake Parts

Ford Explorer

Ford Puma

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