Stellantis faces plant shutdowns in Europe due to weak demand and overcapacity, while North American automakers are balancing capacity and utilization, improving profitability. EVs consume less than 1% of U.S. electricity, far less than data centers, challenging common misconceptions. Nissan is shrinking its sedan lineup but refreshing the Sentra with new styling and tech. Mercedes strengthens ties with Chinese tech firms for AI and autonomous driving, while Ford consolidates sales in China. China proposes stricter safety rules for retractable door handles. U.S. tariffs are costing automakers billions monthly, hurting exports and benefiting Chinese competitors in Latin America.
Topics:stellantis plant shutdownsnorth american overcapacityelectric vehicle electricity usenissan sedan lineup changesmercedes china partnershipsford china sales consolidationchina door handle safety rulesus tariffs impactautomotive exportsdata center energy consumption
- Stellantis Shutdowns Spread to 6 More Plants - North American OEMs Cutting Overcapacity - Data Centers Use 10X Electricity of EVs - Nissan Gives Sentra a Refresh - Mercedes Deepens Ties with Chinese Tech Companies - Mercedes Replaces CTO - Ford Consolidates Sales Ops in China - China Writes Rules for Door Handles - Tariffs Not Helping U.S. Auto Industry
".... Nissan Sedan lineup is shrinking in the US. The Maxima is already gone, the Versa goes away at the end o..."
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Speaker 1: This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry. The business outlook for Stillantis in
Europe is really looking grim. Yesterday we reported that it
was shutting down one of its assembly plants in France for a couple of weeks due to weak demand, and today it announced the shutdown is spreading to six other assembly plants in Italy, Germany, Spain and Poland. While new
car sales in Europe are flat, Stilantis is down by more than six percent. At the same time, Chinese automakers
are making significant gains, and that means Stilantis has a growing problem of over capacity. Speaking of over capacity, it
looks like automakers in North America are starting to get their act together. Auto analyst John Murphy with Haig Partners
points out that overcapacity has come down significantly from a decade ago. As you can see in this chart, the
blue and gray columns show capacity, while the red life show capacity utilization. At the far right of the chart,
you can see that by twenty twenty seven, North American automakers have capacity and utilization in balance. John Murphy says
that getting rid of over capacity will give automakers stronger pricing power, and we would point out that it also makes them more profitable. Say, are electric cars hogging up
all the electricity and gonna make the grig collapse. Scott Case,
the CEO of Recurrent Auto, says all US evs on the road today consume less than one percent of the country's annual electricity. Compare that to data centers, which use
four and a half percent of the nation's electricity, and that's forecast to grow between seven to twelve percent in the next eighteen months. By the end of this year,
he says, data centers will use ten times more energy than all the evs on the road, but that's not the public perception. Recurrence market research shows one out of
three people believe evis use more electricity than data centers.
Nissan Sedan lineup is shrinking in the US. The Maxima
is already gone, the Versa goes away at the end of this year. Production of the Ultima ends at the
end of next year, and the company is undecided if it will have a next gen version that just leaves the CenTra, but since it's one of Nissan's best selling models, it's getting a major refresh. The twenty twenty six model
features all new styling with a much more expressive front facia.
The interior also looks all new, with a standard twelve point three inch center screen and an available digital display for the driver of the same size. While it seems
like the powertrain and platform layout is mostly unchanged, it's still powered by a two liter four cylinder engine made it to a CVT transmission. Nissan did make four wheel
disc brake standard, added reinforcements to increased body rigidity, made the steering damper bigger, and retune the shocks. Look for
the new CenTra to start hitting showrooms later this year.
Speaker 2: At CSP, we work with OEM engineers across the country on their journeys to lighter, safer, and more eco friendly vehicles.
Learn more at VCSP dot com.
Speaker 1: Mercedes Benz is growing its ties with Chinese companies to improve its software capabilities. It plans to take a minority
stake and autonomous driving company that's abbreviated CQT, which is backed by Chinese automaker Gli. There aren't many other details
about the deal, but it could be announced as soon as this week. Mercedes is also expanding a partnership with Byteedance,
which owns TikTok. The automaker is integrating its AI technologies
into its products and business operations in China. The all
new CLA, which launches this fall, will be the first Mercedes model equipped with Byte dances. And speaking of Mercedes
and technology, the automaker's chief technology Officer, Marcus Schaefer is retiring in December after more than thirty years with the company.
Replacing Schaefer is your Burzer, who is currently Mercedes Head a production, quality and supply chain. Ford is consolidating its
sales and service network in China. The automaker announced it's
establishing a wholly owned subsidiary that will be responsible for managing the marketing, sales and services for Ford passenger vehicles in China. Ford's joint venture with Changan used to operate
as sales and services, but the new subsidiary will give Ford direct control of its sales efforts in China. China
wants to crack down on retractable door handles because of all the failures in safety issues that they create. So
now the country's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has drafted a set of rules and is looking for feedback from the public. Those rules would include every outside handle
providing enough space for someone's hand, every door except for the trunk featuring a mechanical release, and outside doors opening without tools even when there's no power. And then there's
similar rules for the inside doors and where the mechanical releases can be placed. China is taking the public's feedback
until the latter part of November. Did you know that
you can watch and listen to auto Line daily in a variety of different languages. It's a service that YouTube offers.
It doesn't have all the languages, but it sure has a lot. Just click on the gear icon to see
the different settings, scroll down to where it says audio settings, and choose the language you want from the list. Our
President Trump's tariffs helping the American auto industry grow not.
According to a report from the Detroit News, automakers and parts suppliers are now forking out about six billion dollars a month in tariffs. Before the President and announced his
Liberation Day, that number was a billion dollars. At the
same time, US automotive exports are down, mainly because most of them went to Canada and Mexico, and those markets are turning their backs on American made cars and turning to Chinese ones instead. Analyst Warren Brown Warren's US policy
is essentially handing the Latin American market to Chinese automakers.
So far, automakers in the US have largely eaten the cost of the tariffs and not passed the cost on to consumers. But Patrick Anderson of the Anderson Economic Group
says that starting now, the cost will become impossible for them to absorb. And that's a wrap for today's show.
Thanks for making autoline a part of your day.
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