Stellantis is shifting Jeep Cherokee and Compass production from Mexico to the U.S., investing $13 billion to boost domestic manufacturing and create jobs. Norway plans to phase out EV subsidies by 2027 after achieving high electric vehicle adoption. Advances in automated emergency braking show improved pedestrian detection at night, though challenges remain. Rimac aims to buy Porsche’s stake in their joint venture and is developing solid-state battery packs with Prologium. Waymo prepares to launch autonomous ride-hailing in London next year. Honda introduces an electric autonomous lawnmower targeting commercial use amid labor shortages. The episode also previews a discussion on consumer attitudes toward AI in cars.
Topics:stellantis us productionjeep manufacturingnorway ev subsidiesautomated emergency brakingrimac porsche joint venturesolid state batterieswaymo autonomous ride hailinghonda autonomous lawnmowerai in carselectric vehicles
- Stellantis Moves Jeep Production to U.S. - Ram Mid-Size Pickup Going to Toledo - Filosa Doubles Down on U.S. - Norway To Ax EV Subsidies - Automakers Improve Pedestrian AEB At Night - Rimac To Buy Out Porsche Stake in JV - Rimac To Make Solid State Batteries - Waymo Brings Robotaxis To London - Honda Launches Autonomous Lawn Mower - How Much AI Do You Want in Your Car?
"...wenty third at the Suburban Collection Showplace, Nova, Michigan. Speaker 5: Developing today's vehicles..."
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Speaker 1: This is Outline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry. Shawn's out of town these days
driving some new toyotas. I'll be filling in for the
next couple of days. But let's get to the news.
Stalantis announced a significant change to its US manufacturing footprint as a direct result of the Trump Administration's tariffs. Stalantis
will invest thirteen billion dollars over the next four years to build more of its vehicles in the US. That
includes about five billion dollars in investments that were already announced and investments that suppliers will make. Stalantis says the
moves will create five thousand new jobs, but that's also going to depend on how well sales go. The big
news is that the US versions of the Jeep, Cherokee and Compass will now be built at the Belvedere plant in Illinois instead of to Luca, Mexico. Stalanta's was tooling
the Brampton plant in Canada to make the Compass and now says it's going to put something else there. Yesterday
we pointed out that the Belvidere plant probably couldn't survive if all it was going to make is a new mid size pickup truck. Well, that pickup will now be
built in Toledo at the same plant that makes the Wrangler and Gladiator. In fact, we very much expect that
truck to be a RAM version of the Gladiator. Stilantis
is also going to refresh the Dodge Durango, which is made in Detroit. As we reported yesterday, the Jeep Wagoneer
is going away, leaving the Grand Wagoneer as the only vehicle in the Warren truck plant. It's going to get
a refresh which includes an optional EREV powertrain. Stalanta says
it's also investing in a new four cylinder engine that will be made in Indiana. Okay, here's our autoline insight.
These moves show that CEO Antonio Felosa knows that the US market is key to the long term survival of Stilantis.
Before it all fell apart under former CEO Carlos Taveres, Stella's US operations accounted for sixty percent of the company's profits.
Pougeot can't deliver those kinds of profits, and it's doubtful that Fiat can make much money at all, and so Fullosa is doubling down on the US, even if that hurts its Mexican and European operations. Speaking of Europe, looks
like Norway has decided it's time to stop subsidizing all those electric cars. EV's were largely exempted from value added taxes,
and that gave Norway the highest per capita registrations of evs in Europe and probably the world. Those exemptions, though
cost the Norwegian government billions. Its goal was to eliminate
sales of new internal combustion cars by this year, and it's largely succeeded, which is why it's getting rid of all the subsidies by twenty twenty seven. Even so, seven
out of ten cars on the road in Norway are still internal combustion, so it's going to charge an extra fee on new ice cars to make sure they're more expensive than evs. Looks like automakers are making progress in
improving the effectiveness of automated emergency braking systems that avoid pedestrians at night. The Triple A recently evaluated four vehicles
equipped with the technology and found that pedestrian avoidance worked sixty percent of the time. That compares to zero percent
of the time in twenty nineteen. Obviously, there's still a
lot of room for improvement, even if a pedestrian is wearing high visibles clothing like roadside workers use at night.
Some of these systems did not detect pedestrians even with high visibility clothing. More than seventy five percent of pedestrian
fatalities happen at dark. So tripa A is calling on
regulators and standard organizations to keep on improving these systems.
Speaker 2: Knowing that a little rain won't slow down your day.
That's what really matters. Bridgetone to runs of why attract
hires confident control in wet conditions.
Speaker 1: Mate Rimac, the founder of that Croatian supercar maker, Rimac, says he's trying to buy out Porsche's steak in their Bugati Rimac joint venture, which was formed in twenty twenty one.
Rimac reportedly made a preliminary offer earlier this year to buy Porsche's forty five percent stake, and that valued the joint venture at more than one billion dollars. Now, Remac
says he's got the investors to back him, including investor groups and private equity firms, and he's ready to get the deal done by next year. Rimac says he wants
to acquire the stake because he wants more control over long term decisions and investments. Here's our autoline insight. Porsha
is in deep trouble. It's getting its butt kicked in China.
It's choking on Trump tariffs in the US, and sales are down by double digits in Europe. It needs cash,
and it needs it now. And Montere Rimac probably holds
a handful of ases in his negotiations with Porsche. Speaking
of Rimak, its supplier subsidiary, Rimac Technology is partnering with battery cell maker Prologium to make battery packs for solid state batteries. The two companies are aiming to have their
first battery sample ready by the end of twenty twenty seven and then undergo testing in twenty twenty eight. After that,
they're aiming to begin small scale production by twenty thirty at a plant in France that's currently under construction. Rimeck
says that a future version of the Bugati Urbillon pluginhybrid would be ideal for the battery. We keep saying that
twenty twenty five is the year of the av and now Weimo says it's going to add autonomous ride hailing services in London next year. Over the next few months,
Weimo will test a small fleet of avs in a one hundred square mile area of the city. The UK
is planning to allow commercial robotaxi pilots next year, after which Weymo will start offering rides to customers on its own app. London is Weimo's second international market after Tokyo,
where it began tests earlier this year.
Speaker 3: Okay, so this next story is a.
Speaker 1: Little bit unusual for our regular coverage, but we think you'll find it interesting. Honda is coming out with an
electric autonomous lawnmower, which will be especially attractive to commercial lawn cruise. Here's how it works. An operator teaches the
mower the route it has to take using the Global Navigation satellite system, and then they save it on a tablet or a smartphone. Then a route optimization program recalculates
it for better turns and coverage. After that, the mower
will cut the grass on any side. It's program four.
It's got a sixty inch wide cut. It can mow
up to fifteen acres before it needs to be recharged, and it can handle ten degree grades. Honda says this
is really going to help lawn crews that are facing labor shortages. Generative AI is taking the auto industry by storm,
but how much AI do people really want in their cars?
No doubt they'll welcome it as long as it makes their car better, but we're pretty sure that you don't want it vacuuming up all your data and personal information.
That's one of the topics we'll be talking about on Out of Line After Hours tomorrow. We've got Kathy Risk
from JD Power coming on the show to show us what their consumer research shows, and of course we're also going to get into all the news behind the headlines that broke this week, and that brings us to the end of today's show, and I want to extend a personal thank you to all of our Patreon and YouTube members who help make the show possible.
Speaker 3: Auto Line Daily is brought to you by Bridgestone Solutions for your Journey CSP, the Composites Solution partner Intrepid Control Systems.
Over the year engineer boost your game and thanks to the following YouTube and Patreon members.
Speaker 4: Discover more than three hundred best in class automotive solution providers this fall at Automotive Testing Expo and Automotive Interiors Expot North America. You'll see solutions for data acquisition, durability testing,
electric and hybrid powertrain testing, ADAS testing, and more. At
Automotive Testing Expo, while at Automotive Interiors Expo you'll see the latest and materials encodings, smart textiles, ambient lighting, hmis and more. Join us from October twenty first to twenty
third at the Suburban Collection Showplace, Nova, Michigan.
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Speaker 3: At CSP, we work with OEM engineers across the country on their journeys to lighter, safer, and more eco friendly vehicles.
Speaker 4: Learn more at VCSP dot com.
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