The episode covers worsening global chip shortages impacting automakers in Germany and Japan, triggered by geopolitical tensions involving a Dutch chipmaker. Tesla's Q3 earnings showed strong sales but declining profits due to rising expenses and reduced ZEV credit revenue. Volvo's CEO return boosted investor confidence despite revenue drops, while Renault posted modest gains amid industry challenges. GM announced a groundbreaking centralized vehicle computing system launching in 2028 with advanced AI and Level 3 autonomy features. Additionally, Stellantis plans to rebadge Leap Motor EVs for Europe, with concerns about the company's future. BMW is promoting renewable diesel fuel to reduce emissions.
Topics:chip shortagetesla earningsvolvo financialsrenault salesgm centralized computingvehicle autonomystellantis leap motor partnershipbmw renewable dieselautomotive industry challengesautomaker strategies
- Chip Shortage Spreads to Japan - Tesla Earnings Drop Along with ZEV Credits - Samuelsson Delivers, Volvo's Stock Goes Up - Renault Up Strong in Weak EU Market - GM Reveals All-New Centralized Computing System - Opel Could Rebadge Leapmotor Model for EU - Stellantis Could Get Broken Up - BMW Wants EU to Consider Biodiesel for CO2 Reduction
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Speaker 1: This was Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry that.
Speaker 2: Chip shortage is going from bad to worse.
Speaker 1: Yesterday, Germany's lobbying group for the autowindustry warned that automakers are only days away from having to shut down production.
Volkswagen says its main plant in Germany will continue production next week, but it may not have enough chips beyond that.
And now the japan Automobile Manufacturers Association is warning that it faces quote serious chip shortages and that it's working with automakers to secure supplies. As you may have heard
us say, the issue started when a Dutch chip maker called Nespiria got bought out by a Chinese company called Wingtech.
The Trump administration then warned the Dutch that the Chinese were planning to move operations to China, so the Dutch government took the company over. China retaliated by cutting off
exports of an experior components made in China, and that's what has triggered this new chip shortage. Several automakers reported
Q three earnings and there's some surprises, both positive and negative.
Let's start in Austin, Texas, where Tesla sales were up strong both year over year and month over month. The
company sold nearly half a million units and that helped boost overall revenue by twelve percent, coming in at twenty eight billion dollars. But it's operating expenses shot out fifty
percent and that dragged down earnings. Its operating profit fell
forty percent, and its net profit was down thirty seven percent.
One key metric to keep an eye on is all the money that Tesla gets from selling ZEB credits to other automakers.
Speaker 2: That dropped forty three.
Speaker 1: Percent, and we think it will fall even more in the quarters ahead. Investors didn't like the news and the
stock was down about four percent.
Speaker 2: Now let's move over to Sweden.
Speaker 1: You may remember that back in April, Volvo fired its CEO and brought back his predecessor, Hakan Samlison out of retirement. Well,
it looks like he knew which levers to pull. Because
investors were wowed with the results, Volvo's stock price went soaring forty percent in one day. The company's sales and
revenue were actually down seven percent, but its EBIT shot up ten percent and its net profit inched up two percent.
Its EBIT margin was over seven percent, and that was far better than analysts expected, which is why the stock did so well.
Speaker 2: But there are danger signs ahead.
Speaker 1: Cash flow was negative and that's not healthy for any company.
And now let's slide down from Swede in too France, where Renau posted some of its Q three results. It
sold over five hundred and twenty nine thousand vehicles, up almost ten percent from a year ago. That drove its
revenue up almost seven percent to more than eleven billion euros.
Renault doesn't release full fiinancial data until the end of Q four, but what it did release are pretty good numbers considering the tough time the European auto industry is going through right now. However, it wasn't enough to thrill
investors and where no stock was down almost two percent on the news.
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Speaker 1: GM is going to launch an all new electronic architecture for both electric and gas powered vehicles starting in twenty twenty eight, which will lead to a number of advancements.
The architecture features a centralized computing platform which consolidates dozens of control units into a liquid cooled computing core that controls all of the vehicle's main functions like propulsion, steering, breaking, infotainment, and safety through a high speed Ethernet system. A source
tells Autoline that GM will now do most of its own validation work in house for things like mention in breaks because sensors and control units for those systems have to be able to communicate properly with the new computing core, which is all being controlled by the company. But GM
claims it will be able to deliver ten times more software updates, faster connectivity and infotainment, and eyes off driving.
That piece of tech will launch on the Cadillac Escalate IQ in twenty twenty eight.
Speaker 2: As well, or as I like to call it, the Escalatic.
Speaker 1: It will use a roof mounted lightar, radar, and cameras to perceive the environment around the vehicle, and turquoise lights indicate when it's operating in eyes off mode. Although we
will note that only California and event It currently allow Level three systems for private owners to operate on roads, but that could change by twenty twenty eight.
Speaker 2: Before this new architecture launches, GM will also launch a.
Speaker 1: New AI voice recognition system next year that's being powered by Google Gemini, but it says it plans to develop its own custom built AI for vehicles that will come out in the future, which will likely be powered by the new electronic architecture. However, the company says it will
all be connected by on Star, and we believe that will mean more payments and subscription services for all these connectivity features to work. And in one last bit of
unrelated GM news, the company says it's also advancing its work on robotics, and as part of that, it will start installing more cobots or collaborative robots in its US plants this year. Stillantis's partnership with Leap Motor could expand
in new and interesting ways. The deal currently allows Stilantis
to build and sell Leap Motor vehicles outside of China, but now a report out of Germany says that Opel, which is part of Stilantis, is considering selling a rebadged version of Leap Motor's B ten model in.
Speaker 2: Europe starting next year.
Speaker 1: The compot act electric suv is currently being imported to the region from China with a starting price of just under thirty thousand euros. Next year, the B ten will
go into production at Stalantis's plant in Spain that also builds the opal Corsa and Mocha and the Citron C three air Cross. Leap Motor plans to launch a range
extended version of the B ten in Europe next year as well, but will Stillanta survive long enough to see that day. The company didn't come into existence until twenty
twenty one, when Fiat Chrysler merged with Pougeot, and though it's the fifth largest global automaker by sales, it may not make it to the end of the decade, at least not as Stilantis.
Speaker 2: That is.
Speaker 1: Carlos Tavares, the company's former CEO, who was pushed out last December, says he worries that Stilantis will likely be broken up. Tavares wrote a book about his career, and
in it he says that a Chinese automaker could end up buying Fiat and Pougeot while Christ.
Speaker 2: Goes back to US ownership.
Speaker 1: Wow, that would be pretty crazy, but let us know what you think. BMW is trying to keep diesels alive
with renewable fuels. The automaker is now putting biofuel into
all of its diesel models at the factory in Germany before it delivers them to dealers. The fuel, called HVO
one hundred, is made by a Finish renewable fuel maker and it reduces CO two for what they call well to wheel by up to ninety percent compared to regular diesel.
BMW says it's also made deals with fleet operators in Germany and Italy to start testing the fuel. BMW will
collect data from the test to demonstrate how the fuel can contribute to CO two reduction, with the hopes that the EU will adopt legislation for more widespread use.
Speaker 2: But that's a wrap for today's show. Thanks for tuning in.
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