The episode covers major automotive industry updates including Toyota's redesigned Hilux pickup offering diesel, electric, and fuel cell options, with details on the BEV version's range and powertrain. Tesla faces challenges with declining sales in China and executive departures. China's phasing out of used car subsidies may impact new car sales, while Europe's car affordability issues prompt plans for a new small car category. CSP Composite introduces a lightweight plastic that could reduce Corvette body weight significantly. The show also honors former Renault CEO Lewis Sweitzer and discusses listener opinions on Chevy potentially reviving its sedan lineup.
Topics:toyota hilux redesignelectric and fuel cell pickupstesla sales declineexecutive departureschina car subsidieseurope car affordabilitycsp composite materialslightweight car bodieschevy sedan revivallewis sweitzer tribute
- China Car Sales Drop… - …But Exports Up 28% - Tesla Down Sharply in China - Tesla Loses Cybertruck Chief - Chip Shortage Over--For Now - 43 Weeks of Wages to Buy New Car in Germany - Toyota Redesigns Hilux, Offers Diesel, BEV, Fuel Cell - CSP Composite Could Cut ‘Vette Body By 50 Lbs. - Remembering Renault’s Schweitzer - Autoline Poll on Chevy Sedan
"...the boomer in me fondly recalls im Paula Chavella Nova. But today's US sedan volume market is dominated ..."
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Speaker 1: This is underlying Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry. China is starting to phase out
subsidies for used car trade ins, and that caused new car sales to drop. They didn't drop by much, less
than one percent, but when the subsidies go away completely by the end of the year, we could see sales fall even more. Ten million Chinese consumers applied for the
subsidies this year, which helps explain why new car sales are up more than eight percent for the first ten months of the year. But that means the subsidies pulled
a lot of sales forward, and there's always a payback once the market comes off that sugar high. And when
you pair that with the NEV purchase tax waiver getting cut in half, which we reported last week, all this means that China's car market will likely suffer a major hangover as the subsidies are phased out. But for now,
automakers have been making up for most of that with sports, which shot up twenty eight percent last month to about five hundred and sixty eight thousand cars for Tesla and China.
Speaker 2: October was a terrible month.
Speaker 1: Its sales dropped almost ten percent to less than sixty one thousand, five hundred units, despite adding a six seat version of the Y as well as a forty thousand dollars rear drive version with over five hundred miles of CLTC range. Tesla is not keeping pace with the wave
of new models coming from Chinese automakers, and that's not the only bad news for Tasla. Sidhant Aswathi, the head
of the cyber truck and Model three programs, revealed that.
Speaker 2: He's leaving the company after eight years.
Speaker 1: He led the cyber truck program from its engineering phase to large scale production, and last year he became the head of the Model three program. But this feels like
a growing trend at Tesla. At least ten high level
leaders and executives have left the company this year alone.
Looks like the new chip shortage caused by fighting at semiconductor maker Nexsperia could be coming to an end. That
fighting saw China respond by curbing exports of some Nextperia components, but now the country is granting exemptions on chips for civilian use. No word what civilian use means, but both
German and Japanese companies announced deliveries of Nextperia chips have restarted.
That's good news because several automakers had already warned that the chip shortage would start to impact their bottom lines.
The European car market is stagnant, and it's got.
Speaker 2: To do with affordability.
Speaker 1: According to Bloomberg, a new car now costs about forty three weeks of wages for the average German, up from.
Speaker 2: Thirty two weeks in nineteen ninety five.
Speaker 1: Used car prices are nearly ninety percent higher than a decade ago and cost about twenty weeks of wages compared to about fifteen weeks in nineteen ninety five. Europe is
trying to tackle the affordability issue, though. Next month, the
EU is expected to reveal plans to create a new small car category that won't require the same technology and safety equipment as larger cars. The goal is to create
a market of affordable vehicles that cost between fifteen thou and twenty thousand euros.
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Speaker 1: Toyota revealed the newest version of the most important pickup truck in its lineup. The new Highlux made its debut
in Thailand, and the company announced that it will be offered with three different powertrains, diesel, pure electric and fuel cell.
As of right now, it's only offering details on the beev version. It features a nearly sixty kilowe hour battery pack,
which it claims delivers three hundred or more kilometers of range, but that's based on the very outdated any DC test cycle.
Real world numbers will you'll probably be closer to two hundred kilometers or about one hundred and twenty five miles of range. Four wheel drive is also standard thanks to
front and rear e axles, which combine to produce one hundred and forty four kilowatts or about one hundred and ninety horse power. The new high Lux is scheduled to
start launching around the world in the middle of next year.
CSP Advanced Materials, which is one of our sponsors.
Speaker 2: Has come up with a new kind of plastic that could cut the body weight of a caight corvette by twenty four kilograms or fifty pounds. They call it.
Speaker 1: TCA Float, and it's twenty three percent lighter than the current composite used on the VET, which is also made by CSP. TCA float has a specific gravity density of
less than one. It's so light that it can actually
float on water, and it can also be used with existing tooling and manufacturing processes. No word yet on what
the first application might be, but CSP says it's perfect for anything that's weight sensitive, like removable roof panels. Lewis Sweitzer,
the former CEO and chairman of Renault, died at age eighty three. He really made a mark on the autow
industry from nineteen ninety five until two thousand and five.
Sweitzer was the one who created the Renaul Nissan alliance.
He was the one who got renaulted by Dashia in Romania and Samsung motors in South Korea, and he saw the launch of iconic TwinGo in Magon models, and so Auto Line salutes Lewis Sweitzer for his contribution to the autowindustry.
Speaker 2: Okay, now let's.
Speaker 1: Go over the results of our latest poll. Last week
we reported that Chevy is developing a new passenger car based on the same platform as the next gen Cadillac CT five.
Speaker 2: We think there's.
Speaker 1: A good chance it could be a new Sedan, and so we asked you if you think it's a good idea for Chevy to revive at Sedan lineup, and the majority sixty two percent said yes, Chevy, they shouldn't have got rid of them in the first place. Another eleven
percent said yes, but only for overseas markets, sixteen percent said no, Chevy shouldn't bring back Sedan's and the remainder said none of the above, And as usual, we got a lot of great feedback. James Short is in favor
of Chevy bringing back Sedan's. I think that it is
a good idea for Chevy to be in the game with something other than an suv crossover or a pickup truck.
I would be all for something like my Audi A five four door hatchback with electrified powertrain, and.
Speaker 2: Maybe even revived the Impala name plate. Keith Dunlapp would
also like to see a new Chevy sedan. Quote.
Speaker 1: I love the crew size and platform and own several of them.
Speaker 2: I was sad for it to go away.
Speaker 1: I ended up going with a track since GM had already indicated that the Malibu was in its last generation.
I would consider going back to a sedan if GM offered a new one that was not too big or expensive.
But not everyone thinks Chevy should get back into the game.
Randy Lamp says, the boomer in me fondly recalls im Paula Chavella Nova. But today's US sedan volume market is
dominated by Toyota and Honda. Going upscale brings competition not
only with these firms luxury brands, but GM's Cadillac division as well. European markets are already under pressure from Chinese firms.
Speaker 2: Not a lot of room on the table.
Speaker 1: And lastly, the jealous had this to say quote, I have no particular emotion about GM developing yet another derivative Sadan based on an attempt to fill a perceived marketing category.
I wish they would put all their efforts into making great cars with great technology, focus on better products, not filling marketing brackets. I have no hope in GM's long
term survival legacy. Auto is doomed well that it would
be a crazy series of events to see GM's demise, and I hope it doesn't come true. But thanks to
everyone who participated, we really enjoy your feedback and that wraps up today's show.
Speaker 2: Thanks for watching and have a great day.
Speaker 4: Auto Line Daily is brought to you by alex Partners When it Really Matters CSP, the Composites Solution Partner, Intrepid Control Systems, over the Air Engineering, boost your game and thanks to the following YouTube and Patreon members.
Speaker 5: At CSP, we work with OEM engineers across the country on their journeys to lighter, safer, and more eco friendly vehicles.
Learn more at THECSP dot com.
Speaker 4: We act, we grow, we transform, we protect, we rescue in moments that define the future. We are the partner
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