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AD # 4195 - Ford and Renault Join Forces for EVs; BMW Picks New CEO From Manufacturing; Fiat to Bring Dinky Topolino To U.S.

AD # 4195 - Ford and Renault Join Forces for EVs; BMW Picks New CEO From Manufacturing; Fiat to Bring Dinky Topolino To U.S.

Autoline Daily Dec 09, 2025 9 min
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About this episode

Ford and Renault are collaborating on small electric cars and a commercial vehicle platform to cut EV production costs by 40%. BMW names Milan Nadelkovic, a manufacturing expert, as its new CEO, signaling a focus on operational efficiency. BMW is also pioneering blockchain for faster foreign exchange transactions. Volkswagen faces internal family tensions over dividend cuts amid financial strain. Fiat plans to bring its tiny Topolino EV to the US, aligning with renewed interest in small urban vehicles. Additionally, Tesla’s stock outlook is tempered despite AI ambitions, and the episode highlights the enduring influence of family control in the global auto industry.

Topics: ford and renault ev collaboration bmw new ceo manufacturing focus bmw blockchain transactions volkswagen family dividend conflict fiat topolino us launch tesla stock outlook family control in automotive industry chinese ev battery strategy
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Speaker 1: This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasms of the global automotive industry. Sean's at a Toyota media event
for the next three days, so I'll be filling in.
And there is big news today in Europe where Ford is joining forces with Renault to make two small electric passenger cars, as well as exploring the development of a common platform for commercial vehicles. Ford will continue building its
evs based on Volkswagen's MEB platform at its own plant in Cologne, Germany, but Renault will build the evs that will arrive in Ford's European showrooms in twenty twenty eight.
This is actually being done through Ampeer, the ev operations that Renault was going to spin off but then changed its mind, canceled the IPO, and told ampeer to figure out how to slash the cost of making EV's by forty percent in one generation. If Fampire can do that
and Ford is paying for half of the bills, then Renault and Ford are going to have evs that can go ahead to head with the Chinese on cost. And
let's stick with Europe for the moment, because we got a couple of more important stories from over there. BMW
announced who it's new CEO is going to be. Meet
Milan Nadelkovic, who will replace Oliver Zipsa next May. Nadelkovic
is fifty six years old. He was born in Serbia
and studied engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He's
been on BMW's board of management since twenty nineteen. But
here's what we think is the most interesting thing about him.
The board didn't turn to a finance guy, or a marketing wizard or a technologist. Nadelkovic is a manufacturing guy.
As BMW works hard to compete with the Chinese on cost, it's very telling to see that the board turned to someone one who knows operations. And speaking of BMW, we
think it's got something of a first in the automotive industry.
It's using a blockchain system from JP Morgan to automate some of its foreign exchange transactions. The system automatically transfers
euros from BMW's Frankfort accounts when dollar balances in New York drop below a certain threshold. If you use banks
to do that, it means the transactions only happen during banking hours, and if that's over a weekend, you can have billions of dollars sitting in limbo until the transaction goes through, and that meant that BMW had to keep a cash buffer to make sure it always had enough funds on hand. With blockchain, the transaction happens in seconds
and that eliminates the need for a cash buffer, which allows BMW to put that money where it can be more productive. And that's why we're probably going to see
the automotive industry and the rest of the financial sector start using blockchain for a lot more transactions. The Volkswagen
Group is running into a bit of a sticky wicket, and it's all about family. VW desperately needs cash as
its financial situation is starting to go wobbly, but its parent company wants the automaker to maintain its generous dividend payments.
Fat parent company, of course, is Porsche Automobile Holding Se, which is controlled by the Porsche and Pak families. Here's
the problem. Back in twenty seventeens, Hans Michael Pak borrowed
one point one billion euros to buy shares in Porsche Holding from his brother Ferdinand Piak to prevent those shares from being sold on the open market and keeping them all in the family. But now Hans Michael needs those
dividends to pay off his loan. Last year, VW cut
it's dividend by thirty percent and would probably like to cut it even more to put that cash where it can be more productive. But it could be headed for
a family fight over that money. Making the life.
Speaker 2: Full of memories one road trip at a time, that's what really matters. Rigdon weather Peak tires with.
Speaker 3: The seventy thousand mile women at warranty.
Speaker 1: Big batteries and erevs are a waste. That's according to
an executive at Chinese ev maker Neo. He says the
bigger batteries take up a lot more space and vehicles and add more than two thousand dollars to the cost.
And he says they're not necessary because Chinese drivers are not as worried about range anxiety anymore because the charging network in China is improving. But the executive's comments might
be a little bit self serving because, as you know, Neo operates large battery swapping network works in China, which means it's vehicles don't need those larger batteries. Well, that
didn't last long. Last week, President Trump said he wants
K cars to be legally sold in the US, and now Fiat's going to start selling its tiny Topolino EV in the US. Obviously, the plan was in the works
well before Trump ever started talking about K cars, but the timing can't hurt. While it's not a K car,
the Topolino is classified as a quadras cycle in Europe, which allows for low speed use in cities and fewer licensing and safety rules. The two seater has a top
speed of twenty eight miles an hour, an electric range of fifty miles, and it sells for eleven five hundred dollars in Europe, but Fiat didn't disclose any details for the US version. Fiat has shown off the model at
this year's New York and LA auto shows, and several US dealers have actually had the model on display for the last few months, and it could go on sale in the USA U sometime this coming spring. Say. Is
Tesla stock going to soar as the company leans into AI and humanoids? Not likely, says Morgan Stanley. It says
those technologies have already been priced into the stock, which was trading around two hundred and ten times earnings, so it downgraded its rating on the stock. You might remember
that Adam Jonas was Morgan Stanley's auto analyst and he loved Tesla be Four months ago Morgan moved Adam off the Auto Beat and onto AI and the new auto guy, Andrew Percoco, sees the stock dropping to around three hundred and eighty eight dollars a year. It's currently trading around
four hundred and thirty nine dollars. Earlier in the show,
we talked about the Portia and Piek families and how they control Volkswagen. Well, you know, it's just extraordinary to
me how much family influence still exists in the automotive industry.
Today controls BMW. The Ayelies and el Cones historically controlled Fiat,
and now indirectly the control Stalantis. The Renault family used
to control Renault, but Louis Renault, the founder, was a little too cozy with the Nazis during World War two, and so after the war, the French government yanked the company away from the family. In the US, the Ford
family effectively controls the Ford Motor Company. In Japan, the
Toyo does are heavily involved in Toyota. In South Korea,
the Chung's control Hyundai in India. The Tata family controls Tata,
which of course owns Jaguar and land Rover. You know,
that's one thing about this automotive industry. I can't think
of any other massive global business sector that has so much family control. Hey, before we go, shout out to Aullu,
Patreon and YouTube members who contribute to out of Line.
Thank you for your support. It really means a lot.
So with that we wrap up today's report.
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 engineering boost your game and thanks to the following YouTube and Patreon members.
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