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AD #4204 - BYD Passes Tesla in EV Sales; UAW Reinstates Two Officials Targeted by Fain; AFEELA Enters Pre-Production in Ohio

AD #4204 - BYD Passes Tesla in EV Sales; UAW Reinstates Two Officials Targeted by Fain; AFEELA Enters Pre-Production in Ohio

Autoline Daily Jan 05, 2026 9 min
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About this episode

The episode covers key developments in the automotive industry including BYD surpassing Tesla in EV sales with a 28% increase, and the UAW reinstating two officials after a corruption investigation involving President Sean Fain. Honda and Sony's joint venture AFEELA has begun pre-production of its tech-packed electric sedan in Ohio, aiming for a mid-2026 launch. The show also highlights ongoing chip shortages affecting Honda's production in China and Japan, and updates on autonomous vehicle tech partnerships involving Mobileye and Bosch. Industry sales trends and challenges for 2026 are also discussed.

Topics: ev sales trends uaw leadership changes byd vs tesla afeela electric sedan chip shortage impact autonomous vehicle technology honda production shutdown industry sales forecast automotive partnerships electric vehicle market
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Speaker 1: This is out of line Daily the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry. Hey everyone, welcome back.
I hope you all enjoyed your holidays and any New Year's celebrations. But with twenty twenty six officially kicked off,
the auto industry is waking back up again, and so are we and the UAW went through a few changes.
Just before the new year. The federal monitor that was
put in place to oversee the union for its past corruption issued a new report that said current President Sean Fain, as well as the chief of staff and the communications chief, came up with a plan to strip duties from two top officials who were accused of things like misuse of authority and obstructing of union business. The investigation even claims
that Faine selectively deleted more than one hundred and twenty text messages. As a result, the two top officials, Margaret
Mack and Rich Boyer, will both regain their previous responsibilities, Plus the chief of staff resigned, the communications chief was demoted, and now the uaw's compliance department will report directly to the full executive Board instead of only to Fane Lpina, the company known for making high performance BMW's is now officially part of BMW. The German automaker bought the Alpina
trademark and is making it an exclusive standalone brand within the BMW group. But for now, it doesn't sound like
much will change for BMW Alpina vehicles. Afila, the first
vehicle from the joint venture between Honda and Sony, is scheduled to go on sale in the middle of this year, and the initial pre production models have just rolled off the assembly line in Ohio. A Fela is an all
electric sedan that's packed full of tech, including hands free driving capability, and will have a starting price of about ninety thousand bucks. But we think this will be an
interesting situation to watch because Honda and Sony want to sell these vehicles directly to consumers, and existing Honda dealers are already starting to push back on that. Scout, which
also wants to sell direct and is scheduled to launch in twenty twenty seven, will no doubt keep a close eye on how this plays out. Speaking of Honda, it's
extending a production shutdown in China because it's still dealing with the chip shortage. The automaker halted production at three
plants in the country at the end of December and was planning to resume production at the beginning of this month, but now Honda is extending the shutdown until January nineteenth because it's still dealing with the lack of chips. Honda
will also idle production in Japan for the next two days due to the same issue. The company is still
dealing with the chip shortage from a few months back when China block chip maker Next from exporting chips out of the country. At the time, Honda halted production at
some plants in North America and lowered its production forecast for the full year by three hundred thousand units.
Speaker 2: The automotive and industrial sectors are undergoing a historic transformation electrification, digitalization, supply chain reinvention, regulatory shifts. The pace is accelerating and
the pressure to adapt is real. This is not a
time for hesitation. It's a time for bold decisions backed
by fast, effective execution. You need a partner who understands
complexity from factory floors to boardrooms and delivers measurable results.
That partner is Alex Partners. When it really matters.
Speaker 1: New car sales in the US rose about two percent and twenty twenty five. We think that's an okay result
for an industry that was battered by supply chain problems, tariff uncertainty, and the elimination of the seventy five hundred dollars EV tax credit. Roughly sixteen million vehicles were sold,
driven mainly by gas trucks, SUVs and hybrids. With incentives
gone and regulations loosened, EV demand cooled sharply. Electric vehicles
are expected to count for just six point six percent of December sales, down from eleven point two percent a year earlier. Looking ahead, analysts are still split. Some expect
sales to dip in twenty twenty six as economic uncertainty ways on consumers, while lower interest rates and returning these vehicles could help stabilize the market. Going to global sales,
there's a few interesting things to look at. The Hyundai
Group sold nearly seven point three million vehicles in twenty twenty five, which was up zero point six percent from the year before. This year, the group hopes to sell
seven point five million vehicles and increase of a little over three percent. Tesla actually took a tumble for a
second straight year, delivering a little more than one point six million evs, which was down nine percent. BYD actually
overtook Tesla in pure EV sales. It sold more than
two point twenty five million electric vehicles in twenty twenty five, an increase of nearly twenty eight percent. In all, BYD
sold over four point five five million vehicles, an increase of over seven percent. Other Chinese automakers are shooting up
the sales chart. Two Gli sold over three million vehicles
last year, a jump of almost forty percent, and shall me top four hundred thousand units, with hopes of selling well over five hundred thousand this year. However, all the
larger companies like Hyundai, BYD and Gly say that twenty twenty six will be a difficult ear for them. Autonomous
vehicle company Mobilize says it secured a major US automaker as a customer for its next gen chip that will power its advanced driver assistance technology. Mobilize didn't reveal the company,
only saying it's a top ten automaker. The technology will
be standard in millions of vehicles for both mass market and premium models. Mobilized tech enables hands free eyes on
driving and is designed to consolidate multiple driving and safety functions onto a single chip and electronic control unit, which lowers costs for automakers. The system uses one forward looking
high resolution camera, four corner parking cameras, and multiple radars.
In addition to its new customer, Mobile Eye is also partnered with the Volkswagen Group and in other self driving vehicle news, the giant supplier Bosh is partnering with autonomous truck startup codiac Ai to supply it with hardware and sensors.
Bosch and Kodiak will also develop a production grade autonomous platform that integrates hardware, firmware, and software, which can be used either on factory production lines or to retrofit Codiacs trucks.
And just a quick reminder that CEES kicks off this week.
John is already in Vegas ready to go, so look for our coverage to start coming out soon. But with
that we wrap up this show. Thanks for tuning in.
Speaker 3: 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.
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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.
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