Hyundai is investing heavily in humanoid robots for its global plants, aiming to produce 30,000 units annually by 2028, starting with tasks like parts sorting and eventually handling heavy loads. Mercedes plans to launch a new level two driver assistance system in the US, competing with Tesla's FSD but requiring hands-on driving. Honda and Sony unveiled an AI-equipped SUV concept with autonomous features, targeting US and Japanese markets. EV sales growth is expected to slow this year due to policy rollbacks but should rebound by 2027. Lucid, Uber, and Neuro revealed a Robotaxi for Bay Area deployment, while RAM announced powerful new trucks including the T-Rex and a diesel Power Wagon. Chinese automaker Geely is considering a US market entry in the next few years.
Topics:hyundai humanoid robotsmercedes driver assistancehonda sony suv conceptelectric vehicle sales trendslucid uber robotaxiram t rex truckram diesel power wagongeely us market plans
- Hyundai Will Deploy Robots At Its Plants - Mercedes Competes with Tesla FSD - Honda and Sony Reveal New SUV - EV Growth Expected to Slow - Lucid, Uber and Nuro Show Production Robotaxi - Ram Brings Back Powerful Truck - Ram Gives Customers Diesel Power Wagon - Geely to Enter U.S. Market
"...so announced that it's adding a new diesel to the power wagons lineup. It's a six point seven liter inline six c..."
Select text to request an explanation
Speaker 1: This is Outline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry. The Hyundai Group is investing billions
over the next five years to deploy tens of thousands of humanoid robots. It's opening what it calls a robot
metaplant in the US this year that it hopes will be capable of turning out thirty thousand humanoid robots a year by twenty twenty eight. Metaplant is the same name
that Hyundai uses for its new manufacturing facility in Georgia, so the robot plant could be nearby. The robots themselves
are based on the Atlas humanoid from Boston Dynamics, which Hyundai acquired in twenty twenty one, and they'll be deployed throughout the group's global production network. Atlas will start working
at the Georgia plant in twenty twenty eight, first doing things like parts sorting, but by twenty thirty it will upgrade to more repetitive task lifting heavy loads and others that have safety or quality benefits. That's got to make
you wonder how many human workers does HUNDI expect it's robots to replace. Plus that won't be limited to the
auto industry. The robots will be trained to perform many tasks,
and Hyundai will sell them to other companies. Mercedes is
going to start competing with Tesla's Supervised FSD in the US later this year. It's launching a level two system
that's capable of navigating city streets, not just the highway.
It features ten cameras, five radars, and twelve ultrasonic sensors that feed into a powerful supercomputer. But this is not
a hands off system. It requires drivers to keep their
hands on the wheel at all times. However, driver inputs
do not disengage the system, so Mercedes claims it operates more collaboratively rather than fighting against each other. The company
started offering the same feature in China at the end of twenty twenty five, and I'll be interested to see what it's going to charge customers to use it. The
joint venture between Honda and Sony revealed a new suv concept.
It's called the Afela Prototype twenty twenty six and is the preview of a production model that could launch in the US as early as twenty twenty eight. Like the Sedan,
the suv will offer autonomous driving, an advanced AI assistant and a host of infotainment features. While Honda and Sony
plan to sell these vehicles directly to consumers, they're also building showrooms and delivery hubs, at least in California, where a FeelA first goes on sale later this year, but there's also plans to expand into Arizona and to ship them to Japan in twenty twenty seven.
Speaker 2: At CSP, we work with OEM engineers across the country on their journeys to lighter, safer, and more eco friendly vehicles.
Learn more at VCSP dot com.
Speaker 1: Sales of electric vehicles, including plug in hybrids and range extended electrics, are expected to grow globally this year, but the pace will slow compared to twenty twenty five. According
to Bloomberg, NEF automakers will sell twenty four point three million passenger evs this year, up twelve percent from last year, but slower than the twenty three percent increase in sales in twenty twenty five. Sales are expected to slow because
of the US and Europe rolling back EV policies, as well as China lowering subsidies for evs, But while EV growth will likely slow this year, the Boston consulting group says that EV sales should rebound in twenty twenty seven and twenty twenty eight, Lucid, Uber and Neuro unveiled the production version of the Robotaxi that will be used in their global service. It's a modified Lucid Gravity SUV with cameras,
ldar and radar sensors integrated throughout the vehicle's body and in what they're calling a roof mounted halo. In addition
to housing sensors, the halo also features LEDs to help riders identify the vehicle. The companies began testing the vehicle
last month in the San Francisco Bay Area and are aiming to put it into production later this year at Lucid's plant in Arizona, and if all goes to plan, the companies are aiming to launch their Robotaxi service in the Bay Area by the end of the year. RAM
is bringing back its t Rex truck, which it claims will be the fastest and most powerful gas engine street legal pickup in the world. Power comes from a six
point two meter supercharged HEMIV eight, which cranks out seven hundred and seventy seven horsepower and six hundred eighty pound feet of torque. The t Rex is able to move
from zero to sixty to three and a half seconds and has a top speed of one hundred and eighteen miles an hour. The new t Rex goes on sale
in the second half of the year in the US with a price of more than one hundred and two thousand dollars including destination charges. Ram also announced that it's
adding a new diesel to the power wagons lineup. It's
a six point seven liter inline six cylinder Cummins engine which produces four hundred and thirty horse power and a whopping one thousand and seventy five pound feet of torque.
The diesel powered power Wagon goes on sale in the second half of twenty twenty six with a starting price of more than eighty eight thousand dollars including destination and don't forget to check out our coverage of cs Yesterday, we learned that Jelie is considering coming to the US market in the next two to three years and is showing off some of it it's vehicles for people to experience in Las Vegas. I don't think it's a coincidence
that Jili is eyeing the US market around the time the Trump administration will be gone. But if it did
enter the market, it says it would approach Volvo, which GILI owns about using its plant in South Carolina, and says it would also have to make changes to its vehicles to meet current laws and regulations. But that brings
us to the end of today's show. Thanks for making
Audoline a part of your day.
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.
Speaker 4: We help businesses respond to this decisively to their most critical challenges, from urgent performance improvement to enterprise wide transformation.
We work across the full value chain in automotive and in industrials, helping clients navigate disruption, drive innovation, and unlock sustainable growth. Alex Partners When it really.
Speaker 5: Matters developing today's vehicles. Issues can happen in an instant.
When's the best time to solve a problem? The minute
you know you have one, Meet Wireless Neo VI Cloud, You're secure off the shelf solution empowering real time collaboration for quick resolution. With wireless Neovi Cloud, your team can
prevent issues before they can escalate. Driver communication data and
remote diagnostics to analyze and resolve your problems using OTA, allowing your executives oversight throughout the process. Wireless Neophy Cloud
your vehicle update solution in production and on the road.
Intrepidt control systems driven by your data
Request an explanation for:
2 cars
2 cars featured
Request an Explanation
Heard something you'd like explained? We'll add it to this episode.
Sign in to request explanations for terms you heard.
Want to learn more?
Browse our glossary for plain-English explanations of automotive terms, jargon, and concepts.
See something that's not quite right? Our annotations are AI-generated and can sometimes miss the mark.
Click the flag icon on any annotation to suggest a correction.
