AD #4205 - Hyundai Will Deploy Robots in Plants; Mercedes Competes with Tesla FSD; EV Growth Expected to Slow This Year

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.

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AD #4205 - Hyundai Will Deploy Robots in Plants; Mercedes Competes with Tesla FSD; EV Growth Expected to Slow This Year

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