AD #4207 - Ford Develops Its Own Compute Platform; Gigastamping Cheaper Than Gigacasting; Foreign Automakers Join China's Price War
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Speaker 1: This is Auderline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry. Ford is giving its customers their
own personal AI assistant. The feature will first be available
through the Ford and Lincoln apps in the first half of this year. It gives the example of standing in
front of a stack of wood at a home improvement store but not knowing how much will fit in your vehicle.
Ford says you'd be able to snap a picture of that would ask the AI assistant how much will fit in your F one fifty, and it would spit out the answer for you. An AI assistant specifically for commercial
customers will also be coming soon too, and then in twenty twenty seven. The company says the assistant will be
integrated directly into Ford and Lincoln vehicles. In order to
support that functionality, Ford has developed its own in house high performance compute center. The computer will first debut in
the company's new Universal EV architecture and will control all the functions for the infotainment, the driver assistance systems, the audio, and the networking. Not only is it faster than previous computers,
it can handle more tasks that are complex, and by developing it in house. Ford says its significantly cheaper to
produce and nearly half the size. The new EV architecture
will also come with new hardware and software that allows for hands free driving. That feature arrives in twenty twenty
seven as well, and then in twenty twenty eight, Ford plans to launch a Level three isof system. The company
claims it's spent thirty percent less for the system, developing it in house rather than buying it from a supplier, and it says that will be part of the reason it will be able to offer all this technology on its mainstream cars, not just luxury models. Volvo is getting
some significant upgrades to its evs thanks to parent company gly While the new EX sixty will be fully revealed on the twenty first, it's providing a few interesting details now.
The model will be based on Jiele's SPA three platform, which features an eight hundred volt electrical architecture that allows for things like much faster charging. The EX sixty will
be able to add up to three hundred and forty kilometers or two hundred and eleven miles of range in ten minutes of charging, and it will have an overall range of eight hundred and ten kilometers or just over five hundred miles. Thanks to new chips from Nvidia, it
can handle four times the operations as the Ex ninety and will be the first Volvo made with Mega castings, each one capable of replacing hundreds of stamp panels. Some
people believe that robotaxis will replace personal vehicles in the next couple of years, but the former CEO of Weimo thinks that's silly. John Kraftcheck, now a board member at Rivian,
does not believe that transition will happen this decade. He
thinks robotaxis are a great option in addition to personal transportation, especially since kids can now get a ride without their parents.
But he also thinks the technology behind robotaxis, like Lydar, is making personal vehicles safer and that will help drive down the costs of those shared components as well. Thanks
to the growing popularity of Chinese vehicles, car sales in the UK last year top two million units for the first time since the pandemic. According to the Society of
Motor Manufacturers and Traders, automakers sold two point zero two million vehicles, up three and a half percent from twenty twenty four, with Chinese automakers, accounting for just under ten percent of total sales. While the MGHS was the only
Chinese model to crack the top ten in sales last year, three Chinese models were in the top ten in December, the MGZS, the Jku seven and the MGHS. The Chinese
evs also helped boost fully electric sales by a quarter.
Pure evs accounted for twenty three percent of the UK car market last year, which was up from twenty twenty four but below the government mandate of twenty eight percent, and automakers also had to rely heavily on incentives to grow EV sales. Automakers offered more than five billion pounds
last year and EV discounts, which is the equivalent to about eleven thousand pounds per EV registered.
Speaker 2: The automotive and industrial sectors are undergoing a historic transformation electrification, digitalization, supply chain reinvention, regulatory shifts. The pace is accelerating and
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Speaker 3: Well uh oh.
Speaker 1: This should have Japanese automakers worried. According to the state
run newspaper China Daily, China is likely to restrict exports of rare earth metals to Japan over a diplomatic dispute between the two countries. Japan relies on China for sixty
percent of its rare earth imports, but the country depends on China for virtually all the types of metals needed for ev motor production, and those are the types that China is currently threatening to restrict. Analysts estimate that just
a three month restriction would cost Japanese businesses four point two billion dollars. Last year, China, which dominates the global
supply of rare earth, curbed exports over a trade dispute with the US, and that forced several automakers to halt production because of part shortages and sticking with China, the government is having a tough time trying to put a stop to the price war.
Speaker 3: Now.
Speaker 1: Foreign automakers are slashing prices and offering incentives to boot sales.
BMW cut prices on thirty one models with the I seven Electric today and getting the biggest cut, a whopping forty two thousand dollars. Volkswagen and General Motors are also
offering new discounts, and automakers continue to slash prices because the growth of sales is slowing and they're struggling with overcapacity.
The Chinese government is worried the price war could hurt its supply chain by forcing automakers to switch to cheaper and lower quality parts, so China issued new rules to try and curb the price cuts, but so far they really haven't been effective, and with those discounts and new products that are tailored to the Chinese market, foign automakers are starting to slowly turn things around. For example, GM
and its joint venture partners sold nearly one point nine million vehicles in China last year, an increase of two point three percent. While that doesn't seem like a huge jump,
it is a big turnaround from twenty twenty four, when sales were down fourteen percent. As we highlighted in the
Volvo story, a number of automakers have adopted gigacastings after Tesla made them popular, but Automotive News reports that other European automakers are turning to a less expensive process called giga stamping. Giga casting involves pouring liquid aluminum into high
pressure die casting machines to produce a single large part, potentially replacing hundreds of pieces. Giga stamping involves pre welding
pieces that can then be stamped into a single part, which eliminates twenty to twenty five composons. While that's not
as much as gigacasting, the giga stamping process is less complex and allows for the use of steel, which is cheaper, and by using a less expensive process, it's also helping automakers offset the high cost of EV batteries. And don't
forget to tune into Autoline after hours this afternoon while John is still at cs CO host Gary vash Lashes bringing in a panel to talk about twenty twenty five, what's ahead for twenty twenty six, and some of the cool tech coming out at CES, And be sure to check out our coverage from Las Vegas. We have several
interviews posted on our website and YouTube channel about the new technology on display at the show. But that's a
rap for Autoline Daily. Thanks for tuning.
Speaker 3: In Auto Line Daily. Is brought to you by alex Partners.
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