EV investments are the money that car companies spend to create electric cars. This includes everything from designing the cars to building them in factories.
Decarbonization means reducing the amount of carbon dioxide we put into the air. For cars, this usually means making more electric vehicles instead of ones that run on gas.
EV write-offs are when car companies lose money on their electric vehicle projects because they didn't sell as many cars as they hoped. This can hurt their overall finances.
Rare earth minerals are special materials used to make things like electric car batteries and smartphones. They are important for many modern technologies.
Toyota is a well-known car company from Japan that makes many different types of vehicles, like cars and trucks. They are famous for their reliable and fuel-efficient cars.
NADA stands for the National Automobile Dealers Association, which is a group that helps car dealers in the U.S. They work on issues that affect car sales and the automotive industry.
Technicians are people who fix cars and trucks. They are important because they make sure vehicles are safe to drive and work well. There is a growing need for more technicians in the industry.
The NADA program helps car dealerships train new workers to fix and maintain cars. It's an effort to make sure there are enough skilled workers in the car industry.
Ford is a well-known car company that makes many different types of vehicles, including trucks and electric cars. They are working on training programs to help people learn how to fix these cars.
The HVAC control unit is the part of the car that controls the heating and air conditioning. It helps keep the inside of the car comfortable for passengers.
Giga castings are big pieces of metal that are made all at once instead of using many smaller parts. This helps make cars stronger and easier to build.
The Tesla Cybertruck is a unique electric truck made by Tesla. It has a very different shape compared to regular trucks and is designed to be tough and high-tech.
Vehicle Benchmarking Specialist is a company that looks at different cars to see how they perform and what features they have. They help car makers understand how to make their vehicles better.
Intrepid Control Systems is a company that makes tools to help car makers understand how their cars communicate and work, which helps in fixing problems and improving performance.
Bridget Solutions is a company that helps car makers and transportation companies use technology to work better and manage their data more effectively.
LIVE
Speaker 1: This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry. We'll talk about ripping the band
aid off all at once. This morning, Stilantis announced it's
taking a massive twenty six billion dollar write off of its EV investments. That includes an eight billion dollar payment
to suppliers for canceled EV programs, as well as for selling off its battery plant in Canada. To preserve cash,
Stillantis is canceling its dividend for twenty twenty six and will issue six billion dollars in new bonds. Investors reacted
immediately to the news, sending the stock price down twenty four percent. Here's our auto line insight. This is a
complete and total separation of the plan put forward by Carlos Tavares, the previous CEO of the company. He called
it Dare Forward twenty thirty and the goal was to position Stillantis as the motive leader in decarbonization. Tavara's envisioned
EV's accounting for one hundred percent of the company's sales in Europe and fifty percent in the US by twenty thirty, and he invested heavily to hit that target. As you know,
those targets now look hopelessly optimistic, which is a big part of the reason why mister Tavar has lost his job and why Stillantis had to take such a massive write off, and the losses go well beyond Stillantis. Reuter's
points out that global automakers have now announced fifty five billion dollars in EV writeoffs. Here's a few ways to
put that in perspective. That's more money than the GDP
of most small countries. In fact, Stalantis's twenty six billion
dollar write off alone is bigger than NASA's annual budget, and Reuter's only included the write offs from Stalantis, gm Ford, and Volkswagen, So no doubt other automakers will be writing off EV investments and the final number for the whole industry is going to be much higher. China is also
facing problems in EV land, or at least Byd is once the darling of EV investors. BYD's stock has been
dropping steadily for the last eight months as the company's EV sales started falling short of expectations. That drop has
wiped out sixty billion dollars from BYD's market cap, and analysts worry that other Chinese EV makers will lower their guidance later this year. Bloomberg quotes one analysts saying this
raises doubts about Chinese automaker's long term ability to make profits in their home market. China dominates the production of
processing of rare earth minerals, and that's given it massive bargaining power, even forcing President Trump to back off as trade war under the threat of losing access to rare earths.
In response, the US and other countries are looking into opening new minds, but that isn't a great option because of environmental hazards and the returns are generally low. But
one rare earth expert says the US is sitting on a mountain of the minerals and it can get them at a fraction.
Speaker 2: Of the cost.
Speaker 1: It's all about getting rare earths out of mining waste, as well as from retired passenger jets, decommissioned ships, and old electronics. According to a study by the Colorado School
of Minds, the US could meet most of its critical metal needs for the foreseeable future simply by recovering the materials from mine waste. And speaking of trying to reduce
dependence on China, the auto industry is also scrambling to remove Chinese technology from vehicles. By the middle of March,
new rules go into effect in the US that will ban Chinese software in vehicle systems that connect to the cloud.
The products must not contain any code that was written in China or by a Chinese company. But that's not
what an easy process. Automakers usually buy electronics from tier
one suppliers, which sometimes source software from smaller suppliers or joint ventures in China, and suppliers are reluctant to give automakers source code information since it's proprietary. But it's not
easy for automakers to switch suppliers because automotive code is generally custom made and it's risky to change it for existing vehicles. And at the same time the US is
restricting Chinese software. Tesla has started training its AI technologies
in China for assisted driving in China.
Speaker 3: Performance that shines even in the rain. That's what really matters.
Rich don't pretend to tires improved grip in wet conditions.
Speaker 1: Toyota just made a big executive change. CEO coach Sisato
is being moved to vice chairman of the board of directors and is also being named Chief Industry Officer, which is a newly created role. Toyota didn't give specific details
about the new position, but says Sato will focus on quote the broader industry. Replacing Sato as CEO is current
operating officer in CFO Kenta Khan. Toyota says con will
focus on internal company management, and the changes go into effect on April first. According to the NADA, or National
Automobile Dealers Association, the US needs to add about seventy six thousand technicians a year, so there's not a shortage of the people who fix our cars and trucks, but right now the rate of new mechanics coming in is not enough to offset the amount that are retiring or transitioning into a new industry. Ford CEO Jim Farley has
been very vocal about the need to fill this void in skilled labor, and the automaker just announced that it will be one of the first companies to launch an NADA program that helps dealerships build in house apprenticeships for technicians and expand training. Ford will roll out the program
to dealers across the US, where over a year and a half to two years, apprentices will get over two thousand hours of hands on training and roughly four hundred hours of technical instruction with a focus on electrification. At
the end of it, they'll graduate with a nationally recognized credential.
There's also a possible financial incentive for dealers in the form of tax credits and federal aid depending on the state where they operate. And speaking of Ford CEO Jim Farley,
he posted a few pictures on social media of the team that's working on its Universal EV platform. One in
particular caught our attention. It has two people with big
grins on their faces looking at what appears to be the HVAC control unit, but it's the vehicle in the back round that we're interested in. I think this could
be the front end. I believe we get a peek
at the vehicle's large giga castings right in between the two people's arms. Farley says there's two big castings on
the truck which will replace one hundred and forty six parts and the background vehicle also looks like it could have a large windshield that sits far forward. I think
the windshield could end around where the yellow towel is in this picture of a team member polishing the front end, and the first place my mind went to was the Tesla cyber truck. It's my opinion that this looks similar
to the cyber truck with its body panels pulled off that we got to see at Vehicle Benchmarking Specialist care Soft.
But that's a wrap for today's show. Thanks for making
autoline a part of your day and I hope that you have a great weekend.
Speaker 4: Autoline Daily is brought to you by Bridget Solutions for your Journey 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 5: Developing today's vehicles, issues can happen in an instant. What
good is knowing your problems without the data to solve them.
Meet Wireless Neova Cloud, your secure off the shelf solution, empowering real time collaboration for quick resolution. With Wireless Neova Cloud,
your team can prevent issues before they can escalate. Driver
communication data and remote diagnostics to analyze and or solve your problems using OTA, allowing your executives to oversight throughout the process. Wireless Nearby Cloud your vehicle update solution in
production and on the road intrepid control systems driven by your data.
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 4: Wards is the industry leader for news data and analysis.
That's why companies across the globe subscribe to our premium service.
Maybe even your own log in for subscriber access. Now
check your company's intranet for details and rely on Wardsauto dot com to keep you informed.
About this episode
Stellantis faces a significant setback with a $26 billion write-off of its EV investments, abandoning the ambitious goals set by former CEO Carlos Tavares. This decision, which includes halting dividends and issuing new bonds, reflects a broader trend in the auto industry, with over $55 billion in EV write-offs announced globally. The episode also discusses the challenges of reducing reliance on Chinese technology and the U.S. auto industry's push to train new technicians amid a skilled labor shortage. Notable changes at Toyota and insights into Ford's new EV platform are also covered.
- Dividend Cancelled: Stellantis Resets as EV Strategy Crumbles - Stellantis Abandons Tavares’ EV Goals with Massive $26B Write-Off - EV Write-Offs Now Bigger Than the GDP of Entire Countries - BYD’s $60 Billion Wipeout: Is the Chinese EV Profit Engine Stalling? - U.S. Rare Earth Revolution: Recovering Metals from Mining Waste - The Race to Purge Chinese Code: Automakers Scramble Ahead of March Ban - Tesla’s China Pivot: Training AI Locally Despite U.S. Tech Restrictions - Toyota Leadership Shakeup: Koji Sato Moves to New "Chief Industry" Role - Fixing the Tech Shortage: Ford and NADA Launch Apprenticeship Program - Ford’s Universal Platform Peek: New Gigacastings To Replace 146 Parts
