The Lincoln Corsair is a fancy SUV made by Lincoln, which is a luxury brand from Ford. It's designed to be comfortable and stylish, making it a good choice for people who want a nice vehicle that feels special. The mention of it relates to changes in how Ford is making cars, focusing more on luxury models.
The Toyota Highlander is a large SUV that can fit many passengers. It's being updated to run on electricity instead of gasoline, which is better for the environment.
The TNNGAK platform is a type of framework that Toyota uses to build different cars. It helps them make changes easily, especially for electric vehicles.
A kilowatt-hour is a way to measure how much electricity a battery can store. It's important for understanding how far an electric car can drive before needing to be charged.
The Mazda CX-5 is a small SUV that is fun to drive and has a nice look. It's a good choice for families or anyone needing extra space without going for a full-size SUV.
Solid state batteries are a new kind of battery that could be safer and hold more energy than the batteries we use today. They are important for electric cars because they could help them go further on a single charge.
Economies of scale mean that as companies make more products, they can lower the cost of each product. This happens because they can spread their costs over a larger number of items.
The Audi Etron GT is an electric sports car known for its stylish look and fast performance. It's a good choice if you're looking for a high-end electric vehicle.
Headlight glare is when the bright lights from other cars make it hard to see while driving. Many drivers find this very annoying and dangerous, especially at night.
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Speaker 1: This is Autolne Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry. Ford reported its twenty twenty five earnings,
and it's a book of numbers the company will want to hide back on the shelf. It sold four point
three million vehicles worldwide, which was down two percent, and that was enough to drop it behind BYD in the global rankings of automakers. BYD sold just over four and
a half million cars and trucks in twenty twenty five.
In last year's industry report card that we put out every year, Ford was the sixth largest automaker by sales, while BYD was seventh, so they'll switch positions in this year's report card. Despite the drop in sales, Ford was
able to raise its revenue by one percent, coming in at one hundred and eighty seven point three billion dollars.
But here's where the numbers turn ugly. Due to ev writeoffs,
the impact of tariffs, a fire at an aluminum supplier's plant which hurt production of the F series pickup, and dropping production of the Ford Escape in Lincoln Corsair. Ford
ended up posting and operating loss of over nine billion dollars and a net loss of over eight billion. Of course,
investors want to know what lies ahead, and the company forecasts that it will make an EBIT profit this year of eight to ten billion and generate five to six billion dollars in adjusted free cash flow. That must have
sounded reasonable enough to investors, and they sent Ford stock up a little bit over one percent in pre market trading.
And it turns out that McDonald's is pretty impressed with Ford's CEO, Jim Farley. It just named him to the
McDonald's board of directors. The fast food chain said it
chose Farley because he quote brings invaluable experiencing balancing innovation with operational excellence, modernizing customer experience, engaging into Pennan operators, and harnessing technology to improve systems at scale. And by
the way, Farley isn't the only car guy on the McDonald's board. So is Paul Walsh, the vice chairman of
the McLaren Group, who has responsibility for McLaren's cars and its Formula one in Indy car teams. As we reported yesterday,
humanoid robots are really giving Hyundai's stock a big boost, and today it's up once again after Boston Dynamics CEO Robert Plater announced he's stepping down. According to analysts, the
leadership change could be a signal that Hyundai, which owns Boston Dynamics, is planning to accelerate the rollout of humanoids.
Plater joined Boston Dynamics shortly after it was founded in nineteen ninety two and held various roles at the company, including CEO for the past six years. We think that
with Hyundai getting closer to deploying humanoids, it wants US sales and marketing person in charge instead of a tech guy.
Speaker 2: Performance that shines even in the rain. That's what really matters.
Rich don't pretends to tires improved grip in wet conditions.
Speaker 1: The Toyota Highlander is going all electric. The three row,
seven seater suv now rides on a modified version of the TNNGAK platform, resulting in a nearly one inch reduction in height, an increase of width by two point three inches, and the wheelbase going up by eight point one inches.
Not only does that provide more leg room for passengers, but it was done to add more space for batteries.
While the biggest pack in the Toyota BZ is nearly seventy five kilowad hours. The Highlander has seventy seven and
roughly ninety six kilowad hour battery options in front wheel drives.
Set up with a two hundred and twenty one horse power electric motor, the seventy seven kilowad hour pack provides up to two hundred and eighty seven miles of range.
There's also an all wheel drive option, which has a combined three hundred and thirty eight horse power and when paired with the ninety six kilowad hour battery, it provides up to three hundred and twenty miles of range. The
new Highlander features Toyota's latest technology, including its newest eight as suite, a next charging port, and vehicle to load so it can charge other electronic devices. The electric suv
will be built in the US in Kentucky, and sales are scheduled to kick off at the end of the year.
No word on pricing yet, but by going all electric, we think the price will be higher than the current generation Highlander, which starts around forty five thousand dollars. To
help offset the cost of US Terrace, Mazda is cutting costs on the new CX five for example, the leather on Mazda's current steering wheels needs to be precisely cut and sown on a curve so the stitching lines match up, but the steering wheel on the new X five won't feature that level of detail because Mazda says it's not something customers see real value in. Other cost cutting measures
won't be so noticeable to the customer. Mazda also worked
with its steel supplier earlier in the development process, allowing engineers to cut costs and weight while making the body larger.
The company used those savings to add value in areas that owners will see, like a bigger center screen and Google connectivity. Mazda says the new CX five will have
margins that are as good or better than the outgoing model, despite the fifteen percent US tariffs. Solid state is said
to be the next big breakthrough in battery technology, and China wants to lead the way in setting the standards for these batteries. Several Chinese companies are expected to see
start launching solid state batteries in low volume this year and next, so the country will introduce its first set of standards in July. It will initially focus on things
like clarifying terms for solid state batteries. But China also
wants to set guidelines and requirements for the electrolyte and other elements of the batteries, and we think these standards could be key for China maintaining its cost advantage over the rest of the world. Now companies will need to
start building to these standards, which will lead to more common parts, which will provide greater economies of scale and that will help keep costs down. If you're in the
market for an electric sports car but don't want to break the bank, you might want to check out a used Audi Etron GT. Inside EV's reports that you can
find dozens of three year old e Tron gts with twenty to fifty thousand miles on websites like Autotrader and car Gurus price well below forty thousand bucks. While that's
not exactly cheap, it's a pretty nice bargain considering a new Etron GT starts at one hundred and twenty eight thousand dollars, or about a ninety thousand dollars discount. Do
you know what's the number one driver complain in the world.
Headlight glare? It doesn't matter where you drive. More drivers
complain about being blinded by oncoming headlamps than anything else related to driving. While that will be one of the
topics on Autoline after Hours tomorrow because gen Text believes it has a solution and a lot more information on what's causing the problem. So put that show on your
radar screen and that's a wrap for today. Thanks for
tuning in.
Speaker 3: Autoline Daily is brought to you by Bridgestone Solutions for your Journey CSP, the Composites Solution partner Intrepid Control Systems over the year engineering boost your game and thanks to the following YouTube and Patreon members.
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About this episode
Ford's 2025 earnings reveal a staggering $8 billion net loss, largely due to EV write-offs and production issues, leading to a drop in global sales rankings behind BYD. Meanwhile, Toyota announces an all-electric Highlander with impressive battery options and technology features, set to launch in the US later this year. The episode also touches on Mazda's cost-cutting measures for the new CX-5, China's push for solid-state battery standards, and the surprising affordability of used Audi Etron GTs. Headlight glare complaints are highlighted as a major driver issue.
- Ford 2025 Earnings: $8B Net Loss as BYD Overtakes Detroit Giant - From F-Series to Big Macs: Jim Farley Joins McDonald’s Board - Hyundai Eyes Mass Production as Boston Dynamics CEO Departs - Toyota Reveals All-Electric 2027 Highlander With 320-Mile Range - Mazda Attacks Steering Wheel Stitching to Cut Costs - China to Set Global Solid-State Battery Standards by July - $90,000 Discount: The Used Audi E-Tron GT Is an EV Performance Steal - Blinded by The Light? Gentex Tackles The #1 Driver Complaint
