Autoline Daily Feb 26, 2026

AD #4242 - Stellantis Posts Massive €22 Billion Loss; Musk's Robotaxi Promises Vs. Reality; BYD Launches $5 Daily Lease

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Term

write off

A write off means the company says some money they spent is lost and they can't get it back, so they count it as a loss.

Brand

Stellantis

Stellantis is a big company that makes many different cars, including Jeep and Dodge. It was created when two big car companies joined together.

Term

EV investments

EV investments mean the company spent money to make electric cars and the parts needed for them.

Term

adjusted operating loss

Adjusted operating loss means the company lost money from its main business after ignoring some special costs that don't happen all the time.

Term

net loss

Net loss means the company spent more money than it made overall, so it lost money.

Term

free cash flow

Free cash flow is the money left over after the company pays its bills and buys things it needs to keep running.

Term

dividends

Dividends are money the company gives to people who own its stock when it makes a profit.

Term

profit sharing

Profit sharing means the company gives some of the money it makes to its workers as a bonus.

Concept

unwinding previous management decisions

Unwinding previous management decisions means the new boss is fixing or undoing things the old boss did that didn't work well.

Concept

keiretsu system

A keiretsu is when a car company and its parts suppliers own pieces of each other’s companies. This helps them work together closely but can sometimes make things slower or harder to change.

Company

Denso

Denso is a company from Japan that makes important car parts, like electronics and engine pieces, and works closely with Toyota.

Concept

robotaxi fleet

A robotaxi fleet is a group of self-driving cars that work like taxis, picking up and dropping off passengers without a driver inside.

Brand

Tesla

Tesla makes electric cars that run on batteries instead of gas. They also work on self-driving car technology.

Concept

robotaxi permits

Robotaxi permits let companies run self-driving taxis that can carry people without a driver. They need special permission from the government to do this safely.

Company

Waimo

Waimo is a company that runs self-driving taxis in California. They have driven a lot and got permission to carry paying customers.

Brand

BYD

BYD is a big car company from China that makes electric cars and batteries. They sell a lot of cars worldwide.

Brand

SAIC

SAIC is a big car company from China. They make cars by themselves and also work with other companies like GM and Volkswagen to build cars.

Brand

Ford

Ford is a big car company from the USA. They make many types of vehicles like trucks and cars.

Car

The Mercedes-Benz GLE is a fancy and comfortable SUV that many people like because it drives well and has lots of nice features inside. It's a popular choice for those who want a bigger car with luxury touches. People talk about it a lot because it sells really well.

Brand

Volkswagen

Volkswagen is a big car company from Germany that makes many types of cars, from small ones to fancy ones.

Brand

General Motors

General Motors is a big car company from the USA that owns several brands like Chevrolet and Cadillac.

Brand

Hyundai

Hyundai is a car company from South Korea that makes cars that are good value and have lots of features.

Brand

Honda

Honda is a car company from Japan that makes dependable cars and motorcycles.

Brand

Toyota

Toyota is a famous car company from Japan that makes cars known for being dependable and easy to drive.

Concept

mobile service business

Mobile service means mechanics come to your car wherever it is to fix or maintain it, instead of you having to go to a garage.

Car

Cadillac Xt

The Cadillac XT4 is a small, fancy SUV that is easy to drive around town and has nice things inside to make the ride comfortable. It's made by the same company that makes some other popular cars but looks and feels more special. People sometimes use it for work fleets because it’s a good mix of price and luxury.

Car

GMC Terrain

The GMC Terrain is a small SUV that GM is using to fix cars on the road. It's a cheaper option than the electric vans they had before.

Car

Chevrolet Equinox

The Chevrolet Equinox is a small SUV that GM is changing to help fix cars on the road. It's cheaper than the electric vans they used before.

Car

Cadillac XT5

The Cadillac XT5 is a luxury SUV that GM is changing to help fix cars on the road. It's less expensive than the electric vans they used before.

Concept

Uptime Assist

Uptime Assist is a program by Ford that helps car dealers fix cars faster, sometimes even the same day, by keeping track of repairs and offering help when needed.

Term

LFP battery pack

An LFP battery is a special kind of battery used in electric cars that lasts a long time and is very safe to use.

Term

electric motor

An electric motor is what makes an electric car move by using electricity instead of gas.

Car

Honda Accord plug-in hybrid

The Honda Accord plug-in hybrid is a car that uses both gas and electricity to help save fuel and reduce pollution. It can drive some distance using only electricity before switching to gas.

Term

plug-in hybrid

A plug-in hybrid car can run on both gas and electricity. You can charge it by plugging it in, so it can drive using electricity for a while before using gas.

Term

zero percent interest loan

A zero percent interest loan means you borrow money to buy something, like a car, and you don't have to pay extra money (interest) for borrowing it during a certain time.

LIVE

Speaker 1: This is out Aline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry. Ever since Stalanta's CEO Antonio

Filosa announced a twenty six billion dollar write off of its EV investments just weeks ago, we knew the company's financial results for twenty twenty five would be abysmal, and they were. The company sold five and a half million

vehicles last year, up one percent, but its revenue dropped two percent, coming in at one hundred and fifty three billion euros. It posted an adjusted operating loss of eight

hundred and forty two million adjusted means, not counting the massive writeoff. A year ago, Stalantis posted an operating profit

of three point six billion euros, and it was a bloodbath.

On the bottom line, it posted a net loss of twenty two billion. Even worse, it had negative free cash

flow of four and a half billion, and as a result, the board eliminated dividends for the year, and the company's uaw will not get any profit sharing checks. That will

be a better pill to swallow for workers, because as recently as twenty twenty three they were getting almost fourteen thousand dollars in profit sharing. But there is one bright

spot in all these numbers. Stillant has showed significant progress

in the second half of the year, which was after Felosa took over and started unwinding what his predecessor had done.

Could Toyota be on the verge of unwinding its kyretzu system.

According to a report from Reuters, it could be headed in that direction. A kiret zu is a supply chain

system where an automaker and its suppliers owns stock in each other. For example, Toyota owns twenty percent of Denso,

the giant Japanese supplier, while Denso owns about three percent of Toyota. That cross ownership allows Toyota and its suppliers

to coordinate prices in production to a degree that's not possible in the US or Europe, and it's been a huge advantage for Toyota and the other they're Japanese automakers, at least up until now, a chiretz who can also be bureaucratic and slow, and if suppliers outside the kyretes who developed critical new technology, an automaker can be left behind.

It shields a company like Toyota from shareholder pressure as well.

Reuter's reports that Toyota is looking at buying back nineteen billion dollars of its shares, which are mainly held by financial institutions. In twenty nineteen, Elon Musk predicted that by

the end of twenty twenty, Tesla would have a million autonomous cars operating in a robotaxi fleet. Obviously, that never happened,

and every year since then must say it would happen the following year. Now he's saying that robotaxis are only

months away from launching in California and will be quote widespread by the end of this year. But Reuter's found

out that Tesla has still not even applied for robotaxi permits in California. While Elon Musk has complained that California

has overly burdened some reporting requirements, Waimo has logged thirteen million tast miles, received multiple approvals from the state, and has been operating robotaxis there with paying customers since twenty twenty three. In twenty twenty four, BYD was the only

Chinese automaker to crack the top ten in global car sales, but now SEIC and g Lee have joined that list.

BYD ranked sixth in global sales last year, selling four point six million vehicles, up seven percent from the year before.

SAIC was right behind with four and a half million sales, a gain of twelve percent, but keep in mind that includes all the vehicles that SAIC makes for its joint venture partners like GM and Volkswagen. Byd and Saic passed Ford,

which sold four point four million vehicles, and GLE was ninth overall with four point one million sales up twenty six percent, which was the largest gain amongst the top ten brands. Toyota, Volkswagen, Hyundai, General Motors, and Stilantis were

the top five brands respectively, and Honda rounded out the top ten.

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Speaker 1: General Motors is looking to significantly expand its mobile service business, but not with bright Drop electric vans. It began a

pilot program in twenty twenty two and then expanded nationally over the next two years. GM initially offered its bright

Drop electric vans with maintenance and repair capabilities, but they were expensive, costing dealers as much as one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. But now that the bright Drop vans

have been discontinued, GM is adding upfitted versions of the Chevrolet Equinox, GMC Terrain and Cadillac XT five to its mobile fleet, and the upfront costs of those vehicles are expected to be at least half of the electric vans. However,

GM will continue to sell bright Drop vans for the mobile service to dealers at least until it runs out of inventory. And speaking of mobile vehicle repair, we'll be

posting an interview this weekend all about Ford's mobile service business, so be sure to keep an eye out for that.

But if you're a YouTube or Patreon member, it's available to you right now. And speaking of Ford and fixing vehicles.

The automaker recently launched an initiative for its franchise dealers to help them achieve same day repairs, called Uptime Assist.

The service, which is free to dealers, involves call centers of about twenty five employees monitoring each repair order a dealership opens. If it takes more than two days for

the repair, Ford is alerted and will reach out to the dealer to see if it needs technical support or help securing parts. Since it launched a year ago, the

service has helped improve repair times by ten to fifteen percent, or about half a day, and Ford is turning to AI to help expand the service and speed up the process.

The Wu Ling Hong Guang Mini Evy grabbed the attention of the world when it launched in twenty twenty with a price tag of just over four thousand dollars. Sales

shot up quickly and nearly two million have been sold since then, but recently sales have tapered off in China, so Wuling is bringing some fresh styling to the vehicle and a little more simplicity. There's at least three or

four versions of the two door model that are all slightly different from each other, while a four door version has a style all its own. However, that's going to change.

Both the two and four door models will now have the same design, and even the look of the front rear lighting is very similar. A thirty kilowater forty two

horse power electric motor and a roughly sixteen kilowater hour LFP battery pack are expected to carry over from the current model. Those give the Mini EV a top speed

of just over sixty miles an hour in about one hundred and twenty five miles of range. Pricing has gone

up since that initial launch, with models now starting between six thousand, five hundred dollars and seventy five hundred bucks, but it's still going to be hard for Wouling to get back to its previous sales success. China's passenger car

sales fell nearly twenty percent in January compared to last year, hitting about one point four million units. That was also

eight hundred thousand vehicles less than December, and January wasn't even impacted by the Chinese New Year, so the numbers will probably look even worse for this month. The Chinese

government has tried to crack down on the country's price war, but with sales falling, automakers are still making cuts. Honda

is now offering a limited time discount on the plug and hybrid version of the Accord, worth over fourteen thousand, five hundred dollars, which brings the vehicle's starting price to about twenty thousand bucks. Longer term car loans are also

becoming much more popular in China. Jili Le li Otto,

Neo Tesla, Shaomi, Chapung and now BYD are all offering seven year loans as a way to reduce car payments to attract more customers. However, those long loans typically require

large down payments, so BYD has another promotion running on certain models as well, for zero percent interest for three years.

And the part we find most interesting is daily payments, which can be under five bucks a day. We think

it will be fascinating to see how customers respond and be sure to tune in to Autoline after hours Later today, we'll be talking about Stalantis having to mop up all that red ink, the latest quality ratings for automakers from JD Power, and where President Trump got his data for the gasoline prices that he mentioned in the State of the Union address. We'll have Norah Eckert from Reuters and

Liam Rapiley from the Detroit Free Press, joining John and Gary when the show goes live at three pm Eastern Time.

That's wrap for this show. Thanks for tuning in.

Speaker 3: Auto Line Daily is brought to you by Bridgestone 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 4: At CSP, we work with OEM engineers across the country on their journeys to lighter, safer, and more eco friendly vehicles.

Learn more at THECSP dot com.

Speaker 1: Making the life full of memories, one road trick at a time, that's what really matters.

Speaker 2: Bridgetone Weatherpeak Tires Speaker 1: With the seventy thousand mile women at Warranty

About this episode

Stellantis reported a massive €22 billion loss in 2025, driven by EV investment write-offs, with some recovery after new leadership changes. Toyota may unwind its kyretzu supply chain system, signaling a shift in Japanese automaking. Elon Musk’s robotaxi promises remain unfulfilled, with Tesla yet to apply for permits in California, while competitors like Waymo advance. Chinese automakers BYD, SAIC, and GAC made significant global sales gains, surpassing Ford. GM expands its mobile service fleet with cost-effective SUVs after BrightDrop vans were discontinued. Ford’s Uptime Assist improves dealer repair times using AI. China’s auto market faces a downturn, prompting aggressive discounts and innovative financing like BYD’s $5 daily lease.

adjusted operating loss BYD Denso dividends electric motor EV investments Ford free cash flow General Motors Honda

Cadillac XT4 Cadillac XT5 Chevrolet Equinox GMC Terrain Honda Accord Mercedes-Benz GLE

Original notes

- Stellantis Posts Massive Loss - Toyota Could End Japanese Supply System - Musk's Robotaxi Promises Vs. Reality - 3 Chinese Automakers Crack Global Top 10 - GM Ditches EV Vans for Mobile Repair - Ford Uses AI to Speed Up Car Repairs - Wuling Redesigns Best-Selling Mini EV - Honda Slashes Accord PHEV Prices in China - BYD Launches $5 Daily Lease Option

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