An EREV car mostly uses electricity to drive but has a small gas engine that makes more electricity when the battery runs low, so you can drive farther.
The Audi E-tron Sportback is an electric SUV made for China. Even though it won an award, some problems with its technology and charging have made people less interested.
Ninety one plus octane fuel is a special kind of gas that helps the engine run better and not get damaged when it's working hard.
LIVE
Speaker 1: This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry. Well, here's a significant shift in
the American market that's been building for some time. Kia
surpassed Hunday in sales for the first two months of the year. Hundi sold one hundred and twenty one thousand
vehicles in the US so far, while Kia sold over one hundred and thirty thousand. Both brand set record sales
in February, so it's not as if Hunday is falling way behind. It's just that Kia is surging ahead. Warren Brown,
one of our favorite auto analysts, took a look at the impact of President Trump's policies on the auto industry, and it's a bit of a mixed bag.
Speaker 2: Automotive production in the US increased.
Speaker 1: By ninety eight thousand vehicles last year, but the industry lost thirty four thousand manufacturing jobs. Brown is forecasting that
US production will climb by another one hundred and eighteen thousand vehicles this year, but employment will drop by another four thousand jobs. Last year, automakers sold sixteen point three
million vehicles in.
Speaker 2: The US, but Brown expects sales.
Speaker 1: To come in at fifteen point eight million this year, or about four hundred and eighty three thousand units lower.
Speaker 2: So here's the bottom line.
Speaker 1: US production is up, but sales are down, and so is manufacturing employment. Vietnamese evy startup VinFast announced it's restructured
its business into three automotive brand lines. VinFast is the
mass market brand, lack Hong is its luxury brand, and Green is its commercial brand.
Speaker 2: In addition to announcing its new.
Speaker 1: Structure, VinFast revealed two new models for lack Hong, the eight hundred S and the nine hundred S. Those models
joined the flagship nine hundred Lex, which was introduced last year.
Not many details about the new models were shared, but they do feature a tri motor powertrain with one front and two rear motors that combined for four hundred and US sixty kilowatts or six hundred and sixteen horse power.
The eight hundred and nine hundred s are expected to launch next year. Yesterday, we reported that the warrant I
Ran pushed the price of oil up by ten dollars a barrel, hitting seventy two bucks. This morning, it's up
to seventy nine dollars. That's the price on the global
market called Brent crude. In the US West Texas intermediary
is about five dollars a barrel lower than the Brent crude price. And we're keeping a close eye on this
because if oil prices keep going up, it could have a significant impact on the mix of vehicles that the car companies plan to make this year, and that would ripple all the way down the supply chain. In the US,
automaker's plan to sell a lot more full size pickups in SUVs after the Trump administration eased off fuel efficiency and emission regulations earlier this year, but higher prices at the pump could push consumers into smaller vehicles, especially hybrids.
A rule of thumb amongst refiners is that for every dollar a barrel of oil goes up a gale and a gasoline goes up two and a half cents. Oil
experts say the key thing to watch is whether I ran as able to keep the straits of Horrormuz closed and prevent oil tankers from getting through. Right now, nothing
is getting through, and the experts say that if this lasts a few more days, oil prices will go higher and that could send the auto windowsry scrambling to change its production plans.
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Speaker 1: The Volkswagen Group sought sales fall eight percent in China last year, but it hopes that developing vehicles specifically for Chinese consumers will help turn that around. One strategy it's
trying is to push the VW brand into a more premium space, and along with joint venture partner SEIC, it's launching a new flagship three Z row SUV called the id Era nine X. The model features an EREV powertrain
using a turbocharged one and a half liter engine to generate electricity to send to either a single or dual motor setup and one of two battery sizes roughly fifty one or sixty five kilowat hours. A range of up
to four hundred kilometers or nearly two hundred and fifty miles is expected with a bigger pack on the Chinese test cycle. The single motor variants are rear wheel drive
and make just under three hundred horse power, while the all wheel drive version produces five hundred and ten horse power.
The id Era nine X is expected to launch in China sometime this month, but no word on pricing for VW's new premium suv, and while this seems like an impressive vehicle, it still might not appeal to Chinese buyers.
Last year, Audi also went through a bit of a makeover in China in an effort to regain customers in boot sales. It ditched its four ring logo and Chase
changed the Audi name to all caps. It also launched
a new affordable electric model called the E five Sportback, which was developed with Seic specifically for the Chinese market, and while the vehicle won the China Car of the Year award last year, consumers haven't warmed up to it, Yet between its launch in September and the end of December, only six thou six hundred and fifty E five Sportbacks were sold and sales didn't improve in January, which is six hundred and five units sold. A buggy infotainment system
and slower charging times compared to competitors are turning away some buyers, but the automaker is going to stick with its new approach for now. Volkswagen Group CEO Oliver Blooma
says the E five Sportback, which starts at thirty four thousand dollars, is profitable and quote attracts precisely the young and tech savvy customers we want, and in April, Audi will launch its second in China for China model at the Beijing Auto Show. The E seven acts the autowindustry
is going gaga over humanoid robots, and now Chinese robotics startup Agibot is planning to produce humanoids in Europe for automotive production. The company partnered with auto supplier Mynth Group
to produce its X two robot as well as train them for industrial applications for European automakers and suppliers Agibot was founded just three years ago, but it's already entered mass production and delivered five thousand humanoid robots. Agibot expects
shipments of humanoids to ramp up in Europe within two years as more automakers and suppliers test them for their operations.
Ford is selling new supercharger kits for the five liter V eight F one fifty and Mustang that add an astonishing amount of horsepower and torque. The core of the
kit includes a three liter Whipple supercharger, intercooler, and all the calibration equipment to make it work. It takes twenty
twenty one to twenty twenty six F one fifties from just over four hundred horse power up to seven hundred horse power, and torque goes from about four hundred pound feet to nearly six hundred pound feet, and twenty twenty four to twenty twenty six Mustangs go from four hundred and eighty horse power to eight hundred and from four hundred and fifteen pound feet of torque to six hundred and fifteen pound feet. The kit itself costs about ten thousand,
five hundred dollars, but in order to qualify for the three year, thirty six thousand mile warranty. It has to
be installed by a four dealer or an ASE certified technician, while no word on how long installation takes.
Speaker 2: The instruction manual is fifty five pages long.
Speaker 1: Plus customers have to use special five W fifty full synthetic oil, which there can be up to eight courts of, and the system will only run on ninety one plus octane fuel, including draining the entire fuel system. So there's
gonna be a number of extra costs. But that's a
wrap for today's show. Thanks for making autoline a part
of your day.
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Speaker 5: 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: The automotive and industrial sectors are undergoing historic transformation electrification, digitalization, supply chain reinvention, regulatory shifts. The pace is accelerating and
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About this episode
Kia has overtaken Hyundai in U.S. sales, marking a notable shift in the American market. Despite increased U.S. vehicle production, sales and manufacturing jobs are declining. Vietnamese EV startup VinFast unveils new luxury models with powerful tri-motor setups. Volkswagen aims to reposition its brand as premium in China with the new ID. Era 9X SUV, while Audi struggles to gain traction with its China-specific electric models. Ford introduces supercharger kits boosting horsepower significantly for F-150s and Mustangs, though with added maintenance requirements. Rising oil prices and geopolitical tensions could impact automakers' production and vehicle mix decisions.
- Kia's U.S. Sales Surge Past Hyundai - U.S. Production Up, But Sales and Jobs Down - VinFast Splits Into Three Brands - Rising Oil Costs Threaten OEM's Plans - VW Brand Goes Premium in China - Audi Struggles in China Despite "Car of the Year" - Agibot Bringing Humanoids to EU Auto Production - Ford Supercharger Kit Expensive But Effective
