Volkswagen Group is a big company that makes many different car brands you might see on the road. They are known for making cars like Volkswagen and Audi.
Usually, car companies sell their cars through local dealers. Direct sales means the car company sells the cars straight to people without dealers in between.
The Honda Insight is a car that uses both gas and electric power to save fuel. It first came out in 1999, stopped being made a few times, and changed its shape over the years.
The Kia EV6 GT is a faster, sportier version of Kia's electric SUV called the EV6. But Kia is stopping selling this version in the US, probably because of extra taxes on cars made in South Korea.
Blade EV batteries are special car batteries made by BYD that can charge very fast and work well even when it's very cold outside. They help electric cars go farther and charge quicker.
Fast charging means you can fill up an electric car's battery much faster than usual, so you don't have to wait long before driving again. These new batteries can charge almost fully in just 12 minutes, even when it's really cold.
Energy density means how much power a battery can hold in a certain size. If a battery has high energy density, it can make a car go farther before needing a recharge.
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Speaker 1: This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry. Scout Motors is facing more pushback
from Volkswagen dealers on its plan to sell direct to consumers.
Two VW dealerships in New York and Connecticut are suing the Volkswagen Group and Volkswagen of America for breach of contract.
In the US, any automaker that has used franchise dealers in the past can't forego the dealership model with another one of its brands. But despite being funded by the
Volkswagen Group, Scout claims it's independent from Volkswagen, so it should be allowed to sell direct. I think there's actually
some decent arguments for why Scout has a case for itself, and we went over a lot of that in Auto Line After Hours number seven seven five, which featured Ryan Decker, VP of Strategy and Brand at Scout Motors. However, this
is a growing battle for VW and Scout. Dealers in Kelilfoornia, Florida,
and Colorado also have pending lawsuits over Scout's direct sales plan, and thanks to an Automotive Press Association event at Scout's suburban Detroit Innovation Center yesterday. We know that the brand
has a plan for dealing with the lawsuits and direct sales, and that it's executing that plan right now. Those are
claims from Scout CEO Scott ko. However, when pressed to
provide more information, Keo would only say it has a plan and it's executing that plan. So no details, but
we did learn a little more about the progress of the company. Its plant in South Carolina, which is currently
under construction, is being built for a capacity of two hundred thousand vehicles a year, but it could double that if it needs to. Keo says he hoped Scout will
one day cover that entire two hundred thousand unit capacity, but concedes that the plant could make vehicles from other brands as well. Right now, it has one hundred and
sixty thousands. Eighty seven percent of those are for the
E REV version and seventy to seventy five percent are for the Traveler SUV. While the first engineering and production
validation builds will kick off this year, actual production vehicles won't start rolling down the line until late twenty twenty seven, and then deliveries happen after that. Sometime in twenty twenty
eight German union IGMTTAL suffered a big setback in its attempt to unionize Tesla's plant in Berlin. It failed to
win a majority in the automaker's works council election this week, securing just thirteen of the thirty.
Speaker 2: Seven available seats.
Speaker 1: And that's actually three fewer seats than it used to have, and it means that Tesla's plant remains non unionized. Tesla
and IGMTTAL were in a bitter feud leading up to the vote. The union accused Tesla of creating a toxic
work environment, while Tesla filed a criminal complaint against a union representative, claiming that person secretly recorded a works council meeting.
But based on the outcome of the election, it appears workers are more on testless side.
Speaker 3: 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 1: The amount of money that people still owed on their vehicle trade ins hit a record high in the fourth quarter of last year. According to data from Edmunds, buyers
still owed an average of seven two hundred dollars on their trade ins, which broke the previous high by about three hundred dollars, and twenty seven percent.
Speaker 2: Owed more than ten thousand bucks.
Speaker 1: More worrisome is that's two consecutive record setting quarters. Plus
the data shows that twenty nine percent of new vehicle buyers with trade ins owed more than their trade in it was worth, which was up four percent from the year before, and that's making it harder for those people to get a deal on a new car. Part of
the problem is falling used vehicle value, but with new car prices going up, there should be more of a rush into the used car market, and experts think we'll see a drop in owners with negative equity. Stalantis's electric
vans have reached cost parity with their diesel counterparts in Europe, well at least until the end of June. The company's
commercial division, called Stalantis pro One, is going to sell all of its mid size and compact vans for the same price as their diesel versions for roughly the next four months. That's eight vans in total from its Cetroan,
Fiat Opal and Pugo brands. Honda is reviving the Insight
nameplate once again. This time it will be an all
electric model that's based on Honda's e NS two EV.
Speaker 2: Which is only sold in China.
Speaker 1: It has a range three hundred and ten miles or five hundred kilometers based on the WLTC test cycle. The
new Insight will be built in China and then imported to Japan, but Honda declined to say if it will be sold in other markets. Honda only plans to import
three thousand Insights to Japan, and it goes on sale in March, but pricing wasn't announced. The original Insight debuted
in nineteen ninety nine as a three door hybrid. Honda
dropped the model in two thousand and six, but revived it in two thousand and nine as a five door hybrid.
Speaker 2: It was discontinued in twenty fifteen.
Speaker 1: But Honda brought it back three years later as a four door sedan, but it was once again killed off in twenty twenty two, and while Honda is bringing back a model, Hondai and Kia are trimming their lineups. Edmund's
reports that Hundai is dropping the standard Ionic six in the US, while the performance en version will still be sold, but only in limited numbers. Hyundai didn't say why it's
discontinuing the Ionic six, but tarrifs likely played a role since the model is built in South Korea. Ionic six
sales were down fifteen percent last year in the US, and they plummeted another seventy seven percent in the first two months of this year. And while the performance version
of the Ionic six will remain, Kia is dropping the performance version of.
Speaker 2: The EV six in the US.
Speaker 1: Tariffs likely led to that decision too, since the EV six GT is also made in South Korea.
Speaker 2: Byd made some big improvements to its Blade EV batteries.
Speaker 1: It just launched the second generation, which it says can offer fast charging in extremely cold temperatures. The new battery
can charge from twenty to ninety seven percent in just twelve minutes at temperatures as lowest negative twenty degrees celsius or minus four degrees fahrenheit, and the new battery has a range of four hundred and eighty three miles or seventy seven kilometers. There's also a higher energy density version
for its luxury and performance models that offers one thousand miles of range and a quick reminder to tune in to Autoline after hours at three pm Eastern time, Today, John and Gary, along with Tom Murphy and Lindsay Brook are going to analyze the big CEO shuffle that's been going on in the auto industry. Plus they'll go over
the top news stories of the week, so don't miss out on that. That's a wrap for this show and
I hope to see you later today.
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When it really matters CSP the Composites Solution Partner, Intrepid Control Systems, over the Air Engineering, boost your game and thanks to the following YouTube and Patreon members.
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About this episode
Scout Motors faces multiple lawsuits from Volkswagen dealers over its direct-to-consumer sales model, with the company claiming independence from VW and having a plan to address the legal challenges. Tesla’s Berlin plant workers rejected unionization efforts, maintaining a non-union status amid tensions. U.S. car buyers are grappling with record-high trade-in loan debts, complicating new vehicle purchases. Meanwhile, Stellantis offers electric vans at diesel prices temporarily in Europe, Honda revives the Insight as an EV for Japan, and Hyundai and Kia trim some EV models in the U.S. BYD launches advanced Blade EV batteries with impressive cold-weather fast charging.
- VW Dealers Sue to Block Scout's Direct Sales - Scout Reveals 160K Reservations and Production Timeline - Tesla Workers Reject Union in Germany - U.S. Hits Record Car Loan Debt - Stellantis Sells EV Vans for Same as Diesel - Honda Revives Insight Again, But as Pure EV - Hyundai and Kia Cut EV Models in the U.S. - BYD Makes Big Improvements with Next-Gen Battery
