Volkswagen has reclaimed the top spot in China's car market with nearly 14% share, overtaking BYD, which fell to fourth after subsidy cuts for new energy vehicles. BYD is exploring assembly plant options in Canada to bypass import limits. Tesla faces delays in its AI6 chip production due to Samsung foundry issues, potentially impacting its 2028 autonomous vehicle plans. Used EV sales are expected to surge as many leased vehicles return at discounted prices. Rivian revealed specs for its upcoming R2 midsize SUV, highlighting performance and pricing tiers. Lucid plans to launch new midsize SUVs and a robotaxi concept based on a new platform.
Topics:china car marketvolkswagen market sharebyd expansion planstesla ai chip delayused ev marketrivian r2 suvlucid midsize suvsev subsidiesautonomous vehiclesev leasing trends
- Volkswagen Reclaims Top Spot in China as BYD Sales Plummet - VW ID.3 Neo Leads Massive China Product Offensive - BYD Eyes Manufacturing Plants to Enter Canadian Market - Samsung Issues Delay Tesla Autonomous AI6 Chip - Used EV Sales Surge as Lease Returns Increase - Rivian Details R2 SUV Specs Before Official Launch - Lucid Unveils New Mid-Size SUV And Robotaxi Plans
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Speaker 1: This is Autoline Gaily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry. Yesterday we reported that new car
sales in China dropped twenty six percent for the first two months of the year. Today we've got more info
on individual automakers, and the numbers caught us completely by surprise.
Volkswagging clawed its way back to being the number one car company in China, hitting almost fourteen percent market share.
Geely was hot on its heels in second place, just a fraction behind, and Toyota surged into third place with almost eight percent share. You're probably wondering about BYD, which
was in first place for the last two years running.
It faded to fourth with a seven percent share. China
cut its subsidies for new energy vehicles earlier this year, including BEVs p has An eras, and that has really seemed to hurt BYD and getting back to number one and could be difficult because Volkswagen is likely to grow even stronger as the year goes on. It's going to
launch twenty new models in China this year, which could include the ID three Neo, a compact electric that's said to be the successor to the ID three and launches next month. The Neo is based on the updated version
of VW's MEB plus platform, but some future models are also being developed with Chipong. Now let's go back to
BYD for a moment. It's sniffing around Canada seeing if
there's an assembly plant that can buy. Canada agreed to
allow Chinese automakers to import up to a total of forty nine thousand evs into the country, which we think is a direct reaction to the Trump administration enacting tariff policies that threaten to destroy the Canadian auto industry. But
if BYD could build cars there, it would not face what is essentially a sales cap. There are currently two
empty assembly plants in Canada, the stalantisl in Brampton that used to build the Dodge Charger Challenger in Chrysler three hundred and the General Motors CAMI plant that was building bright Drop electric vans. BYD says it's not interested in
forming a joint venture with an existing automaker and wants its own facility, but the Canadian government would likely want to steer BYD to buy an existing plant rather than building a greenfield facility.
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Speaker 1: It looks like Tesla's next gen autonomous and AI technology could be delayed. Last year, it signed a sixteen point
five billion dollar deal with Samsung to use its new wafers for its AI six chip, which will power its autonomous vehicles, optimist robots, and AI data centers. Those wafers
were supposed to go into mass production by late twenty twenty seven, but now prototype production, which was scheduled to start in April, is being delayed by six months. The
pushback is related to an issue with Samsung's foundry. Tesla
is aiming to use the AI six chip in twenty twenty eight, but now that timeline looks like it could be in jeopardy. Thanks to rising gas prices and a
boost in vehicles coming off of lease, used EV sales are expected to boom in the second half of this year and into twenty twenty seven. According to investment Banks Stevens,
used EV's coming off short term leases are valued at more than fifty percent underwater, so when those leases expire, the vehicles will likely hit the market at steep discounts.
More than half of used EV's are already priced below thirty thousand dollars, with thirty nine percent under twenty five thousand bucks. According to Cox Automotive, used EV sales were
up nearly thirty percent in February and used EV inventory increased to forty four thousand units, up eight point six percent, and those numbers will likely keep growing. Cox estimates that
more than one point one million evs have been leased since the seventy five hundred dollars federal EV tax credit took effect in twenty twenty two, so there will be a lot of EV's coming off lease over the next couple of years. The all new Rivian R II could
go on sale as early as next week, so now the company is providing more details about its first mid size suv. The first version to launch will be the
Performance model, which is also the most expensive, with a starting price of just under fifty eight thousand dollars. It
features a dual motor setup that generates over six hundred and fifty horse power and will do zero to sixty miles an hour in three point six seconds. While no
battery sizes were given. It had an estimated three hundred
and thirty miles of range and a towing capacity of forty four hundred pounds as well. The next version to
come out will likely be the premium model. It also
has an estimated three hundred and thirty miles of range and a dual motor all wheel drive setup, but it makes four hundred and fifty horse power and will start at about fifty four thousand dollars. Sometime next year. The
standard version, which starts at roughly forty eight five hundred dollars, will hit the market with a rear drive unit that makes three hundred and fifty horse power and has three hundred and forty five miles of range. This trim can
be ordered with all wheel drive as well, and all versions have the option for Rivian's hands free driving system called Autonomy Plus. A sixty day trial is included at delivery,
but it costs fifty bucks a month after that, or it can be bought outright for twenty five hundred dollars.
The company says there will also be an even cheaper version of the R two that has over two hundred and seventy five miles of range and will cost around forty five thousand dollars, but that model won't be out until late next year. And speaking of new midsize SUVs
from American evy startups, Lucid should launch the first models off its all new mid sized platform before the end of the year. One of those SUVs is called the
Cosmos and the company says it's for customers that want efficiency, space and performance. The other is called the Earth and
is said to have Lucid signature, driving dynamics and efficiency, but sounds like it will be a little more off road focused. The literal driving force behind the new platform
is an all new drive unit that Lucid calls Atlass.
It's smaller, lighter, and features a simpler design compared to its first motor setup. For example, it uses identical front,
rear housings and mounts, which improves manufacturing scale and cost.
A third model is also planned to be built off the mid sized platform, but we won't get details for it until later. However, Lucid did also show off a
two seat robotaxi concept based on the platform, called the Lunar, which it says shows the potential of the platform for future autonomous and commercial applications. The company announced it's finalizing
a deal with Uber to provide it with a similar amount of mid sized robotaxis to the Gravity Robotaxi program.
And that brings us to the end of today's show.
Thanks for tuning in, and I hope that you have a great weekend.
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