AD #4320 - GM Not Giving Up on Robotaxis; Chinese Auto Execs Warn of Thin Margins; German Suppliers Cut Jobs and Investments

AD #4320 - GM Not Giving Up on Robotaxis; Chinese Auto Execs Warn of Thin Margins; German Suppliers Cut Jobs and Investments Autoline Daily · Jun 17, 2026

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Concept

thin margins

Thin margins means the profit on each car is small. When that happens, it’s harder for companies to deal with surprises or invest in new cars.

Concept

prolonged downturn

A prolonged downturn means a long period where car sales are weak. Companies may have to slow down production and spend less because fewer cars are selling.

Company

BMW

BMW is mentioned because it lowered its forecast. The reason given is weaker sales in China and disruptions tied to the war in Iran.

Company

Volkswagen

Volkswagen is the car company mentioned here. They’re talking about cutting back production at a German plant because demand is weaker and the future is uncertain.

Place

Osna Brook plant

This is a specific Volkswagen factory location in Germany. The episode uses it as an example of how changes in car demand can affect workers there.

Term

full battery electric power trains

This means the car is fully electric. It runs on a battery and an electric motor, not a gas engine.

Term

plugin hybrid

A plug-in hybrid is part electric and part gas. You can charge it at home or at a charger, and it can usually drive for a while on electricity before the gas engine takes over.

Term

MLA platform is Land Rover/Jaguar’s shared vehicle design that can be used for different kinds of electrified powertrains. It’s like a common “car skeleton” that can be adapted for different versions.

Term

mild hybrid

A mild hybrid is a car that has a small electric motor to help the gas engine. It usually can’t run on electricity alone for long—its main job is to assist and improve efficiency.

Company

Jaguar Land Rover

Jaguar Land Rover is the car company in this part of the news. They’re changing their plan to grow revenue, but they also expect lower profits and say they need to cut costs.

Term

double digit revenue growth

Double-digit revenue growth means the company expects its sales/earnings from selling cars to rise by 10% or more. It’s a business goal, not a car-tech term.

Car

Land Rover Range Rover

The Range Rover is a large luxury SUV made by Land Rover. It’s designed to be comfortable for everyday driving while still being capable on rough roads. The podcast mentions an electric version, which uses an electric motor instead of a traditional engine.

Car

range Rover Sport Electric

Range Rover Sport Electric is the electric version of the Range Rover Sport. It’s the same idea—an electric SUV—but in the Sport model lineup.

Term

EMA platform

An EMA platform is the underlying vehicle “building system” Jaguar Land Rover plans to use for electric cars. The idea is to make it easier to build different electrified versions on the same core design.

Term

strong hybrids

Strong hybrid means the car can rely on the electric motor more often than a mild hybrid. It still uses a gas engine too, but the electric system does more of the work.

Company

Tata

Tata is the parent company mentioned in the stock-market reaction. The episode says Tata’s shares dropped after Jaguar Land Rover’s financial outlook got worse.

Term

robotaxis

Robotaxis are self-driving cars that you can call like a rideshare. Instead of a human driver, the car does the driving.

Company

General Motors

General Motors is a big car company. They’re working on self-driving technology and robotaxis, even though they stopped one part of their self-driving effort recently.

Term

level four autonomous vehicles

Level four means the car can drive itself in certain situations without you needing to constantly supervise. It’s not necessarily “everywhere, all the time,” but it’s a big step up from earlier levels.

Company

Uber

Uber is a rideshare app and company. Here, they’re working with partners to bring self-driving ride services to cities.

Brand

Lucid Motors

Lucid Motors is an EV company that makes electric cars. They’re mentioned here because they’re partnering on a self-driving ride service.

Company

Mobilize

Mobilize is a company involved with self-driving tech. Here they’re saying they’ll start running their own robotaxi service, starting with a small fleet and then growing.

Car

Chevrolet Silverado

The Chevy Silverado is GM’s big pickup truck. This episode talks about the next version and what’s changing—especially the engines and the interior.

Term

V eights

A V8 engine has eight cylinders arranged in a V shape. It’s the kind of engine that’s often chosen for strong power in trucks, and the host says GM is updating it.

Term

power and torque

Power and torque are both measures of how strong the engine is. Torque is the “pulling” force that helps you get moving and tow, while power is how much work the engine can do over time.

Term

naturally aspirated

Naturally aspirated means the engine doesn’t use a turbo or supercharger to push air in. It relies on normal engine breathing, which can feel different than turbo engines.

Term

Durmacs three Leader diesel

Duramax is GM’s name for certain diesel engines. Diesel engines tend to make strong low-end pulling power, which is useful for towing and heavy-duty driving.

Term

tens beat auto

This sounds like a 10-speed automatic transmission. It’s designed to pick the right gear for the situation so the truck can feel smoother and use fuel more efficiently.

Term

dash layout

The dash layout is how the dashboard is designed—where the screens and controls are placed. They’re saying the new Silverado gets a redesigned dashboard with updated displays.

Concept

higher gas prices

They’re saying expensive gas can change what people want to buy. If fuel costs go up, some shoppers pull back on pricier trucks and SUVs.

LIVE

Speaker 1: This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry. Several Chinese auto executives are warning

that their industry is entering a new phase of competition.

The COO of Leap Motor says bold moves and speed will be replaced by thin margins and uncertainty that demands extreme flexibility, and William Lee, the CEO and founder of Neo, says the Chinese industry is entering what he calls the finals.

He points out that new car sales in China are down almost twenty percent this year and warns that automakers need to be prepared for a prolonged downturn. Both executives

say that automakers can no longer rely on one hit model to sustain their operations or boast about having the best technology or software. Instead, those with excellent operations throughout

their company will be the ones to survive, and success will be measured by those who maintain the closest connections with their customers. As we've reported, the German auto industry

is really struggling and it doesn't appear it will improve anytime soon. BMW just lowered its guidance for twenty twenty

six due to weak sales in China and disruptions caused by the war in Iran. Because of that, the automaker

says car sales will be below last year, and it expects automotive returns of one to three percent, down from a previous forecast of four to six percent. Meanwhile, Volkswagen

is planning to scale back production at one of its plants in Germany, which has labor represented as concerned about the site's future. Production of the convertible version of the

t Rock crossover is being reduced, the only model that the Osna Brook plant makes. That production is scheduled to

end completely next year and there's currently no models scheduled after that. While VW says it's in talx with defense

contractors to fill unused capacity at the plant, workers are still worried over the uncertainty, and lastly, suppliers in Germany are feeling the pain too. According to a new survey

of one hundred and sixteen auto suppliers in the country, around a third expect business conditions to worsen over the next year, compared to the twenty five percent that expect an improvement. About two thirds of suppliers said planned investments

for Germany will be postponed, moved overseas, or canceled altogether, and over half of the company said they're laying off workers in the country, compared to just three percent that are hiring. Jaguar Land Rover is modifying its future strategy

in the hopes of achieving double digit revenue growth in the medium term. Some models will remain on the company's

MLA platform, which supports mild hybrid, plugin hybrid, and full battery electric power trains. The latter includes the range Rover

Electric and range Rover Sport Electric that come out later this year. The first all electric model from its new

EMA platform will come out later this year as well, and is also from the range Rover brand, but the company says this platform will now offer strong hybrids too. However,

even with some of those changes, the Jaguar brand is still going electric only. While JLR hopes the strategy will

eventually grow revenue, it's forecasting a weaker profit margin for the fiscal year and says it needs to cut cost by nearly two point three billion dollars over the next two years. It expects sales to be around three hundred

thousand units during that time, a drop from about three hundred and twenty four thousand units in the previous fiscal year, which itself was a nineteen percent drop from the year before.

Investors didn't like the news, and shares at parent company Tata fell as much as nine point six percent.

Speaker 2: Performance that shines even in the rain. That's what really matters.

Rich don't pretends to tires, improved grip and wet conditions.

Speaker 1: Well, surprise, surprise, General Motors isn't giving up on robotaxis after all. Even though GM shut down its Cruise autonomous

business in late twenty twenty four, GMS had a product.

Stirling Anderson says its avs will eventually be able to operate as robotaxis. GM plans to introduce an eyes off

driving system in twenty twenty eight, and to help develop it, the company rehired around one hundred former Crewise employees. GM

is growing its autonomous capabilities on the highway first before expanding into main roads in side streets. Anderson says this

approach will eventually converge with robotaxi business needs and at that point, quote, why not offer them in a robotaxi type application as well in relay did robotaxi news stillant is.

Uber and Wave announced they formed a partnership to develop and deploy level four autonomous vehicles globally. However, no timetable

for the launch was given. Speaking of Uber and robotaxis,

the ride hailing company also has a partnership with Lucid Motors and neuro and they announced that Houston will be the second market for their service that starts in the middle of next year. The companies will first launch in

San Francisco later this year, and in one last bit of robotaxi news, Avy company Mobilize says it plans to expand beyond being a supplier of the technology and will launch its own robotaxi business. The service will initially deploy

next year with the fleet of one hundred vehicles and as yet to be named US city. Then it plans

to expand to seventeen thousand vehicles over the next five years.

Chevy says it sells a Silverado every fifty seven seconds, so it's very important that the next gen version it just revealed picks up right where the old one left off.

In our opinion, the styling wasn't changed all that much.

But it did make updates to the V eights. While

it didn't provide details for the next gen five point seven and six point six liter engines, it did say they'll deliver improvements in power and torque, and that the six point six Leader is the most powerful naturally aspirated V eight in its class. The two point seven liter

four cylinder, now paired with a tens beat auto and the Durmacs three Leader diesel are still available as well.

On top of the engine updates, there's also some tweets to the interior, highlighted by a new dash layout with fresh display screens, including an optional one for the passenger.

The new Silverado goes on sale at the end of the year, and as we said, it's a very important vehicle for the company. Along with the GMCCI Era, they

accounted for nearly a third of GM sales last year, but the numbers were practically flat in the first quarter of this year and now Duncan Aldrid, GM's president of North America, admits that higher gas prices have pushed buyers away from more expensive trucks and SUVs faster than the company expected. GM previously thought that gas prices would have

to remain high for six months before they affected sales, so Chevy's hope to sell more high end versions of the Silverado probably won't happen until consumers see more relief at the pump. That's a wrap for today's show. Thanks

for making autoline a part of your day.

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 year engineering boots your game and thanks to the following YouTube and Patreon members.

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0:00

9:21

thin margins

prolonged downturn

BMW

Volkswagen

Osna Brook plant

full battery electric power trains

plugin hybrid

MLA platform

mild hybrid

Jaguar Land Rover

double digit revenue growth

Land Rover Range Rover

range Rover Sport Electric

EMA platform

strong hybrids

Tata

robotaxis

General Motors

level four autonomous vehicles

Uber

Lucid Motors

Mobilize

Chevrolet Silverado

V eights

power and torque

naturally aspirated

Durmacs three Leader diesel

tens beat auto

dash layout

higher gas prices

About this episode

Original notes