AD #4326 - Lack of All-New Cars Sends Quality Up; Toyota Could Steal GM's U.S. Sales Crown; Gas Vehicles Losing Market Share Fast

AD #4326 - Lack of All-New Cars Sends Quality Up; Toyota Could Steal GM's U.S. Sales Crown; Gas Vehicles Losing Market Share Fast Autoline Daily · Jun 25, 2026

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Term

hybrids

A hybrid car uses both gas and electricity. It can use the electric motor sometimes to save fuel, and it still has a gas engine for longer trips.

Term

In this context, incentives are marketing offers used to encourage buyers—often cash rebates, low-interest financing, or lease deals. Automakers use them when they need to move inventory or defend market share against competitors.

Term

chip shortage

Cars need computer chips for lots of functions. When chips are hard to get, factories have to slow down or stop building cars, which affects sales.

Term

destination charge

A destination charge is the cost to ship the car to the dealer. It’s usually added on top of the car’s base price.

Term

pre orders

Pre-orders are when you reserve a car before it’s delivered. It helps the company estimate demand, but the final numbers can still change.

Term

JD Power's IQs

IQS is a quality score from J.D. Power based on what new car owners report soon after buying. It’s basically an early “how many problems did you notice?” check.

Term

recalls

A recall is when a car company admits there’s a problem and offers a fix for affected vehicles. It’s usually done to keep the car safe and legal.

Term

powertrain durability

Powertrain durability means how well the car’s main mechanical parts last over time. The goal is fewer breakdowns and fewer expensive repairs later.

Term

cross functional teams

Cross-functional teams are groups where different departments work together. Instead of one team fixing problems alone, multiple teams coordinate to improve quality.

Term

ICE

ICE is the traditional gas-engine type of car. It’s what most people mean by “gas vehicles,” as opposed to fully electric cars.

Concept

lack of all new products coming into the market

The episode’s insight is that fewer brand-new model launches can improve measured quality, because new platforms often introduce more unknowns and early-production bugs. When automakers keep updating existing designs instead of debuting everything from scratch, there’s more time to debug and refine.

Company

Alex Partners

Alex Partners is a company that does research and forecasting for the auto industry. They’re cited here for predictions about how many people will buy hybrid cars and how market share could change.

Concept

bridge technology

A “bridge technology” is something people think is only temporary. Here, the point is that hybrids are no longer viewed as a short-term stepping stone—they’re becoming a main choice for buyers.

Company

Cox

Cox is mentioned as the source of an analyst quote. The quote is about how hybrids are moving from “temporary” to “mainstream” in the auto market.

Term

US tariffs

Tariffs are extra taxes on imported products. If cars or parts cost more because of tariffs, it can pressure automakers’ profits and pricing in the US.

Term

weaker yen

A weaker yen means Japan’s currency is worth less compared to others. That can make Japanese cars easier to buy abroad and can help automakers’ financial results.

Term

turbochargers

A turbocharger is a device that helps an engine make more power. It uses exhaust gases to push extra air into the engine so it can burn more fuel efficiently.

Company

Bain Capital

Bain Capital is an investment company. Here, it’s involved in buying most of a Volkswagen-related business that makes diesel engines and other energy equipment.

Company

Volkswagen

Volkswagen is the car company making the deal. They’re selling most of a subsidiary that builds engines and other energy-related hardware.

Company

Everleance

Everleance is the company Volkswagen owns that makes industrial energy equipment—like diesel engines for ships and power stations. It’s the part of the business being sold to Bain Capital.

Term

over the air updates

Over-the-air updates are software updates that download to your car wirelessly. Instead of going to a shop, the car can get fixes or improvements directly.

Term

onboard AI

Onboard AI means the car has its own “smart” computer. The concept is that it could help spot problems and possibly fix them without you needing a mechanic right away.

Term

computer simulation

Computer simulation means using software to “model” how something will behave. Car companies can use it to test ideas virtually before spending time and money on real prototypes.

Company

High Speed Rodeo

High Speed Rodeo is the company Joe White is with. They’re being brought in because of their work related to simulation and how automakers can speed up development.

Company

Intrepid Control Systems

Intrepid Control Systems is a company that makes engineering tools for vehicle makers. The sponsor message says it helps with testing and developing new mobility technology.

LIVE

Speaker 1: This is out Aligned Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry. It is a bit of

a long shot, but Toyota has a chance of overtaking General Motors in US sales this year. According to Cox Automotive,

Toyota's market share in the first half of the year is projected an increase to fifteen point eight percent thanks to growing demand for hybrids, which we'll have more on later in the show. Meanwhile, GM's market share is expected

to dip one percent to sixteen point eight percent in the first half. If that trend continues for the rest

of the year, Toyota has a chance of taking the sales crowns from GM, but Cox's senior economist says GM will fight to keep that top spot, likely with incentives.

GM has been number one in US sales every year since nineteen thirty one, with the exception of twenty twenty one, when it was crippled by the chip shortage and Toyota took the crown. We've got more on slate because John

was at a media event it held yesterday to provide a deep dive into its vehicles and the company itself.

He got to talk with the CEO, the president, the CFO, the head of engineering, the head of manufacturing, the chief engineer, had a fleet, sales and more. He got so much

information that we can't possibly squeeze it into this show, so more will follow later, but here's some of the top line items. At twenty four nine and fifty bucks

for the base truck, twenty nine nine fifty for the suv, and thirty one nine fifty for the fastback, Slate is in line to make a gross profit on those vehicles, but it will rely on selling accessories to turn that into a net profit. There's also going to be a

destination charge, which we estimate will be about fourteen hundred dollars.

We talked to several analysts at the event, and their consensus was that the average SLATE would sell for thirty three thousand to thirty eight thousand dollars. Slate opened its

web portal yet yesterday and quickly booked over ten thousand pre orders. That's a pretty good start, but we'll have

to see how it does in the long run. Ford

brought out all the top brass yesterday to brag that it shot up the chart on JD Power's IQs which stands for initial Quality Survey. It was a red letter

day for the company because it's been posting record amounts of recalls over the last couple of years and was earning a public reputation for poor quality. Portia top the

JD Power list, followed by Genesis, but Ford was the top rated mass market brand, coming in third place. Overall,

the company made significant changes to improve, including the creation of cross functional teams to tackle problems and with keeping a closer eye over supplier quality. Ford especially concentrated on

long term powertrain durability, running DINOS twenty four to seven and testing everything for more than three hundred thousand miles.

Even so, Lincoln was fifteenth on the list and below the industry average. JD Power says that as a group,

automakers made one of the greatest improvements in quality it's ever measured. So here's our auto line insight. The overall

improvement is largely due to a lack of all new products coming into the market. With so many EV programs

getting canceled and automakers trying to breathe new life into their older ice vehicles, we're not seeing as many all new models coming down the assembly line. And when you

keep making the same old products over and over again, the quality tends to get better.

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

Bridge don't pretends to tires improved grip in wet conditions.

Speaker 1: Last year, vehicles that solely ran on gas power made up seventy three percent of new car sales in the US, but according to Alex Partners, which is a sponsor of Auto Line, that number will drop to fifty percent by twenty thirty and it will mainly be hybrids stealing that market share. Last year, the powertrain including mild hybrids, accounted

for about eighteen percent of new car sales, but that's expected to jump to twenty three percent this year and thirty four percent by the end of the decade. US

buyers now have nearly fifty hybrid models to choose from, and more are on the way. An analyst from Cox

told Automotive News quote, hybrid is no longer a bridge technology, It's becoming a core volume strategy. Japanese automakers are getting

hammered by US tariffs, but they'll get a bit of relief thanks to a weaker yen. The yen is at

a forty year low, and Bloomberg reports that if it stays at its current level, Japanese automakers will see combined earnings of five point eight billion dollars based on forecast from those companies. Toyota had previously warned that its earnings

could be negatively impacted by rising oil and material costs, but now that the US and Iran have reached an agreement, oil prices have fallen, and along with the weaker yen, analysts believe Toyota could revise its forecast upward. Volkswagen has

entered an agreement with Bain Capital to sell a majority stake in its subsidiary Everleance, which makes diesel engines for ships and stationary generation, as well as heat pumps, turbines and turbochargers. The deal still needs to be approved, but

Bain is in line to purchase fifty one percent of Everlence for seven point four billion euros, which VW says it will use to quote strengthen its own financial position, and it sounds to us like VW could sell off more if it needs to. Averlence used to be the

energy solutions division of manufacturing and engineering company m AN before it was sold to Volkswagen when m An into Tratton.

Then it was renamed to Everlence last year, and a company like Bain is probably interested in Everlence because it's less likely to be impacted by AI. As we reported

earlier in the week, Chinese automakers accounted for most of the increase in European sales. In May, they were up

sixty three percent, capturing nearly nine percent of the market, and according to a new study from Alex Partners, Chinese market share will grow to sixteen percent by twenty thirty.

This should especially concern German automakers. A survey of consumers

found that thirty six percent of Germans between eighteen to thirty four preferred Chinese brands over German ones. I know

this sounds crazy, but could over the air updates soon become obsolete? What if automakers could use onboard AI to

fix problems in cars. That's one of the things we

want to ask Mark Wakefield from alex Partners about. He'll

be on Autoline after hours this afternoon, so will del Costi, the president of seamen's Digital Industries for the Americas. We'll

be talking to him about new ways of using computer simulation and using that to get up to China Speed.

Joe White from High Speed Rodeo will also be on the show and we invite you to join the action as well when it gets going at three pm Eastern Time today. That's a wrap for this show. Thanks for

tuning in.

Speaker 3: Auto Line Daily is brought to you by Bridge Stone 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.

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Speaker 3: Learn more at vcsp dot com.

0:00

9:09

hybrids

incentives

chip shortage

destination charge

pre orders

JD Power's IQs

recalls

powertrain durability

cross functional teams

ICE

lack of all new products coming into the market

Alex Partners

bridge technology

Cox

US tariffs

weaker yen

turbochargers

Bain Capital

Volkswagen

Everleance

over the air updates

onboard AI

computer simulation

High Speed Rodeo

Intrepid Control Systems

About this episode

Original notes