AD #4339 - Hybrids on Track to Outsell EVs In California; BYD Goes On Massive Hiring Spree; Range Rover GT Debuts on New Software Platform

Speaker 1: This is Outoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry. Hybrid vehicles are on pace to

outsell pure electrics in California for the first time since twenty twenty.

Speaker 2: According to the.

Speaker 1: California New Car Dealers Association, nearly twenty percent of vehicles registered in the second quarter were hybrids, while EV's accounted for about eighteen percent. Meanwhile, registrations for zero emission vehicles

fell eight percent in the last quarter, and if that trend continues, hybrids will outpace EV sales in California for the first time in six years. The biggest factor was

the elimination of the seventy five hundred dollars federal EV tax credit.

Speaker 2: With that incentive gone, hybrids are.

Speaker 1: Even more affordable compared to electrics, making them more attractive to buyers. But California is trying to offset the loss

of the federal EV credit. Last week, it announced a

plan to offer residents buying or leasing their first zero miss vehicle thirty five hundred dollars for a new EV or seventeen hundred and fifty.

Speaker 2: Bucks for a used one.

Speaker 1: And used evs are a great option for anyone looking for a good deal on a pre owned vehicle, but lately those.

Speaker 2: Deals aren't as good as they used to be.

Speaker 1: According to a company called Recurrent, Used EV prices in the US are up just over five percent since the beginning of the year, and prices of certain models like the Chevy Bolt are up twenty percent. There's likely several

factors at play here. Gas prices have gone up sharply

in that time, so more people are probably shopping for a more affordable electric. New car prices are also up,

which pushes buyers into the used market and shrinks that inventory down overall, and there's just more evs in the market now than there was before.

Speaker 2: But the question is will this be a lasting trend.

Speaker 1: BYD is already the largest automotive employer in the world by far, and it's going on another big hiring spree.

According to Carnws China, it wants to bring in nine thousand more people to make cars and parts in China due to the company's growing overseas exports. That will bring

BYD's total headcount to roughly eight hundred and eighty thousand people, which is over two hundred thousand more than VW, the second largest auto employer in the world and nearly five hundred thousand more than third place Toyota. While Toyota doesn't

include its head count in China, it certainly doesn't employ half a million people there, and this helps highlight the big risk that BYD is taking in its effort to overtake Toyota as the world's largest automaker by twenty thirty.

Toyota employs about three hundred and eighty five thousand people, not including China, and will make around eleven million vehicles this year. BYD now employees about eight hundred and eighty

thousand people and will make around five million vehicles this year.

So Toyota's operations are much more efficient and that will make it very difficult for BYD to turn a profit.

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: Vietnamese ev startup VinFast has struggled to expand outside of its home market, which has hurt its profitability. In the

first quarter of this year, the automaker posted a net loss of one point one billion dollars, a nearly sixty percent decline.

Speaker 2: From a year ago.

Speaker 1: However, the company says it's starting to turn things around.

According to VinFast, CEO of Investment, it's on track to break even in Vietnam by twenty twenty seven and globally quote unquote shortly after that. VinFast says the war and

Iran has helped boost sales due to rising gas prices, and it recently launched its low cost VF two model, which starts at seventy one hundred dollars. It received around

twenty nine thousand orders and three days after its launch, and Vinfest is aiming to sell three hundred thousand vehicles this year, up from two hundred thousand and twenty twenty five.

Volkswagen is stepping up development of driver assistance and autonomous technologies in China. The automaker is expanding its partnership with

Horizon Robotics through their Carrison joint venture. The JV will

now have access to Horizons AI model, which is a tool for advanced automated driving development and will enable VW to more quickly develop its own AI driving solutions. VW

says Carrizon's Level two plus plus system is now in production and will roll out in the third quarter of the year in.

Speaker 2: China and in the second half of next year.

Speaker 1: VW is targeting to launch vehicles with Level three capability in China. As we reported earlier this week, Aston Martin

is in talks with funds to raise money to support its future strategy, but some of Aston's creditors aren't happy with the plan, which includes using some of Aston's assets to secure that funding. They sent a legal letter to

the company saying this type of deal could strip their collateral, including intellectual property, and would violate their agreements. It looks

like this could turn into an ugly battle, but either way, Aston needs to raise more money. It's struggling with weak

demand in China, US terrace and product delays. Range Rover

recently shared a few details on the new range Rover Sport Electric, and now it's revealing another all new EV, the range Rover GT. But unlike the range Rover Sport

Electric and the larger range Rover Electric, the GT is the first model to write on the automaker's all new software defined vehicle platform called EMA. There's not many dat

tails at the moment, but it did reveal that the platform will also support a strong hybrid powertrain, The interior is rather minimalistic, and for a company that only makes SUVs, the GT sure blurs the line between U sedan and utility vehicle. Prototypes are doing final on road testing now

and range Rover says it will reveal more later this year.

Last week we reported on how Ford used AI to recreate a futuristic station wagon concept.

Speaker 2: From nineteen sixty four called the Aurora.

Speaker 1: Despite being designed well before GPS was ever invented, the car featured the idea of an onboard navigation system.

Speaker 2: However, it wasn't the first.

Speaker 1: Sam Furani from Auto four Cast Solutions, who we get a lot of our production intel from, is also a huge classic car buff and sent us info about the road guide developed by Chadwick Engineering Works out of Pottstown, Pennsylvania in nineteen eleven. The system used interchangeable discs working

in combination with the vehicle's odometer to provide turn by turn directions. There were even indicators for speed traps, rough

road and railroad crossings, but it looks like Chadwick only made discs for the area surrounding Potstown, and as Sam points out, you couldn't just automatically recalculate your route if you missed a turn, but that brings us to the end of today's show. Thanks for making autoline a part

of your day.

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