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Runtime: 10:06
0:08 Ford’s Market Cap Up $10 Billion Since F-150 Lighting Reveal
0:29 Traditional Suppliers See Jump in Stock
1:02 Renesas Nearly Recovered from Plant Fire
1:27 Tesla to Spend $1 Billion On Raw Materials from Australia
2:37 VW Introduces Taos Basecamp Accessory Package
3:41 Toyota Makes Data Collection More Transparent
4:43 Toyota bZ4X Coming to America
5:42 BMW Shares New Details About i4 & iX Electrics
8:31 Mustang Mach-E #1 In EV Sales in Norway in May
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FORD’S MARKET CAP UP $10 BILLION SINCE F-150 LIGHTING REVEAL
Wow, Wall Street sure loves to hear about traditional automakers getting into electric vehicles. Ever since Ford unveiled the F-150 Lightning about a week ago, its stock market capitalization jumped by $10 billion. Ford’s market cap is now about $58 billion. A week ago it was $48 billion.
TRADITIONAL SUPPLIERS SEE JUMP IN STOCK
But investors are not just looking at cars powered by batteries. They sure took a shine to traditional automotive suppliers yesterday. Tenneco saw its stock shoot up 19%. Cooper Standard was up nearly 8%. American Axle was up more than 6% and Linamar jumped 5%. We think investors are looking for automakers to report strong new car sales in the U.S. for May. And they’re anticipating that the chip shortage is going to ease.
| Tenneco | 19.1% |
|---|---|
| Cooper Standard | 7.8% |
| American Axle | 6.5% |
| Linamar | 5.0% |
RENESAS NEARLY RECOVERED FROM PLANT FIRE
And help is on the way. Japanese chipmaker Renesas says it has nearly recovered from a fire at one of its plants in March. The factory is running at 88% capacity and it should be back to full production by the middle of the month. But even with the plant coming back online, analysts still expect a shortage of automotive chips until the end of the year.
TESLA TO SPEND $1 BILLION ON RAW MATERIALS FROM AUSTRALIA
Tesla expects to spend $1 billion a year on raw materials used for batteries from Australia. It currently sources about three quarters of its lithium and a third of its nickel supply from the country. It’s boosting its supply from Australia due to its reliable mining industry and their adherence to more environmentally friendly mining practices. This falls in line with a new policy from the Biden Administration to secure metal supplies for EVs from allies and then process the materials in the U.S. to make batteries.
VW INTRODUCES TAOS BASECAMP ACCESSORY PACKAGE
Volkswagen was a little late to the SUV/CUV party but now that it’s filling out its utility lineup, it’s going after buyers that like a more rugged look. In 2019, it launched the Atlas Basecamp Concept, which was followed by a line of accessories for the Atlas, called Basecamp. Inspired by the popularity of that, Volkswagen recently showed off a Taos Basecamp Concept and is following that up with a new Basecamp accessory package for the Taos. It comes with front and rear fender flares with integrated splash guards, side plates for the lower part of the doors and a Basecamp badge that goes into the grille. Volkswagen says the dealer-installed components are available separately except for the Basecamp badge, which is only available as part of the full package for $999. The Basecamp package for the Taos is slated to go on sale this month in the U.S.
TOYOTA MAKES DATA COLLECTION MORE TRANSPARENT
Connected vehicles offer a number of benefits; OTA updates, the ability to communicate with other cars and the infrastructure and the list goes on. But there’s worry about how the data generated by those vehicles will be used and shared. So, in an effort to look more transparent, we’re starting to see automakers provide customers with a way to see how they collect and process data. Mercedes is giving owners the ability to see what data is collected by the vehicle and opt in or out of certain features. And now Toyota is doing the same thing. It’s launching the Data Privacy Portal, which is accessed through the Toyota and Lexus apps. Toyota says it tried to make it as simple as possible without a lot of legal jargon and allow owners to dig down as deep as they want or opt into everything with the click of one button. We expect more automakers to take a similar approach, like Mercedes and Toyota.
TOYOTA bZ4X COMING TO AMERICA
Toyota made it official. The bZ4X all-electric crossover is headed to the North American market. You can sort of think of it as the electric version of the RAV4. Toyota didn’t provide any more details about it, but did say it will launch 15 dedicated BEVs globally by 2025.
BMW SHARES NEW DETAILS ABOUT i4 & iX ELECTRICS
BMW is revealing more about its two newest EVs, the i4 sedan and iX SUV. Let’s start with the i4 because we’ve reported less information about this vehicle. It’s expected to launch in autumn this year in Europe and early next year in the U.S. It will initially be offered in two versions; the eDrive40 and M50. Both feature a battery pack with 81.5 kWh of usable space, which provides an estimated 300 miles of EPA range for the eDrive40 and 245 miles for the M50. The lower range can be attributed to a dual motor, AWD drive setup that combines for 536 horsepower and helps the EV do 0-100 km/h in 3.9 seconds. The M50 also has extra bracing between the strut towers and comes standard with an adaptive M suspension. The single motor, rear-drive-only eDrive40 has 335 horsepower and does 0-100 km/h in 5.7 seconds. Moving to the interior, it’s a little more futuristic than we’re used to with BMW, but is clean and features the new iDrive 8 system with a large curved display. Pricing for the eDrive40 starts at a little over $56,000 in the U.S., including destination but before incentives, while the M50 starts at nearly $67,000. Now let’s shift to the iX, which is built on a dedicated EV platform that will be used for other models. It will launch with the xDrive40 and xDrive50. Only the xDrive50 will be offered in the U.S. at first, which has two electric motors that combine to offer AWD and 516 horsepower. It will do 0-100 km/h in 4.6 seconds and has an estimated 300 miles of range from a battery pack that has 106.3 kWh of usable space. The xDrive40 is AWD as well, but has roughly 325 horsepower and 264 miles of range on the WLTP test. BMW says an M60 will come at a later date with over 600 horsepower. The xDrive50 goes on sale in the U.S. in the first quarter of next year with a starting price of just over $84,000, including destination but not incentives.
MUSTANG MACH E #1 IN EV SALES IN NORWAY IN MAY
The Mustang Mach E topped the sales charts for electric cars in Norway last month. Second place went to the Skoda Enyaq iV, just barely edging out the Volkswagen ID.4. The Enyaq iV and ID.4 are kissing cousins built off the same platform. The fourth best-selling BEV in Norway was the Volvo XC40 Recharge, and Tesla’s Model 3 rounded out the top five. Norway is closely watched for BEV sales because thanks to tax exemptions it’s cheaper to buy a BEV than an ICE.
| Norway BEV Sales, May 2021 | |
|---|---|
| Ford Mustang Mach E | 1,384 |
| Skoda Enyaq iV | 794 |
| VW ID.4 | 774 |
| Volvo XC40 Recharge | 593 |
| Tesla Model 3 | 504 |
| Source: EU EVs | |
Who has the better retail model? Traditional automakers with franchised dealers, or EV startups selling direct to consumers? That’s going to be the topic on Autoline After Hours this Thursday. So join John and Gary for what is probably going to turn out to be a lively and heated discussion.
But that brings us to the end of today’s show. Thanks for watching and we’ll see you right here again tomorrow.
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Seamus and Sean McElroy cover the latest news in the automotive industry for Autoline Daily.
