AD #3317 – U.S. EV Market Share Up 104%; VW Developing Ranger-Based EV; U.S. Sales Suffer Double Digit Drop

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U.S. SALES SUFFER DOUBLE DIGIT DROP
April was a brutal month for automakers in the U.S. market. Sales were down 22% though some automakers fared far worse than that. Audi was down a staggering 47%. Though General Motors only reports sales on a quarterly basis, one source suggests that Cadillac nearly caught Audi in sales, something that probably hasn’t happened for over a decade. Honda had the second worst results. It was down 42%, and its best selling model, the CR-V was down an incomprehensible 57%. Volkswagen was down 42%. Its best selling models, the Atlas and Tiguan, were off by 50%. Overall, it was a terrible month for every single automaker except two two of them: Tesla and Volvo. Volvo managed to post a 4% gain, even though its sales in the rest of the world were down. Tesla posted another massive sales increase, up 56% thanks to big gains from the Model 3 and Y. Wards Intelligence estimates that Tesla sold 33,000 cars last month, putting it far, far ahead of Audi, BMW and Mercedes.

U.S. EV MARKET SHARE UP 104%
In fact, the EV segment continued to shrug off all the other problems going on in the industry. Automakers sold over 55,000 EVs, up an impressive 65% from a year ago. Obviously, Tesla accounts for a good chunk of that increase, but other EVs delivered strong sales as well. Ford sold over 3,800 Mustang Mach Es, a massive 95% improvement from last year, and even up 61% from the month before. Chevrolet sold over 1,300 Bolts, which have just gone back into production. EV sales were also up because of so many new entrants that were not available a year ago, including EV startups Lucid and Rivian and models like the GMC Hummer EV. Other new entrants include Hyundai’s Ioniq 5, Kia’s EV6, the BMW iX, Mercedes EQS and the Volvo C40. All together, EVs grabbed 4.5% market share compared to only 2.2% last year. In other words, the EV segment’s market share grew more than 100% over the last 12 months.

WILL ENOUGH PEOPLE BUY EVS?
Yet, even though EV sales are soaring, they need to grow a lot more for the auto industry to get the volume it needs. And they will grow a lot more. But will they grow enough? Based on the current rate, EV sales in the US will probably hit somewhere around 665,000 this year. But automakers need to sell millions of them. So will enough people buy EVs? That’s the topic on Autoline After Hours tomorrow. Stephanie Brinley the principal analyst for the Americas for S&P Global, as well as Mike Jackson, the head of research at the OESA, will be lending their expertise and insight, so join me and Gary as we look into what it’s going to take to get enough people to buy electric cars.

ASTON MARTIN GETS NEW CEO–AGAIN
Billionaire investor Lawrence Stroll swooped in to save Aston Martin in 2020. Now as Executive Chairman he’s taking an axe to the top ranks at the company. Aston just named a new CFO, CTO and CEO, a guy named Amedeo Felisa. Most notably, Felisa was a former CEO of Ferrari. Stroll said he wanted a CEO to “focus on the bigger picture” and “Nobody knows how to make ultra-luxury performance cars better than Amedeo.” Felisa takes over for Tobias Moers, who joined the company in 2020 from Mercedes-AMG and is now looking for another job.

KIA SOUL GETS UPDATES, LOSES X-LINE MODEL
The Kia Soul has a slightly new look for 2023. The big changes are to the front fascia where new LED lighting is offered and the fog lights are now incorporated into a thin, L-shaped accent that cuts into the grille. There are some mild changes to the rear end as well as new color and paint options. And a ten and a quarter inch display is now standard on all but the base model. The X-Line trim that gave the Soul a more rugged look is no longer offered. And the same goes for its 1.6L turbo 4-cylinder engine that produced 200-horsepower. The Soul will only come with a 2.0L 4-cylinder that makes 147 horsepower and is mated to a CVT. Looks like Kia is jumping on the bandwagon of automakers who are slashing model proliferation as they try to cut costs.

GMC ADDS UPSCALE TO THE UPSCALE
But GMC is going in the other direction. It’s offering an even more upscale version of its upscale Denali brand. They call it Denali Ultimate. It first debuted on the Sierra pickup and now it’s making its way to the Yukon. It features its own unique exterior and interior details, even nicer materials and more tech. Not only does that include a 10.2 inch infotainment screen, but also GM’s newest version of Super Cruise, its highway hands-free driving system. GMC didn’t reveal pricing, but the Sierra Denali Ultimate starts a little over $80,000, including destination charges, so we’d expect the Yukon version to cost just a little more than that. And that explains why GMC doesn’t mind adding to its model proliferation: as long as customers are willing to pay that kind of money, it easily pays for the cost of complexity.

CADILLAC LEAKS MORE LYRIQ SPECS
More information is coming in on the Cadillac Lyriq, thanks to an Instagram Q&A with Cadillac. We now know the AWD version will have an estimated 500 horsepower. That means it will have two 180 kW electric motors, one in the front and one in the rear–as opposed to the single 255 kW motor the rear-drive version uses. That’s also more power than the Tesla Model Y Performance and the Ford Mustang Mach-E GT. Towing capacity for the Lyriq AWD is rated at up to 3,500 pounds, which is the same as the Model Y and, as we learned just yesterday, more than the Mach-E at 2,200 lbs. The RWD Lyriq will go on sale first, sometime this summer, and it has an estimated 312 miles of range from a 100 kWh battery pack.

BATTERY STARTUPS LOVE STATE OF WASHINGTON
Say, what is it about the state of Washington that looks so appealing to battery startups? Porsche is investing in a company called Group14, and a former Tesla battery engineer is starting a company called Sila Nanotechnologies. Both companies are building plants in the state of Washington, and both of them are making silicon-based anodes. Sila says its anodes enable lithium batteries to store 20% more energy than graphite anodes. Group14 claims a 50% increase. If this proves out to be true, it’s going to slash battery costs simply because automakers could use fewer battery cells and still get the same range. Moreover, this has geo-political implications since 70% of all graphite now comes from China.

BRIDGESTONE DEVELOPS TIRE FOR EV BUSES
With more electric buses going into service, Bridgestone developed a tire specifically for them. Called the R192E, it has less rolling resistance so electric buses can travel further on every charge. The tires also provide better grip in rain and snow. Bridgestone owns a retreading company called Bandag, and it says that retreading can extend the life of a tire enough that it will save fleet operators millions of dollars annually.

FORD & VW DEVELOPING ELECTRIC RANGER PICKUP
Ford and Volkswagen are looking at collaborating on developing an electric version of the Ranger pickup. VW would sell it under the Amarok brand. Though this is still an early engineering effort, Wards Auto reports it will probably come out somewhere around 2025 and will be pitched as a more efficient alternative to Tesla’s Cyber Truck and Rivian’s R1T. The truck will likely be developed by Ford Australia, which has global design responsibility for the Ranger. This collaboration is all about slashing development costs and getting more manufacturing volume. With Ford and Volkswagen joining forces in the mid-size pickup segment, they’re going to be a formidable force.

And that wraps it up for today’s news, thanks for making Autoline Daily a part of your day.