AD #3465 – $300,000 Cadillac Celestiq Sold Out; IRA Will Turn U.S. Into Battery Powerhouse; Last Ford GT Is a Monster

This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry.

UAW WINS VOTE AT GM BATTERY PLANT
The UAW has been in the news for all the wrong reasons over the last year but it just scored a victory. Workers at GM and LG Energy’s Ultium battery plant in Ohio overwhelmingly voted to organize the plant. This is good news for the UAW, but it doesn’t surprise us, since it’s a heavily unionized area. The Detroit automakers are building battery plants near existing unionized factories so they have ready access to workers, so we expect the UAW to organize those plants too. For us, the real test will come when non-unionized automakers start opening battery plants in the U.S. And the big question is whether the UAW will be able to organize them?

MORE REPORTS OF TESLA SHANGHAI CUTTING PRODUCTION
Even though Tesla says it’s false, there are more reports coming out of China that the company is cutting back on production there. Specifically, Reuters reports that Tesla will stop producing the Model Y for the last week of December. That would eliminate about 13,000 units at current production rates. Tesla has been cutting prices and offering more incentives in China as demand appears to be cooling off. The overall car market in China fell 9% last month and the market is weakening faster than expected, even with Covid restrictions starting to ease up.

    

IRA TO TURN U.S. INTO BATTERY POWERHOUSE
Thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, the United States will become a global player in battery EV production by the end of the decade. That’s one of the things we learned at the SAE North American International Propulsion Conference. By the end of the decade, North America will have 75% to 80% of the supply chain it needs and it will be cost competitive with China. Even so, the US will still rely on some battery materials coming from China until 2035. As we’ve told you before, the SAE Propulsion Conference follows Chatham House rules, so we can tell you what we learned at the conference, but we cannot tell you who said it or what company they work for. But we can tell you that this information comes from one of the biggest battery companies in the world.

LAST FORD GT IS A MONSTER
“Create the most extreme final version of the Ford GT.” That was the brief given to Multimatic, the Canadian company that builds Ford’s supercar. And what it came up with is the Ford GT Mk IV, which pays homage to the 1967 version of the GT with the same name. That car was built for maximum track performance and so is this one. Truly a track-only car, the new GT Mk IV features a unique version of the GT’s twin-turbo EcoBoost engine with a larger displacement, a proper racing gearbox and a completely new carbon fiber body stretched over a new chassis that has a longer wheelbase and is made of an adhesive bonded honeycombed-aluminum construction. With the regular GT easily topping half-a-million dollars, you know this car ain’t cheap. Buyers will not only have to plunk down $1.7 million, but they have to go through a new application process just to get their hands on one of the 67 being built.

HYUNDAI IONIQ 6 PRICING
Speaking of vehicle pricing, Hyundai revealed the price of the IONIQ 6 for the UK. It will cost a little under 47,000 pounds or around $57,500. If that seems a little pricey it’s important to note that this is the rear-drive version with the bigger 77 kWh battery pack. It also comes in AWD, but it’s not saying how much that increases price. In the U.S. Hyundai will offer another rear-drive version as well that comes with a smaller 53 kWh battery, so we should be able to expect a significantly lower starting price.

HYUNDAI EVs GET SILICON CARBIDE INVERTERS
The IONIQ 6 is built on the Hyundai Group’s E-GMP EV architecture and soon the vehicles built on that platform will be getting a performance and range boost. It’s going to integrate STMicroelectronics’ new silicon-carbide power module into the inverter for its EV drive unit. The power modules are smaller and can handle higher operating voltages, which allows for faster charging, better vehicle dynamics and improved efficiency. But the Hyundai Group is not saying the exact gains it expects to see. It specifically says the Kia EV6 will get the new modules, but other E-GMP vehicles include the Hyundai IONIQ 5 & 6 as well as the Genesis GV60. 

GM’S BARRA PREDICTS STRONG 2023 U.S. SALES
GM’s CEO Mary Barra spoke to the Automotive Press Association in Detroit yesterday and here are some of the topics she covered.

• GM already locked up all the raw materials it needs to make 2 million electric vehicles in North America and China by 2025, and is now working on securing supplies from 2026 to 2030.
• When it comes to next year’s UAW negotiations, she says job security and proper compensation will be the top issues. She also denied that union contracts mean GM has higher costs than non-union automakers. Here’s a direct quote: “Just because you’re union doesn’t mean you’re more expensive.
• She predicted that new vehicle sales in the U.S. next year will hit 15 million units, well above the 14.1 million for this year.
• And she would like employees working back in the office because, and I quote, “A company culture has to be nourished.”
• Barra also wants a more diverse workforce and a culture of inclusion because, she said, no one wants to feel excluded, and besides, you get the most out of your people when they feel included. A diverse workforce is important, Barra said, because a greater diversity of views leads to better business decisions.

CHINESE OEMs GOBBLE UP RUSSIAN MARKET
After Russia invaded Ukraine, pretty much all Western automakers closed down their plants in Russia. And Chinese automakers are racing to fill in the void. While sales of light vehicles are down about 60% this year, Chinese brands nearly doubled their sales in November compared to January. They now control more than 30% of the market, up from under 10% at the beginning of the year. And next year, that’s expected to increase to 35%. Overall car sales in Russia are expected to come in around 600,000 units this year and then rebound to 800,000 units in 2023.

NIO BUILDING SWAPPING STATIONS IN GERMANY
NIO continues to expand its battery swapping capabilities as it just announced it’s going to install 20 battery swapping stations in Germany. By the end of next year NIO hopes to have 120 swapping stations in Europe. Like Tesla with its Supercharger network, NIO could have a real advantage if battery swapping starts to catch on with other automakers.

$300,000 CADILLAC CELESTIQ SOLD OUT
Cadillac’s hand-built Celestiq EV is a beautiful sedan with loads of new technology but will the company attract enough buyers that are willing to pay more than $300,000 for the vehicle? On Autoline After Hours, Tony Roma, the Chief Engineer of the vehicle says the model is already sold out for its first year.

Tony Roma, Chief Engineer, Cadillac
“We already have quite a few hand raisers, like many, many more than we’re going to be able to build in the first year or 18 months. So, yes we’re going through the process of who’s the right person to have it and who’s going to be the right person for the brand. That’s something that I’m not even involved in, there’s a whole group of different people that’s going to figure it out. It’s a fantastic problem to have, that we have so much interest.”

Tony shares a lot of great info about the Celestiq in that episode, and you can watch it now on our website or YouTube channel.

• I did something I’ve never done before, I asked a car company to give me something for free – You’ve seen it this whole time
• Well this is what I said
• The Company has actually been selling holiday gifts since the early 2000’s
• They were originally sold out of the old Walter P Chrysler Museum
• Mopar specifically has been marketing holiday gift ideas for close to 15 years
• And all the design are done in-house
• This sweater is $80, but there’s other gift ideas, like matching socks, wrapping paper, mugs and more
• We’ll provide a link

But that all for today’s show, thanks for joining us and I hope you have a great weekend