AD #3631 – VinFast Loses $50 Billion In Market Cap; OEMs Worry About Steel Monopoly; Tesla To Use CATL M3P Battery

  

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

VINFAST LOSES $50 BILLION IN MARKET CAP
When Vinfast, the Vietnamese startup, hit the NASDAQ stock exchange last week with a SPAC, it was headline news. After the first day of trading, Vinfast’s market cap was $85 billion, compared to $48 billion for Ford and $46 billion for GM. Some called it an astonishing achievement. But, like every other SPAC listing, it didn’t last long. Vinfast’s shares plummeted 58% from its high point over the last few days, wiping out $50 billion of market valuation. The company is now worth $35 billion, but we think it’s going to drop further. One reason for the see-saw stock price is that very little trading is going on, meaning not many people are buying or selling shares.   

FAIN RALLIES UAW MEMBERS
UAW president Shawn Fain continues to motivate union members to prepare for a strike against the Detroit Three automakers. Over the weekend, he held a rally in suburban Detroit attended by hundreds of enthusiastic UAW members. Fain told them the automakers expect them to “settle for scraps” and he promised that’s going to end. Union workers are voting this week on whether to authorize a strike vote and it’s likely it will be overwhelmingly approved. We are now 24 days away from the current contract expiring and it sure looks like there will be a strike.

HYUNDAI & KIA COMING OUT WITH MIDSIZE EV PICKUPS
The Inflation Reduction Act, or IRA, sure convinced the Hyundai Group to make big EV investments in the U.S. It’s building an EV and battery assembly plant in Georgia that will make 6 electric models for Hyundai, Kia and Genesis. Automotive News reports that 3 of them will be for Genesis. The plant, which will open in January 2025, will have the capacity to make 300,000 vehicles a year on straight time, with the flexibility to boost that to 500,000, presumably with additional shifts. Hyundai and Kia are going to come out with midsize electric pickup trucks in late 2026 and they could also be made at the plant.  

OEMs WORRY ABOUT STEEL MONOPOLY
Uh-oh, here’s something that car companies don’t want to see. There’s a bidding war breaking out to buy the company, U.S. Steel. What the OEMs don’t like is that Cleveland-Cliffs, the largest automotive steel supplier in the U.S., is one of the companies trying to buy U.S. Steel. That would give Cleveland-Cliffs control of more than 50% of the automotive steel market in the U.S. Automakers already have a bit of a contentious relationship with Cleveland-Cliffs and this merger would give them even less leverage in negotiations. Automakers aren’t as concerned with other bids for U.S. Steel because there isn’t as much overlap in the business as there is with Cleveland-Cliffs.

PININFARINA’S ELECTRIC CONCEPTS
Pininfarina, the famous Italian design house that’s now owned by Mahindra, unveiled three beautiful electric concept cars on the eve of the Pebble Beach concours. The B95 is a two-seat roadster that will go into production in 2025. But you better have a hefty bank account. They’re only going to make 10 of them, each one will be customized so that not one of them is the same and are priced at 4.4 million euros or about $4.8 million. The PURA Vision is a 4-seater with suicide doors and a glass roof that partially opens like gullwings for easier entry and exit. And then there’s the Nino Farina, named after the famous Grand Prix driver from the 1950’s who was known to sing at the top of his lungs while racing. This car actually debuted at the Goodwood Festival of Speed last month, but we just wanted to slip in that reference to Farina’s singing.

LAMBORGHINI UNVEILS FIRST EV
And speaking of famous Italian brands, Lamborghini showed off a concept version of its first all-electric model, called the Lanzador. It’s a high-riding 2+2 coupe that marries elements of Lambo’s current styling with all-new lighting elements. With room for 2 more people behind the front seats, the roof line extends much further than your typical Lamborghini, but the rear axle has been pushed back really far, so it doesn’t end up looking too goofy. Power will come from two electric motors that it says combines for more than 1000 kW or over 1,300 horsepower. However, Lambo didn’t say anything about the battery or range. Other highlights include rear-wheel steering as well as an active aero and suspension system. Front seat passengers have their own little cockpit area and each have a display screen embedded in the dash. The Lanzador, if that’s even what it ends up calling the car, will become the 4th model in Lambo’s lineup when it launches in 2028.

TESLA HIGHLAND TO USE CATL M3P BATTERY
Earlier this year Chinese battery maker CATL introduced a new battery chemistry that it calls M3P. It has more energy density than lithium iron phosphate or LFP batteries and is cheaper than nickel manganese cobalt or NMC. And now we’re learning more about its specs. Car News China reports that M3P is 20% cheaper than NMC cells. Compared to LFP, it’s 10% more expensive but the energy density is 20% higher and the cost per watt is 3% lower. And the battery pack is estimated to deliver 700 kilometers or 435 miles of range. The first vehicle to hit the market with the battery will be the Chery Luxeed S7. And the upcoming Tesla Model 3 refresh codenamed Highland will also use the battery. Tesla is also testing it in the Model Y.

MERCEDES UNVEILS NEW GT COUPE
Mercedes-AMG pulled the wraps off the second-gen version of its GT Coupe. It features updated styling and performance as well as all-wheel drive with rear-wheel steering and the option for 2+2 seating for the first time. But it doesn’t look like there’s a whole lot of room behind the front seats. Some of the other highlights of the AMG GT Coupe are a hybrid, aluminum, steel, magnesium and carbon fiber structure, active suspension and aero and high-performance brakes. Power comes from a 4.0L twin turbo V8 that comes in two outputs and is mated to a 9-speed automatic transmission. One version has 350 kW or 476 horsepower and will do 0-100 km/h in 3.9 seconds, while the other has 439 kW or 585 horsepower and will do 0-100 km/h in 3.2 seconds.

 

JAY LENO & DODGE PARTNER ON CAR CARE PRODUCTS
Here’s a partnership that makes a lot of sense. Jay Leno, a comedian known for pumping more power into many of the vehicles in his very impressive collection, and Dodge, a company known for pumping more power into every new special edition model it comes out with, are coming together to offer a co-branded line of car care products. We’re talking everything from car shampoo to tire shine and even drying towels. They say order information and pricing will come out in the fourth quarter of this year.

But that brings us to the end of today’s show. We appreciate you making Autoline a part of your day.