AD #3648 – U.S. BEV Sales Soar 67%; Tesla Develops Gigacasting Breakthrough; UAW Lays Out Strike Strategy

  

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

UAW LAYS OUT STAND UP STRIKE STRATEGY
Well, this is it. Today is D-Day for the contract negotiations with the UAW. The current contract expires at 11:59 tonight, and by all indications there’s going to be a strike. Last night UAW president Shawn Fain laid out the union’s strike strategy. Here’s what he said.  

“We will strike all three companies, a historic first, initially at a limited number of targeted facilities that we will be announcing. Then, based on what’s happening in bargaining, we’re going to announce more locals that are going to be called on to stand up and strike. These locals will join those that are already on strike so that our strike at each company will continue to grow over time.”  

Fain is calling this strategy the Stand Up strike, which harkens back to the historical 1936 Sit Down strike when the union shut down General Motors and got its first contract. The Stand Up strike could be a very effective strategy. Striking at key component plants, like stamping and powertrain plants that ship to multiple assembly plants, will quickly cripple production. And the people at the plants which are not on strike will get 80% of their take home pay, which will help the union preserve its strike fund.

FORD FUMES AFTER UAW REJECTS COUNTER OFFER
Meanwhile, the Ford Motor Company is fuming. It put out a release right after Fain’’s Facebook livestream pointing out that it gave the union four different proposals and never got a serious counter offer. Worse, when Chairman Bill Ford and CEO Jim Farley met with union officials to present their fourth offer, Fain was not at the meeting, even though they expected him to be there. That’s something Fain has accused the Detroit Three executives of doing during these negotiations. Ford also gave the union a number of concessions, including eliminating all tiers, which Fain disputes, adding COLA or a cost of living adjustment, sweetening up retirement benefits and providing 5 weeks of vacation as well as 17 paid holidays. There’s an air of exasperation in Ford’s release. The last sentence reads “The future of our industry is at stake. Let’s do everything we can to avert a disastrous outcome.”

By the way, on Autoline After Hours later today, the first half of the show will be about the likely outcome of these contract negotiations. The second half of the show will cover the IAA auto show in Munich last week and the best new products and technology that were on display there. So join John and Gary when the show goes live at 3 pm eastern.

TESLA DEVELOPS GIGACASTING BREAKTHROUGH
OK, back to the news. While the UAW is fighting to save the jobs of its members, Tesla is pioneering a process that will eliminate more line workers. It’s developing a way to cast not only the front and rear sections of a car like it does now, but also the middle section and all in one piece. Instead of using metal molds as prototypes, which are really expensive and held back the testing of massive castings like this, it’s using 3D printing. Thin layers of sand are topped with a binder over and over to build the mold, which also allows for the addition of hollow sections and internal structures. Doing it this way is 97% less expensive than making metal molds and makes testing for such big casting possible. Validation also takes 2-3 months, instead of 6 months to a year, and then the final production mold can be made out of metal. And it’s not just validation. The number of parts and pieces to build a car goes way down. Tesla wants to build big sub-assemblies, then bolt those to casting. And vehicle development time goes down to 18 to 24 months. Reuters reports Tesla could decide on using the one-piece casting as early as this month and it would likely be developed for its $25,000 EV that’s expected to be made at its new plant in Mexico, which is projected to be up and running around 2025 or 2026.   

CHINA UPSET OVER EU EV INVESTIGATION
Yesterday the EU said it was launching an investigation into Chinese EVs to see if state subsidies are helping Chinese automakers keep prices low. And if it determines these subsidies are negatively impacting the EU auto industries, it could impose tariffs. This sent the share of several Chinese EV makers down and today China called the move “protectionist,” saying it will disrupt the global automotive industry and have a negative impact on trade relations. In other words, if the EU slaps tariffs on Chinese cars we fully expect some sort of retaliation in China on European cars.

U.S. BEV SALES SOAR 67% THROUGH JULY
EVs hit a milestone in the U.S. For the first time ever BEV registrations topped 100,000 units in a month. Automotive News estimates nearly 110,000 electrics were registered in July and for the full year about 656,000 EVs have been sold, an increase of 67% compared to last year. Not surprisingly, Tesla is the #1 brand with a nearly 60% share of the total EV market in the U.S. 

GMC UNVEILS ALL-NEW ACADIA
We’ve got a few new reveals from the Detroit auto show to talk about. GMC unveiled the new Acadia, which gets a styling update both inside and out. It’s 10.6 inches longer and 3.2 inches taller than the outgoing model. Thanks to the larger size, interior space is up. There’s now 80% more cargo room behind the third-row seats and 36% more behind the second row. All trims are powered by a 2.5L turbo engine that’s mated to an 8-speed automatic transmission and all-wheel-drive is available. GM’s SuperCruise hands-free driving system is also now available. GMC made the off-road AT4 trim more capable with a lifted ride height, off-road suspension and an active torque control all-wheel-drive system. The new Acadia goes on sale next year and pricing will be revealed closer to the start of production.

CADILLAC UPDATES CT5 SEDAN
GM also revealed an updated version of the Cadillac CT5 sedan. The front fascia has been refreshed with a lower and wider front grille and a new lighting signature. It features safety and technology upgrades, including a new 33-inch screen with 9K resolution. A 2.0L turbo engine is standard and a more powerful 3.0L twin-turbo is also available. Both engines are mated to a 10-speed automatic transmission. Production of the new CT5 kicks off in the spring of 2024 and pricing will be announced in the future.

JEEP GLADIATOR GETS SLIGHT REFRESH
The Jeep Gladiator is also getting a slight refresh for 2024. The truck features the brand’s new seven slot grille and seven new wheel designs. The interior gets new features, including available power seats, a new instrument panel and a 12.3-inch display is now standard. The new Gladiator is available to order now and deliveries will start by the end of the year.

VOLVO ADDS VIDEO STREAMING TO ITS CARS
You’ll soon be able to stream videos in your Volvo. Prime Video will be available to download from Google Play. It will also be available to Polestar 2 owners. And YouTube will come pre-installed as part of an over-the-air update that starts on September 18th. Both apps will be available globally in models with Google built-in except for China, South Korea and Vietnam.

But that brings us to the end of today’s show. Thanks for making Autoline a part of your day.