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Runtime: 10:46
0:00 Tesla Sees FSD Gold in China
0:55 Toyota To Launch Robotaxi In China
1:33 BYD Revenue Weak, Profits Strong
2:24 Europe Needs 8X Public EV Chargers
4:16 Buick Unveils Wildcat-Inspired Concepts
6:11 Chevy Equinox PHEV Debuts in China
7:26 SK On Sees EV Recovery in U.S. Coming
8:09 Hyundai & Baidu Join Forces
8:41 Fisker Sells Mansion to Save Company
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TESLA SEES FSD GOLD IN CHINA
Tesla isn’t exactly struggling right now, but the days of 50% revenue growth seem so long ago. One thing that could turn that around is if Tesla could start selling FSD, or full self-driving in China. So, Elon Musk made a surprise visit to China to meet with the Premier of the Chinese Communist Party. China is worried about how Tesla collects data from its cars, and they were even banned from military sites in the country. So Tesla extended its deal with Baidu, which is kind of the Google of China, to provide all the mapping data for FSD. That, plus the meeting with the Premier, might be enough to allow Tesla to start selling FSD in China, and that could provide a big jump in revenue for the company.
TOYOTA TO LAUNCH ROBOTAXI IN CHINA
And Tesla isn’t the only foreign automaker that sees huge revenue opportunities in China with autonomous technology. Last year, Toyota and its Chinese joint venture partner GAC, teamed up with the AV startup Pony.ai to develop Level 4 robotaxis. Now, they’re sharing more details about the joint venture. They plan to launch a fleet of Toyota bZ4X’s in China equipped with Pony.ai’s self-driving technology, which they unveiled at the Beijing auto show. The joint venture will also do all the maintenance, cleaning and charging to make sure everything runs smoothly.
BYD REVENUE WEAK, PROFITS STRONG
BYD, the biggest car company in China, said its first quarter revenue was only up 4%, even though its car sales were up 14%. It sold 620,000 vehicles, including almost 98,000 exports. That weak revenue growth is a direct result of the price war in China. Even so, BYDs net profit was up 11% to $631 million. And that shows just how cost efficient the company is. Profits rose nearly three times more than revenue. We posted a video with Terry Woychowski from Caresoft explaining the incredibly cost efficient design of the BYD Seagull, and if you’d like to learn what they’ve done, we’ve got a link in the transcript and description box.
EUROPE NEEDS 8X PUBLIC EV CHARGERS
Everyone knows that we need more public charging stations before EVs catch on with the mass market. And in Europe, the ACEA knows exactly how many more. The European Automobile Manufacturers Association, says that 8.8 million public chargers will be needed by 2030, which means the annual installation rate will need to jump to 1.2 million, or eight times the current rate. It says that EV sales grew three times faster than the installation of public chargers between 2017 and 2023. Last year, 150,000 public chargers were installed in Europe, bringing the total to 630,000. But the ACEA says Europe won’t meet its CO2 reduction targets unless public chargers become more widespread.
BUICK UNVEILS WILDCAT-INSPIRED CONCEPTS
General Motors desperately needs to do something new and different in China. A decade ago it was a powerhouse in the Chinese market and one of the largest automakers there. In the pre-Covid era it was selling 4 million vehicles and earning $4 billion in profits a year. Today, it’s about half the size, selling nearly 2.1 million vehicles in China last year. And the traditional GM brands, Buick, Chevy and Cadillac, made up less than half of those sales. Worse still, in the first quarter of this year it lost $100 million. Clearly GM needs to take a bold initiative if it wants to turn things around. So it unveiled two new Buick concepts at the Beijing Auto Show that look a lot like the Wildcat concept that debuted in 2022, which featured a whole new form language much more in tune with Chinese tastes. The cars were designed at GM’s joint design studio with SAIC in China and sit on the Ultium platform. The Electra-L is a fastback sedan, while the Electra-LT is a shooting brake which is becoming a popular body style in China. Both models are rear-drive based and should also offer AWD. GM hasn’t revealed battery sizes, but is targeting a range of 435 miles or 700 kilometers on the Chinese test cycle. The interior still very much looks like a concept with futuristic, individual seating for each passenger and things like a display screen that flips out of the glove box, but it also has elements that are reminiscent of other new Buick’s launching on the market, like the floating center display and instrument cluster. And CarNewsChina reports that a production version of the L could be unveiled at next year’s Shanghai show.
CHEVY EQUINOX PHEV DEBUTS IN CHINA
Chevy is also showing off a new model in China that should be more in tune with not only Chinese tastes, but we could see it being offered in North America as well. It’s a plug-in hybrid version of the Equinox, called the Equinox Plus. It features either a 16.5- or 24.4-kWh battery. The smaller pack provides 102 kilometers or 63 miles of range, while the larger pack offers up to 155 kilometers or 96 miles of range. Under the hood is a 1.5L 3-cylinder engine paired with a 140 kW electric motor that combine for 272 kW or about 365 horsepower and propel the Equinox Plus from 0-100 km/h in just under 7 seconds. The EV war is raging in China, so having sleek new models that appeal to Chinese tastes will help GM. As will having models that compete outside of the BEV segment. Plus, GM pulled back on its EV expansion in North America and said it wants to introduce more hybrids and plug-ins. And the Equinox Plus sounds like the perfect package.
SK ON SEES EV RECOVERY IN U.S. COMING
But this slowdown in EV demand could be short lived. Battery maker SK On is currently showing the effects of the slowdown. In the first quarter its battery shipments are down, its revenue slipped and it’s burning through more cash. Yet despite that SK On said that it’s on target to break-even for the year because it expects the market to improve throughout the rest of the year. And it will be especially fueled by new EV launches in North America. We’ll have to see if this is true for other companies or if it’s a product of the fact that SK’s partners, including Ford, Hyundai and Volkswagen, are the ones that are coming out with a majority of those new EVs later this year.
HYUNDAI & BAIDU JOIN FORCES
Tesla is not the only foreign automaker expanding partnerships with Baidu. So is Hyundai. The two companies signed a deal to collaborate on artificial intelligence, connectivity, autonomous driving, smart transportation systems and cloud computing. They say they’re aiming to provide consumers with connected vehicle services. Hyundai and Baidu have worked together since 2014, developing navigation systems, voice recognition and other connected services.
FISKER SELLS MANSION TO SAVE COMPANY
Henrik Fisker is in a desperate fight to save his car company. It’s teetering on the brink of bankruptcy and so he’s even selling his mansion in Los Angeles to raise money. Automotive News reports that the 11,800-square foot home is listed for $35 million. Not only is that $13.2 million more than he paid for the house, it’s worth more than the entire market cap of his car company, Fisker Motors. Or, if you don’t want to buy, you can rent it for $125,000 a month. It has a pool, 6 bedrooms, 8 bathrooms and every luxurious amenity you can think of. It’s easy to sneer at Fisker as everything unwinds around him. But if he truly is trying to raise money to save the company, we give him props for doing everything he can.
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My take on China/GM. China doesn’t want GM in China anymore as they don’t need anything from GM (they’ve already gleaned want they wanted when they didn’t have it themselves). Other non-Chinese countries are in this scenario as well, as earlier reported.
Its nice PHEVs are being reconsidered and that GM always provides engine size and battery size and expected EV range but they always seem to leave out what the combined fuel economy is. The current 1.5L 4 cyl turbo gets 24/30 or combined 26 so how does that compare to the 1.5L 3 cyl hybrid set up? What are you actually getting for the extra money?
Chuck- Dead on comment. China doesnt need GM anymore and GM will continue to see decline until they finally decide its no longer worth selling vehicles there.
How concerned would you be, owning a Fisker vehicle right now? Within a year they could be gone and if you get in a small fender bender how long before you get replacement parts? if Ever. Not to mention any warranty support.
Chuck, when I was in China in 1994, VW probably had 50% market share, or at least it looked that way. They have taken a big hit, as has GM.
I hope the GM plug-in hybrids do better on gas only, than some other plug-in hybrids. It seems like the best hybrids for efficiency, both regular and plug-in, do not use turbocharged engines.
As far as non-hybrids, tiny engines don’t seem to offer much advantage over somewhat larger engines,
https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/Find.do?action=sbs&id=46591&id=46450&id=47639
@Lambo. Exactly, anyone buying an EV should just accept that it is basically like buying a disposable car because 1)chances are high that price cuts on new models will destroy any possible equity you may have had in the car (see Tesla). 2) if the company is not Tesla or an existing ICE OEM, there’s a high chance of bankruptcy leaving you with no support or repair options (Fisker). 3) even the OEMs.don’t want them back as trade-ins because they can’t even sell the new models and if they do take them, you’ll be so underwater on the loan it’s probably going to be hard to get financing (Porsche Teycan). And #2 is especially true of any company or municipalities trying to buy fleets of buses or delivery vans.
All of these mean you’re stuck with it. Would anyone here buy a used EV off a small roadside used car lot? It’s a hard sell. All of the legislative crusaders’ refuse to acknowledge such financial realities and risks for the consumer who are already struggling with inflation. And that’s a lot of what angers people when they get preached to constantly.
Ford just released that the 2024 1st quarter loss on their EV unit is $1.3 billion. Meaning they lost $132k on each EV sold. Keep up the good work fellas!
It seems unlikely that any of the EV startups other than Tesla, and maybe Rivian, have much chance of long term survival. Maybe Lucid will be around, depending on how much money the Saudis are willing to contribute.
@Kit you said it. There is a Rivian truck owner on YouTube who got into a mild fender bender – he was hit in the rear driver side bumper corner. And he was facing a $60k repair bill because of a combination of the battery components location and the way Rivian designed the sheet metal to interlock. Mostly a unibody – There were no structural breaks between the rear bumper and fenders, etc. So bodywork is an expensive nightmare. Thats a pretty scary thing to have hanging over your head.
If I were looking to buy an EV it would definitely be from some company that the Feds consider too big to fail and would bail out just like in 2007-2008.
I know someone with a Rivian truck. I’m kind of surprised he got it, because it was probably a “spurge” buy for him, a fairly recent college grad. It sounds like he needs to avoid even minor crashes.
How many public EV charging stations would we need if the amount of time to charge was the same as for filling a fuel tank? The amount of gas station fuel pumps we already have in the world?
Who came up with the most ridiculous name for a vehicle body style, shooting brake, and why? Was fishing wheel already taken?
While those GM concepts at the Beijing auto show look incredible and should come to market looking exactly as they are, I fear that if they are built, they will loose a lot of what makes them look amazing. What I believe will/is hurting GM most in China is that, right out of bankruptcy, they had placed some much importance on China being a big part of their recovery and long term survival. Now it seems that the country has incentivized buying from local automakers, after all the investment GM had placed in China remaining a vital part of their international portfolio! In the past, if I’m not mistaken, they were looking at as much as 1/3 of future earning, coming from China. How things have changed! Yet, they are an international company and things changes, be it through geo-politics or the market in that area. That is the reason that the leaders make the big bucks! Being able to see and prepare and adjust AHEAD OF TIME, for those changes in the market and surviving. Now is the time for GM leadership to prove themselves and laying off hourly workers is not the answer. That is a easy cop out, for those who are taking home millions! Now is the time to prove their worth!
Shooting brake:
https://www.thedrive.com/guides-and-gear/what-is-a-shooting-brake
Kit- One vehicle left off all those lists which first popped into my head once understanding what the definition was is the 1969 Jaguar E-type. Thats seems like it would certainly be considered a shooting brake.
Hmm, I’ll disagree on that, Lambo. It’s quite similar to the Porsche 928, with its sloping (or swooping) roofline that blends into the rear end.
https://www.classicargarage.com/cars-for-sale/jaguar-e-type-4-2-litre-fhc-1969.4371
https://www.carscoops.com/2020/01/3k-mile-1988-porsche-928-looks-like-it-just-rolled-out-of-the-factory/
Lambo,
It is definitely left off, but that is because they concentrated on shooting brakes of the 80s and up. They did not deep dive into the older models which is odd as it is an article about the origins of the type. Probably because the author was less familiar with older models. I would certainly add the Chevrolet Nomad to the list of shooting brakes though.
It seems that the modern use of the term shooting brake can mean almost any two door wagon, or a four door wagon with “swoopy” styling, like this.
https://www.gettyimages.ae/detail/photo/volkswagen-arteon-shooting-brake-on-a-parking-royalty-free-image/1288140291?adppopup=true
Europe needing 8.8 million public chargers within 6 years sounds excessively high. I searched “how many petrol stations in Europe” and got 135,719. Even if they all had 10 pumps, that would barely be over a million gas pumps and many people would fuel at home, so did they say why 8.8 million would be necessary?