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Runtime: 10:58
0:00 Rivian Hits Paydirt With Massive VW Investment
1:32 Rivian Hints At 5 Future Models
2:06 Tesla Drops Under 50% U.S. EV Market Share
2:59 CDK Cyberattack Lasts Longer Than Expected
3:31 U.S. June Sales At 16.2 Million SAAR
4:38 Revealed: The Last Pontiac Concept Car
5:28 GM/SAIC Use Robots for Car Testing
6:13 Bentley Unleashes Most Powerful Model Ever
7:35 CATL Flies 4-Ton Electric Plane
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RIVIAN HITS PAYDIRT WITH MASSIVE VW INVESTMENT
In a stunning move, Volkswagen agreed to invest billions in a joint venture with Rivian, which ensures that the EV startup will have the cash it needs to launch its R2 models as well as resume construction of its new U.S. assembly plant in Georgia. VW will immediately invest $1 billion in Rivian, and expects to make additional investments through 2026 that will bring the total to $5 billion. Let’s cut to the chase. VW is essentially paying Rivian a fortune to get access to its software-defined vehicle design, its zonal electronic architecture and all the software that runs on it. It will also give Rivian enormous economies of scale with all the hardware components that are part of the system. But there are potential pitfalls that lie ahead. It will be a 50-50 joint venture with equal control. So no one has the final say in what they will do. That can really slow down decision making. VW already has a deal with Xpeng and its Cariad software unit to develop software defined vehicles and zonal architectures, but that’s only for the Chinese market. The deal with Rivian will serve all of VW’s brands, including Scout, in global markets outside of China.
RIVIAN HINTS AT 5 FUTURE MODELS
In its announcement Rivian also hinted at 5 future products that its never shown or mentioned before, including a derivative coming off its new Gen 2 platform, which you can see at the top of the second column in this graphic. There’s also another derivative coming off its MSP platform for the R2 and R3. And then on the far right are three vehicles under wraps that Rivian calls affordable mass market vehicles. And we think those could have starting prices in the high $20,000 range.
TESLA DROPS UNDER 50% U.S. EV MARKET SHARE
We’ve got to wonder how Elon Musk and Tesla will react to the Rivian news. Tesla relies on two models, the Y and the 3, for 95% of its sales. And those models are starting to run out of sales steam, at least in the American market. Up to now Tesla outsold every other automaker combined in sales of electric vehicles in the United States. But this month will likely be the tipping point, where Tesla’s EV market share drops below 50%. It wouldn’t matter too much if Tesla’s sales were growing and it was losing market share. But sales are not growing. Cox Automotive estimates that Tesla’s U.S. sales fell 13% in the first quarter. Tesla is still an EV juggernaut, but these stats and the Rivian move should be triggering alarm bells at the headquarters in Austin.
CDK CYBERATTACK LASTS LONGER THAN EXPECTED
Last week’s cyberattack that disrupted car dealership operations across the U.S. is going to impact dealers longer than expected. CDK told dealers that it won’t be able to restore its dealer management system before June 30th. The software, which is used by 15,000 dealers, manages parts, service, accounting, finance and insurance and vehicle inventory. In the meantime, dealers have resorted to using pen and paper in some cases to keep track of everything.
U.S. JUNE SALES AT 16.2 MILLION SAAR
And yet, despite the cyberattacks, June won’t be all that bad from a sales standpoint. Cox Automotive says June car sales in the U.S. will be up only 1% compared to a year ago. But they’re running at a healthy pace. It says sales should top 1.4 million vehicles, with the SAAR coming in at a healthy 16.2 million, though for the year it expects the SAAR to hit 15.5 million. If we look at just EVs, sales in June are about on pace with the rest of the market. Cox Automotive says EVs will have about 7.5% market share and it expects the pace to pick up in the second half of the year because so many more EV models will hit the market from companies like General Motors, Honda, Stellantis and Volkswagen.
REVEALED: THE LAST PONTIAC CONCEPT CAR
This is the very last concept car that Pontiac ever worked on. Revealed on the GM Design Instagram page, the concept had never been seen publicly since it was completed in 2008. In the background of one of the hand drawings, you can see a fuzzy “G8,” which was a rear-drive V8 sedan launched by the brand around the same time this concept was rolling out of the Advanced Studio in California. So, it likely would have inspired the next-gen Pontiac G8. But as most of us know, 2008 was peak Great Recession, GM had financial problems and there were restructuring efforts at the company. It eventually announced that year it would discontinue the Pontiac brand and by 2010 Pontiac was gone altogether.
GM/SAIC USE ROBOTS FOR CAR TESTING
Earlier this month we reported about a system GM and its joint venture partner SAIC are developing and thanks to Gasgoo here’s a much better look at the RoboTest Platform. Basically, it does the entire vehicle testing and certification process, instead of a human, which makes the results more accurate. All of the motors, actuators, radars, cameras and other devices have been designed to fit into a wide range of vehicles without modifying any original structure. And all the data is then sent to a control center. Not only will they use the tech for their vehicle GM-SAIC hope to sell it to other companies as well.
BENTLEY UNLEASHES MOST POWERFUL MODEL EVER
Bentley introduced the new Continental GT Speed, which it says is the most powerful vehicle in its lineup ever. The model is ditching its W12 engine and is now powered by a plug-in hybrid. The setup consists of a 4.0L V8 engine and an 8-speed dual-clutch transmission that are combined with a 187-horsepower electric motor and a 25.9-kWh battery. The total output of the system is 771 horsepower, it can move from 0-60 MPH in 3.1 seconds, it has a top-speed of 208 MPH or 335 km/h and its all-electric range is 50 miles or 81 kilometers. A convertible version is also available but with the extra weight it’s a little slower than the coupe. The Continental GT also gets a significant styling update for the exterior, most notably its single front headlamps, which is the first time since the 1950’s that a non-coach-built Bentley features single headlamps. The new Continental GT Speed will be built at the automaker’s plant in England with production and deliveries starting in the third quarter of the year.
CATL FLIES 4-TON ELECTRIC PLANE
CATL, the biggest battery maker in the world, is taking to the skies. Last year it revealed its high-density Condensed Battery, which it said could be used in passenger aircraft and it’s already doing tests. The company’s chairman revealed CATL has successfully tested a 4-ton electric plane and expects to introduce a pack for an 8-ton commercial plane by 2027 or 2028 that has 1,200 to 1,800 miles or 2,000-3,000 kilometers of range.
Software defined vehicles allow automakers to provide updates and new features with over the air updates. Or, an engineer with a laptop can tap into a vehicle to change almost any parameter. So join us for Autoline After Hours tomorrow, when ZF, a sponsor of this show, will show us how automakers can do all the chassis, steering and braking development with a laptop, instead of needing crates full of different springs, bushings, brake pads, sway bars and months of testing at the proving grounds to sort out which work best.
But that’s a wrap for today’s show. Thanks for making Autoline a part of your day.
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Is Rivian going to produce some of the Scout models as well? That would seem to make sense to me to help get Scout off the ground with multiple models. Also, what is with all of the Pontiac branded teaser drawings on Youtube? (Youtube: serach for future pontiacs) Is Pontiac coming back? Maybe as a trim line on Chevrolet?
That Pontiac concept car is a great looking vehicle. I really like the frameless windows removing the b-pillar from the window opening. Reminiscent of the old muscle car days. Likely never would have made it into production. I do miss that open feeling of all the windows down.
The Pontiac concept car hurts me right in the feels. I’m still not over losing Pontiac. I would absolutely buy a new Pontiac at this point, don’t even care if it’s a minivan.
With Cybertruck’s run rate fast approaching 100K units a year it is something to keep an eye on, as a competitor, and a success as a unit, with change happening so quickly we will soon see the future.
The G8 concept car was at the EyesOn Design show. I was surprised and a bit confused when I saw it, because I didn’t know that it existed. It made sense when I learned that it had never been shown to the public (or most of us “inside”) before. As a former G8 owner I don’t really care for the design, viewing it as a little over the top.
Tesla really needs to have far better styling both on the exterior and interior. They have always been a boring styled vehicle. It is why the CT stands out. It is ugly, but it is not boring like the rest of their line up. The interiors are stark and featureless. Quite literally nothing to look at fondly. With competition heating up and sales of EVs slowing down; it is going to get hard for Tesla to peddle their uninspiring vehicles. They badly need to restyle the entire line up from the inside out to move forward.
Pontiac certainly built some interesting cars,and had some interesting people running the show. Some very stand out cars..
Pontiac fans…
I nearly fell of the chair when I saw this on social media the other week.
Wouldn’t this be special for those of us yearning for something different/exciting in this auto world of soulless propaganda ALL electric vehicle news.
While this is probably just a joke, we can dream can’t we…
https://youtu.be/8FVBKs7cDGY?si=p-1HI6PKnD2jolsr
If GM ever gets back into making cars, they could have something like Pontiac Firebird as a “model,” sold at Chevy dealers, as GMC does with Hummer. It might make sense to make a Pontiac Grand Prix GTP off of the Cadillac CT5. Just put a naturally aspirated Corvette V8 in it. Pontiac as a model would make sense only for “sporty” vehicles, not for another version of Equinox or Traverse.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEWCHq0kg0U
Here is an example of ‘Pontiac 2025’ stuff on Youtube.
Kevin, cool 2025 Pontiac “stuff.” I’ve had some Pontiacs, most recently a ’98 Grand Prix with the SC 3800.
I was heartbroken over GM’s decision to axe Pontiac (BMW competition) over Buick (China’s favorite Infinity copy). I’ve owned a number of Pontiac’s over the years:
74 GTO hatchback 4-speed (25 years)
77 Astra wagon (3 years ugh)
83 Bonneville wagon (14 years)
03 Vibe 5 speed (6 years-“sold” to daughter)
09 Vibe GT 5 speed (10 years)
My wife’s Vibe went away because it was an orphan and parts were getting harder to get and GM just wasn’t going to make the TourX GT that I was hoping for so we settled for just the TourX.
A Pontiac shooting brake could be a dream machine.
JoeS
Vibe mechanical parts should be easy enough to get, because it’s a Toyota Matrix, but body parts, maybe not, if you crash it.
I liked the TourX, except for the mandatory 4wd. It’s a nice looking wagon.
If the Rivian/VW joint venture works, good for them. All they have to do is make an operational profit on each EV sold. My understanding is Tesla and BYD are the only companies making an operational profit. Tesla to the tune of an 18% margin, ~3x better than BYD. So when Toyota and Mercedes bought and later sold Tesla stock, both were making profits and those shares helped Tesla survive. Just they could not adopt the Elon method of engineering and manufacturing management.
Recently, Robotaxi became a buzz word. For example, Yahoo Finance claimed “Rimac” whose cheapest car is ~$2 million, will be a major player in 2026. But this contrasts two, self-driving, architectures: (1) sensor rich, detailed mapped, geofenced, and (2) wide open, sensor minimum, rapid software updated computers. It is a contest between increased parts and reduced unreliability versus minimum parts and computer driven.
Today, June 27, my five year old, Tesla Model 3 with 137,000 mi, will drive me and the dogs, 160 miles to Atlanta. Staying at an affordable motel with free charging, I will return on Friday, ~400 miles and no charging stops or payment. So why would I a future Robotaxi that can not drive directly where I want to go when I already own one?
I wasn’t thrilled with the mandatory 4wd until driving on the slick winter roads. I drive mostly drive RWD so I find the driving dynamics of the 4wd are much preferred over the fwd. The TourX with winter tires feels so stable and almost unstoppable.
I’m a huge Pontiac fan too as my fist car was a 1971 Lemans.
I’ve also owned a
1982 6000,
1985 Fiero,
1989 Grand Prix,
1995 Grand Prix GTP,
1992 Transport,
1998 Grand Am
2002 Firebird (last year made)
The styling of the concept might seem a bit over the top, but concepts typically are. They are always shown with much larger wheels and tires than they ever get in production and the wings, scoops and curves always seem to get toned down significantly. I actually like it as is, mainly because it’s not the same old another version of a CUV and it’s a hatchback. Something like this could actually revive interest in a sedan again.
As for Tesla styling, Yeah I think they had better have something in the works as waiting 7 years for design refreshes is too long. I don’t find their designs boring but they do remind me of the sample plaques used for house of kolor and other paint shops when picking a color. https://www.houseofkolor.com/kolors/?ref=homepage&effectPacks=kameleon