AD #3936 – Geely Merging Brands Together; Renault Thinks It Can Catch the Chinese; EVs Outpace Overall U.S. Market

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

U.S. & CANADA WANT MEXICO TO PUT MORE PRESSURE ON CHINESE
U.S. government officials are concerned about Chinese automakers setting up shop in Mexico, maybe with plans to ship vehicles north. And it turns out that Canadian officials are pretty worried too. Its Deputy Prime Minister says Canada shares the same concerns as the Americans. And like the U.S., Canada imposed 100% tariffs on imported Chinese EVs and it also slapped a 25% tariff on Chinese steel and aluminum. Mexico says it’s doing its part and pointed to tariffs it imposed on Chinese steel earlier this year, but the U.S. and Canada still don’t feel Mexico is doing enough. The USMCA free trade agreement is up for review in 2026 and President-elect Trump has already said he plans to renegotiate it.

NEVs HELP FUEL GEELY’S GROWTH
Geely, the Chinese automaker with seemingly more brands than you can shake a stick at, posted very strong financial results for the third quarter. Its revenue jumped 20% to $8.3 billion, and its net profit shot up 92% to $340 million. It sold 1.7 million vehicles this year, up 32% and 655,000 of them were NEVs, and its stock is up 64% so far this year.

GEELY MERGING BRANDS TOGETHER
As I said, Geely has a lot of brands including Volvo, Polestar, Lotus, Smart, Proton, Zeekr, Lynk & Co., London Electric and others. It also holds nearly 10% of the shares in Mercedes-Benz. But apparently Li Shufu, the billionaire who founded Geely, decided it was time to simplify the corporate structure and cross-ownership arrangements. So Zeekr is going to take control of Lynk & Co, a more upscale EV brand. Volvo actually owns part of Lynk & Co, so Zeekr will buy those shares. It’s also going to buy shares from Geely’s Holding company, and then it’s going to buy shares in Lynk & Co to inject more cash into it. But here’s an interesting thing. Lynk & Co is actually doing pretty good so far this year. It sold 185,000 cars through October, up 22%. And it sells more cars than Zeekr does. But Zeekr is on a tear. Its sales of 168,000 cars are up nearly 92%.

GEELY COULD TAKE CONTROL OF VOLOCOPTER
Geely is also in talks to take control of Volocopter, the German VTOL company that’s teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. Volocoptor, which counts Mercedes-Benz as one of its original investors, was valued at nearly $2 billion as recently as 2022. But it’s missed deadlines and has chewed through executives and is only worth $110 million.

U.S. EV SALES OUTPACE OVERALL MARKET
EVs outpaced the overall car market in the U.S. in September. According to S&P Global Mobility, automakers sold more than 110,000 pure electric vehicles in September, up 1.3% compared to a year ago. The overall car market was only up 0.7% to 1.3 million vehicles. EVs accounted for 8.6% of the total market, about the same as last year. Tesla was the top EV seller in September with more than 52,000 sales, but that was down 10%. However, the Model Y, Model 3 and Cybertruck were the top 3 sellers. Chevy was the number two brand with more than 7,300 sales, which was ahead of Ford, Hyundai and Kia respectively. Through the first nine months of the year EV sales in the U.S. are up nearly 9% to more than 920,000 vehicles.

  

XIAOMI DEVELOPS AUTO TECH IN-HOUSE
Chinese tech company Xiaomi built its business around smartphones, but it’s also finding success in the auto industry in a relatively short amount of time. It recently revealed that it’s built 100,000 versions of its SU7 model, which hit the market 230 days ago. And now Xiaomi is also bringing more automotive development in-house. It revealed its next-gen chassis and EV motor technology that’s capable of making a car dance and producing a whopping 2,000+ horsepower. To achieve that, the system features a fully active suspension setup with a 4.6 kW electric motor located near each wheel that I believe is used to control the fluid dampening inside the shocks. It will allow the cabin of the car to stay mostly flat and stable, whether you’re flying over a bumpy road, speeding through a turn or slamming on the brakes. It can even make the car dance and jump, which sounds similar to BYD’s DiSus suspension technology. For reaching over 2,050 horsepower Xiaomi developed two new electric motors for the front and slapped two of its existing motors on the back. To help keep that under control it also developed a 48-volt steer-by-wire system and a 48-volt ‘dry’ braking system, which is called dry because it doesn’t use any hydraulic fluid. The calipers have little electric motors that operate the piston that clamps the brake pads down on the rotor. However, we don’t know when this tech will make it to the market.

MAY MOBILITY EXPANDS ITS DRIVERLESS OPERATIONS
Autonomous startup May Mobility is expanding its driverless operations to its hometown of Ann Arbor, Michigan. Previously, the company operated its fleet of self-driving Toyota Sienna minivans in the city with a safety driver on board. May Mobility also has a driverless service in Sun City, Arizona which launched at the end of last year. And then it operates in seven other markets with a driver on board. May Mobility plans to expand to 16 markets by the end of the first quarter of 2025 and at least one will be for driverless operations. More locations are scheduled to follow after that. In addition to self-driving Siennas, May Mobility is also developing an autonomous bus with Italian company ICAP Group. It’s able to carry as many as 30 passengers and testing is expected to kick-off next year.

Speaking of autonomous cars, that’s going to be the topic on Autoline After Hours today. AVs look like they could be on the brink of a big breakout. But one of the problems is that there’s no national standard to regulate them. We’ll have Henry Liu, the director of Mcity, on the show. That’s the AV proving grounds run by the University of Michigan. And Henry will argue why the U.S. desperately needs a national standard. Michael Robinet from S&P Global will also be on the show because he’s got expertise in just about anything automotive. So join John and Gary when we get going live at 3 pm eastern time.

RENAULT THINKS IT CAN CATCH THE CHINESE
Renault says its next gen EV platform will catch up to the Chinese in cost. But it won’t be out until 2028. Luca de Meo, the CEO of Renault, says the new platform cuts costs by 40% compared to today. Renault will continue to use NMC and LFP batteries, but it’s working on a new generation that uses a silicone anode that eliminates cobalt. Its goal is to double the energy density of today’s NMC batteries by 2030, but at a cost similar to LFP. It will also use a cell to pack layout for better efficiency. de Meo says Renault is learning from the Chinese, just as they learned from the European automakers, and he says Renault will take its learnings to slash its product development time from 4 years down to 2.

HONDA PASSPORT GETS MORE RUGGED STYLING
Honda gave the Passport a much more rugged look. As you can see, the styling of the new 2026 version features much straighter lines and more blocky design elements. That straight-line theme also carries over into the interior where you see a layered dash with the center display mounted high on top. Like the outgoing model, the new Passport is powered by a 3.5L V6, but its 285 horsepower is a little bit more than before. It goes from a 9-speed to a 10-speed auto as well and comes standard with the newest version of Honda’s AWD system that’s stronger and responds faster. For even more off-road capability, there’s the Trailsport trim, which adds its own unique springs, dampers, sway bars, underbody skid plates and TrailWatch camera system. Look for the new Passport to start arriving at dealers in the U.S. early next year with a starting price around $45,000.

CHINESE CONSUMERS SEEM TO LIKE SUPER COMFORTABLE SEATS
On Tuesday we showed you Buick’s new super comfortable seats, but it’s not the only one. BYD revealed the interior for a new luxury van it’s getting ready to launch in China and it’s available with reclining captains chairs that have their own controls as well as a fold out tray on the back of the front seats and a large display screen in the middle. And then GAC showed off the interior for its new Hyptec HL EV. While it’s not a van like the other two, GAC put two similar seats in the second row of this electric SUV, which is about the size of a Chevy Traverse.

But that’s a wrap for this show. I hope to see you later.