AD #3952 – Kuniskis Back Running Ram; Tesla To Launch All-New 2025 Model; Porsche Axes A Third Of China Dealers

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

KUNISKIS BACK RUNNING RAM
What’s that old adage? When one door slams shut, another one pops open. Well, that just happened at Stellantis. Carlos Tavares stepped out as CEO last week, and yesterday Tim Kuniskis stepped back in–not as CEO of the company, but as CEO of Ram. Earlier this year Kuniskis abruptly left the company, along with a string of other execs who apparently didn’t get along with Tavares. But with the company melting down in front of its eyes, the board of directors decided it needed a proven winner back running what is probably the company’s most profitable brand. Dealers loved Kuniskis and what he did for the Ram and Dodge brands, and are thrilled to see him back. And of course, everyone in the industry is wondering: will some of those other execs who got pushed out now make their way back to the company?

PORSCHE AXES A THIRD OF CHINA DEALERS
OK, now let’s jump over to China where Porsche is taking drastic action to prop up its operations there as sales are falling at an alarming rate. Last year sales fell 15%, this year they’re down by nearly 30%. So Porsche is getting rid of one third of its dealerships in China, which will leave it with only 100 stores there. Dealers have been desperate to try to move the metal, discounting some cars as much as 35%, and the last thing Porsche needs is a bunch of unprofitable dealers competing against each other to see who can cut prices the fastest. In Germany yesterday, Porsche announced it’s making YouTube available as a standard feature in almost all its models. That will help it attract younger buyers to the brand. But that’s not going to help it in China, since YouTube and all other Western social media on the internet is blocked by the Great Firewall of China.

TESLA DIVERTS EXPORTS TO SELL MORE IN CHINA
And while we’re still in China for the moment, Tesla seems to be worried that it’s losing its standing in the world’s largest car market as Chinese competitors eat into its market share. And so it’s diverting cars that were to be exported to be sold in China instead. Last month, Tesla’s exports from China fell 81% from the prior month and are down 68% from a year ago. Tesla’s China ops usually concentrates on exports in the first half of a quarter and on the domestic market in the second half. But it clearly is concentrating on the China market earlier than it normally does.

XIAOMI YU7 SUV TARGETS TESLA MY
And just to show you the competition Tesla faces in China, Xiaomi is going to launch its first SUV next year and it’s clearly targeted at Tesla’s Model Y. Keep in mind that 90% of Tesla’s sales in China are with the Model Y, so this is a serious threat. Xiaomi will launch the YU7 sedan and SUV with base prices under $30,000. And you’ll remember, it was a version of Xiaomi’s SU7 called Ultra that smashed the Tesla Model S Plaid’s lap time at the Nurburgring a couple of months ago.

FORD MUSTANG GTD LAPS NURBURGRING UNDER 7 MIN
Speaking of the Nurburgring, the Mustang GTD just lapped the track in less than 7 minutes, which is something of a gold standard for performance cars. Specifically, it turned in a lap of 6:57.685. Ford was quick to brag it was the fastest time ever from an American manufacturer, so take that Tesla, Corvette and Camaro! And like they say in those TV commercials, “But wait, there’s more!” Ford CEO Jim Farley said, “We aren’t satisfied. We know there’s much more time to find with Mustang GTD. We’ll be back.”

TESLA TO LAUNCH ALL-NEW MODEL NEXT YEAR
Tesla’s head of investor relations, Travis Axelrod, revealed some interesting details about its low-cost model and robotaxi in a meeting with Deutsche Bank. The company confirmed that it will launch its robotaxi service in California and Texas next year. It will be a company-owned fleet that will, at least initially, be backed by human teleoperators for safety and redundancy purposes. Tesla will also develop its own app for the ride-hailing service. Axelrod also told Deutsche Bank that it will launch another model in the first half of next year that starts below $30,000 including subsidies. Deutsche Bank referred to the EV as the “Model Q” but that name isn’t official. The company is also planning a long wheelbase, three-row version of the Model Y for China. Tesla expects that the new models will increase its volumes by 20-30% over the next year.

EU LOSING EV BATTERY RACE TO CHINESE
The European Union is desperate to be a player in the EV battery business and not have to depend on China. But so far, its efforts are failing. As we’ve been reporting, the Northvolt battery plant is going bankrupt. Bloomberg reports that 11 out of the 16 European battery plants have been delayed or canceled. Meanwhile, 10 out of 13 planned battery plants from Asian companies, mainly from China, are on track to open. European battery companies are struggling to ramp up production and they can’t match prices with the Chinese.

STELLA TO PARTNER WITH CATL FOR BATTERIES IN SPAIN
So, now European automakers are starting to partner with Chinese battery companies. Stellantis and CATL announced a joint-venture to build lithium-iron phosphate batteries at a Stellantis facility in Spain. The €4.1 billion or $4.3 billion plant will start producing batteries at the end of 2026 and could reach up to 50 GWh of capacity. The automaker says the batteries will be used to power passenger vehicles in the B and C segments of its lineup.

SHIPPING CARS GETS CHEAPER
It’s getting to be a lot cheaper to ship cars around the world. According to Clarkson Research Services, rates for ships that can carry 6,500 vehicles dropped below $100,000 per day for the first time since September 2022. And prices are expected to continue to slide over the next few years because the fleet of car-carrying ships will grow 12% next year while demand for the ships is only expected to grow 1%.

TOYOTA EXPANDS 4RUNNER LINE-UP
Toyota released the specs this morning on its update to the 4Runner. This is the 6th generation of the SUV and it’s expanding the line with a hard-core off-road version called Trailhunter and an upscale version called Platinum. At a time when most of the industry is trying to eliminate as many build variations as possible to simplify their manufacturing operations, Toyota is going in the opposite direction. The 4Runner is now available in 9 different models. And to cash in on Toyota’s dominance with hybrids, the 4Runner gets a 2.4-liter turbo hybrid as its standard engine. It cranks out 278 horsepower and 317-pound feet of torque and gets an EPA rating of 26 miles per gallon on the highway. If that’s not enough power for you, there’s a more powerful version of that engine which delivers 326 hp and 465-pound feet and also delivers 6,000 pounds of towing capacity. Prices start a bit over $42,000 for base models and top out over $68,000 for fully loaded versions.

And that brings us to the end of today’s report. Thanks for making Autoline Daily a part of your day. And check in again tomorrow, when we’ll have more breaking news of what’s going on in the global automotive industry.