AD #3956 – It’s Official: Trump to Ax EV Subsidies; BYD Seagull Outsells Tesla Y in China; Major Tier 1’s Skipping CES

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

IT’S OFFICIAL: TRUMP TO AX EV SUBSIDIES
All during his election campaign, President elect Trump promised to gut EV subsidies. And it looks like that’s about to happen. Reuters reports his transition team recommends that he stop subsidies for buying EVs and building charging stations, and plow that money into domestic processing of the raw materials needed to make batteries. They say they want to continue the subsidies for making batteries because they’re needed for national defense, whereas EVs and charging stations are not. They also want to waive environmental reviews to speed up battery mining, production, and recycling as well as push exports of U.S.-made EV batteries. On top of that, the transition team is also recommending that the EPA emission standards for cars be rolled back to 2019 levels, which comes as something of a surprise. The auto industry was expecting them to be frozen at 2027 levels. Rolling them back to 2019 would allow cars to emit 25% more regulated emissions and would lower fuel economy by about 15%. 

OIL COMPANIES CHALLENGE CARB’S AUTHORITY
Meanwhile, a group of oil companies aren’t waiting to see if Trump will eliminate the EPA waiver that’s granted to California to set its own emission standards. They’re suing California and the Supreme Court just agreed to hear their case. Historically California was allowed to set its own standards because it started regulating car emissions before a national standard was established. The oil companies argue that the state overstepped its authority when it established a zero-emission-vehicle mandate that starts next year and bans ICE vehicles by 2035. The case, titled Diamond Alternative Energy versus EPA, should be decided by next summer. This may not bode well for the EPA or CARB since the current makeup of the Supreme Court seems intent on reigning in the expansive powers of government agencies.

LAMBO DELAYS EV, SAYS MARKET NOT READY
Many automakers have delayed EV launches due to the slowdown in demand and Lamborghini is the latest. The company’s CEO, Stephan Winkelmann told reporters earlier today that it will launch its first all-electric model in 2029, a year later than planned. Winkelmann says Lambo isn’t in a hurry to come out with an EV because the luxury sports car market isn’t ready for one. However, Italian rival Ferrari disagrees and is planning to launch its first EV in the first quarter of 2025.

 

BYD SEAGULL OUTSELLS TESLA Y IN CHINA
We’ve talked about BYD’s impressive growth over the last year. And last month’s sales numbers in China show just how dominant it is. Eight of the top 20 best-selling models in November were BYD vehicles, including the top-selling model the Seagull. According to the China Passenger Car Association, more than 56,000 Seagull’s were sold last month, a 38% increase from a year ago. That was easily ahead of the Tesla Model Y, which was second with about 44,500 sales, a drop of 10%. The BYD Song Plus was the third best-selling model in November with more than 40,000 sales. The BYD Qin Plus followed with 36,000 sales and the Wuling Hongguang Mini EV rounds out the top five with just under 35,000 sales. Overall, passenger car sales totaled 2.4 million last month in China, a 7% increase and new energy vehicles accounted for nearly 1.26 million sales or 52% of the market.

PERFORMANCE VERSION OF RENAULT 5 REVEALED
Renault is bringing out what it calls an electrical successor to the Renault 5 Turbo and Turbo 2 of the 1980s. It’s a performance version of the new Renault 5, called Turbo 3E. Power will come from two electric motors, but rather than all-wheel drive, they’ll send over 500 horsepower to the rear wheels, which will launch the car from 0-100 km/h in 3.5 seconds. We can also tell you that some of the structure is made from carbon to help keep weight down and that there will be a production version of this car, but that’s about all the details we have for now. Renault says it will provide more info throughout 2025. 

HYUNDAI GIVES PALISADE EVEN MORE PREMIUM LOOK
Hyundai has earned a lot of positive reviews for the premium look and feel of the Palisade SUV and if the first pictures of the new second-gen model are any indication, the automaker is trying to take that up a notch. That big grille and flush-mounted LED lighting are the styling elements on the outside that really grab our eye. And note how designers pushed that lighting as far out as possible to help accentuate the width of the vehicle. The interior is highlighted by a dashboard with a large upper section that almost wraps itself over the display screens like a hood. But we also find the door panels a little interesting, in that there’s not a lot of crazy styling, mostly just a small accent of light. Look for the new Palisade to start launching in the middle of next year.

DS UNVEILS NUMBER 8 ELECTRIC SEDAN
Another vehicle launching at the same time in Europe is the production version of the DS Number 8. This is a sedan that’s a little bit smaller than a Mercedes EQE, but is also FWD-based. There’s two front-drive models with the top version making 245 horsepower as well as a two-motor AWD model with 350 horsepower. A 74-kWh battery provides 572 kilometers or 355 miles of range, but a 97-kWh battery is also available that provides up to 750 kilometers or 466 miles of range. The DS Number 8 is built on a 400-volt architecture and has a maximum charging speed of 160 kW. As you probably know, DS falls under the Stellantis umbrella and so far, all of Stellantis’ EVs are coming out with an ICE variant, but DS says the Number 8 is the first of its designs to be solely electric. If the market continues to show growing favor for hybrids and plug-in hybrids DS might have to rethink that strategy. But the good news for it is that Stellantis platforms are built for multiple powertrain types.

MAJOR TIER 1’S SKIPPING CES
Several major auto suppliers are skipping or have scaled back plans for CES and it’s all about cutting costs. Magna, ZF and Forvia are not attending the technology conference in January. Bosch is the only major supplier that will be holding a press conference, however several other suppliers will have displays.

SHYFT GROUP MERGES WITH SWISS COMPANY
And in another sign for how tough it is for companies, U.S. specialty vehicle maker, Shyft Group, is merging with Swiss specialty vehicle maker Aebi Schmidt. Aebi will control 52% of the newly formed company and financial details weren’t disclosed. Shyft has 3,000 employees in the U.S. at 19 locations across the country. The new company will be headquartered in Switzerland, trade on the NASDAQ and is estimated to have a combined revenue of nearly $2 billion.

KIA K4 IS PRICED TO SELL
The Kia Forte was the second best-selling car in Kia’s lineup in the American market, second only to the Sportage crossover. Yet, Kia decided to rename the cart the K4 and is aiming it specifically at Gen Y and Gen Z customers. Even though the K4 is classified as a compact car, it has good rear seat headroom and legroom and it felt more like a mid-size sedan to us. Under the hood is a 2-liter naturally aspirated 4-cylinder mated to a CVT. The engine develops 197 horse-power, 132 pound feet of torque and gets an EPA rating of 34 mpg. An optional 1.6-liter turbo for the GT model generates 190 horsepower, 195 pound-feet, is bolted to an 8-speed automatic and gets an EPA 29 mpg rating. Inside, Kia merged multiple screens into one long 30-inch digital display. The K4 is also the first in Kia’s lineup to get GenAI so that passengers can use natural language to ask it almost any kind of question, including questions about the car, since it has the owner’s manual integrated in it. We think it’s been priced to sell, with a base price of $23,145 including destination charges. Kia says the main selling points are the K4’s distinctive styling, roominess and usable tech. And who knows? Maybe that will be enough to make it the best-selling car in Kia’s lineup.

PORSCHE PIONEERED IN-WHEEL MOTORS 125-YEARS AGO
There’s some promising applications for in-wheel electric motors, but did you know the technology was first developed by Ferdinand Porsche almost 125 years ago? Porsche was only 24 years old and working first automotive engineering job at a company called Jacob Lohner & Co. The first versions only made about 2.5 horsepower, but later models had about 14 horsepower and even fitted to all four wheels as well as pair with gas engines for what are likely the first hybrid and extended range electrics. And if you’d like to see where in-wheel motors are headed today, check out our interviews with Neapco and Elaphe.

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