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Runtime: 10:25
0:00 VW Could Sell German Plants to Its Chinese JVs
0:51 GM & Stellantis Stretch Out Product Cycles
2:06 GM-UAW Workers Get $14,500 in Profit Sharing
3:08 GM Spends Nearly $1 Billion to Close Buick Dealers
5:20 Tesla Shareholders Have Tough Questions for Elon
6:06 Opel Launching 4X4 Van
7:21 Good Looking Fiat Grande Panda Going on Sale
8:19 Lithium Mining Starts in Oklahoma
9:01 INEOS Sales Up 50% in the U.S.
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This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry.
VW COULD SELL GERMAN PLANTS TO CHINESE
Here’s something that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago. VW is probably going to sell some of its German assembly plants to Chinese automakers. Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume confirmed that the automaker is in talks with its Chinese joint venture partners but said it hasn’t made any decisions yet. VW has joint ventures with SAIC, FAW and JAC in China and it also has a stake in Xpeng. VW labor unions will welcome the move if it saves their jobs, but they say they’ll only make vehicles for VW’s Chinese JVs and if the vehicles have the VW logo on them.
GM, STELLA STRETCH OUT PRODUCT CYCLES
We’ve got some future product intel that gives us some good insight into what automakers are planning. Autoforecast Solutions reports that the next-generation Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain will not go into production in Mexico and China until 2032. No doubt the current generation will get some refreshes, but that means GM will keep the current platform for another 7 years, no doubt to keep costs down and make them more profitable. Meanwhile, Stellantis will keep the Grand Cherokee L in production until 2030. The Ram 1500 REV hangs on until the end of 2031. And the same goes for the Jeep Recon EV that comes out this year. On the Fiat side, the 500e will stay in production until 2032. So what’s the trend we’re seeing here? These are pretty long product cycles. Just a few years ago, automakers were bragging how they would shorten those cycles. But after making massive investments in EVs that haven’t paid off yet, and with so much uncertainty of what the future holds for the industry, it’s an easy decision to stretch out product cycles and save billions in the process.
GM-UAW WORKERS GET $14,500 PROFIT SHARING
General Motors posted its earnings for last year and some of the numbers are fascinating. First, the basics. GM wholesaled 4 million vehicles in 2024, which brought in $187 billion in revenue. Its earnings before interest and taxes was just shy of $15 billion. But only $6 billion of that made its way to the bottom line–a 40% drop–mainly because of some one-time charges that we’ll get into in a minute. Impressively, GM’s automotive operations generated $14 billion in adjusted free cash flow, which gives the company a lot of spending power. In a letter to shareholders, CEO Mary Barra said GM achieved a variable profit on its EVs and expects to improve that this year as sales ramp up and it achieves more scale. And she announced that UAW workers will earn up to $14,500 in profit sharing.
GM SPENDS NEARLY $1 BILLION TO CLOSE DOWN BUICK DEALERS
GM’s results would have been a whole lot better except that it had to take some very expensive one-time write-offs. It took a $4 billion charge for restructuring its Chinese operations. We haven’t heard any of the specifics yet, but that would likely include closing down some assembly plants in China. GM took a $1.1 billion charge to close down Cruise and bring the autonomous technology unit back into the mothership. GM also paid nearly $1 billion to buy out the franchises of Buick dealers who have declined to go along with Buick’s EV strategy. And GM is spending $64 million to relocate its headquarters in downtown Detroit. Put all these items together and GM booked nearly $6.5 billion in restructuring costs. If they’re truly one-time costs, then that bodes very well for GM’s 2025 earnings, because most of that money will drop to the bottom line.
TESLA SHAREHOLDERS VOTE ON QUESTIONS FOR ELON
Tesla will also announce its Q4 and full-year results for 2024 tomorrow and shareholders have some pretty hard questions for Elon Musk to answer. Tesla allows shareholders to post questions on a platform, called Say Technologies, and then other shareholders can vote in favor of questions they want asked during the company’s earnings call. Questions with the most votes will move to the top of the list. Some of those include, is Tesla still planning to release Unsupervised Full Self Driving this year in California and Texas? When will the Optimus robot go on sale and what will it cost? Is a new affordable Tesla model coming soon? And the list goes on from there.
OPEL LAUNCHES 4X4 VAN
Opel is teaming up with French company Dangel to come out with a 4X4 version of one of its commercial vans. But unlike a lot of other models that send power to all four wheels, there’s no mechanical link between the engine and rear wheels. The Opel Combo 4X4 uses a self-contained e-axle unit that kicks into action anytime the vehicle detects wheel slip. Owners can choose between Auto, Low and Lock. I wasn’t able to find out how much power the rear motor generates, but it’s combined with the Combo’s 130 horsepower diesel engine and fed by a 48-volt battery pack that’s nearly 5 kWh. And there’s no plug to charge that pack. It gets its energy while the vehicle is coasting or during regen braking. The Combo 4X4 also includes additional protection for the engine, gearbox and fuel tank as well as 90 mm or about 3.5 inches more ground clearance. It looks like an upgrade like this would cost about 9,250 euros on top of the vehicle price.
GOOD-LOOKING FIAT PANDA EV
Speaking of new models and sticking in the Stellantis family, Fiat is launching its new small crossover the Grande Panda in March. It’s built on the same platform as the Citroen C3 or the Opel and Vauxhall Frontera and features similar hybrid and all-electric powertrains. The EV comes with a 113 horsepower electric motor, a 44 kWh battery and a WLTP range of 320 kilometers or nearly 200 miles. The hybrid has a 1.2L 3-cylinder engine paired with a 6-speed automatic transmission incorporated a 21 kW electric motor. Like the C3 and Frontera, the Grande Panda also offers more affordable pricing. The hybrid will start at less than 19,000 euros and the EV will start under 25,000 euros.
LITHIUM MINING STARTS IN OKLAHOMA
Slowly but surely, the United States is starting to build its own supply chain for EV batteries. A company called Stardust Power recently broke ground on one of the largest lithium refineries in the country. Located in Oklahoma, the $1.2 billion facility will produce up to 25,000 metric tons of lithium per year in its initial phase and in its second phase, production will increase to 50,000 tons. The average EV uses about 8 kilograms or 17 pounds of lithium. So that would only feed about 3,200 EVs. But you’ve got to start somewhere.
INEOS SALES UP 50% IN U.S.
British off-road vehicle startup, INEOS, expects big growth in the U.S. this year. The head of the company’s American operations told Automotive News that they expect sales to grow around 50% in 2025. But the numbers are still rather small. Last year, INEOS delivered 8,000 of its Grenadier SUVs in the U.S., which start at $73,100 including shipping. The company is launching a pickup soon called the Quartermaster, which it expects to account for 15% of its U.S. sales. INEOS currently has 26 dealerships in its U.S. network and it plans to add 9 more this year.
But that brings us to the end of today’s show. Thanks for tuning in.
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The opel 4X4 system has been in production in other vehicles since forever. It is definitely not new technology. In fact it is 20 years old having been introduced on the 2005 Lexus RX 400h. Maybe the use in a commercial van is a big deal, but the tech itself is not as it works exactly the same as the 2005 Lexus.
I love that Ineos is a pharmaceutical company turned auto manufacturer. Basically the owner of Ineos Pharma was upset that Land Rovers new Defender was a cross over and not a body on frame like his beloved Defender of old. He also hated the styling of the new Defender as it was not retro enough for him. He felt the Defender lost its sole and lamented that nobody was making an updated version of the Defender. So, he decided to build a brand new body on frame vehicle styled in the vein of the original Defender but with updated tech. The interior is old school with all of its switches and knobs and very down to basics. Just like the prior gen Defender. It is not a go to the mall poser vehicle. It is built for an off road purpose and it excels at that purpose. I hope their sales continue to improve as it is a fascinating thing, It will likely be a footnote in the history books and I would like to own one some day just to say I owned this automotive footnote.
Wow! A $4 billion charge for restructuring in China? That is an amazing figure, even more so when you remember that their operations there are all 50/50 joint ventures with Chinese partners. So, did the Chinese partners also incur $4 billion in restructuring costs? Only GM can come up with gargantuan price tags like these. The details should be interesting because GM is not leaving the Chinese market, and so far has not announced discontinuing any of the brands it sells there. Indeed, the last report I saw showed their sales are on the rise. Maybe they pulled the trigger on this restructuring a little hastily?
MURKUR, the powertrain of the 2005 RX hybrid was much like a current RAV4 hybrid, only with a V6 engine rather than a four. The Opel van works more like a Corvette E-Ray, but with the electric part smaller, and in the rear rather than the front.
I like the powertrain the Ineos truck uses, a BMW six, gas or diesel, and a ZF 8-speed. I’d think the market would be very limited, though. The thing is probably crude and noisy like a Wrangler, but costs twice as much.
Does the average EV use 17 pounds of lithium? Let’s round that up to 20 pounds for ease of calculation.
Then, for every metric ton (more than 2,200 pounds) of lithium that Stardust Power’s Muskogee, Oklahoma refinery produced, wouldn’t it be able to feed 110 EVs?
And if, in phase 2, the refinery produced 50,000 metric tons of lithium, wouldn’t it be able to supply 5.5 million EVs, not just 3,200?
Where’s the mistake?