Car News-Global and Domestic

[NewcastleFalcon]

Excellent Post Chris, keep them coming very informative, and I think they will sit in the right home on this thread.
VW have made regular appearances, from Herbert Deiss telling them the realities of where they needed to be in productivity to compete and subsequently being shown the door; to their record breaking indebtedness as a company, together with their heavy reliance on ICE sales in China for their revenues. The many teething troubles, battery and software problems with the ID3 their bread and butter EV offering, which you alluded to in some of your posts from the sharp end. In what looked like desperate moves which may eventually turn out to be quite smart, the software sort out is probably on going, and but taking a stake in Xpeng does give them access to their software/hardware and their platform on which to create new models.

Neil

[ChrisRobin]

I don't know what is going on the VW at the moment, we no longer get any news letters, I didn't even know they had sold Porsche on, we log onto a site called desktop which was great, they have now condensed all their dealer sites into the "hub" card GRP sent us all out logins for it which enables us to get on to the hub but we can't use any of the links we are not authorised, we have done all sorts with our Managers, IT guys, VW to try and resolve it, 12 months later still the same, seems it was something to do with us logging in, the system has seen multiple logins coming in for all 5 brands from one location, system security has decided it is being hacked and blocked us, now we can't get past it, every time the resolve and issue new passwords and logins for us, we go around again...
Can't help but think "and you want to roll this out over the UK and across Europe" dear God! it things like £10k for an EV coolant machine on auto order for tools, we got one for Audi 1st, a week later Skoda send us one, so we are now £20k into these machine, the trouble we have had cancelling this auto issue is incredible, or MD has all out arguments with well VAG for a better description to stop the other 2, we think we have but at present DHL have just deposited a very large box in our workshop so I am not sure, as they are really trying to get out to us VW and Seat machines, although this 5 brand dealership was all there idea, they can not get their head around it still after 9 years, same with the auto issue battery scissor jacks @ £25k each, we hope we have stopped the other two arriving, way to expensive and we have nowhere to store 4 of them they are almost the length of a ramp bay, maybe even 5 not sure about vans yet.
Parts is the same, as this was going to be VW's flagship and the future you would of thought they would of get all 5 brands around the table to discuses this "new" concept, but no, instead in our parts department we have 5 separate brands in the same space, because none of them wanted to give on their parts sales targets, so for example we have 5 different location of an 04E 115 561T oil filter prefixed with A = Audi, E = Seat, K = Skoda, W = Volkswagen cars, Vans also have a W but they are on a different DMS Company so we can't book filters of vans out on car jobs and visa a versa.
It is a nightmare at stock take. we have 21 ramps in the top workshop + 3 MOT ramps and 7 in the bottom workshop + 1 MOT ramp and at the last count 26 techs and 2 apprentices with 7 service advisors feeding us as well as a call centre.
It gets a little bit hectic....

[mickthemaverick]

They've solved the alternative fuels problems!!

Sent to me

[Gibbo2286]

That's a bit like some of the pre Victorian perpetual motion stuff in a book I used to have.

[CitroJim]

They've solved the alternative fuels problems!!

That's quite an attractive thought...

I assume you reverse the polarity of the magnet when you wish to go backwards?

[mickthemaverick]

Yes indeed, in fact it works even better if the iron plate is replaced by a second horseshoe magnet which can be revolved through 180 " for forward/reverse drive!

[Paul-R]

If you split the magnet into monopoles and put one on the bottom and one over the top of the vehicle you could turn it into a hover truck.

[bobins]

I was thinking just put the magnet on the back of the car in front. It'd work wonders on the M25 - once everyone was moving you'd not need any motive power

[MattBLancs]

. It'd work wonders on the M25 - once everyone was moving

Think you've just talked yourself out of that idea!

[bobins]

EU to delay tariffs on UK electric cars until 2027

"Tariffs on electric vehicles traded between the UK and EU will be delayed for three years, the European Commission has proposed.
It comes after carmakers on both sides of the Channel warned they were not ready for the change to post-Brexit trade rules planned from January.
The rules were meant to protect the EU car industry, but the 10% tariffs were likely to lead to huge costs."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-67634706


Hands up those who didn't see that coming

[Gibbo2286]

EU to delay tariffs on UK electric cars until 2027

"Tariffs on electric vehicles traded between the UK and EU will be delayed for three years, the European Commission has proposed.
It comes after carmakers on both sides of the Channel warned they were not ready for the change to post-Brexit trade rules planned from January.
The rules were meant to protect the EU car industry, but the 10% tariffs were likely to lead to huge costs."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-67634706


Hands up those who didn't see that coming

It has little to do with Brexit really more a case of the EU biting the bum of their own car companies, they set the rule that the percentage of the car made within the EU has to be X then found that the EU cars needed Chinese batteries which took the imported content over X so VW and the like would have had to pay the tariff and screamed foul.

[GiveMeABreak]

Indeed.

[NewcastleFalcon]

I think this thread needs a revival, to encompass some recent posts on the "Electric Cars what's available" thread which undoubtedly could have an effect on the "What's available" element, but at their heart geo-political issues re EU/China/USA/UK and their Automotive Industries and the strategies and responses of the major automotive companies in the world. As ever they strive for profit.

Significant elements of worldwide profits for the all of the "names" in world auto, Volkswagen Group, Stellantis, Mercedes, BMW have been enjoyed in the worlds largest car market China. Joint ventures galore in previous years.
All nice and cosy, but the only way China let those cars be sold in China at the time.

This creates a problem for those companies now with increasing tariffs on Chinese exports, as well as the indigenous Chinese automotive industry now being more productive and innovative than the traditional "big names" of the legacy auto industry.

I think its a case of China having the potential to do considerably more damage to the European car industry in particular, than Europe's tariffs can do to China. If European car sales were banned in China some of the "too big to fail" automakers could well go bust on the back of it. Watch the bail outs if it happens! They already struggle to compete with Chinese home produced cars.

That's pretty much the conclusion that European car makers are reaching whether short term or long term on batteries. Partner with the Chinese and Far east firms, rather than consume investment attempting to build the fabled gigafactories, which just cant compete with the likes of CATL and BYD. The same is true of software and infotainment, and developing new models.

This is a decent enough up to date article Stellantis CEO follows Chinese route to avoid EV tariff 'trap'

The Chinese auto industry is innovative, has high productivity and low cost, produces EV's for the home market at European market and European automotive industry destroying prices. Even with the tariffs the Chinese Auto Industry can land vehicles on the shores of Europe which match or slightly undercut the European based factories and still make more profit on each vehicle than selling in the home Chinese Market.

Carlos telling it how it is may not be popular, and Herbert Diess who did a similar thing at VW a few years ago and was bang on right, was shown the door shortly afterwards.

Neil

[Gibbo2286]

I suppose Donald Trump in America who said "If you want to sell them here build them here." might have the only working answer.
VW over the years have taken over the great majority of European car and commercial vehicle makers.

[NewcastleFalcon]

In the background the Car makers have come to the conclusion that partnerships are the way forward to attempt to rescue their bottom lines.

the Reuters article in my previous post is decent enough

Stellantis is making Leapmotor EVs at its Tychy plant in Poland alongside models from better-known brands Fiat, Jeep and Alfa Romeo.

Neil