https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-tran...rts-2024-09-05/

My question is are the Japan government aiding fund used for its intended purpose or otherwise?

This post has been edited by EnergyAnalyst: Sep 11 2024, 10:36 AM

https://themalaysianreserve.com/2024/05/02/...-left-by-china/

Honda EV for Canada

https://www.straitstimes.com/business/compa...hnology-at-home

If this report is true , then many will get a taste of their own medicines

https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/internatio...hina-ev-tariffs



This post has been edited by EnergyAnalyst: Sep 12 2024, 04:09 PM

https://soyacincau.com/2024/09/05/get-audi-...ee-vw-golf-gti/

Muah hahahahaha

Suddenly both brands look cheap despite asking for high prices.

This post has been edited by EnergyAnalyst: Sep 14 2024, 07:46 AM

https://www.torquenews.com/17995/gm-critici...ng-gms-collapse

...Currently, the only thing protecting the US auto market are the heavy Tariffs but even with 100% Tariffs, Chinese cars are drifting towards competitive pricing which means, if those Tariffs ever went away the automakers now benefitting from those Tariffs would fail. And these car makers are spinning up manufacturing in countries like Mexico which can avoid those Tariffs and can benefit from China’s advantages in terms of parts costs and enjoy labor costs similar to China’s.

GM allegedly responded that they think Zeekr is advancing too fast.

Anticipating The End Of The US Automotive Industry

We were here before in the 1970s, Japan got its car industry together (ironically with a ton of help from US car companies) and suddenly the car companies in the US couldn’t react. Cars like the Pinto and Vega tried to compete but they were relatively poorly built, had serious reliability issues, and the Pinto in particular had a reputation for exploding when hit from behind (I still think this was overblown given most pickups had the same issue – the link is from the movie comedy Top Secret which came out around that time).

This is often how countries lose their industry leadership, for instance, with cell phones Finish company Nokia didn’t think Smartphones were a thing, and then thought Apple was a joke. They lost their dominance and nearly went under and aren’t even a well-known brand today as a result.

AT&T dominated telecommunications until the US market opened up to competition and then they failed over into the Baby Bells, it was eventually resurrected as a very different company, but this lesson is learned the hard way over and over again. You have to step up to competition or that competition will roll right over you.

The Coming Electric Car Tidal Wave

With any new technology, there is an initial over-excitement, then a pullback as the technology catches up to expectations, and then it goes vertical. With AI we are still in that early phase but with electric cars we are quickly going through the valley of disappointment as the infrastructure for charging begins to come online at scale and cars are arriving with significantly greater range, reliability, and battery life.

Granted Musk’s behavior has done significant damage to this effort and Tesla but we are seeing used electric cars to start to outsell gas cars at prices that new Chinese cars enjoy today. That’s a serious problem because if you get good new cars selling at the same price as cars one or two years old you are done as a car company.

These Chinese cars are well built and rich with features, they have had some quality issues but these are in line with what Tesla is experiencing which was and continues to be survivable and they are better, relatively, than the early Japanese cars particularly the ones made in the 50s and 60s.

China’s effort is ramping up nicely and will coincide with what I believe will be a second electric car wave starting in 2025/6, but many western car companies are now pulling back and Jaguar, the one European car maker that decided to go all-electric and stay on the path, is having a really bad time pivoting to electric and may not survive as a result.

Wrapping Up:

When you go to the market you have to be prepared to compete at the same level as your competitors and right now Chinese car companies like Zeekr are so greatly outperforming US domestic car companies that they are starting to overcome massive protective tariffs, should those tariffs be bypassed (Mexican manufacturing) or be eliminated as part of a future trade deal, I doubt companies like GM and Ford will survive and I don’t think the European companies will do much better.

Technology pivots often wipe out much of the pre-existing companies, I expect we are seeing that play out once again.

Rob Enderle is a technology analyst covering automotive technology and battery developments at Torque News. You can learn more about Rob on Wikipedia, and follow his articles on Forbes, on X, and LinkedIn.

This post has been edited by EnergyAnalyst: Sep 18 2024, 05:47 PM

https://www.ft.com/content/7e5677b8-87fa-41...48-9009ac7f14fc




This post has been edited by EnergyAnalyst: Sep 23 2024, 11:59 PM

https://fortune.com/europe/2024/09/30/volks...profit-warning/


Volkswagen AG’s second profit warning in three months makes one thing clear: Europe’s biggest automaker is in decline.

The German manufacturer on Friday slashed expectations for revenue, profit and cash flow due to waning demand for its cars. The company now expects to deliver fewer vehicles this year than in 2023 — its fourth annual sales slump in five years.

The warning underscores the extent of the crisis at Volkswagen, which has bungled a transition to electric vehicles and lost relevance in China, where its VW, Audi and Porsche brands are hemorrhaging market share. In Europe, Chief Executive Officer Oliver Blume faces new entrants including China’s BYD Co. as well as a conflict with unions over possible job cuts and unprecedented plant closures.

https://www.wapcar.my/news/2024s-top-20-car...nked-them-83848

2024 is a year that many in the automotive industry would rather forget. Except for Perodua and Honda, all other mainstream car brands – defined as brands selling more than 10,000 cars annually – experienced a decline in sales.

Although Malaysia’s total new car sales grew by 2.1% last year, reaching a record high of 816,747 units, much of the increase was driven by Perodua, which achieved an 8.4% growth to set a new sales record of 358,102 units.

Nearly every other major brand saw a decline in sales.

2024's top 20 car brands in Malaysia: Who gained and who lost ground, we ranked them 01

Among mainstsream non-national brands, only Honda managed to improve its 2024 sales
Chinese brands like BYD, GWM, Chery, and Jaecoo had a good year, but most – except for BYD – only began introducing their mainstream models last year, making year-on-year comparisons inconclusive.

Further below is a list of the top 20 car brands in Malaysia for 2024.

Top 20 car brands in Malaysia, 2024 (units)

Brand 2024 2023 Diff.
Perodua1 358,102 330,325 8.4%
Proton 147,787 150,974 -2.2%
Toyota1 100,670 150,974 -5.2%
Honda1 81,600 80,000 2.0%
Mitsubishi 16,164 21,716 -25.6%
Mazda5 14,530 19,389 -25.1%
Chery 12,699 4,503 182.0%
BMW1 10,500 11,699 -10.2%
BYD. 8,570 4,470 91.7%
Mercedes2 <8,000 <12,000 -33.3%
Nissan3 7,316 9,563 -23.5%
Jaecoo 6,988 2 N/A
Isuzu4 6,847 9,557 -28.4%
Ford 6,131 8,853 -30.7%
Tesla5 5,124 1,513 238.7%
GWM 2,128 499 326.5%
Volvo 1,964 2,699 -27.2%
VW 1,799 2,788 -35.5%
Lexus 1,621 1,901 -14.7%
MINI1 1,400 1,700 -17.6%
Notes:

1 Figures from company announcements.

2 Mercedes-Benz figures are based on estimates. JPJ data is inflated by reconditioned (recon) units, as Mercedes-Benz Malaysia does not announce its sales figures.

3 Nissan’s figures, including the NV200, were provided by RHB Research.

4 Isuzu figures include only pick-up trucks. JPJ data excludes sales of lorries and prime movers.

5 Estimates, adjusted to exclude recon units.

6 Percentages of Chery, BYD, Tesla and GWM, are inflated by low-base effect. Comparisons are invalid.

Subaru finished just outside the Top 20, with 1,280 units sold (estimated), down 26.9%.

Kia had 1,274 units sold, down 46.7%.

MG, which won't reach its first full-year sales until March 2025, ended last year with 1,156 units sold.

Peugeot sold 1,108 units, down 25.8%.