Stellantis Limiting Shipments Of Gasoline Vehicles To 14 States

STELLANTIS LIMITING SHIPMENTS OF GASOLINE VEHICLES TO 14 STATES

Stellantis is no longer allocating gasoline-only Wranglers to… the 14 states following emissions guidelines set by the California Air Resources Board that exceed nationwide standards. Although the rules don't require automakers to sell a certain percentage of zero-emission vehicles until 2026, Stellantis said it has stopped shipping internal combustion models to dealerships in those 14 states unless customers have ordered them. Meanwhile, dealers in non-CARB states can no longer get the Wrangler 4xe and other plug-ins without a customer order.

Source: Automotive News 

TESLA’S U.S. EV MARKET SHARE WILL DROP TO 18% BY 2026, BOFA ESTIMATES

Tesla’s share of the U.S. electric vehicles market will drop to 18% by 2026, Bank of America analysts estimated in a note Tuesday. That would be a significant drop from the 62% share of the market BofA reported Tesla had in 2022 and even further down from its peak of 78% market share in 2018.

Source: CNBC 

AUTOMAKERS' NEW CRISIS - 

Some 70,000 New Cars Are Stuck at Factories Amid Rail Car Shortage 
In the auto industry, [the shortage of railroad cars] slows domestic shipments from U.S. factories to dealerships as well as shipping vehicles made in Mexico to the United States, railroad experts said. There are currently "at least 70,000" new vehicles stranded across the industry unable to move to dealerships to be sold, according to one prominent regulator.

Source: Detroit Free Press

FORD CHAIRMAN SAYS USA CAN’T YET COMPETE AGAINST CHINA WITH EVS

Ford Motor Co. Executive Chairman Bill Ford Jr. said the US is “not quite yet ready” to compete with China in the production of electric vehicles and said his company is taking an “all hands on deck” approach to prepare. China is poised to become the world’s No. 2 exporter of passenger vehicles, potentially reshaping the global auto industry and shaking up the dominance of its car trading partners and rivals. 

Source: Bloomberg

CHARGING NEWS

Hyundai to Consider Joining Tesla's North American Charging Standard Alliance
Hyundai Motor will consider making its vehicles more readily compatible with the charging standard Tesla is pushing for in North America, the South Korean automaker's CEO said on Tuesday. Jaehoon Chang, who is also Hyundai's president, said the company would consider joining the alliance of automakers shifting to Tesla's standard, but that it would have to determine that was in the interest of its customers.

Source: Reuters

Rivian To Adopt Nacs In Wake Of Ford Agreement With Tesla
It has been an interesting couple of weeks since Ford formally announced a broad agreement with EV rival Tesla to adopt the North American Charging Standard for current and future vehicles. As Ford Authority has extensively covered, cross town rival General Motors decided to follow The Blue Oval’s lead and also switch, and Stellantis is thinking about following suit as well. Additionally, a number of EV charging companies have thrown their support behind the standard too. Now, per Reuters, Rivian has also decided to adopt the standard created by Tesla.

Rivian, in similar fashion to the agreements made by Ford and GM, will have adapters ready for its current EVs some time in 2024. In 2025, its EV lineup will simply come equipped with NACS ports, which would allow the vehicles to charge at any of the Supercharger network’s 12,000 stations. This pivot away from CCS is most likely due to an inadequate number of stations around the United States, which Ford executives have previously cited as a major barrier to EV adoption. Car shoppers currently cite EV charging network issues as the main barrier holding them back from buying a battery electric automobile. Rivian had previously announced its intention to build its own charging network, but this latest announcement may indicate that the company has decided not to pursue such an endeavor.

Source: Ford Authority

MORE AMERICANS GETTING AUTO LOANS EXCEEDING THE WORTH OF THEIR CARS

Used car loan-to-value ratios increased to 125 in the first three months of this year from 104 for the same period in 2021, according to the study released Tuesday by credit reporting firm TransUnion and market researcher J.D. Power. A ratio of 125 means that the borrower’s loan is worth 125% of the vehicle’s value.

Source: Bloomberg

AUTO LOAN DELINQUENCY RATE SURPASSES RECESSION-ERA HIGHS

Auto loan delinquency exceeded recession-era highs in the first quarter of this year, S&P Global Mobility reported Tuesday. Auto loans more than 60 days past due reached 1.69 percent in the first three months of 2023. That tops recession-era highs of about 1.46 percent in 2009 and 2010, and is 26 basis points higher than the 1.43 percent recorded in the first quarter of 2021.

Source: Automotive News

WILL ‘BATTERY BELT’ REPLACE ‘RUST BELT’?

Toyota’s plan to construct a battery laboratory in Michigan marks the latest move by automakers and suppliers to remake Michigan’s Rust Belt into a “Battery Belt” to support the industry’s move to battery-electric vehicles. Toyota will join General Motors and Ford in building a research lab for electric-vehicle batteries in Michigan, giving the state’s automobile industry another boost as it moves to retool for EVs.

Source: WardsAuto 

TESLA MOTION DISMISSED

A federal court in Louisiana on Friday dismissed Tesla Inc's complaint against a state restriction on direct car sales, according to a ruling. “(T)he direct sales ban applies equally to all manufacturers, and Tesla has alleged no facts regarding anti-Tesla animus on the part of the Louisiana Legislature," the ruling said.

Source: Reuters

GM STILL PLANS TO BUILD INTERNAL COMBUSTION POWERTRAINS

General Motors plans to spend $920 million to expand its DMAX engine operation near Dayton, Ohio, and prepare for future production of internal combustion powertrain products for heavy-duty trucks. The automaker said it will expand the existing 250,000-square-foot Brookville, Ohio, site by building a 1.1 million-square-foot addition and bring in new equipment and technology. GM did not disclose details or timing for the future products.

Source: Automotive News

USED CAR PRICES SLIDE, RAISING CONFIDENCE OF BUYERS

While the demand for vehicles, both new and used, remains steady, the price of used vehicles slid again during the first two weeks of June. Used car prices are on the decline, falling again through the first two weeks of June. According to Cox Automotive, which controls Mannheim Auction for used vehicles, wholesale used-vehicle prices, on a mix-, mileage- and seasonally adjusted basis, decreased 3.2% from May in the first 15 days of June. During the last two weeks, Manheim Market Report prices declined an aggregate of 1.8%. Prices in the first two weeks of June typically decline much less.

Source: The Detroit Bureau

FORD GETS $9.2 BILLION TO HELP US CATCH UP WITH CHINA’S EV DOMINANCE

A deep-pocketed US government program designed to finance futuristic energy businesses is issuing a conditional $9.2 billion loan to Ford Motor Co. for the construction of three battery factories. The enormous loan — by far the biggest government backing for a US automaker since the bailouts in the 2009 financial crisis — marks a watershed moment for President Joe Biden’s aggressive industrial policy meant to help American manufacturers catch up to China in green technologies.

Source: Bloomberg