Ram has a very big and very familiar memory on his hands, Sen. Marco Rubio has questions about Ford’s battery deal with CATL, and Tesla has claimed the US luxury crown, for those who consider Tesla “luxury” anyway. All this and more The morning shift for Thursday, February 16, 2023.
1st gear: The 6.7L Cummins is still a problem
this it wasn’t long ago that Stellantis issued a recall of 280,000 newer Ram Heavy Duty trucks, the 2500 and 3500 series equipped with the Cummins 6.7-liter turbodiesel, for a fire hazard resulting from faulty transmissions. A “pressure and heat build-up” would result in a fluid leak, which was allegedly the cause of a fire.
Three months later, these same Rams have another recall, and once again it has been linked to engine fires. The culprit is the heating network relay, for Automotive newscovering about 340,000 vehicles in total between the 2021 and 2023 model years, including cab-chassis variants:
The recall covers certain 2021-23 Ram 2500 and 3500 pickups and 3500, 4500, 5500 cab-chassis trucks equipped with 6.7-liter Cummins diesel engines and previous-generation heater network relays, which were the focus of two previous recall campaigns.
FCA US, the American unit of Stellantis, said it discovered that the intake heater network relays in certain vehicles can demonstrate overheating. “In rare cases, this condition may pose a fire hazard,” according to a company press release issued Wednesday.
The recall affects an estimated 306,165 vehicles in the US, 21,988 in Canada and 12,590 in markets outside of North America.
Of the six vehicle fires, Stellantis said five occurred while the engines were still running. The automaker said it was not aware of any related injuries or accidents.
To fix the problem, Stellantis said it will replace an electrical connector.
As always, you can check the Website of the National Traffic Safety Administration to determine if your Ram is affected. While you’re waiting for your replacement relay to come in, maybe don’t park the truck indoors.
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2nd gear: Ford, CATL and Marco Rubio
Ford plans to invest $3.5 billion in a battery manufacturing facility in Marshall, Michigan using technology from CATL, a Chinese company. As part of the deal, CATL will license the production process to Ford, but Ford will own the entire plant and employ all workers. However, Florida Senator Marco Rubio is skeptical of the contract, so he wants the Committee on Foreign Investment to review it. From Reuters:
Rubio said the deal “will only increase America’s dependence on the Chinese Communist Party for battery technology and is likely designed to make the factory eligible for tax credits under the Inflation Reduction Act ( IRA),” in a statement published on its website.
The $430 billion IRA imposes restrictions on battery sourcing and is designed to distance the United States from the Chinese electric vehicle (EV) supply chain. The IRA will eventually disallow credits if any EV battery component was manufactured by a “concerned foreign entity,” in a provision aimed at China.
CFIUS is an interagency panel led by the US Treasury that reviews proposed transactions to ensure they do not harm national security.
The Treasury declined to comment, but Granholm said on Twitter Monday that “bringing advanced manufacturing capabilities from abroad to the U.S. is key to our competitiveness, will stimulate our economy and create American jobs well paid”.
While it pains me to devote the next few words to Internet immortality, Senator Rubio is probably right. Ford wants tax credits for its electric vehicles sold here, so it can’t import batteries from China. You must establish a manufacturing base in the United States, while using free trade materials, to qualify.
But of course there’s a reason CATL’s name keeps popping up in these discussions. The company is the largest producer of lithium-ion batteries for cars in the world and has quite advanced technology. Ford and its rivals want this technology and do whatever it takes to incorporate it into their products. They don’t care where it comes from. But whenever we’re talking about Ford’s motivations, it’s probably relevant to point this out OpenSecrets has Rubio at No. 20 on a list of members of Congress who received the most donations from the oil and gas industry in 2022.
3rd gear: Tesla’s first
In luxury, according to data from Experian, through Automotive news. The electric vehicle manufacturer was confirmed have surpassed BMW in new records in the U.S. by 2022 by about 160,000 vehicles, as luxury brands, in addition to Tesla, tended to fall in sales last year.
Among all luxury players and regardless of fuel type, Tesla had 484,351 new vehicle registrations, up 41 percent from 2021, Experian data shows. BMW had 327,929 new registrations, down 5.3 percent, and Mercedes-Benz had 269,511, almost identical to its 2021 number.
Because Tesla doesn’t release its U.S. sales results, new vehicle registration data serves as the closest thing to an apples-to-apples market comparison. Previous estimates for 2022 had suggested Tesla had won the sales crown, but Experian’s data provides further details of the chasm between Tesla and its legacy rivals.
Total new vehicle registrations among 15 luxury brands fell 3.5 percent in the US last year to 2.18 million, the data showed. Excluding Tesla, luxury registrations fell 11 percent.
Tesla’s results represent the first time it has topped the luxury segment, and it did so without the benefit of any gasoline engine products. Its German, Asian and American rivals lag far behind in EV adoption, with BMW registering 14,159 new electric vehicle registrations last year and Mercedes-Benz with a total of 11,444, Experian said.
Electric cars still accounted for less than 6 percent of the sales market in 2022, so Tesla beating out all those “legacy” luxury brands — which sell both internal combustion models and EVs — is pretty impressive. In terms of overall registrations, Lexus and Acura suffered among the biggest declines in the segment, with losses of 16 percent and 36 percent, respectively. On the other hand, Cadillac enjoyed a 6.5 percent increase in new registrations.
4th Gear: Speaking of EV market share
756,534 electric vehicles found a home in 2022, for 5.6 percent of the market, according to Experian. This is 57 percent more electric vehicles than werIt was sold in 2021. You know Tesla was number one — it claimed 484,351 of the total — so here’s how the rest went, once again from Automotive news:
Ford was the second electric vehicle brand with a market share of 7.5 percent. Chevrolet, with its budget-priced Bolt hatchback, captured 4.8 percent. The brands Hyundai Motor Group followed, Kia with 3.8% and Hyundai with 3.5%. Audi was the best among traditional luxury brands at 2.1 percent, Experian data showed.
While legacy automakers and electric vehicle startups like Rivian brought compelling products to the fray, Tesla has proven a tough contender to dislodge from the charts. Among the five most popular electric vehicles last year, Tesla had four, with its Model 3, Y, S and X. Ford’s Mustang Mach-E was No. 3. […]
Newly launched electric vehicles by 2022 were expected to create more competition in the market, but they got off to a slow start. Ford’s Lightning pickup had 12,804 registrations for the year, BMW’s iX crossover had 5,245, the Audi Q4 E-tron had 2,758, Toyota’s bZ4X had 1,067 and the Cadillac Lyriq had 157.
It will be interesting to see if and to what extent Tesla’s dominance erodes as a number of new battery electric models roll out in 2023.
5th gear: Cadillac will add three electric vehicles by 2024
Before 2023 rolls around, we should learn about three more electric models in Cadillac’s lineup that will enter production next year and join the Lyric i Celestialin accordance with Automotive news:
Rory Harvey, vice president of global Cadillac, declined to share specific details about the vehicles or their segments during a briefing with reporters. He said they would be manufactured at “several locations,” but did not say where.
The additions would give Cadillac at least five electric vehicles by 2025, including the Lyriq midsize crossover that went on sale in 2022 and the Celestiq, a $300,000 hand-built fastback sedan scheduled to begin production in December.
Automotive news has reported that electric versions of the Escalade and Escalade ESV, which will be called IQ and IQL, are expected in 2024 and 2025, and a compact and large electric crossover should be launched in 2024. Overall, Cadillac does not comment on future products.
The brand aims to transition to an all-electric lineup in North America by 2030.
I really hoped they would come to their senses about “Escalade IQ” but Cadillac demonstrated a remarkable commitment to the bit.
Reverse: ‘True Babe’, Jeff Gordon
This is apparently a NASCAR quote, by the way. It was on this day in 1997 — 26 years ago — that Jeff Gordon won his first Daytona 500 at age 25. 365 days of motoring:
Twenty-five-year-old Jeff Gordon took his first victory in the Daytona 500, becoming the youngest winner in the history of the National Auto Racing Association event. 200-lap, 500-mile Stock Car (NASCAR), dubbed the “Super Bowl of stock car racing.” Driving his No. 24 Chevrolet Monte Carlo for the Hendrick Motorsports racing team, Gordon posted an average speed of 148.295 mph and took home more than $377,000 in prize money. According to NASCAR.com, Gordon was “a real kid in a field that included 27 drivers over 35, 16 at least 40.” Gordon’s Hendrick teammates, Terry Labonte and Ricky Craven, finished the race second and third, respectively.
Neutral: Now this It is a Retromobile
If you haven’t seen it Daniel Golson’s findings at the Retromobile Salon, will give you a sudden urge to plan a trip to France around this time next year. I need this Twingo Coupe Concept in my life. Speaking of which, did you know the? Twingo was practically the inspiration for the Clio V6 Renault Sport?
