Thursday Morning Auto News, Jul 11, 2024: VW to ramp up solid-state battery production. Rivian became the anti-Tesla. More.

 

Wednesday Morning Auto News, Jul 10, 2024: Audi Q8 Etron could be euthanized, its factory closed. VW deliveries down in Q2. More.

China’s SAIC disrupts Tesla in Germany

Turmoil in Deutschland: China’s SAIC was the OEM with the second-largest number of BEVs registered in Germany in the month of June. SAIC registered 4,492 of its electric MG4 in Germany, out-classing Tesla’s Model Y by more than 1,000 units. Best-selling BEV in Germany was Volkswagen’s ID.3. Five out of the top ten BEVs were Volkswagen Group models.

June was not a good month for battery-powered cars in Germany.  Registrations of all passenger vehicles rose  6.1% y/y in June, while sales of BEV cratered by 18.1%.

Anything ICE was up by the double digits. Gasoline-powered cars rose 12.1%, sales of diesel cars grew by 12.4%, and those of hybrids increased by 12.4%.

With its June registrations down by 42.2%. Tesla was the biggest loser among the top BEV brands.

SAIC Motor, formerly Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation, is a long-time joint venture partner of Volkswagen. Bankrupt MG was merged into SAIC in 2007 .

 

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Going to Mongolia

Picture courtesy of Geographical.co.uk

Taxi is outside, off to the airport for our  trip to Mongolia, and a Gobi Desert tour with our great Mongolian friends.

Don’t expect any site updates until July 9, or thereabouts. The analysis of German BEV sales requires access to a server, no servers in yurts, so after July 9 it is.

World’s largest automakers, May 2024: Despite Daihatsu, Toyota still on top. Volkswagen still in hiding.

We interrupt our self-imposed, server-caused reporting pause for the usual once-a-month ranking of world’s largest automakers. As you can see, it’s messy.

Perennial leader Toyota Group is down 4.5% for the year, mainly because at their Daihatsu mini-vehicle division matters got rocky in the wake of their testing scandal. Wordwide Daihatsu sales are down a whopping 55% y/y. Sales of core brands Toyota and Lexus were mostly unchanged for the year, but small Daihatsu hurts bigtime.

Sales of 3rd-ranked Hyundai Group also were mostly flat for the year.

And what about Volkswagen Group? Sorry, they are keeping their sales data to themselves. Volkswagen decided last month to go from a monthly to a quarterly reporting schedule, never a good sign. Kicking the can down the road probably beats cheating. Speaking of which: Last year, there were rumors flying around the VW hallwayradio that there might be cosmetic changes to the reporting of Chinese sales data.

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