Photo: Nissan
In today's issue:
Nissan's chairman puts a three-year clock on Chinese car plants in Mexico
VW hands Chinese battery maker Gotion a stake in three battery ventures
Ford's new Mustang Dark Horse SC packs 795 hp for $108,095
THE MEXICO CLOCK
Nissan Americas Chairman Christian Meunier, speaking at company headquarters in Yokohama, predicted Chinese automakers will start building vehicles in Mexico within two to three years, per Automotive News.
Chinese brands already sell in Mexico under a 50% import tariff, versus at least 100% in the US, per autoevolution.
"Cost competitiveness is going to be the rule of the game in the next five years," Meunier said, adding that Nissan's current supply and cost structure "isn't good enough to compete head to head with the BYDs of this world," per Motor1.
Its Frontier Pro pickup, developed and built in China with partner Dongfeng, is already launching in Mexico, with the N7 electric sedan to follow, per Carscoops and autoevolution.
Meunier's clock is two to three years, and Nissan's own answer, a China-built Frontier Pro, is already on sale in Mexico.
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Also worth knowing
VW Gives Chinese Battery Maker Gotion a Stake in Three Battery Ventures in Spain, Slovakia and Morocco: Volkswagen, PowerCo and Gotion agreed to battery joint ventures worth a combined €3.22bn ($3.65bn); Gotion puts in about €1.59bn across all three, and €1.1bn of that buys 49% of PowerCo's already-under-construction Sagunto, Spain cell plant, the largest of the three, per Just Auto and Automotive News Europe. VW is already Gotion's largest shareholder, holding 24% of the company, though it has also agreed to sell a 5.3% stake worth $373 million to an unnamed buyer, trimming its equity even as it deepens the battery tie-up, per Reuters. The goal is cheaper cells: InsideEVs says VW wants a "unified" LFP cell across VWs and Porsches. Ford's China battery deal drew a formal "deeply alarmed" from DOT. #analyst
Car Payments Hit a September Record of $821: J.D. Power and GlobalData's forecast puts the average new-vehicle payment at a September record $821, up 3.2% from a year ago, while the average transaction price rose just 0.7% to $45,915, per J.D. Power. Incentives averaged $3,574 per vehicle, up 7.3% from a year ago, also per J.D. Power. #market
Diesel Hits a Record $6.53 a Gallon, EIA Says: Diesel averaged a record $6.53 a gallon in the week of Sept. 21, per The Autowire's read of EIA's weekly data. Kelley Blue Book's Monday reading was $6.45. #market
Reveals & culture
Ford Mustang Dark Horse SC: 795 HP for $108,095: Edmunds prices the most powerful Mustang you can buy at $108,095 and calls it the Shelby GT500's spiritual successor. Road & Track ran repeated sub-11-second passes at Sonoma, and MotorTrend expects a sub-3-second 0-60. The convertible version debuted in August with the same supercharged 5.2-liter V8.
Photo: MotorTrend
A 30-Mile Buick GNX Sold for a Record $427,000: The 30-mile 1987 turbocharged V6 GNX sold on Bring a Trailer for a record $427,000 on Sept. 24, per American Cars and Racing; the model typically commands about $250,000.
Photo: Bring a Trailer
A Bugatti Veyron Wimille Sets a $5.44M Auction Record for the Model: RM Sotheby's sold the 2014 Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse in Zurich on Sept. 26 after less than three minutes of bidding, topping the previous Veyron auction record by about $2.35 million, per Motor1.
Photo: RM Sotheby's
Quick links
Tesla Pushes the Roadster Debut to Oct. 15: Tesla cited severe storms near Waco, and the event moves from Oct. 1, per Electrek and Autocar. Tesla reopened $50,000 reservations ahead of the original date.
Yesterday's picks
US Cuts 2031 Fuel Economy Target From 50.4 MPG to 34.9: NHTSA finalized the standards Sept. 28, projecting a fleet average of 34.9 mpg for model year 2031, a bit above the 34.5 mpg it proposed in December, per the Department of Transportation and AutoGuide. The Biden-era rules projected roughly 50.4 mpg, per CBT News.
Geely Buys 30% of Rival Nio's Battery-Swap Unit: Geely will pay 640 million yuan cash plus its own commercial-vehicle swap business for a 30% stake in Nio Power, valuing the unit at about $2.4 billion, per Automotive News Europe and Just Auto.
Europe's Chinese EV Problem Is Bigger Than the Registration Data Shows: UBS says Chinese vehicle exports to Europe are running at nearly double the pace of actual registrations, meaning logistics bottlenecks are masking the true scale of shipments, per Automotive News Europe. Brussels is separately pushing the UK to raise its own Chinese-EV tariffs, per Financial Times and Electrive.
Worth a listen
One episode from Car Curious, our sister car-podcast platform, picked out of everything the shows published in the last day.
Mayoral on Rohrman, Thomas on Fuel, Raposo on Kia | Daily Dealer Live (Car Dealership Guy Podcast, also at dealershipguy.com): Arlington Acura's Jeremy Mayoral says AI now flags service customers likely to trade in, so his sales team can reach them before they shop elsewhere.
Car Dealership Guy Podcast
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