- Stellantis and JLR Look to Join Forces - Stellantis and Dongfeng Form EU Joint Venture - Tesla Ramps China FSD Hiring - All Chinese Brands Have U.S. Ambitions - Toyota and Lexus PHEV Owners Plug In - Volvo Joins In-Car AI Trend - VW Brands Leverage Common EV Platform - Kia Launches Bigger Seltos Globally - Mercedes Unveils Insane AMG EV

AD #4301 - Stellantis and JLR Look to Join Forces; Mercedes' Insane AMG EV; All Chinese Brands Have U.S. Ambitions

Autoline Daily

# Full Transcript

**Podcast:** Autoline Daily

## Transcript

This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry. Antonio Filosa is leaving no stone unturned in figuring out how to turn around Stellantis. This morning he announced that Stellantisntis and Jaguar Land Rover have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to jointly develop new products and technology in the United States. It's all part of the global trend we're seeing of automakers joining forces to cut the cost of developing new products.

No other details were released, but we sure think it could be a natural fit for Jeep and Land Rover to collaborate and get into segments where they wouldn't have the volume to do it on their own. It's also pretty clear how Filosa plans to turn things around in Europe, and it's all about building Chinese cars at some of its underutilized plants.

Two weeks ago Stellantis announced it will build electric cars for Leap Motor in Spain, and yesterday it announced it's forming a joint venture with Dongfeng in Europe to share sales, purchasing, engineering and manufacturing, probably at one of its plants in France. Stellantis will hold 51% of the joint venture, while Dong Fung will hold the other 49%. This is an important turning point.

Stellantis is going to be making cars that are branded as Leap Motor and Dong Fung's Voyah brand, and not any under its own brands. In the short term, it's a win-win-win situation. Stellantis gets to boost its plant capacity, the Chinese automakers get to avoid tariffs, and Europe gets to preserve some factory jobs. But in the long run, well, let's see how it goes.

Tesla is counting on selling FSD subscriptions in China to greatly boost the revenue it generates in a market where it's losing market share. So it just launched a hiring spree across nine of the biggest cities in China, aiming to recruit 90 technicians to test drive its autonomous technology at validation tracks and on the open road.

They'll evaluate how FSD performs, looking for ways it can be improved, and watching out for problems or issues that crop up with software updates. Last year, Elon Musk said FSD would get approval in China in February of this year, but that didn't happen. Some analysts believe that's why Musk joined President Trump in China last week. Now Tesla says FSD will be approved in China in the third quarter.

Yesterday, we were talking about Geely's plans to build cars in the U.S. at Volvo's plant in South Carolina, and that Great Wall Motors says the U.S. is the number one market that it wants to break into. Well, today, Cherry said it also wants to get into the U.S. at what it calls a, quote, suitable time. In fact, the president of Chery International told reporters that all Chinese automakers want to get into the U.S. market.

And all this talk comes about a week after President Trump visited China, so it makes us wonder what was talked about behind closed doors. Making a life full of memories,...

AD #4301 - Stellantis and JLR Look to Join Forces; Mercedes' Insane AMG EV; All Chinese Brands Have U.S. Ambitions

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AD #4301 - Stellantis and JLR Look to Join Forces; Mercedes' Insane AMG EV; All Chinese Brands Have U.S. Ambitions

Transcript

Built for investment professionals

Every day you wait, your competitors are findingedge in conversations you're not hearing.

Every day you wait, your competitors are finding
edge in conversations you're not hearing.