Latest news with #FordF-150Lightning
The Star
03-07-2025
- Automotive
- The Star
US-Vietnam trade deal sows new China uncertainty
FILE PHOTO: The production line of the Ford F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck in Dearborn, Mich., April 4, 2022. Vietnam is set to face a minimum 20 per cent tariff in return for opening its market to US products, including cars.- The New York Times HANOI: Vietnam's trade deal with the United States averts the most punishing of Donald Trump's "reciprocal" levies but analysts warned it could provoke a fresh standoff between Washington and Beijing. The South-East Asian nation has the third-biggest trade surplus with the United States of any country after China and Mexico, and was targetted with one of the highest rates in the US president's "Liberation Day" tariff blitz on April 2. The deal announced Wednesday (July 2) is the first full pact Trump has sealed with an Asian nation, and analysts say it may give a glimpse of the template Washington will use with other countries still scrambling for accords. The 46 per cent rate due to take effect next week has been averted, with Vietnam set to face a minimum 20 per cent tariff in return for opening its market to US products including cars. But a 40 per cent tariff will hit goods passing through the country to circumvent steeper trade barriers - a practice called "transshipping". Washington has accused Hanoi of relabelling Chinese goods to skirt its tariffs, but raw materials from the world's number two economy are the lifeblood of Vietnam's manufacturing industries. "From a global perspective, perhaps the most interesting point is that this deal again seems in large part to be about China," said Capital Economics. It said the terms on transshipment "will be seen as a provocation in Beijing, particularly if similar conditions are included in any other deals agreed over coming days". Shares in clothing companies and sport equipment manufacturers - which have a large footprint in Vietnam - rose on news of the deal in New York. But they later declined sharply as details were released. "This is a much better outcome than a flat 46 per cent tariff, but I wouldn't celebrate just yet," said Hanoi-based Dan Martin of Asian business advisory firm Dezan Shira & Associates. "Everything now depends on how the US decides to interpret and enforce the idea of transshipment," he added. "If the US takes a broader view and starts questioning products that use foreign parts, even when value is genuinely added in Vietnam, it could end up affecting a lot of companies that are playing by the rules." Vietnam's government said in a statement late on Wednesday that under the deal the country had promised "preferential market access for US goods, including large-engine cars". But the statement gave scant detail about the transshipment arrangements in the deal, which Trump announced on his Truth Social platform. Bloomberg Economics forecast Vietnam could lose a quarter of its exports to the United States in the medium term, endangering more than two per cent of its gross domestic product as a result of the agreement. Uncertainty over how transshipping will be "defined or enforced" is likely to have diplomatic repercussions, said Bloomberg Economics expert Rana Sajedi. "The looming question now is how China will respond," she said. "Beijing has made clear that it would respond to deals that came at the expense of Chinese interests." "The decision to agree to a higher tariff on goods deemed to be 'transshipped' through Vietnam may fall in that category," added Sajedi. "Any retaliatory steps could have an outsized impact on Vietnam's economy." - AFP
Korea Herald
03-07-2025
- Automotive
- Korea Herald
SK On banks on EV battery deal with Slate for recovery
SK On is aiming for a recovery with an agreement to exclusively supply battery cells to Slate, a US-based electric vehicle startup backed by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. According to media reports Thursday, Slate unveiled the Slate Truck to the public in Michigan on Sunday, and the company will host another event in Detroit from Saturday to Sunday. The compact, highly customizable electric pickup truck will launch next year. SK On and Slate announced a supply deal covering 20 gigawatt-hour battery cells in April, making SK On the first official battery supplier. The capacity is enough to power 300,000 units of the EV maker's upcoming Slate Truck from 2026 to 2031. Industry insiders anticipate that SK On could potentially benefit from Slate's competitive pricing strategy, having already surpassed 100,000 preorders in two weeks in June. This figure represents nearly half of the one-week preorder volume for Tesla's new Cybertruck. The Slate Truck is expected to be priced from $27,500 before tax credits, a price point less than half of existing electric pickups in the US. Notably, major electric pickup trucks on the market start at significantly higher prices — approximately $55,000 for the Ford F-150 Lightning and $70,000 for the Rivian R1T, respectively, and over $60,000 for the Cybertruck. SK On highlighted that Slate's low-price strategy is poised to capitalize on the rapid growth of the US electrified light truck segment. According to a recent report from the Washington-based Automobile Innovation Alliance, electric sport utility vehicles, pickups and vans will account for about 79 percent of total EV sales in the region by the first quarter of 2025. 'Slate's reasonable pricing strategy offers eco-friendly vehicle options to consumers who have been unable to afford high-priced electric cars and are largely underserved in the current EV market. This approach aligns with SK On's vision to make EVs accessible to a broader consumer base,' said an industry source familiar with the matter on condition of anonymity. As SK On pushes into mid- and lower-priced EV markets beyond its traditional premium segment, investors and analysts are watching closely to see whether the battery maker can swing to profitability in the second quarter. From January to March, SK On reported sales of 1.6 trillion won ($1.2 billion), down 4.6 percent from a year earlier. However, its operating loss narrowed by 9.7 percent to 299.3 billion won.
Yahoo
17-06-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Officials upset with Tesla over strange situation at local mall: 'Currently occupying several rows of parking'
The Tesla Cybertruck has underperformed in sales, creating an untenable storage problem for the unsold vehicles. As detailed by Carscoops, a report from Crain's Detroit Business revealed that dozens of unsold Cybertrucks and other Tesla models are being stored at "a run-down mall" in Farmington Hills outside of Detroit, and local officials are far from pleased. The vehicles reportedly "are currently occupying several rows of parking bays at the Hunter's Square shopping center," but using the land for vehicle storage is a violation of city code. It appears that the surplus of Cybertrucks could be coming from the brand-new showroom that Tesla recently opened near Hunter's Square in West Bloomfield. The lot that houses the vehicles is home to an open Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant and used to house both a Torrid as well as a Bed, Bath & Beyond. The Cybertruck is a unique innovation that combines the functionality of a truck with the performance of an electric vehicle. It is by far a more climate-friendly option compared to traditional gas-powered trucks because it produces significantly less harmful carbon pollution. Despite its extensive benefits and positive impact on the environment, the Cybertruck "failed to live up to sales expectations since its official debut in late 2023," per Carscoops. Forbes reported that only 40,000 were sold in 2024, falling well short of Tesla's prediction of 250,000. To make matters even more concerning for the company, the Ford F-150 Lightning recently outperformed the Cybertruck in sales. The dwindling number of Cybertrucks and other Tesla models being sold could cause a setback in the fight against human-induced climate change, as the continued adoption of electric vehicles is a crucial step toward reducing air pollution and creating a healthier future. Charmaine Kettler-Schmult, director of planning and community development for Farmington Hills, told Crain's Detroit Business that the shopping center landlord has already been informed of the violation of housing the unsold Cybertrucks in the lot. However, she noted that the enforcement process "takes time." Tesla has also made attempts to make the Cybertruck more accessible, releasing a single-motor, rear-wheel drive, entry-level model for $69,990 in April. Owners of other Cybertruck models have been offered perks like free supercharging and discounts. If you're looking to make a positive impact on the environment while still enjoying the benefits of a powerful and versatile vehicle, it's still worth considering making your next car purchase an electric vehicle or truck. Every purchase makes a difference in the quest for a cleaner environment. Do you think Tesla's vehicles have lost some of their appeal? Definitely No way Some models — but not others For some drivers — but not others Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
Miami Herald
09-06-2025
- Automotive
- Miami Herald
3 Things That Prove Car Buyers Don't Want EVs to Be Weird
The first mass-market electric vehicle (EV) was the Nissan LEAF, introduced in 2010, and it seems Nissan's goal was to separate the LEAF from gas-powered models by looking strange. The solid proboscis front fascia, the amorphous headlights that crept up to the A-pillars, the odd round rear haunches, and the protruding butt all made for an almost alien-like craft. And that was just the exterior. For more than a decade, automakers have tried to make electric vehicles stand out by making them… well, weird. Early EVs often looked and felt like they were from another planet. It was all part of a strategy: If you're going to drive the car of the future, shouldn't it look futuristic? But a funny thing happened on the way to mass EV adoption: car buyers balked. Turns out, most people don't want to drive a pod on wheels or relearn how to operate a vehicle just because it's electric. What consumers really want are EVs that fit seamlessly into their lives, not ones that scream, "I'm different!" Here are three things that prove car buyers want EVs to be familiar, rather than looking like weird rolling spacecraft. In the early EV days, standing out was the name of the game. It wasn't just the LEAF that worked too hard to be noticed. The BMW i3 was easily the brand's least fetching model with some of the worst bodywork we've ever laid eyes on. Sure, it looked like nothing else on the road, but that's not always a good thing. The original Toyota Prius-while not an EV but a hybrid pioneer-looked like Paul Bunyan was insulted by its environmental efforts and stepped on the nose of a once normal-looking subcompact sedan. But as more buyers entered the EV market, especially mainstream consumers who weren't early adopters or tech nerds, it became clear that outlandish designs were a turnoff. Today, many of the best-selling EVs are the ones that look like regular cars. They prove you can ditch the gas without ditching good taste. Take the Ford F-150 Lightning, for example. It looks nearly identical to the gas-powered F-150, the best-selling vehicle in America for decades. The typical bystander can't distinguish between the two, and that's no accident. Ford specifically chose to preserve the familiar shape and utility of the truck because it knows its customers don't want to drive a spaceship; they want to haul lumber, go camping, and tow boats, just like a gas truck owner. The Hyundai Ioniq 6 may look sleek and futuristic, but the Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6-both of which sell well-strike a balance between distinctive and practical, without being too radical. Even Tesla, a brand known for innovation, has stuck with relatively minimalist, subdued exterior styling on its most successful models, the Model 3 and Model Y. They're clean and modern, yes, but not weird. Okay, so there's the Cybertruck, but we all know how that's going. Then there's the 3rd-generation Nissan LEAF, a conventional-looking modern crossover that shed all of its old weirdness. If that's not enough proof, consider the new crop of EVs: the Honda Prologue, the restyled Toyota bZ, the Chevy Blazer EV, the Hummer EV, and the Hyundai Ioniq 5. These are EVs meant to look like real cars, and that's the hot trend now. If you think that some of the cabins in EVs were annoying and strange, you're not alone. One of the more frustrating trends in early EVs was the push to reinvent the wheel-literally and figuratively-when it came to controls. Carmakers, perhaps trying to emphasize that EVs were different, often went overboard with gimmicky interfaces. The first Nissan LEAF's bizarre interior looked like it came out of a '90s B sci-fi flick with its doughy white steering wheel and the orb-like shifter. It's the kind of stuff that makes the ovular 1996 Ford Taurus cabin look conventional. It also seems that numerous EV manufacturers thought their vehicles should have a tablet-sized center screen that controlled everything from the radio to the air vents. How about when Tesla eliminated stalks and buttons altogether in favor of a touch-and-swipe interface? For a while, EV cabins felt more like iPads on wheels than traditional cars. The result for drivers was often frustration with the unfamiliarity and the steep learning curve. Minimalism isn't always a good thing, tantamount to eyeglass frames that clamp on the nose with no temples to grab. Even Tesla's controversial decision to remove traditional turn signal stalks in the updated Model S and Model X has drawn widespread criticism. Many drivers are simply not ready to rewire their muscle memory every time they drive. Now, there appear to be more EVs that utilize physical controls, relatively standard shift knobs, and ergonomics that contribute to intuitive operation. The Chevy Blazer EV is one of them. It has big screens, yes, but switchgear to complement it. Hyundai and Kia have smartly kept a mix of physical and digital controls, allowing for a user experience that feels both modern and comfortable. The interior of the Honda Prologue is about as conventional as they get. If you were to get inside without knowing it's an EV, you'd never guess by looking at the dash, center stack, and center console. It has a normal-looking steering wheel, big stalk controls, and plenty of buttons and knobs for audio and climate. The lesson here is simple: car buyers might be open to new powertrains, but they don't want to relearn how to drive. Familiarity builds comfort, and comfort builds sales. Another clue that buyers want familiarity in their EVs is the transition away from names that were meant to set EVs apart from gas models. The Mercedes-Benz EQS and the Volkswagen ID series stand out the most. Both naming conventions seemed to have backfired. The EQS sedan and SUV don't carry the same panache as the S-Class or GLS-Class, as much as the electric versions try to follow in the footsteps of their gas-powered stablemates. VW's ID series is just plain awkward, especially when paired with non-words like and ID.2all. Even Toyota misfired with its hard-to-remember bZ4X name. Once you could finally memorize the name, you realized you didn't know which letters were uppercase or lowercase. Nobody should have to think about that. Now, it's just called bZ, and Toyota might do away with that shortly. Smarter name choices by manufacturers included the Ford Mustang Mach-E, Hyundai Kona Electric, and the Chevrolet Blazer EV, all recognized model names with electric labels attached to them. It's not just ditching what's strange, it's capitalizing on what has already worked. In the EV race, it has taken only a little over a decade for automakers to figure out that departing too much from what's familiar is bad and that radical reinvention isn't always the way to win hearts or wallets. As EVs begin to feel more like the cars people already love-visually, ergonomically, and functionally-they're proof that making the kind of improvements people care about results in better sales. Of course, EV buyers don't want their vehicles to be boring. They just don't want them to be weird. Give them something familiar, with all the benefits of electric driving and none of the alienation, and they're on board. Onlookers might say, "That's electric?" because they can't tell the difference, and that just might be the best kind of compliment. Copyright 2025 The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Yahoo
07-06-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Column: Full-size electric pickups are failed product planning experiment and industry disaster
There is a statistic in my colleague Laurence Iliff's story on the failure of full-size electric pickups that, pardon the pun, shocked me. The combustion and hybrid Toyota Tundra had more new-vehicle registrations during the first quarter than the entire industry's collection of full-size electric pickups — by a lot. That statistic is in no way a brag on the Tundra, which remains a distant No. 5 in what is now a five-horse segment since the death of the even slower-selling Nissan Titan. According to S&P Global Mobility, the Tundra recorded a meager 36,895 new registrations in the U.S. in the first quarter, while the Ford F-150 Lightning, Tesla Cybertruck, Chevrolet Silverado EV, GMC Hummer, Rivian R1T and GMC Sierra EV collectively posted about 22,000 registrations. By comparison, combustion-powered pickups from Ford, Chevrolet, GMC and Ram reached 478,823 registrations in the first quarter, S&P said. Were it not for investments and expectations that rival the size of the immense front fascias on virtually all of the aforementioned full-size behemoths, this failed experiment would already be over. The score: Newtonian Physics ∞, Hype & Hope 0. Sign up for Automotive Views, Automotive News' weekly showcase of opinions, insights, ideas and thought leadership. I can't begin to fathom how many tens of billions of dollars were spent by automakers and their suppliers developing and building those full-size electric pickups over the last decade. You can, however, get some sense of how bad the miss was when you look at the sales/production volumes auto executives anticipated, including Elon Musk's quarter- to half-million annual sales estimate for the Cybertruck, or Ford's initial F-150 Lightning estimate of up to 150,000 sales annually. So why did full-size electric pickups fail so badly? I would argue that it wasn't just physics — though the need for a bigger, more expensive battery to push these bigger vehicles farther as long as they are not towing anything shouldn't be minimized. But I think a share of the responsibility for this collective flop also lies with the companies' product planning departments. While all vehicles are compromised in some form or fashion by the time they reach consumers, full-size electric pickups lack a fundamental quality that has made their combustion-powered counterparts the U.S. sales champs for decades: Uncompromised utility. The legacy pickups are renowned for accomplishing whatever task their owners set them to. That unstoppable capability is what gave rise to the 'lifestyle' pickup in the first place, as consumers desired at least a taste of that confidence, even if they rarely, if ever, actually needed that power. Product planners and their auto executive bosses failed to account in their sales projections for just how much compromise an electric-pickup owner would face in everyday life. Sure, the trucks have some excellent features, including loads and loads of torque, but so do their combustion counterparts. And while it may cost extra fuel to tow a trailer with those combustion-powered vehicles, a heavy trailer sucks up a battery pack's juice quickly — and recharging is not nearly as quick and convenient as a gas station fill-up. It's the same reason that battery-electric semis are probably doomed to failure: It's just the wrong technology for that use case. Sorry. In a world ruled by logic and not emotion, society would consign new technologies to the areas where they have the greatest advantage. Battery-electric powertrains make the greatest sense in vehicles with limited mass and with limited demands, while hydrogen (and diesel) is more efficient in larger, demand-dependent vehicles where towing capability is paramount. We don't live in that world, unfortunately, which is why full-size electric pickups are failing. Have an opinion about this story? Tell us about it and we may publish it in print. Click here to submit a letter to the editor. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
