Stellantis Moves Jeep Production to U.S.; Norway To Ax EV Subsidies – Autoline Daily 4158
This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry. Sean’s out of town these days driving some new Toyotas. I’ll be filling in for the next couple of days. But let’s get to the news. Stalantis announced a significant change to its US manufacturing footprint as a direct result of the Trump administration’s tariffs. Stalantis will invest $13 billion over the next four years to build more of its vehicles in the US. That includes about $5 billion in investments that were already announced and investments that suppliers will make. Stalantis says the boos will create 5,000 new jobs, but that’s also going to depend on how well sales go. The big news is that the US versions of the Jeep Cherokee and Compass will now be built at the Belvadier plant in Illinois instead of Tuca, Mexico. Stalantis was tooling the Bmpton plant in Canada to make the Compass and now says it’s going to put something else there. Yesterday, we pointed out that the Belvadier plant probably couldn’t survive if all it was going to make is a new midsize pickup truck. Well, that pickup will now be built in Toledo at the same plant that makes the Wrangler and Gladiator. In fact, we very much expect that truck to be a Ram version of the Gladiator. Stellantis is also going to refresh the Dodge Durango, which is made in Detroit. As we reported yesterday, the Jeep Wagon Ear is going away, leaving the Grand Wagon Ear as the only vehicle in the Warren truck plant. It’s going to get a refresh which includes an optional e-rev powertrain. Stalanta says it’s also investing in a new four cylinder engine that will be made in Indiana. Okay, here’s our outline insight. These moves show that CEO Antonio Felosa knows that the US market is key to the long-term survival of Stalantis. Before it all fell apart under former CEO Carlos Tiveres, Stella’s US operations accounted for 60% of the company’s profits. Pujo can’t deliver those kinds of profits, and it’s doubtful that Fiat can make much money at all, and so Felosa is doubling down on the US, even if that hurts its Mexican and European operations. Speaking of Europe, looks like Norway has decided it’s time to stop subsidizing all those electric cars. EVs were largely exempted from value added taxes, and that gave Norway the highest per capita registrations of EVs in Europe and probably the world. Those exemptions, though, cost the Norwegian government billions. Its goal was to eliminate sales of new internal combustion cars by this year, and it’s largely succeeded, which is why it’s getting rid of all the subsidies by 2027. Even so, seven out of 10 cars on the road in Norway are still internal combustion. So, it’s going to charge an extra fee on new ICE cars to make sure they’re more expensive than EVs. Looks like automakers are making progress in improving the effectiveness of automated emergency braking systems that avoid pedestrians at night. The AAA recently evaluated four vehicles equipped with the technology and found that pedestrian avoidance worked 60% of the time. That compares to 0% of the time in 2019. Obviously, there’s still a lot of room for improvement even if a pedestrian is wearing high visibility clothing like roadside workers use at night. Some of these systems did not detect pedestrians even with high visibility clothing. More than 75% of pedestrian fatalities happen at dark. So, AAA is calling on regulators and standard organizations to keep on improving these systems. Knowing that a little rain won’t slow down your day. That’s what really matters. Bridgestone Toronto quiet track tires. Confident control in wet conditions. Mate Rimach, the founder of that Croatian supercar maker Rimac, says he’s trying to buy out Porsche stake in their Bugatti Rimac joint venture, which was formed in 2021. Rimac reportedly made a preliminary offer earlier this year to buy Porsche’s 45% stake, and that valued the joint venture at more than $1 billion. Now, Rimmeck says he’s got the investors to back him, including investor groups and private equity firms, and he’s ready to get the deal done by next year. Rimach says he wants to acquire the stake because he wants more control over long-term decisions and investments. Here’s our outline insight. Porsche is in deep trouble. It’s getting its butt kicked in China. It’s choking on Trump tariffs in the US. And sales are down by double digits in Europe. It needs cash and it needs it now. And Mate Rimach probably holds a handful of aces in his negotiations with Porsche. Speaking of Rimac, its supplier subsidiary Rimmeck Technology is partnering with battery cellmaker Pelogium to make battery packs for solid state batteries. The two companies are aiming to have their first battery sample ready by the end of 2027 and then undergo testing in 2028. After that, they’re aiming to begin small-scale production by 2030 at a plant in France that’s currently under construction. RIM says that a future version of the Bugatti Turbion plug-in hybrid would be ideal for the battery. We keep saying that 2025 is the year of the AV and now Whimo says it’s going to add autonomous ride hailing services in London next year. Over the next few months, Whimo will test a small fleet of AVs in a 100 square mile area of the city. The UK is planning to allow commercial robo taxi pilots next year, after which Whimo will start offering rides to customers on its own app. London is Whimo’s second international market after Tokyo where it began tests earlier this year. Okay, so this next story is a little bit unusual for our regular coverage, but we think you’ll find it interesting. Honda is coming out with an electric autonomous lawnmower, which will be especially attractive to commercial lawn crews. Here’s how it works. An operator teaches the mower the route it has to take using the global navigation satellite system and then they save it on a tablet or a smartphone. Then a route optimization program recalculates it for better turns and coverage. After that, the mower will cut the grass on any site it’s programmed for. It’s got a 60inch wide cut. It can mow up to 15 acres before it needs to be recharged. and it can handle 10 degree grades. Honda says this is really going to help lawn crews that are facing labor shortages. Generative AI is taking the auto industry by storm, but how much AI do people really want in their cars? No doubt they’ll welcome it as long as it makes their car better, but we’re pretty sure that you don’t want it vacuuming up all your data and personal information. That’s one of the topics we’ll be talking about on Out of Line After Hours. Tomorrow, we’ve got Kathy Risk from JD Power coming on the show to show us what their consumer research shows. And of course, we’re also going to get into all the news behind the headlines that broke this week. And that brings us to the end of today’s show. And I want to extend a personal thank you to all of our Patreon and YouTube members who help make this show possible. 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Autoline reports breaking global car news, with great insight and analysis. Also, top auto executive interviews. We cover electric vehicles (EV), autonomous vehicles (AV) and internal combustion engine technology (ICE), as well as car sales & financial earnings and new car reviews.
0:00 Stellantis Moves Jeep Production to U.S.
1:07 Ram Mid-Size Pickup Going to Toledo
1:56 Filosa Doubles Down on U.S.
2:36 Norway To Ax EV Subsidies
3:27 Automakers Improve Pedestrian AEB At Night
4:40 Rimac To Buy Out Porsche Stake in JV
5:45 Rimac To Make Solid State Batteries
6:23 Waymo Brings Robotaxis To London
7:00 Honda Launches Autonomous Lawn Mower
7:55 How Much AI Do You Want in Your Car?
Story Links:
Stellantis Moves Jeep Production to U.S.: https://media.stellantisnorthamerica.com/newsrelease.do?id=27127&mid=1
Ram Mid-Size Pickup Going to Toledo: https://media.stellantisnorthamerica.com/newsrelease.do?id=27127&mid=1
Norway To Ax EV Subsidies: https://www.reuters.com/business/norway-proposes-widening-ev-tax-include-mass-market-tesla-models-2025-10-15/
Automakers Improve Pedestrian AEB At Night: https://newsroom.aaa.com/2025/10/aaa-nighttime-paeb-rates-rising-from-0-to-60/
Rimac To Buy Out Porsche Stake in JV: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-10-15/rimac-founder-says-he-is-in-talks-with-porsche-on-bugatti-buyout?srnd=phx-industries-transportation
Rimac To Make Solid State Batteries: https://www.autonews.com/technology/ane-rimac-technology-prologium-solid-state-1008/
Waymo Brings Robotaxis To London: https://waymo.com/blog/2025/10/hello-london-your-waymo-ride-is-arriving
Honda Launches Autonomous Lawn Mower: https://hondanews.com/en-US/power-equipment/releases/release-34d7fa1af550cdceef36ed1dbd073929-honda-launches-all-new-prozision-lineup-of-battery-powered-ztr-lawn-mowers
Read the transcript here: https://www.autoline.tv/daily/ad-4158-stellantis-moves-jeep-production-to-u-s-norway-to-ax-ev-subsidies-honda-launches-autonomous-lawn-mower/
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