View in Browser

Sign up for Reuters newsletters

By Joseph White, Global Automotive Correspondent

Greetings from the Motor City!

The Los Angeles Auto Show officially starts Friday! New model debuts surrounding the public show get going tomorrow – and the pickings are slim compared to years past. Toyota’s promised unveiling of the next-generation Camry – aka America’s best-selling sedan – looks like the star attraction, along with Lucid’s Gravity electric SUV.

Meanwhile, back in the chilly Midwest, the United Auto Workers and the managements of the Detroit Three are watching ratification votes for the new contract deals come in. Each day brings a new reminder that “it ain’t over ‘til it’s over.”

Today –

• • Big Oil gets into the EV business

  • Detroit gets UAW ratification vote jitters

  • Why Europeans are thinking twice about EVs

ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods. He likes EVs after all!  – Reuters/Mike Blake

Good news for the electric vehicle industry: Exxon is investing in lithium production in Arkansas, as reported by Reuters colleague Ernie Scheyder.

The oil giant is not abandoning its signature product by any means. But Exxon’s decision to invest in a novel lithium production technology underscores the oil industry’s determination not to let go of its monopoly on vehicle fueling.

Producing lithium in the United States could also allow Exxon to dip its beak into the stream of U.S. EV subsidies earmarked for domestically-produced battery materials.

In the same vein, UK fueling station operator EG plans to buy Tesla Superchargers for its locations.

Say what you will about Big Oil, Exxon and Shell and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have enormous capital resources to deploy against the EV industry’s expensive problems, such as inadequate charging infrastructure.

Petroleum or lithium? Gas pumps or EV chargers? It all goes to the same place. Big Oil is a label. Big Energy for Transportation is the business.

Maybe they won’t take the first deal. Reuters-Luke Sharrett

This will be a crucial week for United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain – and the chief executives of the Detroit Three automakers.

So far, a majority of workers at Ford, General Motors and Stellantis have voted yes – but there are reasons for anxiety about the final results on both sides of the labor-management divide.

A majority of production workers at Ford’s Kentucky Truck plant, represented by UAW Local 862, voted against the deal, the local reported Monday. The Kentucky local and Local 600, which represents the historic Rouge complex, are Ford’s largest local unions.

Members at one of GM’s biggest plants, UAW Local 598, who work at GM’s Flint Truck plant, voted against their contract by a narrow 51.8% margin.

There is a pattern emerging from the UAW’s voting results trackers, which are here for GM, here for Ford and here for Stellantis.

Warehouse and component operations whose workers could get raises ranging from 36% to 89% as second-class wage tiers are eliminated are voting strongly in favor. A significant share of “No” votes are coming from workers at plants with no firm future production commitments.

So far, the contracts are winning. But some of the biggest local unions at all three companies have yet to cast ballots. Voting has just begun at Stellantis – and “Yes” is ahead 81% to 19%.  

Fain and UAW organizers are eager to launch campaigns to organize non-union automakers. The union is inviting workers at Honda and other non-union shops to fill out electronic sign-up cards.

But first, the UAW needs to land the planes at the Detroit Three.

Volkswagen EVs – how many do you want? REUTERS/Matthias Rietschel

Demand for electric vehicles in Europe is growing, but more slowly than Volkswagen and other automakers hoped when they plowed billions into new EV factories and models.

VW said its EV orders are coming in at half the level of a year ago. The EV share of European registrations has plateaued at just above 15% of the total market.

Reuters colleagues Victoria Waldersee and Nick Carey report that high EV prices and worries about driving range and recharging are among the reasons more consumers aren’t opting for a fully electric vehicle.

Tesla and other automakers promise more “affordable EVs” in the near future.  

Of course, automakers could cut EV prices tomorrow. But legacy automakers can ill afford wider losses on just-launched electric vehicles.

Even Elon Musk has limits on how much lower he can cut Tesla prices without threatening the cash flows required to fund ambitious growth plans. Tesla started the EV price wars, but now the company is raising prices on certain models.

Hyundai will invest the equivalent of $1.5 billion to build a new EV factory near Ulsan. Never mind that rival automakers are postponing EV capacity expansions and sounding alarms about slowing demand.

The plant is scheduled to start producing Genesis EVs in early 2026.

Continental plans to slash thousands of jobs in its automotive division which develops assisted driving technology, the company warned on Monday.

China’s top ride-hailing operator, Didi, posted its first quarterly profit since 2021. The company has spent more than two years in purgatory after pursuing a U.S. share listing without Beijing’s approval. Didi said it will spend $1 billion repurchasing shares.

BMW is investigating a Moroccan cobalt supplier after reports that the supplier’s operations violate environmental and labor laws. Cobalt is used in EV batteries. Concerns about human rights abuses and environmental damage at African mines that produce the mineral are a constant.

Volkswagen wants to cut administrative costs by as much as 20%, Germany’s Handelsblatt reported.

Sponsors are not involved in the creation of newsletters or other Reuters news content.

Advertise in this newsletter or on Reuters.com

Auto File is sent three days a week. Think your friend or colleague should know about us? Forward this newsletter to them. They can also sign up here.

Want to stop receiving this newsletter? Unsubscribe here.
To manage which newsletters you’re signed up for, click here.

Reuters Terms & Conditions and Privacy Statement