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By Joseph White, Global Automotive Correspondent

Greetings from the Motor City!

It’s good to be home again. But even a brief trip to Europe was a useful reminder that Detroit does not represent the world. Did you know that in Europe people drive….small cars? We don’t see those much around here anymore. I miss them. They’re kinda cute.  

It is Friday, and we have a full plate. Let’s dig in. Today –

• • Geely adds more Aston to its empire

     

  • Drama in the Agnelli family

     

  • Washington wants to keep the AM radio on

Have a great weekend!

An Aston Martin gets the white glove treatement.

Chinese automaker Geely said it will invest 234 million pounds in British sports car maker Aston Martin, more than doubling a previous stake to become Aston’s third-largest shareholder.

Geely’s expanded Aston holding – to be acquired at a stout 45% premium to the pre-offer price for Aston shares – draws attention to the sprawling global empire assembled by Geely founder Li Shu Fu.

Geely’s collection of automotive brands includes Zeekr, Lynk & Co, Proton, Lotus and London Electric Vehicle Co, maker of London black cabs.

Geely controls Volvo, and through a joint venture with Volvo the Swedish Polestar EV brand. Via a joint venture with Mercedes, Geely has a 50% share in the Smart brand. It has stakes in Mercedes-Benz, AB Volvo and Aston. It has invested in advanced vehicle software company ECARX.

There’s more, but you get the idea. A company that sold its first car just 25 years ago is now a global power player.  

To put icing on the cake, Geely has a flying car joint venture with air taxi startup Volocopter.

That’s a lot, as the kids say.

One question is what will happen when all these money-losing operations – Aston among them – need new funding rounds. Already, Polestar is cutting staff as technical snafus delay a key model launch and revenue plans. A Smart executive signaled this week that brand is open to new alliances to help develop technology.

Aston investors appear to have questions. Shares in James Bond’s favorite car maker are up 25% since Geely’s new investment was disclosed – but are still trading below the 335 pence price Geely proposed.

Ferrari and Stellantis Chair John Elkann with a Ferrari Roma.

Members of Fiat’s founding Agnelli family are locked in a struggle over money and power that the creators of HBO’s “Succession” could mine as material for their next project.

The details of the litigation are complex, and well explained by Reuters colleagues Emilio Parodi and Giulio Piovacarri. Read the story with this playing in the background.

Suffice to say here that the dispute has divided John Elkann, chairman of Ferrari, Stellantis and Exor, the holding company that controls other interests of the Agnelli family, from his mother, who is trying to claim a share of the family business to benefit children from her second marriage.

Control of Ferrari and Stellantis do not appear to be in question, and the litigation has a long way to go. Still, the drama is a vivid reminder that families still matter in the legacy automotive industry. Just ask shareholders at Volkswagen, Ford, BMW and Toyota.

AM Radio Country.

Who says Republicans and Democrats can’t agree on anything?

A bi-partisan group of U.S. lawmakers, with an endorsement from the chair of the Federal Communications Commission, wants to stop Tesla and other automakers from dropping AM radio from their infotainment systems.

The lawmakers said they’re concerned that eliminating AM could cut off motorists from safety alerts.

AM radio also is home to popular political talk shows, sports and community news in many parts of the country. It’s inspired at least one great rock and roll tune everyone should know – and plenty more beyond that one. But the AM sound has been eclipsed by FM, satellite radio and streaming music. Dashboard screen real estate is at a premium.

The Alliance for Automotive Innovation responded on behalf of automakers that an AM mandate is not necessary to assure access to safety information.

Tesla and Indian officials are performing the ritual dances that might precede a decision by Elon Musk to build a factory in India.

An Indian government official said Friday Tesla is “serious” about investing in India – a potentially huge market, but one that has been hard for foreign brands to crack. Musk held talks with the government about incentives for building batteries and EVs.

Musk backed away from an earlier run at India after the government refused to meet his demands for lifting duties on imported Teslas. But as Breakingviews observes, now could be rhe right time for Tesla to bet on India as a production base (especially with government help.)

Toyota’s top scientist, Gill Pratt, said this week there will not be enough raw materials or charging infrastructure ready in the near-term to shift the world’s vehicle fleet to all-electric vehicles – doubling down on Toyota’s contrarian view of the rush to electrify the auto sector.

Pratt’s arguments – for instance, that the coal-fired grids in many nations offset emissions gains from an EV powertrain – have merit. But they frustrate investors who want Toyota to go all-in on efforts to catch up with Tesla and Chinese EV manufacturers in fully-electric vehicle technology.

Toyota’s wary stance on EVs has hurt its image as an auto industry technology leader. Toyota dropped to 10th place in a new survey of “future readiness” by the International Institute for Management Development. Tesla was ranked No. 1 among automakers – China’s BYD placed second.

Toyota unveiled its new-generation Tacoma pickup truck, the North American version of the model line that leads the global mid-size pickup segment. The new Tacoma chases the Ford Ranger down the off-road “adventure” marketing trail but does so without a six-cylinder engine option. Instead, Toyota will rely on a high-output 2.4 liter four cylinder and a hybrid version of the same engine that pumps out nearly 136 horsepower per liter of displacement. Remember when 100 horsepower per liter was a milestone number? Yeah, you’re old.

Chinese EV maker Nio has invested in a nuclear fusion startup, Neo Fusion, alongside the government of China’s Anhui province. Nio is losing money on its core business, but Chairman William Li wants the company to be a player in the energy sector. Advances in fusion technology have stoked a round of enthusiasm for a technology that has been just around the corner for decades.

Australia’s nascent EV market is starting to accelerate after a very slow start. That’s putting pressure on the government to speed up installation of public charging. Australia has one public EV charger for every 35 EVs on the road, compared to the world average of one for 10 and China’s one for eight. (See the chart here.)

Lightning this, Ford. Sure, the feud between Ford and Chevy in the U.S. pickup truck market is old-school stuff in a world of electric, automated, AI-enabled cars. But it’s still fun to watch. The latest: Chevrolet said its Silverado EV electric pickup will have a top range of 450 miles – more than General Motors originally projected, and well ahead of the Ford F-150 Lightning’s 240-mile range. The Lightning has the advantage of being available today. The Silverado EV for commercial customers launches this spring, and the consumer model comes this fall.

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