It Was Dumb To Expect Car Companies To Be Technology Companies

The Industrial Revolution upended the largely feudal-agrarian model of most of the world. When the railroads arrived, this further disrupted society and created giants. The introduction of more refined mass production and the automobile, too, shifted the world. This time, the world was more ready for it, or at least it expected it. Sure, there was a global meltdown and two world wars, but you can hardly blame the cars for that.

For about half a century, the coolest thing you could be was a carmaker. They were the avant-garde of technology, and it’s no surprise that so many carmakers ended up making planes, though mostly to fight the global war rematch. Then jet planes happened, and chemicals, and computers. Suddenly, carmakers weren’t the hugely valuable companies they once were. At least, they weren’t until Tesla came along. The biggest innovation that Elon Musk brought to Tesla was not the electric car, but the idea of a car company being cool again.

This led every other car company to try to be cool in the same way and, I think it’s fair to say, it hasn’t worked. If you want a good example, you can just look at Stellantis. The automaker has abandoned fuel cells, and it’s now reportedly walking away from its Level 3 ADAS systems, instead trying to skip ahead to the next thing with the help of one of its acquisitions.  Another company that has recognized the tech company conundrum is Volkswagen and its CEO Oliver Blume. He’s also the CEO of Porsche and has been taking flak for holding both jobs at once, so he’s likely to name a successor soon.

Volkswagen is also a company that would like Europe to slow-roll its emissions regulations, which is something that’s likely to net Stellantis hundreds of millions of dollars next year.

Stellantis Reportedly Shelving Its Level 3 ADAS System

There are five accepted levels of autonomy for cars, ranging from lane keep assist/cruise control (Level 1) up to not even needing a steering wheel because the car does everything (Level 5). The worst and probably hardest level is Level 3, which is hot garbage that makes no sense.

When Tesla became enormously valuable as a tech company and an automaker, it made every other automaker attempt to do the same. Suddenly, everyone was making electric cars (EVs), everyone was making Software Defined Vehicles (SDVs), and working on Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS).

The problem, as many automakers found out, is that they were terrible at most of it. They were behind on electric cars, and almost no company was really responsible for its own software, having offshored its infotainment to Blackberry/QNX, and every other part of the car to various suppliers running their own specific systems. The job of the automaker, then, was just to try to make all these disparate systems work together.

[Ed Note: This is exactly what car companies do. I used to work at Chrysler — now Stellantis — and this whole gear about its “in-house” ADAS system development has me side-eyeing. The company didn’t even have an R&D department when I worked there, and anyone there would admit they’re generally not innovators, but rather fast-followers. A humongous portion of the innovation that did come from the company came from suppliers. It “shelving” its “in-house” Level 3 ADAS System probably means it’s no longer paying Bosch or Continental or whomever, though maybe I’m wrong and the PSA merger changed things. -DT]

Stellantis is a good example of a company that’s missed the mark in most areas. While it’s starting to build credible electric cars in Europe, its future plans haven’t yet come to fruition. It recently announced it was ditching its plans to make hydrogen fuel cells, which are currently built in Europe. Perhaps it’s not fair to blame the company for that since, you know, no one else has gotten fuel cells to work at scale.

The automaker also invested untold millions (billions?) into developing Level 3 automated driving software. Stellantis wasn’t alone. Volkswagen and Ford tried to get ahead of self-driving cars with Argo AI, but bailed pretty early. GM had its Cruise experience, which was anything but.

Now, according to this Reuters report, Stellantis is at least putting its Level 3 system on the shelf:

As recently as February, Stellantis said its in-house system, which is part of the AutoDrive program, was ready for deployment and a key pillar of its strategy. The company said the system, which enables drivers to have their hands off the wheel and eyes off the road under certain conditions, would allow them to temporarily watch movies, catch up on emails, or read books.

That Level 3 software was never launched, the company confirmed to Reuters. But it stopped short of saying that the program was canceled.

“What was unveiled in February 2025 was L3 technology for which there is currently limited market demand, so this has not been launched, but the technology is available and ready to be deployed,” a Stellantis spokesperson said.

The three sources, however, said that the program was put on ice and is not expected to be deployed. When asked how much time and money was lost on the initiative, Stellantis declined to say, responding that the work done on AutoDrive will help support its future versions.

The “limited market demand” piece is interesting here, as it does seem to me that there are people who do want a good hands-free driving system. Stellantis is such a randomly run automaker that it’s hard to draw larger comparisons, but the reality is that no traditional automaker has gotten any of this to work. Ford and GM tried to team up with a more Silicon Valley-style startup culture, but could not effectively run those businesses in a way that resulted in either successful or profitable operations. [Ed Note: And don’t forget “Porsche Digital.” -DT]

You could tell the party was over when car companies decided it wasn’t worth it to go to CES anymore. The flipside of this is true, of course. Apple tried to make a car before deciding that it’s too much of a hassle.

Volkswagen attempted to entirely in-source its SDV work by building out Cariad, which didn’t work either. VW eventually threw up its hands, and current CEO Oliver Blume partnered with Rivian to basically replace its own in-house operations. Post-Argo AI, VW has also teamed up with two different self-driving companies to create the tech for itself. It was a tough decision, but Oliver Blume makes tough decisions.

Oliver Blume Finally Seems To Be Giving Up The Porsche Job

You could definitely pay me enough money to be the CEO of Volkswagen Group. It would have to be a lot of money, though, because that job is too hard. You know what’s a hard job I’d love to do? CEO of Porsche. What an incredible car brand. I could go to races all the time… for work. I could have a 944 company car, which would be hilarious.

Oliver Blume was CEO of Porsche when he got tapped to try to rescue Volkswagen from itself. Did he stop being Porsche CEO? He did not, though he said it was only temporary. That was three years ago. I don’t blame him. Again, I would like to be CEO of Porsche. Other people have started to question the logic of that, and now it sounds like the hunt for a successor is finally on again.

Per Bloomberg:

The Porsche-Piëch owner family has held discussions with potential candidates for the top job at the German sports-car maker, the people said, declining to be named because the matter is private. Talks have progressed to one internal and one external manager, one of the people said.

Blume has led Porsche since 2015 and kept the position even after succeeding Herbert Diess as CEO of parent Volkswagen seven years later. His double role has been a source of concern for investors as the two carmakers contend with US tariffs, waning profits and declining sales in the key market China. Porsche has cut its financial outlook twice this year, while Volkswagen is in the midst of a restructuring process.

The smart money is on R&D Chief Michael Steiner, but I’m holding out hope for current Bentley CEO Frank-Steffen Walliser because Frank-Steffen Walliser is a rad dude.

Stellantis Spent Nearly $775 Million In Fuel Economy Penalties

The Hemi V8 is back, and the engine might start appearing in more of the Stellantis lineup, as the main reason it was fading was the corresponding need to pay millions of dollars in penalties (to competitors like Tesla) for all the engines it sold. President Trump has killed those penalties, partially as a counter to his tariffs, and few automakers are going to benefit as much as Stellantis, as David Shepardson reports:

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in an annual report that Stellantis paid $112.3 million in June and $78.3 million in March in payments for shortfalls from the 2019 and 2020 model years. In total, Stellantis has paid $773.5 million since 2018.

Last month, NHTSA told automakers they face no fines for failures to meet fuel efficiency rules dating back to the 2022 model year under a law signed by President Donald Trump.

Automakers like Rivian and Tesla have been the recipients of some of these fines, so the good news for Stellantis is maybe bad news for them.

European Automakers Would Also Like A Break

I’m a baseball fan, which means I’m ok with the concept of working the ref (or, I guess, umpire). No human being is capable of purely rational, objective judgment 100% of the time (or, for Ángel Hernández, like 10% of the time). Influencing the ref is just part of the game.

Europe doesn’t have much baseball, but this applies to soccer, too. Maybe. I refuse to let on that I actually know anything about soccer.

As Reuters reports, the various EU car groups would like the EU to chill out on its latest emissions regulations:

European Union targets to cut CO2 emissions from vehicles, including a 100 percent reduction for cars by 2035, are no longer feasible, the heads of the automaking body ACEA and supplier group CLEPA said.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is set to host automotive sector executives Sept. 12 to discuss the future of the sector, which is facing twin threats of Chinese competition in electric vehicles and U.S. tariffs.

In a letter to von der Leyen, ACEA head and Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Kallenius and Matthias Zink, CEO of powertrain and chassis at Schaeffler and CLEPA chief, said they were committed to achieving the EU’s net zero goal in 2050.

However, they said EU manufacturers now faced near-total dependency on Asia for batteries, as well as uneven charging infrastructure, higher manufacturing costs and U.S. tariffs.

The 100% reduction was probably never going to happen on time, so some of this was inevitable, tariffs or no tariffs.

What I’m Listening To While Writing TMD

I guess it’s old school hip hop week. I made a subtle Luniz “I Got 5 On It” reference earlier today, so it’s been stuck in my head and now it’s maybe stuck in your head.

The Big Question

What’s the most technologically-advanced automaker of all time, in any period?

Top photo: Stellantis