Nio is one of the most interesting Chinese automakers, primarily because it’s not a huge exporter of cars and seems content to serve its home market. If you want to understand the state of China’s EV market, Nio is a good place to start, and the company’s CEO thinks the “golden era” of Chinese companies is over.
I agree with this sentiment. It’s a bit glib, but you don’t know how good the times you’re living in are until they’re over. Is this the best The Morning Dump is ever going to get? It’s possible. For the car market in the United States, the golden era is in the past, and maybe in the future. Right now we’re in the…. bronze era? It’s fine. It’s maybe better to be fine for Honda, which made a bunch of questionable decisions, but at least has some hybrids to sell.
If you’re a Spanish police officer, these times are gonna be great if you enjoy driving capable off-roaders.
The Chinese Market Becomes A Little More Like The American Market
I had to explain who Yao Ming was to Mercedes this morning, and then my bones turned to dust. It’s remarkable that I can type at all after that.
The former Houston Rocket was on hand earlier today in China to help Nio CEO William Li show off the new six-seat ES9 electric SUV. According to Li, this is the largest all-electric SUV produced in China. I was going to question that until I remembered that the YangWang U8 is an EREV.
Having former Rocket and current/always tall guy Yao Ming show off your big car is a stroke of genius, and at the unveil they had Ming sit in the car to show off how easily he fit. Also, we got this hilarious photo where the scale is way off on everything.
The ES9, if you’re curious, gets 385 miles of range on China’s notoriously generous test, so roughly 270 miles on the EPA range test. It’ll cost roughly $75,000 and comes with a 47-speaker sound system and a 48-inch center display. It is, in every way, a big luxury Chinese SUV.
It’s Nio’s attempt at improving margins, and it’s been amusing to watch China basically speed run the US automotive industry. Bloomberg was at the event and shared this observation:
Like in the US, new car models in China are getting bigger as they bring higher profit margins. With EV subsidies for cheaper models reduced, there’s also more incentive for consumers to buy larger vehicles. As a result, competition in the large SUV segment is also intensifying, with Nio’s lower retail price indicative of the pressure.
“For survival and also to address customer demands, we’re also making big cars,” Chief Executive Officer William Li at a briefing on Thursday. “And big cars actually sell relatively well.”
Nio has been mostly unprofitable, though sales are growing. It got stuck in the brutal price war and never quite got around to setting itself up to becoming a huge exporter (though the company does sell a few cars in Northern Europe). Reuters was also there, and got Li explaining why he thought the ‘golden era’ was probably over:
A rebound in the world’s largest auto market has yet to materialise, despite the sector’s continued export strength, Li told reporters in Beijing.
[…]
In April, China’s domestic car sales fell for a seventh straight month, though exports remained strong.
China’s automobile ownership hit 370 million vehicles, meaning it’s “no longer a growth market, but rather a saturated market,” Li said.
Yup.
May Was Probably A Decent Month For US Car Sales
The car market in the US continues to stubbornly trod forward in the face of all sorts of headwinds. In many ways, the small ups and downs of any individual month is more a reaction to last year’s tariff-induced and tax credit-induced insanity. The pull-forward of sales due to the tariffs last year made April a little harder, year-over-year, whereas this May the market benefits. That, plus the little boost some consumers got from tax cuts, is propelling sales according to Cox Automotive.
“May sales appear to be holding up despite significant economic uncertainty,” Cox Automotive Senior Economist Charlie Chesbrough noted. “New-vehicle buyers today are more affluent than ever, so they may not be as impacted by inflationary pressures as much as other consumers who are more acutely feeling the sharply higher fuel costs. If the economy and stock market can remain on this growing but volatile path, new-vehicle sales will likely follow. However, those are two large necessities during extremely volatile times.”
This continues to be the Wile E. Coyote car market, and so long as nothing goes terribly wrong and no one looks down it’ll probably be fine.
Honda Might Have A Good Year Even With All The Drama
I get how reading The Morning Dump might lead you to believe that Honda is going to have a rough year, what with having to delay cars, extend current generation vehicles, and abandon its EV plans.
Things aren’t great. Also, things aren’t that bad, with Honda hitting 10% of total market share in the United States. What’s going on? While Honda probably should have already rolled out its larger hybrid platform already, it still has the most popular hybrid in the form of the CR-V.
As Honda’s sales chief Lance Woelfe told Automotive News, it’s not so dire:
“We believe 10 percent is an achievable direction for Honda over the next several years,” Woelfer said. “We see a clear opportunity to gain share as we move forward.”
Meanwhile, Honda is sticking with its goal of growing sales 4 percent in 2026, to about 1.5 million vehicles, despite ending production of the Acura RDX and canceling several electric vehicles.
Honda is positioned to achieve that target amid rising gasoline prices, EV market shifts and economic uncertainty, Woelfer said, thanks to its value pricing, “industry-leading” fuel economy and rapidly growing hybrid sales.
In fact, gas prices have emerged as an unexpected tail wind for Honda by accelerating a shift toward hybrids.
The Decade of the Hybrid remains undefeated.
Is It Too Late To Join The Spanish National Police?
The Ineos Grenadier is a great looking rig, and extremely capable, so it’s no surprise that they’re starting to pop up more and more as fleet vehicles for organizations needing something for the most extreme situations.
One of the latest buyers is the Spanish National Police, which nabbed ten of them for the Police Intervention Units:
Specifically designed to work under harsh conditions, the INEOS Grenadier combines a robust ladder frame chassis with permanent four-wheel drive and class-leading off-road capability, making it a particularly valuable tool for police operations that require travel beyond paved streets.
These new vehicles will enhance the UIP’s deployment capability in rural areas, mountainous regions, natural spaces, or environments affected by emergencies, where rapid arrival and the ability to overcome obstacles can be critical. The Grenadier’s capability and local supply lines make it ideal for deployment in defence and public sector fleets across European countries.
Also, it looks cool so much cooler than those random ex-military MRAPs used by police here in the United States. I feel like this is tough but approachable. It’s there to help.
What I’m Listening To While Writing TMD
There’s not only a new Muna, the video for “Eastside Girls” includes a smokey (well, smoking) Ford Ranger.
The Big Question
What was the ‘Golden Era’ of American cars?
Top photo: Nio
When the next administration moves in to the White House and its political affiliation begins with the letter “D”, Chinese vehicles will flood the United States and then and only then will it be a golden era for the Chi-coms. GM will be owned by SAIC, Ford by BYD and Stellantis by maybe SEAT after the fire sale in 2030?
Golden era of tech laden bloat screens, but not cars.
Huh? That’s absurd.
I think greed has ruined everything and it will take a serious reset of the world before we get a “golden era” of anything again.
“Greed” is a fundamental nature of all living things that can think because everything evolved with scarcity. There are only two ways to counteract greed in humnas, by force or by abundance. Which would you pick?
The Golden Era I automatically think of the 1950’s…pretty every vehicle made especially all the usual ones like Tri-Fives, etc. Lots of beautiful truck designs. I actually really love tailfins, the best being the 59 Cadillac Eldorado. The Esdels are actually really beautiful cars too, except for the grille which we’ve all heard the jokes about what it looks like, ha ha. They really don’t belong on worst cars lists; they only put them on there because of one word: Failure. The cars are still awesome and a beautiful design. It was also bad timing due to the recession that happened. The word “Golden” fits the 50’s, but it’s still not my favorite which is the 60’s muscle car era so I consider that my “Golden” Era. Yeah, there was the Mustang and all that; but I prefer all the other bigger muscle cars like the Camaro, GTO, etc. My favorites though are all the Mopars especially the Super Bee (my brother had a 68) Road Runner, Coronet, etc.
“What was the ‘Golden Era’ of American cars?“
Any era where the phrase “Boattail” is in play.
TBQ: I think the golden years for American Cars were the 50’s. Lots of different car companies, competing for the hearts and minds of consumers.
Which meant lots of different kinds of cars: sporty cars (Corvettes, T-birds), large 2-door station wagons, larger 4-door wagons, sedans, coupes, pick up trucks, and no SUVs. 🙂
But what made this time special was the industrial design side of the house. It seemed every car design wanted to be a work of moving art. Chrome and wings may have been done to excess, but man, there was lots of distinct beauty in those years. Tons of details, tons of emphasis on how things looked.
The US truly influenced the world in terms of automotive industrial design back then.
I think there have a been a few golden eras of Americans cars and brands. Obviously post war until early 70s. Possibly the 90s to early to mid 2000s. Plus early cars to the late 20s early 30s? I suppose there was some depression era innovation too.
I can see the Chinese OEMs combining to survive as that historically happens. Nio seems a prime target to be absorbed by someone. The Chinese understand their market. If they fully understand other markets has yet to be seen but most seem to know enough. I can’t imagine many people looked at 60s Japanese cars and think in 20 to 30 years they will be everywhere.
Came here for the 1920s-1930s answer. Hat tip.
Chinese vs American Golden Eras.
I don’t think the Chinese golden era of cars is over. I think the golden era for cars is to come. But the golden era for manufacturers might be over.
Go back to the US.
The US had a golden era for car manufacturing in the 1920s. If you knew how to spell car as long as someone told you which letters were involved, you could start a car company and get funding. Cars advanced in leaps and bounds and US cars got to be higher tech than most of the world’s cars in this era. By the end of the 1920s, there were hundreds of car companies making hundreds of different cars that were radically advanced from the end of the 1910s. Manufacturing went from around 1 to around 5 million cars a year in this time.
But then 1929 happened. The 1930s was a BLACK era for car manufacturers. Even many well established and profitable companies didn’t survive it. US car demand dropped back down to 1 million or so a year rapidly.
However, in a bid to get enough car sales in the radically smaller market, the US made some of the best looking cars of all time in the 1930s. Just for an example, compare a Model A to a 1939 Ford. Remember this was Ford, where a cranky old Man was still dragging his feet trying to get everyone to go back to all black cars that could be stamped out in seconds. Radical cars like the Airflow and Cord 810 came out. Stunning luxury cars like the Duesenberg SSJ and the Caddy V-16. Muscle cars like the V8 Ford (Deuce Coupe) and Terraplane entered the conversation..
If the golden age of Chinese car companies is over, then watch them for a golden age for Chinese cars the manufacturers pull out all the stops to try to capture a shrinking market to survive.
“What was the ‘Golden Era’ of American cars?”
I think the Golden Era of American cars was in the mid to late 2010s.
If you wanted an electric car, Tesla had you covered… and it was before Musk lost his mind and ruined Tesla’s image in the eyes of many. If you didn’t want a Tesla, you could get a Chevy Bolt.
You also had hybrids and plug-in hybrids like the Volt or Prius Prime.
If you wanted a turbocharged car or a car that was naturally aspirated, you had plenty of options for either
If you wanted scary levels of power, you had the Hellcats as well as the Tesla Plaid models.
If you wanted a cheap new minivan, the Dodge Grand Caravan with the value package was still available.
And you still had plenty of manual transmissions options like the Focus ST or C7 Corvette as well as non-performance car options with manuals.
And most importantly, the late 2010s was before trimflation happened.
Also the late 2010s was when Sat-nav systems seemed to get better and a bit more reliable than the junk developed in the late 2000s and early 2010s.
what?
Eh?
Indeed. And not too many annoying screens and assistance systems but still having haptic buttons and switches
Also that was the time of great outward visibility, albeit toward the end.
The only take away I have from this TMD is a reaction to the following:
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!
China, you were our only hope that the sedan would survive. Now you’re trying to be like US, you poor poor fools. I has sad.
Nobody ever expects The National Spanish Police…
“Badges? We don’t need no stinkin badges.”