Nissan may sell roughly a million Nissan Rogues every hour. It may be the brand of Z cars and GT-Rs. And who doesn’t love a hardbody? But search your mind and think of all the Nissans you’ve known and you’ll probably think of a sedan. Maybe it’s a Sentra, maybe it’s a Maxima, quite possibly you’re enjoying some Big Altima Energy in your mentals. Gather ye four doors while ye may, as they may be on the way out.
EVs aren’t yet taking the world by storm but the technology is seen as the next step and America doesn’t want to get left behind, which is why it’s forking over more than a billion to 2 of the Detroit 3 to make them. Audi isn’t getting that money and it’s maybe why Audi is considering closing a plant for the first time in decades. You can guess what that plant makes.
Finally, new car prices are pretty much stuck where they are for now, so if you want a new car this is basically it for a while. The jet-lag has hit me and I just tried to take a nap in a tent but there was a racing sim there and so I just raced a few laps to wake up (I’m in 9th, behind Top Gear).
Long Live The Sentra, I Suppose
Nissan is the last non-luxury automaker, I think, selling a lot of sedans. There’s the Versa on the cheap end, the Sentra a bit up from there, an Altima for the people who are Camry-phobic, and a Maxima for those craving a bigger ride.
That’s remarkable. GM and Ford got out of the sedan game a few years ago. Stellantis has a few Chargers sitting around, but that’s it until the new one comes out. Toyota and Honda are still in the game, though not to the extent Nissan is.
In fact, sedans account for more than a third (36%) of all of Nissan’s sales! That’s a lot. Given that there’s less competition, it makes sense for Nissan to keep this niche so, of course, they’re probably not going to do that. I guess we all made too many jokes about Nissan Altima drivers?
Here’s the reporting from Automotive News saying that many of these sedans are probably toast:
In the next couple of years, Nissan could ditch two its three remaining sedan models, leaving only the compact Sentra in the lineup before the automaker debuts a battery-powered sedan by early next decade. Production of the Maxima large ended late last summer.
Nissan will drop the subcompact Versa after the 2025 model year, people familiar with the plans told Automotive News. According to AutoForecast Solutions, production is set to end in April 2025, with no next generation planned.
The midsize Altima will sunset following the 2026 model year after production was extended a year at Nissan’s underutilized Canton, Miss., factory.
There’s a chance the Altima does survive as a PHEV or hybrid.
The new Sentra, though? You can’t touch the Sentra. Sales are up 55% through the first half of the year compared to last year, and, as pointed out in the article, it attracts a lot of first-time buyers because it’s just in that right zone of not being too small, too big, too expensive, or too cheap.
Stellantis, GM Getting $1.1 Billion
Ford has been the most active of the Detroit 3 in planning to build EV plants and gettin’ that government cheddar cheese. Now Stellantis and GM are back in the game with more incentives from the Biden Administration. GM gets $500 million to convert its Lansing Grand River Assembly Plant in Michigan to EVs at some point in the future. Stellantis will get $335 million to convert the closed Belvidere Assembly plant to build EVs and $250 million to transform its Kokomo transmission plant into an EV component facility.
And that’s not all!
Hyundai Mobis, which operates a Stellantis supplier in Ohio, will receive $32 million to produce plug-in hybrid components and battery packs.
Other awards include $89 million for Harley-Davidson to expand its York, Pennsylvania plant for EV motorcycle manufacturing; $80 million for Blue Bird to convert a former Georgia plant to build electric school buses; and $75 million to engine company Cummins to convert part of an existing Indiana plant to make zero-emission components and electric powertrain systems.
The DOE also plans $208 million for the Volvo Group to upgrade plants in Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania to increase EV production capacity and $157 million for ZF North America to convert part of its Marysville, Michigan plant for EV component production.
If America is to be a leader in EV production it’ll need these facilities and I’m sure it’s just a big coincidence that all these plants are in swing states. Totally random. So random.
Audi Might Close Its Q8 E-Tron Plant
The Audi Q8 e-tron, the her? of big EVs, has not been a huge seller. It’s an expensive luxury EV at a time when people don’t seem to want that.
According to Manager Magazine, this might spell doom for the plant in Brussels, Belgium where the SUV is built:
The VW subsidiary Audi has initiated an “information and consultation process” for the plant in order to find a solution for the site with around 3,000 employees. “This could also lead to a cessation of operations if no alternative is found,” Audi announced on Tuesday.
The group is now preparing for additional costs amounting to billions. The operating return on sales will be between 6.5 and 7 percent, half a percentage point lower than previously forecast, Volkswagen announced. One reason for the additional costs of up to 2.6 billion euros are the expenses in connection with the plant in Brussels, which will be set aside in the third quarter, it said.
As a reminder, VW hasn’t closed a production facility since 1988 when it bailed out of Westmoreland, PA.
The One Graph That Explains Car Pricing
I was going to write a thing about how automakers are practicing great price discipline when it comes to new cars. That was the plan. Why? There’s a ton of volume out there right now for some brands and there’s always a temptation when that happens for carmakers to chuck profits out of the window to move cars. This kills profits.
When I look at where the market really is this graph from Cox Automotive is absolutely my favorite one to consider:
The blue line is the average transaction price (i.e. what people end up paying all-in for a car) and the orange line is incentives. What’s happening here is that the pandemic shortages are over, Trimflation has abated, and automakers have started to find a balance between incentives and pricing. Obviously, these are averages, so the numbers for highly discounted EVs are being balanced out by vehicles like the Range Rover and every hybrid Toyota that people cannot get for close to MSRP.
This balancing point was inevitable and it shows a bit more maturity from automakers.
Can I be cynical for a second? I’m going to be cynical for a second. Automakers have been enormously profitable over the last few years and this has made their C-Suite hella rich. These are public companies, generally, and it’s the job of these automakers to make a lot of money, but I don’t really know the line between price discipline and unwillingness to meet consumers back where they are even though the semiconductor emergency is over.
I don’t know.
What I’m Listening To While Writing TMD
Bad girl pop stars didn’t come into existence with Chappell Roan. Maybe Eartha Kitt? Madonna? Either way, lest we forget that the aughties had Lily Allen. I’m in England so let’s enjoy her track “Smile.” I love that the premise of this video is that she has hired some street toughs to harass her shitty ex and she gets off on it. She’s so mean! I love it. Also, she’s married to David Harbour now and their life just seems delightful. I’m Team Lilavid. Team Allbour… Team Harlily?
The Big Question
Q8 E-Tron?