Happy Friday, y’all. The weekend is nigh and so is Formula One’s first race in Las Vegas in decades. There’s just one problem. Ok, there are actually many problems, but the biggest potential one is a strike by the hotel worker’s union looming over race weekend.
What’s some other fun news I can squeeze out here during this cold November Morning Dump? Let’s see. BMW’s EVs are selling well enough that the company isn’t considering engaging in the same price war as other companies, which seems wise. Volvo EVs, too, have been selling well. Stellantis is considering bringing an extremely cheap super-mini EV to Europe to bolster its offerings there.
And let’s end this dump on the conflicting news over Gotion Inc’s proposed battery plant in Michigan, which continues to be a political football.
Viva Lost Wages! Union Summer Becomes Union Fall And Threatens F1 Weekend
In some ways, it’s a bit of a bummer that ex-F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone is out of the sport (and out about $800 million over tax fraud charges), because the collision of the cantankerous mogul and the Culinary Workers Union Local 226 would make for quite the showdown.
Alas, you can’t have it all.
Also, if you’re going to Las Vegas for Formula One’s race in a couple of weekends, you might not have anyone to serve you a drink.
The union, which represents guest room attendants, servers, porters, cooks, laundry, and kitchen staff, says workers are ready to walk from 18 major casinos/hotels if conditions aren’t met by November 10th, which is just a few days before the F1 race opening ceremonies.
F1 weekends have increasingly become glitzy affairs where, seemingly, the competitive action on track is often outdone by the race between wealthy individuals and celebrities trying to outspend one another. If the strike holds, both F1 and businesses in the area stand to lose a big chunk of change.
Are they serious? Here’s a bit from the AP and you can tell me if you think they’re serious:
At a news conference, Ted Pappageorge, the union’s secretary-treasurer and chief contract negotiator, urged tourists and Formula 1 ticket-holders to support the workers if they go on strike by not coming to Las Vegas or crossing the picket lines.
“We will be communicating to ask customers that they should take their business elsewhere,” he said.
Formula 1 did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
Given the success of various unions this summer (UAW, UPS, WGA) it’ll be interesting to see how far the casino operators are willing to bend.
BMW And Volvo Doing Nah Bad
BMW released its Q3 results, and you can read it all here, but signs mostly point to the Bavarian automaker doing well with revenue above expectations (up about 3.4% year-over-year to about $41 billion) and its automotive margins at about 10.3% so far this year.
Retail sales of its electric cars are also up, climbing to 94,000 units in Q3, which means the company is on track to almost double what it did in 2022.
Does this mean BMW might try to compete with Tesla on price? Nope.
Pressed on whether BMW felt the need to cut prices to boost electric vehicle demand, particularly in China where a battle for market share has raged this year, Chief Executive Oliver Zipse said this approach was not in BMW’s playbook.
“We have no interest in sinking prices to gain market share. That’s not our strategy. And as you can see, we are managing to grow substantially even with very acceptable prices,” he said.
And what about Volvo, which is about to launch the EX30 (our review is coming on Monday)? Also not bad. The company reported a 22% increase in year-over-year sales for Q3, with BEVs making up about 18% of the company’s sales. Profits are also up. Here’s a key bit from Volvo:
At the same time, the gross margin continued to improve and came in at 19.6 per cent, helped by improving margins on electric cars, which came in at 9 per cent and was significantly up compared to the last quarter. This underscores that lower lithium prices are starting to have an effect, as well as the company is realising the effects of increased pricing on model year 2024 fully electric cars – as indicated during the previous quarter. Once the EX30 starts to be shipped to customers, it will further boost Volvo Cars’ profitable growth in fully electric cars, which the company believes will position it well versus many of its competitors.
Scale. Cheaper materials. Stubbornly high prices. It seems to be working for smaller automakers, at least.
I Want To See Stellantis Sell The Leapmotor T03
The Leapmotor T03 is a Chinese “supermini” electric car that sells in China for under $10k and has a range of about 170 miles. It is a city car, but it’s a remarkably compelling one. Now that Stellantis-owned Vauxhall has a stake in China’s Leapmotor, it is reportedly thinking about importing the tiny T03 to the European market to compete with the also Chinese-built Dacia Spring. Here’s Autocar explaining the logic:
Introducing cut-price Leapmotor EVs to the UK would help Stellantis reach the ZEV mandate targets starting next year, which forces car makers to sell a minimum of 22% zero-emission models in their overall sales mix, with tougher targets for subsequent years.
The T03 will obviously be a lot more expensive when it comes to the UK, but it only has to beat the $27,000 Citroën ë-C3 and $32,000 BYD Dolphin.
Gotion Plant Gets Closer To Reality, Then Doesn’t
I’ve already written about the troubles for partially VW-owned electric battery company Gotion’s proposed plant in Green Charter Township Michigan, but the Tl;DR version is that the local government sees a lot of jobs and money and some national politicians see the threat of Chinese influence (the company is based in the U.S., but it’s the subsidiary of a Chinese company).
According to local outlet The Pioneer, the locals think they’ve basically got a deal:
The Gotion Inc.-North American Manufacturing electric vehicle component manufacturing facility planned for Green Charter Township in Mecosta County is a “done deal,” a recent letter from Gotion Vice President Chuck Thelen to the Michigan Economic Development Corporation said.
In the letter, Thelen said Gotion Inc. is fully committed to establishing a manufacturing facility in Green Charter Township as discussed, and “we consider the project a done deal.”
Gotion has recently made a deal in Illinois for a $2 billion plant.
Oh, wait, here’s a headline from The Detroit News: “Bill would block Gotion from federal tax credits for EV battery parts plant in Big Rapids”
Who could be behind this?
The lawmakers, U.S. Reps. John Moolenaar of Caledonia and Darin LaHood of Illinois, said their legislation is in response to Gotion Inc., an American subsidiary of a Chinese-based company, planning to build EV battery materials factories near Big Rapids and in Manteno, Illinois, that would potentially qualify for the tax credits under the IRA.
The bill is notable in part because the Inflation Reduction Act’s pot of nearly $200 billion in advanced manufacturing credits is considered a major reason why foreign-owned companies such as Gotion are investing in U.S.-based factories.
The best part of this is the name of the bill is the No Official Giveaways Of Taxpayers’ Income to Oppressive Nations Act. That’s an acronym for NO GOTION. Subtle!
Technically, Gotion says it isn’t attempting to get federal IRA funds (it’s getting plenty in state/local tax abatements), though it’s possible the company will in the future.
Given that the whole point of the Inflation Reduction Act was to bring more manufacturing here and given the name of the act, this seems a bit like political grandstanding, though there are plenty of reasons why the United States government wouldn’t want to enrich Chinese companies more than it already has.
The Big Question
It’s Friday, so let’s have a little fun. Which car not sold in the United States should be imported here? Leapmotor T03? Zeekr Van? Ford Puma ST? What do you want?
Lead Photo: Mercedes F1
I still want to buy a Honda e.
Yes! I would love one.
Bring the Jimny here! Also, it’s official: Illinois is not the Land of Gotion.
After just being in Vegas for a conference and seeing the race infrastructure in progress….I have a felling the weekend will be chaotic regardless.
First of all, thank you for visiting. Most folks think that the money in Vegas comes from tourists and gaming, but the reality is that the REAL money comes from the Convention and Trade Show side. I believe that, in the final accounting, the city will realize that F1 will cause a net financial loss when the money people realize that organizations will relocate their conventions away from Vegas – the events that normally happen in October and November – to other cities. Just getting a truck full of equipment into the Expo halls takes 3 hours now, while workers are standing around waiting for the gear. It will drive up labor costs.
Presume you are from there? Noticed the uber drivers I spoke with already said transit was an issue a month ago and only going to get worse in the runup.
I’ve lived and worked in Las Vegas since 2007. Rideshare drivers have the choice to sit home or work the residential areas. Licensed cab drivers are compelled to work on The Strip, but at least the taxi meters roll up the numbers while sitting still in traffic. And yes, all of the streets surrounding The Strip have been a nightmare since early October and it gets worse every day.
I was there when they were repaving for this fiasco event. I was fortunate enough to get a really seasoned cab driver. This guy knew his was around and every last laneway near the mess. Made great time, but for some reason his meter failed at $1. He just shrugged and offered to accept that. I chose to hammer out a fairer price. I think it was closer to $25 and we settled on that. Since you say you live there, I assume you know what the cost of living is. Even ‘shooting fish in a barrel’ with tourists on the strip is still a hard way to make a living.
Like most everywhere else in the US, wages have not even remotely kept up with the cost of living. My younger coworkers often share a 2-bedroom apartment with 5 other people. The casino owners (and the state, via taxes) are making out like bandits, while the workers struggle to survive. Welcome to America circa 2023.
Last time I was in LV it seemed like just about everyone was replaced by a QR code. It’s the future man! The future! /s
Across five businesses, two of which I have been an owner, so have had a front row seat, I have participated in conventions for over 30 years now. In the early days, LV was a giant pain in the butt. Every year there was a whine form the team of “Do we have to?” Everything from logistics to labour would be a headache.
But you know what? LV knew it had a mission and over the years has become such a well oiled machine for hosting and supporting conventions, they are the defacto superstars of this. The only complaint I now have as an attendee is putting up with the tourists while I’m there. I’m in town to work, I don’t need to stand behind some gambler chain smoking himself to death while I wait for the washroom.
Thank you for your compliments and support. However, I’m saddened to report that the industry is on the verge of reverting to those bad old days.
You see, the fat cats have seen how profitable the industry is, so they keep building more convention/tradeshow spaces, without any concern for staffing them. Jobs are going unfilled, or filled with unskilled “warm bodies”. This used to be a solid career with a good paycheck, but it has become “just a job”. I’m glad to be retiring out of it in a few years.
Nahh… one of them is doing BAD things.
https://images-stag.jazelc.com/uploads/theautopian-m2en/BMW_ix-1024×576.jpg
There should have been a trigger warning above that pic.
Honda Urban EV.
By the time they’re EPA tested and safety compliant, cheap little cars from other markets aren’t so cheap anymore.
For that Leapmotor range, that’s the WLTP cycle which is really really exaggerated, so maybe get like 100 miles out of it.
I’d like some more utes, preferably hybrid or plug in hybrid, like a Montana or Amarok or what not.
I’d love to import the Cupra Leon Sportstourer. It’s so beautiful. I want 7 of them, one for every day of the week.
As somebody who has no shits to spare about either F1 or Casinos, I hope the unions stick it to them.
Cancelling any F1 race would be like getting a call from your doctor’s office telling you you don’t have cancer after all.
I don’t know what the current contracts look like, but I talk to LV workers often about their lives when I visit on business (I do everywhere I go, I’m nosy that way) and I do know they are very overworked. Especially after the plague. I kept hearing about working multiple gigs to survive and how understaffed many workplaces were. I hope they get a great deal.
I doubt that this year’s race would get canceled over this, due to all of the disruption of closing down a bunch of core streets to setup (that other comments have highlighted). F1 eventually canceled/did not renew the race at Paul Ricard in france, partially due to the poor logistics (all access done by only 1 or 2 single lane country roads, causing 6 hour long backups).
Hope the union gets a great deal!
Volkswagen California camper van. I would love to see a small, basic, affordable-ish camper sold here. VW sold the Eurovan camper for a while here. I’m not sure why they stopped selling it, but it would be great if they brought it back (and not as an EV; I like EVs, but a BEV road trip vehicle makes no sense to me).
Oh please please please please strike. I really hope the UAW empowered other industries to hold their employers accountable.
I’m going to sound like a broken record but the i30 N fastback is perfection to me. Great shape, hatch, four doors, affordable, and has a lively engine with a stick shift. I trust Hyundai’s reliability more than VW’s these days and there are physical buttons instead of capacitive. What more could you want?
I live and work (union, but not Culinary) in Las Vegas. Calling a strike on a week before the race would be a positively *brilliant* move on the part of the Culinary Union. Aside from working under an expired contract for several months, workers (including me) are fed up with doubled and tripled commute times due to race preparations.
“Yo Mr. Casino owner, I heard you have a big race coming up next week. It sure would be a shame if something bad happened to it, wink wink.”
Whatever happens, good luck! I sincerely hope you all get exactly what you want.
I haven’t looked into it, but I imagine there’s a big problem with wages not enough for COL in the city. I live in a tourist town, and hardly another who works hospitality can actually afford to live in town.
Living and working in vegas the cost of living isn’t too bad at least compared to Denver (hey its the only other place I’ve lived) supporting a family on a single income is doable.
But the last couple of years it certainly has gotten harder. Probably like most everywhere else.
For importation practicality reasons I’ll be limiting my options to automobiles available in LHD.
Nissan eNV200
Suzuki Jimny
Toyota J70 Land Cruiser and J70 Land Cruiser Pickup
Toyota Prius 7 and Corolla 7 (seven seat wagon variants)
Toyota GR Yaris
Those are all the cars that come to mind at the moment.
I kind of understand why Toyota stopped selling the Prius V but it’s just so unfortunate. It’s insanely practical, uses no gas and requires no maintenance.
They should have just called it the Prius Cross and pretended it was a crossover and it would have sold like crazy.
I was in Vancouver the other weekend and it seemed like the Prius V was still half of the taxi fleet.
PLEASE put a trigger warning before posting pictures of the BMW iX. I feel sick now.
Seconded!
NSFW, NMS, NSFE.
It looks like Bugs Bunny trying to force a massive shit, or a Japanese character in one of those horrifically racist propaganda cartoons from WWII.
LMAO! I know exactly what you are talking about, and I’ll never be able to unsee it.
Citroën Rally with the body kit that makes it look like an H van
#1- The F1 race is the perfect time to show those bourgeois pigs how the world works. Imagine, poor Verstappen or Wolf if they can’t function without the support of the proletariat. I hope it’s complete and total chaos.
#4- If Gotion really wants to set up shop in the states, the only choice has to be Goshen, IN.
I don’t cross picket lines, but wasn’t planning to go to the Vegas GP either (living in the northeast’ll do that…)
You can always tell when someone’s copypasted an article from a UK source when they forget to change “Vauxhall” (a zombie brand) to “Opel” (the actual division with, in this case, the management who could make the call to bring something like that to Europe).
Whatever that Chinese market Lexus minivan was, god was it ugly but I want a luxury minivan here.
Suzuki Jimny
Hell to the yes.
The strikers need to get to it then… Will make things interesting.
Alpine A110
Also, BYD Seagull.
Ok, my biggest take away is the guy named Ted Pappageorge represents the union in Vegas. And Mr. Pappagiorgio left Vegas with 4 brand new cars.
I knew that name was familiar!!
I know this is related to the big question, but the Detroit Casino workers are now in their 3rd week on strike. There are 5 unions (I think) involved and interestingly enough, one of them is the UAW local 7777.
https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/local/2023/10/31/detroit-casino-workers-on-strike-lobby-for-support-in-lansing/
On the plus side, whatever happens in Las Vegas, at least we won’t have to see those stupid Bellagio F1 commercials anymore, one way or the other.
Now, if only the people behind those bearsquatch podcasts could strike
The obvious answer is Alpine A110, the less obvious answer is the Audi RS4 Avant.
Second the RS4. Want bad.