Stephen Wilmot

The Wall Street Journal's European autos reporter. Alum of the WSJ Heard on the Street column.

[Jonathan Cheng @JChengWSJ]

Will Volkswagen’s Massive ‘Made for China’ Bet Pay Off?—The automaker has spent billions developing cars ‘in China, for China.’ It is about to find out if the Chinese will buy them.
@StephenWilmot
https://t.co/a5oPlJoPR6
https://t.co/a5oPlJoPR6

[Christoph Kapalschinski @kapalschinski]

Was kann Xiaomi besser als Volkswagen? Ein Besuch in den Elektroauto-Werken zweier ungleicher Rivalen in Peking und Hefei @WELTAMSONNTAG

[Lingling Wei 魏玲灵 @Lingling_Wei]

At the Beijing auto show, Chinese electric-vehicle brands showed off the kind of three-row sport-utility vehicles American families often buy @StephenWilmot @LandersWSJ https://t.co/d3PrG9iBJN via @WSJ

[Jonathan Cheng @JChengWSJ]

Ford, Geely Held Talks About Bringing Chinese Tech to America—The automakers have discussed a tie-up in Europe, but any U.S. collaboration would be politically fraught
@StephenWilmot @raffaelehuang @sharonterlep
https://t.co/Z2NBVdhxMx
https://t.co/Z2NBVdhxMx

[Jonathan Cheng @JChengWSJ]

@StephenWilmot @PerezEnMexico “I can’t imagine what people would say in a blind testing with BYD models,” said Ramón Solís of Grupo Surman, which runs dealerships for BYD and other carmakers in Mexico. “U.S. consumers will soon start seeing what they are missing.”
https://t.co/ir83VFUWoM

[Ephie Bernstein @EphieBernstein]

@StephenWilmot
writes about the Chicken Tax in @WSJ

The 1960s ‘Chicken Tax’ Shows the Lasting Impact of Tariffs

Imported pickups have long incurred a 25% tariff, keeping production within North America but raising little revenue for Washington

https://t.co/ay0efOzTBJ

[Felix Hamer • electricfelix @electricfelix]

"VW said it maintains that the future of the auto industry is electric, but noted that global automotive markets are adapting to the transition at different speeds.

It is keeping its combustion engines technologically competitive while simultaneously investing in electric models & software." @domchopping ✍️

[SSO Report @SupercarOwner]

Quite a good an interest article on Ferrari https://t.co/xcRjQR6DQx by @StephenWilmot Here’s the analysis of their 2024 results https://t.co/AjnC57lYxA

[Intern Pierre @internpierre]

Great piece by @StephenWilmot $RACE

https://t.co/cceRIdy1aN

[Jon Sindreu @jonsindreu]

The Wild Economics Behind Ferrari’s Domination of the Luxury Car Market https://t.co/Q7bx3R2fZ0 by @StephenWilmot

[Jonathan Cheng @JChengWSJ]

Volvo CEO Jim Rowan: Global car brands have lost to local rivals in China and the competition is now “rippling out” overseas. “Those Western brands who are no longer able to compete in China now need to compete in other parts of the world.”
@StephenWilmot
https://t.co/TGZFQq90yv

[Daily Chartbook @dailychartbook]

"Many automakers use Mexico and Canada as manufacturing bases for the U.S. market, making the industry one of the biggest potential losers from the threatened 25% tariffs."

@StephenWilmot

[Atlantic Council GeoEconomics Center @ACGeoEcon]

📚What we're reading

"Europe’s carmakers used to rule the world. Now they are fighting battles on every front," writes @StephenWilmot for the @WSJ.

Read on the challenges potential US tariffs under Trump pose for the European car industry here⬇️
https://t.co/16YhEnp0A4

[Omer Keilaf @KeilafOmer]

1/ The Mobileye Drive Platform is going to empower a full suite of solutions, from Robotaxi, shuttles, Public Transport, Ride Pooling and AGVs.

Each set of vehicle will be equipped with 9 InnovizTwo LiDARs (3 long range and 6 Short range)

Let’s take a look

[Lei 𝕏ing邢磊 @leixing77]

"VW’s big wake-up call was the Shanghai auto show in April 2023, when the carmaker saw firsthand that digital features such as automated driving and voice control were proliferating on Chinese cars, while Cariad kept on missing deadlines.

A few months later, VW announced a deal to collaborate with Chinese startup Xpeng to jointly develop tech-forward EVs. But Steiner said VW knew that using Chinese technology in the rest of the world was a nonstarter."

VW's survival seems to be hinged on two companies:
Xpeng in China
Rivian the rest of the world.

Volkswagen and Rivian are trying to address each other’s core weakness through a partnership that VW’s CEO is calling a “perfect match” https://t.co/mrNiGnR5xi via @WSJ

[Felix Hamer • electricfelix @electricfelix]

WSJ's storytelling easy winner today, by @StephenWilmot & @McLainSean ✍️

Inside VW and Rivian’s $5.8 Billion Bet to Rescue Each Other

"In August, a small team of @volkswagen executives and engineers flew from Germany to Palo Alto, Calif., to take a top-secret vehicle for a spin.

Originally built as an electric @Audi, the vehicle had been shipped to the U.S. startup @Rivian Automotive earlier in the year in an experiment to see if it could fuse Silicon Valley tech prowess with German engineering.

The Germans were impressed by what they found in California: a car that had been retrofitted so that the controls for everything from air conditioning to rear-axle steering could be updated wirelessly through a laptop.

VW had spent years and billions of dollars trying to build a digital-first car like this, and Rivian had produced a promising prototype in less than three months.

“To get this up and running in the car within such a short time, even if you work day and night, this is really great,” said Michael Steiner, VW’s head of research and development, in a recent interview at the company headquarters in Wolfsburg.

Now the two companies are taking the partnership to the next level, in a deal that aims to address a core weakness for each: VW gets much-needed technology and Rivian gets much-needed cash."

[Heard on the Street @WSJheard]

There was a gnarly Tesla crash last night - @StephenWilmot with the details https://t.co/NK88xBjgzm $TSLA

[Jonathan Cheng @JChengWSJ]

China already dominates electric-vehicle technology. Now it seems to have caught up with the West in the bumpy race to automate driving, too.
@StephenWilmot
https://t.co/66u32leSQe
https://t.co/66u32leSQe

[Heard on the Street @WSJheard]

Tesla's rivals to achieve actual "Full Self Driving" are in China says @StephenWilmot https://t.co/H1moXcqvhN $TSLA

[WSJ Markets @WSJmarkets]

Heard on the Street: Americans have had plenty of reasons to avoid car dealerships, but it is testimony to the strength of the economy that more aren’t being put off, writes @StephenWilmot https://t.co/6ul031PvLt