AD #1508 – Honda May Take Big Image Hit, Are You My Mother? Autonomy Could Drive Economy
November 25th, 2014 at 11:50am
Runtime: 7:04
- Honda Facing Major Fines
- Global Sales Nearing 100 Million
- Audi’s Giant Tablet
- No Driving Lessons Required in China
- Lexus’ Furious Spindle Grille
- Autonomy Could Drive Economy
Visit our sponsors to thank them for their support of Autoline Daily: Bridgestone and Dow Automotive Systems.
»Subscribe to Podcast | 
| 
| Listen on Phone 
| 
Honda’s corporate image could take a hit. Could this be the original spindle grille? And how autonomous cars could supercharge the global economy. All that and more coming right up on Autoline Daily.
This is Autoline Daily for November 25th, 2014.
HONDA FACING MAJOR FINES
Honda has one of the best corporate images in the business. But it is now facing a fine from the U.S. government because it did not report a significant amount of injuries and deaths that involved its cars. Honda admitted to NHTSA that it did not disclose over 1,700 injury or death claims going back to 2003. The agency is still conducting an investigation which could lead to Honda being fined a maximum of $35 million dollars. But here’s our Autoline Insight. We would not be surprised to see the Department of Justice get involved. And remember, it fined Toyota $1.2 billion for misleading statements about safety issues in its vehicles. Honda’s actions are not as serious as Toyota’s but the political climate in Washington right now is to take no prisoners when it comes to automotive safety.
GLOBAL SALES NEARING 100 MILLION
Even though the global auto industry is facing headwinds in Europe, Japan, China and most of South America, new car sales just keep going up and up and up. For the first 10 months of this year, automakers sold 71 million new cars, trucks and busses. That’s up 2.3% from a year ago. And that puts the industry on pace to sell more than 85 million vehicles for the year. Many analysts believe the global industry will hit 100 million before this decade is out.
AUDI’S GIANT TABLET
Automakers keep trying to outdo each other at auto shows. Check out what Audi did at the LA show where it turned a portion of its display into one gigantic tablet. It’s an interactive mural that allows up to 6 users at a time, experiencing Audi’s vehicles and its core technologies. It’s a pretty cool way to get people interacting with your vehicles, but we’re still waiting for someone to incorporate augmented reality into their display.
Still to come, China may let you buy a new car even if you’ve never taken any driver training. One of our viewers thinks this could be the original spindle grille. and how autonomous cars could turbocharge the global economy.
NO LESSONS REQUIRED
China has the largest auto market in the world but it wants to encourage even more people to buy a set of shiny new wheels. But we don’t like this idea at all. Bloomberg reports that China is thinking about allowing citizens to skip driving lessons before taking a test to get their license. Those lessons can cost up to $1500 and waiving this requirement will obviously make it easier to get a license. But China already has the highest traffic accident rate in the world. Officially 100,000 people are killed in motor vehicle accidents a year. Unofficially, some safety advocates put the number at 200,000.
DOH!
Whoops, we need to make a correction here. In our V6 comparison of the new F-150’s fuel economy to the Ram 1500, we used the fuel economy of the EcoDiesel not the gasoline V6 version. So instead of supposedly getting 3 more miles per gallon, we should said the Ram gets 1 more mile-per-gallon better than the Ford. Doh! And thanks to my AAH co-host Gary Vasilash for catching our mistake.
Did you see our LA auto show coverage? We have a collection of short interviews with top automotive executives showing off their newest cars. And we’ve got a link in the show notes that will take you to one page that has all of our LA coverage. This allows you to jump to the exact interview you want to see, like our walkaround of the all-new Mazda CX-3 with Design Director, Derek Jenkins or a close-up look at the new 300 with Chrysler brand President and CEO, Al Gardner.
LEXUS’ FURIOUS SPINDLE GRILLE
These days it seems like there are no new movie ideas coming out of Hollywood, but at times the same could be said about the auto industry. Gary from Florida wrote in to say that he thinks Lexus may have got its spindle grille design from the 1960’s Plymouth Fury. He says he sees Lexus all over it and adds as the saying goes “There’s nothing new under the sun.” But what do you think? Did Lexus designers take a look at the Fury and say, “hey this might work?” And who do you think did it better, Lexus or Plymouth? Just let us know in the comments section.
Coming up next, how autonomous cars could provide the global economy with the greatest stimulus program the world has ever seen.
AUTONOMY COULD DRIVE ECONOMY
The auto industry has its own dictionary of acronyms, abbreviations and dedicated jargon. So now you can add AVs to the list. That’s what they’re calling autonomous vehicles. We can argue where and when AVs will first first be sold to the public. But there’s no question that they are on the way. Level Four cars, which is how NHTSA defines full autonomy, where you wouldn’t even need a steering wheel, could supercharge the global economy. A study from Morgan Stanley says that the global savings from AVs could come to $5.6 trillion. That’s more than the entire GDP of Japan. Morgan Stanley says those savings would come from fewer traffic accidents, fewer fatalities, lower fuel consumption and greater productivity. In fact, it says with people working in their cars instead of driving them, global productivity will shoot up by more than half a trillion dollars. In the United States alone, the study says $1.3 trillion in savings will boost the economy. Others suggest that a dramatic reduction in traffic accidents will free up so many hospitals and medical facilities that it will slash health care costs. There are still plenty of technical, legal and legislative kinks to be worked out before the world is ready for AVs. But these stats show how beneficial and transformative this technology can be.
And that brings us to the end of today’s report. Thanks for watching.
Thanks to our Partners for embedding Autoline Daily on their websites: Autoblog and WardsAuto.com
Share
Embed
Permalink
Comments (36)
November 25th, 2014 at 12:08 pm
I’m not sure if the Plymouth fury had the first spindle grill or not, but I would point out that the front end design for that 1961 Plymouth was very short lived. IMHO; ugly then and not any prettier now.
November 25th, 2014 at 12:15 pm
I agree with Mike, the spindle grill is not one of my favorites. Wish someone would pull the designers at Toyota/Lexus aside and tell them enough with this look. And frankly, having looked at both the Avalon and the ES 350 interiors, I think Lexus needs to take some lessons from their less-expensive brethren in that regard as well.
November 25th, 2014 at 12:20 pm
When you talk about autonomous vehicles that will drive the future economy I have to ask myself will people want to use the vehicle in autonomous mode all of the time? Will the guy who buys a Ferrari, Vette or some other high end sports car want to let a computer drive for them. I know I would not. I work as an automotive technician and I see vehicles come in with automatic climate control units, 99 times out of a 100 the unit is switched to manual mode. I can see the benefits of autonomous vehicles, but not sure I would use it most or all of the time.
November 25th, 2014 at 12:22 pm
Plymouth; but both need to be snuck up on…ugly
November 25th, 2014 at 12:22 pm
Great Show today, I think that Lexus reinvented the Grill originally shown on the ’50s Plymouth, but the update sure is much easier on the eyes than the original!
November 25th, 2014 at 12:31 pm
Lexus/Plymouth spindle grill: Ugly then,and still ugly now.
AV’s,the art of driving is fading fast due in part to all the electronic distractions built into new vehicles,so maybe fully autonomous vehicles will be a good thing…
November 25th, 2014 at 12:55 pm
I was always a Mopar fan as a kid, but when the ’61′s came out, I thought them quite strange looking, including the ’61 Plymouth in the photo. That was the same car that had the “magnetic flashlight” tail lights. I was 15 at the time.
November 25th, 2014 at 12:55 pm
See? See how far ahead of his time was Virgil Exner? What was really weird in 1960 is now hip and cool. Maybe Lexus will poach the horse collar from the Edsel next!
November 25th, 2014 at 1:05 pm
I did not like spindle grills back in the day and I still don’t today. As far as AV’s they are one more step towards driving an appliance. Will car makers name their vehicles LG, Maytag, or Samsung or will they use veteran names such as Kelvinator, Philco, or Norge?
November 25th, 2014 at 1:13 pm
7, The car in the photo is a 1961. The ’61 big Dodges were really strange looking.
The ’60 Plymouth was more typical of an Exner design, and, to me, the ’60 big Dodges looked good when new, and look good now.
November 25th, 2014 at 1:20 pm
Even if you don’t like “spindle” grills, the ’61 Plymouth looked good compared to the Dodge, at least to me.
http://jalopnik.com/5815564/1961-dodge-dart-seneca-is-a-well-restored-ugly-duckling
The Dart, as in this article, was a big car in 1960 and ’61.
November 25th, 2014 at 1:55 pm
I see AVs becoming more mainstream. I see more companies that will “sell” automotive transportation time. It will be far cheaper than ownership.
November 25th, 2014 at 2:09 pm
So cars won’t crash or speed, and marijuana will be legal. How’s Smokey going to keep busy? Catching tax dodging cigarrette runners?
November 25th, 2014 at 2:15 pm
The lawyers will be busy when the computers crash, causing the cars to crash.
November 25th, 2014 at 2:22 pm
13 Yes, but when lawyers move money from one pocket to another that’s the economy humming.
____
More AV please
Yesterday the leaf laden roads around here were slick as snot after a rain storm and I found myself in a four wheel drift around a bend I take daily. Fun for me, of course, but I spoke to a guy who came upon an accident where someone lost it around a bend, went through a guard rail, and into a marsh. An AV car will likely be able to sense grip better than people, and slow it all down.
November 25th, 2014 at 3:34 pm
It is nice to see people starting to consider the broader implications on society and the economy regarding AVs. It is what I’ve been trying to say for months now. I watched the microprocessor appear, then mature and transform our society in seemingly miraculous and unanticipated ways.
The AV will do it again.
November 25th, 2014 at 4:15 pm
Brett, as I read MS’ release, “Morgan Stanley Research analysts held brainstorming sessions with top executives in the auto industry to help develop a specific vision of what the industry’s future might look like. In doing so, they broke new ground on the topic by focusing on areas that have not yet been addressed.”
Oh yeah? Like what new ground? Sorry, John, that some risible dook right there. Nothing else in the release wasn’t thin cold soup. I’d like to know what great new ideas the bankers presented to the car guys. What new business model? Some new financial arbitrage? Why do you publish this rubbish, AAH?
November 25th, 2014 at 6:10 pm
Maybe I’m just getting old but I look forward to AVs as long as they keep all the parts needed to drive manually in case the system goes belly up. I know I love my cruise control and would love not having to manually drive in rush hour stop and go traffic anymore, my blood pressure would also benefit if the AV systems took the wheel out of the hands of all the rude and inconsiderate drivers out there.
November 25th, 2014 at 6:23 pm
John,
The Plymouth/Lexus grill debate is a no brainer!It’s Plymouth by a much prettier face. Just another example of how good the Japanese are at copying others’ ideas. The Honda Ridgeline vs the 1960 Ford unibody trucks comes to mind.
Regards,
Steve Ashley
November 25th, 2014 at 6:29 pm
Am I the only one who is irritated by all the breaks and commercial on this blog? 4 interuptions in a 7 minute long segment. I have followed this from the 1st episode ,but all these damn breaks are a PITA.
November 25th, 2014 at 6:30 pm
So Lexus “steals” the Fury grille. Eh, not a big deal BMW has used a modified Edsel grille for years.
November 25th, 2014 at 6:32 pm
China waiving driver training. Sounds like they are attempting a new way of population control. If 100-200K are dying on the roads with “trained” drivers that will probably double.
November 25th, 2014 at 6:34 pm
John and staff: Please do not start Autoline with a picture like that. My computer automatically rebooted because it thought it was the ugly stick virus.
November 25th, 2014 at 6:44 pm
20, I just read the transcript, except sometimes when it’s noted that part of the show is only on the video.
November 25th, 2014 at 6:48 pm
23, Did you check the link in #11? That ,61 Plymouth looks pretty good compared to its Dodge counterpart, IMHO.
November 25th, 2014 at 7:01 pm
The grille you show is a 1961 Plymouth, not a 60 but I still say both the Lexus & the Plymouth are ugly. Seems too that that year of Chrysler Corporation cars styling cost Virgil Exner (also know as Virgil Excess)his job.
November 25th, 2014 at 7:16 pm
26, It seemed that, in ’61, he just wanted to get away from the tall fins, but the results were not good, at least on Plymouth and Dodge. The Chryslers were ok, as I remember. 1960 was the last year for DeSoto.
November 25th, 2014 at 7:16 pm
I rather think the Plymouth Fury was channeling the housekeeper from the Jetsons.
https://www.google.com/search?q=betty+jetsons&rlz=1CAZZAC_enUS596US598&es_sm=122&tbm=isch&imgil=WBEHN9Pyko4fWM%253A%253BXSPpWvp3jjvBNM%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.comicvine.com%25252Fthe-flintstones-and-the-jetsons%25252F4050-11857%25252Fcharacters%25252F&source=iu&pf=m&fir=WBEHN9Pyko4fWM%253A%252CXSPpWvp3jjvBNM%252C_&usg=__gCPsMK69KbZcnykf4oJiOxDRahU%3D&biw=1366&bih=633&ved=0CDwQyjc&ei=Nhp1VLCIIpGAsQTY7oII#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=WBEHN9Pyko4fWM%253A%3BXSPpWvp3jjvBNM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fstatic.comicvine.com%252Fuploads%252Fsquare_small%252F6%252F64684%252F1319394-jetsons_color_6.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.comicvine.com%252Fthe-flintstones-and-the-jetsons%252F4050-11857%252Fcharacters%252F%3B320%3B320
But then dominatrixes are as dominatrixes do. Keep it up Toyota.
November 25th, 2014 at 7:22 pm
27, Correction. There were a few ’61 DeSotos which were essentially low end Chryslers, with a two tier grill.
November 25th, 2014 at 8:29 pm
Kit, now I can’t un-see that Dodge! I have to go look at 67 GTO for an hour for cleansing.
November 25th, 2014 at 8:49 pm
To me, the low for GM in that era was 1958. The top-of-the-line Buick Limited had about 500 pounds of chrome plated die cast do-dads on the side, and the car just looked bulbous. The ’58 Olds wasn’t much better. Yeah, the ’67 GTO and other GM intermediates of that time looked pretty good.
November 25th, 2014 at 9:53 pm
I did,and still do,love the 58 Impala.A very classy ride.
November 25th, 2014 at 10:00 pm
I like ’58 Chevys ok. To me, they were the best looking GM products of that year.
November 25th, 2014 at 11:03 pm
The 59 Impala was uglier than an Aztek
November 26th, 2014 at 9:24 am
Funny, but the 1959 Chevy couple/convertible is the only one that this “Ford guy” and his Chevy-loving wife agree that we’d like to own.
November 26th, 2014 at 2:13 pm
The spindle grille takes the cake in the gimmicky styling contest. Too ugly for words and a deal breaker for me.