AD #1566 – Don’t Worry Be Honda, Will Magna Build its Own Car? Ford’s New Racing Strategy
February 27th, 2015 at 11:59am
Runtime: 8:41
- Honda Won’t Compromise to Beat Nissan
- Getting to the Bottom of Takata
- Will Magna Build Its Own Car?
- Meet the Mercedes-AMG GT3
- Kia’s Wagon Design Philosophy
- Ford’s New Approach to Racing and Performance
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On today’s show… Ford Performance is turning into a PD and R&D test bed… could an automotive supplier actually start building its own sports cars?… and Honda is more than willing to let Nissan surpass it in sales. All that and more coming right up on Autoline Daily.
This is Autoline Daily for February 27th, 2015.
HONDA SHRUGS
Nissan is almost certainly going to surpass Honda in sales in the US market this year. In fact, Bloomberg quotes Nissan’s Jose Munoz bragging that his company has a huge advantage over Honda because of its full size pickup. But Honda’s executive vice president Jeff Conrad tells Autoline that Honda is not going to change its strategy simply to stay ahead of Nissan. He says Honda will not deviate from strategy of only offering retail sales. It will continue to avoid fleet sales to protect its dealers and keep its residuals high. It’s also going to turn away buyers who need long term financing, with loans that can last 6 years. “We’re not going to compromise our values to beat Nissan,” Conrad says.
TAKATA’S SAGA
This Takata airbag defect is forcing automakers to collaborate in a way we’ve never seen before in the history of the auto industry. Ten automakers have joined together to try and discover the root cause of what’s causing these airbags to fail: BMW, FCA, Ford, GM, Honda, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Subaru and Toyota. And now those automakers announced that they hired an aerospace and defense firm called Orbital ATK, which is based in Virginia, to do the investigation. And just to make sure its viewed as an independent effort, former NHTSA administrator, David Kelly, will oversee the investigation.
Still to come, could an automotive supplier actually build cars and compete against its customers?… Kia reveals its design strategy behind that good looking Sportspace wagon… and Ford makes its racing programs much more strategic to the future of the company.
A SUPPLIER OEM?
Carmakers aren’t the only ones with that will have new vehicles at next week’s Geneva show. Auto supplier Magna revealed a hybrid sports car concept called the MILA Plus that will debut at the show. This two-seater is powered by a 3.0L gasoline engine and two electric motors. It has a number of lightweight features including an extruded aluminum space frame, that also integrates the battery, and plastic body panels. Thanks to the powertrain and lightweight materials, the MILA Plus has a range of 75 kilometers or 46 miles in pure EV driving. Magna has been dying to build its own car going back several decades, but never went through with it because it could be dangerous for a supplier to compete against the car companies, it’s customers.But Magna has an assembly plant in Steyr, Austria, so who knows? Maybe this time it will actually pull the trigger.
GEE, NO GT3
Last year Mercedes revealed the replacement for its SLS sports car, the AMG GT. And at next week’s Geneva show the company will debut the racing version. Meet the Mercedes-AMG GT3 with its 6.3L V8 naturally aspirated engine and six-speed sequential transmission under the hood. The car will compete in the FIA GT3 Series and will ship to teams at the end of the year.
CIRCLE THE WAGONS
Earlier this month, Kia revealed a great looking wagon concept called the SPORTSPACE. And now the company is giving us a look into the car’s design philosophy. Even though it is a wagon, designers added some cues to set it apart from other cars in that segment. Its D-pillar is moved forward and the liftgate looks more like a hatchback. To give it an athletic and muscular look, it has high belt line and a strong character line that run from front to back. It’s got a panoramic sunroof, to make the interior feel even more open. To clean up the look of the interior, designers removed the central air vents, and the rear view mirror is replaced by a screen that shows images from a rear camera. Those are just some of the highlights. If you want more info click the link in today’s transcript.
If you haven’t seen it yet, check out the Seat Time section of our website, where we have reviews of the test cars coming through the Autoline Garage. Why did I not like my time in the Toyota Prius? you can read all about it in Seat Time.
Coming up next, how Ford is now going to use its racing programs as a research and development tool.
Ford recently took all its performance and racing car development and put it into a new group that it calls Ford Performance. Not only will this group develop performance cars and oversee the company’s racing efforts, its now going to work directly with product development and research and development to fast track new technologies and become a test bed on how these technologies can be brought to mass production. Last night on Autoline After Hours, Dave Pericak, the head of Ford Performance and Jamie Allison, who oversees the racing activities joined Gary Vasilash and me to talk about the new approach. Take a listen.
(The excerpt from Autoline After Hours is only available in the video version of today’s program.)
You can watch that entire show right now on our website or YouTube channel and let me tell you, it’s a great show with a lot of insights as to what Ford is up to.
But that wraps up this week’s Autoline Daily. Please join us again Monday as we bring you some of the most important breaking developments in the global automotive industry.
Thanks to our partner for embedding Autoline Daily on its website: WardsAuto.com
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Comments (23)
February 27th, 2015 at 12:07 pm
I don’t think Honda is ready to let Nissan surpass it in sales. I think they had the same thing happen to them as did Toyota. They took their eyes off of quality, and got bitten. They won’t let this happen again, even if it means less sales.
February 27th, 2015 at 12:11 pm
If you’ve ever been a part of a “supplier” quality issue you know right from the start that the fingers are only pointed one way; at the supplier. Despite the required OE signoffs, it is the supplier’s fault. Then the arguing begins with how evil the supplier is and how we will get them to take the total $ hit for the problem. Getting an independent judgment about the airbag problem might be a great way to bring some objectivity to the problem. No one needs another Firestone debacle.
February 27th, 2015 at 12:17 pm
If Magna gets into the car business by building its own car, at least they are entering a segment that won’t step on too many toes. Part of the trap, though, may be that the segment that they might enter isn’t huge so they also have to deal with scavenging sales (from an already fairly crowded/fully covered segment of the market). Their car certainly has ‘the looks’, so wishing them luck; the more the merrier.
February 27th, 2015 at 1:22 pm
It seems to me, that Nissan is doing poorly in that they don’t far outsell Honda in the U.S., given that they offer almost twice as many models in the U.S. market.
February 27th, 2015 at 1:29 pm
John – It’s interesting that Ford is using its racing programs as a research and development tool. However, that’s not exactly new at Ford Motor Company, as you well know. Henry Ford and Barney Oldfield were doing that very thing at Ford Motor Company way back in 1902, well over one hundred years ago. I seem to remember a picture of Henry Ford and Barney Oldfield working on the Old 999 racing automobile. And Henry Ford wasn’t shy about transferring what he had learned while racing into production, just like today.
February 27th, 2015 at 1:30 pm
Nissan has always trailed both Toyota and Honda as far as Japanese brands go, their reliability has taken a hit lately. Nissan owners are among the least satisfied with their purchases.
February 27th, 2015 at 1:44 pm
I just read John’s “Seat Time” in a Prius, and I wouldn’t have thought he was driving the same car as I drive on a regular basis. The 2015 he drove is basically the same car as my 2010.
The 3rd generation Prius is near the end of it’s run, but I still like it just fine, as the ultimate transportation appliance, which is what it was designed to be. John’s driving it just after a $100K BMW might influence his feelings of the Prius, though. Maybe that is why he found the Prius to be noisy. The expensive, loaded Prius John drove would be noisier, and ride worse than my basic Prius, though, because the expensive ones have larger wheels and low profile tires.
It was an interesting review, John, in that different people view the same car so differently.
February 27th, 2015 at 1:45 pm
I just read John’s “Seat Time” in a Prius, and I wouldn’t have thought he was driving the same car as I drive on a regular basis. The 2015 he drove is basically the same car as my 2010.
The 3rd generation Prius is near the end of it’s run, but I still like it just fine, as the ultimate transportation appliance, which is what it was designed to be. John’s driving it just after a $100K BMW might influence his feelings of the Prius, though. Maybe that is why he found the Prius to be noisy. The expensive, loaded Prius John drove would be noisier, and ride worse than my basic Prius, though, because the expensive ones have larger wheels and low profile tires.
It was an interesting review, John, in that different people view the same car so differently.
February 27th, 2015 at 1:58 pm
5 I don’t know if it was “999,” but I remember an early Ford speed record car at the Henry Ford Museum that I found very interesting, in that it had an open crankcase with the crankshaft, con rods, etc. exposed. I don’t remember if it had grease fittings on the rod caps, or if oil was pumped to the bearings, which ran out on the ground.
February 27th, 2015 at 2:20 pm
Only in USA is Honda bigger than Nissan. In Japan Nissan is #2 and Honda #3. Never understood why only the US had Honda as #2 for Japanese manufactures. It must of been because of the 90′s with Nissan where they build Garbage cars based on the bean counters.
February 27th, 2015 at 3:11 pm
When AAH asked for question to put to Thursday evening’s Ford racing quests I thought it was too provocative to ask which budget the racing program was in, R&D or marketing. For the future, I’m going to have to recalibrate my tact-o-meter.
(Note; Renault’s Formula1 engine boss said recently that the company was in F1 for marketing reasons. Ooof!)
February 27th, 2015 at 3:21 pm
Oops, double post.
Last year might not have been so good for Renault marketing. I wouldn’t place any bets on this year either. I hope they do better and stick it out, though, or F1 will almost be spec racing like everything else.
February 27th, 2015 at 3:24 pm
It is not quite an epiphany that Ford is using racing in its R&D for their production cars (they have for many years). In one form or another most/all manufacturers that race either list it under, marketing or R&D. It is more rhetoric as to whether it comes from ‘which’ budget (if they are, in fact, so divided). But, all in all, it ‘is’ a good thing (racing being used for development of street cars). I believe the point that the Ford engineers were making was a re-emphasis on that fact.
February 27th, 2015 at 3:38 pm
11 The boss was making noises like Renault was considering buying a team for themselves, partly because when RedBull wins it isn’t Renault that gets the great benefits.
February 27th, 2015 at 3:50 pm
Kudos to Honda for not getting caught up in being #1. I particularly like that Honda will not finance long-term (6 years or longer in this case). Unfortunately, though, customers will still be able to get 6 or 7 year notes from other lenders. Nevertheless, Honda is wise to not follow suit just to try earn more sales–on the finance side.
February 27th, 2015 at 5:43 pm
13 They should buy the old Renault team. They might do ok this year, since they now have Mercedes engines.
February 27th, 2015 at 8:05 pm
That new Mercedes race model has a grill that is reminiscent of a fifties Kurtis indianapolis race car.
February 28th, 2015 at 9:38 am
No wonder Ito was sacked at Honda. Products are uninspired (yet reliable). In a growth market in the U.S. you are losing ground. Why not use the tools available to at least match the competition. Turning away buyers who want a 6 or 7 year loan just means you lost a customer to Toyota, GM, or even Chrysler. With the competition narrowing the gap in terms of reliability, Honda loses not just 1 sale but the next 2 or 3 vehicles they buy.
February 28th, 2015 at 10:09 am
I wonder if it was Ito’s decision to use the Model T color palette for the 4 cylinder manual Accord Coupe. At least they sell an Accord Coupe, for now.
March 1st, 2015 at 8:23 pm
I just saw a Kia Dog Hundred ad on ESPN while at a bar/restaurant. Does that name really make sense for a car?
March 1st, 2015 at 11:18 pm
@ #19 Not at $50K !
March 2nd, 2015 at 5:39 am
The Kia K9 was specifically name changed to the K900 (seemingly for that real reason). It seems that the K9 designation remains outside of the U.S. and Canada.
March 2nd, 2015 at 11:51 am
Will make one hell of a used car bargain in a few years for sure!