- VW Plans Big U.S. Announcement
- New Giulia Set To Make Debut
- Heavy Trucks Face New Fuel Economy Rules
- Peugeot Invests in 1st Plant in Africa
- Porsche Buys A Kuka Clock
- Carbon Fiber Helps Ford GT Style
On today’s show…Peugeot plans to open a new plant in Africa, the U.S. proposes new fuel economy standards for heavy trucks and how carbon fiber allowed designers to be creative with the Ford GT. All that and more coming right up on Autoline Daily.
This is Autoline Daily for June 22nd, 2015.
VW PLANS BIG U.S. ANNOUNCEMENT
Two big announcements coming this week. Tomorrow morning Volkswagen will host and Periscope a press conference to announce a major economic development at its Chattanooga plant. The governor and a senator and a host of dignitaries will attend. VW is hiring 200 more people at the plant, and it sure sounds like it has some kind of expansion in mind.
NEW GIULIA SET TO MAKE DEBUT
The next big announcement comes on Wednesday, when Alfa Romeo will unveil the new Giulia. The mid-size sedan will sit on Alfa’s new rear-wheel/all-wheel drive Giorgio platform and compete against the BMW 3 Series. The Giulia is scheduled to hit European showrooms early next year and hit U.S. shores a few months after that.
HEAVY TRUCKS FACE NEW FUEL ECONOMY RULES
The Obama Administration is going all out to cut CO2 emissions and now the EPA, is proposing new fuel economy standards for big semi trucks. The new rules would cut CO2 emissions by 24% starting in the 2021 model year and run until 2027. The agency isn’t mandating a specific technology, manufactures can choose how they want to meet the standards, including through improved aerodynamics. Manufacturers are also allowed to bank or trade emission credits. The new proposal is expected to cut fuel costs by $170 billion and reduce oil consumption by up to 1.8 billion barrels.
And we’ll be back with more right after this.
INTO AFRICA
Up to now, Eastern Europe has sort of been the Mexico of the Western European auto industry. Automakers built a lot of plants in Eastern Europe to take advantage of low wages. But maybe Eastern Europe is not cheap enough. Peugeot just announced it’s going to build an assembly plant in Morocco that will open in 2019. Three years ago Renault built a plant in Morocco to build the Dacia Sandero. Sales have gone so well that Renault is now making 340,000 vehicles a year in that plant. Workers in Morocco earn less than $4 an hour, compared to about $12 an hour in Eastern Europe.
PORSCHE BUYS A KUKA CLOCK
Anybody who’s ever seen a body shop in an automotive assembly plant is probably familiar with Kuka robots. The German company traces its roots back to 1898 and has been building welding lines for automotive assembly plants since the late 1950’s. But it’s in the news now because it just sold its Tool And Dies division to Porsche, which wants to build up its in-house capability in making its own tools. This is remarkable on two levels. First, that Porsche would bring more tool and die work in-house, and second, that it’s Porsche, not its parent company Volkswagen AG that is making this purchase. This shows that the different companies in the Volkswagen Group have far more autonomy than their counterparts at any other car company.
Coming up next, a look at how carbon fiber helped push the design envelope on the new Ford GT.
CARBON FIBER HELPS FORD GT STYLE
On last week’s Autoline After Hours we were joined by Craig Metros, the exterior designer of the new Ford GT. In the following clip, Craig talks about how carbon fiber helped push the limits of the GT’s style.
(The AAH preview is only available in the video version of today’s show.)
Craig shares a lot of great inside design tidbits like that in the show, so make sure you check it out on our website or our YouTube channel.
And be sure to join us for this week’s After Hours when our special guest will be David Woodhouse, the chief designer for Lincoln. He’s the one who designed the new Continental, which is not without controversy. But be sure to join John and Gary for some of the best insider discussions in the business.
And that wraps up today’s report, please join us again tomorrow.
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Comments (18)
June 22nd, 2015 at 12:48 pm
For Pedro…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5G2zQ_3xTc
June 22nd, 2015 at 1:21 pm
KUKA clock… Kute!
June 22nd, 2015 at 1:53 pm
If VW announced a new ladder frame compact truck, that would be produced in the US…That would rattle some cages. Of course, it would have a diesel engine.
June 22nd, 2015 at 1:57 pm
Thanks T.B. That makes me wanna go and buy a stick shift! If only we did not have wall to wall traffic 24/7 around here. But it still does not explain why some claim that this is like having an extra gear.
June 22nd, 2015 at 2:37 pm
When cars first started using locking torque converters in the ’70′s, it seemed like an extra gear as the engine slowed down when the converter locked.
June 22nd, 2015 at 2:53 pm
No such sensation here Kit, when this Crapolla tries to do highway speeds, that motor sounds like it’s ready to blow up, good thing I don’t have a tach otherwise the hair in the back of my neck would stand up with fear!
June 22nd, 2015 at 3:41 pm
Like Kit said, when the TCC (torque converter clutch) engages, the slip is eliminated making the engine input a one to one ratio to the output shaft from the transmission; previously the output was reduced to about 90% (the figure used in the video). While not an extra gear, the elimination of wasted energy performs as one. And knowing this, it is understandable that that is why the automatic transmission used to be called a ‘slush box’ as the input and output was not direct.
June 22nd, 2015 at 4:05 pm
Pedro, it’s possible that your converter lockup is not working, while the transmission is otherwise working normally. This would result in higher revs and worse gas mileage at highway speed.
June 22nd, 2015 at 5:16 pm
@ Chuck G: “Slush” was a term used to describe the old fluid drive-dynaflow.There was no shifting.I had one in a 53 caddy series 62 sedan.
June 22nd, 2015 at 5:18 pm
I’ll see you guys next monday.My wife and I are moving so we won’t have internet,(or cable….waaaaa) till late saturday.
Remember,drive fast,pass on hills and curves,and have phunn.
June 22nd, 2015 at 5:28 pm
Take care, GA
June 22nd, 2015 at 5:34 pm
I wonder if there is a way I can determine if my T.Converter is not working, I just assumed I got horrendous highway mpg’s because of a 3 speed, but now I remember all my previous cars also had 3 speeds and this was never an issue.
June 22nd, 2015 at 5:44 pm
I read online that I need to observe tach as I drive over 40 mph and give it a little gas to see how it reacts, but I have no tach, so there goes that!
June 22nd, 2015 at 6:04 pm
12, 13 If you accelerate slowly from a standing start, you should probably feel, an hear the 1-2 shift, then the 2-3 shift, and then another drop in rpm, I’m guessing at 30-some mph if you accelerate gently. Also, if you are going a steady speed fast enough that the torque convertor should be locked, I’d think 45 should be enough, if you step on the gas lightly and the converter IS locked, the engine should rev up only as the car speeds up. If the converter is NOT locking, the engine will rev more than proportially with the car speed. It’s easier to tell with a tach, but you should be able to hear it, probably best with windows up. Hope this makes sense, and good luck.
June 22nd, 2015 at 6:22 pm
Sean,
That was interesting info on what workers in Africa(Morocco) , and eastern Europe make a hour . Can you go further and show what all Areas making car make per hour, Example US , Canada, Mexico, South America, Japan , China, India, Western Europe? It would be good to see what our workers are up against.
June 22nd, 2015 at 7:25 pm
Kit, I have noticed lately that at cruising speeds, I feel the car losing speed, without letting up on the gas, I thought I may have fuel injector issues, but now I’m thinking transmission problems could be the cause.
June 23rd, 2015 at 5:52 am
Pedro, if you are having TCC issues, and your Toyota is post 1996 (you’ll have the OBD2 diagnostics), you should have a stored or history code of a TCC malfunction; should be a P0740, P0741 or similar.
July 4th, 2015 at 9:12 pm
Packard Ultramatic had a lock up converter in 1950