AD #1709 – More Bad News for VW, New Ford Focus RS Documentary, Cali Wants EVs for the Masses
September 25th, 2015 at 11:46am
Runtime: 9:21
- More Bad News for VW
- Chevy Silverado Updates
- Nissan Displays Titan XD in Texas
- Suppliers Need to Be More Social
- New Ford Focus RS Documentary
- Uber Expands Services
- Cali Wants EVs for the Masses
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On today’s show… California is offering incentives for used electric cars, Uber offers a new service that could really hurt car sales and the VW scandal goes from bad to worse. All that and more coming right up on Autoline Daily.
This is Autoline Daily for September 25th, 2015.
MORE BAD NEWS FOR VW
VW’s emissions scandal is going from bad to worse. Bloomberg reports that VW faces 60 class action lawsuits in the U.S., including actions filed by the attorneys general in 27 states. Even the FBI has opened an investigation. And the German Transport minister announced that the diesel scandal also involves VW’s light commercial vehicles.The mess could cost the company it’s Number One ranking in terms of car sales. Morgan Stanley predicts the scandal will reduce VW’s worldwide sales by 400,000 vehicles next year. That would put Toyota in the lead. And more heads are starting to roll. As we went to press VW’s board was meeting where it was expected to fire Ulrich Hackenberg, the head of development at Audi and Wolfgang Hatz who heads up development at Porsche, and name Matthias Mueller as the new CEO of the company. Also, the EPA is holding a press conference today to announce further updates on its actions against Volkswagen. So as far as VW is concerned there is a lot more bad news to come.
MORE SILVERADO UPDATES
Sales of the new Silverado started off slow, but lately they’ve been red-hot and Chevy is hoping to keep up that momentum with the newly refreshed version. We showed you an image of the new hood, grille and headlamps back in July, but now we’re learning more. For 2016 the 8-speed automatic transmission that’s standard on Silverado’s with the 6.2L engine will now be standard on LTZ, Z71 and High Country models with the 5.3L V8 engine. The truck is now able to support Apple CarPlay and models with the 7-inch display screen can support Android Auto. Additional safety features are available and a new set of LED taillights for the High Country round out the improvements to the 2016 Silverado.
NISSAN DISPLAYS TITAN XD IN TEXAS
And speaking of Trucks, Nissan had the all-new Titan XD on display at the State Fair of Texas. Unlike Chevy trying to keep strong sales going, Nissan is just looking for a decent boost. The automaker sold a paltry 12,500 Titan’s last year. Part of the turnaround will include a new Cummins V8 diesel engine that’s rated at over 550-lb. ft. of torque and capable of towing more than 12,000-pounds. There’s also a host of new safety and technology features to improve the towing experience. Look for the all-new Titan at Nissan dealerships this December.
Still to come… auto suppliers are doing a poor job on social media and Ford is giving a behind the scenes look into the development of the new Focus RS.
SUPPLIERS NEED TO BE MORE SOCIAL
Social media is a great way for companies to engage with customers but a new study from Bianchi PR reveals automotive suppliers are missing out on a big opportunity to reach out to more people. The report looked at social media usage in the first half of 2015 of the top 25 North American suppliers on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and YouTube. While they’ve made strides in the last year, researchers say suppliers are still making mistakes. First, suppliers need to share more of their media coverage, the report found it actually decreased from 2014. Next, they need to cut back on posts that are self-promotional, increase posts with visuals and use Linkedin more often. And finally the report says suppliers need to post on a more consistent basis.
FORD FOCUS RS DOCUMENTARY
So maybe suppliers should take a page out of Ford’s book and do something like this. Starting next week, the company will release a series of YouTube videos about the behind scenes development of the new Focus RS. The company says the documentary will be a “warts and all” look at the new car and follow its development from the design studio to its world premiere.
UBER EXPANDS SERVICES
As we’ve reported ride sharing has the potential to drastically reduce car sales and if this new feature from Uber catches on, sales could really take it on the chin. The company is launching a program in Chengdu, China called uberCOMMUTE that allows drivers traveling a long distance to share a ride. The company already offers a service called uberPOOL that allows passengers to share rides but the new service allows car owners to pick up passengers to share the cost of a trip. The driver signs in and tells Uber where they’re going, they’re then given requests from riders traveling in the same direction and how much they’ll receive for the trip. The driver can decide to pick them up or not but from the passenger’s point of view the Uber experience is the same. The company hopes to roll out the new service in other cities around the world in the future.
Coming up next, a look at why California is offering incentives for used electric cars.
CALI WANTS EVs FOR THE MASSES
One of the criticisms of California’s and other government incentives to buy electric vehicles is that some of those credits go to subsidizing luxury cars like the Tesla Model S. On Autoline This Week we were joined by Dr. Alberto Ayala from the California Air Resources Board and he says the state is expanding its program to make sure EVs get in the hands of not only the rich but also lower income people.
(Clip from Autoline This Week can only be viewed in the video version of today’s show.)
Also joining John for that show is Chris Grundler from the EPA. Unfortunately that show was recorded before the VW scandal broke but there’s a lot of great info about how the EPA and California are tackling emission issues.
But that’s a wrap for today, thanks for watching and have a great weekend.
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Comments (52)
September 25th, 2015 at 12:15 pm
Great CARB; rebates for everyone here in the Golden state! Rich, poor, EVERYONE. God know we can afford it! BTW: Who is John Galt anyway?
September 25th, 2015 at 12:19 pm
Get those zev’s a rollin’. Btw,where does the electricity come from to charge all those zevs? Maybe it all comes from gov moonbeam?
September 25th, 2015 at 12:24 pm
The Toyota Prius, Nissan Leaf, Chevy Volt and especially Tesla Model S should all be targeting would be diesel buyers in California amid the growing VW Scandal. What VW has done is lay waste to the public trust and any concern for the environment. Where are those green leaf commercial Toyota ran for the Prius several years ago.
September 25th, 2015 at 12:34 pm
VW lied.. And Kalifornia is trying to sway car sales… Oh the horror…
September 25th, 2015 at 12:36 pm
+1 Ron Paris (alms for the poor) and Ron, is aluminum the new Rearden Steel
Unfortunately even with energy rebates for used vehicles I believe the take-rate will be small for the less than affluent; the warranties will be either waning or gone and these won’t be cheap to maintain vehicles especially to the lowest wage incomes who just barely get by with just-running vehicles now.
September 25th, 2015 at 12:38 pm
No. 1 excellent comment, amen! Just because California is bankrupt, that does not mean they still can’t be stupid!
September 25th, 2015 at 12:40 pm
Some weeks ago I saw a drive-along from Cali where the lessee of an i3(w/out range extender) talked about how BMW had subvented his lease to the degree that he was paying some silly low monthly bill. For a car listing at 48K he got total rebates of 20K and was paying 300/mo. I’m betting the change to vw’s diesel sales will affect the EV market.
price talk begins at about 5:30
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMohjMQcmOg
September 25th, 2015 at 12:47 pm
I watched Autoline After hours last night and have a comment regarding whether the CEO of VAG knew of this devise… how could he have not known? Ferdinand Piech insisted on dominating the US and world market for cars and based the corporate strategy on this technology. VAG is centrally controlled company, Piech is an engineer he had to sign off on this strategy. Wintercorn is taking the fall and the hush money $32 to 65 million?.. Matthias Müller is a Piech guy who’ll keep the Peich name out of the courts. For a true clean slate, they should have hired a real outsider but that didn’t happen.
September 25th, 2015 at 1:03 pm
Sounds great but TELL ME ABOUT THE MONEY! When that dude said the rebates can go “above and beyond” the full amount my eyes bout popped out of my head. I mean from what I’ve seen (living in San Diego all my life) it is true that low income people are the ones holding on to older less efficient cars with there fingers crossed hoping to get another year out of it but I don’t think that literally paying them to buy a ZEV/PZEV car that they won’t be able to maintain long term is the answer. Wares the money coming from? close the poverty gap and cost of living in California and maybe the masses will go buy these cars willingly.
September 25th, 2015 at 1:05 pm
California is not bankrupt. They threw out the Republicans. Things are much better now.
It is disingenuous to allude that electricity for charging an electric vehicle only comes from fossil fuel fired power plants. It’s the only vehicle whose emission profile gets cleaner the longer it is around as the nation shifts inexorably towards renewable energy technologies.
Remember, California is the rest of the USA ten years from now. Lots of smart people there and not a few work for the government.
BTW – regarding “John Gault” reference? Is there anything more absurd than a philosophy that expounds that humans are not selfish enough? Every kid wishes they were a pirate at some point, but eventually we’re supposed to grow up and look out for one another.
September 25th, 2015 at 1:07 pm
Looks like BMW also is guilty about diesel emmissions…
GM has a chance to shine…if their Cruze is innocent.
September 25th, 2015 at 1:21 pm
“Remember, California is the rest of the USA ten years from now.”
Therein lies the problem Brett!
“Lots of smart people there and not a few work for the government.”
Actually, VERY FEW work for the government. What is it you’ve been smoking Brett? And BTW, like I said in post #1, it’s spelled “Galt”.
September 25th, 2015 at 1:25 pm
Am I the only one wondering what difference it makes to a supplier’s profitability whether or not they participate in social media?
Is not the whole purpose of social media to inform, get the attention of, stimulate, titillate, and arouse the curiosity of “end-users”?
I think I get how a fickle customer could be swayed by a companies social media presence (or lack thereof). But why would a major car manufacturer care or even take into account the fact that their ‘Spacely Sprocket’ supplier’s Twitter feed has had no new entries in 8 months? Can we not have one pocket of society not saturated by social media?
September 25th, 2015 at 1:27 pm
Hey, maybe the genius pot-smoking scientists in Cali can devise a way to harness the energy produced by all the wild fires to power all those EV’s they want all Californians to buy in the next few years.
September 25th, 2015 at 1:32 pm
If california is so damn good,why do they find more ways to tax the people.And the unfortunate consequence for me is,they are moving here to Oregon in droves,to escape the financial burdens put on them,then they wonder why we don’t give away the same stuff for free?! Tax and spend does not make any economy stronger,it weakens it.
September 25th, 2015 at 1:38 pm
15.
Both Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson bolted Cali due in large part to the high tax burden.
September 25th, 2015 at 1:39 pm
13 I rely on social media a bit. My twitter feed gives me links to info from suppliers to chip makers which I would have missed on my own. I get tweets from select journalists when they’ve got a new piece out(even Autoline!). I get tweets from advocacy groups that let me stay a step ahead of certain friends in DC for policy stuff. I follow an investor bulletin board that a couple of nerds fill with tech stories from around the world.
There’s more, but you get the picture. Broader news sources aren’t enough to keep up these days. The AAH comment board even counts as social media; it isn’t as though I like to talk cars with most people around me.
September 25th, 2015 at 1:42 pm
Nothing on the Hyundai engine debris recall? I guess to VW’s problems, this is insignificant.
September 25th, 2015 at 1:45 pm
Whoa whoa there Pedro nobody calls it pot anymore. What they won’t tell anybody about these wild fires is that they are natural.
MJB I was wondering the exact same thing. Most people who aren’t car enthusiasts such as us couldn’t give a sh*t less what suppliers make stuff for what cars. It is likely to have zero influence over there purchasing desicions. Do people weigh in on who makes what parts for there tvs or cell phones? Most Americans don’t even care what part of the planet there foods coming from.
September 25th, 2015 at 1:50 pm
17. I hear you. But I guess I just need to see more in order recognize the value it adds to the manufacturer/supplier relationship.
And I do realize I’m behind the curve on social media. I’m only 44 and I’m resisting it as if I were 74. Guess it’s time to start embracing…
September 25th, 2015 at 1:54 pm
18 CBS and Reuters have the story, in addition to the usual suspects. But there’s one story being buried on Friday. Now onto another possible vw revelation this afternoon…, late,….
____
Speaking of vw, if the NOX emissions fix forces more EGR, what happens when extra exhaust is forced by the intake valves which aren’t being bathed in fuel because it’s a direct injection engine? No way vw designed the system to cope with all that carbon, or did they?
September 25th, 2015 at 2:09 pm
It makes sense for certain suppliers to make presence on social media if they are an OE supplier and have an aftermarket department. Company’s like Firestone that sell tires to the carco’s and Joe Shmoe need their name to be known. If you provide steering collumns to the OE I dont see many people caring who the manufacturer is, was and doubt they will be in the market for one. Tires, brakes, lights, exhaust and some interior parts that people will replace it makes sense. My $0.02
September 25th, 2015 at 2:20 pm
22.
Now that makes sense. Guess I should have made that clarification in the beginning.
I definitely see merit for social media use by tier one OEMs who also supply items directly to end users. But as you pointed out (and as I was singularly thinking about before) the average component wiring harness or injection molded wiper fluid reservoir suppliers simply need not get all encumbered with that whole Twitter feeding, Facebook liking, YouTube video posting bandwagon.
September 25th, 2015 at 2:57 pm
My favorite internet things are automotive forums/news such as this one.It’s informative,and ‘socially’ interactive,which lends a feeling of belonging.I like that,it gives me the warm fuzzies,lmao.
For more ‘in your face’ stuff,including politics,I belong to a group of former vietnam pilots and crewmembers forum where we can talk like we do in real life,and thoroughly discuss items of common interest without worrying about a ban hammer being dropped on us.We even have a ‘token’ fixed wing pilot that provides us with hours of fun.
September 25th, 2015 at 3:28 pm
Yes, but misspelling it as “Gault” is so much more dismissive of the entire philosophy.
California is America’s socio-economic laboratory because so darned many people want to live and work there. Dismiss it all you want, but California is where this country figures out what the future is going to be like. Note that they’ve thrown out all the austerian “fiscal conservatives” and now have eradicated their deficit and have a booming economy once more. Expect to see that across the entire country over the next couple of election cycles.
September 25th, 2015 at 6:19 pm
Are the Hyundai engines direct injection? Because they have been known to create a lot of particles and smog……..so, is this recall about the particles inside the engine or outside the engine?
September 25th, 2015 at 6:27 pm
#26 It’s an internal problem with metal shavings that are causing the problems.
September 25th, 2015 at 7:34 pm
http://www.usnews.com/news/business/articles/2015/09/25/hyundai-recalls-470-000-sonatas-to-fix-big-engine-problem
September 25th, 2015 at 9:17 pm
#27 I have hard time believing that – there is two different engine sizes manufactured over two years. I can see that there is a problem with one batch or so, but two engines over two years, I have my doubts.
September 26th, 2015 at 6:39 am
Is this Sonatashavingsgate?
September 26th, 2015 at 7:13 am
I found two kinda technical articles on vw’s diesels. I’ll post links. I’m getting scared that it’s not going to be a reflash and some losses in power and mileage.
vw ea288 motor
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2014/03/20140322-ea288.html
September 26th, 2015 at 7:16 am
and the Audi V6 TDI
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2014/03/20140322-ea288.html
Like really scared. Why is a V6 diesel from Audi so different from a vw inline 4? If the cheat was integral to the function, I want to hurl.
September 26th, 2015 at 7:17 am
whoop, sorry. Here’s the Audi V6 link
http://www.volkspage.net/technik/ssp/ssp/SSP_350.pdf
September 26th, 2015 at 1:19 pm
Thanks for the links HtG.Now I may very well be wrong,but after reading about the two egr systems on the vw diesel,I would say there in lies the lie.I think that is what was/is being turned off,or bypassed so it doesn’t go back into the cylinders for recombustion.
September 26th, 2015 at 6:41 pm
NYT has a piece on vw. The money shot is that it was US regulators who discovered the software which was altering the emissions controls. Regulators then rigged test equipment to prove it.
“One day last summer, the regulators made a startling discovery: A subroutine, or parallel set of instructions, was secretly being sent by the computer to what seemed to be the emissions controls.
Regulators set out to cheat the cheat, tweaking lab test parameters to trick the car into thinking it was on the road. The Volkswagens began spewing nitrogen oxide far above the legal limit.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/27/business/as-vw-pushed-to-be-no-1-ambitions-fueled-a-scandal.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=first-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0
So vw didn’t even fess up. They got nailed. And if you read the story, it’s just coincidence which vw cars were tested.
Vomiting
September 26th, 2015 at 7:03 pm
If these cars had used urea, would they still fail the tests?
September 26th, 2015 at 7:41 pm
From what I’ve found the vw ea288 engine out since 2015 model year uses urea injection. And current cars are impounded.
Here’s a video on the 2015 Jetta. At about 5min we see that urea is used.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qFFIi59XcI
So tell me, why would only the 4 cylinder models have the cheat code? Why not an Audi V6? I really hope the prestige Audis are OK. Really, they better be.
September 27th, 2015 at 12:00 pm
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2015/09/27/reports-volkswagen-emmissions/72923064/
vw warned years ago by Bosch not to use cheatware for regular operation, according to German news.
September 27th, 2015 at 1:28 pm
Oh man…..VW is fubared on this.Thanx for the article HtG.
September 27th, 2015 at 2:09 pm
The vw Fubar, coming this fall. Sounds like a name they’d use.
Green Car Reports is writing that there’s more news to come.
September 27th, 2015 at 2:31 pm
Who knew that fahrvergnugen really meant “Screw’m over”
September 27th, 2015 at 2:50 pm
Fubargnugen?
September 27th, 2015 at 2:57 pm
The vw Porcelain Bus, you asked for it!
September 27th, 2015 at 2:58 pm
Das Uh Oh
September 27th, 2015 at 3:00 pm
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/sep/14/nine-out-of-10-new-diesel-cars-in-breach-of-eu-pollution-rules-report-finds
September 27th, 2015 at 3:15 pm
die Fubarigkeit, we don’t know what’s going on either! Ask your local dealer.
(seriously though, don’t let it be the premium Audis. Please, please, please, please)
September 27th, 2015 at 3:18 pm
45 yeah. I saw a Telegraph article last week where NOx levels in the EU have been seen not to decline over the years even as emissions limits have gone up. Though a defeat device is another matter.
September 27th, 2015 at 3:32 pm
@ HtG: As I said earlier,I also honestly believe that if tested like the failing diesels are tested,I’m willing to bet that the new turbo everythings that are out wouldn’t really pass either.I do hope they start checking them too.
September 27th, 2015 at 3:37 pm
maybe this vw debacle will change how cars are certified. Was it CARB or EPA that said they’re going to start testing in a way that they’re not going to disclose to the carcos? Like I said last week, you don’t want to mess with these people. (even though in real life, I twist the tiger’s tail a bit, for my own games[you can read about it on the internet!]. But man, don’t mislead them. Holy cow)
September 27th, 2015 at 8:32 pm
Das polluter!
September 27th, 2015 at 8:54 pm
math problems
So if vw is fined the max in the US, that’s $18B for 500K cars. There are 11million cars affected worldwide, where they presumably have pollution laws.
See where I’m going?
500K x 22 = 11 million,
so $18B x 22 = $396 Billion
current market cap of vw is $52 Billion
this could become a big problem
September 28th, 2015 at 12:26 am
In steps macaroni with real,(??) clean diesels and saves vw…