AD #1818 – More Diesel Jeeps for U.S. “Very Viable,” Audi Develops Composite Tooling, Ford Tests Autonomy in the Snow
March 11th, 2016 at 11:55am
Runtime: 8:01
To watch this episode on YouTube click here.
- Jeep Working on Compass & Patriot Replacement
- Jeep’s Awesome Moab Concepts
- Audi Using Composite Tooling
- Ford Tests Autonomy in the Snow
- Ride-Sharing Won’t Pose Threat to Car Sales
- Social Media Helps OEMs Shape Message
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On today’s show… Jeep reveals some wild concepts for its Easter Safari, Audi develops new tools made out of composite materials and another study shows ride-sharing won’t cut into car sales. All that and more coming right up on Autoline Daily.
This is Autoline Daily for March 11th, 2016.
COMPASS & PATRIOT REPLACEMENT COMING
It’s been a long time coming but Jeep will finally offer a replacement for the Compass and Patriot. Wards reports that the vehicle, codenamed C-SUV will start production in the 4th quarter of this year for the South American market. However, no word on when it will come to the U.S. Jeep’s global brand chief, Mike Manley also confirmed a Hellcat-powered Grand Cherokee will start production in mid- to late-2017 and more diesel-powered Jeeps for the U.S. is “very viable.”
JEEP’S AWESOME MOAB CONCEPTS
And speaking of Hellcat- and diesel-powered Jeeps, the brand showed off seven concepts it will take to the Easter Safari in Moab, Utah. But here are our favorites. The Trailcat that we teased the other day does, in fact, have a Hellcat motor stuffed under the hood, which must make for some crazy off-road fun. Another cool concept is the Comanche, a definite nod to the past. It’s a small pickup that’s based on the Renegade and features a diesel 4-cylinder engine. Some have speculated we may see this truck get made, but it could come with a RAM badge on the nose. While many of these vehicles will never see their way down a production line, I’ve got to say Jeep’s design team has been knocking these Moab concepts out of the park. They look fantastic and it’s exactly what its customers want to see.
AUDI USING COMPOSITE TOOLING
Automakers are using more and more composite materials in cars to help cut weight in order to improve fuel economy and emissions. But it’s not just vehicles. Audi is integrating composites into the tools that build its cars. Conventional tools, like a press, are made out of cast iron and steel and can weigh up to 45 tons. Audi’s new ones are a mix of cast iron, aluminum and plastics and are up to 8 tons lighter. Tools are subjected to enormous forces in a press and that stress increases with repetitive forming or cutting. Old tools have vertical ribbing, but Audi’s are arched which helps to optimally distribute the forces. Not only does this help with wear and tear, it also allows parts to be produced faster and Audi says they’ve reduced energy consumption by 10%. The new tools are currently being used at the company’s plant in Ingolstadt, Germany.
And finally, an automaker address autonomous driving in the snow. We’ll have that right after this.
FORD TESTS AUTONOMY IN THE SNOW
Back in January, Ford became the first automaker to test fully autonomous vehicles in winter weather. The company tested a Fusion Hybrid equipped with self-driving technology at the University of Michigan’s MCity campus. And now it’s revealing some of those results. Ford says its LIDAR system is so powerful, it can identify falling snowflakes and raindrops which caused the system to falsely believe an object was in the way. So Ford engineers with the help of UofM researchers created an algorithm that recognizes snow and rain, and filters them out so the car can continue driving. The LIDAR system is also used to create hi-res 3D maps which helps the car locate itself when the roads are covered in snow. It’s nice to see this information come out as it’s the first time I’ve seen an automaker address autonomous driving in poor weather conditions.
RIDE-SHARING WON’T POSE THREAT TO CAR SALES
We’ve speculated that ride-sharing services like ZipCar, Uber or Lyft have the potential to dramatically disrupt car sales because if fewer people are driving, less cars will be sold. However last month the Boston Consulting Group revealed that by 2021 car-sharing services will only decrease global car sales by 1%. And now a new survey from Kelley Blue Book echoes those findings. It says people only use those services as a substitute for taxis or rental companies and three-quarters of respondents plan to purchase or lease a vehicle within the next two years. An overwhelming majority also believe car ownership is more reliable, safe and convenient than using ride-sharing. So while these services will continue to grow, it looks like they will not pose a threat to car sales.
Coming up next, a look at how the internet and social media helps automakers shape their message.
SOCIAL MEDIA HELPS OEMs SHAPE MESSAGE
Thanks to the internet and social media, automakers can now get instant feedback from the media and the public. On Autoline This Week, John is joined by the heads of communication at GM, Hyundai Motor America and Jaguar Land Rover North America, and in the following clip they discuss the benefits of receiving that instant feedback.
(Clip from ATW #2004 can only be viewed in the video version of today’s show.)
You can watch that entire discussion right now on our website, autoline.tv or on our YouTube channel.
But that brings us to the end of today’s show, thanks for watching and have a great weekend.
Thanks to our partner for embedding Autoline Daily on its website: WardsAuto.com
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Comments (20)
March 11th, 2016 at 12:29 pm
Sean bad news again today with playback. Is it possible for you guys to include the YouTube link every day until you get this fixed. It’s a real pain!
March 11th, 2016 at 12:35 pm
We do link to YouTube everyday, but the show is uploaded to our site before YouTube. So, it’s not always available right away. Link for today’s show is available now.
March 11th, 2016 at 12:38 pm
I think it is hard to argue that ride-sharing services will cut into car sales significantly. Of course such arguments are nothing but guessing games (aka speculation); nevertheless, I have a hard time believing that people who live in rural areas and families especially will find that the benefits of ride-sharing outweigh ownership; though I can hardly base that assumption on my “world.” Still, I think those who will benefit the most from ride sharing are but a segment and not representative of the whole. What’s more, even ALD made the point recently that vehicle inventory for ride-sharing services will need to be refreshed sooner rather than later. Therefore, I think any kind of speculation about this should focus on the degree to which ride-sharing may impacts car sales. And if you ask me (or even if you don’t), I think the impact will be de Minimis at times, maybe noticeable at others; cyclical in other words.
March 11th, 2016 at 12:44 pm
Autonomous vehicles- the Ford video certainly shows that they can drive in bad weather…. kind of. They show a car with whirly thing-a-ma-bobs on top driving at a snails pace at what looks like a single track test track, not exactly real life conditions.
I don’t doubt that they will eventually get vehicles to the point they can reliably drive on their own in all conditions but I can’t see that happening in the near future like some are suggesting.
March 11th, 2016 at 1:11 pm
“more diesel-powered Jeeps for the U.S. is “very viable.” : could anybody explain to me what is meant? Such as: “there is sufficient market demand for diesel powered Jeeps to justify sending over more diesel engines from Italy?”, or “U.S. sales of diesel powered Jeeps are profitable”?, or “production capacity of the VM Motori diesel engines has been expanded, allowing for larger allocation to Jeep in North America”?, or whatever is meant.
I am very interested in the topic: my daily driver is a diesel powered Jeep Grand Cherokee, which I consider a phenomenal vehicle. It was hard to get in July 2014 due to the limited number of diesel engines available for Jeep. I believe most engines were allocated to RAM production. I will need a new vehicle in July and would love to get a diesel powered Jeep GC again. More availability would be better as far as I am concerned.
March 11th, 2016 at 1:16 pm
From yesterday:ukendoit Says:
March 11th, 2016 at 12:37 pm
G.A., compared to the big size of the newer ones, yours is probably more of a minivan than the others.
I usually refer to my van as a mini-mini van,since the other have gone bigger and heavier.Mine even has a 4 cyl/9spd auto,and it handles very good,and is very versatile.I’m liking it very much.
March 11th, 2016 at 3:36 pm
Autonomous vehicles- I think in the near future, the intent is to have the vehicles drive themselves in MOST conditions, keeping driving capacity available for us humans. That way, when the car admits you would do better than it, it can relinquish the wheel. After enough time and development (farther in the future), they intend to do away human driving interfaces and be more like mobile lounges. I think there will always be some vehicles available that the enthusiast will still be able to drive.
March 11th, 2016 at 6:53 pm
In the AAH last night, one of the attendants (of the show) talked with Ralph Nadar and his thoughts were that there would never be fully autonomous cars; his reasoning, was lawyers. You know, for once, I think I agree with Ralph Nader (never thought I’d say that).
March 11th, 2016 at 10:03 pm
I never much liked Nader, especially after he ran for president, giving us the 8 disasterous years of G. W. Bush.
March 11th, 2016 at 10:24 pm
I never liked nader and his hit job on the corvair.I knew a lot of people back in the day that loved their corvairs.One friend of mine had a turbo spyder I think it was.It was the flat frontend years.It took the hilly country roads as sure footed as could be for that time period.In fact,I wanted to buy a 66 corvair and my dad said no.I got the k model mustang instead,but I really loved the corvair.
March 11th, 2016 at 10:26 pm
@ Kit: I’m a conservative,but I hated both bushes,still do.
March 12th, 2016 at 8:19 am
First, I have not been patient enough to watch the whole show. I will try maybe a show or two more but if the playback on the site is not worked around or repaired it is to aggravating to watch anymore.
Second, the company has been promising more diesels for years and does not come thru. DON’T believe the pr bs. Our company waited over a year for a ram promaster with a diesel. Our dealer has never seen one. Years folks. Thats is all for them, they lie and don’t deliver. Not waiting!
March 13th, 2016 at 4:03 pm
12 Read the transcript. It works great, except for video-only segments in some of the shows.
March 14th, 2016 at 1:57 am
@ 12: You could always click the youtube icon to the right of the video too.I’ve done it several times before the link under the show was put up.
March 14th, 2016 at 9:11 am
re:Nader, Growing up, my family had a Corvair. I think I’ve mentioned here before that my father was a fan of the air cooled engines, so we were a family of Nader-haters. The Corvair was one of the first cars I remember riding in and we loved it. It was like blending the best parts of a Camero & Porsche into one sporty car.
March 14th, 2016 at 9:27 am
A high school friend had a 140hp 1966 Corvair 4-speed coupe. Properly equipped, like that car, a second generation Corvair was kind of a poor man’s Porsche.
Even without Nader, it seems unlikely that Corvair would have seen a third generation. Manufacturing costs were high, and the disadvantages of air cooled, rear drive cars would have caused its demise, as with the Beetle.
March 14th, 2016 at 9:55 am
The air cooled engines had lots of advantages, mostly being inexpensive and simple to build and work on. The disadvantages seemed to be that it was difficult to get them to pass emissions standards and the obvious advantages of standardizing to the mainstream (liquid cooled).
The Corvairs & Beetles were fun to do power-slides in the snow!
March 14th, 2016 at 10:15 am
Here is a good overview of the Corvair, which covers the same liabilities, and virtues I’ve heard and read about for years. It was expensive to manufacture because of the alloy engine.
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2007/04/in-defense-of-the-chevrolet-corvair/
March 14th, 2016 at 10:25 am
#4.
Baby steps, Buzzed…Baby steps. They’ll get there.
March 14th, 2016 at 1:12 pm
Thanks, Kit, that was an interesting read!