On today’s show… Volkswagen owners in the US will get anywhere from a grand to $7,000, Jeep hits the jackpot selling wooden crates and Chinese car buyers are increasingly buying Chinese car brands. All that and more coming right up on Autoline Daily.

This is Autoline Daily for June 24th, 2016.

VW IS DOING JUST FINED
Back on February 8th of this year, we predicted that Volkswagen would be fined somewhere between $9 billion and $12 billion in the United States. Now Bloomberg is reporting that VW will be slapped with a fine of $10.2 billion, which fits right in with our prediction. Owners will reportedly get a cash payment of $1,000 to $7,000 depending on the age and condition of their cars. And because some of the cars cannot be fixed, VW will also pay for a program to offset pollution. Of course, this is not the end of VW’s problems. There are still a lot of lawsuits that will probably bedevil the company for years to come.

LET THE SHOWS BEGIN
What’s the most important auto show in the world? Well, according to the organizers of the auto show in Detroit, they get more media coverage around the world than anyone else. Their data demonstrates the North American International Auto Show got more coverage than the shows in Frankfurt, Beijing, Geneva and Shanghai. Now there are some caveats. This measures shows in 2015 and 2016 and the media coverage they got that explicitly mentioned new cars debuts and the auto show where they were unveiled. And it only looks at the first full week of coverage of these shows. The data also demonstrates that the shows in New York, CES, LA, Tokyo and Chicago lag well behind. The survey was done by Prime Research.

FIFTY CENTS A GALLON
Here’s another reason why we should welcome the hydrogen economy. Besides eliminating emissions, fuel cell cars could be easy on your wallet. The head of GM’s fuel cell program, Charlie Freese, tells Wards Auto that if the stars align properly, hydrogen fuel could cost the equivalent of 50-cents a gallon. But he says industry, government, and utility companies need commit to large scale production to get to that price.

FUEL CELL SUBS
And in related news, GM teamed up with the U.S. Navy to develop miniature submarine drones powered by fuel cells. The Naval Research Laboratory just finished tests with a prototype at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Carderock, MD. The Navy is interested in the technology because of its reliability, high energy and cost effectiveness.

Still to come, one of the hottest items that Jeep is selling on its website.

THE AMAZING STRETCH-O CAR
We see vehicles do some pretty amazing stuff in movies and commercials, but it can be very difficult to get an exotic supercar to a photo shoot. This is where the Blackbird steps in. Created by a company named The Mill, it’s a fully adjustable rig that can extend its length up to 4-feet and its width by 10-inches to mimic the size of almost any kind of vehicle. CGI can put nearly any body on the Blackbird and its electric motors can be programmed to drive like almost any car. It’s also able to create a virtual world of the environment it’s driving in using 3D laser scanning and high-dynamic range imagery.

I WANT THAT OLD CRATE
I’d be willing to bet that Jeeps are some of the most heavily modified vehicles in the world and that’s one reason why the brand has its own Performance Parts division. It works with companies like Fox and Dana to come up with custom-tuned shocks and axles. It also develops its own parts too. Here are some fender flares it offers for Wranglers that allow customers to stick on 35-inch tires without a suspension lift. But just to drive home how fanatical Jeep fans can be, I learned yesterday that the crates these parts come in have become so popular that you can now buy empty ones on the Mopar website for $200. And people are snapping them up. And they’re more than just wooden crates. The graphics and look were actually created by the Jeep design staff, and they’re designed to fit in the back of any Jeep.

PANAMERA PICS
The new Porsche Panamera makes its official debut next week but images of the 2017 model just leaked out. As you can see the styling is similar to the current model but it’s not as awkward looking. The new Panamera can’t come soon enough for Porsche. Through the first five months of the year, sales in the U.S. are down nearly 18%.

Coming up next, why foreign automakers better be worried about what Chinese consumers are starting to buy.

CHINESE BUYERS SWITCHING TO CHINESE BRANDS
Car buyers in China love foreign brands. But that’s starting to change, especially when it comes to SUVs. On Autoline This Week, we’re joined by three Chinese automotive experts and they explain why foreign car companies should be very concerned.

(Clip from ATW #2020 can only be viewed in the video version of today’s show.)

There’s a lot of great info about the Chinese auto market in that show and you can watch that entire discussion right now on our website, Autoline.tv or you can check it our on our YouTube channel.

But that brings us to the end of today’s show, and our coverage for this week. Thanks for watching and please join us back here again on Monday.