AD #1996 – RV Sales Running Strong, VW to Build All-Electric Bulli Van, Prez Trump Could Give Industry Regulatory Relief
November 29th, 2016 at 11:46am
Runtime: 6:45
To watch this episode on YouTube click here.
- RV Sales Running Strong
- Volvo Truck Pulls Paraglider Up Mountain
- Meet the New Ford Fiesta
- OEMs Team for EU Charging Network
- Porsche Sets Lofty Sales Goal for Mission E
- VW to Put All-Electric Van Into Production
- President Trump Could Give Regulatory Relief
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On today’s show… RVs are selling at record levels in the American market, several European automakers join forces to build an EV charging network and how Donald Trump could give the auto industry regulatory relief. All that and more coming right up on Autoline Daily.
This is Autoline Daily the show for enthusiasts of the automotive industry.
RV SALES ARE ROCKIN’
Sales of new cars and trucks will probably set another record this year in the American market, and so will recreational vehicles. Sales of RV’s have been growing for 7 straight years and will top 400,000 units by the end of this year. There are a number of reasons why they’re running so strong, everything from cheap gasoline prices to huge numbers of Baby Boomers retiring. But here’s one reason that caught our attention. Did you know the IRS provides a tax deduction on the interest of a loan to buy an RV? It’s considered a second home.
IT’S A BIRD, IT’S A PLANE… IT’S A PARAGLIDER
Automakers sometimes come up with unusual ways to show off their products and here’s one that Volvo Trucks just pulled off. It towed a paraglider up a mountain pass in Croatia to showcase its I-Shift Dual Clutch transmission. While it may not seem like that big of a deal, in order for the paraglider to stay in the air, the truck has to maintain a high cruising speed. And as you can imagine that can be difficult traveling up a mountain, especially in a heavy-duty truck, and even more so if the driver has to be shifting gears. But that’s where the transmission comes into play. The truck is able to maintain its torque and speed during gear changes thanks to its system. And that’s how they pulled off the stunt.
Still to come… the German automakers and Ford team up to build a fast-charging network in Europe.
MEET THE NEW FORD FIESTA
Ford has sold nearly 18 million Fiesta’s since the car was first launched in 1976 and today the 8th generation of the small car will be unveiled in Germany. No details were released about the new Fiesta, but if you’d like to watch it live yourself, check out the link in the transcript or look in the description box below. It starts at 8PM Central European Time, which is 2PM Eastern Standard Time.
EU CHARGING NETWORK FOR EVs
A number of automakers are teaming together to make EVs more viable. BMW, Daimler, Ford and the VW Group signed an agreement to significantly increase the the number of fast-charging stations along major highways in Europe. Starting in 2017 about 400 sites are planned with thousands to come online in the 2020 timeframe. To help reduce charging time, the companies plan is to use a new type of DC fast charger, which has power levels up to 350 kWs. To put that in perspective, Tesla’s Superchargers put out up to 120 kW and can fill a Model S or X battery to 80% in 30 minutes. We just wonder if the batteries will be able to handle that much power on a regular basis.
PORSCHE SETS SALES TARGET FOR MISSION E
With a charging network like this going into place, Porsche is pretty bullish for sales of its first full EV, the Mission E. The company believes it’s going to sell 20,000 a year, which would represent about 10% of its total global sales. OK, maybe that’s not the biggest news going, but we’ll use any excuse to run more pictures of this car. It’s just that stunning.
VW BULLI GOING INTO PRODUCTION
Autoforecast Solutions says that Volkswagen will start building the new Bulli van at its plant in Hanover, Germany in January of 2020. Bulli is the nickname that’s been used on VW vans for decades, similar to the Beetle nickname that was used for its most iconic car. VW showed off the all-electric Budd:e Concept early this year, but the company decided to drop that name in favor of Bulli. It’s an EV version of that van going into production, or at least something like it in about another four years.
And if you want to learn about Alfa Romeo’s plans for the U.S., you won’t want to miss this week’s Autoline After Hours. John and Gary sit down with head of Alfa, Reid Bigland, and several executives from the company for the inside scoop on the brand. That’s this Thursday at 3PM eastern time on our website, Autoline.tv.
Coming up next, John has some advice on how a Trump Administration could give the auto industry some regulatory relief.
OEMs WANT CUT BACK ON REGULATIONS
President elect Donald Trump says he wants to cut back on government regulations. Automakers would really like to see him follow up on that and here’s what they specifically would like to see.
Get this. There are now 9 different federal agencies that regulate the the automotive industry, including dealers. And none of them co-ordinate their activities.
So we often have rules from one agency that work counter to those from another. For example, NHTSA comes out with stricter crash standards that require more structure that adds weight to a car at the same time the EPA writes stricter fuel economy standards that require lighter weight.
None of these nine agencies co-ordinate the cost of their regulations, either. At best they provide estimates of what the cost of their own regulations will be. And then they keep piling them on.
Regulatory co-ordination is one area where a Trump Administration could really help the industry. Just phasing in those regulations on a coordinated basis would make a difference.
Anyway, that’s how I see it. Tomorrow I’ll have more to say about Trump and fuel economy regulations. As always, I welcome your feedback in the comments section. And with that we wrap up today’s show. Thanks for watching and please join us again tomorrow.
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Comments (18)
November 29th, 2016 at 12:12 pm
Choppy show (for me); five seconds of content then five seconds of pause, but I got through it.
Nice commentary on “regulations”; a coordination of agencies would be a great place to start.
November 29th, 2016 at 12:29 pm
Government’s role should be what is best for it’s citizens. Now what is more important, safety?, fuel economy? price? I’d like to know why a Buick Verano sells for 4500 less in China than it does in the US.
November 29th, 2016 at 12:34 pm
Volvo truck commercial- when ever I see these types of commercials I always think they are a huge waste of money. People including myself don’t appreciate the amount of time and money required to do the stunt.
Regulation co-ordination? come of John, are you trying to introduce common sense into government?
November 29th, 2016 at 12:39 pm
We can greatly simplify government rule making and efficiency by eliminating nearly everything presently done by NHTSA and the automotive branch of the EPA. It’d get replaced by government “participation” in the SAE… in some cases to help set standards for new technology… in other cases to set the SAE agenda. Other countries have such a collaborative relationship between industry and government (e.g., Japan’s MITI).
Americans need to mature past the cynicism of an adversarial industry-government relationship to a collaborative relationship that grows for mutual good. I recognize the historic birth/need of the cynicism (Nader era), but today’s information technology obviates that need.
November 29th, 2016 at 12:59 pm
Bully – is not a positive word. Even if you spell it differently. Soccer mom’s will not want a family hauler called “Bulli”.
November 29th, 2016 at 1:01 pm
FYI
VW is totally silent on the Diesel Buybacks.
They said they would start in Mid-November, but nothing has changed. No evidence any have been bought back or any communication with us (the owners).
November 29th, 2016 at 1:06 pm
I agree with Drew (4). For almost everything related to consumer safety we have UL, CSA, or CE. Yet for auto safety and performance, there are enormous monolithic organizations that only represent 1/2 of the situation; the government half.
With SAE, you have an organization that is pro-industry but also pro-economy and pro-safety. What better group for the government to partner with? It would cost a bunch less, because SAE is currently industry supported, so the government wouldn’t be carrying all the burden. Not to imply that government organizations aren’t lean, mean and efficient.
November 29th, 2016 at 1:09 pm
John,
Good point about all the regulations. We should have one department and only one. No overlapping rules and regulations and fewer bodies to make and/or enforce them.
I don’t think the regulations are really bad, just need to be more coordinated. They have forced better economy and safer cars, all the while the manufactures said it couldn’t be done. My two pennies.
November 29th, 2016 at 1:12 pm
That VW Budd-e has got some nice, clean lines to it. A VERY welcome shift from what Nissan is doing with all those swoopy, wispy, sea-sickness-inducing character lines these days.
And don’t get me wrong. It’s good that there is marked differentiation between brands. But I sometimes wonder, how many bisecting French curves can they jam into one car profile?
Sorry – end of rant
November 29th, 2016 at 1:13 pm
Bulli must be one of those names or nicknames Europeans use that are virtually unknown in America. I don’t recall anyone using that name for the VW Bus/Camper/Transporter models. Kind of like Golf was used in Europe for many years while the US version was called the Rabbit. I think VW should think long and hard about the name for this van, if it ever really makes it to market. Their batting average with model names is pretty dismal. Let’s face it, Touareg is neither easy to spell or pronounce. Who wants to drive a car they can’t pronounce?
November 29th, 2016 at 1:17 pm
#5. So then you don’t think people might revert back to it’s former connotation of, ‘A fine young chap’?
November 29th, 2016 at 2:21 pm
Volvo commercial… Interesting presentation, and the I-shift dual clutch might be new to Volvo, but power-shifting transmissions for large trucks have been around for 50 plus years (Allison) and in Europe for 30 years (ZF). Europe has resisted non-manuals and only recently have moved towards automated-manuals. It’s nice for Volvo to move into the 21st century and appreciate the advantage of power-shifting, but they are not a trend-setter by any means.
November 29th, 2016 at 3:20 pm
I’d like to see coordination of regulations between the EPA, NHTSA, and the equivalent groups in other markets, especially, the EU. As far as the SAE, if they were making the rules over the years, cars wouldn’t have had seat belts until about 1990. They are very good at some things, but, historically, they have needed to be prodded.
The name Bulli should go well with the incoming president.
November 29th, 2016 at 3:25 pm
The old, type 2 VW bus has the nickname “bulli” with collectors, as with “caddy” for the Golf 1 (Rabbit) pickups.
November 29th, 2016 at 3:28 pm
The auto industry sure needs regulatory relief. And, like you said, John, coordinated. And longer phase-in periods are also needed. The bureaucrats do not consider the industries interests in their unmonitored, unelected law making. And, if these have the weight of law, then Congress must engage. It might slow the implication down and hold our Congress accountable. I sure hope this change will happen. It should be good for us as consumers. I hope.
November 29th, 2016 at 3:34 pm
Things are pretty good for customers now, except that there are almost no car-height wagons, and few hatchbacks sold in the U.S.
Things aren’t bad for people with limited income either, since cars last so much longer than they once did. You can get many miles, and years of use from an 8 year old used car with 100K miles.
November 29th, 2016 at 5:41 pm
9 different angencies not communicating? Seems I read about that in Order of the Death’s Head, a book about Nazi Germany.
It nevery ceases to amaze me at what expense to consumers the agencies pass laws. Such as DPF, DEF, and the push for higher MPG’s with ethanol blended fuel as THE fuel source.
November 30th, 2016 at 10:23 am
How did the old VW bus get a “bully” nickname. I still think its a BAD name.
VW is finally providing information. My uncle got his buyback paperwork. Still haven’t got mine.