AD #2024 – FCA Accused of Breaking the Law Yet Again, New GMC Terrain Unveiled, Renault Expands EV Line-Up
January 13th, 2017 at 11:53am
Runtime: 9:41
To watch this episode on YouTube click here.
- FCA Accused of Breaking the Law Yet Again
- New GMC Terrain Unveiled
- VW Reveals New Tiguan
- Renault Expands EV Line-Up
- Ford Focus RS Makes Wards 10 Best Engines
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On today’s show…FCA accused of breaking the law yet again …why the engine powering the Ford Focus RS is so impressive…and Renault comes out with a couple of electric vans. All that and more coming right up on Autoline Daily.
This is Autoline Daily the show for enthusiasts of the automotive industry.
BREAKING THE LAW
FCA is in trouble with the law….again. Yesterday the EPA accused Fiat-Chrysler of failing to disclose the use of software that controls the emissions on its 3-liter diesels that are sold in Ram pickups and Jeep Grand Cherokees. Specifically, the EPA said FCA used auxiliary emission control devices. These AECDs can allow diesel engines to generate more NOx in certain circumstances such as when the engine is running too hot, or under heavy load. These devices can be used legally provided they only temporarily raise emissions. But they have to be disclosed to and approved by the EPA, and it says that FCA deliberately did not report them. FCA has not been able to sell any diesels for months now because the EPA will not approve certification.
FCA has also been accused of a similar situation in Europe. German authorities say FCA’s diesels pollute too much, but Italian authorities say those engines are perfectly legal. In Europe, testing procedures can be quite lax and that may have encouraged automakers to take advantage of gray areas in the regulations. But in the US, the rules are quite clear.
This is not the first time that FCA has run afoul of the law. In 2015 NHTSA fined FCA $105 million for failing to complete safety recalls. Months later NHTSA fined the company another $70 million for failing to fully report traffic deaths and injuries tied to its cars and trucks. Last year the Justice Department and the Security and Exchange Commision accused FCA of lying about its sales of new cars and trucks and forced the company to restate its sales for the prior 6 years. The FBI was even involved in that investigation.
This is a troubling pattern. FCA has now run into problems with the law on sales, on safety and on emissions and it’s costing the company dearly: in lost sales, in big fines and in the big hit its stock price just took. It’s time for top management and the board of directors to have a heart-to-heart talk about why this is an ongoing problem.
And we’ll be back with more right after this.
NEW GMC TERRAIN UNVEILED
We brought you a lot of coverage of the Detroit auto show this week. But there’s still more to get to. So let’s start with the new GMC Terrain. It shows that the brand is changing its design language. The Terrain definitely looks less boxy. The edges of the front grille have been rounded off a bit, which softens it up and a kick-up in the middle of the rear door into the rear glass helps taper off the back end. Add on a large sweeping line under the grille that flows into the new C-shaped headlamps and a chrome accent in the lower fascia and the new Terrain almost seems to be smiling at you. The interior is also new but I wouldn’t say there’s all that much to get excited about. But you can get excited about the three all-new powertrains: a choice of 1.5L or 2.0L turbocharged gasoline engines, mated to 9-speed transmissions. Or a turbo-diesel option for the first time, which will undoubtedly meet all the emissions standards. The 2018 Terrain goes on sale this summer.
VW REVEALS NEW TIGUAN
VW showed off a longer wheelbase version of the Tiguan. Like most the vehicles coming off of VW’s MQB architecture, the new Tiguan is a little bland. It just doesn’t move the needle very much. And it starts with the exterior styling. There’s little movement in the body work to draw your eye from the front to back and it ends up just looking like a box. And the interior is a bit of a downer with a sea of black and grays, accented on occasion with a chrome frame. With the new long wheelbase VW also added a third row, making it the only automaker to have a 3rd row in its class if I’m not mistaken. That may make it unique in its class but there really isn’t much room for anyone sitting back there. But one good thing it should have is handling. We’ve driven a number of vehicles that ride on the MQB architecture and they all ride and handle well. But VW still does not seem to have cracked the code on what it takes to sell SUVs in the American market.
RENAULT EXPANDS EV LINE-UP
While the Detroit auto show is grabbing most of the attention of the automotive world this week, there is another show happening in Brussels, Belgium. That’s where Renault just unveiled electric versions of its Kangoo and Master commercial vans. The Kangoo EV has a range of 270 kilometers or 168 miles based on the easy-breezy European Driving Cycle, while the larger Master EV has a 200 kilometer or 124 mile range. Both vans feature a new 33kWh battery pack and both are available with new connected services to help businesses manage their fleet. The Kangoo EV will hit the European market in the middle of the year while the Master EV goes on sale at the end of the year.
Coming up next, we talk to some people who are knocked out by the engine in the Ford Focus RS.
FORD FOCUS RS MAKES WARDS 10 BEST ENGINES
Every year, the editors at Wards Auto choose the 10 Best Engines in the market and that’s the topic on Autoline This Week. John is joined by three of Wards’ editors and in the following clip they talk about why they chose the 2.3L 4-cylinder turbo in the Ford Focus RS as one of the best engines you can get.
(The ATW preview can only be viewed in the video version of today’s show.)
For more about the other engines on the list and why they’re winners, you can watch that entire discussion right now on our website, Autoline.tv or you can find it on our YouTube channel.
And a quick programming note. There won’t be a new Autoline Daily this Monday because we’re off for the Martin Luther King holiday.
But that’s it for today, thanks for watching, have a great weekend and we’ll see you right back here again on Tuesday.
Thanks to our partner for embedding Autoline Daily on its website: WardsAuto.com
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Comments (22)
January 13th, 2017 at 12:14 pm
I’m beginning to see a pattern here with the Obama administration’s EPA persecution of automakers over emissions indiscretions. In pursuit of the administration’s stated agenda of vehicle electrification, the EPA has created a spider web of rules and regulations so complex as to make compliance next to impossible. That way, they can nail manufacturers at will in pursuit of the elimination of offending alternative technologies, the foremost being diesel power.
January 13th, 2017 at 12:15 pm
GM took too long to bring their Ecotec turbo-4′s into cuvs/SUV/crossovers as even Ford has offered them for years. That or they were just waitingnfoe the Japanese to push them into offering a turbocharged line up?
January 13th, 2017 at 12:21 pm
Just out of curiousity is the 2.3 liter Ford the same as the 2.3 they used in the old SVO and Turbo coupe T-Birds or is the only thing they share is displacement?
January 13th, 2017 at 12:24 pm
1. I don’t believe that the regulations are too complex to adhere to. It isn’t the Obama administration it is the stupidity of certain automakers for not abiding by what some of them seem to be able to adhere to easily. The need to reduce air pollution is universal and almost universally accepted. There seems to be ways for the ICE to be compliant and still offer performance and economy. Blaming the Obama administration or any administration for the cheating and lies of a few auto industry executives is ludicrous.
January 13th, 2017 at 12:28 pm
Those Renault EV’s should work well within city for delivery and other van-type duties; make a run, plug it in, make a run, plug in, repeat.
January 13th, 2017 at 12:31 pm
3 The only thing they share is displacement.
January 13th, 2017 at 12:54 pm
John, upon witnessing the 2018 Terrain in person, I can see the same person who decided the gun slit visibility of the Camaro was good for the Terrain as well. The C-post kick-up creates a huge blind spot. The window is mostly dressing as it is barely 2″ tall and not very long. Blind spot monitoring will be a necessity.
I think a less mainstream look like what was shown on the Granite Concept would have been cooler.
January 13th, 2017 at 1:10 pm
I have a 2015 GMC Terrain SLE-1 with a 2.4 L 4-cylinder under the hood which a family member drives. I worry that this continuing trend to downsize and turbo charge engines will result in shorter engine life and ultimately higher repair costs. The complexity and cost of new vehicles is why consumers are hanging onto their current vehicles longer. I heard the average age of the US Auto is now 11.9 years. This up from 11.6 years. I was hoping that GMC would be putting the 2.5 Liter I4 Ecotec LCV Engine in the next generation GMC Terrain and Chevy Equinox. I see this motor is in the 2017 GMC Acadia. It produces 194 hp at 6300 rpm and 190 ft-lb of torque at 4400 rpm. This engine would have made these two CUVs very desirable and would have eliminated the 3.6 Liter V6 optional engine without hesitation for most repeat buyers like me.
The diesel options offered by a couple of OEMs are running a foul. Case in point VW and FCA. Diesels have a stigma for being odorous and filthy machines. I would gather see GM drop Electrified hybrid powertrains into the Terrain and Equinox very similar to the Chevy Volt. Consumer could qualify for the $7,500.00 tax credit and the similar tax credit available in their state of residence. The gas option in the Volt is reassuring to most consumers. I believe this would spur on the adaption of “Electrification” in mass market vehicles to the general public and eliminate “Range Anxiety” which keep most consumers from adapting this technology. Lets be realistic, the Bolt will out sell the Volt in certain markets, however an electrified Terrain or Equinox will out sell both the Volt and Bolt combined IMHO. The key is to engineer upgradeable battery packs which can be swapped out easily at a authorized dealer when it has reached the end of it’s useful life or in the case of failure or damage.
January 13th, 2017 at 1:53 pm
I suspect the reason that GM has avoided small displacement turbos in their CUV line-up is the well-known, but seldom spoken, fact that while these engines do well in the EPA testing, they are quite piggish in real world driving. To quote one of the major auto magazine editors (in regard to Ford’s offerings), “you can have Eco or you can have Boost; you just cannot have both”.
January 13th, 2017 at 2:01 pm
@1 Really?? have you not been listening to shows like this and others? FCA is breaking all kinds of rules, this is just the latest. This isn’t the first time VW has been caught breaking rules and you make it sound like the US is the only country that is investigating them. I guess the ” Obama Admin” is running Germany also.
And ” indiscretions ” ??? you make it sound like a typo and not a deliberate attempt to circumnavigate the rules that everyone has to adhere to.
wow.
January 13th, 2017 at 2:02 pm
Thanks Kit ,
I thought that was the case.
January 13th, 2017 at 2:08 pm
The RAV4 offered a 3rd row seat for a brief amount of time. It proved to be too much of a compromise and, hence, a low seller. VW will learn the same lesson.
January 13th, 2017 at 2:20 pm
3, 6
The 2.3 turbo in the Focus RS is basically the same engine used in various other Ford products, like Mustang, MKC, and Explorer. The version used in the RS runs more boost, getting more power, but will require premium gas, while most other versions are ok with regular.
I suspect the Focus RS, a fairly light, sporty car, is Ford’s best application for that engine. Similarly, the 1.5/1.6 turbo is great in the Fiesta ST, but provides so-so performance, and mpg, when you put it in a 3700 pound Escape.
January 13th, 2017 at 2:29 pm
The SVO/Turbo Coupe engine was, basically, a Pinto 2.3, but was fuel injected, turbocharged and intercooled. I’m pretty sure the engine had a two valve head. It was a pretty quick 4 cylinder, for the time, but not by today’s standards.
January 13th, 2017 at 3:09 pm
The 2.3L used in the 1979-81 Mustangs (and also Fairmont/Capri/Zephyr) was the Lima engine. It was rated at about 120hp, not too bad considering the 302 2v V8 was only 134. The 175 hp SVO/Turbo Coupe engine was based on the Brazilian 2.3 four, same basic design but the block was sturdier. The Mercur XR4Ti also had a 2.3L turbo but I believe that was built at Ford’s Cologne engine plant.
January 13th, 2017 at 3:11 pm
Here is an interesting product tidbit for you all. The new Terrain comes with a dash-mounted pushbutton transmission, a first in a GM vehicle, I believe. Interestingly, the new Equinox sticks with a console shifter. This is not like GM and though its a little thing, I am glad to see more and more differentiation between GMC and Chevy platform mates.
January 13th, 2017 at 3:29 pm
16 My 1957 Chrysler, and 1964 Dodge Dart had dash mounted push button transmissions.
January 13th, 2017 at 3:38 pm
Here’s some history of the Ford “Lima” engine. It went through a lot of iterations, from a 1.3 litre version used in Europe, to the 2.3 litre, both NA and turbo, used in applications from Pinto and Ranger, to Mustang SVO and T Bird Turbo Coupe.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Pinto_engine
January 13th, 2017 at 4:06 pm
So many problems with today’s show. Chrysler (not Fiat in the US)tried and convicted for diesel NOX emissions, but the jest of the EPA’s FAKE NEWS is the alleged (why don’t I see one of those words in the story, murderers get that courtesy?) lack of disclosure of the software code. And, how do the other long ago stories have anything to do with diesel emissions? A vendetta John? By the way, as for the management comment, Sergio stated that the vehicles are legal, the EPA is wrong. How much higher do you want to go than him?
The Focus RS may have a great engine, but I read a story that it’s a lousy daily driver. Very rough. Even at the track, that well publicized Drift Mode has to have the right tires or it’s out of control.
I have a new Pacifica and I love it. Seeing lots of them on the roads. Seems like a success to me! I think Honda is scared showing such a wild range of side sculpting on the 2018.
My iPad and iPhone are getting many notices about Takata airbags. Why no mention on the show?
January 13th, 2017 at 4:08 pm
Jest is the wrong word. Should be gist.
January 13th, 2017 at 9:26 pm
19 I agree that the new Pacifica is a great vehicle. That said, Sergio always seemed a bit like Winterkorn, and I won’t be surprised if there was, in fact, blatant emissions cheating with the Ram and GC diesels. I’m sure we will find out eventually.
January 14th, 2017 at 9:46 am
Jon, the Tiguan is not the only three row SUV on the market. The Nissan Rogue offers a third row as an option, and the Mitsubishi Outlander has three rows in all of its versions.
Nice show.