On today’s show…why concerns over a subprime bubble are exaggerated…”green” cars are outperforming pretty much every segment in the U.S…and a look at a wild new Moab concept from Jeep. All that and more coming right up on Autoline Daily.
This is Autoline Daily the show for enthusiasts of the automotive industry.
CHINESE AUTOMAKERS EXPAND GLOBAL FOOTPRINT
Chinese automakers continue to expand their global manufacturing footprint. SAIC announced it is buying an assembly plant in India that General Motors is abandoning. And Reuters reports that Great Wall is looking at building an assembly plant in Mexico, and could possibly use the site that Ford abandoned in Mexico under pressure from the Trump Administration. But since Trump is threatening to impose an import tax on cars from Mexico, Great Wall is reportedly looking at alternative sites in the United States.
GREEN CARS OUTPACING MOST SEGMENTS
Even though gas prices are still pretty cheap and sales of trucks are soaring, sales of “green cars” outperformed pretty much every other segment during the first quarter in the American market. Sales of battery electric cars absolutely exploded, up 95%. Plug-ins were up 60% and hybrids were up 15%. Put it all together and the total green car segment was up 32%. Even so, the segment still only represents about 3% of new car sales.
| US GREEN CAR SALES Q1, 2017 |
| EV |
26,390 |
+95.7% |
| Plug-in |
19,208 |
+59.6% |
| Hybrid |
82,674 |
+14.7% |
| TOTAL |
128,272 |
+31.7% |
| Source: WardsAuto |
SUBARU UPDATES THE OUTBACK
Subaru revealed the new Outback ahead of its official debut at the New York Auto Show next week. As you can see the styling has been updated in both the front and the rear. The interior also features new materials and a redesigned center console. The 2018 Outback is offered with two powertrains, a 2.5L BOXER engine and a 3.6L six-cylinder BOXER. Both engines are mated to a continuously variable transmission. The best selling model in Subaru’s line-up hits dealerships this summer.
HONDA REVEALS THE NEW CIVIC Si
And speaking of reveals, Honda showed off the production version of the Civic Si. The styling remains similar to the prototype we’ve already seen but we’re getting a few new details. The turbocharged 1.5L engine kicks out a little over 200-horsepower and nearly 200 lb-ft of torque. It gets mated to a short-throw, 6-speed manual transmission. A slew of suspension upgrades include adaptive dampers, stiffer springs, bigger sway bars in the front and rear, and ultra-rigid front upper control arms shared with the Civic Type R. The Civic Si Sedan and Coupe go on-sale next month with a price in the mid-$20,000 range.
Still to come…why concerns over a subprime car loan bubble are overblown.
SUBPRIME BUBBLE CONCERNS OVERBLOWN
Automakers set a sales record in the U.S. last year and while that’s good news, it does mean more subprime loans are being handed out. And coupled with an uptick in delinquencies, it has some analysts worried that a subprime bubble is about to explode. But according to Chris Stinebert, the CEO of the American Financial Services Association, the concern is overblown. He is our guest on Autoline This Week and here is what he had to say.
(The ATW preview is only available in the video version of today’s show.)
For a deeper dive into that topic, you can watch the entire show right now on Autoline.tv or you can find it on our YouTube channel.
Coming up next, Dodge shares more details about the Demon and Jeep creates a wild concept for Moab.
NEW DODGE DEMON DETAILS
The Dodge Demon is meant to be a monster on both the street and the strip and here’s some more of its secrets. It’s going to come with two fuel pumps, compared to the Hellcat’s one, larger fuel injectors, a new switch bank for the center stack, and two Powertrain Control Modules. If the last two have you wondering, the Demon can run on either 100+ octane or 91 octane fuel. It leaves the factory with a PCM configured for premium unleaded pump gas, but you can switch over to the recalibrated PCM. The new switch bank has a button for changing over to the high octane setting. And now that we’ve learned all about the Demon it will finally make its debut next week at the New York Auto Show.
JEEP’S WILD QUICKSAND CONCEPT
In other FCA news, every year Jeep and Mopar take a handful of concepts to the Easter Jeep Safari in Moab, Utah. We got a chance to check out this year’s crop and here’s one that’s guaranteed to turn heads.
(The Jeep Quicksand Concept can only be seen in the video version of today’s show.)
The great part about these concepts is they’re not just for looking at, Jeep actually takes people out for rides in them at Moab. And something tells me there will be a long line for the Quicksand.
But that’s it for today, thanks for watching, have a great weekend and we’ll see you right back here again on Monday.
| 
| Listen on Phone 
| 
Share
Embed
Permalink
Comments (24)
April 7th, 2017 at 12:02 pm
No Civic Si hatch? I guess Honda wants to give VW and Ford a few extra sales for the GTi and Focus ST.
April 7th, 2017 at 12:08 pm
So what is the current bottom line contribution for green vehicles? Isn’t that what counts?
April 7th, 2017 at 12:14 pm
If you have a penny and I give you a penny, you just increased your hand held wealth 100%. Least we forget you still only have 2 cents. So goes it with “green” cars.
April 7th, 2017 at 12:27 pm
Halibrand knockoff replicas on that Quicksand. Nice!
April 7th, 2017 at 12:34 pm
‘Strategery’; to paraphrase SNL’s take on President Bush (“W”, that is): make a statistic say what ever you want it to (say). Thanks Sean for you final commentary, and again to paraphrase; the green market still only represents less than 3% of the market.
April 7th, 2017 at 12:53 pm
If “green car” sales continue to increase 31.7% every quarter, it won’t be long before they make up half the market.
April 7th, 2017 at 12:58 pm
Yeah, Kit, they’ll be up to 4% in no time (snicker). The Government, the auto makers and the greenies are pushing hard; I still think it will take range, price and and infrastructure before we see numbers that will be meaningful for the environment.
April 7th, 2017 at 1:33 pm
Chuck, at a 31.7% increase per quarter, the number of cars would almost triple in a year. At that rate, within 4-5 years, about 8M “green cars” a year would be sold. If the total number of cars sold stayed the same, the “greens” would make up half the market.
No,I don’t expect that to happen. The 31.7% for Q1 was just a quirk, fluke, or whatever.
Yep, it will take all of the tings you mention, for the sales to increase drastically. For me to consider pure EV, there would need to be a place to plug it in at my condo. See far, there is no indication that will happen any time soon.
April 7th, 2017 at 2:09 pm
Based on Ward’s sales figures of 26,390 EV sales, Tesla’s claim of 25,000 first quarter seems highly questionable. There were 3,092 Bolt sales and 3,287 Leafs in the first quarter. I’m pretty sure there were a handful of BMW i3s & i8s plus other pure electrics sold.
April 7th, 2017 at 2:14 pm
I think I am Demoned out.
If green cars at 3% are a joke, what would you call the marketing impact of the Demon?
April 7th, 2017 at 2:17 pm
9 I think Tesla’s numbers are worldwide.
April 7th, 2017 at 2:42 pm
I hope I didn’t come across as ‘snarky’ Kit. I was reflecting on John’s/Sean’s multiple comments about electrics and how that they have been reporting that 3% figure for what seems to be years. As retired, if conditions would improve as to range/price/infrastructure, I might even consider buying one; I know I’m curious about whether I would like one. The Bolt intrigues me (some) but still too expensive for what you get (even with the tax credit) and that so many other models make more sense at least to me.
p.s. totally different topic (kind of): Grand Prix practice, in Shanghai, was cancelled today due to air quality. China may be the litmus test for ‘electrics’ if they can get their electric power cleaner.
April 7th, 2017 at 3:06 pm
@Lisk – The Ward’s number for EV sales that we featured today is for the American market. The Tesla 25,000 figure from the other day is global. If you’re curious, according to Ward’s, Tesla has sold just over 15,000 Model S & X’s in the first three months of the year in the U.S. That’s still more than half of all EV sales. BMW has sold just over 1,400 i3′s in the U.S. this year, but remember the i8 is a plug-in hybrid, not an EV.
April 7th, 2017 at 3:21 pm
12 Chuck, you didn’t come across as ‘snarky’ at all. I was just doing rough “what if” calculations based on one quarter, for fun, knowing there is no way that 31% quarterly increase will continue.
When I was in Shanghai for a couple weeks, about 20 years ago, the air quality was bad, it seemed largely because of small 2-stroke motorbikes, and very smokey buses and trucks. The vehicles would be much cleaner now, so maybe the wind was bringing in the smoke from the power plants. I’m curious about the cause of the bad air, but it must have been pretty bad to cancel the practice.
April 7th, 2017 at 4:16 pm
Honda Civic Si:
Okay John, I think it’s high time for a fresh installment of your “Design Handbook – Know When To Lift The Pen”. This car’s aesthetics are so over-the-top and brutal (especially that rear end), I don’t even know where to begin. It seems they just couldn’t find a way to stop designing on this car. Your eye can’t get a rest on any surface.
Where’s Jim Hall when you need him?
April 7th, 2017 at 8:26 pm
It seems I might have assumed a little too much with my declaration of F1 practice cancellation; looks like it was more weather related, sighting fog and the inability of the helicopters from landing at the hospital (if needed). Sorry for any mis-information.
April 8th, 2017 at 6:24 pm
The quick sand does not seem to be designed for sandy conditions at all- There is no air filter!
April 8th, 2017 at 7:51 pm
A Corvette at a local show with some history. It is unrestored and “rough,” and sounds like crap, which adds to the appeal.
https://flic.kr/p/SrCaKT
April 8th, 2017 at 10:49 pm
Tesla appears to be reaching out to sell cars … clearance for the “S” and “X”? Regardless, it looks like Tesla was manufacturing limited but they’ve figured out how to get product to the customer.
As for plug-in hybrids, they work in ‘fly-over’ states where we need a car not only efficient in the City but able to take a long distance trip.
Finally, many of us spect the tax credits will soon evaporate and be replaced by faux-surcharges for not burning enough gasoline taxes.
Bob Wilson
April 9th, 2017 at 9:26 am
Chuck, maybe you know about this. How much longer will Honda stay in the F1 engine business? This has to be really embarrassing, being both slow AND unreliable. That wouldn’t help sell many Civics, or whatever they had in mind.
April 9th, 2017 at 3:46 pm
Hard to say, and anything I could comment on would just be speculation. It appears that the M/B engines are still on top with the Ferrari’s either equal or just barely behind. The Renault’s are trailing just a tad but the analysis’s are saying that a new Renault is in the works and should be available by mid-season. So far the racing has been pretty darn competitive, and yes, Honda has some catching up to do. Haas scored points today (in China). I’m liking the new season so far.
April 9th, 2017 at 5:21 pm
I’m liking the season too. It stands to be more interesting than the last two or three.
April 10th, 2017 at 1:04 pm
+1 to Rick.
I’m cringing now at the plumes coming off the front wheels in a hard turn. Sand everywhere and being vacuumed up by those 8 thirsty runners!
Ho-boy!
Keep prides themselves in functional concepts, but A little too concept for me.
April 15th, 2017 at 12:15 pm
As a former Subaru owner the only update that could entice me to buy another one is if they wised up and dumped the CVT and put in a good 6,7,or 8 speed automatic. I will NEVER buy any vehicle with a CVT.