On today’s show…Renault is testing charging an EV while driving…Volkswagen’s small compact the Up! gets the GTI treatment…and despite initial success and critical acclaim, sales of the Volvo XC90 are plunging. All that and more coming right up on Autoline Daily.
This is Autoline Daily the show for enthusiasts of the automotive industry.
VOLVO’S PUZZLING SALES
We like to keep an eye on what’s going on in the marketplace and we’re puzzled over what’s going on at Volvo. Last month Volvo’s sales shot up an impressive 20% in the U.S. market, thanks to strong gains with the S60 and the XC60. Also, the S90 was not on sale a year ago, so that really helped the year-over-year comparison. But what really caught our attention is the dramatic drop in sales of the XC90. They fell 19% last month and are down 36% so far this year. When the XC90 was introduced in late 2014 to all kinds of accolades and awards, sales exploded. By the end of 2016 it was Volvo’s best selling vehicle in the American market. It still is, but it’s falling fast. I don’t think we’ve ever seen any vehicle go from so hot to so cold in such a short amount of time.
RENAULT TESTS CHARGING AN EV WHILE DRIVING
One reason electric vehicles sell in small numbers, is the time it takes to recharge one. But what if you could charge your EV while driving? That’s what Renault is looking into. The company has teamed up with Qualcomm Technologies and Vedecom to test dynamic wireless EV charging or DEVC for short. The system, which is installed in the road, is able to provide an EV with a charge up to 20 kilowatts, at speeds of 100 kilometers per hour or about 60 MPH. This test is part of a larger project in the EU to test the feasibility, economic viability and sustainability of wireless DEVC in the real-world.
NISSAN TEASES NEW LEAF
And speaking of electric vehicles, Renault’s Alliance partner, Nissan is teasing the all-new LEAF. The company says this is the first of a series of teases before the EV makes its global debut later this year.
And we’ll be back with more right after this.
MERCEDES ENTERS U.S. HOME BATTERY MARKET
Mercedes-Benz is taking a page right out of Tesla’s book. It’s teaming up with Vivint Solar to offer U.S. customers a home solar and battery storage system. Vivint will supply rooftop solar panels, which it designs, installs and services and Mercedes will provide a storage system that’s based off its automotive battery technology. The system will consist of 2.5 kWh battery modules that can be combined together for up to 20 kWh. It’s first being made available to customers in California sometime this quarter who can purchase the system outright or choose to finance it.
VW GIVES THE UP! MORE POWER
The GTI version of the Golf has made quite a name for itself over the years, even spawning GTI variants of other VW models and now we’re getting another. For the first time Volkswagen’s teeny tiny Up!, which is not sold in the U.S. will get the GTI treatment. And it sure looks like a GTI with its bright white paint job, black stripes running along the bottom and most notably the red stripe in the grille. The interior also features a fading red to black dash trim piece, red accents on the steering wheel and shift knob and plaid or “clark” pattern seat inserts. But it wouldn’t be a GTI without a little extra sportiness. The 1.0L turbocharged 3-cylinder now makes 114-horsepower, up from 89 and has been lowered 15 mm or a little over half-an-inch. The Up! GTI will hit dealer lots next year.
With the introduction of longer range EVs, new fuel cells and improved internal combustion engines, do hybrids have a future? We’ll take a look at that coming up next.
DO HYBRIDS HAVE A FUTURE?
After declining last year, hybrid vehicles sales have rebounded in the U.S. According to WardsAuto data, the segment is up 13% through the first four months of the year. So do hybrids have a future or are they poised to be taken over by other alternative powertrains? On Autoline This Week, we’re joined by Dan Nicholson, GM’s VP of Propulsion Systems and here’s his outlook.
(The ATW preview is only available in the video version of today’s show.)
Dan also shares his insight into fuel cells, EVs and diesels in that show. So make sure you check it out on our website, Autoline.tv or just look for it on our YouTube channel.
But that’s it for today, thanks for watching have a great weekend and we’ll see you again on Monday.
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Comments (23)
May 19th, 2017 at 12:07 pm
Sean I think Volvo has a couple of problems. The first is their advertising doesn’t say anything. They were always the “safe car” company. If you watch the new Volvo ads they don’t give the consumer a reason to purchase. They don’t talk about the particular vehicle they are promoting, they don’t talk about how safe the vehicles are, they don’t say anything other than Volvo and show some lifestyle images. This doesn’t offer any differentiation between Volvo and any other car in the market at any price level.
Now, if you take this poor marketing program and combine it with prices that are about 20%+ more than the same models were in the past you might see why the sales are falling. When the XC90 was introduced there was a lot of buzz and I am sure the early adopters didn’t want to miss the boat. These early adopters found that the product wasn’t quite ready. The engine is noisy and thrashes a lot, there were a lot of QC problems and technology problems making the ownership experience less than satisfying. Word gets around very quickly…
Just a few thoughts that may reflect on the Volvo sales drop.
May 19th, 2017 at 12:08 pm
Another impact on hybrids sales is that some states are now starting to charge an additional fee for them as a revenue stream for road maintenance. The “theory” being that hybrids get better fuel economy, so they don’t pay their “fair share” at the gas pumps, so let’s ding them (ignoring the other positive social aspects of a vehicle that get better fuel economy). Indiana will start charging in July a $50/year registration fee for any vehicle with a hybrid powertrain, and $150/year for pure EV.
May 19th, 2017 at 12:19 pm
I’m surprised Nissan is turning over a new leaf considering how poorly the current one sells. The charge time range anxiety will be the Achilles heel of EVs along with the price which at the moment makes them a non starter for most people.
May 19th, 2017 at 12:20 pm
If more states pursue anti-environmental policies like Indiana, it will hurt hybrid sales, but for now, I think hybrids have a bright future. They are the no-compromise solution to low operating costs. In CR’s city tests, a Prius gets twice the mpg of similar size conventional cars, like Civic, and all you do is put gas in them and drive. A Prius gets 80% better city mileage than a Civic in the EPA city test.
May 19th, 2017 at 12:25 pm
3 The current Leaf has been around for 8 model years, so by today’s standards, it is overdo for a next generation. The new one will no doubt be better, and, presumably, the battery cooling issues of the current one will be addressed.
May 19th, 2017 at 12:32 pm
Why doesn’t VW bring back the Corrado and a CUV variant to be called the Corrado X. That was a sporty, sexy looking vehicles which could also be offered in a EV variant called the Corrado E.
If VW does produce them I want the first one of each in dark blue!
May 19th, 2017 at 1:01 pm
I will mimic WineGeek, and reiterate from some of my earlier posts; once the early adopters of the new XC-90 found numerous quality problems, which included electrical gremlins, word got out, and sales have lagged since. I don’t know if the Volvo was ‘rushed’ into the market or not, but it surely was not up to speed at launch. It seems that the ’17′s are fairing better, but once bad news spread, it is hard to reverse the initial reviews.
May 19th, 2017 at 1:29 pm
#4 – I don’t consider Indiana’s policy anti-environmental. It’s a fairly decent equivalent to what we pay at the gas pump in fuel taxes that are allegedly to cover road maintenance. I do believe that hybrid or EV vehicles have an equivalent wear impact on the roads as our internal combustion vehicles, & they should pay their fair share. Have a good weekend.
May 19th, 2017 at 2:22 pm
#8 It’s anti-environmental, in that it discourages people from buying more efficient vehicles. I certainly see your point, though, in that gas tax is supposed to pay for roads.
As far as overall environmental friendliness of EV’s, they help clean up the air in cities, but those used in Indiana are burning mostly coal, so are contributing greenhouse gas emissions.
May 19th, 2017 at 3:03 pm
There is more to the Volvo sales story than AD is revealing. If you dig a little deeper, the picture becomes more clear. Volvo set a new worldwide sales record in each of the last 3 years. They are building as many XC90′s as they can, and could sell more if they had more production. To address that, a new plant is just about to start production in China and will build XC90′s, and perhaps other models as well. The CEO is projecting another new sales record for 2017.
The rapid rise in US sales of the new XC90 last year was a result of high demand and front-loaded supply to the US market, known to be a very strong market for SUV’s. As demand was building in other world markets, the supply had to be evened out and the US got less inventory. The new plant in China will help. I think if you look at the incentive levels and inventory days supply for the XC90, you will see that there are good reasons for the sales decline in the US market that have nothing to do with vehicle quality or demand. Since Volvo is a global company, it helps to look beyond the borders of our home market when analyzing sales and profitability.
For more, read this article: http://europe.autonews.com/article/20170208/ANE/170209882/volvo-ceo-predicts-4th-straight-year-of-record-sales
May 19th, 2017 at 3:12 pm
#10. GM Veteran: actually Volvo XC90 sales are down worldwide. They were down 21% in April and are down 11.6% YTD. Here’s a link to Volvo’s numbers:
http://www.media.volvocars.com/global/en-us/corporate/sales-volumes
May 19th, 2017 at 3:31 pm
As an resident of Indiana we need the tax dollars to fix roads and bridges, for all the fans of hybrids there are places they get to recharge batteries for free while shopping, etc. nobody pays for my gasoline.
May 19th, 2017 at 3:52 pm
#11. John, I checked out the sales chart and you are right, but it also ties right in with my sales/inventory theory. Each plant that builds the XC90 also builds the all-new XC60. Sales of the new XC60 are up nearly as much as the XC90 is down, mainly because its a new model and they are building a lot of them, at the expense of the XC90. The new plant in China will help to address the shortage of XC90 inventory, currently sitting at only 58 days supply in the US. Volvo is a growing brand, experiencing the periodic production constraints that go with that growth. As the new plant comes online, I think XC90 sales will recover within the next 6 months and Volvo will set another overall sales record in 2017. With two hot SUV’s and another new one coming soon, how can they miss?
May 19th, 2017 at 4:12 pm
12 I’ll be contributing gas tax to Indiana in a couple days with my Corvette and other vehicles.
My hybrid will stay in Florida, but if in Indiana, I wouldn’t get free electricity. It burns gas.
May 19th, 2017 at 5:45 pm
We replaced two Prius hybrids last year with a BMW i3-REx and Prius Prime, both with dynamic cruise control and collision avoidance.
The plug-in hybrids give the efficiency of an EV in town and long legs of a gas car. The Prime gave 55.7 MPG on a 1200 mile trip to drive home and the BMW 168 hp, rear wheel drive is a delight. The only weaknesses are the BMW has motorcycle gas range before refueling on the highway and the Prime encourages use of free chargers when doing multiple errands in town. Both have gas when chargers are few and far between.
Both provide excellent value for what are now $20k cars.
Bob Wilson
May 19th, 2017 at 8:22 pm
15 I would have gotten a prime, even though I wouldn’t have a place to plug in while in Florida, because it apparently gets the same mpg as a regular prius on gas only, except they don’t sell them here. Actually, you get better mileage on the highway than I do, but I probably drive too fast.
Are there any aftermarket “big gas tanks” for the i3 REx? I’d think there would be a market, if there is a place to put it. I suspect that car is mainly used on plug-in power, though.
May 20th, 2017 at 6:42 pm
I just drove about 600 miles on I-95, I-10, and I-75. I saw 4 Tesla S’s, twice as many as I’ve seen before in one day. Two were near Daytona, one near Palm Bay, and one in southern Georgia on I-75. The thing that stood out, was that all were running in probably the bottom quartile of speed. Would they need to do that to safely make it between “superchargers” on a highway trip?
May 20th, 2017 at 9:09 pm
#16 asked,”Are there any aftermarket “big gas tanks” for the i3 REx?” That is one of my retirement projects. I already have a 2 gallon auxiliary tank that fits in the frunk. More about this later.
May 20th, 2017 at 9:16 pm
#18 Good luck with your project. There should be a market for it.
May 22nd, 2017 at 8:18 am
Ford Motor Is Replacing Mark Fields as C.E.O. https://nyti.ms/2qKh16l
May 22nd, 2017 at 11:36 am
Good article Kit,thanks.It looks like regular cars are being replaced by cuv/suv.That’s what the people want,that’s what they get.I wonder if it continue to boil down to cuv’s/suv’s/pickups only?
May 22nd, 2017 at 11:54 am
I just drove from Cape Canaveral, FL, to Kokomo, IN, and it seemed like 3/4 of the vehicles on the interstates were SUV/CUV’s, and empty pickups. I was driving my Corvette, which doesn’t get Prius mpg, but it would be an economy car at 80 mph, compared to most of what I saw on the road.
May 22nd, 2017 at 1:13 pm
Not surprised that XC90 sales peaked and are now dropping. I followed a users forum on the latest generation XC90. People who bought the vehicle and had it a while reported so many electrical gremlins and build issues. I’ve always felt that the X90 was rushed to market early, before the engineers had enough to fully develop the vehicle.
http://forums.swedespeed.com/forumdisplay.php?5020-XC90-(SPA-2016-)