AD #2152 – GM & UAW Concerned Over Sales Slump, Audi Issues Diesel Recall, Do We Need Traffic Lights in The Future?
July 21st, 2017 at 11:55am
Runtime: 8:33
To watch this episode on YouTube click here.
- GM & UAW Concerned Over Sales Slump
- German OEMs Investigated Over Collusion
- German Automakers Agree to Software Updates
- Audi Issues Diesel Recall
- Nissan ProPILOT Not an Autonomous System
- Hyperloop: From NY To DC In 29 Minutes
- Do We Need Traffic Lights in The Future?
- Overcoming Consumer Resistance to Data Collection
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On today’s show…GM and the UAW are worried about slumping car sales and the impact on jobs…we look at a future when autonomous cars mean we won’t need any traffic lights…and how the auto industry wants to use data that people generate in their cars. All that and more coming right up on Autoline Daily.
GM & UAW CONCERNED OVER SALES SLUMP
Uh-oh. Here’s a story we’re going to have to keep a close eye on. The UAW is in talks with General Motors about slumping passenger car sales in the American market and the impact that could have on factories and jobs. So far this year GM’s passenger car sales are down by 93,000 units, a 20% drop. But some sales are falling off a cliff. The Chevy Malibu is down 30%, the Sonic 36%, the Impala 44%, the Spark 49% and the Buick Verano is down 75%. Not all GM’s passenger cars are down. The Camaro is holding its own, the Volt is up 11%, the Cruze up 21% and the Cadillac CT6 is up 170%. Slumping passenger car sales are an industry-wide problem. They are down by 426,000 units so far this year. So if GM and the UAW are already talking about the impact on factories and jobs, that means most other automakers are grappling with this problem too.
| GM U.S. PASSENGER CAR SALES | |
|---|---|
| Chevrolet Malibu | -30% |
| Chevrolet Sonic | -36% |
| Chevrolet Impala | -44% |
| Chevrolet Spark | -49% |
| Buick Verano | -75% |
| Chevrolet Camaro | – |
| Chevrolet Volt | +11% |
| Chevrolet Cruze | +21% |
| Cadillac CT6 | +170% |
| Source: WardsAuto | |
GERMAN OEMs INVESTIGATED OVER COLLUSION
Another day, another chapter in the diesel saga. Reuters reports that the European Commission is investigating whether German automakers colluded in systems they used to clean exhaust emissions. A document from a Audi presentation in 2010 that was seized during a raid on VW mentions a commitment by German carmakers “at management level” to the future adoption of a particular kind of catalytic converter used to reduce exhaust emissions. And earlier this month prosecutors in Munich arrested an Audi employee on suspicion of fraud and false advertising in connection with the diesel scandal. It’s the first arrest in Germany in relation to the cheating.
GERMAN AUTOMAKERS AGREE TO SOFTWARE UPDATES
And now comes reports that the auto industry and politicians in Germany have agreed to clean up diesels through software updates. The plan is part of an effort to avoid diesel bans in cities, which will cost $2.3 billion. All diesel cars from foreign and domestic brands that meet Euro-5 and 6 standards will be updated.
AUDI ISSUES DIESEL RECALL
We’ve already reported on Mercedes’ recall and Audi just announced it will recall 850,000 diesel cars as part of the plan as well.
And we’ll be back with more right after this.
NISSAN PROPILOT NOT AN AUTONOMOUS SYSTEM
Nissan is going to equip the next generation of LEAF with a system it calls ProPILOT Assist. Some thought that this might be Nissan’s answer to the Autopilot system that Tesla will offer on its Model 3. But the Nissan system is essentially adaptive cruise control with some limited steering assist, but you have to keep your hands on the steering wheel at all times. It’s an SAE Level II system. We got the chance to test drive a Nissan Rogue with the system and found it to be quite well developed. But it’s not an autonomous system.
HYPERLOOP: FROM NY TO DC IN 29 MINUTES
Elon Musk, in a tweet on Thursday, said he received “verbal government approval” to build a New York-Philadelphia-Baltimore-DC Hyperloop underground. What does that mean? Well, Musk says it can take passengers from New York to Washington D.C. in just 29 minutes. But remember, it must reach its 750-mph testing goal first.
DO WE NEED TRAFFIC LIGHTS IN THE FUTURE?
Imagine it’s the year 2080 at a time when only autonomous cars are on the road. Will we even need traffic lights, stop signs, or yield signs? Well, some places in the world already have intersections without them. Take a look at this intersection Addis Ababa, in Ethiopia where cars ebb and flow, sometimes getting within inches of each other. It may not be safe or efficient, but somehow they make it work. Now let’s jump forward in time to glimpse into what autonomous vehicles communicating with one another could do. This edited time-lapse of an intersection is hilarious to watch because these cars, trucks, cyclists, and pedestrians seem oblivious to each other. But even though we can get a good laugh from this, it does point the way to a day when semaphores and signs will no longer be needed.
Coming up next, how automakers can overcome consumer resistance to the collection and monetization of data.
TAKE THAT FOR DATA
The data generated from autonomous and connected cars will be worth a fortune. That’s why we’re seeing so much activity in this field. But most car owners aren’t thrilled about the idea of corporations collecting their data and making money off it. So how can automakers get past this consumer resistance? On Autoline This Week, John is joined by three experts on this topic and here’s what they had to say.
Ben Hoffman, CEO, Movimento
“Part of it’s certainly an educational aspect but really importantly is, what’s in it for me the customer? What’s my benefit? Is my dealer experience better, do I save money on insurance, do I get a discount when I go to get coffee? So it’s going to be in that perspective, what’s the driver for me to opt in, as John said very clearly. Its customers are first. There are countries and regions of the world that has very specific data privacy, data rights.”
John McElroy
“That’s a great point. Different parts of the world, you’re going to face different regulations.”
Ben Hoffman, CEO, Movimento
“Data movement aspects. There’s a cloud platform and a policy management aspect that the technology providers like a Delphi and OEMs like a General Motors need to be able to support and maintain. Which is very complex and very difficult, it’s a real challenge. But it’s going to the customer value, what’s the customer value to opt in? We were talking earlier, as this group in advance, people are already doing it with their mobile phones. They’re opting in whether they recognize it or not, how much data their sharing, about their location, their use, the information, so some of that, the automotive side of the industry is going to, I think, do a better job of what the awareness is and the tracking and customer value driver.”
John McFarland, Director, Connectivity Owner Experience, General Motors
“I agree with you on that. I think that our philosophy at General Motors is, and I’ve mentioned it a couple of times. We want our customers to be in control of their data. And with that comes, their able to get value from it but the value exchange has to be mutual. And so they have to see, I know exactly what data is being collected, I know how it’s being used and I agree to that. So, what you see from us is a very overt presentation of anytime data is going to be collected, exactly what’s being collected, why and what’s going to be done with it. And the customer always has the choice to either opt in or opt out.”
Joe Vitale, Global Automotive Leader, Deloitte
“I’m sure you’ve probably seen, what we’ve seen in studies we’ve done, that a very, very high percentage of individuals actually do opt in.”
John McFarland, Director, Connectivity Owner Experience, General Motors
“They do, they do.”
To learn more about the monetization of data, you can watch that entire show on our website, Autoline.tv or on our YouTube channel.
But that’s it for today, thanks for watching and have a great weekend.
Thanks to our partner for embedding Autoline Daily on its website: WardsAuto.com
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Comments (26)
July 21st, 2017 at 12:22 pm
So Elon Musk has received “verbal government approval” to build a New York-Philadelphia-Baltimore-DC Hyperloop underground and you ask what that means. What that means is with that and $3, he can probably buy a cup of coffee and continue looking for taxpayer subsidies wherever he can find them!
July 21st, 2017 at 12:23 pm
GM car sales… While this is a problem, some of the examples are explainable… The Sonic is likely down because GM has been offering much larger incentives on Cruze, which is slightly bigger and a much better car. Current incentives are $2500 for a Cruze, but only $500 for the Sonic. Also, the Buick Verano is being phased out. The 2016 and 2017 models remained on the first generation Cruze platform and competes against the new Cruze on a much better/lighter second-gen platform. There will not be a 2018 Verano other than in China.
July 21st, 2017 at 12:23 pm
Wonder how pickup and large SUV sales are? Seems when gas prices are lower bigger vehicles sell better
July 21st, 2017 at 12:44 pm
2 Tbe Cruze is not only better tban the Sonic, but the Sonic is old, in today’s world, now entering its 7th model year.
John or Sean, do you know how the Cruze hatch is selling? I like it, but was a little shocked to see a $28K+ sticker on one at the local dealer.
July 21st, 2017 at 1:01 pm
Take the autonomous landscape a step further–what will the vehicle be like? I will call it a “T-Mod’ for Transportation Module. It won’t need taillights or stop lights, turn signals, safety bumpers, maybe not even seat belts!
This will certainly reduce some costs to design and manufacture with fewer regulations in mind.
July 21st, 2017 at 1:24 pm
How can you be safe with no traffic lights? The assumption that computers will never fail and nobody will be driving their own vehicles is stupid!
July 21st, 2017 at 1:50 pm
So many HL questions! How deep will the tunnel be? How long will it take to get permission from all of the landowners along that route? Once the boring, tubing, station and capsule expense is added up, how much will those tickets cost? I bet a plane ticket on one of the many daily commuter flights would be far less.
July 21st, 2017 at 2:00 pm
I’m afraid Elon’s Mach 1 subway is only a pipe dream. It would cost trillions of dollars to build, and no one would want to pay for it. Elon needs to approach people in China. They actually spend money on infrastructure there.
If such a train existed, it would be much more efficient than airplanes, but the cost of building it would be out of this world, especially in the hyper developed eastern seaboard.
July 21st, 2017 at 2:50 pm
The Hyperloop if it ever gets off the ground, oops, if it ever gets ‘under’ the ground, would likely, or at least should, be built in association with Amtrak. The railroads should already hold property rights so a tunnel could be constructed adjoining the current tracks, and as earlier mentioned; if a separate right of way were required, between time delays for acquiring rights of way and condemnation of properties where access does not currently exist delays would be monumental, costly and even more untimely. It would be cool though.
I think the hot plan to make the hyperloop would be to excavate a deep ditch, lay the pre-fabbed tunnel sections, and cover. Waterway passages and other non-burial areas might be constructed as “L’s” in a bridged tube.
July 21st, 2017 at 3:02 pm
Regarding hyperlink, is he even serious about 750 mph? With airplanes, strange things start happening at transonic speeds, like 0.9 mach, well below 750 mph.
July 21st, 2017 at 3:08 pm
10) If he does manage to keep the tube in a vacuum for the 200+ long tube, supersonic pheomomenom
July 21st, 2017 at 3:14 pm
11) oops, sent before I was done-
If he does manage to keep the tube in a vacuum for 200+ miles the supersonic phenomenon won’t be an issue because there will be no shock wave. It’s just another publicity hype for Elon. Maybe no will notice there hasn’t been any more Model 3 stories since the first “production” car rolled out.
July 21st, 2017 at 3:39 pm
Re: autonomous traffic; even though in the near future, not all vehicles will be autonomous, it could be regulated that any vehicle driving on public roads has to have V2V. This way, the level 4/5 vehicles will know you are a human driver so it can yield or be more cautious around you. Likewise, your vehicle could tell you which ones are human drivers and which are auto-autos!
I was thinking that further in the future, all intersections could be roundabouts so no traffic has to stop, but as seen in the video, they could do that without changing the roads. (The roundabouts would be better though for intermingling of human & auto drivers.)
July 21st, 2017 at 5:01 pm
12) I guess it would also help the hypersonic affects if the air column is going a few hundred miles an hour, the same direction as the train.
For a start, you could cut the DC-NYC rail travel time to a little over an hour with conventional trains going 200 mph, like they have done for years in Japan and France.
July 21st, 2017 at 8:11 pm
Some more BS from Elon Musk. They should give him a corporate award each year for being the biggest BS’er
July 21st, 2017 at 9:23 pm
I’m impressed with the SpaceX rocket booster landings, but beyond that, I tend to be skeptical of most Elon endeavors.
July 22nd, 2017 at 2:42 pm
2080 is about 60 years from now. That’s just about as long as it will take to fill the reported 90,000 pot holes in New York’s Five Boroughs. I love these talks about autonomous driving that do not discuss the cost of infrastructure or V to I. Who is going to pay for this? Not the Federal government. Not the states. Hmmmm. That means the consumer will be footing the bill
July 22nd, 2017 at 5:27 pm
A lot would need to change with the American mentality, regarding paying taxes for the better good, like building infrastructure. A lot could change in 60 years, though.
July 23rd, 2017 at 7:50 am
#18, not the Kit we know (a different one; check the last name)
What you speak is of a more socialistic society, and that in my opinion ‘ruined’ the U.S.; use-tax, o.k., general taxation for the common good, not good. “Read Atlas” Shrugged by Ann Rand, and while it goes a little far, makes sense (at least to me). This of course is JMHO.
July 23rd, 2017 at 10:58 am
18, 19
That was me, the regular Kit, but with a typo–started typing email address without moving cursor.
I like a certain amount of socialism, such as Medicare, Social Security, good public schools, public roads, etc. I even think using tax money to subsidize mass transit can be a good thing. That’s just me, though.
July 23rd, 2017 at 6:34 pm
I’m kind and watching the Brickyard 400 on TV, and almost no one is in the stands. Is this normal for NASCAR now? Maybe the mid-race breaks, and turning the “championship” into a random event weren’t such great ideas after all.
July 23rd, 2017 at 6:35 pm
That’s kind OF watching…
July 24th, 2017 at 6:34 am
Granted the Indy race facility is huge, yet from the earlier races the attendance has dwindled. I watched about ten minutes of the event, and I believe they stopped the race because the rain was coming; hadn’t even received any moisture………….yet? NASCAR continues its slide IMO; under the present format, I see a continued decline.
July 24th, 2017 at 10:18 am
They stopped the race for about two hours after 12 laps, because it looked like rain. I think tbey sold out, or nearly so the first year or two, but that was 1994.
July 24th, 2017 at 10:23 am
There was supposed to be a mandatory yellow at lap twenty. Since it just looked like rain, it seems to me, that they should have striven to reach the pre-scheduled yellow and call it a ‘two-fer’.
July 24th, 2017 at 1:47 pm
According to the IndyStar, the first few years had 300,000 attendees (full capacity). Last year was 65,000. Estimated attendance this year was 35,000 due to the heat and threat of rain. The race was stopped at lap 12 before the rains started due to the lightening in the area, and the recognition that fans in the bleachers were exposed. Red-flagging the race encouraged the fans to seek shelter. The 2018 race is being moved to September when it is likely to be a little cooler. This may or may not improve attendance.