On today’s show… uh-oh, looks like European automakers are going to miss their CO2 targets… Mazda and Mitsubishi tease some concept cars ahead of the Tokyo show… and GM’s autonomous cars are showing amazing situational awareness. All that and more coming right up on Autoline Daily.

This is Autoline Daily the show for enthusiasts of the automotive industry.

AUTOMAKERS COULD MISS EU CO2 TARGETS
Europe is dead serious about reducing CO2 emissions from cars, but most major automakers will not meet the 2021 European emission standards. That’s according to the PA Consulting Group. Only four of the top eleven carmakers are on pace to hit the goals, including Volvo, Toyota, Renault-Nissan and Jaguar Land Rover. Automakers will be penalized 95 euros or $113 for every gram of CO2 per car above the limit. As it currently stands, VW would be slapped with the largest fine, $2 billion, followed by FCA at $1.4 billion. The researchers say automakers will need to make radical changes to meet the targets or they’ll have to potentially fork over billions in fines.

LNG VOLVO TRUCKS MEET EURO 6
Meanwhile, Volvo Trucks just introduced several semi-trucks that can meet Euro 6 emission standards. But that’s because they run on liquefied natural gas, or LNG. Compared to a diesel, the LNG trucks cut CO2 emissions by 20%. If biogas is used CO2 can be reduced up to 100%. However, the engine does use some diesel fuel. When the engine is started, the liquid gas in the tank is heated and turned into compressed gas. Before it’s injected, a small amount of diesel is added to the engine to ignite the gas. The trucks are also 15 to 25% more fuel efficient. They have a range of 1000 kilometers or about 620 miles, and go on sale in Europe next spring.

VW TO CUT NUMBER OF DEALERS IN EUROPE
Volkswagen has made a number of cost cutting moves over the past year to help pay for its diesel scandal and to invest in EV technology. And now Reuters reports the company wants to trim its dealer network in Europe. VW is looking to improve profitability of its dealers by 10%. The company has 3,000 dealers in Europe but it did not say how many will be dropped. To help offset the loss, VW will begin selling cars online. Franchise laws in the United States prohibit automakers from selling cars direct to consumers, but that’s not the case in Europe.

GM is making impressive progress with its autonomous cars and that’s coming up next.

LIDAR SET TO EXPLODE
Elon Musk says that autonomous cars don’t need LIDAR, but he seems to be the only one who believes that. Yesterday General Motors announced it is buying a LIDAR company called Strobe. It has a solid state LIDAR that’s expected to cut the cost by 99%. We think that means it would be less than $100. Many others believe in LIDAR, too. Ford and Baidu have invested in Velodyne, Toyota invested in Luminar and there are a bunch of other startups making LIDAR including Innoviz, Quanergy, Leddar, Oryx and Ibeo, to name a few. Others, like Waymo and Uber, are making LIDAR systems in-house. The market for LIDAR is ready to explode. IHS Market says LIDAR sales were $230 million last year and will hit $2.5 billion by 2025. And it expects 15 suppliers to jump into the market. Who knows? Maybe Mr. Musk will end up changing his mind and jump on the LIDAR bandwagon.

CRUISE MAKES IMPRESSIVE PROGRESS
Meanwhile, Cruise Automation, which GM bought, is making impressive progress with its level 4 autonomy. Kyle Vogt, the CEO of Cruise, says they’re testing cars in San Francisco because it has such absurd driving situations. He says one minute of testing in San Francisco is worth one hour of testing in the suburbs. For example, here’s a six-way intersection in the Castro neighborhood of San Francisco with flashing red lights in all directions, yet their autonomous Chevrolet Bolt successfully drives through. And here’s another example. Construction zones are very difficult for autonomous systems. Vehicles may have to follow paths marked by cones or flares, and sometimes they must obey hand signals from workers as you see here. Vogt says they encounter construction zones 39-times more often in SF than in suburbs. But what these videos show is the amazing improvement in “situational awareness” for autonomous cars.

Coming up next, a sneak peek ahead of the Tokyo auto show.

MAZDA FOCUSES ON PRODUCT & DESIGN
The Tokyo Motor Show is going to see a number of new reveals and here’s the latest from Mazda and Mitsubishi. Mazda will have two concepts, the first is a compact hatchback that will focus on product. It adopts the automaker’s SKYACTIV-Vehicle Architecture and is powered by the SKYACTIV-X spark compression ignition engine. The other model will focus on design. It’s said to be “a more profound expression of its KODO design language and will define the next generation of Mazda design.”

MITSUBISHI HINTS AT NEAR FUTURE
Now we’ll switch over to Mitsubishi, who’s all-electric e-EVOLUTION CONCEPT SUV is said to “indicate the direction Mitsubishi Motors will take in the near future.” Highlights include a 3-motor, one in front, two out back, 4-wheel drive system and Artificial Intelligence that augments the driving experience and even has a driver coaching function. The e-EVOLUTION is a pretty wild-looking concept and we point out that its side profile looks strikingly similar to the Faraday Future FF91. The Tokyo show kicks off at the end of the month.

And that wraps up today’s show. Thanks for watching and we invite you to join us again tomorrow.