AD #2245 – Lexus Considers UX for U.S., November Sales Stronger Than Expected, FCA & Hyundai Discuss Tech Partnership
December 4th, 2017 at 11:59am
Runtime: 8:37
0:31 November Sales Stronger Than Expected
1:04 Top 6 Sales Results
2:17 Luxury Brand Sales Results
3:30 Mercedes Reveals New Sprinter Interior
4:02 VW Launches New Ride-Sharing Service
4:33 FCA & Hyundai Discuss Tech Partnership
5:00 VW May Buy Stake In GAZ
5:13 Lexus Considers Bringing UX To U.S.
6:02 New Wrangler Features Design Cues from Moab Concepts
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On today’s show…November car sales in the U.S. were stronger than expected…FCA is in talks with Hyundai about a tech partnership…and how Jeep designed the new Wrangler using styling cues from those cool Moab concepts. All that and more coming right up on Autoline Daily.
This is Autoline Daily the show for enthusiasts of the automotive industry.
NOVEMBER SALES STRONGER THAN EXPECTED
Once again, the U.S. car market turned out to be stronger than analysts were expecting. The SAAR hit a very healthy 17.3 million vehicles, and sales hit 1.38 million vehicles, up 1% from a year ago. Year-to-date, the market is down 1.6%. Here’s our Autoline Insight. There’s still the effect of people replacing cars that were damaged in this summer’s hurricanes. And the American economy is still running strong. Put the two together and you’ve got a hot market.
| U.S. LIGHT VEHICLE SALES NOVEMBER, 2017 | |
|---|---|
| SAAR | 17.38 Million |
| SALES | 1.38 Million |
| Source: WardsAuto | |
TOP 6 SALES RESULTS
Amongst the 6 largest full-line manufacturers, General Motors saw its sales decline nearly 3%. Ford shot up 7%, thanks to strong fleet sales to daily rental companies. Sales of the Fusion were up 45%, the Transit up 47%, the Explorer was up 23% and the Edge 22%. Those are terrific increases, but clearly the result of big fleet orders. Toyota saw its sales drop 3%, and FCA was down 3.7%. The Fiat brand looks like it’s on the ropes. Despite having four models to sell, it only moved 1,733 vehicles. That means Fiat dealers are selling only 2 cars a week on average. You’ve got to wonder how long they can survive. Honda had a great month with sales up more than 8%, and remember, those are all to retail customers. Nissan was up a whopping 14% and is almost catching Honda in total sales, but Nissan has ramped up fleet sales to get that kind of increase.
| TOP FULL-LINE OEMs | ||
|---|---|---|
| General Motors | 245,237 | -2.9% |
| Ford | 205,133 | +7.0% |
| Toyota | 191,617 | -3.1% |
| FCA | 153,546 | -3.7% |
| Honda | 133,156 | +8.3% |
| Nissan | 131,250 | +14% |
| Source: WardsAuto | ||
LUXURY BRAND SALES RESULTS
The top luxury brands generally had a good month. Mercedes continued to climb, BMW posted a nice increase, and even though Lexus is very close to surpassing BMW this year, its sales fell. Audi posted a strong gain. And take a look at this. Infiniti passed Cadillac in sales for November and could surpass it for the entire year. Cadillac is having a horrible time in the market, with its passenger car sales down 34% for the month.
| LUXURY BRAND SALES | ||
|---|---|---|
| Mercedes-Benz | 34,112 | +2.3% |
| BMW | 28,049 | +7.1% |
| Lexus | 27,118 | -6.7% |
| Audi | 19,195 | +12.1% |
| Infiniti | 14,130 | +11.0% |
| Cadillac | 13,359 | -12.8% |
| Source: WardsAuto | ||
Overall is was a good month, but it also shows how this is a zero-sum game. When some car companies post good sales, you know it’s coming out of someone else’s hide.
Mercedes is about to redesign the Sprinter van and we’ll show you what the interior will look like right after this.
MERCEDES REVEALS NEW SPRINTER INTERIOR
Back in September, Mercedes teased a picture of its new Sprinter van and now we get to see the interior. Look at that large infotainment screen, very unusual for a commercial vehicle. It’s big and centrally located, likely to give the driver the best view and interestingly, the center air vents are integrated into the screen. We can also see that the driver will have a small digital display located between the gauges. The new Sprinter launches in the first half of 2018.
VW LAUNCHES NEW RIDE-SHARING SERVICE
Almost one year ago Volkswagen announced its new stand-alone mobility startup that will focus on ride-sharing, called MOIA. It even designed its own fully electric 6-passenger van. The side door is automatic, seats come with reading lights and USB ports and there’s built-in Wi-Fi. MOIA’s goal is to take a million vehicles off the roads of Europe and the U.S. by 2025. It will launch in Hamburg, Germany late next year with the idea to expand internationally after that.
FCA & HYUNDAI DISCUSS TECH PARTNERSHIP
FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne revealed that the company is in talks with Hyundai about a tech partnership. Reuters reports that FCA is particularly interested in developing transmissions and hydrogen technology together. No formal announcement yet. Marchionne has made it clear that he wants to merge FCA with another automaker but he said this new partnership likely won’t lead to a merger.
VW MAY BUY STAKE IN GAZ
Speaking of partnerships, it looks like Volkswagen is in talks to buy a stake in Russian commercial vehicle maker GAZ. However, it’s not known how large a stake VW would take or how much the deal is worth.
LEXUS CONSIDERS BRINGING UX TO U.S.
In another sign that the crossover craze continues, Wards reports that Lexus is considering bringing its small CUV, the UX to the U.S. Lexus dealers want it and they were a driving force behind getting a new 3-row version of the RX. It also doesn’t hurt to note that, while still small, the small luxury CUV segment is one of the fastest growing in the U.S.
Coming up next, a look at the design elements on the new Wrangler that were borrowed from Jeep’s Moab concepts.
NEW WRANGLER FEATURES DESIGN CUES FROM CONCEPTS
Every year, Jeep creates a number of wild concepts for its Easter Jeep Safari in Moab, Utah. And while you’ll never find any them in a dealership, some of their design cues do make it into production. On last week’s Autoline After Hours, we were joined by Mark Allen, the head of Jeep design, and he shared which design elements from the Moab concepts, made their way on to the new Jeep Wrangler.
(The AAH preview is only available in the video version of today’s show.)
We have another great Autoline After Hours coming up on Thursday when we take a deep dive into all the changes that Ford made to the Mustang.
But that’s it for today, thanks for watching and please join us again tomorrow.
Thanks to our partner for embedding Autoline Daily on its website: WardsAuto.com
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Comments (25)
December 4th, 2017 at 12:25 pm
Cadillac is sedan heavy, is having rumblings of transmission problems with the CT6, and all the promising of new reveals still hasn’t materialized. Cadillac has good stuff but in the market today you have to ‘plus’ yourself and be the leader. Time to get-going Cadillac and pick up the pace. (And this is coming from a Cadillac fan); last three additions to my vehicles have been two STS’s and an XT5).
December 4th, 2017 at 12:28 pm
Infiniti -sales are up, 6 crossovers
Cadillac – sales are down, 2 crossovers
Hmmmm, well I can’t figure it out.
December 4th, 2017 at 12:30 pm
In your standing of Luxury Vehicle sales you forgot Lincoln. It’s always interesting to see Cadillac and Lincoln battling it out.
December 4th, 2017 at 12:30 pm
I really like the looks of the Lexus UX. Hopefully it doesn’t change much from the pics you showed.
Jeep is in a tough position. The Wrangler has a solid following and purists that don’t want to see it change. Some folks lost their mind when they changed the headlights to square. So keeping it fresh and modern while maintaining its strong design heritage has to be a challenge. Funny that the fold down windscreen which was only created for shipping overseas during the war has been a design feature they chose to maintain when a roll-cage and windscreen frame defeats the original design intent.
December 4th, 2017 at 12:35 pm
I notice Lexus sales are down over 6%. In my opinion their styling is part of the problem. That front end/grill is horrid! I think they are getting some younger buyers with that style but losing more who don’t like it!
December 4th, 2017 at 12:37 pm
#1 I agree and also a fan of the caddy brand. I just hope that GM in their infinite wisdom does not do as they have done in the past, and just grab one of the other GM brand SUV/CUVs fill it with options, new fascia’s and badge it a Cadillac. They need to maintain the separation to break that “just a loaded up Chevy” stigma. Launch a specific Caddy CUV.
December 4th, 2017 at 12:40 pm
#3 I don’t think the Jeep “purists” ever got over the Wrangler with the rectangular headlights. Even Corvette people are more adaptive. I no longer hear whining about C7 ‘Vettes having non-round tail lights.
December 4th, 2017 at 12:45 pm
@ Kit: I am guilty of that,and yes I am long time over that. Well,the tail light thing on the vettes. The square headlights on the jeep,NEVER,lol.
December 4th, 2017 at 12:48 pm
@5, wouldn’t you love to see a FX type crossover from Caddy? Smaller than the XT5, 250-300 ish horsepower. You could use the Equinox chassis but tighten it up a bit.
December 4th, 2017 at 12:49 pm
Fords sales for the month of November 2017 were probably so strong due to the zero percent financing for 72 months and $1000.00 customer cash offer to customers.
December 4th, 2017 at 12:49 pm
You almost can’t forget GM has Buick and GMC which pull as much or more in sales and profits as does Acura and Infiniti.
From GM:
“Customer demand for crossovers, strong SUV sales, and a record November for GMC Denali sales helped GM’s Average Transaction Prices (ATP) for surpass $37,000 for the first time ever. GM’s ATPs were about $4,500 above industry average and nearly $2,000 higher than any domestic competitor.”
December 4th, 2017 at 12:49 pm
7 As I remember, the biggest talking point of the then-new 1997 Wrangler was that it went back to round headlights, even though it was a completely new, and better machine, with better suspension and many other improvements.
December 4th, 2017 at 1:06 pm
For the list of lurury brand sales, I would like to see a couple of more brands to be tracked… Acura and Lincoln.
December 4th, 2017 at 1:10 pm
11 Yeah I believe Jeep needs to stick to just powertrain and suspension improvements. Oh and IP updates to keep up with infotainment needs.
8 Yes I think a smaller (than XT5) CUV crossover would be good for Caddy. As with any platform the XT5 will continue to grow in size with each refresh leaving room for a smaller vehicle.
December 4th, 2017 at 1:14 pm
As others have said, Cadillac needs more crossovers, but if done right, using shared platforms should be fine. It works for Lexus. All of their CUVs and SUVs share platforms with Toyota products.
I generally like the Cadillac sedans, but not enough to buy one. It’s hard to believe I’m saying this, but if I wanted a near-luxury sedan, the Genesis G80 would be high on my shopping list. At an MSRP of ~42K, it is very well equipped with RWD, a naturally aspirated V6, all of the usual safety technology, simple, intuitive controls, leather, etc. Also, it is quiet, and drives decently. Until I experienced a friend’s G80 a few months ago, I wouldn’t have guessed I might actually like a Hyundai.
A Cadillac CTS drives “sportier,” but comparably equipped, is much more expensive.
December 4th, 2017 at 1:30 pm
@ Kit: none of the improvements went unnoticed on the 97. But the headlights brought back ‘the look’…
@ Lambo” agreed about the jeep. I do love the new styling,and the vented fenders are much needed when trail ridin’.
December 4th, 2017 at 1:56 pm
@Drew – Ask and ye shall receive. Acura sold 12,716 vehicles in the U.S. in November, which is up 9.5% compared to last November. So far this year, Acura has sold 139,540 vehicles, which is down 3.2% through the same time last year.
Lincoln sold 8,909 cars and trucks in the U.S. in November, which is down 5.5% compared to last November. Lincoln has also sold 100,540 so far this year, which is up 1.6%.
Let me know if there’s anything else.
December 4th, 2017 at 2:20 pm
#16 How about Audi?
December 4th, 2017 at 3:01 pm
dealer lots here in Western Canada seem to still have lots of 2017 vehicles to move. All kinds of deals to be had, 0%financing/cash back/etc. I’m thinking nov and dec sales will remain strong.
December 4th, 2017 at 3:28 pm
@#4 Fred L Schmidt Couldn’t agree more about the Lexus grill. Great company, great reliability, great engineering, etc. But that grill!! It’s hideous and makes the cars look like giant electric shavers. I am in the market for a new car but crossed off the Lexus immediately because of the grill. To me and my wife, looks matters and I could never have one of those in my garage.
December 4th, 2017 at 3:49 pm
@kit – If you open up the transcript we have a chart that includes Audi’s sales and increase for the month of November. As for YTD sales, it has sold 199,534 vehicles in the U.S., which is a 6.7% increase.
December 4th, 2017 at 4:45 pm
Thanks, Sean
December 4th, 2017 at 8:42 pm
After having 2 Cadillac vehicles and dealing with timing chain problems on one and seats and rear axle problems on another I gave up on the so called “luxury” brand. I drove a chevy pickup and put over 100,000 miles on it with the only problem being a bad ground that chevy took care of. Cadillac response to known problems – sorry about you luck.
December 5th, 2017 at 12:41 am
I was looking for a used car or CUV for my daughter this weekend but bought a new Jeep Renegade Sport, the base model, because they discounted the MSP $8100, making it a better deal than any used car I could find.. I can see why new car sales are strong but that kind of discounting to move vehicles can’t be sustainable?
December 7th, 2017 at 8:58 am
“Fords sales for the month of November 2017 were probably so strong due to the zero percent financing for 72 months and $1000.00 customer cash offer to customers.”
So how about Nissan? They were up 14%…Titan more than double YOY. Maxima, of all things, way up. I gotta think they offered some attractive incentives there too.