AD #2246 – Passenger Car Sales Plummet, Lambo Introduces Super Sport Utility, Air Curtains: Newest Design Trend
December 5th, 2017 at 11:39am
Runtime: 7:26
0:30 Passenger Car Sales Plummet
1:17 Fisker Designs Autonomous Shuttle for China
1:39 Toyota Ships Hilux Back to Japan
2:32 BMW Uses Electric Trucks to Reduce Pollution
3:06 Lamborghini Introduces Urus SUV
3:58 Ford Sues John Cena for Selling His GT
5:02 Air Curtains: Newest Design Trend
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On today’s show… passenger car sales are falling at an alarming rate… BMW is already using electric trucks for logistics… and we point out one of the most important styling trends emerging in the industry. All that and more coming right up on Autoline Daily.
This is Autoline Daily the show for enthusiasts of the automotive industry.
PASSENGER CAR SALES PLUMMET
Sales of passenger car continue to plummet in the American market. Through November, sales are down by more than 688,000 cars, which is an astonishing drop in just a year. Honda and Toyota claim they’re not giving up on cars and brag that they’re going to sell a lot of the new Accord and Camry. And they will. But those models are not immune from the shift away from cars to crossovers. Honda will sell over 327,000 Accords this year, but that’s 64,000 fewer than it sold a decade ago. Toyota will sell about 375,000 Camry’s this year, and that’s 98,000 fewer. We all know the pass car segment is sinking, and these numbers really drive the point home.
| U.S. Passenger Car Sales | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 2016 | Change | |
| Sales | 5,583,762 | 6,272,487 | -688,725 |
| 2017 | 2007 | Change | |
| Accord | 327,861 | 392,231 | -64,000 |
| Camry | 375,000 | 473,108 | -98,000 |
FISKER DESIGNS AUTONOMOUS SHUTTLE
Henrik Fisker can do more than just design swanky automobiles. He’s now teamed up with a Chinese group to build an autonomous and electric shuttle, called Orbit. The 4-door vehicles are meant to operate in “smart cities” and even feature window displays on the side glass. Fisker says the shuttles will be ready by the end of next year.
TOYOTA SHIPS THE HILUX BACK TO JAPAN
The Hilux pickup is Toyota’s iconic truck, with a reputation that it’s almost impossible to kill them. But we were surprised to learn the Hilux is no longer made in Japan. They’re made in Thailand. And now Toyota is going to export them to Japan. Several decades ago Thailand set out to become a major manufacturing hub for pickups. It’s now the second largest producer trailing only the United States.
Lamborghini just came out with what it calls a Super Sport Utility Vehicle. More about that, right after this.
BMW ALREADY USING ELECTRIC TRUCKS
While Tesla and others are talking about making electric trucks, BMW is already using them. It has 40-ton electric trucks operating on public roads in and around Munich. They have a range of up to 160 kilometers or about 100 miles. The batteries take three to four hours to charge. One of the trucks transports new BMW’s. Another delivers components. BMW estimates it cut CO2 emissions by 82 tons annually compared to diesel trucks.
LAMBORGHINI INTRODUCES URUS SUV
Even exotic sports car companies have to jump onto the SUV craze. Meet the Lamborghini Urus, which keeps the hard-edge, fighter-jet styling we saw on concepts and renderings. The interior features a cockpit that looks like it was plucked from a fighter jet, featuring 3 display screens. And check out the optional rear captain’s chairs. The Urus is powered by a 650-horsepower twin-turbo V8, which gets mated to a 8-speed automatic transmission. It also has 4-wheel steering and torque vectoring, adaptive air suspension with active dampers and carbon ceramic brakes. 0-60 comes in just under 3.6-seconds. The Urus launches next spring with a suggest price of $200,000 in the U.S.
FORD PUTS CENA IN FULL NELSON
When Ford introduced the new GT it forced owners to sign a contract agreeing they would not sell the car for at least two years. And it turns out Ford was not F-ing around. Former WWE superstar, John Cena received his new GT in September and then flipped it less than a month later. Ford caught wind and contacted Cena, who apologized and said he would make it right. But Ford claims he never “made it right” and is now suing Cena for $75,000 for the “handsome profit” he made off the sale.
Coming up next, one of the most noticeable styling trends that we’re starting to see on all kinds of cars.
OPEN THE CURTAINS, LET THE WIND SHINE THROUGH
We’d like to point out a significant styling trend that we’re starting to see on a lot of different cars. First, some background. Thanks to tightening fuel economy standards, automakers are devoting more attention to aerodynamics than ever before. One of the tricks they’ve turned to is what they call air curtains. The Ford F-Series was one of the first to use it. A vent takes air in at the outer edges of the front end and exhausts it into the front wheel wells. This reduces turbulence generated by the spinning wheels, which helps keep the airflow attached to the side of the vehicle, and reduces drag. Now take a look at the Porsche Mission E electric concept car. Those sharp lines at the outer edge are the intakes for the air curtains. And others are copying Porsche’s styling approach. Here’s the new Tesla Roadster which has a front end that sure looks a lot like the Mission E. But there’s more to this than just air curtains. Automakers have to design front ends that are blunter for pedestrian protection. But designers don’t like a flat front end for passenger cars. So they’re trying to put more plan view into the front end, making it look more like the prow of a boat instead of a flat wall. And by pulling those air curtains forward at the edges, it accentuates the plan view, making the car look better. Here’s a screen grab we took from a Ford video showing its use of VR goggles in design. This sure looks to us like it could be the next front end on the Ford Fusion. And dang if it doesn’t have air curtain inlets that look awfully similar to the Porsche Mission E. In fact, we suggest you really pay attention to any new model that is coming out these days. You’ll start to see how other companies are incorporating air curtains into the front end of their cars. We think this is turning into a major styling trend in the industry.
Before I sign off, don’t forget to tune into this Thursday’s Autoline After Hours. We’re taking a deep dive into all the changes Ford made with the refresh of its new Mustang. You won’t want to miss that.
But that wraps up today’s show, thank you for making Autoline Daily a part of your day.
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Comments (16)
December 5th, 2017 at 12:04 pm
Seems that as the application of AV technology increases the requirements for pedestrian collision can be eliminated and crash requirements will eventually need to be addressed. Certainly a long way out but once AV is widely used crash requirements being lifted could allow for even lighter vehicles.
December 5th, 2017 at 12:13 pm
The Lamborghini Urus looks great. The Lexus UX concept, which you featured yesterday, looks similar. I guess Lamborghini beat them to the market by a year or two. Just a slightly different price point
December 5th, 2017 at 12:14 pm
What would be the motivation of Cena’s GT buyer to sell it back to Cena? To gouge Cena as much or more than Cena gouged the buyer?
I suspect Ford will win this lawsuit, and hope Ford donates the money.
December 5th, 2017 at 12:27 pm
Well honestly it’s harder to sell what you don’t offer. Maybe the reason car sales are down is the models. If your a 2 door buyer like I am. What really is out there? Either it overpriced for what I’m willing to spend or I don’t care for the styling. It used to be almost every model had several variants. Sedan, Coupe,Wagon ,Convertible. Everything now is so compartmentalized that there are little choices you have to make. Back in the day, Being a Ford guy I could choose a 2 door Galaxie, Torino, Maverick ,Mustang, Pinto Thunderbird. If I wanted a sedan I could look at the Galaxie/LTD, Maverick, Torino, Thunderbird. Wagons in the Country Squire, Torino and Pinto. And that was one brand. Today if you want a American 2 door , You have the Mustang, Challenger, Camaro, Corvette and not much else So choice is killing sales as much as a shift in segment.
December 5th, 2017 at 12:30 pm
Surprised that Lambo didn’t resurrect the LM002
December 5th, 2017 at 1:04 pm
Lamborghini or not, the styling is too busy (inside and out). I don’t think Lambo is big enough that it needs to supplement its cars with a high(er) volume crossover; and think it might actually dilute the brand.
December 5th, 2017 at 1:57 pm
#6 Yea I’m not sure there is much demand for a SUV/CUV with supercar performance. Porshe went after diversification and I’m not sure if that hurt them. They produced the Panamera Sedan and the Porsche Cayenne which seem to do alright. Their sales are down but I’m not sure if that’s due to styling and other factors or if they diluted their brand as a sports car manufacturer.
How disappointing though to have a friend say come take a ride in my new Lamborghini and you walk out to see a CUV. So yeah could affect the brand.
December 5th, 2017 at 2:16 pm
#4 Yep, few 2 door cars, and no American wagons. Magnum has been gone for years, and the kind of nice, but too-pricey CTS wagon is now gone.
December 5th, 2017 at 3:52 pm
Four door sedans are so stylish (these days) that they no longer incur the image of stogie; the new Buick Regal is bringing us a new wagon-type vehicle; let’s see where it goes (probably low sales even though it is intriguing in my eye). I wish it luck.
December 5th, 2017 at 6:09 pm
The Regal wagon looks nice, but if what I’ve read is correct, it will have mandatory 4wd in the U.S., like the 3 series and E-class wagons. I didn’t need 4wd during the 50 years I drove in snow, and I certainly don’t need it now, not driving in snow.
December 6th, 2017 at 9:02 am
Curious about how the Regal wagon, Opel/Vaushall Insignia in Europe, could be bought,, I checked the UK web site. In some ways, it is almost like buying an American car in the 60′s and 70′s. There are 6 engine choices, manual or automatic for most of them. Also, there are a bunch of paint colors, not all of the various shades of grey. The wagon is sold as “sport tourer” and “country tourer,” the latter with a lift kit, kind of like a Subaru Outback. I supposes that is what we will get. Most versions of Insignia are available with either FWD or AWD, but the “country tourer” is AWD only.
December 6th, 2017 at 9:37 am
Kit IMO the auto industry took a lot of flack from the government and general public during the 2008 bankruptcy of GM and Chrysler (Ford took note). The basic direction was to eliminate wasteful spending, by consolidation, and reduction of complexity.
You’re still seeing the aftermath of that and with the loss of Pontiac, Saturn, Hummer, Plymouth and later Mercury not only did we lose makes but models. Saturn, Pontiac and Mercury offered coupes that are now gone. Saturn even had a wagon. They have focused in on what sells and eliminated the smaller niche vehicles. It was a huge kick in the teeth and has changed what is being offered. So until there is a huge demand for wagons or coupes they just wont build them. With the popularity of the SUV/CUV and crossovers which is basically wagon like. I don’t see them making one anytime soon.
December 6th, 2017 at 10:16 am
If Europe and the U.S. used the same standards, we could find out what would sell, in what numbers. It’s hard to know how a C-class wagon would sell in America, since MBUSA doesn’t offer one. It’s hard to know how an RWD manual transmission diesel 3 series wagon would sell in America, since the only way we can get that car is 4WD automatic.
December 6th, 2017 at 10:32 am
The one and only “affordable” real wagon sold in the U.S. is doing ok, even though it’s a Volkswagen.
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2017/06/volkswagen-golf-alltrack-sales-momentum-slowing-subaru-outback-growing/
December 6th, 2017 at 5:37 pm
Kit, your mention of Volkswagen reminded me of the overhead shots of the Pontiac, Michigan Silverdome demolition (failed on Sunday, worked great on Monday). I knew that Volkswagen was storing some of the recalled diesels on the grounds, but I had no idea the number has to be in the thousands! One story on the WXYZ.com TV web site told of cars stolen form there being resold elsewhere, like Ohio and even California. One picture showed at least 3000 cars in one area. Many more in another quadrant of the lot. Just wondering what will ultimately happen to them. Amazing.
And the Urus: Who did the roof crush test BEFORE production? Back seat visibility? What’s that?
Even Honda dropped the coupe Accord.
December 6th, 2017 at 5:39 pm
Maybe Lamborghini liked the Rover Evoque roofline!