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Runtime: 8:04
0:30 Mark Reuss Named President of GM
0:59 Toyota Reveals Next-Gen Autonomous Car
1:43 Toyota Gives Government Workers a Break
3:08 Nissan Tests Sun Damage in The Lab
3:46 BMW 8 Series Night Sky Edition
5:13 2018 U.S. Car Sales End on A High Note
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On today’s show…Toyota reveals the next-gen version of its autonomous test vehicle…a new BMW 8 Series features parts made from meteorites…and 2018 turned out to be a pretty good year for new vehicle sales in the U.S. All that and more coming right up on Autoline Daily.
This is Autoline Daily the voice of the automotive industry.
MARK REUSS NAMED PRESIDENT OF GM
Mark Reuss, the head of Global Product at General Motors just got a big promotion. He is now the President of General Motors. The Reuss family must be elated. Mark’s father Lloyd Reuss was also the president of GM in the early 1990’s but was fired along with Chairman and CEO Bob Stempel when the company posted massive losses. So, for Mark Reuss to make president must be extra sweet for him and his father.
TOYOTA REVEALS NEXT-GEN AUTONOMOUS CAR
Toyota is showing off the next-gen version of its autonomous vehicle. Called the TRI-P4, it’s based on the new Lexus LS. The test vehicle features two new cameras to improve situational awareness, along with two new imaging sensors, at the front and rear, to help with autonomous driving. The new model also is smarter than the previous generation, it can process signal inputs faster and react faster to the environment. All of its computing system power is now drawn from the car’s hybrid battery and only uses the 12v battery as a backup. The company will show off the self-driving car at CES next week.
TOYOTA GIVES GOVERNMENT WORKERS A BREAK
If you’re a government worker not getting paid because of the government shutdown here’s some good news, as long as you own a Toyota. It’s letting customers who are leasing or financing their cars to skip their payments for up to two months. Hopefully the knuckleheads in Washington on both sides of the aisle will stop the shutdown sooner than that.
If you missed yesterday’s Autoline After Hours with Sandy Munro, you really missed something. Sandy explains how Tesla is using magnets in a very unique way to make the electric motors in its cars smaller, lighter and more powerful than anyone else. Just look for that show on our website or on our YouTube channel.
Nissan is creating artificial sunlight all in the interest of painting cars better. We’ll have more about that right after this.
Don’t forget to catch our coverage of CES next week. We’ll be interviewing automakers and suppliers about the new technology they’re showing off. And if you happen to be at CES, drop on by and say hello. We’ll be working out of ZF’s display at the show, Booth #8500.
NISSAN TESTS SUN DAMAGE IN THE LAB
In an effort to make testing paint, plastics and other materials more efficient, Nissan is replicating the effects of sun damage in the lab. Engineers in Michigan are using the Xenon Weather-Ometer, which is a machine that contains a 4,000-watt Xenon bulb, and can bake nearly 100 samples of materials, at the same wavelength of the sun. The samples rotate around the bulb to mimic the Earth’s orbit. And it takes about half the time to test paint samples with the machine than it does in the real world, which not only helps save time but also money.
BMW 8 SERIES NIGHT SKY EDITION
BMW has shown off a new version of the 8 Series that’s out of this world. The Night Sky edition actually uses real meteorite material in the center consoles trim plate, stop/start button, gear shift selector, rotary knob for the infotainment system and door sill kick plate. You’ll also notice a pattern distinctive to meteorites on the headliner, center console, seats, outside mirrors, the front splitter and the pattern has even been cut into the rotors. But perhaps most notable on the Night Sky is the use of 3D printed aluminum brake calipers. With a focus on lightweighting, all unnecessary material was avoided, which results in a wild, natural design. BMW was even able to incorporate the brake fluid channels into the structure of the brake calipers. Altogether, the calipers are 30% lighter than ones produced using conventional methods.
The U.S. car market did great in 2018 and Tesla passed a major milestone and that’s coming up next.
2018 U.S. CAR SALES END ON A HIGH NOTE
Car sales in the American market wrapped up 2018 on a high note. Total sales came to 17.2 million, up from 17.1 the year before.
And December came in stronger than expected. Automakers sold 1.6 million vehicles and the SAAR hit 17.5 million.
But it was a mixed bag as some car companies had a great month while others did not. Amongst the full line manufacturers, GM and Ford posted big declines, especially Ford. And it wasn’t just because Ford is dropping most of its passenger cars. It also saw sales of trucks and SUVs go down. Toyota posted a modest decline, while FCA, Nissan and Honda all had a healthy month. FCA’s numbers are particularly impressive. Jeep and Ram had a great month, which is to be expected. But so did Dodge, thanks to a spike in sales for the Caravan, Journey and Durango, which are some of the oldest products in the market.
.tg {border-collapse:collapse;border-spacing:0;} .tg td{font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:14px;padding:10px 5px;border-style:solid;border-width:1px;overflow:hidden;word-break:normal;border-color:black;} .tg th{font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-weight:normal;padding:10px 5px;border-style:solid;border-width:1px;overflow:hidden;word-break:normal;border-color:black;} .tg .tg-s6z2{text-align:center} .tg .tg-hgcj{font-weight:bold;text-align:center} .tg .tg-s268{text-align:left}U.S. NEW VEHICLE SALES, DECEMBER 2018 | ||
---|---|---|
General Motors | 293,000 | -4.9% |
Toyota | 220,910 | -0.9% |
Ford | 213,789 | -9.0% |
FCA | 194,814 | +14.4% |
Honda | 155,115 | +3.9% |
Nissan | 148,720 | +7.6% |
Source: WardsAuto |
We also have to mention Tesla, which had a blowout month. According to Wards, Tesla sold 24,712 cars in the U.S. market in December, which put it ahead of Audi for the first time. Tesla now outsells every luxury brand except Mercedes, Lexus and BMW–and this from a company that is banned or limited from selling cars in at least 8 states.
Passenger car sales continued their free fall in 2018. Automakers sold 776,000 fewer pass cars than they did in 2017, and we still don’t know when this segment will bottom out. Here’s our Autoline Insight. 2018 was a very good year for the auto industry. But nobody expects 2019 to come in as strong. As long as the SAAR is in the 16.8 to 17 million range, everyone will be happy. But if it drops below that, you can be sure that everyone is going to start tightening their belt.
And that brings us to the end of today’s report. Thanks for watching and we’ll see you on Monday.
Thanks to our partner for embedding Autoline Daily on its website: WardsAuto.com
John McElroy is an influential thought leader in the automotive industry. He is a journalist, lecturer, commentator and entrepreneur. He created “Autoline Daily,” the first industry webcast of industry news and analysis.