This is Autoline Daily reporting on the global automotive industry.
VW WORKERS REJECT UNIONIZATION
The UAW has once again failed to organize a foreign-owned plant in the South. Last week, Volkswagen hourly workers at its Chattanooga, Tennessee plant, voted against joining the union. Workers at the same plant rejected joining the union in 2014 as well. This is a big blow to the UAW, its membership continues to dwindle and adding VW to its ranks would have been a big boost. Now the union will focus on upcoming contract negotiations with Ford, GM and FCA later this year.
GM CONSIDERS BUILDING ELECTRIC HUMMER
General Motors axed Hummer back in 2010 but Bloomberg reports the company is thinking about reviving the brand. But instead of being gas-guzzling SUVs, the vehicles would be all-electric. This is just an idea GM is considering as it decides which vehicles to include in its future electric line-up. But this also helps explain GM’s interest in forming a joint-venture with Rivian earlier this year, which eventually fell apart. But what do you think, should Hummer be revived as an all-electric brand?
From the company that revealed the secrets of the Tesla Model 3, Munro & Associates will host an Electric Vehicle Conference on Friday, June 21st at its headquarters in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Munro will provide a deep dive into the Motors, Batteries, and Electronics of the Tesla Model 3, BMW i3, Chevy Bolt and Jaguar I-PACE. Purchase tickets on Eventbrite or at leandesign.com. Hurry, only 100 spots are available.
WHICH OEMs DO SUPPLIERS LIKE TO WORK WITH?
Which automakers do suppliers like to work with? According to the latest supplier survey conducted by Plante Moran, suppliers give the best marks to Toyota and Honda and the worst marks to Nissan and FCA. The study measures how much supplier trust the automakers, how well they communicate together, and the impact of late engineering changes. The study evaluates OEMs by chassis, powertrain, body-in-white, interior and electrical and electronics. A key thing to look at is the trend lines. Suppliers increasingly like what GM is doing and are increasingly frustrated by FCA.
VINFAST LAUNCHES 1ST VEHICLE
Vietnamese startup VinFast has ambitions to make 500,000 vehicles a year by 2025 and here’s the first vehicle it’s going to offer. Built in Vietnam, the Fadil is a small hatchback based on the Opel Karl Rocks that carries a starting price of just under $17,000. VinFast also plans to come out with a sedan and SUV, which are based on BMWs, feature styling done by Pininfarina and have components engineered by Magna. The company is scheduled to start exports in the middle of next year and it’s going to need those other markets to reach its half a million vehicle a year goal. In the first 5 months of the year, Vietnam sold less than 120,000 new vehicles.
VW OFFERS 8-YEAR BATTERY WARRANTY
As Volkswagen gets ready to launch its first ID electric vehicle, it’s making sure that customers aren’t worried about having to replace an expensive battery pack. The automaker guarantees its packs will retain at least 70 per cent of their usable capacity after eight years or 160,000 kilometers, which is about 100,000 miles. That’s right in line with the Audi e-tron, Jaguar I-PACE and standard range Tesla Model 3.
TOYOTA WINS 24 HOURS OF LEMANS
And congratulations to Toyota for its one-two victory at the 24 Hours of LeMans, which secured the drivers’ World Championship in the process. Fernando Alonso, along with co-drivers Sébastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima, defended his title in the race, but needed some last-minute luck to do it. Toyota’s other car had a more than 2-minute lead, but was forced to pit because of a tire losing air. A faulty sensor caused the wrong tire to be changed and the car had to come back in a second time, giving the victory to Alonso, Buemi and Nakajima.
WHY FCA/RENAULT DEAL MAKES SENSE
Last month, FCA stunned the auto industry when it proposed to merge with Renault. Those talks have since fallen apart but the deal isn’t completely dead yet. On last week’s Autoline After Hours we were joined by Joe McCabe, an analyst with AutoForecast Solutions, and he explained why the deal makes sense for the companies.
(The AAH preview is only available in the video version of today’s show.
You can watch that entire discussion right now on our website, Autoline.tv or you can find it on our YouTube channel.
But that’s it for today, thanks for watching and please join us again tomorrow.
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Comments (53)
June 17th, 2019 at 11:52 am
To me, one of the few good aspects of the financial meltdown and GM bankruptcy was the demise of Hummer. Hummers were truly disgusting vehicles, specifically designed to injure and kill people in other vehicles, by having bumpers about 3 feet above the ground. We don’t need Hummer to be revived, either in electric or gas guzzler form.
June 17th, 2019 at 11:56 am
While the electric Pickup Truck was dumb enough, an Electric Hummer is probably the peak of stupidity. No wonder it came from the Geniuses in Detroit….
June 17th, 2019 at 12:24 pm
So GM goes from the realization that they cant sell 45K electric econoboxes to figuring they can sell a 70K+ electric Hummer. A vehicle that didn’t even sell that well in a gas version. The H2 averaged 19,128 units a year and the H3 averaged 31,358 units a year. Hopefully its a short lived idea.
VW union; Maybe all the corruption and illegal activity in recent years has had an impact on workers willing to pay a union part of their pay. Only to see huge kickbacks to union execs on a half heartedly negotiated contract.
As for FCA receiving such poor scores when it comes to work with them. This is no doubt partially due to the shuffling of ownership. Chrysler and Jeep had their way of doing business for vehicle development. Then Daimler changed things up only to have Fiat change things up again. Technical specs and such which once were acceptable are changed and without an expected impact to cost.
June 17th, 2019 at 12:30 pm
Electric Hummer might actually be a great idea… Utility and capability might be greatly improved as an EV. Not sure range will be any more of an issue… I’ve never thought of any Hummer as being cross-country road trip type of vehicle anyway.
Think electric Jeep. The story doesn’t say size or platform so maybe a Jeep-Bronco alternative brand reintroduced in a green suit.
Plus, the larger the platform that goes electric, the more excited any “green” person should be for it to be replacing a large gas vehicle in the market. At least that’s how I hear it preached.
June 17th, 2019 at 12:41 pm
GM should bring back both Hummer and Saturn nameplates as EV’s. The Saturn ION nameplate would be a fantastic name for an EV.
June 17th, 2019 at 12:45 pm
I think the VinFast news is interesting. A new OEM that outsourced most or all of the car design and engineering. Still have the assembly portion, but not the R&D expense. Perhaps break even at lower volumes?
June 17th, 2019 at 12:46 pm
I still do not for the life of me understand how the EV Start-up “Rivian” is using the “Skateboard” EV platform, since GM developed it back around the year 2000?
Did GM simply take their eye off the ball, when they were crushing all those EV1′s ?
June 17th, 2019 at 12:47 pm
Perhaps GM feels the name Hummer is a nod to the EV sound.
June 17th, 2019 at 12:48 pm
Electric Hummer? That’s just crazy talk. I had to check the calander that it was not April 1.
June 17th, 2019 at 12:55 pm
I have real concerns that FCA is planning to switch the Jeep Grand Cherokee over to a FIAT platform! They should not mesh with a good thing and leave it well enough alone. Adding a seven seater Jeep Grand Wagoneer is fine with me, or giving the Cherokee a little more interior room would also be a welcomed improvement. The Grand Cherokee is iconic and a winning formula.
June 17th, 2019 at 1:01 pm
I believe GM wants an electric Hummer type vehicle to battle what Rivian is bringing to market. Rivian has a Truck and Pickup in the pipeline with crazy towing and power numbers. GM sees Hummer as a Rivian counter measure to grab some of those potential customers. The US Government could electrify the southern boarder and use these vehicles to patrol it with recharging stations at specific intervals.
June 17th, 2019 at 1:10 pm
Unless there was some dramatic styling changes, an electric Hummer wouldn’t compete against Rivian.
GM needs to provide something you can’t get elsewhere if it wants my $$. They are definitely competitive, but I didn’t start buying other brands because they were simply competitive.
Saturn makes more sense to be an all electric brand. Sure sell a pickup under that brand named after one of Saturn’s moons
June 17th, 2019 at 1:14 pm
The Renault FCA deal makes no sense from an economic sense FCA is more profitable and sells more vehicles. Why would you take a 50/50 deal? In addition who wants to deal with the French Government?
June 17th, 2019 at 1:14 pm
The thing that always has me scratching my head when it comes to electric SUV’s, that are built for serious off roading, is: where do you plug it in, out in the deep wilderness? Even if you could go 300 miles between charges, that’s only about 150 miles from home round trip, under ideal circumstances. Then if you use any of its electricity to tow, for lighting or to power, say a wench, your cutting into your return power reserve! I know SUV/CUV/crossovers are what the buying public are in to, and for local trips, and even longer distances where there is a charging point at the end of it, EV’s make a lot of since. Yet a Hummer EV with its aerodynamically challenged design, but hulking “Built to Go Anywhere” status, would seem to be at odds with with use of it as an EV (a hybrid might be better). I think GM’s lawyers might want to fix the slogan with: “Built to Go Anywhere*!”
*(the term “Anywhere”, is meant to imply where there is a charging port; individual results will vary)
June 17th, 2019 at 1:41 pm
14 In addition to your concerns, for me the concern would be how serious off-roaders use them. granted its a small percentage that would ever be used this way but they do offer Snorkle kits. Get a snorkel kit for your Jeep or Hummer EV so you can cross that stream. How you feel about being submerged in water with a 80+Kw battery?
June 17th, 2019 at 1:42 pm
GMC is a differentiated brand. Adding an electric Jeep-like vehicle to GMC would further accentuate the brand in the same way electric vehicles are being introduced through Cadillac first.
June 17th, 2019 at 1:42 pm
Hummer should be built in all versions. Gas,Diesel,Plug-in and all Electric. It’s sad it took GM so long to realize axing Hummer was a huge monetary error. Not to mention China auto importers buy up every Hummer they can find in the USA and ship them over for all their rich Chinese buyers.
June 17th, 2019 at 1:47 pm
Are any of the Autoline or Detroit reporters going to the Munro EV conference? I have my ticket and will drive my Standard Range Plus Model 3 from Alabama, 700 miles.
June 17th, 2019 at 1:52 pm
Perhaps GM means a raised, electric Tahoe with boxy fenders and knobby tires?
June 17th, 2019 at 2:22 pm
If I’m not mistaken (well, I certainly could be), I thought that an H4 was in the works and was supposedly pretty good. As an electric it just might offer something that some would embrace. As with any vehicle, if it does something very well and is better than the competition maybe we’re talking a viable addition. I certainly would not green light an electric Hummer of the H2 size.
June 17th, 2019 at 2:51 pm
Saturn was hyped with all kinds of promises, Oldsmobile had to be sacrificed for STUPID Saturn, the ION was a GOD AWFUL vehicle. It would be equally idiotic for GM to bring back this damaged goods brand as to resurrect Hummer.
As for the Ugly, Gimmicky Rivian, no chance in hell.
June 17th, 2019 at 3:05 pm
Only thing crazier than some of the stories posted here (electric Hummer) are some of the posters themselves. Wish we could use filters to block people we don’t want to hear from. What do you say Autoline?
June 17th, 2019 at 3:25 pm
14 While the Hummer H2 was very capable off-road, as long as you had a wide enough path, few people bought them to drive off-road. The bought them for the macho/militaristic image. Would an electric macho machine sell? I wouldn’t think so, but who knows?
June 17th, 2019 at 3:33 pm
20 An H4 was in the works, but there seemed to be different stories about what it would have been. I remember hearing that it would be based on the transverse engine Equinox/Vue platform, but also that it would be, essentially, a shortened version of the H3, which used the Colorado/Canyon platform.
June 17th, 2019 at 3:44 pm
10 FCA already has that “Grand Wagoneer,” in the form of the Dodge Durango. They should probably make a Jeep version. It shouldn’t take that much to tool the body work, and they could charge higher prices for a Jeep, than for a Dodge that is about the same thing.
June 17th, 2019 at 3:52 pm
25 The Grand Wagoneer better have a far better interior than the rental Durango I had the misfortune to ride in (passenger seat). Really low-rent and low-quality
June 17th, 2019 at 4:24 pm
25 So a Durango with a new Jeep grill and faux wood sides? I mean I don’t think a woody has been done in 30 years? Oh yea for good reason. lol
June 17th, 2019 at 5:21 pm
26,27 Yeah, the Grand Wagoneer would need an interior from the top trim Grand Cherokee. I hadn’t thought about the woody treatment, but maybe it’s time for it to make a come back. The Roadmaster wagon is the most recent “woody” I can think of, and that was more than 20 years ago.
June 17th, 2019 at 5:22 pm
@27 – Do you remember the highly unsuccessful Lincoln Blackwood? It was one of many failures in the J Mays/Jacques Nasser era if Ford.
June 17th, 2019 at 5:45 pm
29 There was a Blackwood recently at my condo. Didn’t they re-introduce something like the Blackwood, with a different name?
June 17th, 2019 at 6:27 pm
I remember the Faux wood on many vehicles from the past. I disliked them but they made me a lot of $ replacing them when I had an upholstery business. Besides the usual scratches or accidents, they would fade like no tomorrow. IMO, they only made a vehicle look cheap. Even on the Wagoneer.
I think it is unfortunate for the UAW to loose the needed votes. The state and VW white collar’s made it lopsided and the UAW corruption added the final nail in the coffin. The UAW does need to clean house, but I can think of a number of company leaders who are equally corrupt. If the UAW ever becomes a true voice of the worker’s, it will truly be rewarding and good for the economy. Those on top make just too much money for doing nothing.
June 17th, 2019 at 6:37 pm
I should have ordered the woody treatment on my turbo 5-speed Dodge Caravan, if it was still available in 1989. It would make the van more collectable, but yeah, silly looking.
June 18th, 2019 at 3:31 am
32 even if it was the original actual wood, I would not. It is much better to have all the real wood inside the vehicle. As for the ‘painted on’ (not even fake wood) wood-like exterior on these Dodge Vans, I bet they would have been ruined in a decade or two from the elements.
June 18th, 2019 at 3:51 am
28 for a very expensive, top of the line big Jeep, the interior should be better than the grand Cherokee and the other jeeps. Flagship Model. Also the leg room should be ample in all 3 rows, as well as the trunk space, making it able to compete with the Suburbans and the Expedition L versions.
June 18th, 2019 at 8:45 am
33 The vinyl “wood” deteriorates mainly from being in the sun. It can stay in good shape for many years, on cars that are usually garaged except when being driven, like my van. Still, I wasn’t serious about wishing I’d gotten it. It looks silly, even when in good condition.
June 18th, 2019 at 8:50 am
34 Ideally, I guess it should have an interior sort of like a Range Rover, but the room of a Suburban. Would people pay $80K+ for something like that from FCA, if it existed?
June 18th, 2019 at 9:01 am
34) Completely agree. For the money they are likely to charge, if it was a stretched Grand Cherokee…No thanks.
June 18th, 2019 at 9:05 am
35,
I remember when my neighbor got an early Caravan with the wood-look; he told me his brother in law commented: Hey, I see you got a new vehicle, and it isn’t even out of the crate yet.
June 18th, 2019 at 9:14 am
36 If it were available now, people would pay close to $100k for it, if it is a flagship Jeep. Esp with options and the top engine. If it is available in 2022 or later, I’m less sure.
PS The top Range Rover, the Autobiography, sells for well over $200,000 with options, competes with the RR and Bentley SUVs.
June 18th, 2019 at 9:27 am
39 The Range Rovers I see at the dealer near me in Florida seem to be about $100K. That’s a lot of money for an unreliable two row SUV with a V6 engine, but even the lower trim levels have a very nice interior.
June 18th, 2019 at 9:33 am
40 A major item in my very incomplete bucket list is space tourism. Currently Virgin Galactic offers $250k (up from $200k) packages, but a competitor at Curacao mentioned $95k, which is a far better use of my $ than that $100k base RR, which I can get in 7 years for $20k, IF I wanted to.
I am worried about age cutoffs though, when I took a free ride in a zero gravity simulator (a crude one) in the Shanghai Science Museum in 2006, they only allowed people below 60. (which at the time i was far below)
June 18th, 2019 at 9:40 am
https://www.virgingalactic.com/news/
Tried to find details re 41 and instead I found a silly, “Astronaut Edition” Range Rover!!!
June 18th, 2019 at 9:46 am
https://home.bt.com/tech-gadgets/internet/what-is-space-tourism-space-flight-cost-spacex-virgin-galactic-blue-origin-11364163509098
Ok then, they allow up to 90 year olds. I am sure going to do this (don’t ask me when, they have more deposits than the (considerable) number of people who actually have gone in space so far.
June 18th, 2019 at 9:53 am
That’s an interesting idea. A large Jeep or Ram to compete with Tahoe and Expedition. The Durango is a bit smaller as is the 3 row grand Cherokee.
If FCA developed a large Chassis they could bring back the Ramcharger name and offer it in three versions a sporty 2 door, 4 door with a removable top, I think it would do well. Especially if they made it a Jeep Ramcharger and offered many of the same Jeep options. Hardtop soft top removable doors. Then on that same platform a EXT version with 3rd row and more upscale. If they could offer a comparable interior to the Suburban and Excursion and undercut their price by 10K, they would seriously impact GMs hold on that market.
June 18th, 2019 at 10:08 am
44 If the interior is upscale enough for a $100k SUV, it will compete directly with the Navigator and the Escalade too, and the others (Suburban, Expedition) will undercut it by $10k or so.
June 18th, 2019 at 10:28 am
45 I’m not sure FCA could compete with NAV and Escalade. They could probably try and bring a version of the vehicle under the Chrysler nameplate and go high-end interior but I think they would still need something extra to sway people from Caddy and Lincoln. An incredible design, best in fuel economy, or a feature no one else has it about the only way they’d succeed in garnering many buyers away from the tried a true Escalade fans. Just woul dbe difficult to compete in a “luxury brand” market with any of the FCA nameplates. Not many will spend Escalade money for a Dodge, Ram, Chrysler or Jeep vehicle even if they did make a better vehicle. Not sure if using any of the other Fiat brands like Maserati or Alfa Romeo would be a good idea either.
June 18th, 2019 at 10:30 am
It would seem pretty risky for FCA to go after the XXL SUV market with a Ram-based machine, given that it would be 3-4 years before it could reach the market. The market could change a lot by then. Also, it would need to be equal to, or better than the others to sell well.
June 18th, 2019 at 10:36 am
46 Probably Jeep would be the best of the FCA brands, but as you say, I’d think it would be hard to take sales from the established players in the monster luxury SUV market, unless the Jeep was demonstably better, a tall order for a newcomer to the segment.
June 18th, 2019 at 10:54 am
I used in the past a limo service from Windsor, ON, when flights overseas from that tiny airport were more than $500 less expensive than from Detroit or Toronto or any other place, they charged only $100 CDN each way, and they had a fleet that included a brand new Town Car (when i used it), an Escalade and a Navigator.
The Navigators interior was not at all luxurious, and poorly designed. The Escalade had lots of miles and the interior had a ton of wear and tear. The Town Car, where I sat on the passenger seat (or, better, Throne) was a divine ride, the perfect ride for me after an uncomfortable 15 hour flight that ended at 2 AM ET.
I doubt subsequent Navigators and Escalades are much better, or able to challenge Range Rovers, X7s and esp GLS on luxury.
June 18th, 2019 at 11:01 am
https://www.topgear.com/car-news/first-look/new-porsche-718-cayman-gt4-8000rpm-love-letter-driving
And now the $100k Cayman
June 18th, 2019 at 11:13 am
47 Yeah I don’t think it would make much sense for FCA to go after the Escalade. But they could take the existing Ram truck platform and throw a SUV body that has a 3rd row pretty easy. The gimmick that would set it apart is something I was hoping GM was going to do with the resurrection of the Blazer and offer the removable top. I don’t believe there is anything in the third row convertible segment. Make it a power top and then you’d have something.
June 18th, 2019 at 11:35 am
A new Escalade is in the works for 2020 and will probably also challenge the $100,000 price line. The Escalade will be the latest for Super Cruise to be offered from Cadillac.
June 18th, 2019 at 11:37 am
50 Porsche are the masters of running up prices with options. A base Cayman is ~$58K, but it’s easy to get one up to $75K with a few options like automatic temp control, keyless entry, and some performance tweaks that most owners would never appreciate. I’ve driven one Cayman, a base car with the manual transmission. It drove great, and the 300 hp wss plenty.
As far as the GT4, it is a different animal, with a non-turbo six, rather than the turbo four in the other Caymans and Boxsters of the current generation. They will limit production of the GT4, so they should do well on depreciation. Still, ~$100K seems a lot of money for that car.