Follow us on social media:
Runtime: 8:21
0:07 Strike Costing GM & Workers Lots of Money
0:57 Volvo’s Gimmick to Boost Plug-In Sales
1:41 Apple Drops Blue Vehicle Emoji for Jeep
2:34 New Toyota Yaris To Offer Hybrid and AWD
3:53 VW Creates Atlas Fast-Back
4:19 IIHS Finds Big Improvement in Car-To-SUV Crashes
5:41 C8 Corvette Driving Impressions
Visit our sponsor to thank them for their support of Autoline Daily: Bridgestone
This is Autoline Daily reporting on all aspects of the global automotive industry.
STRIKE COSTING GM & WORKERS LOTS OF MONEY
As the UAW strike grinds on, GM and its hourly workers are losing a lot of money. Merrill Lynch estimates GM lost $2 billion in profits so far, meaning UAW workers have lost $2,000 in profit sharing. They’ve also lost around $4,000 in take home pay. Even so, GM promised that it would pay workers an $8,000 signing bonus to ratify the contract, so they’ll make all that money back and then some. Here’s our Autoline Insight: we think GM made a tactical error by publicly announcing the signing bonus. That sent a signal to strikers that they could hold out longer, because the company would cover their losses once the strike was over. And based on multiple media reports it looks like we’re getting close to a settlement.
VOLVO’S GIMMICK TO BOOST PLUG-IN SALES
Automakers are struggling to sell plug-in hybrids. In the first half of this year, sales of plug-ins dropped nearly 14% in Europe, they fell 30% in the U.S. and plummeted 51% in China. This is deeply worrying to automakers who invested heavily in these cars. So Volvo is coming up with a sales gimmick to try and get sales going. It will pay for the first year of charging costs for a plug-in, starting in 2021. But that sounds a lot more appealing than it may actually pay out. Depending on how many miles you drive and what you pay for electricity, we figure the subsidy is worth about $400.
APPLE DROPS BLUE VEHICLE EMOJI FOR JEEP
Jeep owners are some of the most loyal out there and they don’t like fakes, even digital ones. Apple drew the ire of many Jeep fans because of the blue vehicle emoji that would pop up whenever you typed “Jeep” in an iPhone text. The emoji looks nothing like a Jeep, which led to a lot of complaints on social media. But Jeep fans can rest easy now because the emoji no longer appears when you type Jeep. While Apple didn’t say why it got rid of the emoji, it’s clear the backlash had something to do with it.
NEW TOYOTA YARIS TO OFFER HYBRID AND AWD
In January, Toyota said it would drop the 2019 Yaris hatchback and sell off the remaining 2018 models. Well, it looks like that was a move to clear out inventory for the all-new model. It’s the first compact vehicle to be built off of Toyota’s New Global Architecture and features pretty expressive styling. Let us know what you think in the comments section. A 1.0L 3-cylinder engine mated to a CVT is the standard powertrain setup. It will also offer a 1.5L 3-cylinder engine, which gets either a 6-speed manual or CVT as well as front or all-wheel drive or, in the case of the hybrid, electric 4-wheel drive. That hybrid is a first for the Yaris, too. Toyota said it tried to condense the interior and make it clutter free and I think you can say it did a good job of that. The high-mounted infotainment screen separated from the HVAC controls are the only real things to take up space on the dash. The new Yaris will have a number of driver assist features, including Advanced Park, which is a parking support system and a first for Toyota. The first examples will start arriving in April of 2020.
VW CREATES ATLAS FAST-BACK
Speaking of new vehicles, Volkswagen unveiled a fast-back version of the Atlas SUV. I have never really been a fan of the Atlas’ styling, it looks a bit dated to me, something that would have looked good 10 years ago, but I really like this new version. What do you think? The 5-seater Atlas Cross Sport will be made at VW’s plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee and it will launch in the spring of next year.
IIHS FINDS BIG IMPROVEMENT IN CAR-TO-SUV CRASHES
A few decades ago, a crash with an SUV and a passenger car would likely be fatal for the people in the car. But a new study from the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety found that the safety disparity is starting to decline. From 2013 to 2016, the fatality rate for car-to-SUV crashes with SUVs that were up to four years old was 28% higher than the rate for car-to-car crashes. But that’s down from a rate of 132% from 1989 to 1992. Researchers attribute the improvement to stronger structures and side airbags in cars as well as lower front ends on SUVs. While SUVs have made big strides, it’s a different story for pickups. Drivers in cars and minivans are two and a half times more likely to die in an accident with a pickup than with another car or minivan. Researchers attribute that to the big weight differences in those types of vehicles.
And coming up next, John will share his driving impressions of the new mid-engine Corvette.
C8 CORVETTE DRIVING IMPRESSIONS
Last week General Motors brought a couple of C8 mid-engine Corvettes to the annual ride and drive event for the North American Car of the Year jury. As a member of the jury, I got to spend about 40 minutes driving the car on back roads outside of Ann Arbor, Michigan. Not only is the C8 everything it’s cracked up to be, it may be the best car General Motors has ever built. When you slide behind the wheel, the view to the road is impressively open. Thanks to moving the engine to the rear, the windshield, the hood and the beltline are much lower, giving you panoramic visibility. And because you’re sitting so much further forward than before, you get the feeling you’re right on top of all the action. The interior, by far, is the best ever offered on a Corvette, and while it lacks the hand-stitched feel of much pricier mid-engine exotics, it looks and feels good. This car passes the 100-yard test, that is to say, you just know this is going to be a fantastic car before you’ve driven 100 yards. There’s something about well-developed vehicles that exude that kind of feeling and the C8 is definitely one of them. More than glued to the road, it feels like it’s growing right out of the road. Needless to say, it accelerates at warp speed and the exhaust note sounds like a symphony. Best of all the new Corvette rides very comfortably, meaning that even though it’s an exotic sports car with blinding performance, you could use it as an everyday driver. We still need to take the C8 out on a track to fully explore its performance envelope, but so far, in my book, this is the most exciting Corvette in over half a century.
No doubt the C8 will be a big topic of conversation tomorrow on Autoline After Hours when Bob Lutz will be our special guest. He’ll have a lot to say about a bunch of other topics, too. So if you’ve got a question you’d like to pose to Maximum Bob, send an email to viewermail@autoline.tv, or tweet it our way to @autoline, or just join in the chat room when the show gets underway at 3 pm eastern time.
And that brings us to the end of today’s report, thanks for watching and please join us again tomorrow.
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.