AD #2764 – Jeep Super Bowl Ad a Hit; Mercedes Ends X-Class Production; CATL To Supply Batteries to Tesla
February 3rd, 2020 at 11:41am
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Runtime: 9:10
0:07 China Sales Could Rebound After Coronavirus
0:56 Hyundai Suspends Palisade Production
1:21 Hyundai Offers Complimentary Maintenance
1:46 Jeep Super Bowl Ad Rated #1 Among Car Brands
2:35 Automakers Spend Little on EV Ads
3:41 Mercedes Ends X-Class Production
4:09 Next-Gen MINI Delayed
4:45 Toyota Forms Battery JV With Panasonic
5:17 CATL To Supply Batteries to Tesla
5:36 Toyota Fights Unintended Acceleration
6:39 Will Consumers Accept New Technology?
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CHINA SALES COULD REBOUND AFTER CORONAVIRUS
LMC Automotive says China’s car market looked like it was starting to recover just as the coronavirus hit the country. Retail sales fell 4.8% in December, but that was better than the double digit drops in the preceding months. Wholesale deliveries to dealers were down only 0.1% and production was actually up 6%. But strict travel restrictions due to the virus is likely to cause a big falloff in sales. However, LMC says once the virus is under control sales should rebound sharply. It also says that consumers could decide to avoid public transportation because of possible infections, and that there could be a spike in first-time buyers.
HYUNDAI SUSPENDS PALISADE PRODUCTION
The coronavirus outbreak forced Hyundai to suspend production of the Palisade SUV in South Korea over the weekend. Factory shutdowns in China caused a shortage of supplies for the Palisade, including the SUV’s entire electrical wiring system. That plant in Korea is the only place Hyundai makes the Palisade, so the shutdown is really going to hurt.
HYUNDAI OFFERS COMPLIMENTARY MAINTENANCE
Speaking of Hyundai, it’s upping the ante on warranty and service. You probably already know about its 10-year, 100,000-mile powertrain limited warranty. Now any U.S. customer who buys or leases a 2020 model year Hyundai will receive complimentary oil changes and tire rotations for three years or 36,000 miles, whichever comes first.
JEEP SUPER BOWL AD RATED #1 AMONG CAR BRANDS
Jeep’s Super Bowl ad for the Gladiator, featuring a recreation of the movie ‘Groundhog Day’ with Bill Murray, was the top automotive ad that aired during the game. That’s according to System1 Group, which analyzed viewer’s emotional response to ads in real time. Not only was the Gladiator the top ranked auto ad, beating out Hyundai and Porsche, it ranked number two out of all the ads during the game. System1 Group’s Chief Marketing Officer says “it wasn’t a vintage year for car ads” and the Jeep ad was the strongest among auto ads because “it worked by taking the focus off the car and onto the things its lets you do.” It was a fun ad but what do you think, was it the best of the car commercials?
AUTOMAKERS SPEND LITTLE ON EV ADS
There were three ads for electric cars that ran during the Super Bowl, the most EV ads that ever ran during the game. The New York Times points out that automakers and dealers spent $8.6 billion on advertising in the U.S. last year, but only 0.3% of that went to advertising electric cars. It cites a survey in California, where only one out of three people could correctly name an electric car, and most of them identified Tesla which doesn’t do any advertising. The Times admits that a lack of advertising is not the only reason why not many people buy an EV, and even it questions if there will be enough buyers in a couple of years when there will be more than 100 BEV models in showrooms.
MERCEDES ENDS X-CLASS PRODUCTION
Well, that didn’t last long. Mercedes is stopping production of the X-Class pickup in May. It was Mercedes’ first pickup and was just a rebadged Nissan Navara with several upgrades. The X-Class went on sale as a 2018 model but buyers weren’t very interested. Mercedes only sold 15,300 X-Class’ globally in 2019, and so it’s putting the X-Class to sleep.
NEXT-GEN MINI DELAYED
MINI normally comes out with a new generation platform every 6 years but it’s adopting a longer life cycle for its current Hardtop model, which hit the market in 2014. Reuters reports it has to do with “cost reasons and because of Brexit.” BMW, which owns MINI, will not make an investment large enough to upgrade its plant in England that builds the car until it knows more about Brexit export tariffs. If they’re higher than 5%, BMW will likely shift production to the Netherlands.
TOYOTA FORMS BATTERY JV WITH PANASONIC
There’s a lot of talk about a manufacturing shortage of batteries for electric cars. So Toyota just formed a new joint venture with Panasonic, called Prime Planet Energy & Solutions. It will have locations in Japan and China to mainly make prismatic lithium-ion batteries, but will also develop solid-state batteries and batteries based on new principles, though they didn’t say what that entails. They’ll start making prismatic batteries in April.
CATL TO SUPPLY BATTERIES TO TESLA
In other battery news, China’s largest battery maker CATL signed an agreement to supply batteries to Tesla. The EV maker said it’s on a smaller scale than the amount of batteries it gets from Panasonic. Tesla also has a small-scale battery supply chain with LG Chem.
TOYOTA FIGHTS UNINTENDED ACCELERATION
As we keep pointing out, so called sudden unintended acceleration is normally caused when a driver mistakenly steps on the gas pedal instead of the brake. Even so, Toyota faced numerous lawsuits over unintended acceleration and developed a system to recognize when there’s a misapplication of the accelerator. Now it’s upgrading that system, so It no longer has to detect an obstacle like another car or wall to trigger. The system looks at vehicle speed, how hard the pedal is pressed and how far it’s pressed down and if it thinks it was mashed down by mistake, the system will limit acceleration. Toyota thinks this will be helpful in areas like parking lots. The feature will start rolling out this summer on certain vehicles, first in Japan.
WILL CONSUMERS ACCEPT NEW TECHNOLOGY?
When it comes to new technology, sometimes the biggest hurdle for adoption is consumer acceptance, not any technical drawbacks. On last week’s Autoline After Hours we were joined by Aaron Jefferson, the VP of Electronics and ADAS at ZF. And he discussed if it will be technical issues or consumer acceptance that will hold back Level 2 driver assistance systems becoming more commonplace.
Aaron Jefferson, VP Electronics and ADAS Division, ZF
“I think we’re at a point now where the technology is mature enough in terms of the radar sensing, the camera sensing. Lidar not yet, Cadillac does not have Lidar, Tesla barely has radar. You can do a lot with camera and radar today and you can make it safe. And if you can put enough computing there, computing is kind of the limiting factor now but silicon is getting more and more powerful, cost is coming down rapidly. So technically I don’t think that will be an inhibitor, I think it is building the confidence of the consumer. I mean there are people with ACC (Adaptive Cruise Control) today that don’t use it because they’re just not comfortable. They’re people with lane-keeping, which was a bit of a false introduction to the market because there were beeps and you could turn it off, so everybody just turned it off, as opposed to trying to figure out, you know figure out, how’s it maybe going to save my life. But I think there’s a mix. From a marketing perspective, you see advertisements all the time now, it’s like a, I won’t call it a Level 4 race but it’s essentially a lot of competition especially in the U.S. to say these are the features I provide. Toyota is a great example, they barely had blind spot (monitoring) and now they have AEB (Automatic Emergency Braking) and they have front sensing on every vehicle they sell from the Yaris up to the full Lexus line. So the technology is here and I think the consumer acceptance is gradual. Can you get them used to an ACC, can you get them used to a lane-centering, can you lessen the amount of incidents in the field that shouldn’t happen?”
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Comments (57)
February 3rd, 2020 at 11:42 am
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/03/tesla-stock-soars-hitting-700-per-share-for-the-first-time.html
It is $731 now!!!!!
It was $180 just a few months ago.
February 3rd, 2020 at 11:45 am
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4oCBDQNlpU
A great, very recent (28 Jan 2020) and informative video examining VW vs Tesla, and comparison testing them on 7 different attributes.
One of the two wins by a 7 to 0 margin. The suspense is killing you, isn’t it?
Don’t miss this video. May explain the crazy rise of the stock in 1.
February 3rd, 2020 at 11:48 am
Feb3,2020 Tesla stock at historic highs $720/share
February 3rd, 2020 at 11:52 am
I’m getting blocked from watching the Gladiator add due to copyright infringement; a little weird that an add would be blocked.
February 3rd, 2020 at 11:59 am
4 Chrysler blocked it because of some alleged copyright.
Watch the video in 2. It’s really very good and has all the numbers that matter.
February 3rd, 2020 at 12:04 pm
Where i’m sitting, Chrysler (FCA) has blocked todays entire Autoline broadcast on copyright grounds! Wow! With each passing day I become less and less impressed with FCA’s performance and behaviour on multiple fronts.
February 3rd, 2020 at 12:06 pm
Yes, we’re having an issue with Chrysler blocking the video, which are fixing right now. New video will up ASAP. Sorry, for any inconvenience.
February 3rd, 2020 at 12:07 pm
* will be up *
February 3rd, 2020 at 12:12 pm
I have adaptive cruise control on my 2018 Camry, and I rarely use it, while I use regular cruise control very often. The adaptive cruise is good for the rare times I’m on a two lane road, following someone going the speed I want to go, but on any multi-lane roads, it’s just an annoyance. For example, I’m driving in the right of two lanes in my direction, and someone pulls in front of me, going 2 mph faster than I am, and my car brakes for that car, even though it is very safely ahead of my. Constant speed CC is much better.
February 3rd, 2020 at 12:21 pm
Also, my Camry has lane departure warning, or whatever they call it, and I keep it switched off. It beeps, and tugs on the steering wheel when you get near the lane lines if you don’t use turn signals, and while I use turn signals “religiously” when there’s a reason to, I don’t necessarily use them if I’m changing lanes, if no one is within half a mile behind me.
As far as the adaptive cruise, I’ve played with it enough to know how it works, and I’ve let it bring me to a stop behind other cars at stop lights, while covering the brake pedal, just in case. It’s impressive that the technology is so cheap that Toyota has it standard on everything, or nearly everything they sell, but it doesn’t fit with my usual mode of driving.
February 3rd, 2020 at 12:25 pm
Video now available to watch.
February 3rd, 2020 at 12:27 pm
Speaking of EVs, I just stopped by the nearby Porsche/Mercedes dealer “for fun,” and they had a Taycan, I think a “turbo S,” or something like that. The sticker was about $200K, and they said it is the only one they’ve had, and it is just for test drives, and not for sale yet. It looked really good, in black with red/black interior, but yikes. That’s a lot of money.
February 3rd, 2020 at 12:30 pm
9, 10
My 1990 Accord 5-sp coupe was my first car with cruise control and when I used it first I was driving down to Columbus OH to visit my cousin and her then husband on a weekend. I did not realize it was a ‘dumb’ cruise control until I saw my car rapidly approaching the one in front of it, and, worse, I did not know how to cancel the CC, but luckily I hit the brakes and that also deactivated the CC.
I could have used lane departure warning when I was leaving meetings that ended early in Northern NJ back in 2010, and strangely we had very little or no coffee all day long, and sure much less than I needed to stay awake. COupled with a sunny warm day, I must have dozed off in my 740iL, because the next moment I realized I had changed lanes inadvertedly. Luckily no damage and no one was hurt, but after this incident I make sure I have my full doze of caffeine and I will make sure my next car has lane departure warning.
February 3rd, 2020 at 12:32 pm
12 Don’t tell me you did not test drive it.
February 3rd, 2020 at 12:43 pm
Just watched the video. Was not impressed at all with any of the commercials at StupidBowl (which not only I did not watch, I still don’t even know which teams were in it, much less who won).
$8 billion wasted on ads when that $ could be offered to the buyers in lower prices.
Therefore, as always, I will make sure that I never buy a vehicle from any of the fools who squander all that $ to sell their crappy vehicles. And so should do every rational buyer.
February 3rd, 2020 at 12:50 pm
Consumers will accept the new technology when it works 100% of the time and isn’t annoying. Lane departure warnings are much better when it vibrates the steering wheel like you’ve entered the rumble strips. Audible alarms are just annoying and force the driver to take their eyes off the road to see is the car beeping cause I need gas, Did someone take their seatbelt off, Is there some other device that needs attention?
I even like the feature GM used which gave a slight vibration in the RH or LH side of the seat to let you know which side your infringing on.
February 3rd, 2020 at 12:52 pm
Toyota has other problems with their programming that should have gotten addressed over a decade ago.
https://www.safetyresearch.net/blog/articles/toyota-unintended-acceleration-and-big-bowl-“spaghetti”-code
February 3rd, 2020 at 12:56 pm
https://www.cnbc.com/
Oil below $50 due to coronavirus, but Tesla no more subject to Newton’s law, at over $750.
February 3rd, 2020 at 1:00 pm
14 I didn’t test drive it, but I may in a a couple weeks when I’m in the area. I don’t know if you need to make an appointment for test drives, but I can call and find out.
13 Your Accord would have also had a disengage switch on the clutch pedal, so the engine wouldn’t rev up if you pushed the clutch, and started slowing down, which would make it go to near full throttle with no load. That car may, or may not have had a rev limiter, but even if it did, you’d want the clutch to disengage the cruise control.
February 3rd, 2020 at 1:02 pm
Jeep should be pleased with the high ranking for their commercial. I thought it was well done, and undoubtedly resonated with those who have seen the movie Groundhog Day.
The companies that should be embarrassed by these rankings are Audi and Porsche. Both brands spent a lot of money creating spots that they hoped would evoke emotion and provoke thought in viewers. Both of them were a “miss” and left me wondering why they bothered. I don’t think the Audi ad did much to spur people to think more about buying an electric car and the Porsche ad had a lot of action but featured very little quality imagery of the new Taycan, which is the reason they created the ad.
The GMC-Hummer ad was obviously inexpensive to produce (other than the LeBron appearance fee) and got considerable press for them, so even though it didn’t rank very high, it probably provided a very good return on their medium-level investment.
February 3rd, 2020 at 1:08 pm
12, 19 Did you check the interior of the Taycan, does it have a real back seat or is it more of a “2+2″ 4-door coupe?
Also, the headlights have something hanging down at the sides, ( a smaller light?) it looks strange in the photos, how does it look up close? No other Porsche has this ‘drop’
February 3rd, 2020 at 1:31 pm
If Toyota fights unintended acceleration and denies acceleration when it shouldn’t (like a brisk entry in to traffic or for avoidance of an accident by getting out of the way) would that be a suable offense too. (and don’t bring your Toyota to the dragstrip, or will this enhancement be defeatable)
February 3rd, 2020 at 1:37 pm
21 I didn’t sit in the back seat, but it looked reasonably roomy, though the head room is probably so-so, given the roof slope. The car is fairly big, about the size of a Panamera, and the leg room looked about comparable to my Camry.
I didn’t look at the the lights up close, mainly the general appearance at a distance, and a little at the front seat interior area. I couldn’t tell much about what the displays would look like, since you see very little unless they are powered up. The dash is “modernistic” looking, with not many switches and buttons. If I do a test drive, I’ll know a lot more about it.
February 3rd, 2020 at 1:43 pm
22 I’ve never had any unintended acceleration with my Toyotas, and if I did, I suspect the brakes would have been able to overcome the power. I’d think that would have been the case with that 2005 Camry discussed in #17 too, but it’s hard to know the whole story of what happened in that incident.
If a car denied acceleration when it shouldn’t, that could get me in trouble, because I certainly count on “normal” acceleration when I pull into traffic, turn left, etc.
February 3rd, 2020 at 1:52 pm
I thought the Bill Murray commercial, too, was the best; Gladiator, eh, still not convinced (but the commercial was certainly entertaining). I also was entertained by the Taycan commercial though, with tongue in cheek, would they have to recharge after every theft whilst taking turns to abscond with it.
February 3rd, 2020 at 1:54 pm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdMsqHm0TXc
Pet Sematery, or, more accurately,
“Tesla Killer Cemetery”
February 3rd, 2020 at 1:56 pm
24 There is no such thing as ‘unitended acceleration’ in any vehicle.
There are senile, bad and careless drivers who hit the accelerator when they should hit the brakes.
At worst, this is a design flaw related to the location and separation of the two pedals.
February 3rd, 2020 at 2:08 pm
Does it matter if buyers will accept new technology? Manufacturers will make you pay for it whether you want it or not by pairing it with a desired option as a package only deal. There are many features that people pay for that they rarely if ever use. When manufacturers went to the package platform for options your ability to get only what you wanted went bye bye. Long gone are the days where you could check off the box for each item you really wanted.
February 3rd, 2020 at 2:16 pm
27 could not agree more,there is no such thing.I’m surprised audi recovered after the bashing in took on 60 minutes years ago.
February 3rd, 2020 at 2:19 pm
29 Right, it took a terrible beating, and the irresponsible blowhards at “60 Minutes” never paid for the damage they caused.
February 3rd, 2020 at 2:22 pm
27 With the Audi 5000s in the 1980s, it was determined that the brake and gas pedals were closer together than in most cars, likely contributing to the unintended acceleration. Also, the brake pedal on the Audis, and most European cars, were narrower than the pedals on a typical 1979 Oldsmobile that the Audi might have replaced.
February 3rd, 2020 at 2:54 pm
John,
I loved the Jeep Super Bowl ad. However, I thought GM’s ad for the Hummer was a total waste. It did nothing to peak my curiosity to wanting to know more.
February 3rd, 2020 at 3:11 pm
I liked the Sonata “smaht pahk” ad. I think it did a great job of showcasing a technology that most consumers would be impressed by.
The Hummer ad didn’t show us anything we hadn’t already seen, so meh. The Taycan: why are people who are presumably German, speaking English?
Loved the Gladiator ad, even more so after I read that Bill Murray improvised much of it. He’s a unique person.
February 3rd, 2020 at 3:54 pm
28. The new technology is being pushed by IIHS, NHTSA, and the threat of future litigation related to “failure to equip”.
The technology exists for 3 reasons…. 1. It is the foundation for AV, and thus, must be mastered first. 2. We can’t regulate people from participating in distracting driving behaviors, so we need to save them from themselves. 3. With a rapidly aging population and a large Baby Boomer group who will not give up their driving freedom, “assist” technologies are needed to replace their slower response times to traffic threats.
February 3rd, 2020 at 4:28 pm
28 & 34 So true! Package options will basically force the sale of these features. Oh you want power seats then you get lane assist too as part of that package. Maybe this is part of that data gathering to help develop these driving assist sensors.
February 3rd, 2020 at 5:01 pm
So with smaht pahk, do you have to line up the car and pull part way into the space before the car can complete the job? That’s what it looked like in the commercial. That would be pretty useless unless you want to pull into a space that’s too narrow to open the doors (again as shown). That’s bound to create problems for the people whose cars you park up against.
February 3rd, 2020 at 6:02 pm
I like the adaptive cruise control on my QX50, however I wish it were quicker to accelerate once I change lanes to avoid slowpokes.
I don’t mind driver assistance tech at all but I have zero interest in fully autonomous vehicles. I still love wind up windows, manual steering and brakes and 4 speed transmissions too, so maybe I’m the odd man out.
February 3rd, 2020 at 7:56 pm
9,Kit, the adaptive speed control on my Flex works very well, and I find that I can use it in heavier traffic than I could without it. The only problem that I have with it is if I am traveling at the speed limit on a multi lane road, and the car in front is going slower, I sometimes don’t feel it slow down, and only realize later that I could have pulled out into the passing lane and resumed my speed.
February 3rd, 2020 at 8:49 pm
38 My adaptive cruise works well, but I just don’t like using it under most conditions. I’ve experienced what have have about slowing down without feeling it, if coming up on a slightly slower car, or if someone in front of me slows down. Generally, if I’m coming up on a slower car, I’ll want to pass, if the passing lane isn’t blocked, so I’d rather be using the constant speed cruise control, and use the right pedal to expedite my pass and get over, if someone is coming up from behind wanting to go faster than I’m going.
February 3rd, 2020 at 8:57 pm
35 I certain miss the days when you had actual choice in ordering a car. Even as recently as 1974, when I ordered a Plymouth Duster, there were 4 or 5 engines, 3 tranmissions, rear diff ratio choices, power steering or not, power brakes or not, power windows or not, bench or bucket seats, 5 or 6 seat colors, and more. I guess it’s good for dealers that there is little choice, so they won’t have to deal with many people ordering cars.
February 4th, 2020 at 6:52 am
31 I anticipated the ‘location and separation” of the pedals in 27.
However, these pedals had the same location and separation in the Audi European models, and I am sure there were no fairy tales about alleged “unintended acceleration” there.
People who don’t know how to drive should stick to automatics.
February 4th, 2020 at 8:15 am
41 People that don’t know how to drive just shouldn’t! We should have tougher driving tests to get a license in the US.
On the adaptive cruise control I found that it leaves too big of space from the car ahead of me. I certainly don’t like to tailgate but when traffic gets a bit heavy I found the Toyota I was driving had three settings the first setting left about a 1/4 mile from the car ahead of me. The second left about two semi truck lengths and the third setting left about 1 semi length which sadly invites other drivers to slip in front of you. Then the car slows down more to maintain that gap and soon your going slower than the right lane. I would have to shut the system off and close that gap complete my pass. I understand they are trying to maintain a safe distance but it doesn’t work with heavy traffic.
February 4th, 2020 at 8:42 am
41 Huh? The cars in question, or at least most of them were automatics. I’m not justifying people pushing on the wrong pedal, but pointing out one of the explanations.
Also, some of the Audis had an issue I experienced with a 1975 Saab I had for a while, idle instability that would sometimes result in a faster than normal idle. It was, of course, easy to keep the car from moving with the brake pedal, but maybe it freaked out some people so they stepped on the gas, or some such explanation I read about.
42 Your experience with adaptive cruise is similar to mine, and why I don’t like in most conditions. On two lane roads, or multilane roads with very light traffic, I sometimes use it.
February 4th, 2020 at 9:14 am
43 makes no diff. As I said, There were no alleged ‘unintended acceleration” complaints in Europe where identical cars and transmissions were used.
February 4th, 2020 at 9:18 am
Meanwhile, Tesla stock, which was found to be ‘overvalued’ at $180 just 4 months ago, just gained more than 100 $ in AFTER hours trading and now stands at $884. How soon before it tests the $1,000 level? And now analysts predict $7,000 by 2024.
February 4th, 2020 at 9:26 am
45 It’s irrational speculation. A lot of that was going on in 1929 too.
February 4th, 2020 at 9:28 am
Unintended acceleration isn’t totally bogus but most instances have been proven driver error. There are certain times, when mechanical/electrical failures can induce thottle unexpected opening and a few have been successfully attributed to faulty transmissions.
February 4th, 2020 at 9:28 am
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/04/tesla-stock-surging-yet-again-tsla-jumps-past-800-in-early-trading.html
It even went above $900, not $800.
February 4th, 2020 at 10:03 am
The last few days are shaping into a huge bloodbath for Tesla Shorters. Many of these are (or, more accurately, were) Billionaire Hedge Fund Managers.
The way to benefit from all this is, like my long time former classmate and friend K.Econ. did, when he bought a one year old Maserati Spyder with just a couple thou miles at half price from a distraught broker in 2008, to see if these clowns have any recent model ROlls Phantom, Bentley Mulsanne, Porsche 911 Turbo S cabrio, assorted Ferraris, Lambos and Astons. Don’t ask about Bugatti Veyron, they tend to wear the tires way too soon, and at $40,000 a set, these things are high-maintenance.
February 4th, 2020 at 11:28 am
49 When visiting the dealer where I saw the Taycan yesterday, I was shocked by the sticker of a 911 on the showroom floor, over $200K. It was either a 911 Turbo Cabriolet, or maybe a Turbo S Cabriolet. Either way, I didn’t realize 911s got that pricey, except for some “specials” made for racing or track use.
Other than maybe the Porsche, the Rolls should be lowest maintenance of the cars on that list, since it’s just a BMW with a very fancy body. Even the Bentley has a very low volume powertrain, using a turbo or supercharged version of the old Rolls-Bentley pushrod V8.
February 4th, 2020 at 11:45 am
50 The Turbo S cabrio is the top 911 model (made for the street) and in the old country it would cost $320k Euros a few years ago. I looked it up then when we were invited to dinner by the parents of a student, and the couple arrived in a coupe Turbo S.
You can say that a ton of Caddys and Lincolns are ‘just a GM or Ford with a fancy body, respectively, but you sure can’t say it for a Rolls Phantom, which is built on its own platform. The Cheaper Rollses (Ghost, Wraith, Dawn etc) were used to be built on the 7 series platform, but the current crop is NOT, they also use the Phantom Platform. And you can give anybody a “blind” test, not one will ever confuse how a Rolls drives (or feels inside) with a 7 series. Seriously now.
Bentley has killed its Phantom rival the Mulsanne as it pimped up its entry-level Silver Spur, which was much more affordable and still a bargain used. The Mulsanne was way too big and really very luxurious and stunning inside. And no damn plastics anywhere, just leather, wood and metals.
Anyway, the Shorters lost $12.5 billion in the few short days of 2020 and Musk has added $13.5 billion to his net worth.
THose who want to take a risk, the huge hint was when Musk proposed a pay package for himself where he made nothing if the company failed, but would get 100s of millions each year it surpassed its lofty targets. No other CEO I know had the guts to propose that. If i was 30 or 35, I would have invested, despite my rule to go mutual fund and not individual stock, but always I’d invest only $ I don’t need.
February 4th, 2020 at 11:50 am
51 Yeah, I guess I should have said that the Phantom uses an off-the-shelf BMW powertrain, but that the very fancy body is on a different platform from any BMW.
February 4th, 2020 at 11:52 am
It looks like Bentley has phased out the old engine, and now uses turbo VW W12s as the top engine in all of their cars.
February 4th, 2020 at 11:56 am
53 I believe Bentley has been using the Turbo W12 since the 2004s or so, when it built the Continental GT COupe and the Silver Spur in the same glass building in Dresden, I believe, along with the W12 VW Phaeton
February 4th, 2020 at 11:58 am
54 They’ve used the W12 in most models, but the Mulsanne used the old engine, I suspect for “tradition.”
February 4th, 2020 at 1:07 pm
27
The NHTSA referred to it as an “Unanticipated Acceleration Episode”.
P.J. O’Rourke called it “Unanticipated Unintelligence Episode”.
Audi was one of the first to bring in a straight-up European pedal placement into a mass-market import. Yes, the Europeans didn’t have the problem because they have grown up with smaller vehicles, often with manual transmissions, that have pedals spaced close enough to allow for proper heel-and-toe shifting like God intended. They were not anticipating that Americans, accustomed to having automatic transmissions and two pedals a good foot apart, would get confused by this. Thanks to 60 Minutes and hoards of ambulance chasers, mayhem ensued and Audi nearly left the American market.
February 4th, 2020 at 3:31 pm
John, I always accepted your explanation for Toyota’s unintended acceleration…until I owned one. It’s an old ’02 Corolla and it can jump several hundred rpm with no rhyme or reason or warning while sitting at a red light with my foot firmly planted on the brake (it’s an automatic). While your explanation is probably the most plausible of the majority of all occurrences, the one I own definitely doesn’t fit that mold.