AD #2803 – Automakers Start Announcing Pay Cuts; Magna Shows How to Make Masks; BMW 3 Series PHEV
March 27th, 2020 at 11:59am
Listen to “AD #2803 – Automakers Start Announcing Pay Cuts; Magna Shows How to Make Masks; BMW 3 Series PHEV” on Spreaker.
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Runtime: 10:54
0:07 Most Automakers Downgraded
0:48 Automakers Try to Secure Credit
1:41 Automakers Start Announcing Pay Cuts
2:31 Will Downturn Last a Long Time?
3:05 Magna Posts Instructions for Making Masks
3:57 E-Racing Showing Potential
4:59 Denny Hamlin Has $125,000 Race Simulator
5:43 BMW 3 Series PHEV
6:37 Will Collision Shops Have Less Work Due to ADAS?
8:48 Kia Hires New VP of Interior Design
9:31 Racing Announcer Provides Commentary for Backyard Dog Race
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This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry.
MOST AUTOMAKERS GET DOWNGRADED
And of course we need to start with an update on how the coronavirus crisis is impacting the auto industry. Automakers and suppliers are really hunkering down to deal with an expected credit shock reverberating around the world. Earlier this week Moody’s downgraded Ford’s credit rating. Yesterday it downgraded most major automakers including Toyota, Honda, Nissan, BMW, Daimler, JLR, Renault, Volvo, PSA , Daimler. You name it, they were all downgraded. Even McLaren.
AUTOMAKERS TRY TO SECURE CREDIT
The reason they’re being downgraded is they’re not bringing in much revenue at the same time they’re burning through a lot of cash. Volkswagen is burning through 2 billion euros a week. Daimler is trying to get a 10 billion euro line of credit from its banks. Toyota is trying to get $9 billion. To preserve cash GM told it’s suppliers that it’s halting development of all new product programs except for its full-size SUVs, its EVs and its Ultium battery program.
AUTOMAKERS START TO CUT PAY
Automakers are in a mad rush to slash costs and hoard as much cash as they possibly can. They’re taking drastic measures. General Motors is amassing a war chest of $30 billion, but even that is not enough. It layed off 6,500 workers yesterday and it’s cutting everyone’s pay by 20%, though top executives will take a bigger pay cut. Ford also announced that chairman Bill Ford would give up his base pay and that the top 300 executives in the company will take 20% to 50% pay cuts. No doubt Ford announced this to prepare the rest of its workforce that they too will have to take pay cuts.
WILL DOWNTURN LAST A LONG TIME?
Here’s my Autoline Insight. I knew this crisis would be bad. But nothing scared me as much as the announcement from GM and Ford that they’re forcing everyone to take pay cuts. That shows they’re deeply worried about running out of cash, even though they have tens of billions in the bank. And that tells me they expect that the economic downturn caused by the virus will last a long time, even though the virus will run its course at some point.
MAGNA POSTS INSTRUCTIONS TO MAKE FABRIC MASKS
If you’d like to help fight against the coronavirus or maybe you’re just bored, Magna posted instructions on its website for its employees on how to make fabric masks. One video covers how to make a reusable mask with a pocket. The pocket can fit a filter or it fits over an N95-type mask. The other video covers how to make a reusable mask without a pocket. Both can help support people working in restaurants, grocery stores, gas stations, truck drivers and more.
NASCAR E-RACE GETS OVER 900,000 VIEWERS
This eRacing thing could have some potential. Last Sunday’s NASCAR event was watched by over 900,000 people on live TV. While that’s much less than the typical NASCAR car race in 2019, which had somewhere between 2.5 and 3 million viewers, it did set a record for most watched eSports event in U.S. history. And now IndyCar is joining the eRacing mix. The iRacing Challenge is a 6 race virtual series that fans can vote to start at either Michigan or Watkins Glen race track this Saturday at 4pm ET. It’s a good move, the Indy 500 was just postponed until August. Most major racing series now have their own eRacing efforts and what we like is that you can get both past and up-and-coming drivers and even drivers from other series to participate.
DENNY HAMLIN HAS $125,000 RACE SIMULATOR
And speaking of eRacing, Denny Hamlin won last week’s NASCAR’s virtual race at Homestead. Well, I would hope so. It turns out he has a $125,000 simulator in his house. It’s the APEX6 PRO, which features advanced motion simulation that’s able to mimic roll, pitch, yaw, surge, sway and heave, which allows you to feel terrain changes and acceleration and deceleration. On top of that it comes with three 4K monitors and surround sound. So with that kind of advantage it’s no wonder that he won.
BMW 3 SERIES PHEV SPECS FOR THE U.S.
BMW is adding a plug-in hybrid to the 3 Series lineup, in both rear and all-wheel-drive. Its powertrain consists of a 2.0L turbo engine that’s mated to an 8-speed automatic transmission. Along with its electric motor, the car cranks out 288 horsepower with XtraBoost, a new feature that provides 40 extra horsepower for up to 10 seconds. And its 12-kWh lithium-ion battery provides 22 miles of electric range, 20 with AWD. Its available with Traffic Jam Assist which allows the car to drive itself at speeds up to 37 MPH on limited access highways. The new plug-in hybrid 3 Series is scheduled to go on sale in May with a starting price of $45,500, AWD adds $2,000.
WILL COLLISION SHOPS LOSE BUSINESS DUE TO ADAS?
With all this safety technology coming into cars, a question for any collision shop will be, if cars are getting in less accidents will there be less work to do? On Autoline This Week one of our guests is Sean Carey, the President & CEO of a company called SCG Management Consultants answers that question.
Sean Carey, President & CEO, SCG Management Consultants
“From a strategic perspective, from a landscape of the claims industry, we’re going to see less claims. There’s no question about that because the small end(s of) vehicles, the small bumpers, rear to front bumpers incidents won’t happen. The car simply won’t make that mistake. They’ll take over and not allow those incidents to take place. I think the industry need be less concerned about the number of vehicles available for repair and more concerned about repairing them correctly at this point in time. Although, we’re seeing the onset of reduced frequency, I don’t think it makes its way down to the collision repair shops for a year or two yet. Probably, three or four to be more truthful. And I don’t think it diminishes the size of the market because severity will go up. That’s inevitable. And you can’t do the scanning and diagnostics, you can’t do the calibration and (pulling) repair procedures and repair planning without adding time into the equation. So, less repairs, higher cost per repair, but it’s not a decline in market. I think the market from a dollar and a volume perspective stays the same. I think we’ll see a reduction in jobs, this is going to be a very difficult market for the number of shops we have right now to step up get the training, the staff, the equipment and then stay on top of all these procedures, the skills required. So, it is going to have a big impact. I think we’re a couple of years away.”
We’ve shown you several clips from this show, which is full of great information ADAS repair, and you can watch it right now on our website or YouTube channel.
KIA HIRES NEW VP OF INTERIOR DESIGN
Kia hired Jochen Paesen as its new Vice President of Interior Design. He will be based in South Korea and report to Kia’s head of design, Karim Habib. Before joining Kia, Paesen was the head of interior design at the EV startup NIO. Prior to that, he spent much of his career at BMW where he’s credited with designing the i8 and the 2009 Vision Efficient Dynamics concept. At Kia, Paesen will focus on developing the brand’s future interior design, particularly for electric vehicles.
NASCAR ANNOUNCER PROVIDES COMMENTARY FOR BACKYARD DOG RACE
And for those of you who aren’t interested in virtual racing. Check out this video Mike Bagley posted on twitter of his dogs chasing each other around a pool. Mike’s a NASCAR announcer for the Motor Racing Network and he provides some fine commentary of this race. Hope you enjoyed that and if you have any other fun videos like that, please send them our way.
But that’s it for today, thanks for watching, stay safe and have a great weekend.
Thanks to our partner for embedding Autoline Daily on its website: WardsAuto.com
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Comments (57)
March 27th, 2020 at 12:49 pm
Moto GP is also going to do an E race.
Something to keep in mind if you’re going to make your own mask and that’s it would probably be only for spreading an infection and not preventing one. I say probably because there are many factors involved, one being that you will not have been Face Fit tested to make sure you are getting a proper seal.
March 27th, 2020 at 12:55 pm
Come on John 22 miles in a BMW plugin they should be able to do double that to be competitive. Come on guys the industry needs to step up and make it worthwhile to spend the extra for a plugin.
March 27th, 2020 at 1:01 pm
2
I think of those as European “compliance” vehicles. They allow the driver entrance to city centers that have banned ICE vehicles. For the US market, I do agree with you.
March 27th, 2020 at 1:30 pm
My personal opinion is:
If Quinine was made available to every adult without a prescription this virus would be under control.
No clinical trial is necessary for a drug used since 1631 by millions of individuals to treat malaria and other problems.
Quinine was restricted by the FDA for 23 deaths in 23 years. This reason is ludicrous.
March 27th, 2020 at 2:28 pm
The sooner BMW assigns the Model 3 to the i8 fate, the better. The BMW i3-REx remains the best plug-in hybrid BMW has and they don’t realize it. Perhaps someone can send them the Munro report?
March 27th, 2020 at 2:34 pm
4) Good suggestion, malondro. I wonder how well it mixes with gin or vodka!
March 27th, 2020 at 2:41 pm
John,
Thanks so much for helping me get through this week! Your podcasts have been amazing considering the circumstances! It means a lot!
March 27th, 2020 at 2:58 pm
The only plug-in hybrid I ever would have considered is the Chevy Volt. When the battery has charge, it is, basically, an electric car with 53 miles range, but it carries an engine which is geared to the wheels at higher speed, so it gets decent mpg on gas only. The i3 is an electric car with more range, 125 miles, with the scooter engine and small tank, so you can keep going, albeit with frequent stops given the tiny tank, and very mediocre mpg. The i3 is a very good EV, but a seriously compromised car when run on gas. OK, Bob Wilson may disagree about that.
The gas engine of the 3 Series plug-in would start at anything more than very leisurely acceleration, even with a full battery.
March 27th, 2020 at 3:01 pm
Volt and i3 REx
https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/Find.do?action=sbs&id=41211&id=40924
March 27th, 2020 at 3:21 pm
4 Malaria is not remotely like covid-19, but small studies in China and France suggest that chloroquine might help with covid. Some larger studies are now underway. It will be great if it actually does help. Since it has been around for a long time, chloroquine could probably be made in large enough quantities to satisfy demand, if it works.
March 27th, 2020 at 4:25 pm
@8 that is also the only plug in hybrid… thing I’ve ever considered. Probably wouldn’t buy it now. We will be moving soon to a different street that will have it’s snow plowed, well maybe not last but close. We will want AWD and since we put on so little mileage the MPG doesn’t matter.
March 27th, 2020 at 4:26 pm
Really linking the XT4, quite possible next year when the lease is up on the Cruze.
March 27th, 2020 at 5:42 pm
#9 – The Volt was a nice car. Curiously, we’ve spanned the plug-in range:
https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/Find.do?action=sbs&id=35279&id=40924&id=38531
2014 BMW i3-REx — a 10 stop EV, 72 mile, the 168 hp, 3,000 lb car still has serious scoot as backup for our Model 3
2019 Chevy Volt — a 53 mile EV, nice car but sadly, discontinued
2017 Prius Prime — a 3 stop EV, 25 mile EV, became driveway art traded in for our Model 3
Not surprising, BMW continues to try smaller batteries like the discontinued i8. BMW still has not realized that small batteries are a sales and profit dead end. Perhaps after they make their 3d, small battery clunker, they’ll wake up and see all the Teslas around them and ‘get a clue’ … if they are still in business.
March 27th, 2020 at 5:52 pm
Doesn’t tonic water have quinine in it? You can get that in any grocery store. Gin and tonics for everyone!
March 27th, 2020 at 6:39 pm
If the 3 series is a good hybrid, getting 40+ mpg city if never plugged in, it would make some sense, even with the small battery, but I’ll be surprised if the gas-only mpg is much better than a regular “3.” It’s too early to know.
March 28th, 2020 at 7:12 am
John, I am sorry to say you got it wrong. These Weasels Hackett and Bill Ford and all the rest of them did NOT “cut” their pay!!! They DEFERRED it, they will take it with interest once big mommy government RESCUES them and they reach their “business as usual” stage next year (or is it “gross incompetence as usual”?)
15 I was leafing through my 2013-16 CRs and looked at several interesting car tests.
The (late?) 3 series Diesel got 49 HWY REAL, CR measured MPG, and it was even an AWD or 4WD 328xd.
There was also an article about tall tales by FOrd and the EPA re their CLAIMED MPG which was 11 MPG LOWER than the accurately measured CR MPG (Lincoln MKZ Hybrid was the worst cheat of them all, 4 other Fords up there with 8-10 MPG OVERestimates by the stupid EPA rules.
March 28th, 2020 at 7:17 am
5 sderiously, the failed i3????? A $50,000 vehicle with a lousy, unacceptable 75 mile range (just read its 2014 Consumer Reports Test! again!)
The Model 3 has, after 20 others tried and failed, VANQUISHED the BMW 3 series. End of the story. The plug-in with its lousy 22 miles (11 in winter) is a sad compliance JOKE. No matter if they ask… $45,000 or $50,000 for this CIVIC sized JOKE.
March 28th, 2020 at 7:21 am
13 The VOLT was WAY overpriced, but it still sold a few oveer the years (no range anxiety) while the Bolt was also overpriced and FAILED. F A I L E D failed.
Nobody in his right mind would pay DOUBLE CRUZE money for the VOlt, or DOUBLE Sonic money for the failed Bolt. Except some serious commuters and the usual EV FANATICS, of whom you know you are a major case.(I like them too, but I work hard to earn my $ and do not waste them)
March 28th, 2020 at 7:36 am
“The world is running out of tanks to store oil as coronavirus and price war lead to flood of crude..” (Marketwatch)
This is one of the REALLY important news.
How many LESS miles are you driving because of the CV?
Just think of the millions of unemployed restaurant workers (ONE IN TEN US JOBS) who do not need to do their long commute any more.
Then ADD it to the Saudi-Russia OIL WAR!!!!!
MIND BOGGLING.
Yesterday i was amazed I only paid $1 for my gallon of skim milk at Kroger. Gas is still $1.99 but LOW LONG can it last before it also COLLAPSES to $0.87 like in the mid-80s?
ANd $0.87 then is $2 now! Econ Literacy please!
March 28th, 2020 at 7:47 am
re 19: No wonder Russia calls for new enlarged OPEC deal to tackle oil demand collapse.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Maria Tsvetkova, Gleb Stolyarov and Katya Golubkova
March 28th, 2020 at 8:37 am
19 I have made predictions that came true before, but none that came true so much earliewr than I thought.
IF you live near this gas station
Valero
1003 N FM-156 near King George Rd
Ponder, TX 76259
You will pay $1.26 (YES, no typo, $1.26)
For a gallon of regular.
March 28th, 2020 at 9:13 am
US cases : 104,837
The corrupt US media made a big deal that the 50 UNITED States have the highest number of CV cases in the world, and indeed if you check the JH map, the US is no 1.
BUT is this really HONEST REPORTING?
The UNITED states of Europe have THREE TIMES that number. I went to the JH site and added up the European cases:
Europe cases : 329,845
The Media NEVER mentioned this total.
But even the team at the WH never responded to the clowns of the press as it SHOULD.
When the reporters were making a big deal about 100 US deaths, Neither Trump nor Pence nor the experts put them in their place,
nobody told them, just in ITALY which has one FIFTH the US population, they have 10,000 deaths, and you beach and spread paNIC about 100????
March 28th, 2020 at 9:25 am
Gas prices around my area hover around $1.55.
Back in 1968-9, when prices varied from station to station, I worked at a station involved in a price war. Gas got down to 10 cents/ gallon. Normally it would have been about $0.8*/ gal.
It doesn’t hurt my feelings Russia is feeling the hurt to its oil sales. Maybe the loss of $ will lessen their desire to cause chaos for awhile.
March 28th, 2020 at 10:03 am
22) if you, yourself, confirmed the US was #1 in confirmed cases, I guess the reporting WAS honest!
Europe does not have United States, but are individual countries. Comparing the US to the whole of Europe would be using two different sub-sets!
March 28th, 2020 at 10:10 am
By the way, the number of deaths in the US is not 100.
As of Friday night, there were 1634, ranking 6th globally.
March 28th, 2020 at 10:14 am
Has parking sensors and ABS not cut minor bangs already. Unless each country invests in their road maintenance then road surface issues will continue to impact cars.
March 28th, 2020 at 10:21 am
PHEVs are dead unless they are heavy trucks. Note subsidies for PHEVs are about to end for that exact reason-they still burn fossil fuels. PHEVs are being launched in Germany as cities fine fossil fuel cars (especially diesel). This is an admission that the Germans are eons behind in EV battery tech (Tesla is building a gigafactory in Germany to supply them and Tesla). I agree that normal range PHEVs are a joke but small cars where the PHEV range might be enough for all their daily use???
March 28th, 2020 at 3:00 pm
16 In CR’s tests, the 3 series diesel tied the current 4 cylinder Camry in highway mpg at 49, and beat the Camry in their city test, 24 vs 20 mpg, but on fuel that is currently 35% more expensive than regular gas in my area. Yeah, the 3 and Camry are not directly comparable. The BMW is smaller, but 400 pounds heavier, and is, of course, a “premium” brand.
The Camry hybrid beats the other two badly in mpg with 53/39 in CR’s tests. Both Camrys were quicker than the 3 series diesel by .5-.7 seconds, but the BMW was AWD.
March 28th, 2020 at 3:10 pm
Regular gas is still $2.00/gallon in my area, I guess because it is a touristy area, but there are few tourists now, with the beach parking closed, and the cruise ships parked.
March 28th, 2020 at 3:14 pm
I may not be quite typical, but my driving is down about 90%. I was going to a NASA building, about a 45 mile round trip 4-5 times a weeks, and was driving a few miles a day, going out to eat all the time. Now, with what I was doing at NASA shut down, and the restaurants closed, about the only driving I do is just to break the boredom. Since I’m eating at home, I need to do some grocery shopping, but the stores are very close, and I walk to one of them.
March 29th, 2020 at 7:02 am
30 I am sure I am not typical, as I drove very few miles before the CV (except for the odd trip to an auto museum etc), and I was eating at home most of the time anyway, so now I may be off by 10-20% only, but I bet the more typical average driver and especially suburban soccer mom driver a whole lot less, maybe also 80-90% less.
Anybody here with a different decline?
PS Eating at home may significantly improve the health of the eater, as restaurants give you whatever they want, have no obligation to give you the contents and numbers of all the bad sheet they put in, esp sodium, AND will save you a TON of $, but will ruin our service-heavy economy if it lasts more than a couple months.
March 29th, 2020 at 8:27 am
MI is becoming one of the worst states re the CV. Neighboring Ohio, with a larger population, has only a fraction of MI’s cases and esp deaths. Those who live here for decades, and have seen the corrupt incompetence especially of the DETROIT area local government (remember COleman, or especially the disgraced criminal mayor Kilpatrick?), are not surprised. Add to that an incompetent governor (vs the excellent Mike Devine of OH) and you got it. MI is screwed, almost as much as NY.
March 29th, 2020 at 8:31 am
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_coronavirus_pandemic_in_the_United_States#Current_number_of_non-repatriated_cases_by_state
re 32
March 29th, 2020 at 11:32 am
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deaths_in_2020
Many public figures around the world have already died of CV-19.
In the UK, both the PM and Charles and two other govt types have got it.
March 29th, 2020 at 5:33 pm
I just read an article that GM (Chevy/GMC) are going to update their pickup trucks to emulate the upcoming ’21 Tahoe/Suburban interiors. Really no shock to this announcement other than it is way overdue and more to the point Bob Lutz suggested this a long time before Ram did this to their truck and wrestled sales and made their move to number two behind Ford. It’s probably not too late for GM but someone was asleep at the wheel to take so long as even us Autoline watchers knew it was a missed opportunity.
March 29th, 2020 at 7:15 pm
I looked around the local Cadillac dealer today, and they had a couple each of CT4 and CT5. I thought they both looked decent, and the non-V CT4 was less expensive than I expected, given many Cadillac prices, ~$34K sticker on the one at the dealer. Something I don’t understand, though, is why they don’t put the 3.6 V6 in those cars. Not everyone wants a turbo 4 in their “entry luxury” car. At least 4WD is only optional, not mandatory.
March 29th, 2020 at 7:57 pm
36, I wondered that myself. Also with the 2020 XT5, the standard engine is now the 2L though the 3.6L is still available. The CT4 and 5 will eventually have a twin turbo 6 in the V-Series but they aren’t available yet. Starting prices for the 4/5 look pretty good but optioned go up pretty quick.
March 29th, 2020 at 7:58 pm
I agree. I know a couple of people looking for any vehicle that comes with a 6 that can be afforded. I am interested in the Lincoln town car because it had a 6, but the wife said the new kitchen comes first. Work starts in a couple weeks.
March 29th, 2020 at 7:59 pm
I agree. I know a couple of people looking for any vehicle that comes with a 6 that can be afforded. I am interested in the Lincoln Continental because it had a 6, but the wife said the new kitchen comes first. Work starts in a couple weeks.
March 29th, 2020 at 8:20 pm
If I didn’t have so many car wishes, too many cars, and so many big projects going on, I would seriously look at the Bolt. I believe there are $10K discounts going on. For an entry level EVer the Bolt would be a good choice.
March 29th, 2020 at 9:07 pm
The availability of a naturally aspirated six, along with the intuitive controls, is a lot of why my friend bought a Genesis G80. I guess not many people care about those things, though, based on the sales numbers of the G80.
37 The CT4-V will have a version of the 2.7 turbo four from trucks. The CT5 will have turbo V6s for the V, and as an option in some other versions. Why, why, don’t they offer the 3.6 in both of them? That engine works great in my friend’s Camaro, and would be great in those Cadillac sedans, using barely more gas than the turbo 4s, and using regular, while they recommend premium for the 2.0 turbo.
March 29th, 2020 at 9:14 pm
39 Will there be a 2021 Continental, or will all of the Lincoln cars go away, along with the Fords (except Mustang). I’m wondering if the Mustang will be around much longer, since they are calling the new electric hatch a Mustang.
March 30th, 2020 at 6:24 am
“In the U.S., about 28% of the population of 105 million became infected, and 500,000 to 675,000 died (0.48 to 0.64 percent of the population)”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_flu#United_States
Using the low end 0.5% percentage, with our 350 mill population, this would be equivalent to 1,875,000 deaths in the USA Alone from the CV.
(actual numbers are now believed to be in the 100,000 range instead, maybe less if people, esp the young, FOLLOW the guidelines.)
Yet the utterly irresponsible WH press corp asked questions a week ago pretending to be shocked that we had 100 (100, not even 100,000) deaths at the beginning of the CV epidemic.
March 30th, 2020 at 6:25 am
43 correction, 1,750,000. Make it 1,700,000 for a really low ball equivalent.
March 30th, 2020 at 7:29 am
42 re the (oh so failed) Continental.
The other day i was looking for comparison tests of the G90m vs the S class and of course, since they belong to totally different classes, I found NONE. Instead, there was a test in Motor Trend which pitted the G90 vs the BMW 7 (but with the puny 2 liter 4!), the latest (and poor) LS500, and the Continental.
It was really easy for them, with such competition, to coronate the G90 the so-called ‘winner”, but it was more interesting to see what they thought of the failed (and discontinued) COntinental:
The Conti was the ONLY vehicle in the group that lagged so far behind, it really did not belong there.
March 30th, 2020 at 8:08 am
45). Just put the Continental in my garage.
March 30th, 2020 at 8:25 am
45 There are some S-Class/G90 video comparisons, like this one, which is pretty good.
https://youtu.be/EWOHA0sJEnM
That Motor Trend test was the “old” G90, the BMW was a plug-in hybrid, an odd choice for that comparison, but they said they couldn’t get the turbo six version.
The Continental is best bought as a more basic version, about $35K less than the price of the one they tested. The base car is a decent value. The $80K “Black Label,” not so much.
March 30th, 2020 at 8:25 am
46 What version, and engine?
March 30th, 2020 at 8:36 am
https://www.motortrend.com/cars/genesis/g90/2018/bmw-740e-vs-lexus-ls-500-vs-genesis-g90-33t-vs-lincoln-continental-30/
here is the full review (and they did not even test the V8 G90, just the turbo 6),
and here are their exact words:
“The sedan furthest from encapsulating all we expect from a flagship luxury sedan is the Lincoln Continental. “
March 30th, 2020 at 8:44 am
“US crude oil price falls below $20
Fall in demand due to virus creates surplus that risks overwhelming storage capacity”
https://www.ft.com/
Remember the wild 2008 oil price rise to $150 of that time (more than $200 today, econ literacy please!!!)?
And remember the usual suspects, the prognosticators of that time, some clueless NON-experts such as the late banker Simmons who predicted “peak oil” and such NONSENSE?
I have followed the energy industry since my grad school MBA thesis on the subject, for 40+ years, and I was one of the few who called these clowns what they were, CHARLATANS, the darlings of the cable business news shows.
If anybody back then, only 15 years ago, predicted $10 or $15 oil per barrel, (and today’s $20 IS $15 in 2008 dollars), they would be called all kinds of names and burned at the stake.
BUT Nobody did. These CLOWNS and CHARLATANS, back in 2008, were predicting $200 and even $1,000 per barrel oil!
March 30th, 2020 at 8:46 am
50 con’d , and of course every brain-dead, illiterate news anchor (they all are) LOVED it. AND none of them brought BACK the Charlatans and take them to TASK, asking them “what nonsense were you spouting back in 2008?????”
March 30th, 2020 at 8:48 am
49 The Continental would have done much better if they’d tested a base car vs., say, a 4 cylinder E-Class costing ~$15K more. As an 80 thousand dollar car, I’m not surprised it didn’t do well against other $80-100K cars.
March 30th, 2020 at 9:05 am
I would have liked to see the CT6-V Blackwing in that comparo. As it was practicaaly dead on arrival, I see why it was not considered, as the results would have practically been moot; but oh what maybe could have been.
March 30th, 2020 at 9:26 am
52 I bet Cwolf was surprised though. AND Lincoln prices (even some Ford prices) are not cheap for large sedans and SUVs like the Continental or the Explorer Clone ($80k) and the Expedition Clone (aka “Navigator”) with as tested prices over $100k.
No. the Continental is a ‘reactionary’ design, a conservative (in the worst sense of the word) frumpy fraud, a Fusion or Taurus clone with more room and bling. Not a true Luxury car, and sure not a “Luxury performance car” like the 7 and more appropriately the 5 series.
For somebody who appreciates quality and does not need a car that takes turns like a train on rails at high speed, they don’t need the BMWs, but they would be far more satisfied with even a lowly E class family sedan than any Lincoln of today.
Of course, if you are an 85 year old about to go to a nursing home, AND you NEVER TEST DROVE the German alternatives, you may not know how much better you can do, even if just from the point of Steering wheel power assist, accuracy and feedback, where ANY German does 100 times better than those awful domestics. When you pay that kind of $, and you take that car on a trip, you want to point it to your destination and feel it is going there like an ARROW, and not wallow at the slightest touch of the steering wheel.
March 30th, 2020 at 9:39 am
The Lincoln dealer I’ve used in the past has a basic Continental (3.7L). No options other than a paint charge. I think the sticker was almost $48K. With the Z plan, my OTD cost would be about $43-44 K.
I do not like all the other gadgets, so this plain Jane model is just perfect for me. After all, I like to drive my cars and not be driven by them.
March 30th, 2020 at 9:55 am
53 I hope that engine doesn’t go away with the CT6. It would be nice in a CT5-V, or maybe in a Corvette.
March 30th, 2020 at 10:46 am
What flavor *is* that Kool-Aid?