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Runtime: 11:33
0:07 Production Continues to Slowly Pick Up
0:35 Ford & GM Line Up More Cash
1:05 Car Sales Added to Essential Businesses List
1:34 Commercial Fleet Sales Doing the Best
2:28 Elon Musk Drops New Cybertruck Details
3:05 CARL is AIWAYS’ Autonomous EV Charger
3:46 Cadillac Studies Another Performance Wagon
4:58 Porsche Offers Two-Tone Interior for 911s
5:25 Skoda Pits Fans Against Real Racers in Virtual Series
6:05 Custom Citroen DS Hardtop Coupe
7:10 Honda’s Plan for Used Batteries in Europe
7:49 India’s TVS Buys Britain’s Norton Motorcycles
8:18 Thanks You for All the Kind Comments
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PRODUCTION CONTINUES TO SLOWLY RAMP UP
Here’s some of the updates on how the auto industry is dealing with the coronavirus. In China production is starting to ramp up. Faurecia, the French supplier, says it expects to be at full production in China next month. In Europe, Audi says it will start to crank up its assembly lines by the end of this month, but production will ramp up slowly and many line workers will be in masks and will maintain social distancing.
GM & FORD LINE UP MORE CASH
In the U.S., GM and Ford are scrambling to line up more cash. GM added a nearly $2 billion credit line from several banks. Ford raised $8 billion in new corporate debt. In normal times, major automakers spend about $2 billion a week. And while they’ve all slashed spending to the bone, they’re still burning through a lot of money. Unless they can get production going again soon, they’re all going to be in deep trouble.
CAR SALES ADDED TO ESSENTIAL BUSINESSES LIST
That may be why the U.S. government added car sales to the list of essential businesses. Specifically the Department of Homeland Security announced that it would classify “workers critical to the manufacturing, distribution, sales, rental, leasing, repair and maintenance of vehicles and other transportation equipment, including electric vehicle charging stations, and the supply chains that enable these operations” as essential workers.
COMMERCIAL FLEET SALES DOING THE BEST
Ward’s forecasts that the April SAAR will come in at only 7 to 8 million vehicles. And it expects the inventory of cars and trucks parked on dealer lots to hit between 130 and 150 days’ supply. It says fleet sales to daily rental companies have been decimated, and companies that rely on them will be especially hurt. Commercial fleet sales are the one segment that are faring the best. Those are sales to police, fire, government and other kinds of essential services.
ELON DROPS NEW CYBERTRUCK DETAILS
Elon Musk dropped a few nuggets of detail about the Cybertruck on Twitter. He says they’re “working on increasing dynamic air suspension travel for better off-roading. Needs to kick butt in Baja.” Sounds like Musk wants to go after the enthusiast that would look at a F-150 Raptor or Colorado ZR2. Elon also Tweeted that the truck has reduced about 3% in size from the prototype version, which resulted in a more level center line and lower window sill. Tesla plans to start delivering the Cybertruck late next year.
CARL IS AIWAYS’ AUTONOMOUS EV CHARGER
Back in 2015, Tesla showed off this cool but creepy looking automatic charger, that looks like a robotic snake. And now Chinese EV startup AIWAYS, has been granted patents in Europe and China for its own autonomous charger. Called CARL, its available in both 30kW and 60kW capacities and can re-charge a vehicle to 80% in under 50 minutes. Instead of having to look for a charger, EV owners can summon CARL with a smartphone app, it will use GPS to locate the vehicle, plug-in and start charging automatically. Once it’s finished it will move on to the next vehicle or return to its base station.
CADILLAC STUDYING ANOTHER PERFORMANCE STATION WAGON
Last week, Cadillac announced it’s working on high-performance versions of the CT4-V and CT5-V. But could we also see a performance station wagon from the brand? On last week’s Autoline After Hours we were joined by Brandon Vivian the Executive Chief Engineer at GM and here’s his response to that question.
(Clip from Autoline After Hours can only be viewed in the video version of today’s show.)
You can watch that episode right now on our website or on our YouTube channel.
PORSCHE OFFERS NEW TWO-TONE INTERIOR FOR 911s
About 90% of all 911s are custom ordered and now Porsche is offering a new interior option for the sports car. The contrasting two-tone look adds quilted panels in the seats and doors, decorative seams stitched in the opposing color. We think the floor mats really pop out. There’s 4 color combinations that can be ordered right now, but Porsche says it’s going to add more.
SKODA PITS FANS AGAINST REAL RACERS IN NEW VIRTUAL SERIES
Another virtual racing series is kicking off, but this one is a little different than the others. Skoda’s new eSports series is a rally racing challenge where regular fans will get the chance to go head-to-head against their favorite professional drivers. Users will race in virtual Skoda FABIA Rally2 evos, individual results will be put into a ranking system and there will be prizes for the winners. The competition lasts five days and kicks off this Wednesday with Rally Argentina.
CUSTOM CITROEN DS HARDTOP COUPE
The Citroen DS is already considered one of the most beautiful cars of all time but we’re absolutely loving this custom model. Two designers wondered what a factory version of a Chapron convertible might look like, but since so many people were already restoring convertibles they decided to do something Citroen had never done with the DS, make a two-door coupe. We recently devoted an Autoline After Hours to the Chapron convertible and we’ll throw a link up for that. To keep the design more in line with the original, the designers kept the curved back window and rounded contours at the rear. And it really is amazing how this looks like it could have rolled off the assembly. The hardtop flows seamlessly into the overall shape and the pillar-less Daylight Opening or DLO just looks right. Like the exterior, the interior has had a few things moved around. And like the exterior, it’s absolutely gorgeous. The project took 5 years and 11,000 to complete.
HONDA’S PLAN FOR USED BATTERIES IN EUROPE
Honda is expanding battery recycling in Europe. Its partnered with waste management company, SNAM, to recycle its hybrid and EV batteries. They’ll either be used in ‘second life’ energy storage units or if the batteries aren’t suitable for that, raw materials will be extracted from them using a new hydrometallurgy process. The materials can be reused in the production of new batteries, color pigments or as additives for mortar. Honda’s car dealers in Europe can arrange for batteries to be recycled through SNAM’s dedicated online platform, who will then decide what to do with the batteries.
INDIA’S TVS BUYS BRITAIN’S NORTON MOTORCYCLES
India was once ruled by the British Crown, but now India is taking control of some of Britain’s most famous brands. We all know about Tata and Jaguar Land Rover and now Reuters reports that TVS, India’s third largest motorcycle maker sealed a deal to buy Norton Motorcycles for $20 million. Norton is 122 years old but the company was in financial distress.
THANK YOU FOR ALL THE KIND COMMENTS
Two weeks ago we put a button on our website asking for donations. Our business model is to give you free information about the auto industry, and pay our bills with advertising from automotive suppliers. But with the virus crisis, all that advertising support dried up. And we have to thank all of you who have stepped up and donated to help keep Autoline going while the auto industry is shut down. A lot of you sent comments along with your donations and you can’t believe how encouraging that is for our morale. Here’s a sample of some of them.
Brian Gebby: Autoline, the show *must* go on!
Stephen Grupinski: There is nothing else like it and it is at the top of my podcast feed.
Mustapha Barakat: Love Autoline. Keep up the great work.
Fred Love: You make me smile and you make me smarter.
David Rasmussen: Glad to help. Best wishes to the entire crew.
Grayson Willis: I’ve been watching you guys for so long, kinda feels like we’re family.
Igor Matko: I really find usefull all the latest info and discussions about the auto industry. I hope that this donation will help your work. Best regards from Slovenia.
Charles Orvis: Thanks for mentioning me On “After Hours”!!!!
Jeremy Renton: I’m not in the car industry, but I have enjoyed your material for years.
Venkata Pavan Raja: After coming to U.S. as a student learnt a lot about the auto industry through your programs.
Aaron Berger: Love the EV coverage! Down with COVID-19!
Alexander Carabitses: I probably know more about the auto industry than the majority of 21 year olds, and this wouldn’t be possible: without the content that you put out. Keep it up!
William Routledge: Being a Detroit boy and working my way thru college working in the steel division during summer break, I feel a kinship with many of the people involved in the industry.
Tyler Joswick: I’ve been a Daily fan for over 7 years now.
Alan Buck: You guys rock and hate to the ad revenue drying up. Hope this little bit helps.
James Anderson: Sorry I cannot contribute more but seems like times are hard.
Brian Smith: Enjoy your website and Autoline After Hours in particular.
I look forward each day to your Autoline presentations. Patrick McMichael, Hot Springs, Arkansas.
It’s almost unfair to cite these donors because so many more of you have helped out. But we wanted to give you at least a flavor of some of the comments.
And with that we wrap up today’s report. Thanks for making Autoline Daily a part of your day.
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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.