AD #2823 – Non-Union U.S. Plants Could Open First; Europe Passes China in Q1 EV Sales; Genesis G70 Impressions
April 24th, 2020 at 12:17pm
Listen to “AD #2823 – Non-Union U.S. Plants Could Open First; Europe Passes China in Q1 EV Sales; Genesis G70 Impressions” on Spreaker.
Follow us on social media:
Runtime: 10:30
0:07 VW Group Ramping Up Production
0:58 Non-Union U.S. Plants Could Open First
1:50 People Staying Away From Mobility Services
2:52 China Continues to Slash EV Subsidies
4:00 Europe Passes China in Q1 EV Sales
4:50 Bentley Owners Not Happy with Continuation Models
5:41 Hyundai Gives Prophecy the Green Light
6:30 A Few Escalade ESV Details
6:58 MINI Changes Name of ‘Corona Spoke’ Wheels
7:14 Genesis G70 Impressions
Visit our sponsor to thank them for their support of Autoline Daily: Bridgestone.
This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry.
It looks like the virus crisis has peaked in Europe and automakers are slowly starting to open some plants.
VW GROUP RAMPING UP PRODUCTION
The Volkswagen Group is figuring out ways to ramp up production. We already reported how SEAT would test workers for COVID-19 in Spain and now VW is opening up its plants in Slovakia. VW says it’s employing about 100 protective safety measures to keep workers healthy. Next week it will open plants in Germany, Portugal, Spain, Russia and the U.S. And Skoda will restart production in the Czech Republic next week. On top of 80 safety measures, the company modified the way staff shuttles operate, changed procedures wherever people can congregate, like the factory gates as well as how working hours are recorded.
WILL NON-UNION PLANTS START FIRST IN THE U.S.?
Meanwhile in the ‘States there’s a split brewing over when production should restart. Toyota, Tesla, Hyundai and Volkswagen, announced plans to slowly ramp up production the first week of May. GM, Ford and FCA also want to resume production around the same time. They’re asking some workers to return next week to prep work areas for restarting production. However, UAW President Rory Gamble says it’s too early to restart production. About two dozen UAW workers have died from the virus and union leadership says it’s too risky to start so soon. This will be interesting to see how it plays out. If the non-union shops successfully get going with no additional virus cases, there will be enormous pressure on the UAW to allow production to resume.
PEOPLE STAYING AWAY FROM MASS TRANSIT
Could the coronavirus convince more people to buy a car instead of using mass transit or ride hailing? That’s what some experts think. With the pressure to maintain social distancing, and most people more than willing to do it, few people want to board crowded busses, trains or subways. Bloomberg reports that In the first two weeks of April, Cars.com found that 20% of people searching for a car said they don’t own one and have been using public transit or ride hailing. In the U.S., ridership on public transportation is down 70% due to the virus crisis. As we reported earlier this week, General Motors shut down Maven, its car sharing business.
CHINA WILL CUT EV SUBSIDIES EVEN MORE
China wants to dominate the EV industry, but it’s not going to do it with subsidies. Instead, automakers are going to do the subsidizing. Last year China cut EV subsidies and sales dropped immediately. Now, Bloomberg reports China will cut subsidies by another 10% this year, another 20% next year and 30% the year after that. Yet, it’s keeping its mandate in place for automakers to hit specific market share targets. So they’ve got to sell EVs, or else. And wait, it gets tougher still. The subsidies that remain will only apply to cars that cost less than $42,400, have a range of at least 300 kilometers, or have swappable standardized batteries. And China will phase out those subsidies once EV sales hit 2 million vehicles. Analysts say this will make it hard to sell EVs and could especially hurt Tesla and VW, since they invested so heavily to sell EVs in China.
EUROPE PASSES CHINA IN Q1 EV SALES
Here’s something we didn’t expect. Europe topped China in sales of EVs in the first quarter of the year. According to PwC, the top 5 European markets, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the U.K., registered 79,300 EVs during Q1, which was about 2,000 more than in all of China. However, China’s sales dropped by more than half in the quarter due to coronavirus lockdowns, but those restrictions are easing, at the same time lockdowns in Europe remain in place, so PwC expects China to retake the lead in EV sales later this year. But over the next few years, analysts say it will be a neck and neck race between the two regions for the EV sales crown.
BENTLEY OWNERS NOT HAPPY WITH CONTINUATION SERIES
How do you piss off the rich? Mess with their money! Several Bentley owners, including Ralph Lauren, were none too pleased when the automaker announced last year that it would build 12 continuation cars of the 1929 Team Blower race car. Only 4 of the originals are around today and one sold in 2012 for about $7 million. But the owners are worried these new replicas will devalue their cars. Bentley points out it talked to a lot of people about the continuation cars and the vast majority were excited about the new cars. Plus, they’re not allowed to painted in the same schemes as the originals.
HYUNDAI GIVES PROPHECY THE GREEN LIGHT
We were smitten by the styling of Hyundai’s sleek Prophecy concept car, but figured it would never make it to production. Well we were wrong. It’s getting the green light. Hyundai’s head of global design, SangYup Lee told Auto Express, “There will be a production version of Prophecy coming after a production version of the 45 concept.” This is the 45 concept if you don’t remember, a wedge-y electric SUV shown last year. Both ride on a new EV platform that will spawn a number of vehicles. But Mr. Lee says they will all look and function differently from each other. The thing that will tie them all together is the lighting. The pixel lamp lights we see on the Prophecy will be used in some way on all the vehicles.
A FEW CADILLAC ESCALADE ESV DETAILS
Speaking of new vehicles, here’s the long-wheelbase version of the all new Cadillac Escalade, called the ESV. While it’s nearly 16-inches longer than the standard length Escalade they look pretty much the same. The accent behind the rear door rakes further forward and the rear doors are slightly larger. Cadillac says orders for the new Escalade can be made online today and they’re scheduled to start hitting dealerships this fall.
MINI CHANGES NAME OF ‘CORONA SPOKE’ WHEEL
I’m sure you’ve seen these wheels from Mini before. But did you know they are called ‘Corona Spoke’ wheels? That’s not really the best name in today’s environment so Mini is making a name change. This wheel design will now carry the name ‘Power Spoke.’
GENESIS G70 IMPRESSIONS
I’ve been test driving a Genesis G70 this week, and all I can say is watch out BMW 3-Series, Genesis has you right in its crosshairs. From a size, packaging and even styling standpoint the rear-drive G70 hits all the hot buttons that would directly appeal to a 3-Series buyer. There’s a reason this sedan looks like it was designed and developed in Europe. The top designers and engineers at Genesis are European. And this is not some kind of cheap knock off. It’s a well crafted car. The interior is a bit busy, but it also shows off the craftsmanship that went into this car. All the gaps between the buttons on the steering wheel, console and instrument panel are only 1 millimeter wide. The leather wrapping on the IP and steering wheel is meticulously placed. The diamond-shaped quilted seat and door insets are perfectly stitched. Even the lip of the cupholder bezel is intricately tooled and turned. Under the hood it’s powered by a 2-liter turbo, which is very well damped down from an NVH standpoint. It develops 252 horses and 260 pound feet of torque and that power is directed through an 8-speed automatic that bangs off shifts with alacrity. The G70 feels very well balanced between the steering, braking and chassis. It’s a car that encourages you to toss it into a corner. The base price of the G70 is about $36,500 and comes well equipped, the one I drove had the Prestige trim level, which adds almost $8,500 in options, including some things that I would expect to be standard, like heated front seats and parking distance warning. Put it all together, along with a nearly $1,000 destination charge and the price almost comes to $45,000. It’s rated by the EPA at 25 miles to the gallon, but surprisingly it doesn’t have a NHTSA safety rating. Maybe that’s because Genesis only sold 12,000 G70s in the US last year, about 1,000 a month, and NHTSA doesn’t crash test low volume cars. Overall I really liked this car, but question whether it will pry people out of their BMWs, Mercedes and Audis. After all, the G70 fits in the prestige segment, where brand heritage counts more than good design and engineering. And Genesis has a ways to go to burnish its brand image.
And with that we wrap up this week’s reports. Have a healthy and safe weekend, and we’ll be back here on Monday.
Thanks to our partner for embedding Autoline Daily on its website: WardsAuto.com
Share
Permalink
Comments (39)
April 24th, 2020 at 12:40 pm
I don’t much like the Mini Corona wheels anyway, never mind the name.
Will they change of the name of Corona beer? I’ve heard that sales are way down, while beer sales, overall, have been pretty good.
April 24th, 2020 at 1:14 pm
John, Maybe that Hyundai should be released as a Genesis … maybe as kind of an electric Porsche 911 ?
April 24th, 2020 at 1:51 pm
Genesis cars will be great deals since initial maintenance is covered and they will come and pick up the car for you.
I assume there will be some crazy deals; the mind boggles on their used prices in a couple of years. Will they be at K900 prices?
If Kia stop making the Stinger there will also be some good deals on the Stinger.
Hopefully EVs will give us some interesting shapes though not sure they will sell. e.g. Polestar 2.
April 24th, 2020 at 1:55 pm
China will protect Tesla and do what it takes to make them succeed. Just witness the last 12 months.
As for the UAW, not sure they really care about the vehicles they make. They seem focused on enjoying their slush fund.
April 24th, 2020 at 2:07 pm
Except for the Corvette plant, is there even much reason to be in a hurry to re-start any UAW plants?
April 24th, 2020 at 2:23 pm
John I wouldn’t take an Uber/Lyft now I’m a nervous Nellie when it comes to COVID-19 and am afraid that the Uber wouldn’t be clean and I’ve never been a germaphobe.
April 24th, 2020 at 2:29 pm
Hey John was the rear seat in the new Genesis G70 any bigger than the little kids only rear seat in the last one?
April 24th, 2020 at 6:27 pm
I just checked CR’s evaluation of the G70, vs the 3 Series and C-Class. The G70 had a worse subjective rating of “rear seat comfort” than the others, but the measured leg room was comparable, actually better for the Genesis than the Benz. The thing that stood out, was that the G70 was both slower and thirstier than the others, even though the power ratings are nearly identical, and the weight of the cars very close. The G70 uses regular gas, though, while the others say premium. Still, Hyundai must over-rate power, or have very bad selection of gearing and shift points.
April 24th, 2020 at 6:51 pm
John, could you quote engine speed with power and torque ratings, now that engines are getting smaller by the day I would like to know whether I will have to wind the piss out of it to get it going or will it have great low end get up and go. Thanks.
April 24th, 2020 at 11:22 pm
Well done, Autoline After Hours, $506, (see web link to YouTube.) Your guest Bob Galyen is exactly the type of engineer anyone should admire. Even Anton Wahlman was well behaved.
Those who missed the broadcast may want to use YouTube and increase the playback speed. After all, we all have lives to live.
April 25th, 2020 at 10:55 am
I have no idea why you bother talking about the DISMALLY FAILED genesis G70. This should be a MASS market car, the BMW 3 series is it supposed to rival (it must be the 20th failed BMW 3 series rival) sold 10,000 units a MONTH. The G70 sells that in a WHOLE YEAR.
In addition, the 3 Series itself has been detrhoned by the Awesome, Revolutionary Tesla Model 3.
So, again, who cares a rat’s behind about a FAILED Entry level so-called near luxury sedan who tries to ape ther 3 series AFTER that same 3 series has been VANQUISHED by the Awesome Model 3?
Not me, for sure.
The PROOF is in the SALES NUMBERS. Especially for a Mass Market Model like the G70, and there it has failed DISMALLY, despite the 100 “employee of the month” awards by all kinds of auto press.
April 25th, 2020 at 11:00 am
11 and for anybody who is new here, I do not care for the 3 series, especially its current not thrilling styling, or the G 70, OR the model 3. The only Tesla I would be interested in buying, new or used, is the outstanding flagship, the Model S, 8 years young and still as awesome as ever.
April 25th, 2020 at 11:54 am
8 Only CR would care to do a thesis on “rear seat room” for vehicles like the 3 series or the G 70. Did they also do it for the 911? it is absolutely LUDICROUS. Tell me, among 100 prospective buyers of these kind of vehicles, who gives a rat;s ass about… rear seat room? Trunk space maybe, but sure NOT rear seat room.
These entry level vehicles are usually bought by young couples who at best have young children whose legs can fit even in the 911′s joke of a rear seat.
April 25th, 2020 at 11:57 am
13 con’d similarly and equally ludicrous is to do a test of vehicles like minivans or large non-luxury sedans or delivery vans and write a diatribe about their… 0-60 and especially quarter mile times. WHO CARES????? The people SERIOUSLY considering to buy those kinds of vehicles could not care less.
So it is NOT a “one size fits all” auto test like CR and other mags like to do. They should focus on the Relevant features.
April 25th, 2020 at 12:02 pm
11,12,13, Seems what should be considered ludicrous is your diatribe against Autoline’s review of simply another choice in the market. I don’t care for Genesis on iota but do enjoy reviews of most offering (whether I’m in the market or not for that particular offering or similar).
April 25th, 2020 at 12:19 pm
15 NO. The G70 is not simply another choice, it is much more than that, Genesis itself is Hyundai-Kia’s 15th attempt to sell a luxury range, AND its 15th FAILURE.
“If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Then QUIT. No point making a fool of yourself”
(from Murphy’s laws on work)
PS The sales data are real, and they prove my point. Many Automaker decisions are NOT made rationally, obviously. Look at Fiat and Alfa’s debacle (for at least the SECOND time) to enter the US market. Did the others look and learn? NO. PSA is trying to enter the US market itself, and never mind NO (NONE!) Euro non-luxury automaker has made it in this market the last 50 years.
Facts are stubborn things.
April 25th, 2020 at 12:22 pm
13,14 CR rates the rear seat comfort and access for the Porsche 911 in the bottom category of 5.
Maybe you’re not aware, but rear seats of 3 series, C-Class, etc., are used at times, and some people might like to know how they compare. The poor rear seat room of the Cadillac ATS compared to 3 Series is part of why the ATS sold poorly, even though it drives better than the BMW. Also, some people, like myself, find this information interesting, along with 0-60 times of very dis-similar vehicles. CR, and the enthusiast magazines are doing us a favor by publishing this data. For acceleration times, CR is the best, since they test them all the same way, and use cars they bought, rather than sometimes “tweaked” ones provided by the car companies.
April 25th, 2020 at 12:37 pm
16 The G70 is very much “another choice” in a crowded market segment, and it is far from the only one that doesn’t sell well. I haven’t looked up sales numbers, but I doubt that Jaguar XE, Alfa Giulia, Lexus IS, or Acura TLX are selling that well either. There’d be an Infiniti and Volvo in that group too.
With the coming depression, I’m sure you will be very happy, “Larry,” when all of the low volume cars disappear from the market, and only your favorites will remain. I, for one, like to have a little variety in the market. I’d like even more variety, especially in car-height wagon versions of existing cars, like say, Camry hybrid.
April 25th, 2020 at 2:42 pm
Larry, Just because you aren’t interested doesn’t mean other people aren’t. Or are you such a Trump that you think only your opinion matters?
April 25th, 2020 at 4:35 pm
Larry, your opinion = the facts. No wonder you like Trump.
April 25th, 2020 at 4:56 pm
#20 – Or like Trump – The infamous mr d will let no facts get in the way of his opinion.
To all – Have a good rest of the weekend.
April 25th, 2020 at 5:45 pm
Kit, I glanced at the growing number of law suits against GM on Vettes for the last few years because of wheel rim cracks and failures. They say the process to make the aluminum rims to save weight was lacking thus causing major blow outs, air loss and cracks. Would this include your car and what do you know?
April 25th, 2020 at 6:08 pm
22 I hadn’t really heard about wheel problems, and haven’t had any problems. I’ll search it, and see what I might learn.
My car has had an easy life, though, only ~20K miles, and no “hard use” on race tracks, etc. I have the standard 18-19 inch wheels. Maybe some of the other wheels have had more problems, but I suspect it would mainly depend on the stress put on them.
April 25th, 2020 at 6:37 pm
22,23 I found some stuff about the wheels, and it sounds like the failures are mostly on 2017 Grand Sports. They would be 19 inch front, 20 inch rear. There would have been multiple wheels available, but maybe paint color/chrome would be the only difference on the GS. It sounds like they break more easily than they should, but wheels fitted with 25 and 30 series run flat tires would have a pretty rough life. If the wheels really are substandard, they should be covered by warranty, and apparently they aren’t being covered by warranty.
April 26th, 2020 at 5:37 pm
15 and anybody else who wants even more “choice”.
in 1988 there were less than 300 different models on sale in the US, and the car segment had not yet been annihilated by the crossovers and the pickups.
in 2020 there must be over 1,000 different models, it is really RIDICULOUS.
Why is this bad???? let me count the DOZENS of ways it is.
Especially those of you that lament the decline of cars in the US market, I have already suggested a solution to make the segment still profitable and have GOOD product to the consumer, and that is to KILL HALF THE CAR MODELS available today, if not TWO THIRDS, get rid of the clear losers, and the rest who already did well, will do EVEN BETTER.
WHy is it better to have 500 lame models instead of 250 BETTER ones, and better priced?
How many different car models do you need at a minimum?? DO you really need 150???
Why do you think Toyotas are so good? Because the company kills the losers (like the Venza) and focuses on its mass volume models, and because of its high profit magrgins DUE to the economies of scale, its models are really GOOD DEALS to the consumer.
I am not saying to just have the corolla in the econobox segment, But Do you REALLY need 50 models in this segment? Even 20? DO you need BOTH a Hyundai AND a Kia “Corolla FIghter”, both of which FAIL? Isn’t it better to have ONE, BETTER, and BETTER PRICED for whatit offers?
All this is COMMON SENSE. Those of you who myopically think from the point of interest of the consumer, miss the point. A healthy maker will be able to offer bETTER models at better prices.
April 26th, 2020 at 6:09 pm
25, In 1988, there was far more REAL choice in the U.S. market than there is now. There were front drive wagons, rear drive wagons, and 4wd wagons, all available with manual transmissions. Now, there are zero rear drive wagons, and only about two or three real, car height wagons of any drive configuration. In 1988, there were a number of 2 door cars of various sizes from mainstream brands. Now, the only a handful of two door cars, and except for “pony cars,” a handful of sports cars, and Honda Civic, essentially all of them are overpriced products from “premium” brands. Yeah, in ’88, there weren’t 150 lifted wagons, but there were a few of them, with various powertrain configurations.
I certainly agree that some of the Hyundai/Kia models are redundant, like Accent and Rio, but some are not, like Soul, which does not have a Hyundai equivalent. Maybe they should combine the H/K dealerships, which would make things more efficient, even if they kept both “brands.”
Something I’ve mentioned before that could help improve the dismal lack of car choice in the U.S., would be standardization of regulations between the EU, the U.S., and Canada. Then, they wouldn’t need to do anything special to sell a few hundred, or thousand manual transmission C-Class wagons, or other such cars in the U.S.
April 26th, 2020 at 6:42 pm
25 Also, there was far more real choice in pickup trucks in 1988. There were actual smallish S-10 and Ranger, and the Toyota, Mitsu, Isuzu, and Nissan trucks were still fairly small. For those who wanted mid-size pickups, there was the Dodge Dakota. The original Toyota T100 was “mid-size,” but I don’t think it was out yet in 1988.
April 26th, 2020 at 6:51 pm
So who decides what models proliferate? This is still by and large a free market. You ‘throw your dart’ (make an educated guess on what will sell and build it) and see if it sticks. Models that don’t make it will eventually be removed/dropped and that’s the way it works and should continue to work. I didn’t respond the first time nor this time to create an argument, my feelings are just closer to laissez-faire economics than yours and I’ll stick with that philosophy and try to drop out of this conversation.
April 26th, 2020 at 7:14 pm
I have something rather special to share tomorrow that is most dear to me. In the mean time refresh your memory of the MT and C&D article about the Mustang Cobra Jet.
April 26th, 2020 at 7:25 pm
Today I took a leisurly walk around my condo complex. The 360 unit place has extensive grounds, artificial lakes etc that takes half an hour to walk, I went evens slower to check the almost 200 cars in the lots and the driveways.
While previously I thought we have a ton of Subarus, I think the top number were the Toyotas (not Lexi), there were a whole lot of them, also a lot of Priuses (and a lone lousy little Prius C) and a Highlander hybrid, and several Rav4s and Rav4 hybrids.
There were lots of Hondas also, especially Odysseys, from new ones to 20 year old ones. I must have counted 10 Odysseys. No wonder it has been the king of minivans for decades.
The only Mercedes was my own. There were several 3 series, a yellow corvette, a camaro or two.
note that this area, while having outstanding location, is still very affordable. While large homes in the neighborhood routinely go for $600-800k, and many above 1 million, (even in March 2020 under the CV, 88 homes were sold, and one fetched $1.65 mill, and 10 others around 800k), the 360 condos go for $200-300k (the low end being the 2 bedroom and the higher the 3 BR models). They were built 50 years ago or so, were not luxurious even when new, have only a 1 car garage, one-two car driveway, and no basement.
April 26th, 2020 at 7:27 pm
At this point, the lack of choice probably won’t affect me too much, but 12 years ago, I would have liked to buy a manual transmission C-Class diesel wagon, like a rental in France.
Another thing that I miss, though this is not unique to the U.S. market, is the lack of interior color choice. I don’t know when color choice ended, but my 1989 Caravan has a blue interior, as did my ’86 Celebrity wagon. My parents’ ’81 Dodge Omni had a maroon interior. Now, except for specialty, and some “premium brand” cars, the only choices you have are black, grey, and beige. That’s disappointing.
April 26th, 2020 at 7:40 pm
30 My 240 unit condo complex has a lot of Nissans. I think price is the main reason. A number of them were bought used, and Nissans depreciate more quickly than some others, at least Honda and Toyota. Also, there are a lot of Kias and Hyundais. About 2/3 of the units, including mine, have a garage, so the few Corvettes are usually in the garages. There are a few Benzes and BMWs, including an M-Class (now GLE) at my building. I haven’t seen any Porsches in the complex. As is the national trend, a lot of the newer vehicles are CUVs of various sizes and brands. The complex is under-represented with pickup trucks, which is fine with me, especially since the recent ones are so huge that they barely fit in a parking place.
April 27th, 2020 at 9:42 am
31) I also lament the bland color palette of modern cars. The Teutonic 3 have taken shades of grey and made it a boring art. I don’t want to return completely to the ’80s though where the entirety of the interior was washed in a singular velour color, but definitely more color choice would be appreciated.
The 2020 Corvette has 2 tone interior options though! They offer 2 red and 1 blue two tone as a color choice! Although I have never seen a blue interior, even a blue accented interior, that I have ever liked. Let’s hope people choose any one of the red or blue options so that more color choice is offered in the future!
April 27th, 2020 at 10:08 am
33 I ordered my 2016 Corvette with red/black interior. It’s a 1LT, so the only red is the seats, and everything else is black. The higher trim levels can have more color, with some red on the door panels and console cover.
It seems that nearly all of the C7 Corvettes I’ve seen in dealer stock had basic black interiors, except a few “special editions,” like some 2017s which had blue/black interior, and some stripes on the front fenders.
April 27th, 2020 at 10:14 am
#34 – I got the Kahlahari 2LT interior in my shark gray 2016. I preferred the appearance of the 2LT compared to the much more expensive 3LT. Glad they offer various options so we can select what we prefer.
April 27th, 2020 at 10:25 am
35 The 3LT with red, and probably with Kahlahari, had the lighter color on the top of the dash. I would not like that, because you get reflections in the windshield. Actually, I didn’t like the looks of the 3LT red interior very well anyway. I liked the 2LT a little better than the 1LT, but not ~$6K better. Other than the extra color, the only thing the 2LT added that I would have cared about was Homelink.
April 27th, 2020 at 10:48 am
15
It’s his world. We all just live in it, apparently.
April 27th, 2020 at 11:47 am
Here is an unconfirmed progression for C8; this is the second time I’ve seen this from two different sites: If interested, it’s about 9 minutes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dmDe5mhQyw
April 27th, 2020 at 12:02 pm
38 It sounds like they are seriously in the Corvette business. Maybe I’ll email them, and see if they do employee purchases.