AD #2843 – Nissan Could Cut 20,000 Jobs; Geely Wants Deeper Daimler Ties; Toyota Highlander Hybrid Impressions
May 22nd, 2020 at 11:58am
Listen to “AD #2843 – Nissan Could Cut 20,000 Jobs; Geely Wants Deeper Daimler Ties; Toyota Highlander Hybrid Impressions” on Spreaker.
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Runtime: 10:51
0:07 President Removes Mask for the Cameras
1:07 Nissan Could Cut 20,000 Jobs
1:51 Renault Could Disappear Without Government Loan
2:20 Geely Wants Deeper Ties with Daimler
3:03 Automakers Should Slash Build Combinations
4:23 Mini Expands Its Oxford Edition
5:09 Auto Industry’s Role in the Economy
5:56 Bentley Picks Rainbow-Themed Design Winner
6:18 Bentley’s Flying Bees Are Back
7:00 Mazda Reveals Video Game Concept Car
7:35 Toyota Highlander Hybrid Platinum Impressions
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PRESIDENT REMOVES MASK FOR THE CAMERAS
Earlier this week we asked will he or won’t he? Would President Trump wear a mask when he visited one of Ford’s plants that is making medical equipment for the virus crisis? Ford is following CDC safety procedures that mandates anyone going into its plants has to wear a mask. When the President showed up at the plant, Bill Ford told him it would be great if he wore a mask. So the President put on a black mask with the presidential seal. And he wore it while Bill Ford took him on a private walk around of several historical and new Ford GTs. There’s even a picture of President Trump wearing the mask. We don’t have the copyright to that photo so we can’t show it to you here, but the Detroit Free Press has that photo and you can take a look by clicking on the show notes in today’s script. But the President took the mask off when he toured the plant out where all the tv cameras were.
NISSAN COULD CUT 20,000 JOBS
Nissan is in a profit and sales slump and needs to downsize the company. Last year, it announced plans to lay off 12,500 employees worldwide. But now with the coronavirus adding to its woes, Japan’s Kyodo news reports that the automaker will cut 20,000 jobs, mostly in Europe and developing countries. To help weather the storm, it will focus on strengthening its alliance with Renault and Mitsubishi, to share technology and consolidate production. Nissan is also likely to cut its annual sales target by 1 million vehicles, but we’ll learn more when it updates its mid-term plans next week.
RENAULT COULD DISAPPEAR WITHOUT GOVERNMENT LOAN
How much danger is Renault really in? The French Government is considering giving Renault a 5 billion euro loan to help it through the current crisis. And the French finance minister warns that if the automaker does not get that loan soon “Renault could disappear.” While the loan has yet to be signed, it’s hard to imagine the French Government letting Renault and that many jobs just go away.

GEELY WANTS DEEPER TIES WITH DAIMLER
Back in 2018, Chinese automaker Geely stunned the auto industry when it announced it became Daimler’s largest shareholder with a nearly 10% stake in the German automaker. Since then the two companies have strengthened that relationship. They formed a joint venture based in China to build electric smart cars, created a separate ride-hailing company and invested in Volocopter, a passenger drone company. And earlier today, Geely’s Chairman, Li Shufu said he’s exploring even deeper ties with Daimler. With the pandemic hurting automakers around the world, we expect to see more collaboration like this between companies.
AUTOMAKERS NEED TO CUT NUMBER OF BUILD COMBINATIONS
GM is going to slash the number of powertrain build combinations it offers. They’ll go from 555 today for its ICE powertrains to only 19 combinations with its EV propulsion systems. And according to J.D. Power we need to see more consolidation like that. In 2019, of the 13.6 million retail sales in the U.S. 600,000 came from unique configurations and that does not include color. Some of those specific build combinations will generate sales of 50 or fewer units and can sit on dealer lots well past the time of profitability. Without naming the model, J.D. Power says there’s one example that sits on the dealer lot for over 80 days, brings in under $100 of profit to the dealer and makes up less than 25% of that vehicle’s total sales. That’s why J.D. Power is urging automakers not to build these so-called ‘Unicorns,’ especially in our current environment.
MINI EXPANDS ITS OXFORD EDITION
Mini is expanding its value-oriented Oxford Edition to everyone. Previously 2 Door and 4 Door Hardtops were equipped with thousands of dollars worth of options for free and made available to only college students and military personnel. Now anyone can get an Oxford Edition Mini, which also now includes the Countryman. It comes with upgraded 18” wheels, anthracite headliner, heated front seats, automatic climate control, and a choice of six exterior colors, which would normally cost $5,500 at no additional charge. Hardtop models are available now, while the Countryman Oxford Edition will arrive in July.
AUTO INDUSTRY PLAYS MAJOR ROLE IN THE ECONOMY
We keep saying that the auto industry plays a major role in the economy. And if governments want to restart their economies as they start to come out of the corona virus crisis, they need to get their auto industry back on its feet. In the U.S., for example, the auto makers, their suppliers, and dealers and other automotive related businesses employ 10 million people. And if you add up all the money generated from selling and servicing cars as well as all the income those people earn and the taxes they generate, it comes to $953 billion a year. Let’s just call it a trillion. So the economy will not get going again until the auto industry gets going again, and vise versa.

BENTLEY PICKS RAINBOW-THEMED DESIGN WINNER
Bentley held a competition for employees and their families to design their own Mulliner Bacalar and it’s picked an exterior winner. This rainbow-themed paint scheme is the design of Eleanor and uses colors that have been used on all of Bentley’s different models. It will be turned into a production model and limited to just 12 examples.
BENTLEY’S FLYING BEES
What is it about British luxury cars and honey bees? Bentley, like Rolls-Royce, is also helping to increase the honey bee population. It’s had two hives for several years and those bees recently returned from hibernation to the company’s headquarters to start making honey again. Bentley will add three more hives, which will increase its population from 120,000 bees to 300,000. The colonies are expected to produce about 200 jars of honey this season.
MAZDA CREATES NEW VIDEO GAME CONCEPT CAR
There’s a lot more virtual racing going on these days and now gamers will have a new car to select. Mazda debuted the RX-Vision GT3 Concept for the Gran Turismo Sport video game. We see a lot of inspiration from the MX-5 Miata in the concept but it’s much wider, sleeker and has a fixed hard top. Mazda says it hopes to gain new fans of the brand with the car and anyone who uses Mazda vehicles in the game will automatically be granted rights to participate in the Gran Turismo Championship this season.
TOYOTA HIGHLANDER HYBRID PLATINUM IMPRESSIONS
This past week I’ve had the pleasure of test driving the Toyota Highlander–a pleasure because it is such a plush and comfortable vehicle. I drove a loaded Platinum model that seemed to have every conceivable option, and the price certainly reflected it. More on that in a minute. Open the doors and your eyes rest on a warm and inviting two-tone interior with a dark brown background accented by seats and door inserts trimmed in a color that Toyota calls Glazed Caramel. I tell you, just looking at the interior brought my stress level down and made me feel more relaxed. And it’s not just a visual trigger, it’s a sensory one too. The wide seats and armrests are upholstered with supple, soft padding. The rear seats have good thigh support and there is plenty of headroom, legroom, elbow room and cargo room.
The dashboard is dominated by a 12.3 inch touch screen that looks even larger because it sits above the radio and HVAC controls that all fit into one large black panel. And it comes with what Toyota calls Safety Sense 2.0 which includes all the latest safety tech, from automated emergency braking with pedestrian detection to rear cross traffic alert.
Under the hood the hybrid packs a 2.4 liter 4-cylinder engine and an 8-speed automatic. The transaxle has two electric motors that, interestingly, are coaxially connected with a parallel shaft instead of a planetary gearset. All together the package puts out 243 horsepower, which produces more than adequate acceleration for a vehicle of this class. When you put your foot in the throttle it all produces a different kind of sound than you’d expect, sort of a back-of-the-throat growl. It’s not a performance sound, it’s just different. It delivers 36 miles to the gallon, through with all wheel drive it drops by one mpg. That’s an impressive 7 miles to the gallon more than the outgoing hybrid.
So let’s talk price. The base model starts around $35,000. But as I said, I drove a loaded all-wheel-drive platinum edition that was $52,500 including destination charges. That’s a lot of money, but you get near Lexus levels of luxury.
And that wraps up this week’s reports. We’ll be off Monday for the Memorial Day holiday and we’ll be back here on Tuesday.
Thanks to our partner for embedding Autoline Daily on its website: WardsAuto.com
May 22nd, 2020 at 12:16 pm
There are sure a lot of build combinations, considering there’s no choice at all, compared to the 1960s.
May 22nd, 2020 at 12:27 pm
The best way to get Trump to use a mask is for everyone of the TV camera operators to make a loud, cough . . . without a mask.
May 22nd, 2020 at 12:35 pm
Glad I had at least a small choice when I ordered my 2018 Chevrolet Silverado, I think now you take a black interior and that’s it.
May 22nd, 2020 at 12:40 pm
Looking at $52,500 Highlander, Edmunds list Model 3 at:
$39,990 – Std Rng Plus Model 3
$48,990 – Long Range, AWD, Model 3
$56,990 – Performance AWD, Model 3
$48,000 – Basic, Model Y
$52,990 – Long range AWD, Model Y
$60,990 – Performance AWD, Model Y
Of course with a Tesla, you’d have to give up engine noise, emissions tests, and maintenance.
May 22nd, 2020 at 12:52 pm
No wonder only 12 examples of the Rainbow Bentley Mulliner Bacalar will only be offered. Even if the paint doesn’t really look quite as hideous in person as it does in that rendering, I think it’ll still end up fitting squarely within the boundaries of hideousness.
May 22nd, 2020 at 1:05 pm
So if EV’s take 50% fewer work hours to make, and millions of auto jobs disappear, does that mean auto employment will never rebound? Or does less labor mean that foreign low cost labor vehicles will be less competitive and more jobs will return to the US?
May 22nd, 2020 at 1:11 pm
That Rainbow Bentley should be a one-off (not 12); I can see someone with a flare to want one but I can’t see a bunch (small bunch or not) wanting one that someone else has.
That Highlander would probably appeal to a Toyota owner that wants all the ‘goodies’ but doesn’t want to exude the ‘Lexus aura’ that some assign a certain kind of person that would want the vehicle with an “L”.
May 22nd, 2020 at 1:34 pm
For those that want some C8 news (with updates on what will be probably produced), i.e., convertibles, when the ’21 will begin production and when the ’20′s will resume production; link:
You may want to skip to approximately the one minute mark (and go to approx. 4 min mark). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWhrtpJC1zY
May 22nd, 2020 at 1:49 pm
8. It looks a like report I ran across earlier was wrong, about 2020-2021 changeover. Actually, I don’t know what difference it makes. The cars will be the same. I guess the ’20s might be worth a little more in a couple years, the opposite of what would normally be the case, with the newer model year being worth more used.
May 22nd, 2020 at 2:45 pm
9, Yeah, usually the first edition and the last edition are the most sought after. Rick (the dealer in the video) got the information from Chevrolet by the sound of his report. I think he was glad that the earlier reports were false; I know I was. If what was reported, this time, is correct then I think Chevrolet made the correct decision (for the Corvette).
May 22nd, 2020 at 3:11 pm
@5
After they sell one to the CEO of Skittles, I’m not quite sure who else they have in mind as a buyer.
May 22nd, 2020 at 4:28 pm
$5500 for optional wheels, auto temp, heated seats and a headliner!!! I know Porsche and BMW have insane option prices. But that is a lot of coin for a Mini customer. I just wonder how many Mini customers really believe they received $5500 of valued content. I suspect the real customer-perceived value is much less than 1/2… perhaps 1/4… of Mini’s claimed value.
May 22nd, 2020 at 6:30 pm
12. Mini IS BMW, you know. Yeah, $5500 for that stuff would be quite a lot, but to get it “free” on a ~23-24K car is not bad. The truly disappointing thing Mini has done for 2020 model year, is making automatic transmissions mandatory. That is about as “our of character” as you can get for that car.
May 23rd, 2020 at 8:26 am
DOn’t forget that the most popular, best selling Lexus has been the RX whatever, for decades, and it is a thinly disguised Highlander clone.
Overseas, the HYBRID RX was the best seller when affluent owners who could only drive on alternate days into the busy cities, were allowed to drive EVERY day with the hybrid versions, so practically all RXs there (and there were a lot) were Hybrids.
And the way the $ will devalue after we spend all these trillions in the CV panic, $52k for a Lexus RX sans the badge will seem like a REAL BARGAIN a couple years from now.
May 23rd, 2020 at 8:39 am
https://www.autonews.com/used-cars/hertz-files-bankruptcy-after-rental-car-demand-vanishes?utm_source=breaking-news&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20200522&utm_content=hero-image
RIP Hertz! I used it many times in the 90s and 2000s, always trying to rent Toyotas instead of its god-awful Ford Foci and Contours. (the Contour had a 3 sp auto, if I am not mistaken).
May 23rd, 2020 at 8:45 am
https://www.wardsauto.com/industry/automakers-urged-stop-building-unicorns?NL=WAW-04&Issue=WAW-04_20200522_WAW-04_372&sfvc4enews=42&cl=article_1&utm_rid=CPENT000009061197&utm_campaign=24242&utm_medium=email&elq2=90dd8e45124d44e291401d3ef1875d7b&utm_source=28787
Music to my ears. I have been ranting and raaving against the ridiculous oversupply of different models by most automakers, today we have 4 times the number of models we had 33 years ago, AND most of these losers cost their makers billions, which the buyers of the successful models (Accords, Camrys, CRVs, RAV4s) have to pay extra to bail out.
May 23rd, 2020 at 9:20 am
14. The RX hybrid has a V6, rather than the 4 cylinder of the Highlander hybrid. Maybe that will change with the next generation RX.
https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/Find.do?action=sbs&id=41969&id=41974&id=42379&id=42477
May 23rd, 2020 at 9:24 am
16. So many different models, but so little actual choice in the U.S. market. Eight different trim levels for a Chevy pickup truck, but not even one RWD wagon available.
May 24th, 2020 at 9:16 am
18 If the makers management are competent(A BIG IF) they would produce what the consumers want. But usually it is their egos that frequently decide to keep producing losers, losing billions that they recoup from the popular models sold.
Case in point, I saw an Alfa SUV yesterday, after a year or so of seeing another one. How many hundreds of millions did Alfa-Fiat lose trying to come to the US again and foolisly thinking that just because you make a crossover, financial success is guaranteed? How long before they put their tail between their legs and leave the US market again?
May 24th, 2020 at 12:15 pm
18,19 The thing that annoys me the most, is that companies like BMW and M-B spend hundreds of millions of dollars tooling and certifying things like lifted 4 door “coupes,” that sell fewer than 10K a year, even with multiple versions. There are 4 different versions of BMW X4. Meanwhile, they won’t “federalize,” which wouldn’t take much, and sell cars like basic 3 and 5 Series, and C- and E-Class wagons, vehicles that already exist, and are sold everywhere in the world, except here.
May 25th, 2020 at 8:16 am
I was wondering how many of these niche models make them any profits, (Merc and BMW) or they feel they have an obligation to offer them to compete with each other (and Audi) across the entire model range. They used to have lot fewer models, and even the corresponding models were not direct rivals, the S class was far more expensive than the 7, the C was not a sporty car as is the 3, etc.