AD #2844 – Aston Martin Hires New CEO, U.S. Sales Forecast Shows Improvement; Rio Gets Kia’s 1st 48-Volt Hybrid Setup
May 26th, 2020 at 11:39am
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Runtime: 10:18
0:07 France Readies Aid Package for Auto Industry
0:44 Hertz Files for Chapter-11
1:19 Aston Martin Hires New CEO
1:51 U.S. Sales Forecast Shows Improvement
2:30 Ford Offers Less-Sporty Edge ST-Line
3:21 Cannonball Run Record Repeatedly Broken with Less Traffic
4:09 what3words Improves Package Delivery
5:15 VW Will Pay German Owners with Cheating Diesels
5:59 How U.S. Government Could Support the Auto Industry
8:48 The Rio Gets Kia’s First 48-Volt Hybrid Setup
9:24 Car Camo Can Take Up to 120 Hours to Design
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This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry.
FRANCE READIES AID PACKAGE FOR AUTO INDUSTRY
We start in France where the government is getting ready to offer a comprehensive aid package to the automotive industry. Bloomberg reports that the government will provide a 5 billion euro loan to Renault, will offer help for mid-size suppliers to modernize their plants, and provide incentives for consumers to buy clean cars. France is the first country in Europe to speak publicly about a comprehensive package for the auto industry, but it’s very likely that every country with a major automotive presence is going to end up doing the same thing.
HERTZ FILES FOR CHAPTER-11
Over the weekend Hertz, the daily rental car company, filed for bankruptcy. This is the first big name auto-related company to collapse due to the virus crisis, but it won’t be the last. As we keep pointing out the daily rental companies buy nearly 2 million new vehicles a year in the U.S. market alone. This doesn’t mean that all the daily rentals will collapse. Hertz was struggling financially before the crisis hit. But it’s clear that the daily rental segment is not going to buy nearly as many cars as it used to.
ASTON MARTIN HIRES AMG BOSS AS NEW CEO
Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll, who became chairman of Aston Martin earlier this year, is shaking up management. CEO Andy Palmer stepped down from the position on Monday and is being replaced with Tobias Moers, who was most recently CEO of Mercedes-AMG. While it might seem strange to see a German running the British automaker, it does make sense. Daimler owns a 5% stake in Aston and it supplies Aston with Mercedes-AMG engines.
U.S. SALES FORECAST SHOWS IMPROVEMENT
Next week we’ll get sales numbers for May in the U.S. market. Ward’s Intelligence thinks the market will show signs of improvement. It forecasts that sales will be down 32%, which is terrible, but that’s a 50% improvement from April. It says passenger car sales will be down more than 50%, while trucks were down 26%.
| U.S. May Sales Forecast | |
|---|---|
| Total Sales | -32.5% |
| Passenger Car | -48.3% |
| Truck | -26.1% |
FORD OFFERS LESS-SPORTY EDGE ST-LINE
Ford is expanding the ST family. So it’s coming out with what it calls the ST-Line. It’s for buyers who like the ST styling but don’t want to pay for the performance. The first model is the Edge ST-Line, which shares the looks of the regular Edge ST but is powered by a 250 horsepower, 2.0L Ecoboost engine and an 8-speed automatic transmission. Compared with the regular ST, which comes with a 335 horsepower, 2.7L engine. The new Edge ST-Line carries a starting price $5,100 less than the regular Edge ST. Ford says the Edge ST has been a success since its launch in 2018 and has nearly doubled the sales of the Edge Sport, which it replaced.
CANNONBALL RUN RECORD REPEATEDLY BROKEN WITH LESS TRAFFIC
With fewer people out on the road, motorists are really putting the pedal to the metal. The Cannonball Run is a nearly 3,000 mile unsanctioned speed race from New York to California and in the last two months or so the record was broken seven times. The record now sits at less than26 hours, which translates to an average speed of at least 108 MPH and there were several states where they averaged more than 120 MPH. If ever there were a situation that required the use of the phrase “stupid fast,” this would be it. The challenge was started in the 1970’s by automotive writer Brock Yates and was popularized in the 80’s by the movie The Cannonball Run starring Burt Reynolds.
what3words IMPROVES DELIVERY EFFICIENCY
Have you heard of what3words? It’s a company that created a simple way to locate a person, place or thing by dividing the entire world into 3-meter squares and giving each square it’s own unique 3-word address that will never change. So, even in a huge parking lot or building, it is accurate down to a 3-meter square. Now that you’ve got that, Daimler did a test that compared the efficiency of delivering packages using its standard address-based navigation system against navigation integrated with what3words. Two otherwise identical Mercedes Sprinter vans made 50 deliveries using the same delivery order and the one using what3words finished 30 minutes before the other, which is about a 15% improvement in efficiency. Most of the gains came from locating the optimal parking spot, while the rest came from having the precise handover point. Another benefit would be for new drivers who don’t know an area very well.
VW WILL PAY GERMAN OWNERS FOR CHEATING DIESELS
Volkswagen can’t seem to shake its diesel emission cheating scandal. Yesterday, a German court ruled that it must compensate owners in Germany, who can return their vehicles for a partial refund of the purchase price. And last week, the automaker paid 9 million euros to end proceedings against its chairman and CEO, who were accused of withholding information before the scandal became public. Volkswagen didn’t reveal how much the new ruling will cost the company, but so far its paid more than $33 billion in fines globally.
HOW THE U.S.GOVERNMENT COULD SUPPORT THE AUTO INDUSTRY
Earlier in the show we reported on how France is preparing a comprehensive package to support it’s automotive industry. So how will the U.S. government respond? To get an insider’s view we asked U.S. Representative Debbie Dingell, a Democrat who represents Michigan’s 12th District, what’s going on in Washington DC? Here’s what she had to say:
Debbie Dingell, U.S. Representative, Michigan (D):
“I view this as an ecosystem. Many people want to compare this to 2008. This is not 2008, and not the same issues. So I divide it into three categories. One, we’re witnessing this week, which is the reopening of the car companies and the suppliers, safely. Putting protocols into place that keeps workers safe. We’ve not had formal OSHA standards but I have spent a great deal of time with everybody trying to ensure that they have what they need, keep people talking to each other. And this week really matters. I think Rory Gamble, the president of the UAW, is rightly worried about people going back into the plants and listening to the protocols and following the protocols that have been put into place. Which is why it really matters whether the President wears a mask or not when he’s in the plants. This is week one. I think many people worry that people will start to get a false sense of complacency and will not do what they’ve been told they have to do, when these plans were put together with both labor and the autos. So that is phase one.
Two is what I’ve been working with Julie on (Julie Fream, CEO of the OESA). Liquidity, not only for the OEMS but for suppliers, particularly Tiers 2 and 3, so that they have the money that they need to operate. And we’re trying to get the Main Street package that was passed in the first bill. And we’re also working with the OEMs. They’re trying to help suppliers, but we also want to make sure they have the liquidity they need. Once we get past those two problems, where we’re up and producing then you’ve got to worry about the demand side.
There’s no agreement on what needs to be done on an economic agreement for a stimulus package. Should it just be for the autos or for larger consumer products like furniture and appliances as well as vehicles? Lots of discussions. And the one thing I think that matters is keeping everyone together because if we don’t stay together, if there isn’t common ground in the ecosystem, you will never get anything through Washington.”
THE RIO GETS KIA’S FIRST 48-VOLT MILD-HYBRID SETUP
Kia updated the Rio, but there’s only a couple of pictures, so we’ll keep this short. Here’s a side-by-side of new and old. You’ll notice most of the massaging was done on the lower front fascia. Under the hood is a range of gasoline engines, including the automaker’s first 48-volt mild-hybrid setup, which pairs a starter-generator to a 1.0L turbo engine. The interior is also updated with a new infotainment system and color options, but no pictures of that right now. The new Rio goes on sale in Europe in the third quarter.
CAR CAMO CAN TAKE 120 HOURS TO DESIGN
Here’s a little info on automotive camouflage we think you might find interesting. Skoda actually employs camouflage artists who are responsible for designing and developing new wraps. There really is no limit to the patterns that are used, which are meant to hide a vehicle’s contours. Designers have even used hashtags. The camo can take upwards of 120 hours to develop and, for example, it took about 18 square meters of wrapping to cover the Skoda Enyaq iV.
And with that we wrap up- get it – today’s show. Thanks for watching. We’ll be right back here again tomorrow.
Thanks to our partner for embedding Autoline Daily on its website: WardsAuto.com
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Comments (32)
May 26th, 2020 at 12:37 pm
Hi John. Thanks for being a ray of sunshine here in
Eastern Pa.
May 26th, 2020 at 12:54 pm
Debbie Dingles comments were pretty typical of any politician. 1) We need to make sure auto-workers are protected so they can get back to work. 2) We’re trying to get main street package together and working with OEMs and suppliers to make sure they have the liquidity they need? Which both sound good without any real details but the last comments was the most laughable.
“There’s no agreement on what needs to be done on an economic agreement for a stimulus package. Should it just be for the autos or for larger consumer products like furniture and appliances as well as vehicles?
So basically her third point was actually a question not an answer. SMH
May 26th, 2020 at 1:03 pm
Gum all Rally was the first movie about the Cannonball Run by a number of years
Debbie Dingle sounds like another line in political hacks which she is
May 26th, 2020 at 1:13 pm
I wonder that, with Palmer gone, will there be changes to the Lagonda brand, as it was intended under him? Will the amazing exterior styling of both the sedqn and SUV concepts change under new leadership? Will they remain BEV’s? Will they continue to compete with Bentley and Royals Royce as originally intended? How much into the future has the restart of this marque been pushed. Will the DBX still get the BEV treatment? I understand that the new CEO will have to first right the ship and shepard the companies return to profit before he can really look to invest in other non-primary endeavors with the company. But Lagonda and the choice Palmer made, seemed (to me at least) more a labor of love and pushed through by force of will on his part. Would someone else running the company have the same follow through, same vision as he had for that brand, especially in terms of electrification? I guess we’ll just have wait and see!
May 26th, 2020 at 1:24 pm
Good well-thought-out comments from Rep. Dingell on the current status of the auto industry, and what needs to be done to resume production.
Sadly though, her saying “There’s no agreement on what needs to be done on an economic agreement for a stimulus package” is all too true. The roadblocks preventing a stimulus package from being passed NOW, are not going away anytime soon. The OEMs can build and ship all the cars they like, but adding them to the millions of cars and trucks currently sitting on dealer lots, is a waste of time, money and energy. Unless consumers start purchasing vehicles at a fast rate, what’s the point?
May 26th, 2020 at 1:28 pm
Car Camo taking 120 hours to design? Jethro and Cletus can camo your truck and tires in an hour with 6 rattle cans.
Is the cost really worth it? In this day and age by the time working prototypes have hit the road you can almost always find spy shots or renderings online. GM did a pretty good job trying to keep the mid-engine vett hidden and still tons of photos could be found. Does anyone really care about the refresh of the next Kia Rio? Not sure how the justify the cost.
May 26th, 2020 at 1:54 pm
I don’t see how Aston Martin can survive, long-term. They have some great looking cars, but is there that much market for $200K-300K cars with engines not their own? I guess time will tell.
May 26th, 2020 at 1:56 pm
6. The Rio refresh is for the rest of the world, not the U.S. Rio has sold over 400K globally in some recent years, not VW Golf volume, but not bad.
May 26th, 2020 at 1:57 pm
Wasn’t the Ford Fiesta ST-Line actually the first of the ST-Line branded vehicles? I remember seeing one at the local Ford dealer when I was there earlier this year getting an oil change on my “real” Fiesta ST! The example I saw looked good, but the cost was really close to what I paid for my 2016 ST; not worth it in my opinion, plus it’s all “show” and no “go”!
May 26th, 2020 at 1:58 pm
5 If her comments had been well-thought out, she would have said something of substance like; We are providing zero interest short term loans to help get automotive manufacturers and suppliers through this period of starting back up and the 60-90 days before they get paid. The real problem they face and not same old make sure they have masks and we cant work together to agree on how much more money to throw at people.
The people that got laid off got an extra $600 on top of their unemployment (some made more than when they worked) and those that didn’t were still working. Why do they think they need another stimulus package?
May 26th, 2020 at 2:01 pm
Averaging 108 mph for the Cannonball run is insane, seriously. They have been very lucky not to have any really nasty crashes, given the lack of attention by many drivers of what is going on around them, even without a car coming up from behind at 120 mph.
May 26th, 2020 at 2:03 pm
8 I wasn’t saying that it mattered in the US. I was saying it doesn’t matter anywhere to spend the kind of money to camo a refresh of anything and just picked the Kia Rio as an example. I couldn’t care less how many they sell.
May 26th, 2020 at 2:13 pm
10. If, and it’s a big if, car sales soon return to anything close to what they were before the plague arrived, the auto workers and most of the car companies and suppliers might be ok. A bigger problem will be the many restaurant workers, many barely squeaking by, who will not be able to pay the rant, etc. Those jobs won’t be coming back any time soon, if ever. The restaurants can “open up,” but being older and having some other risk factors, I won’t be going, until there is a good vaccine or treatment for this thing. There are no easy answers on how to deal with it, even if the politicians were serious about things, which they are not.
Maybe the daily rental companies should get into the business of renting minivans and CUVs for summer vacations, to people with EVs, who don’t want to add 25-30% to their travel time, and/or want some extra space for their vacation travel.
May 26th, 2020 at 2:17 pm
12. Huh? I was saying the the Rio refresh probably does matter globally, but not in the U.S.
I didn’t mention the camo, but it seems pretty silly to me, anywhere.
May 26th, 2020 at 3:34 pm
13 Yea it will be interesting to see if vehicle sales and the economy gets rolling again since it wont pick up where it left off. In Ohio things are just about back to normal and people are flocking to eat in restaurants again.
They may have to make a few cuts but I would bet they will need their full staff soon as the distancing can stop.
May 26th, 2020 at 4:23 pm
15. The daily case rates have already started to increase in some of the states that started to “open up” early, like Alabama and South Carolina, and to a lesser extent, Georgia. If people in Ohio are packing the restaurants and bars, the state will probably soon follow.
https://www.alreporter.com/2020/05/25/new-covid-cases-in-alabama-increasing-faster-than-46-other-states/
This virus has not gone anywhere, but physical distancing, and the closing of crowded venues has slowed down the rate of transmission. It seems a lot of people now want to reverse that.
May 27th, 2020 at 7:40 am
“A less sporty Edge” from Ford? This sounds so hilarious, it is almost as hilarious as a “less sporty Camry” or Corolla.I had no idea that that breadvan was considered even remotely a ‘sporty vehicle”. Maybe the “sport” is to be interpreted as that in “SUV”, where S also is supposed to be “sporty”. Thanks for the laughs, Ford!
PS You can be sure I utterly skipped the Dingel passage. This parasite and especially her late husband, a powerful Congressman who abused his power from dawn to dusk every day, to get pork to his cronies, show all that is wrong with our corrupt Congress. And the corruption is LEGAL, with lobbying and all.
May 27th, 2020 at 7:43 am
French Support for that loser Renault, as in Renault-Nissan. There go 5 billion hard earned taxpayer Euros… and it could not be a less promising investment. I wonder how the French stock market reacted. In the US, it seems market optimism is out of control!!
May 27th, 2020 at 7:50 am
Common Sense. I have been actively promoting less business travel myself, every time I was asked to evaluate a research proposal, I would cut the travel fat to the bone in my evaluation and recommendations. I must have done this over 100 times over the years:
“Akio Toyoda (pictured, left) recently told investors and shareholders he’s cut Toyota’s travel budget this year by 80%. He told them he’s spending a lot less time in meetings and has cut his paperwork in half. He says the pandemic has opened his eyes to new ways of working.”
From John’s editorial at Ward’s:
https://www.wardsauto.com/industry/how-pandemic-changing-auto-industry?NL=WAW-04&Issue=WAW-04_20200526_WAW-04_240&sfvc4enews=42&cl=article_1&utm_rid=CPENT000009061197&utm_campaign=24245&utm_medium=email&elq2=db8d333bc3cf4ccf9b58b742832056fb&utm_source=28790
May 27th, 2020 at 7:53 am
I agree with John’s opinion, less travel will mean much less daily rental, and the daily rental fleet purchases from usually poor performing automakers (Nissan, Ford, GM) or not (Toyota) will PLUMMET. This used to be from 10-33% of total sales. BUT some automakers, like HONDA and the Luxury Germans, and above all TESLA, have nothing to fear, since they never sold bargain basement fleets to Hertz and its surviving competitors.
May 27th, 2020 at 7:56 am
20 and I just found strong evidence that Tesla should not worry much: a $13,000 incentive will make the Model 3 OBLITERATE the 3 series, which was already as cheap (or as expensive) as the Model 3.
https://europe.autonews.com/automakers/frances-new-13000-ev-incentive-most-generous-europe?utm_source=daily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20200527&utm_content=article2-headline
May 27th, 2020 at 8:01 am
Just saw our African-American Janitor (who has a daughter called “LExus”, if I heard right) drive off in her vehicle, which turned out to be a white Jeep Cherokee (not the grand one), not the later models, but the very boxy one, not sure, may be more than 15 years old. I wonder how bad the reliability is.
it is ironic that in the case of Mercedes, it was the other way around, the brand was named “Mercedes” after the daughter of a Spanish ambassador or something.
May 27th, 2020 at 8:06 am
The Fiesta and Focus ST were actually sporty versions of those cars, quick, good handling, and with manual transmissions. Now, Ford is using the ST moniker like Chrysler used R/T in the days of Journey and Caravan R/Ts. Now, FCA is using R/T in a semi-meaningful way, only on Charger and Challenger with with a fairly large V8.
May 27th, 2020 at 8:09 am
Αs long as there is no vaccine for CV, people will shun any type of mass transit IF they can avoid it, and use their OWN (NOT Time-Share or Carpool!) vehicles. We used to have DOZENS of carpool vans here, many people live a long way from their offices, esp secretaries and maintenance staff who have fixed hours and regular schedules, and teamed up with neighbors and others on their route, to carpool 4-6 in each van.
What this means is, when the place is fully opened again, 90% of these folks will substitute the ONE minivan with 4 to 6 SUVS and Pickups (their cars of choice) and drive 4 to 6 tiomes the mILES they used to drive.
This should keep the automakers busy and gas prices not too low.
May 27th, 2020 at 8:12 am
According to CNBC (see web link), Tesla announced:
“Tesla said on Wednesday it will cut prices of its electric vehicles in North America as the firm ramps up car production at its Fremont, California, factory after the easing of coronavirus lockdowns.”
“The company’s Model S sedans will now be priced from $79,990, and its Model X sport utility vehicles from $84,990, according to its website. The cheapest Model 3 sedan will be priced at $37,990, the website said.”
“Tesla said it will also cut prices in China, the company’s usual practice after price adjustments in the United States.”
May 27th, 2020 at 8:14 am
22. Those old Cherokees, at least the powertrain, were reasonably reliable, at least for cars of the ’80s. Most of them used the old AMC 4 liter 6, and an Aisan automatic.
May 27th, 2020 at 8:17 am
23. …and make traffic and parking horrible in areas where that happens.
May 27th, 2020 at 8:19 am
25 Today there is a live NASA-SpaceX launch at about 4:40 PM ET. I watched a NASA Q and A yesterday, after a brief and almost fact-free presentation. Some of the questions were even worse, some ridiculous journalist accused NASA of lack of transparency because they did not reveal what astronauts have for breakfast to some 6th grader. (They replied that they can have anything they like). I think I noticed a Tesla X in the Video, with the NASA logos all over it. If it was up to me, it would be a Model S, but I guess the X has a bit more “utility”.
May 27th, 2020 at 8:22 am
26 Our North Campus keeps building new lots, actually these are no buildings but surface lots, so they can easily quintuple their capacity by building a 6-7 story parking structure on them. The view from my window used to see, as a Virginian colleague called it, “The Wilderness”, but recently they built a big windowless Building housing power plants etc, which took 1/3rd of that view away.
May 27th, 2020 at 8:24 am
To larry D 20
You say “TESLA, have nothing to fear, since they never sold bargain basement fleets to Hertz and its surviving competitors”.
How about this? I bet you make stories up trying to impress the readers.
https://electrek.co/2019/01/07/tesla-fleet-rental-car-company-avis/
May 27th, 2020 at 8:49 am
27. SpaceX has a few Tesla company cars, but they seem to save money on other vehicles. At KSC and Cape Canaveral air force stations, I see what look like old UPS trucks, painted white, with the SpaceX logo on them.
May 27th, 2020 at 1:06 pm
30 :_o