Episode 277 – Germany Warns About Opel Aid, China Sales May Slow, LA Auto Show Preview
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:00pm
Runtime 7:45
Germany is warning other European governments not to provide aid to GM in exchange for preserving Opel jobs in their countries. Sales in China could slow down considerably next year, or maybe not at all. A preview of a couple of the products that will be grabbing headlines at next week’s LA Auto Show. All that and more, plus a look at new Lincoln MKT and how it can park itself.
Transcript and Story Links after the jump . . .
Here are today’s top headlines. Germany warns Europe not to give aid to Opel. Sales in China could slow down considerably next year, or maybe not at all. And a small preview of the LA Auto Show.
Up next, we’ll be back with the news behind the headlines.
This is Autoline Daily for Monday, November 23, 2009. And now, the news.
The Associated Press reports that Germany is warning other European governments not to provide aid to General Motors in exchange for preserving Opel jobs in their countries. The EU is also warning countries not to provide aid in exchange for keeping jobs. Even though Germany had offered to provide GM large amounts of aid if it sold Opel to Magna and preserved jobs in Germany, that was done by the prior German government, which has changed somewhat since the last elections a few weeks back.
And speaking of GM, it expects its sales in China to slow down considerably next year. According to a report from Gasgoo, GM says sales will only increase 15 percent next year, which is still a pretty good sales increase. But that’s way down from this year’s 50 percent increase. GM expects sales to slow down as the government incentive program comes to an end. And the big topic at the Guangzhou auto show this week is whether or not the Chinese government will extend those incentives. Reuters reports there are some signs that it will do just that.
Ford announced big investment plans for Brazil. According to the Detroit News, the company will pour $2.3 billion in the country over the next five years in order to upgrade and modernize factories. The money will also be used to invest in future product. The Brazilian market is growing strong and Ford wants to beef up its presence there.
The LA Auto Show opens for press days next week, but here’s a preview of a couple of the products that will be grabbing headlines. Lexus has a redesigned version of its midsize SUV. Among many other changes, the GX460 features a smaller engine than its predecessor, the GX470, but it’s more powerful and fuel efficient. A two-wheeled concept will be among Honda’s reveals at LA. The Personal-Neo Urban Transport, or P-NUT for short, is a design study for building an ultra-compact, aggressively styled coupe. No photos of this one yet. Speaking of new product, spy shots of what could be the next-generation Chevy Aveo have surfaced. According to The Detroit News, this B-segment car is expected to be built in Michigan at GM’s Orion Township plant starting next year. And spy shots of the NEW Audi A7 have surfaced. Edmunds.com Inside Line is running these pics. In profile, the car looks long and low, with a sleek body, just like the company’s Sportback concept from the Detroit Show earlier this year. Like the smaller A5 and BMW’s 5 Series GT, the A7 features a dramatically sloping roofline and hatchback access to the trunk.
Chrysler is going to offer big incentives to try and kickstart sales. According to the Detroit Free Press, the company will offer interest-free loans of up to 60 months on any 2010 model, or cash rebates worth up to $4,000 for Jeep vehicles, $3,000 for Chrysler and $2,500 Dodge. And buyers can also choose free feature upgrades, like a DVD player and all-wheel-drive, instead of taking the interest-free loans and rebates depending on the model. The fact that Chrysler is announcing these incentives before we get the November sales figures tells me they’re having a terrible sales month.
The numbers are in. According to the EPA, Honda is the most fuel efficient car company in the U.S. with a fleet average of 23.6 miles per gallon. Hyundai-Kia came is second with a score of 23.4. Not surprisingly, the Detroit automakers finished in the last three spots. But these numbers are SOOOOOO misleading. Honda and Hyundai DO NOT make any PICKUP TRUCKS, FULL-SIZE VANS or SUVs. When you compare apples to apples, like the average for JUST cars, all manufacturers are very close, and in fact, some may score better than Honda.
Coming up next, we’ll take a look at new Lincoln MKT and how it can park itself.
A couple of years ago Lexus was the first automaker out with a self-parking feature. But I’ve got to tell you, I could never get that thing to work no matter how long or hard I tried. So when Lincoln said it was coming out with a self-parking feature, I was mighty skeptical…..until I got in and tried it.
It’s amazing how we kept making the parking spot smaller and smaller but the MKT was able to squeeze right back into it. A key difference between the Lincoln and the Lexus system, is that Lincoln uses sonar sensors instead of video cameras and they seem to be more accurate.
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And that’s it for today’s top news in the global automotive industry. Thanks for watching, we’ll see you tomorrow.
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Comments (29)
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:12 pm
New Aveo? So the lineup will be the Spark, then the Aveo, then the Cruze? Mmm, looks to me like GM might be making the same mistake at the bottom of the market as they did with SUV’s. Really, if one finds the Spark too small, are they really going to want an Aveo?
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:27 pm
Looks like Chrysler is taking a leaf out of the retailers’ handbook in offering “Black Friday” deals at the end of November. Sounds like another act of desperation to me.
Also John, I noticed you tested the MKZ’s self-parking function in a space without a curb. It would be interesting to see if it performs as well when it has to consider wheel-scraping concrete in an urban environment.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:30 pm
I thought I did see a curb in that parking segment. Maybe I’m wrong. Regardless, that MKZ feature is obviously in the “good enough” phase that folks may actually start buying it.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:31 pm
John failed to mention that GM, the world’s biggest welfare queen,is asking the European governments for 4.5 billion to pay for restructuring plans, and I would be curious to find out how many people actually use that self-parking feature, I think it’s a load of crap.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:32 pm
My bad. That was the footage from the Lexus parking. Hmm. I wonder if the curb would do something to the sensors ability to park!
Inquiring minds want to know!
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:36 pm
Tony: that WAS the footage from the Lincoln parking,(no curb), anyone can park easily w/o a curb, come on John, what are you doing?
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:38 pm
hello john,
first time doing this. having driven a mercedes since 89 and owning my last one now! germany can go to hell.they are a heavy export country and with propaganda like this i don’t need them.
I also wonder if all the chrysler people out there know they are riding on old junk merc. platforms(all you 300 and challenger guys).
thanks for youshow
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:56 pm
Germany warning other European Countries to not help GM to secure jobs. What happens if they do, they attack?
November 23rd, 2009 at 1:14 pm
In other GM news, GM is suing one of its suppliers for faulty steering columns which cost GM 30 million dollars in repairs to disgruntled buyers’ small cars like Cobalt and HHR, I wonder if this is the first time a car maker has sued a supplier for faulty gear. If indeed it was a manufacturing defect and NOT a design or engineering problem, then the supplier should have to pay.
November 23rd, 2009 at 1:54 pm
No curb? If there was a curb, John should have showed us how close to the curb the car was parked by its sonar self-park system. If there was none, it is a really bad joke.
Personally, I wish that ugly whale of an obese, ugly wagon Lincoln MK whatever had another system by which it can run itself off a 3,000 ft high cliff and into the ocean. After, of course, I have had fully insured it.
November 23rd, 2009 at 2:32 pm
@ Jim Sachetti
With all of your kind words for various types of cars (this week the Lincoln is an ugly whale of an obese ugly wagon and last week it was the ugly dogs Dodge Avenger and Charger) I’m curious what brand of car you DO find desirable? Or are they all ugly?
November 23rd, 2009 at 2:44 pm
Max,
You will be surprised, I find many, many cars desirable, even several Chryslers and FOrd and GMs.
For example, I generally like even the old PT Cruiser, the 300, the grand Cherokee, etc. I have not driven them, but as far as exterior styling goes, they are fine.
Same with the new Chevy Malibu, the Corvette, and other GMs, even the new Buiuck Lacrosse (much better than the last one)
And FOrds: The Original 1986 Taurus, even the previous large big Taurus (but not the frog-like one) and even the latest Taurus, their exterior styling is fine. Other Fords are acceptable.
But the Lincolns really bug me,m esp. this wagon. Not only is it unnecessarily obese, quite expensive ($50k with some options easily, and it only has a v6) and not fuel efficient, it has this ugly cow-catcher grille that I would not buy for $20k, let alone for $50. Cadillac, on the contrary, has excellent extgerior styling in all its models currently.
Japanese cars are not so good exgterior styling wise, the KJoreans are better because they are smart enough to outsource the designs to the best italian Studios, and the Germans (BMWs in particular, pre-Bangle) have outstanding styling to me.
November 23rd, 2009 at 2:56 pm
@Jim: I still think these new cars could be lighter/smaller, ex Camaro, Taurus, Challenger, even Mustang could all go on a European diet, unfortunately, the trend is towards heavier and bigger with each new model that comes out, hopefully this will come to an end soon with the upcoming 2011 to 2013 new models.
November 23rd, 2009 at 3:18 pm
“# Pedro Fernandez Says:
November 23rd, 2009 at 2:56 pm
@Jim: I still think these new cars could be lighter/smaller, ex Camaro, Taurus, Challenger, even Mustang could all go on a European diet, unfortunately, the trend is towards heavier and bigger with each new model that comes out, hopefully this will come to an end soon with the upcoming 2011 to 2013 new models.”
I quite agree. In fact, the cars can be big in volume without being as excessively heavy, if they are designed smartly. No need for major sacrifices. BMW today announced it will bring 4-cylinder very efficient diesels in order to meet the higher CAFE. That’s an excellent move. SO far, they only brought the 6-cyl performance diesels with 400+ lbft torque, more than a corvette or a v8 ferrari!
Another thing I don’t like about the Lincolns are their idiotic names, all of them now named “MK this and MK that”, MKS, MKZ, MKX etc. And they are not even consistent. FOrd says MK-S stands for Sedan but MK-Z for… Zephyr! Apples and oranges and even people watching the auto business daily have no clue what models these are.
November 23rd, 2009 at 3:37 pm
Ford styling is spotty at times. The Edge seams nice to me, but not the Lincoln that John drives in the video. The technology is cool, if Ford could make the nice lines of the 60′s Lincolns, T-birds or mustangs they would have something. The Transit Connect and this Lincoln are just ugly.
November 23rd, 2009 at 3:47 pm
The best way to compete against the overall fleet average of the imports is with clean diesel technology.The EU makers “get it”,c’mon american once big 3,it’s time you get into the diesel game or you will lose yer asses.All three of you (ford,chrysler,gm)have been bringing up the rear for way too long.
November 23rd, 2009 at 4:06 pm
If the big three try and get into the diesel game at this time does it put them at a technical disadvantage? Their many, many years behind the Germans, but not so far behind the Japanese in the Hybrid technology. The Volt may put GM ahead of the Japanese. Strategically trying to do Diesels now might burn allot of development dollars. Leave it to the Germans and keep diesels fuel high, Our Government can play that game since they build cars!
November 23rd, 2009 at 5:33 pm
It is amusing that the german government is now telling everyone else “Don’t do what we did because you’ll get burned by the EU like we did.”
I like the MKT. It seems lower than the Flex which is nice, but the 2rd row seems smaller which isn’t so nice. I just wish we could have waited for the EcoBoost Flex, but the Volvo wasn’t going to make it through summer.
As for diesels, well the cost of emmissions equipment to meet EPA has alot to do with there not being more here. The Detroit 3 haven’t had the margin to eat enough of the cost to sell diesels here, and I am sure they are afraid of getting burned by it. That and a turbo and Direct injection cuts the diesel advantage down a lot while meeting the coming stricter EPA standards.
November 23rd, 2009 at 5:52 pm
The (once)big 3 were designing and ready to build the diesels.It’s not the emission standards that caused them to put all that research and tech for diesels on the back burner,it was their lack of faith in the buyers willing to shell out for it.As a result of that,foreign manufacturers are once again gaining ground.For example:Chrysler in 2005 put a 2.8L crd into their Jeep Liberty.Their goal was to sell 18k units for model year 05/06.To their surprise,they sold all of them in a very short time after hitting the market…..for two years.If they build it,it will sell.Subaru already has a diesel(boxer no less)available in the EU market.Soon that will be available here…and it will sell.We all know Mahindra will be selling the T-20,and the T-40 4×4 diesel pickups here very soon.Again,they will sell.Despite what is said,people in this country are ready for clean,quiet diesel equipped cars/light trucks/suv’s.The direct injected/turbo gassers have the hp,but don’t come close to the torque levels of the diesel.That makes a huge difference to people like me,and there is a lot that think along those lines too.Watch and see my friends.
November 23rd, 2009 at 6:28 pm
dcars Says:
November 23rd, 2009 at 3:37 pm
“Ford styling is spotty at times. The Edge seams nice to me, but not the Lincoln that John drives in the video. The technology is cool, if Ford could make the nice lines of the 60’s Lincolns, T-birds or mustangs they would have something. The Transit Connect and this Lincoln are just ugly.”
I agree with all of this, except Transit Connect. This is a utilitarian cargo van, and as such, it looks fine. To me, the problem with the Transit is its least common denominator power train, a mediocre four cylinder gas engine and 4-speed automatic as the only available power train. They should sell it here with a diesel and manual trans, like they do in the rest of the world. Then, it would be a very practical and efficient cargo van.
November 23rd, 2009 at 6:29 pm
Personally, I think all of these auto makers have lost their guts by playing following the leader as far as size and weight of vehicles goes, specifically the mid size market. When Honda introduced the new Accord a couple of years back, they had to opportunity to break the trend by bringing here the EU Accord which, in my opinion, is better than what we got here. Instead they copied the Camry in size and weight and now so has Mazda, Subaru etc.even VW has joined the weight/bulk gaining parade of all the others. I realize it’s a big gamble to bring a smaller size car here and be put down by the media and other makers, but when one does I think others will follow.
November 23rd, 2009 at 7:00 pm
Pedro Fernandez Says:
November 23rd, 2009 at 6:29 pm
“Personally, I think all of these auto makers have lost their guts by playing following the leader as far as size and weight of vehicles goes, specifically the mid size market.”
They’ve also “lost their guts” in following each other out of the mid-size wagon and 5-door hatch market, selling only tall, overweight “crossovers” instead of car based wagons.
November 23rd, 2009 at 9:41 pm
The Germans’ position on Opel is for German labor union consumption. They know all the fuss isn’t going to change anything.
November 24th, 2009 at 1:30 am
I wouldn’t count on Mahindra selling a diesel pickup in the US any time soon, no matter what they say. Their best diesel so far is a 2.2 L mHawk with 116 hp, which is at best meets the Bharat-III emission standard (equivalent to Euro3). For US homolgation they’d need to match or exceed the Euro6 standard and the only companies to do that so far are VW and Mercedes (Ford and GM will have HD engines that meet the new US standards next year), and the cost is high in horsepower and added equipment. Whatever cost advantage Mahindra thinks they have building a light pickup will be eaten up and then some if they try and homologate a diesel engine. An extra $6K on a HD pickup or luxury Mercedes can easily be absorbed, but on an el-cheapo light pickup, that bird just don’t fly.
Detailed figures for the European-spec Spark are now available. While it’s a half-size down on the 5-door Yaris (both narrower and shorter), it has more interior room (more than the Scion xD as well), giving up only luggage space to the larger Toyota. Fuel economy is pretty good too—46 mpg (5.1 L/100 km) on the European combined cycle, or 56 mpg on the highway cycle (not directly comparable to US standard). There are more economical models in the segment, but you sacrifice space and power. As it is, it should easily meet the 2016 CAFE target for vehicles its size.
November 24th, 2009 at 5:23 am
Watching that Lincoln park was nothing new, or impressive. Listening to the host say “oh my god” repeatedly, was suprising for someone involved in the industry.
November 24th, 2009 at 8:08 am
This blog was very interesting, lots of technical stuff and thats pretty cool. Thanks guys.
November 24th, 2009 at 9:26 am
@ Andrew Charles:The mahindra diesel pickups are here right now going thru final testing,or so I’ve read.22k for the T-20 is also what I read.We will see soon I believe.Next year they have a diesel suv they will be introducing here.I hope they do all this as it will jar our big 3 into diesel action.
November 26th, 2009 at 10:07 pm
Umm EAB, the Spark is much smaller than the Aveo. The Spark is a little smaller than a MINI actually.
December 5th, 2009 at 12:38 am
Now that you’re the space, will the MKT get you out? That a tight space for the best of us…