This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry.

U.S. CAR SALES A MIXED BAG
We have the latest sales numbers for the American market last month. The SAAR, or seasonally adjusted annual rate, came in at 16.7 million down just a bit from 16.8 million a year ago. Automakers sold 1.6 million new vehicles, but that was down 5% on a daily selling rate basis. Some companies had a great month. Tesla reported blowout sales, up 70% from a year ago. But it’s typical to see Tesla save its sales numbers to report big gains at the end of every quarter. Volkswagen also had a great month as adding SUVs to its lineup are finally paying off. Toyota, Mazda and Volvo all had a December to remember. But for some automakers the month was a disaster. Mitsubishi saw its sales plummet 50%. Jaguar Land Rover also saw a double digit drop, as did Nissan and Ford. In fact, FCA actually outsold Ford for the month, but Ford had warned us that sales would be down since it lost a lot of production due to the conversion to the new F-150. Honda also had a double digit drop. For all of 2020, automakers sold 14.4 million new vehicles, down by 2.5 million vehicles compared to 2019. That’s a huge drop and they’re hoping that as the pandemic hopefully starts to come under control, that 2021 will be a bigger year.

SILVERADO OUTSELLS RAM PICKUP
One more quick sales item. The Chevrolet Silverado finally took back the #2 spot from the Ram pickup line. Not by a huge amount, but for Chevrolet that’s a major victory.

CHEVY BRINGING IN NEW BUYERS
Speaking of Chevrolet, it gave a business update to the media this morning. Four key points. Chevrolet was the fastest growing full line brand last year. It increased its average selling price by 6%. Its dealers set an all-time record for profitability. And it achieved its highest % of sales from buyers outside of General Motors. Even the C8 Corvette played a role in that last one. Two-thirds of ‘Vette buyers were new to the Chevrolet brand. The number of Gen Xers buying Vettes doubled. And the most cross-shopped model was the Porsche 911. 

HOTTEST AUTO STOCKS
On Wall Street yesterday the hottest stocks included a couple of startups but some traditional suppliers as well. Canoo, which is getting into mobility services with its autonomous, electric people and package movers was up nearly 13%. Carvana, which retails used cars, rose more than 8%. Cooper Standard, a traditional supplier that’s been going through gut wrenching financial problems, may be turning things around. It was up over 7%. Blink Charging, a startup was up 8%, and Dana, another traditional supplier, was up 6%. We’re not surprised to see big gains from startups, but it’s impressive to see traditional suppliers posting these kinds of gains.

KIA UNVEILS NEW LOGO
In a wild event, which included plenty of fireworks and a lighting display from a fleet of drones, Kia revealed its new corporate logo. It features more symmetrical lettering that’s connected together as one. Gone is the red oval with blocky letters and so is the concern for ever mistaking a Kia with a Ford again. Did you know that Kia actually had a partnership with Ford that started in the late 80’s? Kia produced several Mazda-designed vehicles, including a version of the Ford Festiva, called the Kia Pride. Kia didn’t come out with its oval logo until the early 90’s, so we wonder if it was influenced by Ford’s logo? And the similarity in logos is one of the main reasons you see a decent number of people in North America switch over to the Korean Kia logo, which still uses the oval but features a much more stylized ‘K’. No word if or when we’ll see this new logo makes its way onto a vehicle.

FORD GUARD MODE NOW AVAILABLE IN EUROPE
Ford continues to take advantage of over-the-air updates. Fleet owners in Europe can now activate Guard Mode, which monitors the vehicle and can send alerts to a phone. By looking at various sensors inside the vehicle, the system is able to detect when someone opens any of the doors or hood and also if the vehicle is started. It’s even able to send alerts if the vehicle was opened and/or started with the key, in the case it might have been stolen or cloned. According to insurance data, theft cost UK tradespeople nearly 300 million euros in 2019.

MAZDA MX-30 COMING TO AMERICA
Mazda’s crossover lineup will be expanding in North America. The automaker confirmed that it will be bringing the MX-30 to the region, including the full electric and rotary range-extended versions. There will also be a hybrid version that uses Toyota’s tech and gets built at the automaker’s new joint factory in Alabama. The only question is, when? We would expect the EV before the end of the year and the rotary sometime in 2022.

CAR THEFTS RISING IN U.S.
Car thefts are on the rise in the U.S. but it’s not due to criminals looking for vehicles they can bring to the chop shop. Instead, the New York Times reports, it’s mostly due to careless owners who are leaving their key fobs in cars. When key fobs were introduced in the late 1990s, it helped to dramatically reduce the number of stolen vehicles. From a high of 1.7 million in 1991, down to 723,000 in 2019. However, thefts in the last six months are up 13%, partly due to the pandemic. Cities with stricter lockdowns have seen thefts rise. The good news is the stolen cars aren’t being stripped for parts and are mostly being taken by teenagers looking for a joyride. The vehicles are usually abandoned and undamaged and police say they are able to return most to owners.  

MORE GM & HONDA EV DETAILS
Last year, GM and Honda announced they will jointly develop two all-new electric vehicles for Honda based on GM’s EV architecture and will be built by GM at its plants in North America. Now we’re learning a bit more about the deal. Automotive News reports that the vehicles will be crossovers and one will be for Honda while the other will be for Acura. One will be built at GM’s plant in Ramos Arizpe, Mexico, which builds the Chevy Blazer and Equinox. While the other model will be built at GM’s Spring Hill, Tennessee plant, the same place as the Cadillac Lyriq. The Honda EV is expected to go on sale in 2023 while the Acura will hit the market the following year.

MOST EV OWNERS WON’T GO BACK TO ICE CARS
And speaking of electric vehicles, a new study found that a vast majority of EV owners won’t go back to gas powered vehicles. Zap-Map conducted a survey of 2,000 EV owners in the UK and 91% said they will stick with battery powered vehicles, while only 1% said they want to switch back to gas or diesel-powered ones. About three-quarters of the respondents were first time EV owners. While most consumers are a bit leery about making the switch to an EV, this survey shows that once you get them behind the wheel of one, they won’t want to go back.

Are autonomous cars right around the corner, or like fuel cells, are they something that are years away? That’s one of the topics we’ll tackle on Autoline After Hours. We’ll have Jeff Stout from Yanfeng and Pete Bigelow from Automotive News joining John and Gary, and we invite you to join them on our website or YouTube channel.

But that’s it for today, thanks for watching.