Listen to “AD #3011 – Tacoma TRD Impressions; Hyundai/Kia Deny Apple Partnership; Passenger Car Sales Continue To Tumble” on Spreaker.
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Runtime: 9:32
0:08 Hyundai & Kia Deny Apple Partnership
0:50 Chip Shortage Getting Worse
1:41 Porsche Plans To Build Cars In Malaysia
3:49 Ford Introduces New Transit Variant For Europe
4:42 ZF Creates Hybrid Powertrain For Boats
5:30 Rolls-Royce Spirit Of Ecstasy Celebrates 110th Anniversary
6:39 Passenger Car Sales Continue To Tumble
7:11 Toyota Tacoma TRD Impressions
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HYUNDAI & KIA DENY APPLE PARTNERSHIP
Last week the rumors were flying that Apple was going to sign a deal with Kia to make electric cars at Kia’s assembly plant in the U.S. We told you to take it with a grain of salt because it didn’t pass the smell test. Sure enough, today Kia and its parent company Hyundai denied they were in talks with Apple. But why did it take them nearly a week to deny the rumors? This has all the makings of a stock scam. Kia’s stock shot up 61% last week on the news. Today, they fell 15%, wiping out $5.5 billion in shareholder value. No doubt somebody made a lot of money on these rumors.
CHIP SHORTAGE GETTING WORSE
That chip shortage which is crippling production in the global industry is not getting better. It’s getting worse. And here’s another reason why supplies are low. Automakers mostly use chips made from older, cheaper eight-inch wafers. And chip makers haven’t been investing in that older technology. While the plants are now ramping up investment, it could take months before they can come on line. You may be wondering why automakers don’t use newer chips instead. That’s because the testing and validation that goes into developing cars takes several years, and that automatically means that car companies cannot use the latest chips. The chip industry follows Moore’s Law and generally comes out with a new chip every 18 months.
PORSCHE PLANS TO BUILD CARS IN MALAYSIA
Here’s something we find very intriguing. Porsche is looking at making cars in Malaysia. You heard that right, Malaysia. According to a report from The Edge Weekly, Porsche is partnering with Inokom Corporation, a subsidiary of the Malaysian conglomerate Sime Darby. Porsche reportedly wants Malaysia to be its Asian manufacturing hub. But we wonder why Porsche isn’t looking at China. One reason may be that Malaysia has a free trade agreement. So Porsche could ship cars there tariff-free. And maybe Porsche is thinking in geopolitical terms and doesn’t want to be in China just in case things get a little too hot there at some point in the future.
FORD INTRODUCES NEW TRANSIT VARIANT FOR EUROPE
In terms of sales and profit, you could call the Transit van the F-150 of Europe for Ford. The automaker keeps coming up with more ways to spin off more variants and unlock more value. We recently reported how Ford came out with a beefier, 3.5 ton version of the van and now it’s using that setup for a new high-capacity transporter. The vans feature an extended chassis and curtain-side box, allowing them to carry up to 10 Euro-sized pallets, even with a sleeper pod. Two 2.0L diesel engines with different power outputs and either a standard 6-speed manual or 6-speed automatic drive the front wheels. And for long-haul fleets, there’s an optional larger fuel tank as well. The new Transit chassis cab is available now across Europe.
ZF CREATES HYBRID POWERTRAIN FOR BOATS
We talk about electrification of vehicles for the land and air all the time, but now let’s turn our attention to the Seven Seas. Emission regulations at ports and at sea are getting stricter as well and the supplier ZF now offers a complete hybrid driveline for boats. It recently expanded its portfolio in hybrid transmissions, but also provides motors, propellers and all the power electronics and controls. The new parallel hybrid system allows more motors to be added on, which produce between 150 and 750 kW of power. And just like on a car, a hybrid setup in a boat not only pollutes less but also provides more power than a conventional engine.
ROLLS-ROYCE SPIRIT OF ECSTASY CELEBRATES 110TH ANNIVERSARY
We’d like to wish a happy belated birthday to Rolls-Royce’s emblem, the Spirit of Ecstasy. It turned 110 over the weekend. The sculpture was created by a gentleman named Charles Sykes and was actually a re-interpretation of another sculpture Sykes had done, called Whisper for Lord Montagu, which he used as mascot for his Rolls-Royce Ghost. Not long after Lord Montagu was seen around town with the new emblem on his Rolls, other owners started adopting their own and, funny enough, to protect itself from these “unsightly” additions, the automaker commissioned the Spirit of Ecstasy. And it’s now THE defining feature on all of its vehicles.
PASSENGER CAR SALES CONTINUE TO TUMBLE
We keep wondering when we’re going to see sales of passenger cars in the U.S. market hit bottom. But it hasn’t happened yet. Last month sales of pass cars fell by 50,000 units, or 17%. They now account for only 22% of all sales. And even the best selling pass cars, the Toyota Camry and Corolla, and Honda Civic and Accord, posted notable drops. One of these days this segment has to stop falling and when it does, we’ll let you know.
TOYOTA TACOMA TRD IMPRESSIONS
Meanwhile sales of trucks, like the Toyota Tacoma, just keep on climbing. We just had a TRD 4×4 double cab come through the Autoline Garage, and it’s easy to see why trucks hold so much appeal. This thing feels like it can get you through anything. The ride and feel are extremely rugged. It’s 3.5 liter V6 with 278 horses and 265 pound feet of torque provides plenty of power, but you really have to put your foot into it. It’s pretty noisy, too, especially at highway speeds. But this truck shines in off road conditions. It’s 4-wheel-drive system, with a 2-speed transfer case, locking rear diff, Bilstein shocks and multi terrain crawl control, can take you up and down the steepest trails, through deeply rutted two-tracks, and over bumpy rock piles. But you have to pay a premium for this kind of capability. The Tacoma we drove had a sticker price of $46,600, including over $9,000 of options and the destination charge.
The hard-core, off-road segment keeps growing. Ram recently unveiled the TRX and GMC is reviving the Hummer brand with a serious off-road electric. But the truck that really dominates the segment is the Ford Raptor, which just got a complete do-over. That’s why we invite you to join us for Autoline After Hours this Thursday when our guest will be Tony Greco, the program manager at Ford for the Raptor. We got a bunch of questions from you last week when we had Tony Roma, the chief engineer on the Cadillac V-Series Blackwing cars. And if you’ve got questions about the new Raptor, send an email to viewermail@autoline.tv or send a tweet to @Autoline.
But that brings us to the end of today’s show. Thanks for watching and we’ll be right back here again tomorrow.
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John McElroy is an influential thought leader in the automotive industry. He is a journalist, lecturer, commentator and entrepreneur. He created “Autoline Daily,” the first industry webcast of industry news and analysis.