AD #3013 – Audi Introduces e-tron GT; GM Earnings Good Despite Pandemic; Hyundai Unveils Wild Mobility Concept
February 10th, 2021 at 11:54am
Listen to “AD #3013 – Audi Introduces e-tron GT; GM Earnings Good Despite Pandemic; Hyundai Unveils Wild Mobility Concept” on Spreaker.
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Runtime: 10:28
0:08 GM Earnings Look Good Despite Pandemic
0:46 California Releases 2020 Autonomous Vehicle Report
1:53 Toyota Not Affected by Chip Shortage
3:51 Audi Introduces New e-tron GT
5:54 Mitsubishi Updates the Eclipse Cross
7:33 Honda Offering Civic Type R Crate Engine
8:13 Battery Dispute Could Mean Trouble for VW & Ford
9:12 Hyundai Unveils Wild Mobility Concept
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GM EARNINGS LOOK GOOD DESPITE PANDEMIC
General Motors posted its earnings for last year and there’s good reason for optimism in the numbers. Sales fell 11% and that dragged down revenue by 10%. Yet GM boosted its operating profit by 21% thanks to slashing expenses by $16 billion. And its net profit of $6.3 billion was down by only 5% from 2019. GM has been bragging that its financial discipline has put it in a position to ride out significant downturns in the marketplace. And these numbers sure bear that out.
| GENERAL MOTORS 2020 EARNINGS | ||
|---|---|---|
| Sales | 6.8 million | -11.5% |
| Revenue | $122 billion | -10.5% |
| Operating Profit | $6.6 billion | +21% |
| Net Profit | $6.3 billion | -5% |
| Source: GM | ||
CALIFORNIA RELEASES 2020 AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE REPORT
Is Apple really interested in getting into the automotive industry? You bet it is. Its autonomous test cars racked up more than 18,000 miles last year, according to the California Department of Motor Vehicles. Even so, that’s nothing compared to Tesla or GM Cruise, which drove more than 770,000 miles, or Waymo which drove nearly 630,000. The California DMV requires AV companies to report how many miles they drive and how many times they have to disengage and let a human being take over. While disengagement is not a great stat to measure, it’s the only one we’ve got. Apple’s cars disengage every 118 miles. Cruise averaged over 28,000 miles between disengagements for the year. But by the second half of the year they got that up to 60,000 miles, and in the 4th quarter they had zero disengagements. And that shows real progress for autonomous technology.
TOYOTA NOT AFFECTED BY CHIP SHORTAGE
We thought GM had done a good job of dealing with this semiconductor chip shortage that is crippling automotive production. But even GM is running out of chips. Instead we should be praising Toyota’s purchasing department. Reuters reports that thanks to planning ahead, Toyota has a 4-month supply of chips. Toyota says it’s not expecting to see a hit in production, but it warns there are risks ahead. And with its most popular models still running down assembly lines Toyota raised its full year profit forecast by a whopping 54%.
AUDI INTRODUCES NEW e-tron GT
Audi fully revealed the all-new e-tron GT, which shares the same platform as the Porsche Taycan. As a result, the two vehicles share a lot of styling similarities, especially in the side silhouette and rear end. Although, you will notice a different lighting signature. The e-tron GT also has a new front end look with an inverted grille in body color that’s surrounded by a gloss black finish. We wouldn’t say there’s anything revolutionary about the interior, but it does feature a nice layered look with a 12.3-inch instrument display and 10.1-inch center screen. The Audi and Porsche share much of the same hardware as well. The e-tron GT has a front and rear electric motor with a 2-speed transmission mounted on the rear axle. As far as we know, right now, there will be two versions at launch. The standard version combines for 350 kW of power and will do 0-60 MPH in 3.9 seconds. The performance RS version has 440 kW and will do 0-60 in 3.1 seconds. Both feature a 93.4 kWh battery pack with 85 kWh of usable space, which is estimated to return 232 to 238 miles of EPA range. For those of you who’ve got the Taycan numbers memorized, the e-tron GT is a little slower but has a little more range. And in terms of price, the EVs are pretty similar too. The e-tron GT starts at $99,900 in the U.S., excluding destination charges and federal tax credit. That’s only $4,000 less than the Taycan. The RS e-tron GT is $139,900. It goes on sale this month in Germany and will reach the U.S. this summer.
MITSUBISHI UPDATES THE ECLIPSE CROSS
Speaking of new vehicles, Mitsubishi released pricing for the refreshed Eclipse Cross. In the U.S., the base ES trim with 2-wheel drive starts at just over $24,500, including destination charges. All-wheel drive adds another $1,600 to the price. That’s a base price increase of less than $500, but includes fresh styling and new content. The grille is still quite wild and the upper section now comes in black instead of chrome. The turn signal and headlamp were removed from the upper assembly and now sit lower in the fascia, while thin DRLs flank the grille. The big change at the rear is that the back glass is no longer split in two. The interior was also freshened up a bit and Mitsubishi engineers retuned and made updates to the suspension as well.
Speaking of new product, be sure to join us tomorrow on Autoline After Hours for a deep dive into the all-new Ford Raptor. We’ve got Tony Greco, who runs the Raptor program coming on the show. And if you’ve got questions you’d like us to ask him, send it to viewermail@autoline.tv or tweet it to @ AutolIne.
HONDA OFFERING CIVIC TYPE R CRATE ENGINE
The engine in the Honda Civic Type R is a sweet bit of kit, so in 2017 Honda started offering it as a crate engine. But it was only available to Honda Racing Line members and race teams and it didn’t include the controls to run it. Well, the automaker is changing that. Starting May 1st, Honda will sell its K20C1 engine, including alternator, turbocharger, and starter and the ECU, wire harness and accelerator pedal, to anyone that’s willing to shell out the required $9,000. The package can be purchased through HPD’s newly established official dealers.
BATTERY DISPUTE COULD MEAN TROUBLE FOR VW & FORD
Uh-oh could Ford and Volkswagen get cut off from their source of battery cells for the electric F-150 and ID.4? LG Chem and SK Innovation are in a big legal dispute. LG accused SK of poaching workers to get inside information about its batteries. And it accuses SK of destroying those documents. SK doesn’t deny destroying the evidence but says it did so before LG filed its complaint and that no critical records were lost. But the judge in the case didn’t buy it, and ruled in LG’s favor. So now the case is being reviewed by the U.S. International Trade Commission and today it could rule to ban SK from importing cell components for batteries that it plans to make in Georgia later this year. And those cells are supposed to go in the electric Ford F-150 and Volkswagen ID.4.
HYUNDAI UNVEILS WILD MOBILITY CONCEPT
A little over two years ago, Hyundai took the wraps off a wild, modular concept vehicle called Elevate that can traverse just about any terrain. Now its showing off a new concept that’s similar called TIGER, which stands for Transforming Intelligent Ground Excursion Robot. Unlike the Elevate, it’s unmanned and is designed to deliver goods or deliver aid packages in emergency situations over remote and inaccessible terrain. TIGER can be deployed to remote areas with a drone and it can travel on the ground with its wheels. But if it gets stuck or can’t use its wheels, it has articulating legs that allows it to walk over the ground. The vehicle is being developed by Hyundai’s New Horizons Studio in California along with engineering design software company Autodesk and design experts Sundberg-Ferar.
But that’s it for today, thanks for watching.
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Comments (24)
February 10th, 2021 at 12:06 pm
It looks like the cheapest version of the Porsche Taycan will substantially uncut the Audi in price, at least for now. There is a recently introduced RWD Taycan for ~$82K.
February 10th, 2021 at 12:24 pm
While the California autonomous report is impressive the weather there is ideal most of the time. Bring some of those AVs to the Midwest this month and see how often they disengage.
$9k for the Honda engine isn’t a bad price considering what similar crate engines are running. Wonder if employees can get a discount.
Hyundai’s mobility concept is cool but you never mentioned if its remotely controlled or fully autonomous other than saying its deployed with a drone. Sure would like to see more on that.
February 10th, 2021 at 12:32 pm
@2 That’s what I always think when I read of these autonomous ” tests” . Yea ok you passed grade one, wait till you get to high school and then let’s see how you make out.
February 10th, 2021 at 12:37 pm
It’s hard to see on the Taycan, but why does the e-tron GT have such a long over hang past the front wheels? It’s like looking at a FWD vehicle and not one that’s AWD/RWD based. The dash-to-front axle is nice and long, much like what you’d find in a RWD vehicle, but then the over hang beyond the front wheels is weird. Maybe it’s just my eyes, but once you see it, I having trouble un-seeing it. It’s not just the e-tron GT, but the dash to front axle on the Tesla Model 3 and Y are weird too, to my eye. To be RWD/AWD, their dash-to-front axle is short like a FWD vehicle. Look at the length between the dash and front wheels of the 3 Series, 2 Series Grand Coupe and compared that to the Model 3. When you do, does it or does it not seem that the Model 3 more closely resembles the front wheel drive based 2 Series Gran Coupe, more so than the rear wheel drive based 3 Series? Idk, I may be wrong and it wouldn’t be the first time! That not to say that any of those vehicles look bad, just odd in some angles. My head is spinning!
February 10th, 2021 at 12:55 pm
@Kit – Not only does that RWD Taycan have one less motor it also comes standard with a smaller battery pack (79.2 kWh)
February 10th, 2021 at 12:57 pm
@wmb – You’re not the only one. We were just talking about the long front overhang on the e-tron GT.
February 10th, 2021 at 1:02 pm
The Honda crate engine would be good in a Fiero, or in a retromod Morris Minor, if it would work for longitudinal mounting.
4 Maybe they added a few inches of length to the front, so they can have a bigger front trunk. The front motor and gear reduction of the Tesla S is more-or-less between the wheels, and takes up space above the “axle line.” I’ve heard that the C8 Corvette was made a little longer in the back than it needs to be, to allow for more cargo space under the rear hatch. I don’t know the truth of that, though.
February 10th, 2021 at 1:05 pm
5 Yeah, true. I bet they will eventually have an RWD, smaller battery E-Tron like that. It’s not “normal” for the cheapest version of a Porsche to undercut the Audi versions where they share platforms, like with the CUVs.
February 10th, 2021 at 1:17 pm
#4 wmb That was exactly my reaction to the e-Tron GT. What’s with that front overhang? Aero, crash? It really detracts from the styling and is not what you’d expect in an EV.
February 10th, 2021 at 1:25 pm
9 Aero, crash, and maybe a bigger “frunk”
February 10th, 2021 at 1:29 pm
8 Well, maybe not regarding an RWD E-Tron. 4WD seems to be kind of a “thing” with Audi, at least in the US, kind of like Subaru. The A3 may be the only 2wd (front drive) Audi now sold in the US, and that may change with the new model.
February 10th, 2021 at 2:08 pm
I’m trying to understand how 3 metrics of 4 can be negative and the only positive one seems to be wiped out by one of the opposing metrics and it’s called a plus ? GM sales down 11.5% , revenue down 10.5 % ,Operating profit + 6.6 million but net profit down 6.3 million. I fail to see how any of that can be spun positively . I guess that’s why I’m not an accountant.
February 10th, 2021 at 2:27 pm
@Kit #10 – I added a picture of the e-tron GT’s frunk to the transcript and, at least compared to Tesla and Ford, it looks pretty pathetic.
February 10th, 2021 at 2:36 pm
Mitsubishi just took the Fugly checkered flag held by our dear deceased Pontiac Aztec with the “re-imagined” Eclipse Cross! Please contact Chevy Chase & advise him that the newest family truckster awaits the next trip to Wally World.
Yikes…aunt Edna wouldn’t be caught “dead” in/on that thing…
February 10th, 2021 at 2:41 pm
13) Wow. That photo makes the trunk in my Fiero look positively roomy.
February 10th, 2021 at 2:55 pm
13 Thanks. Yeah, it doesn’t look too big.
I tried to find some info on “official” frunk size for the e-tron GT with no luck, but a British site lists the Taycan’s as 81 liters, 2.86 cubic feet. The e-tron GT might, or might not be the same. The Mach-E has 4.8 cubic feet, and Model 3 has 3 cubic feet. Porsche Cayman and Boxster have 5.2. I guess not having that motor up there helps, even in a car that small.
February 10th, 2021 at 3:17 pm
14 I recently saw a friend’s Fiero, and it has quite a bit of space in the rear trunk, for a mid-engine car that size. I didn’t see the frunk, though.
February 10th, 2021 at 3:59 pm
17) The frunk in a Fiero is large enough to store the spare tire, tools, and the huge sunroof glass which is almost the entire width of the roof. It is probably as large as the frunk in the Mach-E when you remove the spare tire.
February 10th, 2021 at 5:38 pm
Spare tire. What a concept. My 2018 Camry has one, but the last Corvettes to have them were C4, in 1996.
February 10th, 2021 at 8:36 pm
Sean/John and others, let’s not forget the VW ID vehicles, for they too, to be RWD/AWD, have a long, front wheel drive type over hang. With them being BEV’s, with the battery in the middle and the motors over the axles, the e-tron GT, ID series and the Model 3/Y look like they are front will drive when they are not. Don’t get me wrong, they are all good looking cars and their owners have every reason to be proud to own them. Yet, having a clean slate design and with them being EV’s and the only restrictions being where they place the batteries and motors, why do they end up looking like they’re front wheel drive?
February 10th, 2021 at 9:54 pm
20 Mightn’t their having a 4wd option with a motor and gear reduction in the front be part of the reason for the long front overhang? Maybe they feel the need to have front trunks, even if not very big, because they lose rear cargo space to motors/gearboxes that the EVs have in the back. While some of them don’t have very big front trunks, they would be even smaller if they shortened the nose. Of course, part of the longish nose might be for crashworthiness.
February 10th, 2021 at 10:50 pm
20,21 et. al., Maybe John could get some designers of these cars on an AAH, and we could find out what they have to say about it. _
February 11th, 2021 at 8:58 am
I wonder how action movies will be affected by these EVS and although some are very fast a chase scene without the roar of an engine will just be tires squealing and a whizzing sound. like the movie Tron perhaps?
February 11th, 2021 at 12:38 pm
@22 SUV/CUV/Crossovers and sport sedans like the F-Pace and the 5-Series, have a longer front axle-to-dash, RWD and very little over hang past the front wheels, due to the claim that this front mid-engine arrangement contributes to better handling and over all performance. The BEV’s that were mentioned in the earlier comments are RWD/AWD, but it looks like they have a front wheel drive platform. If they move the front wheels forward, placed the motor between the front axle and dash, this would give them more room for the frunk. With EV’s not being constrained like ICE vehicles, they could literally design and style them any way they choose. Why make a rear wheel and all wheel drive vehicle, appear that they are front wheel drive, is a head scratcher to me. I wonder if, by having the front driving wheels closer to the battery pack, they use less wiring, so that they lose less power as the energy travels from the pack to the front motor?