AD #3045 – VW Looking into Electric Pickup; Wrong-Way Crashes on The Rise; March Sales Going to Look Spectacular
March 26th, 2021 at 12:03pm
Listen to “AD #3045 – VW Looking into Electric Pickup; Wrong-Way Crashes on The Rise; March Sales Going to Be Spectacular” on Spreaker.
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Runtime: 11:00
0:07 Volkswagen Seeks Damages Against Former Executives
1:00 Ford Shares New EU Electrification Plans
2:09 Volkswagen Teases New Amarok
2:32 VW Looking into Full-Size Electric Pickup
4:48 GM Adds Two New Board Members
5:14 Auto Stocks Up on Thursday
5:38 March Sales in U.S. Going to Look Spectacular
6:10 Wrong-Way Crashes on The Rise
7:57 Schaeffler Helps Commercial Vehicles Go Electric
8:41 Edmunds Performs New Tesla Range Test
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VOLKSWAGEN SEEKS DAMAGES AGAINST FORMER EXECUTIVES
Volkswagen announced its seeking damages against former Chairman Martin Winterkorn and former Audi CEO Rupert Stadler for their roles in the company’s diesel scandal. VW launched a year’s long investigation into the emissions cheating and found that both Winterkorn and Stadler breached their duty of care but said it found no violations by other board members. The automaker admitted in 2015 that it installed illegal software in its diesel engines to pass U.S. emission tests. The company has paid $38 billion in fines, settlements and fixes as a result of the scandal. But VW didn’t say how much in damages it’s seeking against the former executives. This was a huge black eye for the company and the main reason why it’s now making an aggressive push into electric vehicles.
FORD SHARES NEW EU ELECTRIFICATION PLANS
News of Ford dropping the Mondeo from its European lineup a year from now is making headlines but this should come as little surprise to Autoline Daily viewers. We reported about the end of production of the Mondeo’s sister car, the Fusion at Ford’s plant in Mexico, so it could clear room for new models. That facility now makes the Mustang Mach-E, Bronco Sport and as we reported recently, it’s gearing up for the new Maverick small pickup. It also used to make Ford’s 2.5L hybrid engine, but that’s being moved to Spain alongside existing engine manufacturing. The automaker revealed its “first all-electric volume production passenger vehicle” is coming out in 2023 as well. It’s being made at a new Electrification Center in Cologne, Germany that it’s sinking a billion dollars into. Hey, what do you know? Volkswagen’s in Germany. Ford already confirmed it’s going to use VW’s MEB platform for a future EV. We think it’s very possible this could be that vehicle. A second vehicle for the Germany facility is also under consideration.
VOLKSWAGEN TEASES NEW AMAROK
Speaking of the VW-Ford tie up, here’s a design sketch for the new Amarok pickup, which is said to be based on the next-gen Ford Ranger. As you can see, VW is going for a rugged look with big, blocky fenders and a bold grille. It seems like development still has a long way to go before the truck comes out, but we’ll have those details when it does.
VW LOOKING INTO FULL-SIZE ELECTRIC PICKUP
But that Amarok will never come to the U.S. market. Here’s why. On Autoline After Hours yesterday, Hein Schafer, the senior vice president for marketing and strategy at Volkswagen of America, strongly hinted that they’re looking at a full size electric pickup. Take a look.
“A new battery electric platform does open doors for us. And does maybe kind of level the playing field to a certain degree. And it gives us the opportunity to either bring in a small, mid-size pickup or maybe even something a little bit larger. I think we’re very aware that the U.S. market is very big on mid-size SUVs too. You know we’ve entered with Atlas and Cross Sport. So it wouldn’t be much for us to potentially think about something larger on a BEV platform too. And if we do a large SUV on a BEV platform maybe a large pickup would make sense too.“
That show with Hein has a lot of great insight into VW’s thinking. And you heard it here first. VW is looking at making a full-size electric pickup.
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GM ADDS TWO NEW BOARD MEMBERS
General Motors is adding two new board members. And they’re interesting additions. In fact, you may have even heard of them before. Meg Whitman was the former head of Hewlett-Packard Enterprise. And Mark Tatum is the COO of the National Basketball Association. That gives GM 13 board members, 7 of whom are women, which is far and away the highest percentage of women in the global automotive industry.
AUTO STOCKS UP ON THURSDAY
The Autoline Stock index closed at 4,880, up 93 points yesterday, which is a 2% increase. Automotive retailers led the gain, dragged down slightly by EV battery suppliers. A number of you have wondered which stocks are part of our index. There are over 80 of them and we have the complete list in today’s transcript.
| Traditional Automakers | EV Automakers | Traditional Suppliers | EV Suppliers | Retailers/Wholesalers | AV Suppliers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BAIC | BYD | Adient | Blink Charging | AC Auctions | Aeva |
| BMW | Canoo | Allison Transmission | CATL | America’s Car Mart | Luminar |
| Changan | Fisker | American Axle | ChargePoint | Asbery Auto Group | Velodyne |
| Daimler | Hyliion | Aptiv | Romeo Power | Autonation | |
| Dongfeng | Kandi | Autoliv | QuantumScape | Car Gurus | |
| FAW | Li Auto | BorgWarner | TE Connectivity | Carmax | |
| Ford | Lordstown | Cooper Standard | Cars.com | ||
| Geely | Lucid | Continental | Carvana | ||
| General Motors | Nikola | Dana | Copart | ||
| Great Wall | NIO | Faurecia | Group 1 | ||
| Guangzhou | Tesla | Gentex | Lazy Day Holdings | ||
| Honda | Workhorse | Gentherm | Lithia | ||
| Mazda | XPeng | Goodyear | Penske Automotive | ||
| Mitsubishi | Lear | Rush Enterprises | |||
| Nissan | Linamar | Sonic | |||
| Renault | Lydol | ||||
| Stellantis | Magna | ||||
| Subaru | Martinrea | ||||
| Suzuki | Schaeffler | ||||
| Toyota | Tenneco | ||||
| Volkswagen | Visteon | ||||
| Thyssen Krupp | |||||
| Valeo |
MARCH SALES IN U.S. GOING TO Look SPECTACULAR
Automakers in the U.S. market will post their sales for March a week from today. And the numbers are going to look spectacular. Wards Intelligence predicts sales will hit nearly 1.5 million vehicles, up 43% from a year ago. Of course, you have to remember that a year ago large parts of the country were going into lockdown and sales took a nosedive. Even so, Wards says the SAAR will come in at 16.5 million, which is a decent number.
WRONG-WAY CRASHES ON THE RISE
Fatal crashes involving wrong-way drivers are on the rise in the U.S. According to AAA, there were more than 2,000 deaths from wrong-way crashes on divided highways between 2015 and 2018, an average of 500 per year. That’s up a third from the 375 deaths annually between 2010 and 2014. The main factors involving wrong-way accidents are drunk driving, older age and driving without a passenger. To help prevent these crashes, AAA recommends that alcohol ignition interlocks be installed in cars, more sobriety checkpoints, driver refresher courses for older adults and more warning signs and signals. Another solution could be supplier ZF’s “Wrong-way Inhibit System” we reported on a few years ago. It warns the driver with audio signals, seat vibrations and visual warnings on the dashboard if you’re going the wrong way. If that fails, it will bring the car to a stop on the side of the road, turning on high beams and hazard lights to warn other drivers.
SCHAEFFLER HELPS COMMERCIAL VEHICLES GO ELECTRIC
Traditional automotive supplier Schaeffler is making the transition to electrification and is now helping commercial operators meet future emission standards. It just won two major contracts. The first will see it supply an unnamed company with its electric motor in 2023. The 800-volt unit is meant to be used in pairs and generates output of 180-kW and 950-Nm of torque. The other contract is for a hybrid unit that goes between the engine and transmission that recovers braking energy, which is used to power on-board systems, like the one that controls the exhaust gas aftertreatment. Production of that kicks off in 2024.
EDMUNDS PERFORMS NEW TESLA RANGE TEST
According to a real-world driving test, Edmunds says some Tesla’s fail to hit their EPA range estimates. That includes a 2020 Model 3 Standard Range Plus, 2020 Model Y Performance and 2018 Model 3 Performance. Edmunds originally said all five Teslas it tested failed to hit their estimated range, but concluded a 2021 Tesla Model 3 Long Range and 2020 Tesla Model S Performance will match or exceed range, after Tesla engineers argued Edmunds stopped their test when the gauge read zero miles, not until the vehicle completely ran out of juice, which is how the EPA does it. Like any gas or diesel powered vehicle, EVs have a safety buffer that allows them to be driven even if there’s zero miles of indicated range. It seems like Tesla has a larger buffer than other automakers. To us this just proves automakers and consumers need to provide and seek out more EV education. I would be a little bummed to know my Tesla couldn’t hit its estimated range, but wouldn’t really care all that much either. EV owners quickly learn it’s best to keep the battery between roughly 20% and 80% of charge to prolong its life, so that buffer almost never comes into play. And Teslas are some of the most efficient EVs out there, meaning you get more distance from the electricity you use. As we said, more education is needed.
But that wraps up this week. Thanks for watching and we’ll be right back here again on Monday.
Thanks to our partner for embedding Autoline Daily on its website: WardsAuto.com
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Comments (32)
March 26th, 2021 at 12:16 pm
VW saw early on after Dieselgate that Diesel and ICE had reached its plateau and any more R&D into Diesels was a waste on ROI, thus the pivot into BEVs, but all those stranded assets are kind of hard to turn away from. The upper management were not ever made to pay for their sins,only some poor sacrifial lambs, Winterkorn has yet to face justice.Extraditing those in the know to the USA would be a first step, but that ain’t gonna happen ever.
March 26th, 2021 at 12:29 pm
To drunks there is no such thing as wrong ⛔way, very common in Toronto area hiways to be driving VS the traffic, head on too!
March 26th, 2021 at 12:37 pm
Everyone see the Suez Canal is blocked, wondering if that will affect auto production, yet another thing.
March 26th, 2021 at 12:40 pm
AAA should encourage more AA. So tired of this mentality of making everyone’s life more difficult because of the few. No we don’t need alcohol ignition interlocks. A much more simplier solution is you just add the tire puncture strips at the off ramps. Go the wrong way and you wont go far.
March 26th, 2021 at 12:55 pm
So who picked Winterkorn? Oh ya, that was the board. Funny how they don’t are responsible. I hope VW group makes buses, so they will continue to have something to throw misbehaving employees under!
March 26th, 2021 at 1:09 pm
4 That would work in most cases, but would work less well with the ~14% (according to Edmunds) of cars with run flat tires.
March 26th, 2021 at 1:17 pm
Putting Meg Whitman on the GM board has got to one of dumbest things they have ever done. She was the CEO of eBay during the early days of the internet when there was explosive growth. That was why eBay was successful, it would be almost impossible to screw that up. Then she was HP CEO where she didn’t have the qualifications to run the company. She had no idea which direction to take technology company. The only way she could find to keep it afloat was to shrink the company and lay off 85,000 people. Then leave because she finally realized she was in over her head.
What does she know about the automobile industry? Oh, I have to go to the gas station when the needle is on “E”!
March 26th, 2021 at 1:24 pm
Why not use the same system they use at some parking garages. Drive out the wrong way to keep from paying the fee sharp directional springs in the driveway puncture your tires. Expensive but better than someone getting killed in a wrong way accident on the highway.
March 26th, 2021 at 2:03 pm
To me the ZF wrong way system is the right choice. It is passive and doesn’t punish the vast majority for something a very small minority of drivers are doing.
It would also help for the USA to have rigorous drivers education programs and license requirements. Where is AAA on the pathetic drivers education system in the USA? Are they sponsoring drivers education activities and lobbying congress to get better education and testing standards?
In Michigan, if you have a pulse and minimal intelligence, you can have a license. This holds true when even going for a CDL in Michigan. It is pathetic. Every person I have met that was a convicted drunk driver wouldn’t have passed a rigorous driving test sober.
March 26th, 2021 at 2:09 pm
In Maine they use heavy plastic pipe that goes past the off ramp opening to stop cars from turning in, but has enough room for cars to make an exit left turn from the off ramp, Rt 1 from bath to brunswick maine has these also 295 brunswick to portland maine has these, this has stop a lot of poeple going the wrong way,you may see these on google map, if you want more info ask maine Dot
March 26th, 2021 at 2:11 pm
9 So true! I know things have changed now but when I was 18 I took a written test and had my employer sign a sheet saying I was trained and got a class A CDL in Michigan. I was driving 80K lb truck and trailers only two years of driving anything. Pretty scary when you think about it.
March 26th, 2021 at 2:20 pm
I’m all for alcohol ignition interlocks for people that have been caught drunk driving, make them pay for retrofitting their car if they want a second chance at driving, not sure how well it would work for other DUI offenses such as drugs though.
Back when I was just starting to drive in the 1980s the worst drivers on the road were the Cadillac owners, always thinking that the road belonged to them and them alone. These days I nominate the full size pickup truck drivers, always in a rush and always ready to tailgate you no matter what speed you are going. Second place goes to Dodge Charger drivers who think they are always qualifying for some imaginary race they are in. Any other nominees?
March 26th, 2021 at 2:52 pm
9 In Florida, you don’t need to know how to drive to get a license, but they have other requirements, like multiple IDs with your address, that probably result in a lot of people driving without licenses.
March 26th, 2021 at 3:29 pm
12 – Yes, older drivers with poor vision who feel the most comfortable driving in the left lane rather than the middle lane. They hold up lots of traffic and never seem to see me behind them even if I flash to pass. Oh yeah, that is another item from Driver’s Ed that seems lost on so many drivers.
March 26th, 2021 at 3:37 pm
12. Maybe the Charger drivers are cop wannabes, and will be switching to Ford Explorers.
March 26th, 2021 at 4:00 pm
Once that our society developed to the point that large numbers of people had to drive to get to work and make a living, driving went from being a privilege to being a right, in the minds of the regulators. Just about all US drivers believe that they are better than average, so why would they need a higher level of training anyway? The politicians are too scared to take this issue on and risk offending voters. Sad to say, but autonomous vehicles are likely the only long-term solution to the problems created by the pitiful quality of most people’s driving skills.
March 26th, 2021 at 5:07 pm
F1 qualifying tomorrow at 11:00 am EDT on, I think, ESPN2.
March 26th, 2021 at 5:15 pm
Hey AAA, how many of those wrong way drivers have suspended licenses? I suspect the vast majority have a suspended or no license. So, let’s have “smart” driver licenses that a new vehicle could passively “read” before letting the vehicle start.
March 27th, 2021 at 2:53 pm
Sobriety checkpoints are wrong. Stopping everyone just going about their business in the hopes of finding that elusive drunk is not the answer. The correct approach is police on patrol pulling over drivers they OBSERVE DRIVING erratically.
March 27th, 2021 at 2:57 pm
alcohol ignition interlocks don’t work. You could trick them using a $10 bicycle air pump.
March 27th, 2021 at 4:28 pm
With buyers of full size ICE trucks being competitive and brand loyalty being so strong, it might be a good time for VW to get into the full size BEV truck race. Right now the only company that has displayed have a ‘real’ work prototype of an electric full truck, that’s moving toward production in the next year or two, is Ford! The vehicles from Rivian, Lordstown and some of the others, appear to be a great deal smaller then a full size truck, more like an extra large midsize offering. The exceptions being the Tesla Cybertruck and work Bowler is working on. Even still, Tesla and Bowler’s vehicles seem to more Superduty class, then direct competition to Ford’s electric F-150. If VW can produce a true full size electric pick-up, that competes head to head with this electric Ford and gets out ahead of Ford’s across town rivals and before the Toyota, Nissan, Honda and Hyundai/Kia and the upstarts, they may end up being one of the leaders in a growing branch of the BEV tree! And if Tesla’s experience tells us anything, one is that it is better to be in a leadership position with EV’s, for it can take a couple of decades to really catch up!
March 27th, 2021 at 4:34 pm
21 Does anyone even want an electric pickup? If they do, mightn’t they want a smaller one? I guess we’ll find out in a few years.
March 27th, 2021 at 4:42 pm
This has to be affecting the car industry, and probably oil shipping.
https://amp.theguardian.com/world/2021/mar/27/tugs-tides-and-200000-tons-experts-fear-ever-given-may-be-stuck-in-suez-for-weeks?utm_term=Autofeed&CMP=twt_gu&utm_medium=&utm_source=Twitter&__twitter_impression=true
March 28th, 2021 at 10:57 am
23.) That is a good question, but let me clarify what I meant earlier, but abuse I think the answer to your question may be yes and no. The BEV full size truck segment appears to be shaping up into two categories: work truck and lifestyle vehicle. The Rivian is showing itself to be a lifestyle vehicles, along with the GMC Hummer. The F-150, the Lordstown and a few others are promising a genuine work truck. The Cybertruck and the Bowler vehicles appear to blow whatever way the owner may choose to go, so we especially will have to see with those two. So yes, I can see an electric F-150 at a job site, being used as the work tool that it is, yet maybe not so much as a lifestyle vehicle parked in someone’s drive way. On the other hand, I can see buyer getting a Rivian to drive through the snow to go to their lake house cabin, or some other forest adventure, but not so much as a real down and dirty work truck. So, I guess it’s up to how VW wants to market their EV truck, should they deside to build one. This may be a great time to get into that business, but how they want to market their vehicle may determine if they are successful or not!
March 28th, 2021 at 10:57 am
23.) That is a good question, but let me clarify what I meant earlier, but abuse I think the answer to your question may be yes and no. The BEV full size truck segment appears to be shaping up into two categories: work truck and lifestyle vehicle. The Rivian is showing itself to be a lifestyle vehicles, along with the GMC Hummer. The F-150, the Lordstown and a few others are promising a genuine work truck. The Cybertruck and the Bowler vehicles appear to blow whatever way the owner may choose to go, so we especially will have to see with those two. So yes, I can see an electric F-150 at a job site, being used as the work tool that it is, yet maybe not so much as a lifestyle vehicle parked in someone’s drive way. On the other hand, I can see buyer getting a Rivian to drive through the snow to go to their lake house cabin, or some other forest adventure, but not so much as a real down and dirty work truck. So, I guess it’s up to how VW wants to market their EV truck, should they deside to build one. This may be a great time to get into that business, but how they want to market their vehicle may determine if they are successful or not!
March 28th, 2021 at 5:04 pm
I doubt it is going to be good to get into the EL business for a very long time. IMO, the major reason the Detroit 3 is jumping into the game is for the credits. It continues to be a loosing proposition the industry is forced into… and for what?; A piece of the 2% market share? Give me a break!
March 28th, 2021 at 7:59 pm
I just learned on 60 Minutes that Hyundai now owns the company that produced this.
https://youtu.be/fn3KWM1kuAw
March 29th, 2021 at 7:18 am
27, Those robots dance better than I do….BUT, I do have opposing thumbs (so I’ve got that going for me).
Bahrain Grand Prix: predicable results but a whole lot of good racing. Funny thing about the outcome; Hamilton exceeded track limits multiple times (even to the end of repeated warnings; no penalty). Max, and I agree it was a much more important leaving of the track (ending laps for a pass), still, I think the Red Bull and Max had the ‘best’ on Sunday. Hoping that this year isn’t a M-B runaway.
March 29th, 2021 at 8:22 am
23 I did catch some news over the weekend where they were saying 400Million dollars per hour is being lost by the canal being blocked.
That seemed like a huge number and I’m betting its more like normally the canal sees 400 M per hour travel through it. So its not actually a loss but more of a delay and sure its costing money but to the degree they like to claim.
March 29th, 2021 at 10:13 am
28 I just read an article on the F1 web site, with Horner not being too happy about the “grey” enforcement of track limits. I, too, hope that it won’t be an M-B runaway, and it looks like it won’t be.
March 29th, 2021 at 10:13 am
I just saw that the ship is un-stuck.
March 29th, 2021 at 10:15 am
https://apnews.com/article/suez-canal-ship-freed-live-updates-48f856c9afed58feb908878c2a495287