AD #3047 – VW of America Changes Its Name; Lexus’ Wild LF-Z Concept; Battery Maker Threatens to Leave the U.S.
March 30th, 2021 at 11:50am
Listen to “AD #3047 – VW of America Changes Its Name; Lexus' Wild LF-Z Concept; Battery Maker Threatens to Leave the U.S.” on Spreaker.
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Runtime: 11:11
0:07 VW of America Changes Name to Voltswagen of America
0:50 Volvo Gives Employees Paid Parental Leave
1:28 Autoline Stock Index Falls Slightly
1:52 Dealers Jack Price with Corvette Inventory Low
3:02 Key Details for Kia’s EV6
4:16 Wild Lexus Concept Hints at Future EV Design
5:11 SK Innovation Threatens to Leave the U.S.
6:00 U.S. Auto Groups Urge New EV Plan
7:28 BMW Secures 2nd Lithium Supplier for EV Ramp Up
8:44 How ZF Made Its Level 2 ADAS System Affordable
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VW OF AMERICA NOW VOLTSWAGEN OF AMERICA
It sounds like an April Fool’s Day joke but it isn’t. Volkswagen of America is changing its name to Voltswagen of America. That’s Volts with a T. It’s all got to do with the transition to electric vehicles. All EV models will have a “Voltswagen” badge on the exterior while gas powered models will carry the traditional VW logo. Starting today, the new branding rolls out to its advertising, website and social media channels. And soon, all of its dealers in the U.S. will have the new Voltswagen signage. But what do you think? Is Voltswagen a cheap marketing ploy or a very clever idea? Let us know in the comments.
VOLVO GIVES EMPLOYEES PAID PARENTAL LEAVE
You’ve got to hand it to Volvo. It sure knows how to treat its employees well. It’s offering 24 weeks of paid parental leave to anyone who’s worked for the company at least a year. It applies to either parent, and they can take their leave at any time within three years of becoming a parent, and they get 80% of their base pay. The policy includes adoptive parents, foster care and surrogate parents, as well as non-birth parents in same-sex couples. Volvo already tested the policy in Europe and found that nearly half the applicants were fathers.
AUTOLINE STOCK INDEX DOWN SLIGHTLY
The global Autoline Stock Index fell 1% yesterday, though it varied by region. Automotive stocks were up 3% in Europe thanks to a 5% surge from Volkswagen. But they were flat in Japan, down 1% in China and down 2% in the U.S. Investors are still worried about the chip shortage and the impact it could have on earnings.
| Close | Change | % Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Europe | 610 | 16.86 | +2.8% |
| Japan | 392 | 0.17 | —— |
| China | 311 | -47.87 | -1.2% |
| U.S. | 3,244 | -57.48 | -2.1% |
| Global | 4,862 | -59.15 | -1.2% |
DEALERS JACK PRICE WITH CORVETTE INVENTORY LOW
Want to buy a C8 Corvette? Well good luck with that. Inventory is so tight that Chevrolet instructed its dealers to stop taking orders. It doesn’t want customers getting angry, sitting around forever and not getting their cars. There are only about 1,000 Corvettes in inventory around the U.S., which is nothing. And so guess what dealers are doing? They’re tacking on an extra $10,000 to $30,000 to the cars they do have in inventory. And that’s making customers a lot more angry than having to wait for a car.
KEY KIA EV6 DETAILS
Here are some of the details we’ve been waiting on for Kia’s all-new EV6, which goes on sale in the second half of this year. Two battery sizes are available; 58 kWh and 77.4 kWh. The larger pack, when paired with two-wheel drive, returns up to 510 kilometers or about 315 miles of range based on the WLTP cycle. All-wheel drive is also available, and is standard on the more performance oriented GT model that does 0-100 km/h in 3.5 seconds. Kia says it’s possible to charge from 10% to 80% in just 18 minutes thanks to the EVs 800-volt and 400-volt charging capabilities. Cold weather was a focus as well and its latest-generation heat pump allows the EV6 to retain 80% of the range it would have at optimal temperatures even when it dips down to -7-degrees Celsius or roughly 19-degrees Fahrenheit. There’s more information about the EV6 in the press release and we’ll provide the link if you’d like to check that out. But we’re pretty much waiting on prices at this point.
WILD LEXUS CONCEPT HINTS AT FUTURE EV DESIGN
Now we shift gears over to Lexus, which just debuted this wild concept, called the LF-Z Electrified. While it’s clearly a concept, Lexus says design elements will carry over into future electrified models, including battery electrics and hybrids, the first of which is coming in 2025. We find it interesting that designers closed off the grille, but still maintained the spindle grille look. It’s even more accentuated with large blacked-out elements on either side that are meant to look like huge air vents. This also helps make the vehicle look wider, a feature that was picked up on the rear as well. It’s difficult to see how parts of the interior will transfer over to future models but it did say it went for an interior with a sense of openness. Guess we’ll learn more as we get closer to 2025.
SK THREATENS TO LEAVE THE U.S.
SK Innovation is threatening to pull its battery business out of the U.S. if President Biden doesn’t overturn a ruling the U.S. International Trade Commission made against it. Last month, the ITC sided with LG Chem, which accused SK of stealing trade secrets. The ITC banned SK from importing some lithium-ion batteries in the U.S. for 10 years with some exceptions. LG and SK can still reach their own settlement but the two sides aren’t close to a deal. SK says its looking at moving its battery business to Europe or China and may halt production of its $2.6 billion battery plant in Georgia if Biden doesn’t overturn the ruling. SK currently supplies batteries to Ford and Volkswagen in the U.S.
U.S. AUTO GROUPS CALL FOR EV PLAN
But SK isn’t the only one putting pressure on Biden. The UAW, the Alliance for Automobile Innovation and the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association, sent a letter to the President urging him to support a comprehensive plan on electric vehicles and increase credits and incentives to spur EV sales. The letter also called for federal help for automakers and suppliers to build EV components and create a U.S. based supply for materials and minerals needed to make batteries.
If you like car design we’ve got a great Autoline After Hours coming up on Thursday afternoon. Our guests will be Karl Ludvigsen and Jim Hall and we’ll be looking at where car design has been and where it’s going. That’s Thursday at 3 pm eastern time on Autoline After Hours.
BMW SECURES MORE LITHIUM FOR EV RAMP UP
BMW has big EV goals. By 2023 it says it will have about 12 fully electric models on the road and that sales of EVs will increase more than 50% per year between now and 2025. If that seems like a lot, it is, especially considering BMW doesn’t have much in the way of an EV lineup right now. One way it’s accelerating its EV effort is by building ICE and electric vehicles off the same platform. This will allow BMW to ramp up faster and save money by not having lots of different platforms. But it’s going to cause some pain in the long run. Production is slower because at some point the versions have to divert on the line to get a part or component the other one doesn’t have. And an EV off an ICE platform is not as good as one based on a dedicated platform. But with the increase in EV production BMW has had to secure a second source for lithium for future battery cells. So, it’s investing 285 million euro in a company called Livent, which will supply lithium to BMW’s battery manufacturers starting in 2022.
HOW ZF MADE AFFORDABLE LEVEL 2 ADAS SYSTEM
ZF has a new Level 2 ADAS system called CoAssist that offers adaptive cruise control with automated lane changes, traffic jam assist, traffic sign recognition and automated garage parking. Obviously, this kind of technology is already available. But what caught our attention is that it’s available on the Dongfeng Aeolus Yixuan, a compact sedan in China that sells for under $15,000. So how did ZF get the cost down for such a low cost car? Christophe Marnat, the executive vice president of electronics and ADAS at ZF, tells us how.
(Clip from interview with Christophe Marnat can only be viewed in the video version of today’s show.)
So there’s the secret to low cost designs. Use off the shelf components and give the OEM a turnkey solution. In other words, sell them a complete package and don’t let them pick and choose what they want, because that drives up THE cost. While Christophe Marnat would not tell us the exact cost, he says it’s well under $1,000.
But that wraps up today’ show, thanks for watching.
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Comments (46)
March 30th, 2021 at 12:08 pm
I think Voltswagen is a cheesy and insulting marketing concept. Like us Americans are too dumb to recognize VW’s shift to EV technology, so they will hit us over the head with it by changing their brand in the American market.
That’s right folks, it will only change here in America. I guess because those much smarter European and Chinese folks will pick up on VW’s widely reported and much hyped transition to electrical motivation. And by changing one letter, their brand goes from the people’s car to the electrical car.
I predict this will be viewed in future marketing classes as one of the most boneheaded marketing decisions of the century.
March 30th, 2021 at 12:11 pm
Pretty classy move on Volvo’s side. In Canada we get a lot more maternity leave than that but not at full wage so that’s a very nice benefit.
March 30th, 2021 at 12:12 pm
Voltswagen – dumb or not? I guess we sill see but seems kind of dumb to me.
March 30th, 2021 at 12:26 pm
Volkswagen of America to Voltswagen of America – Does that mean it’s no longer the “People’s Car”?
March 30th, 2021 at 12:28 pm
Interestingly, this is one name change where their logo doesn’t need to change, and the dealership logo signage doesn’t need to change. But, it appears that they are going to make some changes to the logo and will still force the dealers to buy new signage just for this silly marketing maneuver.
Also, this move seems a bit premature. VW currently has 11 models for sale in the US market. Only one, the new ID4 is an EV. All of the others are ICE vehicles. Maybe they should have waited until a few more EV models were ready for sale before changing their name.
March 30th, 2021 at 12:39 pm
Its interesting how people complain whenever a hot vehicle is in short supply and dealers ask for a premium on the few they will get. But, no one refuses the very generous rebates given on models that are in high supply and selling more slowly than anticipated.
Its simply the effect of supply and demand in a free market economy. And, I dare say that if any of the complainers owned a dealership and saw how many vehicles they sell with razor thin margins or even at a loss, they would readily agree to ask for a premium on the few hot sellers they are allocated.
March 30th, 2021 at 12:41 pm
And we wonder why Volvos always seem overpriced!
March 30th, 2021 at 12:43 pm
Price gouging on the C8 is nothing new; ever since the stellar introduction of this truly great sports car, any purchaser would have been warry of a dealer mark-up. Bridled with a strike on GM, the pandemic and now the parts shortage, availability of Corvette has been tenuous. While orders for new Corvettes has been suspended, this is to be able to fill the already full production orders for ’21 to be completed so that ’22 orders can then be resumed. Look for this to be sometime in July (for 2022′s). Most ordered C8′s were customer order, and depending on the dealer that was used to order, would or would not incur the mark-up; but certainly the rest were at MSRP; this will continue probably through ’22.
March 30th, 2021 at 12:50 pm
The “Voltswagen” play on words reminds me of the the post-bankruptcy nickname for GM – “Government Motors.” It is sophomoric.
Regarding BMW’s 50% EV increase between now and 2025, what are the absolute numbers? A compounded 50% growth of nothing is still nothing. More politely, it sells less than 30k i models annually. If it sells 30k this year, then 45k in 2022, 67.5k in 2023, 101.3 in 2024, and 152k in 2025. That is nice growth, but still not very large numbers.
March 30th, 2021 at 12:50 pm
They don’t call dealers “STEALERSHIPS” for nothing , they are licensed to gouge,is that why they are against Tesla?
March 30th, 2021 at 12:54 pm
There needs to be laws in place to prevent dealers from pricing vehicles above M.S.R.P.
That is no way for a dealer to start a relationship with a customer by screwing them over. I would never buy anything from a dealer that treated customers that way. I support dealers with my buying dollars that act professionally and want a long term relationship.
March 30th, 2021 at 12:56 pm
Lucid and Rivian are being sued right now by the Illinois dealer groups to try to stop them from selling direct to customers, the Chinese automakers will also forego the Stealersip model of sales, it is said> Michael Dunne ( a
Guest) said in an interview years ago in Autolinedaily.
March 30th, 2021 at 1:07 pm
Remember back several years when someone at General Motors said no one was to use the word “Chevy” ever again? I can’t recall the reason, but obviously it was not well thought out and not a good move. My guess is that people over the age of twenty-five will call VW “Volkswagen” and those younger, “Voltswagen”. It is confusing to say the least. As an automotive journalist, I will rely on VW press releases as my guide for what to call their company.
March 30th, 2021 at 1:16 pm
Dopeswagon is the more appropriate name for EV VW. And the dealer markups continue by all brands not just Chevy. Ram TRX, Shelby GT500 / 350s, Broncos, and some Mach Es. You never recover these rip off prices and you have to pay state sales tax on the full amount. Not me!
March 30th, 2021 at 1:23 pm
Anyone else thinks the front of the Wild Lexus Concept is Butt ugly?
March 30th, 2021 at 1:28 pm
@10&11 – There is a reason it’s called MSRP. The “S” stands for “suggested”. If you don’t like the idea that dealers have latitude in pricing, look no further than most state franchise laws that remove the manufacturer from equation.
Markups don’t bother me as they are very transparent. The hidden fees are most bothersome, particularly doc fees. Here in Florida, doc fees of $595 are common, but some dealers charge as high as $1000. Sorry, I won’t buy from any dealer with a doc fee over $195.
March 30th, 2021 at 1:28 pm
10 – Larry, the concept of supply and demand apply to any product, Tesla included. You think just because they don’t have dealerships that they don’t play games with pricing? How about when Elon lowered the price of the Model S TWICE in one week, after Lucid announced their pricing for the Air? And how he has dramatically lowered prices on all models that are built in China to better compete with the Chinese EV brands?
Yes, supply and demand apply universally. Just watch the price of coffee this year. Crops have not fared well and big price increases are forecast. Low supply + high demand = higher prices.
March 30th, 2021 at 1:33 pm
13 – John, from the stories I have seen today, VW will use both names until all of their ICE models are discontinued. They will slap Voltswagen on the back of the EVs and Volkswagen on the ICE models. Good thing the names are so similar. Most people probably won’t pick up on the difference in everyday conversation.
Reminds me of the Volt and Bolt stupidity. What is up with these legacy automakers?
I am surprised that VW didn’t put Voldswagen on their diesel models!
March 30th, 2021 at 2:05 pm
8 My car, ordered in September, will be MSRP plus what it actually costs to do the Florida registration. No employee/retiree discount, probably for two or three years on C8s. I’ll have to pay the then-current MSRP when the car arrives, but if it’s higher than when I placed the order, as it will be, I can get my $1000 deposit back if I don’t want to take the car. Yeah, many dealers are doing “added dealer profit,” even to sold orders that won’t be built for a year.
March 30th, 2021 at 2:08 pm
The VW name change is stupid, but I never cared much for VW of America for various other reasons, like not selling the cars I like, such as Passat Wagon, and not having much of a dealer network.
Unrelated, but while Honda Ridgeline is not selling too well, overall, it seems to have a following at my condo. There are two of them for the 35 units in my building.
March 30th, 2021 at 2:13 pm
Simple solution to those pissed off by gouging is not to pay it. If you have the personality that means you have to have something all things be damned then don’t be surprised when they hose you. By refusing to pay those prices they will either drop the prices or you just give it a pass. This is where manufacturers should step in , because when people blast about how they were screwed it will be the Brand not the individual dealer that will take the worse hit,
March 30th, 2021 at 2:21 pm
17 Tesla is not as transparent as they would like you to believe. For a start, the default “price” on their web site has a few thousand dollars knock off of the actual price for
“potential savings.” That is $4300 for the base “Standard Range Plus” Model 3. Then, they have a $1125 destination charge. That is in line with other car companies, but is hard to even find from the web site. Then, there is document fee that is well hidden on the web site.
Also, apparently some things are more “negotiable” than we are led to believe. My friend who bought a Model S a while back was able to negotiate some free charging which had been included with Model S at one time, but had been discontinued before he bought the car.
March 30th, 2021 at 2:21 pm
Anyone else think of “International House of Burgers/IHOB” when they heard this?
March 30th, 2021 at 2:22 pm
“VOLTSWAGEN”???? Cheap Marketing Ploy.
March 30th, 2021 at 2:27 pm
21 People seem to have different opinions on whether to blame the manufacturer, or just blame the dealer for above-MSRP prices for C8s and GT500s. With new to market cars that turn out to be popular, this stuff has happened for years. New Beetles and PT Cruisers, and also Miatas were sold at over MSRP by some dealers when they first hit the market.
March 30th, 2021 at 2:38 pm
Interestingly, Volkswagen of America runs sales of VW, Audi, Bentley, Lamborghini, and Bugatti, but not Porsche. I suppose the “Voltswagen” name might show up on some internal documents at the divisions other than VW, but shouldn’t be seen on the cars.
March 30th, 2021 at 2:39 pm
23 It’s still IHOP to me, and the Chrysler pickup trucks are still Dodge.
March 30th, 2021 at 2:52 pm
Voltswagen!!! Tacky PR stunt. It must have been quite a brew the marketing types stuffed in their bong during that meeting.
March 30th, 2021 at 2:55 pm
15 I own a pre-spindle grill Lexus GS. I would not buy a Lexus these days unless they radically change their styling. I agree butt ugly.
March 30th, 2021 at 2:57 pm
@25 – I recall nearly every Honda in the late 70s and early 80s was sold at prices above MSRP. Some dealers circumvented OEM scrutiny by charging full MSRP plus over $1000 of “rust & dust”… trivial add-ons that had grotesque margins.
March 30th, 2021 at 4:20 pm
30 My sister ran into that with an early CVCC Civic 2 door hatch, I think 1976. It had drivabity problems, and she didn’t keep it very long. I don’t know if the problems she had were common.
March 30th, 2021 at 4:39 pm
MSRP = It is Manufacturers Suggested Retail Price – Find it interesting that many whine when dealers charge more than MSRP when demand exceeds supply while many of the same people probably tell the world when they pay under MSRP when supply is exceeding demand.
As #21 stated “You don’t have to pay over MSRP – You can even save more cash by not purchasing.
#19 – Interesting although not totally surprising that retire purchase price is not available on C8 – Given time it will be. As you advised, your choice.
March 30th, 2021 at 4:51 pm
32 Employee pricing is not available on any new generation Corvette, or any other GM car that is in demand. I tbink it was first available for 2016 C7s, and is not available for CT4 and CT5 Blackwings. There may be others.
March 30th, 2021 at 5:09 pm
The Voltswagen rebranding is a head scratcher. I wonder what GM thinks of them using Volt as part of the name of their electric range, not to mention as the name of the U.S. arm of the company. Ironically, I have heard many people mispronounce Volkswagen as Voltswagen over my lifetime. Those people may feel vindicated! Even so, I doubt it will change their opinion of VW.
March 30th, 2021 at 6:48 pm
Isn’t Volkswagen pronounced “folks’-vogg-un”?
March 30th, 2021 at 7:39 pm
35, that would be the correct German pronunciation, but everyone I know uses the Anglicized pronunciation.
March 30th, 2021 at 7:55 pm
Voltswagen = Early April Fool’s and free publicity (ala IHOP).
March 30th, 2021 at 9:12 pm
36 When my father bought a ’65 Beetle, the dealer people liked to use the German pronunciation. Now, with their abandoning their traditional buyers and emphasizing trucks called Atlas, I suppose the Anglicized pronunciation is a better fit.
March 30th, 2021 at 11:07 pm
As of 11:00pm news I heard on the radio, Voltswagen is an April fools joke.
March 30th, 2021 at 11:42 pm
39 I’m glad. There is a lot of silliness, but that would be too, too much.
March 31st, 2021 at 12:54 am
A bad April fools joke?
March 31st, 2021 at 8:01 am
21) Completely agree. Simply walk away from the Corvette and the prices will fall. It is as simple as that. If they don’t fall, so what? If you need a sports car in that price range, simply buy a Porsche 911 and never look at another Corvette again for the rest of your life. The consumer will be equally happy in their Porsche.
It is a major problem for gm to solve as you don’t want your customer base driven to the competition by your dealers due to add on pricing. The consumer though, they will be just fine.
March 31st, 2021 at 8:43 am
41 The cheapest new 911 in over $100K base. The Porsche sports car priced comparably to the Corvette is Cayman/Boxter.
The “solution” to all this for a customer wanting a C8, or GT500 if they don’t discontinue it after a short run, is to wait a couple years, or find a dealer that will order your car and sell it for MSRP. The Corvette can probably be bought for a little less than MSRP a couple years from now. I don’t really blame GM or Ford, that some dealers will take advantage of the current supply/demand situation with certain cars.
March 31st, 2021 at 8:59 am
Voltswagen seems like one of those “humor doesn’t translate” things. I assume the idea came from a US team, but it’s awkward enough to think that a German had a hand in it.
March 31st, 2021 at 10:11 am
We used to call them Boltswagons back when I was a kid . Everytime a aircooled VW went by it sounded like a coffee can of bolts hooked up on a paint can shaker.
March 31st, 2021 at 10:22 am
44 The timing gears made a really distintive sound after they got some miles on them.