This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry.
GM OFFERED TO MAKE NEXT-GEN ZAMBONI
General Motors is at the top of the news today. Remember when NHL teams helped GM ramp up mask production to fight the pandemic? Well, GM offered to return the favor by designing the NHL’s next-generation Zamboni. But sources tell Autoline a fight broke out over exclusivity rights and GM CEO Mary Barra ended up losing a tooth. When asked about the incident, Barra responded, “This ain’t nothing. You should see the other person.”
KONA N NOT WHAT YOU THINK
Everyone thought that Hyundai was going to release a performance version of the Kona — the Kona N. But it turns out we got it all wrong. Hyundai is actually making a short film based on the movie Conan, which will feature action shots of the Kona. Hyundai says it’s sorry for any confusion, but urges people to check out Kona N anyway.
IIHS TEAMS UP WITH DENTURE COMPANY
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety smashes up a lot of cars. But those crash tests create an awful mess that has to be cleaned up. So, the safety gurus got the idea to team up with a denture company and turn smashed up car grilles into blinged-out grillz for people to wear. Here you go, just to give you an idea of what they look like. I know, I know, some of you think it’s an improvement.
3-CYLINDER OWNERS CRY COLLUSION
Whoa! Here’s a crazy story. Car owners in Europe with 3-cylinder engines are suing automakers and spark plug manufacturers. They’re crying collusion. Spark plugs are typically sold in packs of four, and the 3-cylinder people feel they’re getting screwed.
LAMBORGHINI OFFERS REVERSE LAMBO DOORS
Lamborghini has been around so long that it’s got quite a few aging owners. And they can’t contort their body to get into their cars anymore. So, Lambo is coming to the rescue. It now offers Reverse Lambo Door Kits. It got so much good feedback from the Huracan, which doesn’t come with Lambo doors, that the marketing guys decided they were leaving too much money on the table.
And that’s the top of the news on this first day of April. We’ll be back in a moment with what’s really going on.
VW BUYING TESLA EV CREDITS IN CHINA
Volkswagen wants to be the Number One EV maker in the world. But for now it mostly sells gasoline powered vehicles. Reuters reports that the German automaker and its joint venture partner in China, FAW, are buying EV credits from Tesla in order to comply with stricter emission regulations. No word yet on how much it’s spending but sources say the automakers are offering 3,000 yuan per credit or a little more than $450. Last year, FAW-Volkswagen sold 2.16 million vehicles in China, most of which were gas powered.
BIDEN ROLLS OUT HUGE INFRASTRUCTURE PLAN
President Biden’s $1.9 trillion infrastructure plan contains a big chunk of money to pick up the pace with electric cars. It includes $174 billion to install 500,000 charging stations by 2030, as well as point-of-sale rebates on EVs, not just tax rebates. He wants to convert all federal vehicles and public school busses to electric. And he wants to develop a domestic supply chain to make batteries and motors, so the U.S. is not dependent on Asia. The auto industry and the UAW strongly back the plan. And now the fight to implement it begins in Congress.
ITC RULES IN SK’S FAVOR ON PATENTS
LG Chem won a preliminary ruling against SK Innovation for stealing trade secrets. But it also sued SK for violating its patents. But this time LG Chem lost. The U.S. International Trade Commission just ruled in SK’s favor. Remember, SK has threatened to leave the U.S. if President Biden doesn’t overturn the ITC’s original ruling. It’s said this latest ruling could have bearing on the two company’s other disputes, but we don’t know what that will be. We’ll keep you posted when more info comes in.
CHIP SHORTAGE HITS FORD’S CASH COW
It seems like we say this everyday but the chip shortage is getting worse. Ford announced production cuts at two of its plants that build the F-150. It will halt production at its Dearborn plant for two weeks starting on April 5th and it will idle production at its Kansas City plant next week. And it won’t run any overtime shifts at the two facilities through June. That’s a big blow to the automaker as the F-Series is a money making machine. On top of that, Stellantis, Nissan, GM, Honda and Volkswagen have recently announced production cuts in North America. AlixPartners estimates that the chip shortage will cost automakers $61 billion in lost sales this year.
EVs WON’T MAKE PROFIT FOR YEARS TO COME
When will automakers start making a profit on electric cars? Bloomberg reports that it probably won’t happen until the second half of this decade. While automakers make a decent return right now on expensive EVs like the Porsche Taycan, battery costs need to drop to $60 per kilowatt hour for them to be profitable at the low end of the market. Bloomberg reports batteries cost about $140 per kilowatt hour right now.
HYUNDAI TEASES SANTA CRUZ PICKUP
Hyundai revealed some teaser pictures for its all-new Santa Cruz pickup, which goes into production this summer in Alabama. I’m sure a lot of you are happy to see it retains a good deal of the concept’s styling. There’s not a lot of details, but we can tell you it sits on an ICE-based platform and will have all-wheel drive availability. Here’s another thing. You know how BMW calls its utilities SAVs or Sport Activity Vehicles, instead of SUVs. Well, Hyundai is not calling the Santa Cruz a truck, but rather a Sport Adventure Vehicle. We know Hyundai plans to package this truck in ways we haven’t really seen in the segment before. So, look out for those announcements too.
Before we sign off, make sure to catch Autoline After Hours later this afternoon at 3 PM eastern time. It’s all about design; past, present and future. But that’s it for today. Thanks for watching and we’ll be back here again tomorrow.
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Comments (46)
April 1st, 2021 at 12:09 pm
The box on the Hyundai looks very small, I wonder if it will have a mid-gate like the Avalanche to make it a little more useful.
April 1st, 2021 at 12:20 pm
Thank God deficits no longer matter! All hail Harris!
April 1st, 2021 at 12:26 pm
I don’t think the infra plan is $1.9 trill. THat was the COVID pork. THis one I believe is over $2 trill. Probably $2.4, if I remember well.
A trill here, a trill there, and soon enough we are talking about real money…
April 1st, 2021 at 12:26 pm
Perhaps I’ve not been paying attention, but I saw the ZF ad for the first time in today’s show and the narrator said, “We are Zee-F” rather than “We are Zed-F”. Was that on purpose to sound more “American”, or just the announcer not knowing the traditional pronouncement of this Global/German company?
April 1st, 2021 at 12:27 pm
I love that Santa Cruz! IMHO, the original face looked better, but I’m warming to its new look. If I hadn’t purchased a new vehicle two years ago, this, the Maverick or a Ridgeline would have been my next vehicle. Can not wait until I’m done paying for my current vehicle
April 1st, 2021 at 12:29 pm
Tesla will eventually be the most profitable of BEV makers, having complete focus on pure BEVs helps, no stranded assets on ICE tooling and Stealerships to split profits helps ,Stealerships salespeople tend to steer buyers into ICE vehicles, because that is where the future profits lie for the outfit, in ICE Service, selling a BEV that might come back for service in 2 to 3 years kills the profit golden goose , with Ice the owner is guaranteed to come back twice a year, an ICE owner is YOYO’d back constantly. Success of future BEVs manufacturers will kill STEALERSHIPS.
April 1st, 2021 at 12:31 pm
That Biden story was a cruel April Fool joke. But on the upside I hear he is going to be the poster boy for the holiday.
April 1st, 2021 at 12:33 pm
#3, Canadians say Zed not Zee!,and we are North Americans
April 1st, 2021 at 12:33 pm
Sean, I loved the next-gen Zamboni bit. Maybe should have taken it further like, ‘GM is re-entering the mini-van market with a Zamboni edition of the GMC Acadia aimed at Hockey Moms. In addition to the badging changes, the 4 regular doors are replaced with 2 sliding doors, one on each side. ‘
April 1st, 2021 at 12:34 pm
1 From the linked site, “a flexible open bed for gear.” That sounds like a mid gate. I wonder if the back seat can be easily removed, to make it better for carrying stuff, if the back seat isn’t needed.
April 1st, 2021 at 12:35 pm
Any information one the Chevy Tornado van in Mexico, plus the related small pickup and car?
April 1st, 2021 at 12:36 pm
So Biden is going to spend 1.9 trillion or $5740 per US person on infrastructure for EVs. Does that seem like a good investment for a product that is only getting 2% of annual sales. Many people have pointed out that installing chargers all over isn’t going to drive people toward EVs. Most will really want them when they can charge at home and the other public chargers are just to resolve range anxiety and for convenience.
April 1st, 2021 at 12:37 pm
5 Teslas must need more service than we are led to believe, seeing all of the cars lined up at the service department at the soon-to-open Tesla store near me.
April 1st, 2021 at 12:39 pm
11 Wrong. read the news again, carefully this time. Less than 10% of the 1.9 trill is going to EVs. And it will be probably the only % of the 1.9 trillion that will be legitimate infrastructure spending. The rest will be pork and you will get nothing for it. Like in Obama’s so-called stimulus plan.
April 1st, 2021 at 12:40 pm
11 If some of the money is to making charging available for those of us who can’t charge at home, it would increase the demand for EVs. Still, unless things really change, EVs will not be popular as an “only car” for a lot of people.
April 1st, 2021 at 12:42 pm
@1:00 BMW s are good candidates for dentists and Orthodontists,they can do a number on Beaver
April 1st, 2021 at 12:44 pm
From the latest Autoline stories over the last couple weeks (and more), it appears that come 2025 all will be known (and profitable). Personally I don’t feel that this epiphany is going to happen. Some will, some won’t, but I see the timeline as being a whole lot more fuzzy (and more distant than predicted).
If you don’t see the “pork” in all these stimulus bills and now the infrastructure bill, you’ve taken the bait: hook, line and sinker. I believe that an infrastructure bill is needed however, but raising corporate taxes just passes them on to us (the current tax payers/consumers) as prices will rise and probably inflation.
April 1st, 2021 at 1:05 pm
“Software defined vehicle” that’s the first time I’ve heard that phrase. Probably more true every day.
And to pile on: Zed Eff!
April 1st, 2021 at 1:06 pm
It’s only another $1.9T! Yes, Mr. Biden can get some of it from corporations and the ultra rich, but not all of it. Just add it to the already huge and growing deficit with no balance budget or repayment in sight. At some point in the future this will come to head and it won’t be pretty. Are you ready for it? How about your children?
April 1st, 2021 at 1:14 pm
16. Agreed. As to the so-called “infrastructure bill”, hopefully most will see it was cleverly named to hide the fact only about 9% of funding would go for the needed infrastructure, with the lion’s share funding a progressive hodgepodge of projects (“Solyndra on steroids”). Given such poorly camoflaged, central office messaging, the private sector had better wake up before it finds government openly mandating what to build, what to charge and when to build it.
April 1st, 2021 at 1:24 pm
Where will all these battery materials come from? 3rd world countries without any concern for the environmental damage caused. FOOLISH!
April 1st, 2021 at 1:29 pm
19 The 2017 tax cuts for the rich cost about 1.9T. Reverse them, and the infrastructure package will be mostly paid for.
Anyway, here’s what’s in the bill, though everyone knows it’s not likely to become law in its present form.
https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-in-bidens-infrastructure-bill-package-american-jobs-plan-2021-3
April 1st, 2021 at 1:57 pm
Biden /Harris 1.9 T infrastructure… was done before. And gave the USSR the “Lada” and its associated crumbling architecture. But seems like anything that has failed in the past is good to keep trying to see if it may someday work. You see “This time” will be different because of who is doing it. Nuance. it’s about nuance.
April 1st, 2021 at 2:01 pm
Your report said Biden wants to electrify the entire school bus fleet. In another report I read, it said only 20% of the school bus fleet would be electrified.
For those who don’t know, the school bus fleet in the United States is the largest single mass transit fleet in the nation, coming in at just south of 500,000 vehicles. They transport about 25 million kids per day.
So whether it’s the “full” fleet or only 20% makes a huge difference.
April 1st, 2021 at 2:08 pm
14 Yeah sorry of the 1.9 T only 174B is earmarked for EV chargers. Still take that amount and divided by each tax payer and its just over $1000 each.. The original post I divided by population of 330M Americans but actually according to the IRS only 165,624,000 Americans file taxes. So removing the kids and really just those of us that pay taxes the 1.9T is more like $11,471 per person.. Kind of puts in in perspective.
April 1st, 2021 at 2:37 pm
Question: Is it the Federal, or State, or City governments responsible to creating a refueling infrastructure for vehicles? NO!
April 1st, 2021 at 4:04 pm
In today’s Cars& Bids auctions, several stunning results.
A 1991 silly-quirky Nissan Figaro, a kei car not imported in the US but brought and titled here, sold for… $20,000.
Next to it, a beautiful maroon 2001 911 Carrera coupe sold for only $16,246, and, worse, a V12 Mercedes CL600 (the CL is even more expensive than the S class from which it is derived) sold for only $9,200. Admittedly those V12s had much lower HP than current V8 AMGs.
A mint, low-mile 2005 Maybach 57 fetched $60,100.
A final note re the Infrastructure tax, the cowards in the WH did not dare get the revenues either by a gas tax increase, or by an even fairer user fee, using mileage.
Instead, they do the usual dance. “Don’t tax you, don’t tax me, tax the fellow behind the tree”, ie your children and grandchildren.
And as Chuck Grenci correctly pointed out, all these tax increases will result in inflation, as will the preposterous increase in the minimum wage, which they want $15/hr regardless if you work in ultra-expensive NY or SF, or in rural Mississippi.
The min wage increase will result in both massive unemployment among the most lowly-paid workers, a n d an increase in prices. Enjoy!
April 1st, 2021 at 4:06 pm
26 They subsidized it a lot in the early days of gas cars, and still subsidize some aspects of it.
April 1st, 2021 at 4:09 pm
So 75% of all USA EVs are Tesla but 100% of the EV charger money will got to CCS-1 only chargers … the favorite of EU made EVs.
April 1st, 2021 at 4:35 pm
28 Can’t Teslas use them, with adapters, probably sold by Tesla?
April 1st, 2021 at 4:53 pm
27. How about some examples or links to support your statements?
April 1st, 2021 at 4:59 pm
30 https://www.eesi.org/papers/view/fact-sheet-fossil-fuel-subsidies-a-closer-look-at-tax-breaks-and-societal-costs
April 1st, 2021 at 5:00 pm
…and some earlier times.
https://cen.acs.org/articles/89/i51/Long-History-US-Energy-Subsidies.html
April 1st, 2021 at 6:32 pm
I fail to see what the problem is about jump starting our economy and to finally offer a rebuilding program that has been ignored for decades. Both rep. and dems agree so why make this a political issue? Trickle down economics only served the rich. Placing focus on those who actually paid most of the taxes, on the middle class and offering opportunities to trade welfare for taxable living wages seems like a winning situation to me. These average folk will be the ones to rebuild our bridges, fix the lead pipes and roads, not the wealthy.
April 1st, 2021 at 6:47 pm
31 an 32. Your links are for subsidies used for exploration and production of fossil fuels. I talking about the “refueling infrastructure for vehicles”. Whether it be EV charging stations or California spending $300 million plus of tax payer money to build 100 hydrogen filling station for few thousand vehicles. This is the job of private enterprise NOT government.
Now if talking about funding research to find a much more efficient way of manufacture hydrogen which the federal government is currently doing, I support that.
April 1st, 2021 at 7:03 pm
33. No one is saying we should not spend any money on infrastructure. The problem is where to get the money from. Neither the Rep or Dem are willing to make the tough decisions to balance the budget. My point is your not going to get all $1.9T taxing corporations and the rich, and increasing the deficit is making a bad problem worst. Other people are pointing out there are a lot of things in there that have nothing to do with infrastructure.
April 1st, 2021 at 7:14 pm
George , I get it! What was proposed is only a foundation to be negotiated between the cabinets, then approved. It is one thing to identify and amend the weaknesses, but the right wingers total commitment to kill it just because it is not their idea is destructive; espesially when the majority of voters from both sides believe it is worthy.
This president thus far has proven his commitement to put country first and has given no indication of favoritism.
Biden deserves to be given a chance, yet the Trumpites continue to only feed on past lies because they cannot accept 4 years of disgrace.
April 1st, 2021 at 7:26 pm
34 I just linked the first hits that came up for oil subsidies. Yes, the production of gasoline itself was the issue in the early 1900s and was subsidized, as it needed to be. Now, the actual fueling facilities for alternative energy vehicle is the issue, and may need to be subsidized.
35 The 2017 tax cuts cost near $2T. Yeah, as long as there is a combination of high spending, and the myth of “trickle down” with the associated low tax rates for the wealthy still having favor, balanced budgets are unlikely.
April 1st, 2021 at 7:38 pm
There isn’t an ecomomist worried about a balanced budget as long as the economy grows and inflation is kept in check. The main focus is to excite the economy, reduce unemployment and to beat this COVID situation. Increasing corporate taxs to a fair level is a sound measure that will have little inpact upon their bottom line. If you look at what good became of the present lower taxes, it should be quit evident by now that it has done nill for the country, but only made millioairs billionairs at the cost of everyone else.
April 1st, 2021 at 9:37 pm
@38 – I think your keyboard is malfunctioning… missing and extraneous letters in several words.
“Increasing corporate taxes to a fair level…”!?!?!?! What’s fair? Is it fair to increase the tax levied to onshore employers, when imports don’t employ the same number of Americans and will pay contribute very little to your “fair level” tax? Simply stated, higher corporate taxes kill jobs. Other countries address this inequity with added-value taxes that don’t discriminate between domestic and import consumption.
What’s an added-value tax (?), you ask. Think of it like a national sales tax, but be prepared for the assault from extreme lefties who call all sales taxes “regressive”. Nonsense.
April 1st, 2021 at 9:57 pm
39 All the 2017 tax cuts did was balloon the deficit and debt during an ongoing recovery.
April 1st, 2021 at 10:15 pm
39. The “official” US corporate rates might be fair, about the same as the EU, except loop holes allow avoidance by companies like Amazon, while Jeff Bezos becomes $75B wealthier in one year.
April 1st, 2021 at 10:47 pm
41. Agree. The answer is to fix the loop holes. Increasing the corporate tax rate doesn’t do that.
April 2nd, 2021 at 7:10 am
There are competing, fast DC chargers: (1) Tesla; (2) CCS-1, and (3) CHAdeMO. If the charger subsidies were proportional to the EV sales, no problem. But it is likely the chargers will only be CCS-1.
Tesla sells about 79% of all USA EVs (see web link.) But an exclusive, CCS-1 charger will be usable by only 21%, 1 of 5, EVs. If the subsidy did not mandate the charging plug, it could work.
The subsidy should focus on charging spots, peak charging rate and grid power buffer. Something along the lines of 250-500 kW peak rate; 500-1000 kWh energy storage with bi-directional grid connection. Each ‘station’ should have a minimum of 6-8 parking spots with an idle or parking abuse mechanism.
April 2nd, 2021 at 8:48 am
It looks like Tesla has CCS adapters, but doesn’t sell them in the US.
https://electrek.co/2020/12/16/tesla-announces-new-ccs-charging-adapter/
April 4th, 2021 at 7:52 am
I think Bloomburg is full of it. If they were correct, then GM and others would surely go out of business.