AD #1580 – Scion Gets a Sedan, Plug-Ins Will Drain Your Wallet, Ford Tinkers With Focus ST
March 19th, 2015 at 11:56am
Runtime: 8:13
- GM Makes Major Changes in Russia
- Kia Sketches All-New Optima
- Scion Teases New Models
- BMW Adds Plug-In to X5 Lineup
- Plug-Ins Drain Batteries & Wallets
- Ford Tinkers With the Focus ST
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On today’s show… GM pretty much abandons Russia, Kia teases the all-new Optima and we take a ride in the new Focus ST on the roads of Switzerland. All that and more coming right up on Autoline Daily.
This is Autoline Daily for March 19th, 2015.
GM MAKES MAJOR CHANGES IN RUSSIA
A few days ago we told you about how sales are cratering in Russia and that a number of automakers have suspended production in the country. Now General Motors is making major changes to its operations there. The company announced that Opel is leaving the market by the end of the year and that only U.S. built Chevy’s like the Camaro, Corvette and Tahoe will continue to be sold in Russia. The company will mainly focus on selling Cadillac’s in the country. GM also announced that it’s idling its St. Petersburg plant and ending its assembly partnership with GAZ. Its joint venture with AVTOVAZ will continue. Russia was a promising market just a few years ago but as we’ve said it will be lucky to get back to its previous levels by the end of the decade.
KIA SKETCHES ALL-NEW OPTIMA
The New York auto show is shaping up to have some pretty significant reveals. Kia released these sketches of the all-new Optima. Looks like it’s taking a big step on the evolutionary design front and I for one like it.
SCION TEASES NEW MODELS
And Scion will have a pair of debuts as well. We’ll get to see a more toned down, production-ready version of the iM and a newly announced iA sedan. It seems that Toyota is letting Scion fill the gaps left by Matrix and Yaris 4-door. The only question is that gap large enough to revive the brand?
We’ll get back to the news right after this.
PLUG IT IN, PLUG IT IN
BMW is using some of the knowledge that it gained from the i-brand models and will be introducing a plug-in hybrid version of the AWD X5 SUV. Under the hood is a 2.0L turbocharged 4-cylinder gasoline engine with an electric motor that’s mated to an 8-speed automatic transmission. Combined they produce over 300 horsepower and 330 lb.-ft. of torque, which is enough to get the plug-in to 60 MPH in 6.5-seconds and still achieve a U.S. estimated 55 MPGe. The 2016 X5 xDrive40e arrives in U.S. showrooms this fall.
PLUG-INS DRAIN BATTERIES & WALLETS
But based on sales of electrified vehicles so far this year in the U.S., BMW shouldn’t expect to sell too many examples. Pure EVs are still driving the segment with sales up 38%, but as a whole they’re down 8.5% once you factor in hybrids and plug-ins. And all this while the overall industry is on a rise. We wondered why plug-ins were down so much and found that price maybe playing a large factor in the drastic decline. For example, a Ford C-MAX Energi is over $7,500 more than its hybrid counterpart, a Fusion Energi is $8,700 more, Honda’s Accord plug-in tops its hybrid by nearly $10,500 and perhaps worst of all is the Porsche Cayenne at over $16,500 more. At markups like those it’s easy to see why they don’t sell too well and now $4,000 to $5,000 more for a diesel doesn’t sound so bad. But, as we’ve pointed out, all automakers have to make these kinds of vehicles so they can get their ZEV credits.
Make sure you tune into today’s Autoline After Hours. Our special guest is Scott Smith, the program manager for the new Edge. So join us today at 3PM eastern time on our website, Autoline.tv for some of the best insider discussions in the industry.
Coming up next, a look at how Ford tinkered with the Focus ST to make it even better.
FORD TINKERS WITH FOCUS ST
(John McElroy’s open and video for the package can only be viewed in the video version of today’s show.)
Of course, my evaluation of the car was somewhat restricted because we were driving on public roads, with traffic. And because we were driving in the mountains in Switzerland this car was equipped with snow tires. Even so, I got enough time behind the wheel to get a good impression.
But first a quick review, because this is the latest spec version of the Focus ST and there are some slight changes. The front structure of the car was beefed up with thicker brackets in the engine bay. It also gets new front springs and stiffer bushings on the lower front arms. Ford wanted to make the ST more neutral because it felt the car could get a little tail happy in certain situations. And to go along with those changes, it recalibrated the electric power steering for faster turn-in.
The rear end still features that big spoiler that stretches across the car, as well as a somewhat more pronounced diffuser, and of course, those centered exhaust outlets.
Nineteen inch wheels and tires are now available, as are slightly bigger brake rotors, 15 millimeters bigger than before.
Inside are some slight changes, including a flat bottom steering wheel. But the Recaro seats, ST pedals and gauges on top of the instrument panel are pretty much the same as before.
The engine, too is the same as before, the 2-liter Ecoboost that puts out 252 horsepower. Ford claims the ST will accelerate from 0-100 kilometers an hour in 6.5 seconds.
The ST is a blast to drive. But surprisingly it exhibited torque steer under full throttle acceleration. Was that due to driving on snow tires? I sure hope so, because I thought Ford’s vaunted Revo knuckle was supposed to eliminate torque steer.
I can’t wait to get a chance to truly push this car to its limits, on regular tires and where I don’t have to worry about traffic. But it’s great to see that Ford is still tinkering with the Focus ST, making it even better, and not waiting for a model change to make these improvements.
Even though the One Ford strategy is to offer the same products in every market in the world, in Europe Ford offers a station wagon Focus ST, and it offers a diesel engine with nearly 300 pound-feet of torque. Sadly, those will not be offered in the US market even though diesel engines now account for 40% of all Focus ST sales.
But that wraps up today’s report. Thank you for watch and please join us again tomorrow.
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Comments (27)
March 19th, 2015 at 12:15 pm
I would expect the Focus ST to have some torque steer in the lower gears, unless they can “dial it out” via the electric power steering. My Spirit R/T, a front driver with similar power/weight to the ST certainly had plenty of torque steer. That was 20 years ago, but you have the same things going on in a front drive car when the half shafts are not level, as in cornering, even when they are equal length, as I’m sure they are in the Focus ST.
March 19th, 2015 at 12:34 pm
Hey John
Did you get any seat time in a Focus RS?
Any idea of the estimated price difference between the Focus ST and the upcoming North American RS model? Using the European model as a baseline, do you think the Focus RS will be too hard edged for everyday use?
March 19th, 2015 at 12:37 pm
John, I fail to see how the tires would add torque steer to any car. Could you explain this?
March 19th, 2015 at 12:43 pm
How about those super smooth Swiss roads, huh?
March 19th, 2015 at 12:46 pm
FWIW, some guys on a Focus forum were saying that snows on dry pavement is giving them torque steer as well.
http://www.focusfanatics.com/forum/mk3-focus/512722-torque-steer.html
As always, beware internet commenters, kids
March 19th, 2015 at 12:52 pm
If the wheels with the winter tires have the wrong offset, that could contribute to torque steer, or what feels like torque steer. I’d the the car in Switzerland would have had the stock wheels, though.
March 19th, 2015 at 1:06 pm
Torque steer – Major component in torque steer is any difference in the actual angle at the fixed joint (wheel end) from left to right. While equal length drive axles can minimize this, it can also aggravate if the engine/transmission is not mounted level in the vehicle. In addition, would not be too surprised to see winter tires having an adverse impact on dry roads.
March 19th, 2015 at 1:17 pm
The Focus ST does not have the RevoKnuckle.
March 19th, 2015 at 1:44 pm
See guys, John’s sensitive discernment of the driving characteristics of autos is why Ford needs to invite him the future Ford GT test event. Especially if they do it as Laguna Seca or COTA. Which do you like better, John?
/kidding, don’t want to get anyone in trouble
March 19th, 2015 at 1:51 pm
GM and every other car company will start writing off their investment Russia in 2016. Russia is a ‘soon to be broke’ country and unlike 1998 the IMF will not touch them. The ruble will soon be next to worthless and will be renamed the rubble. Putin and all his crooked oligarch buddies have had their bank accounts seized and many of them won’t be travelling as most country’s won’t issued them visas. The Chinese propped up their currency in January and wrung a long term deal for oil. However, Putin or whoever succeeds him will break that agreement as they’re typically corrupt.
March 19th, 2015 at 2:22 pm
I think you are right Earl, anyone who wants to know how business is down in Russia should pick up a copy of Bill Browder’s Red Notice.
March 19th, 2015 at 2:43 pm
These cars are not gonna revive Scion IMO, too much damage, FR-S was not able to bring buyers back the way they had expected, they lost their mojo after the 1st gen xB was replaced with the 2nd gen and the rest of the line-up was not attractive enough.
March 19th, 2015 at 3:29 pm
They need to just drop Scion, and have done with it.
They need the iM, to replace the Matrix, but they could just sell it as, say, a Toyota Matrix. People would understand. The iA will be a Yaris sedan, so they could just call it a Yaris sedan.
A lot of people say they should call the FR-S a Celica, but I’d come up with a different name, like Toyota 86, the name it carries in the rest of the world. The intent of the car is pretty far removed from previous Celicas, even the early rear drive ones.
March 19th, 2015 at 3:42 pm
The rest of the world gets the 86 but the geniuses at Toyota felt that by making it a Scion, it was gonna magically bring back the brand, WRONG!. BTW, just read an article about a survey that puts the FCA dealers as the worst for service from all major makes. I guess that they have not been able to keep up with the increase in sales and the issues with trouble-prone FCA vehicles.
March 19th, 2015 at 3:49 pm
FCA really needs to work on service, and reliability. Some of their products are generally good, but if they are unreliable, and the dealers can’t fix them, the prospect for repeat customers will not be so good.
March 19th, 2015 at 4:00 pm
Remember when they were shutting down dealers left and right, and some were saved, perhaps they chose to keep the wrong ones!
March 19th, 2015 at 4:22 pm
15….Reliability and durability have never been a hallmark
over at Chrysler and more so over at Fiat in Europe. But,I
will say they have some good looking vehicles to-day.
March 19th, 2015 at 4:36 pm
My wife and I test drove an ST last year and it was a handful when I stood on it to get on the highway, it jumped all over the place. If it had an automatic we would have bought it just for the seats. We can drive a stick but when you go back and forth from Freightliner to a car with a stick all you end up doing is grinding gears because you forget to push in clutch.
March 19th, 2015 at 7:16 pm
My first car was a ’57 Chrysler, given to me by my aunt who bought it new. The powertrain was the best big engine powertrain in the world, a 392 hemi and Torqueflight, but the body was rattly from when it was new. The rocker panels rusted out in a few years, even when they barely used road salt. That car was very much a mixed bag.
March 20th, 2015 at 12:10 am
Here is the link to the J.D. Power survey which Pedro references.
http://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/2015/03/18/jd-power-dealer-repair-survey-buick-jaguar/24963619/
March 20th, 2015 at 12:26 am
What is of greater interest in this survey is of mass-market dealers, Buick dealers rank number 1 with 836 out of 1000 points. Mini is hot on their heels with 834 points. Honda and Nissan are barely better than average with 796 points each, 4 points above the average. Jaguar is the top luxury brand with 877 points. By the way, this has nothing to do with the reliability of Chryslers or other vehicles, just how satisfied are customers with their service work.
March 20th, 2015 at 8:31 am
I find it strange that Jaguar ranked first, and Land Rover last among luxury brands, since, in all, or nearly all cases, they are the same dealership. Are LR customers that much more “picky” than Jaguar customers?
March 20th, 2015 at 8:41 am
Thinking back to the (not so) gold old days of cars, it’s amazing how reliable today’s cars are, despite the complexity. My ’57 Chrysler was 9 years old when I got it, and along with the body rust, the generator had failed, a hose or two had failed, and I’m sure other things I don’t remember. Other brands of cars driven by friends did no better, except for body rust, and had more transmission and engine problems.
March 20th, 2015 at 10:19 am
Kit, you are right, it does seem odd that Jaguar and Land Rover are at opposite ends. Perhaps part of it is buyer’s remorse over choosing a Land Rover.
If you remember the Japanese vehicle brands from the late 60′s and 70′s it is amazing how far they have come.
March 20th, 2015 at 10:25 am
The thing I remember about the early Japanese cars was that they rusted badly, kind of like a ’57 Chrysler.
March 20th, 2015 at 10:31 am
Honda may again sell Civic hatches in the U.S., and import them from England.
http://autoweek.com/article/car-news/honda-may-reportedly-bring-uk-built-civic-hatch-us?utm_source=DailyDrive20150320&utm_medium=enewsletter&utm_term=image-center&utm_content=body&utm_campaign=awdailydrive
March 20th, 2015 at 11:20 am
The local LR dealer is a disaster as far as service is concerned, you get a crappy loaner, service is by appt, they never have the parts, so you got no car for as long as that takes, which have led me to believe that LR owners are a bunch of masochists, AHHH but when it’s all working fine, is like heaven on wheels!!