AD #1582 – CT6 Engine Details, Chevy Dominates Sebring, Why OEMs Shouldn’t Brag About Awards
March 23rd, 2015 at 11:58am
Runtime: 6:00
- Honda Cuts Fit EV Price
- Chevy Dominates Sebring
- Cadillac CT6 Engine Details
- Lexus Teases New RX
- Why OEMs Shouldn’t Brag About Media Awards
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On today’s show…Honda hits the panic button on EV sales, Corvette dominates at the 12 Hours of Sebring, and why automakers should not brag to the media about awards it wins from the media. All that and more coming right up on Autoline Daily.
This is Autoline Daily for March 23rd, 2015.
HONDA CUTS FIT EV PRICE
Honda is hitting the panic button when it comes to trying to sell the Fit EV. In a desperate effort to keep current customers and bring new ones into the showroom, Honda is slashing monthly lease payments by $60 to only $199/month and it will extend the unlimited mileage, routine maintenance and collision coverage that were included before. The program will also be available to new customers who want to drive a used Fit EV. Well, they certainly need to do something. According to Wards data, Honda has not sold a single Fit EV in January or February.
CHEVY DOMINATES SEBRING
The 12 Hours of Sebring took place this weekend and it was a dominant performance for Chevy. Corvettes nabbed the first three positions in the prototype class. And Corvette also won in GTLM. To top it off, Chevy power took home the top spot in the Prototype Challenge class. Porsche came through with a win in the GTD class, but only because the leading Viper dropped out in the last few minutes.. What a race! I found live streaming of the entire 12 hours online with superb coverage, made even better because they never broke their coverage for any commercials.
Still to come, details of Cadillac’s new engines, including an exclusive one for the CT6.
CADILLAC CT6 ENGINE DETAILS
Little by little, Cadillac is dribbling out information about its upcoming flagship sedan, the CT6. Now we’ve learned a lot about one of the engines that will go in the sedan, an all-new 3.0 liter twin turbo V-6. Cadillac claims it is the highest specific output V6 compared to BMW, Mercedes and Audi. It generates 400 horsepower at 5550 rpm, and 400 pound feet of torque at 2500 rpm, good for 133 horsepower per liter. It also has cylinder deactivation and stop/start. The twin turbo gets bolted a new 8-speed automatic with a torque converter that is the same size and weight as the 6-speed it replaces. It was also designed to accommodate a 2-gear transfer case, and you know what that means: The CT6 will offer all-wheel-drive. Cadillac is also going to get an all-new naturally aspirated 3.6 liter V6 that will go in the ATS and CTS as well as the CT6. That engine also gets a new 8-speed but one designed for lower torque.
LEXUS TEASES NEW RX
Lexus is teasing the all-new RX that will debut at next week’s New York Auto Show. There aren’t any details other than this rear three-quarter shot of the crossover.
Coming up next, why automakers should never brag to the automotive media about the awards they win from the automotive media.
WHY OEMs SHOULDN’T BRAG ABOUT MEDIA AWARDS
Every car company in the world deals on a first hand basis with the media that writes about its products. And yet, in some respects they don’t know how to deal with the media. And they all make the same mistake. I’ll give you an example and I’m going to pick on Jaguar, only because it’s the latest one to make the same mistake.
Jag sent out a press release last week about its new XE, but it was mainly bragging about a glowing article in Car and Driver magazine about the car. In fact, it even had a link to the Car and Driver website. Now, do you think for a second that automotive journalists, who are a very competitive lot, want to get a press release from a car company praising one of their competitors? Hell no!
Imagine Road & Track, Automobile, Autoweek, and Motor Trend sending Jaguar copies of glowing articles they wrote on the BMW 3-series. Do you think Jaguar would appreciate that?
I don’t mean to pick on Jag. I’ve been to press conferences of plenty of other car companies that brag to us, the automotive media, about the awards and coverage they’ve won from our competitors. It pisses me off. Sure, go ahead and brag to the public all you want, but not to the rest of the media. It does not make us think better of your car, in fact it does exactly the opposite.
Anyway, that’s my Automotive Insight for the day. And that wraps up today’s report. Please tune in again tomorrow.
Thanks to our partner for embedding Autoline Daily on its website: WardsAuto.com
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Comments (23)
March 23rd, 2015 at 12:04 pm
Jeez John, get a grip!
March 23rd, 2015 at 12:13 pm
John: for years I’ve felt a bit uneasy about the relationship between the journalists and the Sales/Hype departments of the various car makers. Is the Motor Trend Car of the year award really worth anything? Was the opinion of any journalist influenced by swag or fancy dinners? Over time, there have been “glowing reports” of cars that turned out to be barnyard turkeys. I think there is a real question in terms of journalistic independence.
March 23rd, 2015 at 12:15 pm
John, ‘nailed it’ (your editorial comment); if kudos are received, and you want to share, reserve ‘it’ to the buyers (out there).
March 23rd, 2015 at 12:18 pm
Re Honda fit sales—10 g’s over priced
March 23rd, 2015 at 12:21 pm
http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a7418/paddock-pundit-anatomy-of-imsas-blown-call-at-sebring/
March 23rd, 2015 at 12:23 pm
Sebring
I also watched the race via live-stream. Anchor John Hindough, Jeremy Shaw, and pit reporter Shay Adam are so interesting and funny. One thing racing series need to work on is having commentators that animate the race, knowledgeably. Like Darrell ‘boogiddyboogiddy’ Earnhardt does for NASCAR. (I once got to shake hands with Hindough Lime Rock, thanking him and letting him know that for me he was the voice of motor racing. “Thankyouverymooch,” he said as he escaped for the aircon indoors.)
——
media touting
On the other hand, last week I/we were doing interviews and media for this DC F&G* work of mine, and I admit that I did deliberately turn the knife on advocacy group by letting them know who we were talking to. Pro tip, when WSJ writes a piece, the others will follow. Yup, competitiveness needs to factor into communications. (revenge. serve cold)
*Fun and Games. not really. it’s quite serious
March 23rd, 2015 at 12:23 pm
Glad to see that the Corvette C7R is back to ‘setting’ the pace; if one could connect a better ‘street’ Corvette to a racing program, this (Chevrolet) is definitely a class leader (to bringing it ‘home’). Going back to the C5R, great racers have improved this product.
March 23rd, 2015 at 12:26 pm
In addition to those V6′s, Cadillac should offer a Chevy V8 in their big car. It would work well, and to many people, the simplicity of the pushrod V8 is a real virtue.
March 23rd, 2015 at 12:29 pm
There is some rumor of a Cadillac 4.5 twin-turbo V-8 in the CT6′s future (perhaps a deviation of the engine that was in the Elmiraj).
March 23rd, 2015 at 12:31 pm
#6 – That must be the “lost ” Earnhardt!
March 23rd, 2015 at 12:33 pm
10. Oops! I meant Walton, of course.
March 23rd, 2015 at 12:38 pm
I agree totally with John. I as a consumer want to have as many independent opinions on a vehicle when I am gather information to make a purchasing decision. I enjoy viewing those independent vehicle review segments on YouTube.
John you might want to think about adding more videos to your Seat Time section. Maybe Sean, Seamus, Carmen or another member of the Autoline Family might enjoy some on-screen appearance time.
You might also want to revist “How a Car is Born” since technology has changes since that was origianlly produced. It is fasinating to watch how man and machine take all those parts and combine then into a automobile.
March 23rd, 2015 at 12:53 pm
John, please update your logo for Cadillac. You keep using the old one in your articles about them.
March 23rd, 2015 at 1:01 pm
Motor Trend came about because when Peterson was hawking his “Hot Rod” magazine as an advertising vehicle, somebody in the automotive biz said that it was too narrowly focused for them to advertise in, but they’d love to advertise in a more generalized automotive enthusiast magazine.
Motor Trend was founded on the basis of being a vehicle for capturing advertising revenue. Nothing more, nothing less.
March 23rd, 2015 at 1:23 pm
at one time MT allowed there “journalist” to work at auto manufacturers, no bias there.
March 23rd, 2015 at 1:48 pm
John,
RIGHT ON! I really enjoyed your genuine irritation at such a clueless practice by the auto PR departments.
I guess they feel they have to trot out something when there aren’t enough race wins, low Nurburgring lap times, or favorable IIHS crash test results to brag about.
Your imagined reversal of the situation, in which journalists address auto manufacturers about the virtues of their competitors’ products, drove the point home nicely.
March 23rd, 2015 at 1:59 pm
The new Cadillac ct6 twin turbo v6 putting 400 hp and 400 lb/ft of tq sounds impressive. Good to hear Cadillac has it’s own power train to help differentiate its product offering from other gm divisions.
Lope fully the upcoming camaro ss 6 th gen will use the 455 hp corvette derived power plant of the corvette while the ATS and CTS upmarket versions will use their own divisions twin turbo v6.
What say you Mr McElroy? Will these twin turbo v6 engines be a Cadillac exclusive for one year or for many years?
I’d rather see LT1 v8 s in camaro ss leaving twin turbo v6 s for the snobby luxury buyers of Cadillac…
Btw jaguars new XE looks like a nice choice over BMW s and Audi’s little sedans….
Looking forward to your autoline team review of this new entrant in the 3 series competitor segment…
March 23rd, 2015 at 3:18 pm
I just cannot let this pass: Just what other engine manufacturer did anyone expect to win the USCC Prototype Challenge (PC) class – other than a Chevrolet engine?
Well, you see, while the engine is based on the engine that Chevrolet V8 6.2L LS3 engine (that is used in Corvette & Camaro production cars), it is THE ONLY engine allowed in the PC class – as it is, in fact, a SPEC engine, prepared by Katech. It does retain the block and heads – but it is pretty much a specially prepared (strengthened) race engine – and is sealed by Katech.
PC teams are only allowed to “touch” (replace) the spark plugs, air filter, oil filter, alternator, power steering pump, and belts.
All other maintenance/tuning MUST BE done by Katech. It has been that way since the class was created by the ALMS in 2010.
In short, you can safely say that a Chevrolet engine will “dominate” all races in the PC class. (it’s the only engine that is allowed). Besides taking home “the top spot” in the 12 Hours race – they also took all other spots.
It does appear that the FiA and ACO have something else in mind – creating a spec LMP3 car for 2017, so the FLM09 CF chassis and Chevy engine probably has a definite end in sight. But there’s always the SVRA or HSR possibility in the future.
March 23rd, 2015 at 4:06 pm
18 Yeah, all cars in PC use Chevy engines, but the bigger point of the Sebring segment is that the top three cars, overall, were Corvettes, beating the Riley/Fords, Riley/BMW’s, and other, presumably more “exotic” machines.
March 23rd, 2015 at 4:16 pm
18.19. Keep in mind that the cars are all subject to balance of performance(BOP) which limits engine power, and that width specs for classes allow narrower cars to get even with wider ones. Tight racing is a goal of IMSA, putting the emphasis on the teams’ and execution. Hindough et al in the live-stream interviewed a racer who complained that the BOP was hobbling their car.
March 23rd, 2015 at 5:15 pm
Honda Fit –> Honda hasn’t sold any new Fit EVs because they’re sold out. It was only a two-model-year production run of about 1,100 units. The new pricing promotion is being offered to extend existing leases, or to lease out any used Fit EV lease returns. I wouldn’t call it a panic sale either, there are virtually no used Fit EVs available — fewer than 10 are sitting on dealer lots as of today.
March 23rd, 2015 at 6:06 pm
@11 You meant Waltrip of course.
March 23rd, 2015 at 6:29 pm
22 I agree with Ziggy, again