AD #1602 – Volvo Ditches Front Seat, Carmakers Salivate Over India, Ford Reveals New Taurus
April 20th, 2015 at 11:48am
Runtime: 6:27
- Chinese OEMs Dominate CUV Market
- Automakers Salivate Over India
- Plug-In Cadillac CT6 Announced
- Volvo Concept Ditches Passenger Seat
- Infiniti Stretches the Q70
- Ford Reveals New Taurus
- BMW 1st to Offer Autonomous Parking
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On today’s show…new car unveilings at the Shanghai auto show are in the headlines….as Chinese automakers finally figure out where they can beat the foreign automakers….and India looms large as a counterweight to China. All that and more coming right up on Autoline Daily.
This is Autoline Daily for April 20th, 2015.
CHINESE OEMs DOMINATE CUV MARKET
We’re seeing a big change in one part of the Chinese market, where Chinese automakers are finally beating the foreign automakers–at least in one segment. And that’s in low-priced crossovers and minivans. About three years ago automakers began to focus on Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities in China, that is, smaller cities, generally in the interior of China. It turns out those customers are far more price conscious and not quite as cosmopolitan, meaning owning a foreign brand does not carry quite the cache as it does in Beijing or Shanghai. Bloomberg reports that sales of Chinese brand crossovers more than doubled in the first quarter to take 56% market share, and 8 of the Top Ten are Chinese brands.
AUTOMAKERS SALIVATE OVER INDIA
Let’s shift focus for a moment over to the Indian car market. With a population of 1.2 billion people, India is closing in on China’s population of 1.3 billion. And that has automakers dreaming of another massive surge in sales. Even though the Indian car market is less than one-fourth the size it is in China, the growth potential is enormous. But who would be the biggest beneficiaries if India’s car market takes off? Well, Maruti-Suzuki absolutely dominates the market, with sales nearly three times bigger than second place Hyundai. Then comes Tata, followed by Honda and Toyota. Japanese automakers do not face political backlash in India as they do in China and they are going to make double sure they do well in the Indian market.
There’s a lot of interesting announcements coming out of the Shanghai auto show and we’ll be back with that right after this.
PLUG-IN CT6 ANNOUNCED
With the Volt and ELR, GM is on the cutting edge of plug-in hybrid technology and now Cadillac gets another one. The CT6 offers a setup consisting of 2 electric motors mated to a 2.0L turbo 4-cylinder engine. Total system power comes out to more than 330 horsepower and 430 pound-feet of torque and when combined with the all-new rear wheel electric transmission, Cadillac says the car will provide smooth, yet spirited acceleration. No word yet on electric range, but when we compare its 18.4 kWh battery pack to other vehicles, we can safely speculate it should come in around the 40 mile range. And when equipped with the hybrid setup, it’s expected to double the fuel economy of the conventional powertrains. Last year GM told analysts the blended fuel economy should exceed 70 miles per gallon on the EPA test.
VOLVO DITCHES FRONT PASSENGER SEAT
Automakers have been offering longer versions of cars in China to appeal to wealthy customers who like being chauffeured. But instead of stretching its car, Volvo went in a different direction. It revealed this interior concept called the Lounge Console which removes the front passenger seat to make room for a foot rest for the rear passenger. It’s integrated with a table that can rotate, offers extra storage space and has a 17 inch display screen underneath it.
INFINITI STRETCHES THE Q70
Infiniti went the more traditional route with this larger, more luxurious version of the Q70, called the Q70L Bespoke Edition. Its wheelbase is nearly six inches longer and offers an upscale interior, to appeal to wealthy customers.
FORD REVEALS NEW TAURUS
As part of its commitment to bring 15 new vehicles to China by the end of the year, Ford is bringing the Taurus nameplate to the country for the first time ever. As you can see, the car looks more like a Fusion. That’s because it’s no longer based on the old Volvo-designed D3 platform and has been moved to Ford’s global CD platform, used on the Fusion and other products. The new Taurus will be built at the company’s new plant in Hangzhou.
Coming up next, BMW looks like it will be the first to market with autonomous parking on the new 7-series.
BMW 1ST TO OFFER AUTONOMOUS PARKING
BMW is gearing up for the introduction of the new 7 Series. And while it’s not ready to show us quite what it looks like, as you can see from these camouflaged photos, the company is sharing some details. Thanks to the use of carbon fiber and other lightweight techniques it is up to 285 pounds lighter. A new in-line, turbocharged 6-cylinder that’s mated to an 8-speed automatic will also be offered. But the one new feature that caught our eye is what the company calls remote control parking. The car can park itself automatically without the driver behind the wheel, all the owner has to do is push a button on the key fob.
And that wraps up today’s report, please tune in again tomorrow.
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Comments (18)
April 20th, 2015 at 12:17 pm
Volvo’s idea of deleting the passenger seat makes sense for the Chinese market, however I can see automakers taking this one step further. Whether they lengthen the car or not, automakers targeting the business executive market could offer optional and removable fitments for the passenger-side rear seat like footrests, video centers, computer tables, etc.; and then include a removable front passenger seat too. This would allow luxurious executive travel during the week and still accommodate the family on the weekend. My brother-in-law had a Buick minivan with assigned driver at his disposal when he lived in Bejing for two years for this very reason. That was six years ago. In today’s market, he may have opted for a Taurus, Volvo or Infiniti.
April 20th, 2015 at 1:48 pm
John, do you know whether the ’7′ series will be able to un-park; it would be handy to put your vehicle in a mini-garage (saving space) but if you have to manually get it out of the garage, i.e., the one shown (small), well that could be a problem.
April 20th, 2015 at 2:02 pm
Chuck, I would be very surprised if the 7 was unable to back out of a garage. In fact, being able to park/unpark it autonomously in a tight space is what makes this feature so appealing, especially in Europe and Asia where tight parking is the norm.
April 20th, 2015 at 2:04 pm
That makes perfect sense, and I thought that that would have to be the case; thanks.
April 20th, 2015 at 2:28 pm
Here’s AW’s take on a drive in a prototype of the new 7 The article is more about how it drives, than the auto parking.
http://autoweek.com/article/car-news/first-drive-2016-bmw-7-series-prototype?utm_source=DailyDrive20150420&utm_medium=enewsletter&utm_term=image-top&utm_content=body&utm_campaign=awdailydrive
April 20th, 2015 at 3:11 pm
India has been the attractive flavor of the month off and on for awhile. My personal business dealings with them show that it is a tough place to do business. We tried to work with a very large company on plastic molded parts. They just didn’t get it when it came to timelines, mold material quality, and delivery schedules. I hope others have had better luck, but we sure didn’t.
April 20th, 2015 at 3:28 pm
Hey John,
Just watched the segment on the CT6 – Since you guys are dutifully putting out all the latest automotive news that’s fit for print..er.. the internet, you might want to consider updating the Cadillac logo over your shoulder, im sure the folks at GM would appreciate that.
April 20th, 2015 at 3:59 pm
Just look at the mahindra debacle here in the USA a few years ago.They do strange business in India.
April 20th, 2015 at 4:09 pm
India seems to be very successful at attracting call centers for companies around the world.
April 20th, 2015 at 4:28 pm
Don’t even get me started on outsourcing computer coding to India. Grrrr…
The 7-series auto park function in a tight space seems like a sure-fire way to somehow have a dead battery. Some people have lousy luck, you know?
April 20th, 2015 at 5:22 pm
The last time I called the AMEX call ctr, I had to urge to order a lotto ticket and a Slurpee
April 20th, 2015 at 5:32 pm
China will slowly squeeze out brands other than their own.
April 20th, 2015 at 5:47 pm
#12 I agree and why not? The Chinese obtained everything needed to produce vehicles by allowing other manufacturers to provide all their technology in a forced joint venture. This is the result of capitalist greed.
April 20th, 2015 at 6:21 pm
Maybe so, but the great majority of their parts stink out loud, I assume they will use said parts in their vehicles as well, so either their dealership repairs dept will be working 24/7 or people just won’t buy them.
April 20th, 2015 at 8:26 pm
Yea, pedro. And when the Chinese stuff hits our shores, people will buy it because the price is affordable and the style looks pleasing as the more expensive competition. Sure they’re crap, but when Burkshire/Hathaway put a spin on the product no one will be the wiser.
April 20th, 2015 at 9:36 pm
Okay to use Ford’s logic back at them. They refuse to bring the new Ranger to NA because it is too close in size to the F150. However they redesign the Taurus and it looks like a 12/10s scale Fusion? Why would anyone spend the 10K more on the Taurus if it looks like the Fusion . I just don’t their logic.
April 20th, 2015 at 9:42 pm
16 It looks the the new Taurus is a “designed for China” Fusion, that will be used mainly by owners who will ride in the back seat.
April 21st, 2015 at 8:24 am
Cadillac solved tight parking problem way back in 1951.
https://youtu.be/vfq7NNYEHcg