AD #2023 – Heads Roll at Volkswagen, Kia’s New Stinger Stuns, Full-Size Truck Hits Nearly 40MPG with Achates Engine
January 12th, 2017 at 11:11am
Runtime: 6:18
To watch this episode on YouTube click here.
- Heads Start to Roll at Volkswagen
- Dodge to Resurrect the Demon
- Kia’s New Stinger Stuns Detroit
- Full-Size Truck Hits Nearly 40MPG w/ Achates Engine
- More Ford Vehicles to Get the GT’s Digital Cluster
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On today’s show… heads start to roll at Volkswagen as juicy new details emerge about its diesel cheating, Kia shocks the world and comes out with a true sports car and one company says full-size trucks can hit nearly 40MPG with its engine. All that and more coming right up on Autoline Daily.
This is Autoline Daily the show for enthusiasts of the automotive industry.
HEADS ROLL AT VOLKSWAGEN
VW may have settled its criminal charges for deliberately defrauding the U.S. government, but the investigation into individuals who played a role in the cheating are still open. And it’s not too surprising when you hear these juicy new details. Get this, executive’s approved a script for employees to follow when questioned by regulators, documents related to U.S. emissions were deleted by executives and engineers and the company’s head of engine development told an assistant to get rid of a hard drive containing e-mails from him and other supervisors. So far five Volkswagen officials have been charged for their roles in the scheme and the man who dealt with U.S. regulators on behalf of the company and former Autoline guest, Oliver Schmidt was arrested in Florida on Saturday while on vacation. But the other five may avoid jail time because Germany doesn’t extradite its citizens to countries outside the European Union. We’ll just have to wait and see if more heads roll.
DEMON EMERGES FROM LAZARUS PIT
Dodge is resurrecting an old name from its past. At the New York auto show it will unveil the Dodge Challenger SRT Demon. As I’m sure many of you remember, the Demon name first introduced to the Dodge lineup in 1971. As crazy as it sounds, it seems like the new Demon will be an even more extreme version of the 707-horsepower Hellcat. So, stay tuned.
Still to come… a look at Kia’s new sports car, the Stinger.
KIA’S NEW STINGER STUNS
Back in early December Kia teased a super secretive announcement ahead of the Detroit auto show. Now we’ve learned that secret is the Stinger, a rear-wheel drive fastback sports sedan. It was one of the biggest shockers of the show. Here’s a company known for offering value-driven vehicles coming out with a true sports car. The stinger rides on an all-new rear-wheel drive platform that can also support all-wheel drive. It can be had with either a 2.0L turbo 4 or a twin-turbo 3.3L V6 that pumps out 365-horsepower. Both are mated to an 8-speed automatic transmission. And it will be loaded with all the latest safety and convenience technology. The Stinger is also a very good looking vehicle. We think Peter Schreyer and his team are really knocking it out of the park. Look for the Stinger to hit the market later this year.
And for more from Detroit, make sure you check out our coverage. John was on the floor of the show talking to executives about their new reveals. So to learn about those vehicles, you can find those videos on our website, Autoline.tv or on our YouTube channel.
And don’t forget to check out part two of our annual Autoline Supplier Symposium today. John sits down with executives and experts from the supplier industry to discuss the issues they face. Look for that coverage on Autoline.tv or on our YouTube channel.
Coming up next, Achates Power says a full-size truck equipped with its Opposed-Piston engine can hit nearly 40 MPG. We’ll have more about that right after this.
ACHATES NOT OPPOSED TO PICKUPS
The 2025 CAFE fuel economy standards begin to ramp up over the next couple of years, especially for trucks. Automakers are concerned it will be difficult and expensive to meet the targets for pick-ups but one company says it can help the industry not only meet the regulations but exceed them. Achates Power, a company we’ve reported on in the past, says a full-size truck equipped with its 2.7L Opposed-Piston engine will get 37MPG. That’s 4MPG better than the requirement. And not only is it more efficient than comparable engines, it’s also around $1,000 less expensive because it uses fewer parts. And to prove it really works, Achates plans to build a drivable prototype in 2018 and it will make development engines available to automakers.
FORD GT’S DISPLAY TO TRICKLE DOWN
The Ford GT features a number of innovations and now the company is showing off another. The supercar is equipped with a new 10-inch wide digital instrument cluster. The customizable display is programmed with five drive modes that present info differently depending on what type of driving the driver is doing. For example in Normal mode, the speedometer is the focus but in Track Mode, the tachometer and gear are displayed front and center. And best of all, the new display won’t be limited to just the GT, Ford says it will show up in other vehicles but it did not reveal which ones.
Well that brings us to the end of today’s report , thanks for watching and please join us again tomorrow.
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Comments (17)
January 12th, 2017 at 11:46 am
I guess concept car names don’t count in copy rights? Pontiac had a Stinger as a concept car.
January 12th, 2017 at 11:47 am
FCA joins VW
E.P.A. Accuses Fiat Chrysler of Secretly Exceeding Emissions Standards https://nyti.ms/2jAjr0K
January 12th, 2017 at 11:59 am
Looking forward to the achetes engine test in trucks
January 12th, 2017 at 12:22 pm
#1 Car names usually are copy written. My guess is GM left it expire. There was a Corvair Stinger in the 60s but that was a name attached by Yenko to their customized tuner Corvairs.
January 12th, 2017 at 12:24 pm
Dodge seems to be building their brand up as a muscle car company, to the pride of their fans no doubt, but can they make money with that strategy? or will that pigeon hole them into a small role in the auto industry?
January 12th, 2017 at 12:38 pm
I foresee a high-zoot version of the Kia Stinger/Stinger platform sold as a Genesis. Probably with the V6 as the base and an optional V8. RWD on the V6 and AWD on the V8.
Just a guess.
January 12th, 2017 at 12:39 pm
Kit , initially at least it sounds different than the VW case. We will see ..
January 12th, 2017 at 12:54 pm
I would like to see Pontiac come back into a performance role, if possible, but with names Pontiac once used in their lineup now being used for something else, such as “Super Duty”, fat chance of that ever happening again.
January 12th, 2017 at 1:01 pm
Semantics (on my part), I don’t know, but that Kia shouldn’t be called a sports car; as later reported in the article, it is a sports sedan. And, it better be good; there is a plethora of great sport sedans out there from BMW, M/B, Audi and I’ll even include Cadillac.
Hoping Achates meets its goal, outstanding “outside the box” thinking; still can’t figure how they meet emissions though.
January 12th, 2017 at 1:07 pm
The previous Dodge Demon was a version of the Plymouth Duster, a mildly sporty 2-door Valiant/Dart. There were Duster and Demon 340′s, which were quick, for the time.
January 12th, 2017 at 1:20 pm
#5: You are right on the money. Dodge’s role now is to be the performance brand for FCA. Chrysler is supposed to become the volume brand to compete with Chevy, Ford, Toyota, etc., and replacing Dodge in that role. So far, we have seen FCA whittle away at Dodge’s product line and sales have decreased. What we have not seen yet is a corresponding product blitz at Chrysler to build sales of that brand and provide a lineup that would support the concept of a “volume brand”.
January 12th, 2017 at 1:31 pm
I’m still skeptical about Achates. If opposed piston two-stroke engines were that efficient, clean, and cheap to make, I would think most cars would have them, since the concept has been around for many decades. Also, if two-stroke diesels, one of Achates other big ideas, were so so great, I’d think GMC 671′s would still dominate the market for heavy truck engines.
Anyway, I look forward to seeing the demonstration pickup. If it works as advertised, my skepticism will disappear.
January 12th, 2017 at 3:01 pm
I thought that the Eco-motors modular OPOC engine looked better and more promising than this opposed piston engine, but I haven’t heard anything about them in years. They had big investors like Bill Gates and the Sun Microsystems people and in 2015 Zhongding invested heavily, but then no new info even on their own website. Anyone know what’s up with them or why we aren’t seeing these motors in use?
January 12th, 2017 at 4:46 pm
Kia Stinger for sure hottest surprise of the Detroit show. But, I’m still of the opinion to get sports car creds you need to offer a manual transmission.
Heads rolling at VW, hardly a surprise. But, it simply doesn’t matter, absolutely NOTHING has changed with the company’s culture.
January 12th, 2017 at 6:03 pm
Kia Stinger looks good. If they price it right, it should sell, even if it doesn’t drive as well as some of the competition.
January 12th, 2017 at 10:17 pm
You’re correct Chuck #9. Too often the term “sport car” is used to label a hot sedan. To me a true sports car has to start out as a nimble two seat roadster. It then can come out in closed versions.
I certainly would not call my WRX a sports car although it is almost as much fun at times like our Lotus Elise.
January 13th, 2017 at 12:27 pm
How about DoJ prohibit VW from selling their cars in the US until VW hands over the five other charged employees. I suspect we’d see them on our door step pretty fast. And how stupid was it for Oliver Schmidt to vacation in Florida while all of this was going on? Did VW step him up to be the scapegoat?