Runtime: 6:25
0:29 Will April Sales Go Up or Down?
1:10 More OEMs Slashing Car Production
2:10 Tesla to Report Record Losses
2:33 Why Tesla Isn’t Going Away
3:17 Could the Chinese Buy GM Korea?
4:09 Military to Have AVs First
4:59 Ford Helps the Blind on Road Trips
Visit our sponsors to thank them for their support of Autoline Daily: Bridgestone , Dow Automotive Systems , Lear Corporation and BorgWarner.
On today’s show… Automakers are slashing production of passenger cars… Ford develops car windows that allow the blind to see… and we’ll tell you why Tesla is not going away even if it goes bankrupt. All that and more coming right up on Autoline Daily.
This is Autoline Daily the show for enthusiasts of the automotive industry.
WILL APRIL SALES GO UP OR DOWN?
Automakers will be reporting their sales in the American market later today. Some analysts say sales will go up, others are predicting that they’ll go down. Who knows which way it will go? But one thing’s for sure. This will be the first time that we don’t get monthly sales numbers from General Motors, which now will only release them every quarter. Here’s one thing to look out for. There was one less selling day this April compared to a year ago. That almost ensures that sales will be down. But that will not tell the true story. Instead, we need to look at sales on a daily selling rate basis to get a true picture of what’s happening in the market. And we’ll have those numbers for you tomorrow.
MORE OEMs SLASHING CAR PRODUCTION
Hot on the heels of Ford reporting it’s pretty much going to abandon passenger cars in the American market, Wards reports that a lot of other automakers are cutting production of cars. While truck production is going up, automakers are scheduled to make 110,000 fewer passenger cars than they did a year ago. Ward’s says that General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Subaru, Tesla, Toyota and Volkswagen will be cutting production of cars in the second quarter.
Still to come, why Tesla is not going away no matter how bad its financial numbers look.
TESLA TO REPORT RECORD LOSSES
Tesla will report its second quarter earnings tomorrow evening and most analysts are expecting a bloodbath. Even Tesla supporters are expecting record losses. The cynics believe Elon Musk will make some kind of major announcement to provide a distraction to the bad financial numbers. They think he’ll reveal the Model Y, which is a crossover based on the Model 3.
WHY TESLA ISN’T GOING AWAY
With the expectation of record losses, the Tesla bears are starting to growl louder. Some are starting to say the B-word: bankruptcy. They think that Elon is going to have to raise more cash to keep the doors open, and they believe he’s going to have a harder time coming up with that cash. But here’s our Autoline Insight on why Tesla is not going away, even if it goes bankrupt. The company has too many good assets. It has people waiting in line to buy its cars. And it has tremendous brand equity. That means there will be a bunch of companies and investors who will race to swoop in and buy Tesla for pennies on the dollar… if it goes bankrupt.
COULD CHINESE BUY GM KOREA?
The same is true for GM Korea. It’s teetering on the brink of insolvency as General Motors and the South Korean Development Bank try to come up with a financial package that can make GM Korea financially solvent. But if those plans fall through and GM Korea goes bankrupt, analysts expect someone else to swoop in and buy it. And they think that SAIC, GM’s Chinese partner would be a leading candidate.
Coming up next, Ford creates a device to help blind people to visualize scenery on a road trip.
MILITARY TO HAVE AVs FIRST
Over half of military fatalities in combat zones are from troops delivering food, fuel and ammunition. That’s why the Pentagon is investing in a fleet of unmanned vehicles, everything from tanks to submarines. They will use the same autonomous technology used in automotive applications and the military is turning to the same suppliers that automakers are. But the big difference is these vehicles will not have to meet the safety requirements that civilian AVs do. Even so, the military is extremely focused on protecting these vehicles from hackers. A top DARPA under secretary says, “We’re going to have self-driving vehicles in theater for the Army before we’ll have self-driving cars on the streets.” And it has a $700 billion budget to back that up.
FORD HELPS THE BLIND ON ROAD TRIPS
No this isn’t a late April Fool’s Day joke. Ford’s team in Italy, along with GTB Roma and start-up company Aedo, developed a device to help blind people visualize scenery on a road trip. Called Feel The View, the device features a camera that takes pictures of the landscape which are converted into a high-contrast gray-scale image. Every shade of gray is translated into a vibration of different intensity on the window, and by touching it, this allows the blind to “visually” experience the scenery. The device also features an audio assistant that tells the user what they’re looking at, to help put the image into context.
You won’t want to miss this Thursday’s Autoline After Hours. Our special guest is Steve Miller, the CEO and Chairman of the International Automotive Components Group or IAC. But his background includes time at Ford and Chrysler working directly for Lee Iacocca. So, tune in when the show goes live at 3PM eastern time on our website or YouTube channel.
But that’s it for today, thanks for watching and please join us again tomorrow.
Thanks to our partner for embedding Autoline Daily on its website: WardsAuto.com
John McElroy is an influential thought leader in the automotive industry. He is a journalist, lecturer, commentator and entrepreneur. He created “Autoline Daily,” the first industry webcast of industry news and analysis.