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Runtime: 6:32
0:29 VW Reveals New Compact Pickup
1:08 Nissan Unveils Frontier Rescue Truck
1:43 GM to Continue Producing Outgoing Pickups
2:46 BMW & Daimler Post Big Profit Drops
3:28 Rolls-Royce Sales Up Thanks to New Phantom
4:51 Harley Shows Off Production Version of LiveWire
5:30 PSA Using Chevy’s In Car Sharing Service
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On today’s show…Peugeot is coming back to the U.S. market, by using Chevrolets…Brazil is a hotbed for compact pickups…and Daimler and BMW just posted big drops in profits. All that and more coming right up on Autoline Daily.
This is Autoline Daily the voice of the automotive industry.
VW REVEALS NEW COMPACT PICKUP
Last week Volkswagen teased a new pickup truck and the Tarok Concept just made its debut at the Sao Paulo auto show in Brazil. It’s built on VW’s MQB architecture and despite its small size in appearance, the bed can be extended by folding down the tailgate and/or by opening a rear panel into the cab of the truck. VW says it will be soon offering a version of this truck in Brazil with, “barely any changes” and it will be powered by a 2.0L diesel engine. It goes on to say the Tarok has the potential to boost Volkswagen’s model range in other global markets.
NISSAN UNVEILS FRONTIER RESCUE TRUCK
And speaking of pickup trucks in Sao Paulo, Nissan revealed this concept of a Frontier, called the Sentinel, that’s designed for rescue missions in all types of terrain. The bright blue color was inspired by a special kind of Brazilian macaw. It features two Nissan LEAF battery packs mounted in the bed for auxiliary power and a set of drawers that pull out to store all kinds of equipment, as well as a platform for a drone to take off and land on, an engine snorkel and a special lighting system at the top of the windshield.
GM TO CONTINUE PRODUCING OUTGOING PICKUPS
Despite having all-new trucks in the U.S. market, GM will continue to produce the old versions of the Silverado and Sierra until the end of 2019. It’s not the only one. Ram will build the previous gen 1500, while it ramps up the new one. Keeping the old trucks running down the lines is going to give GM and Ram great pricing leverage against the Ford F-150, as well as give them a hedge against the new Ford Ranger pickup that’s about to come out. And that is going to turn the 2019 pickup market into an all-out slug-fest.
What the heck is going wrong at BMW and Daimler? We’ll have more about that, right after this.
BMW & DAIMLER POST BIG PROFIT DROPS
BMW and Daimler don’t just compete against each other. They’re engaged in an all-out war. We just got the latest battlefield reports in the form of financial numbers. And the numbers don’t look so good. BMW saw its sales go up a fraction of a percent in the 3rd quarter, while Daimler’s sales fell 4%. BMW managed a decent increase in revenue, while Daimler’s dropped slightly. But here’s where it gets ugly. Both BMW’s and Daimler’s operating profit plummeted 27%. And their net profits fell by 24% and 21% respectively.
Q3 2018 EARNINGS | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
BMW | DAIMLER | ||||
Sales | 592,303 | +0.3% | 794,749 | -4% | |
Revenue | €24,743 | +4.7% | €40,211 | -1% | |
EBIT | €1,745 | -26.8% | €2,488 | -27% | |
Net Profit | €1,405 | -23.9% | €1,761 | -21% | |
Source: BMW & Daimler |
ROLLS-ROYCE SALES UP THANKS TO NEW PHANTOM
Speaking of BMW, its Rolls-Royce division is enjoying a nice spurt in sales thanks to the new Phantom. In fact, the Phantom accounts for all the increase in sales so far this year. Sales of the Ghost are down nearly 8% and the Wraith and Dawn, which share the same platform are down over 6%. But thanks to the Phantom, total sales at Rolls are up more than 13% this year.
ROLLS-ROYCE SALES JAN-SEP, 2018 | ||
---|---|---|
Phantom | 578 | — |
Ghost | 711 | -7.9% |
Wraith/Dawn | 1,370 | -6.5% |
TOTAL | 2,659 | +13.5% |
Hey don’t forget to set a reminder to watch Autoline After Hours at 3PM eastern time on Thursday. That’s when we’ll go live with Mike O’Brien, the head of product planning for Hyundai Motor America. He’s even bringing a Hyundai Veloster N with him to the studio. So, if you have any questions about the automaker’s new performance brand, any of its other vehicles or where it’s headed in the future send them to viewermail@autoline.tv. Or you could always hit us up on social media. Just look for the links below.
Coming up next, we’ve got more details on Harley-Davidson’s electric motorcycle.
HARLEY SHOWS OFF PRODUCTION VERSION OF LIVEWIRE
Harley Davidson is giving us our first look at the production version of its first electric motorcycle, the LiveWire. Riders will have the choice of 7 different riding modes, which will be controlled through a Bluetooth enabled touchscreen infotainment system. To give the bike its unique sound, Harley designed the gear between the motor and the drive belt to produce a tone that increases in pitch and volume with speed. LiveWire will be made at the company’s manufacturing facility in Pennsylvania and is scheduled to go on sale in 2019 at select dealerships in North America and Europe.
PSA USING CHEVY’S IN CAR SHARING SERVICE
French automaker PSA, the parent company of Peugeot, Citroen and Opel, chose Washington D.C. as the first city in the U.S. to launch its car sharing service called Free2Move. Users pay a $10 membership fee, which gives them access to 600 vehicles and includes gas, parking and insurance. You can book the vehicles with an app and while you do have to pay each time you use a vehicle, there are no late fees and every trip is based on 500 miles of usage. And we find it very interesting that the company is using a Chevy Equinox in its promotion video for the service.
And that’s it for today’s report. Thanks for watching.
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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.