On today’s show…Nissan puts snow tracks on the Altima…Hyundai updates the IONIQ…and why the 5.0L V8 powering the Mustang is one of the best engines you can buy. All that and more coming right up on Autoline Daily.
This is Autoline Daily the voice of the automotive industry.
TESLA SLASHES WORKFORCE
In an effort to cut costs and save cash, Tesla announced its cutting 7% of its workforce. This is the second job cut in the last seven months for the company. Tesla is still trying to stabilize Model 3 production while making the company profitable in the long term. Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the company also expects its fourth-quarter profit to be lower than the previous quarter. He said thanks to shipments of higher priced variants of the Model 3, and with some luck, the company should post a “tiny” profit.
NISSAN CUTS JOBS IN MISSISSIPPI
But it’s not the only company making cuts. Nissan announced its laying off 700 contract workers at its Canton, Mississippi plant due to slow sales of its commercial vans and Titan pickup. Production of its NV vans will be reduced to one shift from two and the Titan and Frontier will have shifts cut from three to two. According to Bloomberg, Nissan sold more than 165,000 Titan, Frontier and NV vans in the U.S. last year. Even though it exports some of those vehicles to other countries, the total is well short of the plant’s capacity to build 450,000 vehicles annually.
Still to come…Ford creates a camper version of the Transit van.
Be sure to check out our coverage Detroit auto show, brought to you by Continental Structural Plastics. Just look for those videos in the Autoline on the Road section of our website or on our YouTube channel.
HYUNDAI UPDATES THE IONIQ
Hyundai is giving the IONIQ Hybrid and Plug-in models a slight refresh. The exterior remains mostly unchanged, but you will notice a new grille pattern as well as new lighting designs in the head and taillight assemblies. The interior sees a new, optional 10 and a quarter inch display screen with voice recognition software and over-the-air updates. It’s also equipped with Green-zone Drive Mode, which automatically switches the vehicle’s driving module in designated areas to use more energy from the electric motor, rather than from the engine. The new IONIQ hybrid models will first be introduced in Europe in the second half of the year.
FORD CREATES CAMPER VERSION OF THE TRANSIT
Commercial vans can seemingly be outfitted in an unlimited number of ways and here’s the latest from Ford and Nissan. The Ford Transit Custom Nugget is a camper van that will now be available right from Ford’s European dealers. It comes with either a pop-up or fixed roof and in a standard or long wheel-base, which provides even more storage and a built-in toilet. Other creature comforts include two fold out beds, a kitchenette and an outdoor shower. With new motorhome sales topping 100,000 units for the first time in Europe in 2017, we can see why Ford would want to offer a van like this.
NISSAN REVEALS NV300 CONCEPT
As for Nissan, the NV300 Concept-van showcases how the cargo area could be converted into the ultimate woodworker’s space. Most interesting to us is this portable power pack that’s made from second-life Nissan LEAF batteries. With a capacity of 700Wh it would be able to power a number of tools or devices.
NISSAN EQUIPS ALTIMA WITH SNOW TRACKS
And speaking of Nissan, it’s converting another one of its vehicles to drive on a track system. But it may not be what you’re expecting. This time they’re using a Nissan Altima as a way to promote its all-wheel drive system. I know some of you will scoff at this, but, come on, embrace the ridiculousness of it. Have some fun, it’s Friday. Think how sweet it would be to rip through the snow in this thing. I know I am.
We’ll be back with more, right after this.
WARDS 10 BEST ENGINES
Every year, the staff at WardsAuto chooses the 10 Best Engines you can buy. Making a return from last year’s list is the 5.0L V8 in the Ford Mustang. This year they got to test it in the Bullitt and we’re blown away by how much fun it is drive. In the following clip, several editors from Wards explain why it made the cut.
(The ATW preview is only available in the video version of today’s show.)
To learn about the other 9 engines and propulsion systems that made the list, you can watch that entire discussion right now on our website, Autoline.tv or just look for it on our YouTube channel.
And after you watch that, check out our latest Autoline Spotlight from WardsAuto and Ally, which looks at whether dealers can sell financing and insurance without a dedicated F&I person. That discussion is available to watch right now.
But that wraps up today’s show, thanks for watching and have a great weekend.
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Comments (33)
January 18th, 2019 at 12:32 pm
Nissan’s Altima AWD overheats if you turn off traction control. Apparently you get an indicator and you are supposed to pull over. It appears people turn off the traction control because on a snow covered twisty roads it really retards power.
Therefore it sounds like the Altmima’s AWD system is strictly only for the occasional snow flurry.
No concept show car truly reflects the production car, but its marketing and Nissan hopes the treads draw attention to the AWD Altima.
So I think its a little misleading. If Subaru did it, I wouldn’t think twice. As Subaru’s AWD works all the time.
January 18th, 2019 at 1:02 pm
I just played the Wards 10 Best Engine discussion, and while it was interesting, it brings up questions. Why would a fuel cell car even be considered? Almost no one can buy one, and almost no one would have a place to fuel one if they had it. Also, they loved that variable displacement engine in the QX50, but CR found it to provide mid pack performance, and mid pack mpg, with all of that extra complexity.
I get the impression that the people who pick these engines, while liking actual virtue in powertrains, also like technology for technology’s sake, even if it doesn’t provide any benefit.
January 18th, 2019 at 1:17 pm
https://www.wardsauto.com/north-american-international-auto-show/vw-bullish-bevs-cautious-just-same?NL=WAW-04&Issue=WAW-04_20190118_WAW-04_859&sfvc4enews=42&cl=article_1&utm_rid=CPENT000009061197&utm_campaign=22885&utm_medium=email&elq2=956bf68b0fc7465c82f9ac69c195b653
January 18th, 2019 at 1:24 pm
2 My link was posted in 3 before I could comment on it. A more interesting article in Wards today sheds some light on what VW wants to do with its new big EV investment.
After saying it is bullish but cautious (=not saying anything), they clearly believe that Tesla has cornered the “luxury” EV market and VW will go for the more affordable EV segment. This will not put them in competition with either Tesdla or their other German EV offerings from Porsche, Audi, and later Merc and BMW.
Re Tesla job cuts, I read somewhere it has 45,000 employees. I know it sells lots of EVs outside the US too, but 45,000 is way too many for a company with barely 1-2% market share. it seems there is plenty of fat there, not sure if in engineering, clerical or managerial ranks. It is also possible there are some temps that were hired to do re-work when they had production/quality issues, if they are no longer needed, it’s a good sign.
Re Tesla’s next Q profit report, earlier Musk had said they would make a profit in Qs where they don’t have to make loan repayments, and losses when they do.
Re fuel cells, not only Wards takes them seriously but also Toyota and Honda. I have no clue why. For 30 years, I have been hearing promises that Fool’s Cells are 10 years away, which tune was changed later to “just 2 years away”. Yeah, right.
I put next to zero value to all these employee of the month, engines of the year, top ten lists and the like, whether they come from the COTY crowd or Wards or even Motor Trend and Car and Driver. Especially for the car mags, who live and die by the ads, former editors have confessed that they would not dare say all the bad things they saw about the cars they tested, fearing that the makers would pull their ads out.
January 18th, 2019 at 1:26 pm
4 I meant it was changed from 10 years away to 20 years away (for Fools’ Cells)
January 18th, 2019 at 1:45 pm
WOW, wards has not researched the Ford Coyote 5.0 engine very well. Just look at all of the consumer complaints that Mustang owners are having with this new engine. Engine ticks, rattles, short blocks replaced, long blocks replaced, adding oil additives, car buy backs / lemons everywhere….just look at any of the Mustang website everywhere for this huge issue. I personally have new Mustang and my engine is devoid of all of these issues and I love it. I must have lucked out but I still took out an extended warranty to cover myself with all of these Q/C problems.
January 18th, 2019 at 1:47 pm
4 Honda has ~27,000 employees in the U.S., and produces 555,734 cars a year in the country, and they also build some of the engines here. Yeah, Tesla seems to have a lot of employees for the number of cars they build, but all of their engineering would be in the U.S., while probably only a little of Honda’s is. I assume the Nevada battery factory employees are included in the 45,000. Overall, though, I suspect Tesla uses a lot more people to assemble cars than a company like Honda, GM, or Toyota would.
January 18th, 2019 at 1:52 pm
6 The Wards guys just went by their impressions from a few hundred miles of driving, and the Coyote 5.0 would impress in that regard.
Also, I suspect they are quoting mpg from the dashboard readouts of the cars, which can vary substantially in accuracy. Over thousands of miles, I’ve found the readouts in a 2010 Prius and a 2010 Mini to be 5-6% high, while the one in the 2016 Corvette is pretty accurate, only ~2% high.
January 18th, 2019 at 2:34 pm
If you are interested in getting in a vehicle with tracks and having some fun check out these amphibious all terrain vehicles from mother Russia at tingeratv.com, they go in sand, mud, water, and yes, even snow. Unfortunately you will have to travel at least to the UK as they don’t sell them in the US yet due to not meeting our EPA emission regs, but we shouldn’t have to wait too long because they have installed a Honda engine in their smallest vehicle, the Scout, and that is rated compliant for US consumption.
January 18th, 2019 at 2:46 pm
#7 – While I don’t have the numbers, Honda has a large R&D facility in Raymond, OH (near Columbus). They do a substantial amount of engineering there included the current generation NSX. The last I knew Honda built more vehicles in North America than in Japan.
January 18th, 2019 at 2:54 pm
When I saw the Altima with snow tracks I thought of the Model T that had ski’s on the front wheels and the track on the driven wheels. So nothing really new (and I’ve seen those same Snow Tracks on other vehicles years ago); still, the Altima could/would be fun if you had a place to use them.
January 18th, 2019 at 2:57 pm
9 I read something about those a while back, and a few have found their way to North America, though not “officially” imported.
Being strictly off-road machines, I’d think emission regs wouldn’t amount to much. The last I knew, 2-stroke snowmobiles were still being sold in the U.S. I wonder if the Tinger machines are not sold because of other reasons, like ease of turning over, or something like that.
January 18th, 2019 at 3:17 pm
Hydrogen operating economics don’t make sense. Even made from natural gas, hydrogen still retails for ~$16/gal equivalent because of the handling and has less energy than the natural gas. In contrast, charging at home, our plug-in hybrid electric cars are 1/2 the cost of gas.
We also shop at merchants who offer free charging (any offers of free gas?) Only 3d party, external chargers (aka. EVgo, VW Electrify America, Blink) are 3-4x the cost of gas. But ShorePower.com is more affordable.
ShorePower.com costs about $1.50/gal equivalent: $3 for two hours, ~50mi, 12.5 kWh (30 A @208 VAC, NEMA 14-50.) Found at interstate truck stops between cities, they are great for affordable, if a two hour break, intercity travel. ShorePower is used by semi-trailers to avoid running their diesel engines when parked at night.
January 18th, 2019 at 3:29 pm
10 Tnx for info.
Honda assembles 1.2M cars/year, 1.4M engines, and a lot more in the U.S.
https://hondainamerica.com/manufacturing/
They make a lot of stuff in the U.S. with those 31,000 employees (updated number from #7). Yeah, it looks like Tesla is not using their 45,000 employees too efficiently, so it’s understandable that they are reducing the numbers.
January 18th, 2019 at 4:28 pm
12 When I inquired about buying their larger machine a while back, the Track, they said the only one they could sell in the US was the smaller Scout due to emissions regs, the Scout getting ready to adopt the Honda V twin instead of the standard Lifan engine. The Track model uses a Chery in line 3 cylinder engine from China that isn’t EPA certified for sale in the US. Their competition, the Pelec, is for sale in the US because they already have the Honda engine in a model called the Mini III, I test drove one over the Christmas holiday when we traveled back east to south Jersey, they have a dealership in Philadelphia. I don’t think it will be too long before Tinger starts selling in the US unless like you say there is some other reason they can’t come here, but I haven’t heard anything about something like that and I follow that industry pretty closely.
January 19th, 2019 at 8:53 am
14 I am sure the comparison is inappropriate, for many reasons:
TESLA does everything, including producing the cars, distributing them, selling them in its own Tesla Stores (with all kinds of sales and finance and service employees!!!) and even makes its own Batteries in the Gigafactory.
Honda makes the motors (in the US?) and just assembles all the 1,000s of parts together in its Ohio Plants, mostly by Robots. Its US cars have huge US content, which implies huge inputs from US suppliers. If you ADD all these jobs the comparison will be much closer.
Tesla still has too many workers because its assembly line is not fully automated. Musk some time ago said something about their robots not doing a good job and switching to humans instead. If he wants to profitably make the $35k model 3, however, he needs to fix these robots so they can do most of the job. Unless he makes all the $35k Teslas in China (and I know this is the general idea, they will make the cheaper priced cars in his huge plant there) he has to automate.
January 19th, 2019 at 8:58 am
https://www.eenews.net/energywire/stories/1060111745?t=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.eenews.net%2Fstories%2F1060111745
In related news, I have often expressed my concerns about an disorganized development of the US Supercharger network, with each maker installing their own for just their own use and huge redundancies and shortfalls occurring as a result. However, this article addresses exactly this problem, and not in EV-friendly CA, but at that bastion of dirty gas cars, the home of the onetime Big 3, Michigan!
January 19th, 2019 at 9:13 am
16 Yes, I’m sure the comparison is inappropriate. Tesla assembles about 300K cars a year and makes a lot of batteries, while Honda assembles in the U.S.:
1,208,000 Cars and Light Trucks
1,406,000 Automobile Engines
1,131,000 Transmissions
1,988,000 General Purpose Engines
581,000 Power Equipment Products
74,000 ATVs
82,000 Utility Vehicle Engines
52,000 Side x Side Utility Vehicles
43 Aircraft
78 Aircraft Engines
I suppose some of those 45,000 Tesla employees are assembling electronics, which Honda probably buys, but as we both seem to agree, Tesla has too many employees for the number of cars they build.
January 19th, 2019 at 10:25 am
https://www.eenews.net/energywire/stories/1060111745?t=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.eenews.net%2Fstories%2F1060111745
I posted this very important link twice (one link in each post) and both times it was not posted.
January 19th, 2019 at 10:27 am
18 I hate to re-type my comments on that link, but it addresses my concerns of every maker installing superchargers for its own buyers only and creating inefficiencies and redundancies. However, not only EV-friendly CA but even the complete opposite, MI of the dirty gas big 3 fame, is (above link) creating a PLAN for superchargers correctly placed, and using (good use) the VW penalty $ it got to build them.
January 19th, 2019 at 10:33 am
17 Whether you understand that the comparison is hugely inappropriate in a TON of ways, or you are being sarcastic and keep going at it, comparing apples to watermelons, I am not 100% sure. I also do not have the time needed to set the record straight. If you think I would be impressed by the various numbers Honda got (which, after 20 years, cannot make a successful, Mass-produced Hybrid), you are mistaken.
You insist to compare a tiny company, which, as recently as two years ago, had a 0.1% marker share in the US (2016) and in 2018 it got 1,000% increase to 1.1%, and in 2019 on track to achieve over 2% in the US alone, and is the only AMERICAN Automaker to successfully sell its vehicles overseas as well.
This is like somebody comparing the USA in 1800, with its tiny 10 million population and incredibly tiny $10 million budget as well, to the British Empire at the same time. Absolutely POINTLESS. If you know your history, you would agree.
January 19th, 2019 at 11:10 am
19 You really like to get nasty, even though we agree that Tesla has more employees than they should.
BTW, Honda makes a very good mass market hybrid, the Accord hybrid. It matches the excellent Camry hybrid in both performance and gas mileage.
January 20th, 2019 at 10:13 am
Not really surprised that Tesla is reducing head count. I mean Elon expected to do much of his assembly using robots and when he realized that wasn’t going to work they switched to manual operations and added labor. So it only makes sense that a few months in they can cut 7% as they became more efficient. They had to throw bodies at the process and now have had the time to actually do time studies and balance the work.
January 20th, 2019 at 11:30 am
21 …and I suspect they have made some progress with getting the robots working.
January 20th, 2019 at 11:41 am
back to Tesla vs Honda. I said the comparison is apples and watermelons, not just oranges, for many reasons.
First of, Tesla and Honda are not in the same industry. Tesla makes no dirty cars, and Honda does not sell ANY pure EV in the US.
In its own market, that of pure EVs, Tesla dominates everybody else by a mile. For those of you who are paying attention to the sales numbers and what happened in 2018, ALL the huge growth in EV sales was from Tesla, a huge 120,000 or so units net increase, most due to the Model 3. Most others did not even try, or tried some joke compliance vehicle (Mitsu EV, Smart EV, Focus EV, Fiat E 500).
The only serious rivals to Tesla were Nissan with the ugly 1st gen Leaf and its tiny range, it sold more leafs world-wide than Tesla sold EVs so far, and GM, who invested billions on EVs but got most sales from the failed (because it has been discontinued by GM) Volt, than from the pure EV Bolt.
Near future, there are very expensive EVs by the Germans and one by Jag, who will sell a pittance. Car and Driver had its latest issue, had articles about the Audi E tron Wagon, this hippo weighs close to 6,000 lbs (!) and has a BASE price of $75k (so with options and after discounts, $80-85k), will not threaten the Model 3. Same for the Jag EV and the coming Porsche Tesla S fighter.
Which leaves only VW as the only serious major automaker with a plan to mass produce EVs and challenge Tesla from the lower end. It sure will be a thrill to watch what happens.
January 20th, 2019 at 12:52 pm
Reading Elon’s company update ( read the whole thing via the show link) shows optomism, pragmatism and also maybe some warning. Elon realizes he is still on an uphill battle, so with that being said, I think caution should be shown.
January 20th, 2019 at 1:12 pm
I just read an Autoweek article about VW’s EV plans, and the MEB platform will be rear motor, rear drive, the first such configuration for VW brand since the Golf superceded the air cooled Beetle. The platform can be stretched in every direction to make a lot of different type vehicles, like the MQB platform used for ICE cars
There will be 4wd versions, using a second, smaller motor in the front.
January 20th, 2019 at 7:22 pm
I just heard another ridiculous Ford ad about “military grade” aluminum. The ads must work, but I find them disgusting. There is 5xxx, 6xxx, etc. aluminum, but “military grade?
January 20th, 2019 at 7:23 pm
Bud Light cans are also made from military grade aluminum.
January 21st, 2019 at 10:31 am
https://www.autonews.com/retail/tesla-gets-approval-start-delivering-model-3-europe
I was able to read the article without a paid subscription. This is the third most important market for the Model 3, after China and the USA.
However Tesla claimed in its Q3 newsletter that the “midsized premium sedan market” (where they see the Model 3 competing) in Europe is twice as big as the same segment in the USA.
I wonder when they say “Europe” if they mean the entire continent or the EC. Norway, which is not in the Eurozone, is even more EV friendly than China or CA, and I would think they are already getting everything.
January 21st, 2019 at 10:36 am
https://www.autonews.com/keith-crain/gm-stepped-land-mine
The Editor of Autonews in his weekly editorial highlights GM’s plant closings and the protests from UAW in US and Canada and from politicians as well.
There was another article which I can’t find now, with some BS story about Ford’s VP Farley (formerly a Toyota sales cheerleader), who, after publicizing his mechanic abilities and after hours activities, claims he is now converted to EVs. Ford has not sold a single EV in the US in a long time, and its previous offering was the weak, very short ranged Focus Electric. The Ford-VW agreement may allow Ford to use VW’s coattails and its new serious EV effort.
January 21st, 2019 at 11:16 am
Farley and F-150 EV:
https://www.autoevolution.com/news/ford-f-150-ev-confirmed-by-jim-farley-will-join-f-150-hybrid-131719.html
January 21st, 2019 at 11:38 am
32 This was in the news a few days ago. Stranger things have happened than a pure EV full size pickup. Will it be pure electric or plug-in? There is already a plug-in Aviator and an Explorer Hybrid but I never saw a test of either, or even their detailed specs. (not that I am in the market for any of the above).
I guess if they sell close to a million F 150s a year, the vast market includes some tiny demand for a pure EV F 150.