This is Autoline Daily reporting on the global automotive industry.
GHOSN TOSSED BACK IN JAIL
Carlos Ghosn is behind bars again. He was re-arrested by Japanese prosecutors on new charges that he tried to enrich himself at Nissan’s expense. They say Ghosn funneled millions of Nissan’s dollars through an intermediary for his own personal gain. Prosecutors claim the former chairman and CEO is a flight risk and could destroy evidence. Ghosn says he’s innocent and called the latest arrest outrageous. He is also asking the French government for help. This is the fourth time Nissan’s former CEO has been arrested but these latest charges are the most serious yet.
ELON MUSK HEADED TO COURT
But Carlos Ghosn isn’t the only auto executive in trouble with the law. Later today, Tesla CEO, Elon Musk will appear in court over violating an agreement with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Last year, Musk reached a settlement with the SEC to not publicly post information about Tesla without approval from the company. The SEC alleges Musk violated the agreement when he tweeted that Tesla would build 500,000 vehicles this year. Musk says he did not violate the agreement and should not be held in contempt. Elon faces even more fines or possible removal from Tesla. But we think it’s unlikely he’ll receive a harsh penalty.
And speaking of Tesla, we’ve got a great Autoline After Hours coming up this afternoon with Sandy Munro. He’ll be talking about the Chinese version of the Model 3. We’re also going to get him talking about Tesla’s new assembly plant in China. Can they really get it launched this year? And what about all those Chinese car companies selling electric cars. Can they really make any money on them? So join john and Gary and Frank Markus from Motor Trend when we go live at 3 pm eastern time.
FEWER OPEN RECALLS ON THE ROAD
Car recalls are kind of like a summons for jury duty…the public largely ignores them. But as far as recalls go, the problem is getting better. According to Carfax, there are more than 52 million vehicles on the road in the U.S. that have an open recall. That’s about one out of every five cars, which is a lot but that’s down from 63 million in 2017.
NHTSA HEAD NOMINEE CLEARS HURDLE
And speaking of safety, President Trump’s nomination for head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, just cleared a hurdle for approval. A Senate panel just voted in favor of appointing Heidi King to lead the agency. Trump nominated King in April of last year but her approval was held up due to concerns from safety advocates. She still needs to be approved by the full Senate but with Republicans controlling a majority of the chamber, we expect the nomination to go through.
ANOTHER BARN FIND IN URUGUAY
Here’s another great old car we ran across parked on the street in Colonia, Uruguay. Anyone hazard to guess what it is? Just post your guess in the comments section and we’ll announce who got it right.
LINCOLN AVIATOR FEATURES 3D SOUND SYSTEM
You may remember that Lincoln teamed up with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra to create the different chimes in the new Aviator and the vehicle will also feature an all-new audio system that’s said to make you feel like you’re right in the middle of a concert hall. The Revel Ultima 3D system has a total of 28 speakers, including 4 sets in the headliner, that allows the music to envelop the passengers in the cabin. There are three different listening modes to choose from as well as a sliding control in the center stack that determines how much or how little you want to be immersed in the sound experience. Brandon Wheeler, the manager of customer acoustics at Revel and former ATW guest, says he can almost guarantee you’ll get goosebumps the first time you hear it.
FORD OF CHINA GRILLES THE NEW ESCAPE
Ford is giving its operations in China a lot more autonomy. That includes setting up a new design center in China. One of the first changes that Ford is bragging about is a new grille that was designed in China for the Titanium edition of the new Ford Escape. Ford calls it the “Nebula Shield.” It has a hexagonal mesh with a chrome finish and black highlights, and it’s somewhat bigger than the standard grille. We think the Chinese version definitely looks more upscale than the base version. What do you think?
FORD ELECTRIFIES ITS EUROPEAN LINEUP
And speaking of Ford, it’s electrifying more of its lineup in Europe. Like the U.S. Escape, its twin, the Kuga will as well feature mild-, full- and plug-in hybrid powertrains. The Explorer is also going the plug-in route with a 3.0L turbo V6, electric motor and battery that provides about 25-miles of pure electric driving. As is the Tourneo Custom van. It’s front wheels are driven exclusively by an electric motor/generator, which is mated to a 1.0L EcoBoost 3-cylinder range extender and 13.6 kWh battery pack. Ford is aiming for pure battery range of 31-miles and about 310-miles of total range with the range extender. As it looks to the future, Ford will offer an all-electric version of the Transit van in 2021 and it teased the all-new Puma small crossover that will feature a 48-volt mild-hybrid system.
But that’s it for today, thanks for watching and please join us again tomorrow.
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Comments (43)
April 4th, 2019 at 11:51 am
Bad analogy Sean on recalls and jury duty summons: many may ignore a recall but let me give you some advice; don’t ignore a jury duty summons.
April 4th, 2019 at 11:56 am
Off-topic here – I, for one, am liking the new lineup of Bridgestone spots here on A.D. much better than the older ones. These actually hold my attention.
April 4th, 2019 at 12:01 pm
Barn find, some kind of ‘30s BMW?
April 4th, 2019 at 12:03 pm
barn find..Anglia
April 4th, 2019 at 12:06 pm
It may have some sort of kidneys but the roundel on top of it does not look like BMW’s
April 4th, 2019 at 12:17 pm
Mystery car is a 1948 Ford Anglia.
April 4th, 2019 at 12:21 pm
Mystery car is a 1948 Ford Anglia..
April 4th, 2019 at 12:23 pm
I like the looks of the Chinese escape a lot more than the US version which looks much cheaper and bland. Like I stated yesterday the US version just looks like a taller focus.
April 4th, 2019 at 12:28 pm
The Japanese legal system looks to be a mess. Nissan yells and they jump to do the company’s bidding. Ghosn may be guilty, but he’s hardly a threat to others. Keeping him in jail unnecessarily is expensive and just punitive. Throw him in jail after he’s convicted, not before unless necessary. He’s much too public a figure to be a flight risk with an ankle bracelet and no passport.
I’d suggest Elon not visit Japan. You never know…
April 4th, 2019 at 12:28 pm
I’ll go with above and English Ford Anglia as well
As far as escape looks like a KIA Deal to me a copy cat deal on the grill of the newer KiAs
April 4th, 2019 at 12:43 pm
Its a late 40s english FORD Anglia, My grandfather who was a Ford Dealer in Gregory SD. brought in about a half dozen of these in the late 40s. I can only remember 1 in area into the 1960s , all turned into drag cars !
April 4th, 2019 at 12:45 pm
My guess about today’s mystery car…being a 2 door I am saying its an Anglia, made by Ford in England. If I recall corectly, it had solid axles front and rear with a single transverse leaf springs, on for front and one for rear.
April 4th, 2019 at 12:50 pm
Elon is his own worst enemy!!!
Why isn’t Ford bringing all that electrification to the US? I guess the US government isn’t much interested in the planet under the present administration.
April 4th, 2019 at 12:56 pm
Barn find – As others have suggested, a late 1940′s British-made Ford Anglia. My brother had one he drag raced in the mid-70s with a big block Chevy up front. A pretty short wheelbase that made for an interesting/challenging run down the drag strip.
April 4th, 2019 at 1:48 pm
The mystery vehicle looks like an early 50′s Ford Anglia to me.
April 4th, 2019 at 1:52 pm
I agree with comments that the 2020 USA Escape looks more car-like and less rugged than the Chinese variation … and it makes me wonder – Is Ford doing that to make room/differentiation for the coming “Baby Bronco?”
April 4th, 2019 at 2:03 pm
I like the US Escape better. If they’d lower it a little, it would look like a nice, actual wagon, with the attractive front end of the Fusion.
April 4th, 2019 at 2:35 pm
FORD ANGLIA, SAW LOTS ON DRAG STRIPS IN 60′S
April 4th, 2019 at 2:42 pm
15. Yesterday, for the first time in years, I saw an O.J. Bronco on the street.
April 4th, 2019 at 4:30 pm
18 Did most of them have Chevy V-8s?
April 4th, 2019 at 7:37 pm
20 – I recall seeing some with supercharged 426 Hemis which were even wilder to handle.
April 4th, 2019 at 7:44 pm
21 I can imagine they would be quite a handful.
April 4th, 2019 at 8:22 pm
Looks like a Ford Prefect, built in England.
April 5th, 2019 at 8:19 am
I watched AAH with Munro early this morning. This show should really get a transcript for anybody who could not watch it. Hopefully they will show many segments from it on AD next week.
Most of Munro’s new info was actually not about the CHinese Model 3. But it was very interesting still.
It is interesting to see that those who badmouth Tesla’s truly AWESOME models, are the ones that do not have a clue, while those that praise them to high heaven, like Munro, are the ones that actually KNOW what they are, how effciently they are made, and especially how breathtaking their performance is, even that of the cheap little Model 3.
April 5th, 2019 at 8:21 am
24 PS and, most important of all, not only they have done all that, but in the case of Munro, they have torn the models APART and broken them down to the most minute detail and found the competitive advantages of this tiny David (Tesla, who, 11 years ago made 1 (one) vehicle but in 2018 they made 399,999, over the establishment Goliaths (BMW and GM and all the rest of them)
April 5th, 2019 at 8:25 am
Another piece of info about March sales is that fleet sales were very strong.
a LOT of comments on this one.
First of all, if Uber and Lyft are so bloody successful, and nobody uses Hertz and Avis and Budget any more, how come these guys keep buying so many fleet cars and trucks???
Second, this has huge implications on sales. For example, where would Toyota, Nissan, and especially Hyundai Kia be without the CAMRY being the fleet Queen (Or is it the Altima?) and every other car in Rental Lots seems to be some lousy Hyundai or Kia? Imagine where H-K sales would be without the rentals! Then imagine how bad H-K profits must be, if to survive they have to sell a ton to daily rental fleets.
Got to go to a meeting now, more an hour later.
April 5th, 2019 at 8:44 am
13 Ford isn’t bringing all the electrification to the US because their isn’t a market for those vehicle. Yes Tesla is doing well but that is a niche vehicle and has more going for it than just being an EV. Plain old economy cars that have been electrified are not selling well in the US. At least not in volumes enough to even justify importing them to the US.
April 5th, 2019 at 9:03 am
26 The daily rental companies buy a lot of cars, so they won’t have to bother with changing oil. They just replace them when the first oil change is due.
April 5th, 2019 at 9:34 am
28 I guess when they get them so cheap, the depreciation is not that steep in the first year, or six months. They could make an oil change for $50 or $20 depending what oil they use, but they will still lose $1,000s.
April 5th, 2019 at 10:13 am
”Branden Flasch
to
TESLA Owners Worldwide
12 hrs ·
Used nosecone AP1 Model S 70D with 105k miles for $32k or Model 3 Standard Plus for $42k (MSM+AP)? Which is the better buy? Which will hold value best over 18-24months from now? Very curious to see what you guys think.”
Look at these unbelievably high used model S prices. I could get a magnificent Merc S class with the same $105 k miles for less than half of this $32k.
This is 100% contrary to all the reservations in this forum about battery life of the S and all that!
Just amazing
Explanations welcome
April 5th, 2019 at 10:21 am
28 Actually, they probably do change the oil, or I hope they do. I checked the Avis used car sale site, and most of them I saw have ~30-40K miles.
April 5th, 2019 at 10:35 am
26, I think the reason Hertz, Budget, etc. keep buying fleet cars is because they still have thriving business’; it’s probably the taxi’s that are at the losing end from Uber, Lyft, etc.
April 5th, 2019 at 10:42 am
30 To me, the used prices for 5 year old, 100K mile Tesla Ss are too high, especially given the unknowns with the very expensive battery. I’d certainly be much more inclined to buy a new Model 3 Standard Plus for the same money, even though the S is s nicer car..
Of course, a used S-Class Benz a few years old is a smoking bargain. There’s a remote chance that it might need a $5K transmission at 200K miles, but it won’t need a $30K battery.
April 5th, 2019 at 10:49 am
29 I doubt they lose money as most rentals are around $38 a day and even if they only send it out 80% of the days in a year they would get over $11,000 per year. Could basically pay off a H/K in two years and whatever they sell for is profit. Doubt they care about depreciation as most rental companies don’t keep cars over 2 years and 50k miles. Assuming fleet sales are a decent discount. I have no idea personally.
April 5th, 2019 at 10:52 am
32 From what I see, a big daily rental car market is vacationers who fly places, like Florida, and plan to go places other than just from an airport to a hotel. Also, I’ve known a number of people who rent vehicles to take on vacations, if they occasionally need a different, normally larger vehicle than they own.
In my case, Uber has replaced daily rentals for going from an airport to a hotel. I’ve used taxis for that purpose, but from my experience, Uber is cheaper, and generally works better.
April 5th, 2019 at 11:09 am
32 that makes sense.
33 I agree, but we still have no explanation as to why are those used Model S’s (and note that this one was not even the top model the 100 D but the much smaller battery 70D.), six to seven years old and with over 100k miles (a lot of miles for a BEV) can’t go below $30k.
Are we sure that the very expensive battery cannot be repaired (or just replace the one or more 50 laptop battery bricks that are bad, instead of replacing the 1,000 or 2,000 laptop batteries that are the whole package?
April 5th, 2019 at 11:11 am
34 the biggest depreciation is during the first year, even bigger if they sell them after only 6 months. But the discount they get helps. $38 a day is possible only for a weekly rental of a small Hyundai Elantra, which I had to do once. Dailies are much higher, unless you go to a second tier Daily rental co which keeps its cars 2 years and 60k miles or more.
April 5th, 2019 at 11:33 am
36 The battery modules, and probably even individual cells could be replaced, but generally, they would all have similar service life. When a few modules go bad, I suspect it probably won’t be too long before a lot of them go bad. I suspect it’s way too early to know the whole story of how it will work out.
Here’s an oldish, but well thought out article about Tesla Roadster battery degradation.
https://www.plugincars.com/tesla-roadster-battery-life-study-85-percent-after-100000-miles-127733.html
April 5th, 2019 at 11:36 am
33 If I bought a 2011-13 S class with say 110k miles for $15k now, the way I put so few miles on each of my cars, it would take 30 years to do 200k miles, but assuming that it did, I doubt I could get away with just $5k for the transmission.
A very old friend of mine, who did his 20 years in the Navy before going in academia and eventually industry, bought a 1989 BMW 735 (the 6) with very few miles from a dealer in the mod-90s, and some warranty, and soon after he bought it, he told me both the engine and the transmission had to be replaced, at a cost of $8k and $6k, half of which was covered by the dealer-warranty. This was 25 years ago, and the S was far more expensive than that 7 back then, so I estimate at least $12k today for the tranny and maybe $20k for a new engine.
April 5th, 2019 at 11:40 am
39 Wouldn’t you have to be rather unlucky to need either an engine or transmission in an S or 7 at 200K miles? Are expensive German cars that much worse that my friend’s cheap, rebadged Chevy with 240K miles?
April 5th, 2019 at 12:18 pm
40 Generally yes. If the 200k miles are done in 2 years, like that salesman with the 560 S coupe, they are very easy on everything, incl parts that are never used on a cruise control highway drive. If the 200 k miles are like mine, with cold starts and 1.5 mile each way commutes, they are 10 times worse.
Incidentally, when I stayed with Pete and his family in Arlington VA in Jan 2014, he still owned the 1989 735, and I was very surprised to hear that the alternator he needed for it would cost him only $300 at the dealer! Because I had a VW passat 1979, when the dollar was worth 5 times what it is today, and a new alternator cost me also $300 back then!!!
April 5th, 2019 at 4:50 pm
I checked the data base and YEAH! There are no new large power plant permit request in process or approved in the past(!!)So where is all this electricity coming from for charging EVs. There has been and is not “excess electricity generation capacity. And forget about windmills charging your EV at night!
And 25 miles of total range in EV mode. That is about 2/3 of a gallon of gas in a good used car!
April 6th, 2019 at 9:59 am
barn find is an Anglia looks like a pre 1949 due to the lack of flip up turn indicators in the door pillar. I watch the shoe every day on you tub. Very informative ( FREE CARLOS )