Listen to “AD #2788 – Sci-Fi Sounds of the BMW i4; Daylight Savings Causes More Car Crashes; Evolution of Cadillac’s Logo” on Spreaker.
Follow us on social media:
Runtime: 10:18
0:07 UAW’s Gary Jones Charged w/ Embezzlement
0:37 Ford Faces Huge Bill Over Defective Transmissions
1:33 Uber Open to Using Competitors AV Tech
2:10 Long Range Model 3 Approved in China
2:28 Automakers with Low Inventory at Risk
3:50 Daylight Savings Causes More Car Crashes
4:39 Skoda’s Door Protection Technology
5:19 You Said It!
7:06 Evolution of Cadillac’s Logo
7:55 The Sound of The BMW i4
8:47 Special ATW Live Webcast Tomorrow
Visit our sponsor to thank them for their support of Autoline Daily: Bridgestone.
This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry.
UAW’S GARY JONES CHARGED W/ EMBEZZLEMENT
The UAW’s former president, Gary Jones, was officially charged with embezzling $1 million, and with racketeering and income tax evasion. Reports indicate Jones will plead guilty and that he’s cooperating with the government. Authorities are still investigating current president Rory Gamble and former President Dennis Williams, and they’re considering a government takeover of the union, because they don’t think the UAW is doing enough to clean up its own house.
FORD FACES HUGE BILL OVER DEFECTIVE TRANSMISSIONS
Ford is facing a whopping big bill because of defective dry clutch DCT transmissions that it put in the Focus and Fiesta. A federal judge approved a class-action settlement that will force Ford to buy back thousands of vehicles. The Detroit Free Press reports that the lawyers who created the agreement, say owners will receive up to $22,000 apiece, which could cost the company as much as $500 million. Owners claim that the DPS6 dual-clutch transmission in 2011-2016 Fiesta’s and 2012-2016 Focus’, were prone to shuddering, slipping and delays in changing gears and accelerating. To receive compensation, a customer can either get it through state lemon laws or if they’ve had four transmission repairs within five years or 60,000 miles.
UBER OPEN TO USING COMPETITORS AV TECH
Is Uber giving up on developing autonomous cars on its own? The CEO of the company said its willing to use self-driving technology from its competitors and is already in discussions with third parties. Uber shut down its autonomous program, after one of its vehicles killed a pedestrian in Arizona in 2018. The company has now resumed tests but Reuters reports investors are becoming wary of the amount of money its investing in the program, now that it looks like the technology won’t be ready for ride-hailing applications for at least several more years.
LONG RANGE MODEL 3 APPROVED IN CHINA
There hasn’t been much good news out of China lately, but Tesla just scored a win. The EV maker received government approval to sell longer range Model 3s made in China. Current China-made 3s have a range of 400 kilometers, but the long-range models have 600.
AUTOMAKERS WITH LOW INVENTORY AT RISK
In normal times, automakers who have the least amount of inventory on dealers’ lots are in a great position. There’s not as much pressure on dealers to move the metal, and so they don’t have to resort to discounting or other sales gimmicks. But with the coronavirus threatening production, those with the lowest inventory will be the first ones in trouble. And that means Kia could be the first into the frying pan. It only had 29 days of supply at the end of February, according to Wards Intelligence. Subaru has 37, BMW has 43, Mercedes 44 and JLR 48. Our suggestion is that if you’re in the market for one of those brands, better buy now. At the opposite end of the spectrum, Ford has the highest with 95 days’ supply. Hyundai has 87 and Honda has 83. This world has sure gone crazy. What used to be a good way to run your dealership is now bad, and what was bad is now good.
OEMs WITH LOWEST DAY’S SUPPLY | |
---|---|
Kia | 29 |
Subaru | 37 |
BMW | 43 |
Mercedes | 44 |
JLR | 48 |
OEMs WITH LARGEST DAY’S SUPPLY | |
Ford | 95 |
Hyundai | 87 |
Honda | 83 |
Source: Wards Intelligence |
DAYLIGHT SAVINGS CAUSES MORE CAR CRASHES
That dreaded time of the year is upon us, when we have to ‘spring forward’ for Daylight Savings this Sunday. Not only do we lose an hour of sleep, a recent study from the University of Colorado at Boulder found it causes more car crashes. Researchers looked at more than 730,000 accidents from 1996 to 2017 and found fatal car accidents increase 6% the workweek after the time change, which results in about 28 extra deaths a year. And the farther west someone lives in their time zone, the risk is even higher. Crashes increase after the time change because of darker morning commutes and people aren’t as well rested. So be careful out on the road next week.
SKODA’S DOOR PROTECTION TECHNOLOGY
It’s never a good feeling when you park your car, open the door and nearly have it ripped out of your hand by a strong gust of wind. Here’s another one of those Simply Clever solutions from Skoda we’ve talked about in the past that will take some of the worry away, even if the door does slip free of your grip. Its door edge protection automatically pops out when the door is opened and folds itself back in when the door is closed by using preloaded springs. Not only will this help protect your car but possibly the car next to you. The feature is available on the Skoda Kamiq and Kodiaq, but we wish everybody had these.
YOU SAID IT!
And now it’s time for some of your feedback. There were a couple of good comments about us saying that the first electric Fiat 500 was a sales disaster. GM Veteran says, “The Fiat 500e was an intentional flop. It was a compliance car to satisfy the rules of the California market and the other states that adopted their rules. They only sold enough of them to maintain their ability to sell all of their ICE powered vehicles in those states, the ones they make money on.” And N C adds, “… the CEO told ppl not to buy it. Hmmm, I wonder why sales sucked?” GM made a big news splash announcing its EV strategy. We had a lot of positive and negative feedback, and Space Reptile had this to say, “issue w/ the pouches is the cooling, im looking forward to how GM is solving that issue.” We responded that GM is using liquid cooling for its batteries, which is all the info we have at the moment, but Space Reptile wants to know if GM will fully submerge the pouches or have cooling channels? We’re with ya. We look forward to learning more about GM’s electric skateboard. And a lot of you seemed encouraged by the power dense permanent magnet electric motor we reported on. Aussie2u summed it up pretty well, “That Equipmake electric motor weighs only 22 lbs but can make nearly 300hp! Insane.” Thanks for all your feedback and comments it helps make this a better show.
EVOLUTION OF CADILLAC’S LOGO
Cadillac’s logo has gone through a lot of different looks over the years, from the first one with swans in the crest that it used in 1905, which for some reason or another was changed to ducks in 1908. The ducks came and went over the years and were gone by 1957 when Cadillac went with this one with a stylized V under the crest. Today the ducks, the V and the wreath are gone. And it looks like Cadillac is getting ready to change its logo again, or at least with its battery electric vehicles. On the future models that GM showed us at its Battery Day presentation, the electric Cadillacs had this illuminated badge, which lights up in an animated way. Notice that all the color is gone, no more black, red, blue or gold.
THE SOUND OF THE BMW i4
Establishing a brand image can take many different forms. Besides badges and logos, automakers are trying to figure out how to brand their electric cars by creating a specific sound signature. BMW brought Hans Zimmer into the recording studio to develop a signature sound for its i4 electric car. Zimmer is a music composer for films and even won an Oscar for his score for The Lion King. So he came up with this sound clip, which to our ears sounds like a symphony score for the open of a science fiction movie. So what do you think? Does this exude personality, emotion and depth of character? Or would you just turn it off?
SPECIAL ATW LIVE WEBCAST TOMORROW
Finally, be sure to join us for a special live webcast of Autoline This Week tomorrow. Automakers are equipping cars with all kinds of advanced driver assistance systems, or what they call ADAS. This includes radar, sonar and video cameras to make cars safer with blind spot detection, automated emergency braking and lane keeping. But if your car gets bent up in an accident, who’s going to make sure these sensors are properly aimed and calibrated? That’s what this show will be about. We’re collaborating with I-CAR, the independent collision auto repair association, to interview three automotive repair experts on what the industry needs to do to make sure this ADAS technology is properly repaired. We’ll be going live at 11AM eastern time on our YouTube channel.
But that’s it for today, thanks for watching, have a great weekend and we’ll see you back here again on Monday.
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.