AD #2934 – Suppliers Struggle to Fill Jobs; New Ridgeline Finally Looks Like a Truck; Exclusive Mustang Mach-E Updates
October 8th, 2020 at 11:48am
Listen to “AD #2934 – Suppliers Struggle to Fill Jobs; New Ridgeline Finally Looks Like a Truck; Exclusive Mustang Mach-E Updates” on Spreaker.
Follow us on social media:
Runtime: 10:17
0:07 Suppliers Struggling to Fill Jobs
1:03 Official XC40 Recharge Range Also Disappoints
1:31 Scania Slaps Solar Panels on Truck Trailer
3:20 New Ridgeline Finally Looks Like a Truck
4:15 Chevrolet Silverado HD Updates
5:09 Audi Taking Unique Approach with e-tron GT
6:35 Auto Industry Needs to Consolidate
8:24 Exclusive Mustang Mach-E Updates
9:28 BEVs Hit U.S. Market Share Milestone
Visit our sponsors to thank them for their support of Autoline Daily: Bridgestone, BorgWarner and Intrepid Control Systems.
This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry.
SUPPLIERS STRUGGLING TO FILL JOBS
As we reported earlier in the week, automakers are struggling with low inventory in the U.S. because car sales are running stronger than expected. But Reuters reports another reason inventory is low is because suppliers are having a hard time filling jobs. Many companies are dealing with absentee rates between 10 and 15% over worker fears of catching COVID or parents having to stay home to take care of children. To help lure workers in, suppliers are boosting pay, offering rewards for good attendance and one company even hired a teacher to help worker’s children with schoolwork. Overtime at supplier plants is also higher than before the pandemic. While this is good for workers’ pocket books, it’s hurting the bottom line at suppliers. Companies profits are down because of the pandemic but they’re taking a further hit over being forced to raise pay and run overtime to meet demand.
OFFICIAL XC40 RECHARGE RANGE ALSO DISAPPOINTS
Yesterday, we reported about the Polestar 2 having a disappointing EPA range of 233 miles. But the Volvo XC40 Recharge, which shares the same 78-kWh battery pack and drivetrain as the Polestar 2, is even worse. It just received an EPA rating of 208 miles. While the Polestar and Volvo are more geared more toward performance, these numbers are still underwhelming.
SCANIA SLAPS SOLAR PANELS ON TRUCK TRAILER
We’ve seen automakers experiment with solar panels on cars in the past and Hyundai even offers them on the Sonata Hybrid to help charge the batteries. And now truck maker Scania, which is owned by Volkswagen, plans to test them on truck trailers. The sides and roof of the 18-meter long trailer will be fitted with solar panels to help power a plug-in hybrid truck. The truck will be operated daily in Sweden by Ernst Express. The panels are expected to generate 14,000 kWh of electricity annually, which will cut fuel consumption by 5 to 10%. But in countries that get even more sunlight, Scania says the fuel savings will be even better.
Join us this afternoon as we take a deep dive into the development of the new Acura TLX. We’ll have the team leader Ken Sheridan and the performance development leader Jason Ray on Autoline After Hours. Jason Fogelson will also be on the show, so join John and Gary when we go live today at 3 pm eastern time.
HONDA RIDGELINE FINALLY LOOKS LIKE A TRUCK
Check it out. The Honda Ridgeline finally looks like a truck. This is the new 2021 model, which goes on sale early next year. Not only is the front end more squared off, including the grille, but there’s now large blocky flares over the wheel arches. In fact, everything from the A-pillar forward is new. The track was also increased for a better stance and the rear bumper got massaged to accommodate new dual exhaust tips. The truck seen here is part of a new HPD Package that includes unique grille treatment, black fender flares, bronze-colored wheels, and special HPD graphics on the bed. All interiors feature a new audio display, which now includes a volume knob, while select trims get new materials and accents. Those are the big changes for 2021. Pricing will be revealed closer to its on-sale date.
CHEVY GIVES SILVERADO HD MORE TOWING CAPACITY
In other truck news, Chevrolet introduced an updated Silverado HD. Unlike Honda, Chevy didn’t touch the styling, instead it will offer 4 unique trim options to freshen up the look. There’s the Midnight, Z71 Sport and Sport Chrome packages as well as the Carhartt Special Edition. They each offer their own unique touches, which would take too long to detail here, but I think you can make a pretty good guess of what they include just based on the name. Hardware updates to the suspension and packaging changes to the wheels helped increase the max tow rating by 500 pounds, which now tops out at 36,000 pounds. Enhanced trailering technology that debuted on the Silverado 1500 are now available on the HD trucks as well. Production already kicked off last month and trucks will arrive at dealerships throughout the fall.
AUDI TAKING UNIQUE APPROACH TO MANUFACTURE E-TRON GT
Audi is taking a little bit of a unique approach to manufacture its upcoming all-electric sedan, the e-tron GT. It will be made alongside the high-performance R8 at one of its sites in Germany. The bodies of the two models are constructed separately from each other but then come together on a joint assembly line. Audi says this required the plant to be expanded, upgraded and converted, so it could handle the EVs structure, which is made from high-strength steel and aluminum. e-tron GTs will start rolling off the line before the end of the year. Audi also announced that the e-tron GT will emit a futuristic sound while driving that is separate from the sound that all electric vehicles are required to make for the blind and pedestrians. The optional package includes an additional loud speaker at the rear of the car and two more on the inside. Two control units adapt the sound to vehicle speed and accelerator pedal position. I think anything beyond the required sound is dumb because I think there’s much better, easier and cheaper ways to set yourself apart from the crowd.
AUTO INDUSTRY NEEDS TO CONSOLIDATE
With electrification, connectivity and autonomy, the auto industry is going through its most transformative change in the last 100 years. But what is it going to take for the large automakers to make their way through all the change happening, when the investor community is more interested in startups? On last week’s Autoline After Hours, auto industry veteran, Simon Sproule, shared his opinion on what will happen.
Simon Sproule
“We’re in a really interesting time. And I’ve seen this in my advisory work with Fisker, conventional wisdom has it that we have too many car brands, we’ve got too much capacity and therefore the industry needs to consolidate and we need to lose brands and so on and so forth. But we saw in China, five or so years ago, an absolute explosion of EV brands and now we’re seeing the same, I think, in North America and Europe, obviously with a number of startup EV brands. Making cars is really difficult, I think that’s what everyone finds out when they go into it. But actually the barriers to entry now, to go in and create a car brand, oddly have never been lower. And everyone’s taking a different approach. You’re seeing Nikola’s approach, you’re seeing what Tesla has done. Henrik and what Fisker is doing, is another approach more like coach building, where you’re taking platforms and working with partners, working with people to make the car for you but you’re providing unique IP through design and software and service. You’re right, the market does not award the big players but the inevitability of our industry is that more consolidation is going to be necessary. The question is then is which bits of the industry are carved out to make way for these new EV players? So, it’s watch this space right?”
FORD MUSTANG MACH-E UPDATES
Speaking of electric cars, we got some updates about the Mustang Mach-E. Despite reports the program ran into delays, Ford told Autoline that sales in the US will start before the end of the year, while sales in Europe and China will start about three months after that. Ford told us the assembly plant in Mexico where the Mach-E will be made was shut down for weeks due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which slowed the program down. We also learned that Ford’s hands-free driving system, which it calls Active Drive Assist, will not be available until three to four months after sales begin. All the hardware and software will already be embedded in the car, but customers will have to pay a one-time fee of about $1,400 to unlock it with an over-the-air update. Drivers will be able to drive hands free on highways and surface streets that have been mapped with lidar. Active Drive Assist will also be available on the new F-150, and Ford will undoubtedly want to roll it out on as many models as possible.
BEVs HIT 2% MARKET SHARE IN THE U.S.
Sales of battery electric cars hit something of a milestone in the U.S. market last month. They reached 2% market share. That may not sound like a lot but that number is going to ramp up quickly as more BEVs hit the market over the next three years. But for now, almost all the credit goes to Tesla, which accounts for 75% of all BEVs sold in the U.S. And almost all of Tesla’s growth came from the Model Y.
And with that we wrap up today’s show, thanks for watching.
Thanks to our partner for embedding Autoline Daily on its website: WardsAuto.com
Share
Permalink
Comments (46)
October 8th, 2020 at 12:19 pm
Good idea outfitting truck trailers with solar panels. Hopefully the added weight, however, doesn’t mitigate too much of the benefit.
October 8th, 2020 at 12:25 pm
Audi Etron GT external speakers with “unique” noise: Agree it’s a dumb idea, unless they give owners an option to customize the sound… I’d be all in for that!
October 8th, 2020 at 12:51 pm
1, MJB, and wonder what the payback is for those cells; 14000 kWh is significant energy but that figure is annually, which suddenly isn’t as much as an abundant amount as it sounds (or is it).
October 8th, 2020 at 12:54 pm
https://www.motortrend.com/news/tesla-model-y-ev-safety-quality-issues-problems/?sm_id=organic_fb_MT_trueanthem&utm_campaign=&utm_medium=&utm_source=&fbclid=IwAR1WWvlwbA1IgOdzocB1Lewuqyj3QGQVqRx7ZKWjfzXetNFGsOI3OrTSpFE
Some problems with (isolated cases?) Model Ys.
THe Model Y looks very elegant for a crossover in the photo and as they say, has considerably more space than the Model 3. Musk claimed that because it is “10% bigger”, the Model Y would also cost 10% more than the Model 3.
October 8th, 2020 at 12:58 pm
Will the e-tron GT be a sedan, or a hatchback? It’s heavily based on the Porsche Taycan, which is a hatchback.
The solar panels on the truck, with all of that flat area, generate a significant amount of energy, though not too much relative to what it takes to power a big truck. Does anyone have a guess about the cost of the solar panels?
October 8th, 2020 at 1:01 pm
3. It’s about 50 hp-hours per day, maybe enough to run a truck 20 miles.
October 8th, 2020 at 1:13 pm
4. My friend who bought a Model S a few months ago, with a crappy paint job but, otherwise ok quality the last I heard, was warned about Model Y quality issues when he picked up his car. I’d mentioned to him that I’d consider getting a Y, if and when there is charging available at my condo, but he suggested waiting, if in the market any time soon. I still haven’t seen a Y in the wild, but I’m not in FCA country, not EV country.
October 8th, 2020 at 1:15 pm
7. That’s “I am in FCA country, not in EV country.”
October 8th, 2020 at 1:19 pm
With the addition of solar panels on the top of trailers I would assume they will need to make sure they get cleaned somewhat often which most truck trailers only get “cleaned” when it rains. So an additional washing mechanism. Also will they need a battery or will they charge directly into the truck? Because many trailers sit uncoupled to the truck for long periods of time.
Since I work for a supplier to the automotive industry I can say that we are just now starting up our third shift after cutting back to two since CV shutdown. We also struggle hiring people. Plus the added costs of masks, testing and other precautions. As for absenteeism I would have thought it was the other way around. Many people that might have called off when they just didn’t feel good or wanted a mental health day. Haven’t been calling off work knowing that it may require a Dr note or a negative test to return to work.
October 8th, 2020 at 1:35 pm
Sean not exactly sure how adding plastic fender flares makes the ridgeline look more like a truck? They are defiantly trying to appeal to the US market with dual exhaust tips but its a 3.5L V6 and still FWD. The flares do try and shake the minivan with a bed image and give it the appearance that it could actually be taken off-road which it most likely wont ever see. So as long as that’s the image consumers are interested in it may help. It has the same towing capacity as the Ranger @ 3500lbs. So even being FWD it does fair well in that area. Just not sure the flares and slight grill changes are enough to make much difference.
October 8th, 2020 at 1:42 pm
Imagine the fun you could have in the Audi if you had voice microphone access to the external speakers.
October 8th, 2020 at 1:46 pm
7-8 After what they had been thru with the “production hell” as Musk put it, for the Model 3, which is very similar to the Model Y, it is surprising to me that the Y would have problems.
October 8th, 2020 at 1:47 pm
9 How much more does the average worker make while working vs while being at home doing nothing and getting all that govt cheese?
October 8th, 2020 at 2:01 pm
The solar panels on the truck make 14,000 kWh of juice in a year. For comparison, one of those big windmills makes that amount of power in about 6 hours. I have my doubts that it’s cost effective to haul solar panels around on trucks, but I guess we’ll know in a few years, when panels on trucks becomes commonplace, or doesn’t.
October 8th, 2020 at 2:01 pm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cH79SuivdAQ
Jay’s 30 min video of the performance version of the Y.
October 8th, 2020 at 2:03 pm
in other news, Hyundai is recalling its Kona BEV due to fire risk. THat’s the crossoverish vehicle with the front end that looks like it has been hit with a bunch of golf balls.
October 8th, 2020 at 2:06 pm
It will be interesting to see how the new machoized Ridgeline sells. I like it better without the silly fender flares, et. al., but I don’t count, since I don’t buy pickup trucks. Well, I had an S-10 for a while, but that was 25 years ago.
October 8th, 2020 at 2:09 pm
13. “That govt cheese” has expired, at least for now, and most state unemployment benefits, if they are still going, don’t pay much.
October 8th, 2020 at 2:12 pm
14 There you go Kit you have the solution. Just mount windmills on the front of the trucks. Constant 65mph wind..
Helps with driving through protestors too.
October 8th, 2020 at 2:22 pm
10, Lambo, the Ridgeline is also offered in all-wheel drive and the towing is 5000 lbs. That and the front end (grille, front fascia) is what Sean was referring to. The Ridgeline does a fairly good job for what most people use it for, but if you are talking pure pickup truck with different models for work, towing, more demanding off-road and body on frame you’ll need to look elsewhere.
October 8th, 2020 at 2:26 pm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpEXRmDbDh4
2021 Entry Level Rolls Ghost is quite different and better than the model it replaces. Starts at $300k but with some effort you can make it top the half mill mark.
October 8th, 2020 at 2:28 pm
19. OK, I should have said that it might make more sense to put the solar cells on a roof, or on the ground, than hauling them around, and feed the power into the grid, use it to make hydrogen, or whatever. As I said, time will tell if solar panels on trucks makes actual sense.
October 8th, 2020 at 2:39 pm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aCsNs3eYTE
If 21 is too pricey 4 u, this one should be very affordable, at $14,000, AND some dealers are so desperate, they give you a 40% discount too, so you can buy 30 to 50 of them instead of one entry level ROlls. Problem, this is also the worst car you can buy, according to our Doug.
October 8th, 2020 at 2:48 pm
15. The Jay Leno video is an excellent, laid-back presentation of the Model Y. Leaned more from this video than from most others, and it’s a tribute to Leno’s completely objective, unbiased presentation of nearly all vehicles. He likes them all, but he’s very positive about Musk’s creations.
October 8th, 2020 at 2:56 pm
24 I like Jay and his videos, not only of his vast collection of cars, but also many enthusiasts take their cars to him to test drive and make a video.
October 8th, 2020 at 3:35 pm
Problem !!! Ford Active Drive Assist is built into and installed in a car but a customer must pay $1,400 extra to “use” it. Come on and give me a damm break or is a damm “brake.” What is next ? – We have radios installed but have to pay extra monthly ? Sirrus does not get any money from me. Got sick of the ads in their so called “ad free” broadcasts in the trial period. On-Star could have been a life saver from inception but no had to pay a damm fee when the equipment was already there and paid for by the customer – could report a wreck, recover a stolen car and on and on…
October 8th, 2020 at 4:41 pm
26 I’m with you and steer away from paying all the extra fees. I know that it seems like a good idea on paper and maybe it will work out for the automakers. Having a constant stream of money coming in sure has to seem like a great idea on paper. I think many people will find it very off-putting. Like I’ve bought your product that has all these capabilities but you want an additional or monthly fee from me to turn these functions on?
Certainly they have to know that with any software there will be hackers that will figure out how to turn these functions on and there will be a black market for jail breaks. Oh the liability mess that will come from that. Just because the system was made operational doesn’t mean it would be any more faulty. Or would it? Not good Ford.
October 8th, 2020 at 8:56 pm
I’ve never subscribed to SiriusXM or Onstar, beyond the “trial,” but it never bothered me much to have the hardware in the car, because neither would add much to the cost of building the car. I’d think the autonomous stuff would add a significant cost to a car that you’d be paying for, even if you didn’t pay to have it “activated,” which I wouldn’t like.
October 8th, 2020 at 9:03 pm
23 The Mirage wouldn’t be a bad car, at an MSRP of about $7000. With a manual transmission, it would be fun, in the same way an air cooled Beetle was fun, slow, noisy, bad ride, etc., but it had “character.” The Mirage would have a much better heater than a Beetle.
October 9th, 2020 at 6:46 am
29 Masochists would love it. A 5 year old Civic would cost the same, would be far, far superior (as well as bigger and more powerful and safer), and you would not have to drive around with a brown bag over your head.
Sure, the worst dog of 2015 could be compared to a car made 100 years ago and found to be ‘not bad’.
The above shows that even if the dealer sells it at HALF price, $7k vs MRSP of $14k, you can do SO MUCH Better if you forego that ‘new car smell’, which in case of the Mitsu would be the smell of cheap plastic.
I really can’t figure out why Mitsu bothers building that dog. ANd NO, interior poor quality as the video shows, was far inferior even to the old beetle. A joyless ride.
October 9th, 2020 at 6:49 am
In other news, Indian Tata owned Jaguar is calling it quits for its “XE sedan”. Another totally inappropriate and STUPID name, and in this case, not just 1 in 1000 but I bet 1 in 10,000 knows what the hell this vehicle is. Is it the midsize? the small size? (who cares, anyway. Good riddance).
HEy Tata Jag, if any of your unfortunate employees is reading this, if you continue making cars that look like HYUNDAIS inside, you will keep disontinuing them at huge losses, as you just did with the stupidly named “XE sedan”.
October 9th, 2020 at 8:05 am
I really think there is a market for a nice reliable cheep car without all the current gadgets. I hear a lot of people say they don’t want a bunch of stuff that when it doesn’t work costs a fortune to fix. They know how to drive and don’t care about park assist, lane assist, active cruise, or even a back up camera and automatic. If an automaker would develop a very basic car without making it horrible like the early civics were. Nothing special but bullet proof powertrains that were reliable and for the most part the cars were peppy and decent cars. Providing good ride can be accomplished without having to go with the latest active adjustable suspensions. There are a ton of ways to cut cost for things that have not been mandated yet and I think if they did this in a small pick-up it would do well. A very basic truck offered in a regular and extended cab with 2WD a 4cyl and manual transmission. ABS and airbags. Best of all a sticker under 20K and they would sell cause at that price people that want lift kits and big wheels could do that. Or if they wanted low some drop spindles and there you go.. In fact if they designed it with the aftermarket in mind like Jeep does with the wrangler they could have a huge specialty market. Doesn’t mean they couldn’t also offer the truck in a 4 door 4wd and auto with a small V6 but just include a very basic mini truck and it would sell.
October 9th, 2020 at 8:06 am
32 I meant to say develop a car that isn’t horrible. More like the early civics that were decent.
October 9th, 2020 at 8:08 am
https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2020/10/canada-contributing-447-million-toward-ford-plant-upgrades/
$447 mill down the drain? Little (in terms of its population and economy, not land) Canada could have done so much better than giving it to Ford..
But this is one more sign of the times and the trends, governments all over the world spend billions on electrification support.
October 9th, 2020 at 8:11 am
32 our late 1991-2016 Civic hatch was like that, it had NOTHING, crank windows, no A/C, no airbags, no ABS, 5 sp manual, and no luxury, but HIGH QUality, good materials, good construction, fit and finish. UNLIKE that GOD AWFUL Mitsu. See the VIDEO in detail to see how poorly it was made. I am not sure if Kit saw the whole thing either, becsuse the original Beetle had MUCH better quality, better materials, and far more attactive exterior, an iconic car. SO even a car designed 80 years ago beats this ugly, poorly made, poorly materialed DOG from Mitsu.
October 9th, 2020 at 9:21 am
34. They could have given the money to FCA, to keep the van production in Windsor, or maybe they plan to keep it there anyway.
October 9th, 2020 at 9:30 am
Tesla always had trouble with defects. Building cars in a tent is just plain ridiculous. Maybe that’s part of the problem. If any other auto makers had problems like that,they would have been put out of business a long time ago. Thanks to Wall Street and diehard Tesla fans who keeps them going.
Now that stiff competition is coming into the picture, let’s see how Tesla can endure.
October 9th, 2020 at 9:51 am
35. I listened to the video yesterday, but didn’t watch it. I watched it just now, and early in the video, I saw a great feature of the Mirage. The battery is under the hood, completely visible, so it should be easy to change, and easy to get to if you need to jump start the car, or another car with its battery. Actually, I don’t understand Doug’s obsession about exposed bolt heads near the trunk latch, etc. At one time, before all of the interior trim was plastic and snapped in place, there were exposed bolt heads even in the cabin area of Benzes, and even Rolls-Royces.
Yeah, the Mirage probably is the worst car sold in the U.S. market, and it’s hard to explain why they sell it here. It would be much more at home in Thailand, where it is built.
October 9th, 2020 at 10:33 am
35 come on, it was not just the dirt cheap materials, it was not even put together properly, the upholstery was full of openings where you could see the foam under it. It was a total ugly dog, that even its mother would not love. AND even at half its meager 14,000 price (the 40% discount only brought it to $8,400), why would ANYBODY in his or her right mind not buy a low-years, low-miles used Civic, or even a COrolla, instead? Makes zero sense. ANd nothing would go wrong with either of these two, if warranty was any concern.
October 9th, 2020 at 10:36 am
37 hahaha. FIrst, they did NOT make the Model Y but the MODEL 3 partially under the tent, AND those had NO PROBLEMS. Keep stewing in your unreasonable (or not?) hate for Tesla, which still FAR DOMINATES, if you are listening, 75% of all EV sales in the US are TESLAS regardless, and a 2% market share is FOUR TIMES that of your loser Chinese VOlvo Geely.
October 9th, 2020 at 11:08 am
The article “Family says roof of brand-new Tesla Model Y blew off on drive home” was reported in Business Insider.
Just how bad do quality issues have to get?
October 9th, 2020 at 11:50 am
I’ll want to avoid following a Model Y very closely, especially when on two wheels. That’s kind of scary.
October 9th, 2020 at 3:02 pm
BEV’s at 2% USA Share: January through September EV share is 1.49%. After 10 years on the market EV’s are still irrelevant. For over 5 years now Automotive “Experts” keep saying that a large ramp up of EV sales are coming. But it has never happened. Tesla has 77% market share YTD and is selling in the premium luxury performance niche segment. And now the idea that many auto makers will launch new EV’s then sales must increase..right? A moving hockey stick. But they ignore the huge issues of EV’s: high initial cost (a loaded Model Y is $69,900!), low range, long charge/fill times, and little charge infrastructure (sorry no family vacations with this $70k compact CUV!). How many EV makers have gone bankrupt? How many EV announcements have been cancelled or delayed? The idea that “IF WE BUILD IT THEY WILL COME” is not a rational business case or model! The industry should solve the ISSUES (if possible) and then offer new real compelling value to American consumers. It appears the industry is PUSHING a powertrain technology that is a loser to mass appeal and mass market value. Why? What is really going on? Will the truth be revealed?
October 11th, 2020 at 6:40 pm
Solar panels on trucks could offer a great assist to trailer and truck air-con. With ever higher temperatures, many more truck contents might need to be cooled or at least partially cooled. Interior cargo temps must already be rising ever higher while the truck is at rest/gridlock traffic/waiting for to load-unload.
Until car makers get very close to Tesla (or at least range-recharge times are near irrelevant for most), Tesla will have an edge no matter the build quality. When they do, then they will look to differentiate. The Japanese would not stand for such warranty claim costs.
October 11th, 2020 at 6:48 pm
As for built-in and pay car options- we have that with first class flight seats- same plane-same crew-same flight but you pay more to access a nicer flight experience. With options built in on all cars, the cost of options should drop. As long as the options are not related to safety or powertrain efficiency then the same people should be wondering why 1st-business class is not offered to everyone since the incremental actual cost is negligible but the airlines charge way more.
October 14th, 2020 at 4:58 pm
INDUSTRY CONSOLIDATION – REVOLUTION?? C.A.S.E.??: The very first vehicles in late 1800′s were EV’s. Electrification is NOT new and is not complex. Motors-generators, inverters, and batteries are rather simple. EV’s were launched for a decade now and are only 1.5% of USA sales with little added value added to cause consumers to purchase them in masses and for EV sales to grow in the future. Connected cars have been around since late 80′s when first cell phones came out. Connectivity is the norm and not anything new. Smart phone integration has been here for years now. Over the air updates is not a big deal and adds little value to end users. Fully autonomous vehicles or AV’s first requires robust algorithms to assure safety in the near infinite real world driving scenarios. That will take many more years to develop…but the core technology of super-computers, sensors, actuators, and A.I. is already here and have been well known for years now. Autonomy will be EVOLUTIONARY over many years….just like it took adaptive cruise control and collision warning, auto braking decades to grow despite the technologies being well proven and available for decades! Autonomy will add $5,000 a vehicle and be on high end luxury vehicles first and slowly trickle down over decades. Shared vehicles is just updating the old pathetic taxi market with smart phone app, new drivers that use deodorant, speak English, and drive clean cars! Anyway, the industry “experts” need to stop freaking out about C.A.S.E….it is not revolutionary and nothing has or is changing fast. Observe carefully and think logically. Everyone take a breather, chill pill, and calm down! If the industry wants to make more money on vehicles…focus on the basics….business 101….designing and making vehicles that people love and are of high quality, durability, reliability, and affordable! Then keep improving on them in the future and stop changing their names and radically updating them every 5 years (which blows the budget and profits)…just keep refining.