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Runtime: 10:39
0:07 Volkswagen Q1 Financial Results
1:11 Aston Martin DBX Helps Boost Sales
1:54 Ferrari Posts Strong Q1
2:19 GM Financial Growing Fast
4:09 Ford Developing New Ways to Produce e-Motors
4:52 New NASCAR Cars Look Like Real Cars
5:49 Porsche Develops Storage Box Like a Car
7:49 Citroen Turns Tiny Car Into Cargo Hauler
9:12 A Computer’s Interpretation of Art
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First quarter earnings have been pouring in recently and we have a few more automakers to look at today.
VW RAISES ITS FULL YEAR FORECAST
Like most car companies, Volkswagen posted strong numbers in the first quarter of the year after rebounding from COVID lockdowns last year. The company delivered more than 2.4 million vehicles, a gain of 21%. That includes nearly 60,000 battery electric vehicles, an increase of nearly 80%. Thanks to those strong sales, its revenue rose 13% to over 62 billion euros. It posted an operating profit of 4.8 billion euros and a net profit of 3.4 billion euros. Both of which were way up compared to a year ago because of the lockdowns. While Volkswagen expects the global semiconductor shortage to significantly impact its second quarter earnings, it has a positive outlook on its full-year results and raised its forecast for operating profit, net cash flow and net liquidity.
VW Earnings Q1, 2021 | ||
---|---|---|
Deliveries | 2,432,000 | +21.2% |
Revenue | €62.4 Billion | +13.3% |
Operating Profit | €4.8 Billion | +432% |
Net Profit | €3.4 Billion | +560% |
ASTON MARTIN DBX HELPS BOOST SALES
Aston Martin is on a tear, and it’s all thanks to adding an SUV to its lineup. Sales more than doubled in the first quarter, and more than half of those sales were the DBX, Aston’s first SUV. It has another variant of the DBX coming out in Q3, it says the F1 Vantage is being well received by customers, and it’s on track to bring out the stunning Valkyrie in the second half of this year. Aston is still losing money, but losses have been slashed. Brand awareness is up thanks to its involvement in Formula One. And it’s technical future looks secure thanks to Mercedes-Benz owning about 20% of the company.
FERRARI POSTS STRONG Q1
Ferrari also put in a strong Q1 financial performance. Sales grew only 1%, revenue was up 8%, but it’s net profit jumped 24%. All the gains came from China. Sales were down in Europe and the US. Interestingly, sales of V8 models were up 8%, but V12 models dropped nearly 20%.
GM FINANCIAL GROWING REALLY FAST
Automakers can make a lot of money providing financing to dealers and customers. They lend money to dealers to build their dealerships. Then they lend dealers money to buy cars from the factory. Then they lend money to customers to buy the cars from dealers. It’s one of the best money making deals in the industry. It’s so lucrative that General Motors started its own captive finance company, called GMAC, in 1919. But then, leading up to the 2009 bankruptcy, GM had to sell off GMAC to raise money. Today it’s known as Ally and has nothing to do with GM. So in 2010 GM bought AmeriCredit in Fort Worth, Texas and renamed it GM Financial. And wow, is it growing fast. In Q1 GM Financial had $3.4 billion in revenue and posted a $1.1 billion operating profit. Compare that to Ford Credit, often regarded as the best captive finance company in the industry. It posted $2.6 billion in revenue and a $1 billion operating profit. That’s quite a comeback for General Motors.
FinCo Comparison Q1, 2021 | ||
---|---|---|
GM Financial | Ford Credit | |
Revenue | $3.4 Billion | $2.6 Billion |
Operating Profit | $1.1 Billion | $1.0 Billion |
FORD WORKING TO MAKE MULTIPLE E-MOTORS ON ONE LINE
Ford is once again trying to revolutionize the moving assembly line. The automaker’s European division, along with a number of partners, are opening a new research center at Ford’s Cologne plant in Germany to develop new EV components and processes. One of the main focuses is the production of e-motors, including how to send different kinds of motors down the same line. They’ll also look into new laser based methods for joining copper contacts inside the motor, how AI and 3D printing can improve production and it will try to develop ways to recycle the components. Ford says the research center will be open to anyone that wants to use it.
NEW NASCAR CARS LOOK LIKE REAL CARS
NASCAR set a goal for its next-generation cars to look and perform more like their production counterparts and based on the new Camaro race car from Chevrolet, the Mustang from Ford and Toyota’s Camry that are debuting, we’d say it’s going in the right direction. To get the cars to look more like what you and I can buy from a showroom, the greenhouse was lowered, the deck lid shortened and the track widened. Other changes include independent rear suspension, rack and pinion steering, 18-inch aluminum wheels – up from 15-inch steelies – and the engine and transmission are combined into a transaxle. The chassis has even been developed to adopt hybrid and pure electric powertrains in the future. Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait until next year’s Daytona 500, which is on February 20th, to see these cars run around a track.
PORSCHE DEVELOPS STORAGE BOX LIKE A CAR
If you own a Porsche and want more luggage space, it’s got a solution for you. The automaker created a roof-box for extra storage. But Porsche went all out to make sure your car’s performance doesn’t suffer when its attached. Like it does when designing a vehicle, it first created a clay model to make sure the box has the right proportions. It then put the box through wind tunnel tests to make it as aerodynamic as possible. Thanks to those efforts and more, customers can drive their vehicles at speeds of 200 km/h or about 124 MPH when its mounted on the roof. It has a capacity of 480 liters and can be opened from both sides for easy access. The roof box is available starting this month for a price of 1,150 euros or about $1,400. Side blades are also offered which range from 200 to 350 euros.
CITROEN TURNS TINY CAR INTO CARGO HAULER
Citroen is expanding the Ami lineup with a cargo version of the tiny electric vehicle. The regular model is less than 8-feet in length, has a top-speed of 28 MPH and only about 45 miles of range. The cargo version or what’s officially called the My Ami Cargo, keeps those same specs. But it gets rid of the passenger seat to make room for a modular space to store stuff. Citroen said it developed it due to the need for a zero-emission vehicle in urban areas and the growth in delivery services, particularly e-commerce and food delivery. The My Ami Cargo goes on sale this July in Europe with a starting price of about 6,500 euros, only 400 euros more than the standard model.
Elon Musk says you don’t need lidar for autonomous cars. But practically everyone else working on AVs is using lidar. So, the race is on. And we’ll be talking all about lidar on Autoline After Hours later this afternoon. Our guest is Mircea Gradu, the Senior Vice President of Product and Quality at Velodyne. He has extensive automotive experience, having worked previously at Fiat Chrysler and Hyundai. So join John and Gary as they tackle one of the most debatable topics in the auto industry.
A COMPUTER’S INTERPRETATION OF ART
Every year BMW commissions some kind of art car. They’re all really cool, but, for us, once you’ve seen and reported on a few, like we have, they start to lose some of their uniqueness. That, however, is not the case for us with this new set of cars BMW is showing off. What’s interesting is that it pumped over 50,000 images of artwork spanning 900 years of history along with 50 contemporary works of art into an AI software program. The AI then generated entirely new works of art, using the inputs as its basis for understanding what art is. And what you get is this really neat blending of old and new, which is then projected onto the car.
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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.