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Runtime: 10:18
0:08 PHEV Sales to Dry Up in Germany
1:11 Bentley Having a Banner Year
1:49 Renault Profits Drop Drastically
2:24 Nissan Posts Poor Earnings
3:27 Rolls-Royce Readies Its First EV
5:00 Alfa Romeo Turns to Chrysler Group for Next Model
5:41 Chevrolet Launches New ICE SUV In China
7:18 GM Racks Up EV Reservations
8:07 Autoliv Develops Air-Bag Bike Helmet
8:57 Mercedes Starts Renting RVs
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PHEV SALES TO DRY UP IN GERMANY
Plug-in hybrids have been selling quite well in Germany, but LMC Automotive says that may be coming to an end. It’s all because Germany is getting rid of incentives which were worth up to €6,750 off the price of a PHEV. There are 80 different PHEV models available in Germany, triple what was available just a few years ago. And Germany accounts for one out of three PHEVs sold in Europe. LMC says demand for plug-in hybrids is at its peak and expects a steep sales decline. Another problem they face is that to qualify for incentives, PHEVs have to be able to travel 60 kilometers on pure electric power. That means most of them need a 30-kilowatt-hour battery, and with raw material prices going up, those batteries are pretty expensive. Anyone care to guess what the best-selling PHEV in Germany is? That honor goes to the Ford Kuga.
BENTLEY HAVING A BANNER YEAR
When it comes to automakers posting their latest financial earnings, there’s good news and there’s bad news. Let’s start with the good. Bentley is having a banner year. It sold nearly 7,400 cars in the first half, and the average price tag on each of them was €213,000, up from €186,000 a year ago. That brought in €1.7 billion in revenue, up nearly 29%. And it posted an operating profit of €398 million, up a staggering 124%.
RENAULT PROFITS DROP DRASTICALLY
Meanwhile, the news at Renault isn’t so rosy. It only sold 348,000 vehicles in the first half which was down 18%. It brought in €21 billion in revenue which was fractionally higher than a year ago, but its net profit dropped by €2 billion to only €368 million. In the past, Renault could always count on lucrative dividends from Nissan to pump up its bottom line, since it owns over 43% of Nissan. But Nissan is not in any position to pay dividends.
NISSAN POSTS POOR EARNINGS
Nissan sold 819,000 vehicles globally in the first half, down nearly 22%. It brought in about $16.4 billion in revenue, which was up an impressive 129%. But even so, its net profits fell 67% to only $367 million.
ROLLS-ROYCE READIES ITS FIRST EV
Rolls-Royce’s first ever BEV, the Spectre, sounds pretty impressive. It’s built on a new all-aluminum architecture that is exclusive to Rolls. This yields the largest doors at roughly 1.5 meters or nearly 5 feet in the company’s history, which is kind of surprising with some of the monster cars from its past. The Spectre also has the largest deep-draw or stamped part in its history. The one-piece side panel is almost 4 meters or over 13 feet long and extends from the A-pillar to behind the rear taillights. Getting Rolls’ ‘magic carpet ride’ was another key area of focus. It features a new suspension system that not only has new hardware, but now uses sensors to look at steering, braking, power delivery and even the road ahead to provide the best setup. While it doesn’t say how much capacity the battery will have, it did reveal that the pack weighs 700 kilograms or over 1,540 pounds, which suggests it will be quite large. For comparison, the 100-kWh battery pack from a Tesla Model S is said to weigh about 625 kilograms or about 1,380 pounds. With recent testing, development of the Spectre is about 40% complete and the first customer deliveries are scheduled for late next year.
ALFA ROMEO TURNS TO CHRYSLER GROUP FOR NEXT MODEL
Speaking of new models, Alfa Romeo says it’s developing a new vehicle in the U.S., but it also must be a fit for Europe and China. Stellantis has four platforms for future models and this is said to be a large-size vehicle, but it’s not known if it will be a sedan, crossover or SUV. It’s also not known where the model will be built. Those decisions will likely come by the end of the year. In the first half of the year Stellantis’ brands in North America accounted for 60% of the total group’s profits, so it makes sense that it would want to develop it in the region where it knows how to make money.
CHEVROLET LAUNCHES NEW ICE SUV IN CHINA
Chevy revealed its new SUV for China, the Seeker, which we teased the other day. But this is not an Ultium-based EV, like I thought, it’s an ICE vehicle. The Seeker is available in two RS variants and both feature a turbocharged 1.5L 4-cylinder engine. Styling is pretty similar to the Blazer and Equinox, which are also sold in China alongside the Trailblazer, and the Seeker is actually a little shorter than the Equinox. The interior is highlighted by round vents with a red accent bar that cuts through them onto the dash and two 10 and a quarter inch display screens. Chevy says it hopes to appeal to younger buyers with the Seeker.
GM RACKS UP EV RESERVATIONS
GM sure is racking up some impressive reservation orders for its EVs. CEO Mary Barra says they have more than 150,000 reservations for the Chevy Silverado EV and that nearly two-thirds of them are from customers new to GM. That’s not too far behind the Ford F-150 Lightning which capped its reservations at 200,000. GM says it has 80,000 reservations for the Hummer pickup and SUV and that 75% of them are new to the GMC brand. It did not reveal how many reservations it has for the Cadillac Lyriq but says 70% are conquest buyers. GM is aiming to sell 1 million EVs a year by 2025 and this is a good sign that it can reach that goal.
AUTOLIV DEVELOPS AIR-BAG BIKE HELMET
The supplier Autoliv, which makes airbags and other safety equipment, is taking airbags beyond automobiles. It’s teaming up with a company called POC, to develop a bicycle helmet with an airbag built into it because more than half of all cyclist injuries are to the head area. Initial tests show the helmet significantly improves protection and reduces head injuries. And it does that without drastically changing the design, weight and comfort of the helmet. The companies estimate that the integrated airbag helmet can reduce the risk of fatal head injuries from 80% to 30% in a 20 km/h or 12 MPH impact. But no word yet on when the helmet could hit the market.
MERCEDES STARTS RENTING RVs
RVs became really popular during the pandemic but they can be quite pricey. So, Mercedes is now offering motorhome rentals in Germany for its Marco Polo camper van. It can currently be rented at 25 locations and soon will offer online booking. And while it didn’t say how many customers it has, it must be gaining popularity. Mercedes will triple the number of vans to rent by the end of year. And next year, it will add Sprinter-based motorhomes to the rental service.
But that’s a wrap for this week. Enjoy your weekend and we’ll be right back here again on Monday.
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Seamus and Sean McElroy cover the latest news in the automotive industry for Autoline Daily.