Listen to “AD #2832 – China's Sales Turning Around; NHL Helps GM Double Mask Production; Ford Tests Fake Bird Poop” on Spreaker.
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Runtime: 11:29
0:07 China’s Sales Turning Around
0:43 GM Won’t Cut Back on AV Investments
1:13 Honda Will Offer OnStar in EVs Shared with GM
1:40 Most of GM’s Dealers Implement Online Shopping
2:11 NHL Helps GM Double Mask Production
4:27 FCA Files for “Dakota” Trademark
5:08 Hyperloop Might Not Arrive Until 2040
6:50 Mercedes Highlights Over 120 Years of Steering Wheel History
8:24 Volvo Will Offer Production Lidar in 2022
9:11 Skoda Shows ENYAQ iV Electric SUV in Camo
10:21 Ford Tests Fake Bird Poop on Paint
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This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry.
CHINA’S SALES TURNING AROUND
We start today in China where new car sales are on the mend. The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers released preliminary sales numbers for April, and said automakers sold 2 million vehicles, which is up nearly 1% compared to a year ago, and about 40% higher than in March. The Chinese car market was in trouble before the coronavirus hit and if sales were up, it would be the first time in almost two years that there was an increase in the market. And hopefully that’s a harbinger of what will happen in other automotive markets.
GM NOT CUTTING AV INVESTMENT
Now to the U.S., where General Motors says it has no plans to stop or cut back investments in autonomous technology. GM CEO Mary Barra told analysts yesterday that GM Cruise is still testing cars on the road in Phoenix and San Francisco, though it did cut back on some of its testing. She says it continues to make rapid progress despite the pandemic, and points out that Cruise is very well funded so it’s not cutting back on spending.
HONDA WILL OFFER ONSTAR IN SHARED EVs WITH GM
Barra also reiterated GM’s commitment to building electric vehicles, suggesting GM will not reduce its EV product development programs. She also announced that Honda will make OnStar available in the EVs that GM and Honda are developing together. It’s fascinating to see the growing relationship between the two companies that now involves EVs, AVs and fuel cells.
85% OF GM’S DEALERS IMPLEMENT ONLINE SHOPPING
Barra also said that 85% of its dealers in the U.S. have implemented its Shop-Click-Drive for selling cars online along with no-touch delivery. 750 of them signed up after the pandemic broke out. Even though car sales are down sharply, the number of people using Shop-Click-Drive are up 41%, and GM is going to add 8 new features to the program in another week or so.
NHL HELPS GM DOUBLE MASK PRODUCTION
Let’s stick with GM for another minute. There’s a great story in the Detroit Free Press today of how GM ramped its production of face masks with the help of the NHL. You heard right, the National Hockey League. GM ran into a production bottleneck in making masks, because the last step in the process is to sanitize the masks before they’re boxed up and shipped out. But GM only had a sanitizing machine that could sanitize 2,000 face masks at a time, which would leave it far short of its commitment to make 1.5 million masks a month. Turns out GM President Mark Reuss knew that hockey teams sanitize their equipment after every game, so he called his friend Chris Ilitch who owns the Detroit Red Wings hockey team. Well the Red Wings have their sanitizing machine built right into the HVAC system in their arena. But the Red Wings knew of a local hockey shop with a sanitizing machine, so they got that. They also contacted the Chicago Blackhawks and Philadelphia Flyers and were able to get sanitizing machines from them. They shipped their machines to GM’s plant that’s making the masks, and now, instead of making 1.5 million a month, GM is ramping that up to 3 million a month. All we can say is bravo to the NHL!
Be sure to join us for Autoline After Hours today. Our guest will be Chris Ciuca from the Society of Engineers who will be telling us about Formula SAE, where college students design, build and race cars. It’s really about grooming a new generation of engineers through racing. Jason Fogelson from ReviewGarage.com will also be on the show. So join me and Gary Vasilash for some great insights into the automotive industry.
FCA FILES FOR “DAKOTA” TRADEMARK
Toyota used to have the mid-size truck segment almost all to itself. Its only competition was the Nissan Frontier. But that changed when Chevy and GMC introduced its mid-size trucks. Now Ford is back with the Ranger, Jeep launched the Gladiator, and Hyundai has announced plans to introduce one as well. And it looks like the segment is about to get even more crowded. Last week, FCA filed for a trademark application of the name “Dakota.” It isn’t commenting about it but everyone remembers the Dodge Dakota pickup before it was axed in 2011.
HYPERLOOP MIGHT NOT ARRIVE UNTIL 2040
Elon Musk stirred up a lot of buzz in 2012 when he re-introduced the idea of transporting people and goods at high speeds in pods through low-pressure tubes and coined the name Hyperloop. There’s been a lot of testing and development by a number of companies since that time and one prototype got close to 300 MPH last year. That might make you think the first Hyperloop is right around the corner, but Chris Robinson, Senior Analyst from Lux Research says there are a number of factors that could push the introduction back further than you might expect.
Chris Robinson, Senior Analyst, Lux Research
“There’s certainly been a lot of progress since the concept was proposed or maybe I should say re-proposed by Elon Musk in 2012. But the reality is, we’re talking about really big infrastructure projects that are going to require a lot more validation, a lot more testing and a lot more safety regulations to kind of guide what these systems are going to look like from a commercial perspective. So, from a timeline, it’s difficult to say. We look closer to a 20 year timeline, so looking at maybe 2040 as a time when we might see these system commercialized. There’s a lot of progress but there also remain a lot of barriers. We don’t necessarily need one singular technology breakthrough to make this happen. It’s feasible with all of the existing components today but they haven’t been tested in the same conditions that you might want to operate a hyperloop in, in terms of the speed and the vacuum we’re talking about (in the tubes).”
If you’d like to learn more about Hyperloop, you can watch that entire interview right now on our YouTube channel.
MERCEDES HIGHLIGHTS OVER 120 YEARS OF STEERING WHEEL HISTORY
Show any enthusiast a picture of a steering wheel and they can probably tell what era it was from. Mercedes is highlighting more than 120 years of steering wheel history as it gets ready to introduce an all-new steering wheel in the 2020 E-Class. As many of you know, the first automobiles didn’t have steering wheels. They were fitted with levers, cranks and tillers. What is considered the first steering wheel was designed by a French engineer for the very first automobile race in 1894. Another feature synonymous with the steer wheel, the horn, didn’t start getting incorporated until the 1920’s, when huge wheels featured large horn rings in the middle. In 1951 Mercedes introduced a gear shift on its steering column, the first combination switch for turn signals and headlights came in 1959, first airbag in 1981 and 1998 was the first time the steering wheel was coupled with the radio. Fast forward to today and the 2020 E-Class will feature a steering wheel that has a two-zone sensor mounted in the rim to make sure the driver has their hands on the wheel as well as capacitive buttons on the spokes that can be pressed or swiped. The new E-Class launches this summer.
VOLVO WILL OFFER PRODUCTION LIDAR IN 2022
Volvo is taking the next step towards autonomy. It is partnering with the tech firm Luminar and will offer LIDAR in its production vehicles starting in 2022. As you can see in the picture, the system is integrated fairly seamlessly into the roof, and doesn’t involve one of those giant roof racks they call a tiara. If customers want to activate the Highway Pilot feature, which allows for fully autonomous highway driving, they can do so with an over-the-air software update. It will also be used to improve Volvo’s advanced driver assistance systems. It’s interesting that Volvo will use LIDAR for autonomous driving, Elon Musk says you don’t need it but as far as we can tell he’s the only one who thinks so.
SKODA SHOWS ENYAQ iV ELECTRIC SUV IN CAMO
Skoda is getting a version of the Volkswagen ID.4 electric SUV, which it will call ENYAQ iV. It’s built on VW’s MEB architecture and will be manufactured in the Czech Republic, the first MEB-based vehicle to be made outside of Germany. The ENYAQ comes with rear- or all-wheel drive, three battery sizes and five power outputs. The base model features rear-wheel drive, 52 kWh of usable battery space and 340 kilometers of WLTP range, which would be about 190 EPA miles. The largest pack, 77 kWh of usable space, provides up to 500 WLTP kilometers of range, which is roughly 275 EPA miles and the most powerful motor, 150 kW, returns a 0 to 100 km/h time of 6.2 seconds. The ENYAQ iV goes into production late this year with deliveries starting early in 2021.
FORD TESTING FAKE BIRD POOP IS NO BULL$#!+
The mystery of why birds always seem to poop on freshly washed cars may never be solved. But what we do know, is that if you don’t clean it off, bird poop can damage your paint. The white part of the poop is the bird equivalent of urine and is actually uric acid, which if not cleaned off the paint can stain it permanently. So, Ford developed artificial bird poop to test its paint. Sample pieces are sprayed with the synthetic droppings and then aged in an oven at different temperatures. Ford is then able to fine tune its paint mixtures to ensure the best possible protection. Ford says these fake bird poops are so real that they can accurately reflect the different diets of most of the birds in Europe.
And that’s why you tune in to Autoline Daily, because we always give you the straight poop.
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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.