AD #2267 – GM Achieves Major Milestone, Stunning Interpretation of Citroen DS, Why Is FCA’s Stock Price Skyrocketing?

On today’s show…General Motors achieves a milestone in the history of the automotive industry…FCA’s stock price is soaring and nobody knows why…and who is going to win this year’s North American Car, Truck and Utility awards. All that and more coming right up on Autoline Daily.

This is Autoline Daily, where we cover every aspect of the automotive industry.

GM ACHIEVES MAJOR MILESTONE
Here’s one for the history books. General Motors just filed a petition with NHTSA to allow it to deploy a fleet of unmanned, self-driving vehicles next year, in order to launch an on-demand, ride-hailing service in an undisclosed city. Based on the Chevy Bolt EV, it would be the first production vehicle without a steering wheel, pedals or gear shifter. If it gets approval, GM could start building up to 2,500 a year. But getting approval is no guarantee, since current federal regulations require a human behind the wheel. And on top of that, there’s currently only 7 states where GM can operate unmanned vehicles. But in our opinion, the Cruise AV, which is what GM is calling the vehicle, could go down as one of the most important cars in automotive history.

WHY IS FCA’S STOCK PRICE SKYROCKETING?
Hey, what the heck is going on with Fiat-Chrysler stock? It’s gone up 31% in just the last two weeks, and its trading volume tripled. Who the heck is buying the stock and why? Rumors on the street are running rampant. Some believe FCA is going to sell off Jeep. Some say a Chinese car company is buying the stock, others say it’s a tech company. And a few believe the company simply represents a good investment and so it’s attracting institutional investors. Meanwhile FCA will not say peep about it. One thing’s for sure. Something big is going on.

RAM HD PRODUCTION MOVES FROM MEXICO TO MICHIGAN
Speaking of FCA, the automaker just announced it’s going to move production of the Ram Heavy Duty pickup out of Mexico and into the U.S. It will invest $1 billion at its Warren Truck plant, which will add 2,500 jobs by 2020. FCA also announced it’s going to give its 60,000 U.S. hourly employees a bonus check of $2,000 thanks to recent tax cuts in the U.S.

Still to come…a look at a stunning interpretation of the original Citroen DS.

BORGWARNER DEVELOPS NEW AWD SOLUTION
All-wheel drive systems will drag down a vehicle’s fuel economy because of the extra power needed to turn the additional moving pieces and the friction between them, but many customers want AWD. Here’s the latest electro-hydraulic clutch assembly with an integrated control module that is made by BorgWarner and is used on the Volvo XC40. It sits in front of the rear differential and operates independently from the two axles. It’s able to offer a complete disconnect of the rear to save fuel. Or it offers full locking torque, which can be provided at any time or speed. And because the control module features adaptable software, an automaker can input their own driving characteristics.

STUNNING INTERPRETATION OF ORIGINAL CITROEN DS
Jean Louis Bui is a French designer who works at a French design house called Etud Integral. He just came out with this modern interpretation of the original Citroen DS, and it looks stunning. The DS debuted 63 years ago and it created a sensation for its sleek look and ground breaking technology. Citroen recently revived the DS brand for its upscale cars. But none of them look anywhere as good as this. Our advice to Citroen is to buy this design and start building it!

Next Monday we’ll learn who the winners are for this year’s North American Car, Truck and Utility awards. Coming up, we’ll give you a sneak peek at who the winners could be.

WHO WILL WIN NACTOY AWARDS?
The winners for North American Car, Truck and Utility of the Year will be revealed at next week’s Detroit auto show. And on the new Autoline This Week, John, along with three of his NACTOY colleagues, talk about the finalists. Who’s going to win? Well, here are some of their predictions.

(The ATW preview is only available in the video version of today’s show.)

To find out what these jurors think of the finalists, you can watch that entire discussion right now on our website, Autoline.tv or you can find it on our YouTube channel. And make sure to tune into Monday’s Daily, to find out who really won.

And be sure to check out our coverage of the Detroit auto show, which also starts on Monday.

But that’s it for today, thanks for watching and have a great weekend.