Runtime: 6:30
0:33 Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance to Collaborate More
1:03 Fred Diaz New CEO of Mitsubishi North America
1:17 Honda Hits Major U.S. Manufacturing Milestone
2:57 EPA Overestimates Vehicle Emissions
4:09 Volvo Offers Subscription Service for XC40
4:57 Waymo Releases Video to Ease AV Fears
5:48 BMW Invests in May Mobility
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On today’s show… Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi say they’re going to sell 14 million cars a year… a new study shows that cars don’t pollute as much as the EPA says… and Honda hits a manufacturing milestone that would have been unthinkable 36 years ago. All that and more coming right up on Autoline Daily.
This is Autoline Daily the show for enthusiasts of the automotive industry.
RNM ALLIANCE EYES BIG GROWTH
The Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance announced its accelerating plans to get all three companies to collaborate more. By 2022 they want savings of 10 billion euros and they expect sales to hit 14 million units worldwide, up from 10.7 million last year. On April 1 of this year the alliance will announce a new organizational structure that affects engineering, manufacturing, logistics, purchasing, quality, aftersales and business development.
DIAZ NEW CEO OF MITSUBISHI NA
The alliance also announced that Fred Diaz is the new CEO of Mitsubishi Motor’s operations in the North America. Diaz had been the head of sales at Nissan, and before that he worked at Chrysler.
HONDA HITS MANUFACTURING MILESTONE
Honda became the first Japanese automaker to produce cars in the U.S. when it started rolling Accords down the line in Marysville Ohio in 1982. Back then the big question was whether people would buy a Japanese-brand car made by American workers. Japanese executives wondered if Americans could build a vehicle to the same high quality standards as those imported from Japan. Well those questions sure got answered. Honda just built its 25 millionth vehicle in the U.S., a 2018 Accord. That’s an impressive milestone and we say “Congrats to Honda!”
Be sure to join us for Autoline After Hours this afternoon when we go live at 3 pm eastern time. You can watch at our website www.Autoline.tv. Our special guest is Trevor Pawl who is, amongst other things, the head of Planet M, which is all about getting a traditional automotive manufacturing state like Michigan into the brave new world of mobility. Also joining us will be Dustin Walsh from Crain’s Detroit Business. So join John and Gary for some of the best insights on what’s going on in the automotive industry.
Do you know what VOCs are? They’re a type of pollution. And it turns out cars are no longer the biggest cause of that pollution. That’s coming up next.
EPA OVERESTIMATES VEHICLE EMISSIONS
Hey, maybe cars don’t pollute as much as we thought they did. Ward’s Auto reports on a fascinating study done by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. It found that the EPA grossly overstated how many VOCs, or volatile organic compounds, are caused by cars. The EPA said cars caused 75% of those emissions, but the NOAA study says it’s more like 50%. Using new statistics and atmospheric data that was not available before, the researchers found that shampoo, paint, cleaning products,and other sources contribute about as much to air pollution as does the transportation sector. VOCs are pollutants that evaporate and get into the atmosphere.
Would you be afraid to get into an autonomous car? Well Waymo put out a video to calm your nerves. And we’ll show you that right after this..
CARE BY VOLVO
Volvo has a new way of getting a new XC40.They call it Care by Volvo. It’s a subscription service, and it includes everything: the car payment, all the maintenance and even the insurance. All you pay for is the gas.Volvo has two payment programs, one for $600 a month for an all wheel drive XC40, or one for $700 for a loaded version. There’s no money down, you get 15,000 miles a year and you can change to a different model after one year. This is not about saving money, it’s about convenience. There’s no haggling over the price, it can all be done online and at the end of the service you just walk away. And it’s an experiment to see how many people will go for it.
WAYMO VIDEO AIMS TO EASE AV FEARS
Last November, Waymo announced that it’s going to launch an autonomous ride-hailing service in the Phoenix, Arizona area within the next couple of months. But the company faces a big problem. A majority of the public is wary of riding in a self-driving vehicle. A Gallup poll released last week found that 54% of people were “unlikely” to use autonomous cars and 59% said they were uncomfortable riding in one. So to help ease people’s fear of autonomous vehicles, Waymo put together a 360 degree YouTube video, that explains what riding in an autonomous vehicle is like. It highlights the different system sensors and how they help detect and avoid other objects in the vehicles path. You can find the link to the video in the transcript to today’s show on our website Autolne.tv. Just click on the headline to this story.
MAY SHOWERS BRINGS BMW FLOWERS
And in other autonomy news, BMW has invested in May Mobility. The Detroit start-up company, operates a fleet of self-driving micro shuttles. And if you’d like to learn more about May Mobility we interviewed the COO of the company, Alisyn Malek, during our Supplier Symposium at this year’s Detroit auto show.
But that’s it for today, thanks for watching and please join us again tomorrow.
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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.