Runtime: 9:57
0:32 Trump Boosts Steel & Aluminum Tariffs
1:05 U.S. Car Sales Drop in February
1:25 Pickup Truck Sales Drop
1:48 Luxury Brands Post Increase
2:55 GMC Unveils the New Sierra
4:11 Jaguar Reveals More I-Pace Details
5:28 Volvo XC40 Walkaround
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On today’s show…President Trump’s tariffs on imported steel and aluminum will drive up car prices…uh-oh sales of pickup trucks are slowing down…but GMC is showing off some really cool features on the all-new Sierra pickup. All that and more coming right up on Autoline Daily.
This is Autoline Daily the show for enthusiasts of the automotive industry.
TRUMP BOOSTS STEEL & ALUMINUM TARIFFS
Yesterday, President Trump announced plans to slap a 25% tariff on imported steel and a 10% tariff on aluminum. UBS estimates that this will add an additional $300 million in material costs for Ford this year and $200 million for GM. And Cox Automotive estimates this will increase prices of new cars by $200. And that hit GM, Ford and FCA’s where it hurts the most, their stock prices. They all dropped between 3 and 4 percent.
U.S. CAR SALES DROP IN FEBRUARY
Compounding the bad news is that the seasonally adjusted annual sales rate of new cars dropped below 17 million last month. It’s been a long time since we’ve seen the SAAR drop below 17. Fewer than 1.3 million new vehicles were sold, down 2.3% from a year ago.
| U.S. NEW VEHICLE SALES, FEBRUARY 2018 | ||
|---|---|---|
| SAAR | 16.96 M | |
| Total Sales | 1.29 M | -2.3% |
| Source: WardsAuto | ||
PICKUP TRUCK SALES DROP
The big news is that the pickup segment, one of the strongest and most profitable in the industry, fell 4.6%. But it was a mixed bag with some trucks up strong and others down a lot. And there was a difference in the different size trucks. Sales of mid-size pickups were up 14%, while full-size trucks fell 8%.
| FULL-SIZE PICKUP TRUCK SALES | ||
|---|---|---|
| Ford F-Series | 63,411 | +3.6% |
| Chevy Silverado | 42,282 | -16.3% |
| Ram | 31,952 | -14.7% |
| GMC Sierra | 13,162 | -25.3% |
| Toyota Tundra | 7,977 | +10.3% |
| Nissan Titan | 3,761 | +25.9% |
| MID-SIZE PICKUP TRUCK SALES | ||
| Toyota Tacoma | 16,817 | +18% |
| Chevy Colorado | 8,050 | +7.1% |
| Nissan Frontier | 7,992 | +68.8% |
| GMC Canyon | 2,319 | -22.1% |
| Honda Ridgeline | 2,209 | -32.3% |
| Source: WardsAuto | ||
LUXURY BRANDS POST INCREASE
The other story coming out of these sales numbers was the surprising strength amongst the top luxury brands. Mercedes, BMW, Lexus, Audi, Cadillac and Porsche all posted double digit gains. Looks like the wealthy are already spending their tax breaks. But not all luxury brands did well. JLR was down, with Jaguar falling 37%. Infiniti and Genesis also fell. Even so, the luxury segment was up more than 4%.
There are warning signs in these numbers. The car market continues to slow down, pickup trucks are showing their first sign of weakness. And if you’re an automaker without a luxury brand, you’re feeling more pain than those that do.
And we’ll be back with more right after this.
GMC UNVEILS THE NEW SIERRA
GMC showed off the new Sierra yesterday and it’s got a lot of interesting features. It uses an amazing 38-meters of structural adhesives. The prior one only used 4 meters. It also offers a carbon fiber bed, a first in the industry. In all, the Sierra is 360 pounds lighter. Just in case you’re wondering GMC showed a short video showing concrete blocks being dumped in it, and even a guy hitting the carbon bed with a sledge hammer. There’s also a trick tailgate that can be used in a number of combinations, like a worktop, a bed extender, a step or even just to let you reach further into the bed. Powertrain options are similar to the Silverado, a reworked 6.2L and 5.3L V8, a new inline 6-cylinder diesel and a 10-speed transmission, but GMC says it will have something new to announce at the New York show. So, maybe a performance version or hybrid? The interior has been reworked as well and will have a head-up display for the first time, but for some reason the interior as a whole doesn’t feel very upscale to me. The new GMC Sierra goes on sale this fall.
JAGUAR REVEALS MORE I-PACE DETAILS
And Jaguar is sharing more details about its first fully electric vehicle, the I-PACE. A 90-kWh battery pack returns 240-miles of range and can be charged to 80% capacity in 40-minutes using a fast charger. Two electric motors, one mounted in the front and one in the rear, provide all-wheel drive and 0-60 acceleration in 4.5-seconds. The I-PACE is the first Jaguar to get the automaker’s new infotainment system, which uses a pair of touchscreens and now has over-the-air-updates capability. The EV went on sale in the UK yesterday with a starting price of about 63,500 pounds, not including incentives. It goes on sale in the U.S. in the second half of this year with pricing to be announced in just a few days.
Coming up next, we’ll take you on a walk-around of the new Volvo XC40.
VOLVO XC40 WALKAROUND
John was recently on the media launch of the Volvo XC40 and here are some of the highlights he found.
(The Volvo XC40 walkaround can only be viewed in the video version of today’s show.)
And that brings us to the end of this week’s Autoline Daily. Thanks for watching and please join us right back here again on Monday.
Thanks to our partner for embedding Autoline Daily on its website: WardsAuto.com
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.
