AD #2313 – Alcantara Can’t Keep Up with Demand, VW Teases New Touareg, Car Sales Red Hot in Germany

On today’s show…VW gets ready to storm up Pikes Peak on batteries…car sales in Germany are red hot…and Alcantara cannot keep up with demand. All that and more coming right up on Autoline Daily.

This is Autoline Daily the show for enthusiasts of the automotive industry.

CAR SALES RED HOT IN GERMANY
Sales of new cars in Germany are roaring ahead. According to WardsAuto, automakers sold over 280,000 light vehicles in February, up 7.5%. Year-to-date sales total more than 570,000 units, which is a 9.5% gain. And unlike in the U.S., passenger cars dominate the market, with sales of over 530,000 units, compared to only 41,000 light trucks.

RENAULT MOVES PRODUCTION OUT OF FRANCE
And in other European car news, Renault is moving more production of its best-selling model, the Clio, out of France and into Turkey. Reuters reports that 94% of next-gen Clio models, will be built at Renault’s plants in Turkey and Slovenia, while the remaining six-percent will be assembled in France. Back in 2010, Renault tried to move all Clio production out of France but scrapped the plans when that triggered a massive political backlash. It isn’t facing as much pushback this time because its offsetting Clio production with a new electric car. But this could be a signal that more automakers will shift production out of western Europe, in order to cut costs.

CHINESE PARTNERS DON’T TRUST FORD
The car market in China is booming, but Ford’s sales are dropping fast. They’re down 23% for the first two months of the year. One reason is that Ford has an old lineup of vehicles, another reason is that Ford does not have good relationships with its Chinese partners, Changan and Jiangling Motors. Reuters reports that the Chinese partners don’t trust Ford. To change that around Ford plans to promote more Chinese executives to work with its partners. Ford had named a Chinese national, Jason Luo, to head up its operations in China but after only 5 months on the job he abruptly resigned for personal reasons, setting back the company’s efforts to improve its relations in China.

Volkswagen will charge up Pikes Peak with a car that has to be charged up. That’s coming up next.

MCLAREN NABS FLIP-FLOP SPONSORSHIP
If you had to say Formula 1’s new protective halo bar looked like anything, what would it be? If you said a flip-flop, the folks at McLaren must have been thinking the same thing. Flip-flop manufacturer Gandys will be a sponsor for the upcoming season and will have their name prominently displayed on McLaren’s halo. When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade.

VW TAKES ON PIKES PEAK
And speaking of racing, the Pikes Peak Hill Climb has seen nearly every type of vehicle race and recently electric vehicles have started to take over the mountain. This year Volkswagen hopes to take the top spot in the Unlimited category with this purpose built EV. The Unlimited category pretty much allows engineers to do whatever they want with respect to technology and we’d say that shows through on VW’s race car. The Pikes Peak Hill Climb starts on June 24th.

VW TEASES NEW TOUAREG
And in other VW news, we’re getting our first look at the new Touareg as it makes a 16,000-kilometer trip from Bratislava to Beijing, which is where the SUV will make its world premiere. While the front and rear are camouflaged, the updated styling doesn’t seem to be as rounded off as the previous model. It also doesn’t seem to be as boxy and truck-like as the new Atlas. Looks like VW is trying to hit a sweet spot between the Tiguan and Atlas. The new Touareg will debut on March 23rd.

Coming up next, Alcantara is so popular it can’t keep up with demand.

ALCANTARA CAN’T KEEP UP WITH DEMAND
Alcantara is a type of synthetic leather that automotive designers love to specify for the interiors of their cars. It feels like suede. Yet it’s 50% lighter than leather, an important consideration in today’s push to reduce mass in order to increase fuel efficiency. Alcantara also promotes its environmental sustainability and became the first company in Italy to be officially certified as carbon neutral. At the moment Alcantara cannot keep up with demand. One reason is that the company only manufactures its product in Italy, believing this helps it get a premium price. Over the next five years it’s going to double production with new facilities in Modena, Italy. It will use that production to expand beyond automotive which currently accounts for 80% of its sales. One unexpected application is that Microsoft is using it on its Surface lineup of tablets.

12 HOURS OF SEBRING RESULTS
The 12 Hours of Sebring ran this weekend and it was another terrific race. The overall win went to Nissan in the DPi or prototype category. That marks the first win for Nissan with its new car which is quite an accomplishment. Porsche won the GT Le Mans category with its seemingly indestructible 911. And Lamborghini took the GT Daytona category with a Huracan.

TRUEX DOMINATES IN CALIFORNIA
In NASCAR, Martin Truex and his Toyota Camry absolutely dominated the Auto Club 400 in Fontana, California.

But that’s it for today, thanks for watching and please join us again tomorrow.