Runtime: 7:45
0:30 Subaru Introduces 1st Plug-In
1:08 Suppliers Rate Best OEMs To Work With
2:07 India Emerging as Major Auto Market
3:12 Teens Want Cash to Stop Texting
3:42 Weekend Race Results
4:47 Ram 1500 Aero Improvements
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On today’s show…Could India be the next China in car sales?…Subaru is the next automaker bringing a plug-in hybrid to the market…and automotive suppliers say Toyota and Honda are the best automakers to work with. All that and more coming right up on Autoline Daily.
This is Autoline Daily the show for enthusiasts of the automotive industry.
SUBARU INTRODUCES 1ST PLUG-IN
Subaru just announced its coming out with its first plug-in hybrid model, the Crosstrek Hybrid. If you’re wondering why it chose its 3rd best-selling model in the U.S. for its first plug-in, it likely has to do with Subaru already offering a hybrid model of the Crosstrek that was first introduced in 2014. Since Toyota now owns part of Subaru, the new model will use Toyota’s Hybrid System with an all-new transmission and a boxer engine. The Crosstrek Hybrid will have a few unique styling elements to set it apart from other models and will arrive at dealerships near the end of the year.
SUPPLIERS RATE BEST OEMs TO WORK WITH
Automotive suppliers in North America say Toyota and Honda are the best automakers to work with. They rate General Motors much better than Ford. And they rate FCA and Nissan rather poorly. Those are the result of the annual survey of suppliers conducted by Planning Perspectives. It interviews executives and purchasing buyers at 496 Tier 1 suppliers and asks them to rate automakers on trust, communications, honesty, price pressure, relationships and a number of other categories. Planning Perspectives claims it can statistically prove that automakers which have good relations with their suppliers make more profit. That’s because suppliers which like and trust automakers will show them their latest technology before they show it to others. And if there are any problems, happy suppliers will put their best people on them to get them resolved as fast as possible.
INDIA EMERGING AS MAJOR AUTO MARKET
The population of India is almost the same as China’s. They both have about 1.3 billion people. And that means India has the potential to turn into a massive automotive market. WardsAuto reports that sales in India hit 346,000 vehicles in April, which is up 11% from the year before. That puts it close to Germany, though clearly the cars sold in Germany are at much higher prices. For the first four months of the year, carmakers sold nearly 1.4 million vehicles in India, showing that it’s starting to emerge as a significant market.
| 2018 INDIA SALES | ||
|---|---|---|
| APRIL | 346,595 | +11.1% |
| YTD | 1,383,810 | +11.4% |
| Source: WardsAuto | ||
And we’ll be back with more right after this.
TEENS WANT CASH TO STOP TEXTING
How much is your life worth to you? How about $5 a week? That’s the amount that 3 out of 4 teenagers say it would take to get them to significantly reduce how much texting they do while driving. They want to get paid to stop texting while driving. Teenagers say that getting a lecture from their parents really doesn’t have much impact. Fewer than 1 in 5 teens would stop texting if their parents told them to.
WEEKEND RACE RESULTS
In motor racing news, Lewis Hamilton dominated the Formula One Spanish Grand Prix in his Mercedes. He had the pole position and was never seriously challenged to take the win. In IndyCar, great driving and strategy saw Will Power win on the road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It was Roger Penske’s 200th win in motorsports. And Kevin Harvick won the NASCAR race at the Kansas Speedway in his Ford Fusion. Funny, at the beginning of the season Ford said it was at a disadvantage because Toyota and Chevrolet have new body styles while Ford is stuck with an old body style. But right now, 6 of the top 10 drivers in the championship, drive Fords.
Have you seen our newest program, Ask Autoline? John will go live on YouTube at 3 pm eastern time today to answer all of your automotive questions, rapid fire.
Pickup trucks have always been boxes on wheels. But coming up next, we’ll tell you how Ram engineers made big improvements to the truck’s fuel economy by improving its aerodynamics.
RAM 1500 AERO IMPROVEMENTS
On last week’s Autoline After Hours, we were joined by Rob Wichman, the Director of Ram Truck Engineering and he talked about the aerodynamic improvements his team made to the pickup.
(The AAH preview is only available in the video version of today’s show.)
For a deeper dive, into the new Ram 1500, you can watch that entire discussion right now on our website, Autoline.tv or you can find it on our YouTube channel. And don’t miss this week’s show when we take a deep dive into the world of 3D printing.
But that’s it for today, thanks for watching and please join us again tomorrow.
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.
