AD #2387 – Honda Introduces Hybrid Scooter, Trade War Leads to Price Increases, Car Sales Continue to Defy Experts

On today’s show…tariffs on U.S. imported vehicles forces Tesla and BMW to raise prices in China…Honda introduces a hybrid scooter…and car sales in the U.S. continue to defy analyst expectations. All that and more coming right up on Autoline Daily.

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

U.S. CAR SALES CONTINUE TO DEFY EXPERTS
While we were away on our summer break did you catch the sales numbers for the U.S. market? All the analysts predicted that sales would be down on a daily selling rate basis. They pointed to rising interest rates. They pointed to rising gasoline prices. They pointed to a wave of cars coming off lease. They said the longest running recovery in the car market was running out of steam. And yet, sales were up. In fact, sales are now up 2% for the first half of the year, and no one saw that coming.

PASSENGER CAR SALES CONTINUE TO TUMBLE
The big story is that sales of passenger cars continue to fall. Automakers sold 482,000 passenger cars, down 38,000 from the year before. That’s a big drop, but it looks like the drop-off is starting to slow down. Even so, to put the numbers in perspective, there are about 160 models of passenger cars sold in the U.S. market, and 125 of them saw their sales go down.

HONDA INTRODUCES HYBRID SCOOTER
Leave it to Honda to come out with a hybrid scooter. It just announced the PCX Hybrid scooter, based on the PCX scooter it launched in April of 2018. It says the assistance of an electric motor will make for “sharper throttle response” than a conventional scooter. And there will be two motor assist modes on the PCX Hybrid. “D” will give you a comfortable ride with improved fuel economy, while “S” will put it in sport mode. It goes on sale in Japan in September.

And we’ll be back with more right after this.

WEEKEND RACING RESULTS
In racing news over the weekend, Formula 1 ran at Silverstone for the British Grand Prix where hometown favorite Lewis Hamilton sat in the pole position. But after a poor start, Hamilton was passed by several cars and got spun out in the first corner. That left the door open for eventual race winner Sebastian Vettel in his Ferrari. In IndyCar racing, James Hinchcliffe took his Honda powered car to the checkered flag at the Iowa Speedway after Josef Newgarden dominated most of the race in his Chevy powered Penske. The NASCAR race at Daytona ended up being a wreck-fest. Only 20 of the original 40 cars that started the race finished. But Erik Jones in his Toyota passed Martin Truex Jr. on the backstretch of the last lap to win by a quarter of a second, earning his first Cup Series win. And in drag racing, Top Fuel points leader Steve Torrence took home the top spot at the New England Nationals.

VOLVO LAUNCHES NEW MOBILITY BRAND
We’ve reported quite a bit on programs like Maven and car2go as OEMs see their futures in mobility services rather than simply selling cars. And now Volvo is joining the fray with its “M” brand. But how will M be any different from the competitive ride-hailing services and car sharing programs? According to Volvo, M will learn about user habits and use that information to tailor itself towards customer needs. M will incorporate Volvo’s Swedish Sunfleet car sharing program in 2019 and M will be available to American and Swedish customers by the spring of that year. More information about M will be released later this year.

Coming up next, China’s tariffs on cars imported from the U.S. forces Tesla to significantly raise prices.

TRADE WAR LEADS TO PRICE INCREASES
The trade war between the U.S. and China is leading to big price hikes in China. Electrek reports that Tesla boosted the price of the Model S and X anywhere between $22,000 and $37,000 depending on the version. BMW said it will increase prices of its U.S. built SUVs in China as well. Last year, it shipped 100,000 vehicles from the U.S. to China. But some automakers are taking a wait and see approach with the new tariff on U.S. built vehicles. Last week Ford announced it won’t increase prices on its or Lincoln’s vehicles. However, the automaker imports a small number of vehicles to the country.

Be sure to join us for Autoline After Hours this Thursday when we’ll have a Panhard Dyna Z17 in the studio. A what, you ask? That’s right, a Panhard Dyna Z17. We’ll have Ken Nelson, an expert in unusual cars back with us, explaining what this thing is all about.

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