AD #2392 – Genesis G70 Driving Impressions, Model 3 Solidly Profitable, AWD Vehicles Booming Globally

On today’s show…Sandy Munro says the Tesla Model 3 is way more profitable than anyone realizes…the Genesis G70 is going to surprise a lot of enthusiasts…and Citroen came out with the weirdest glasses you’ve ever seen. All that and more coming right up on Autoline Daily.

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

BIG TRUCK SALES NOT SLOWING DOWN
Sales of big trucks show no sign of slowing down in the U.S. market. According to WardsAuto, medium and heavy-duty sales were up 10% in June compared to a year ago. And in the first half of the year, big trucks are up 17%. Earlier in the year we predicted the growth in big trucks could be a leading indicator for light vehicle sales. And we were right. The passenger vehicle market is up this year, when most analysts were predicting it would fall.

ALL-WHEEL-DRIVE VEHICLES BOOMING GLOBALLY
The market for all-wheel-drive vehicles is positively booming. WardsAuto reports that all-wheel-drive sales in the U.S., the country currently leading the all-wheel-drive charge, have more than doubled in the past 20 years. And this is an international trend, too. Wards predicts that 22% of the global automotive market will be all-wheel-drive by 2025. And one of the most interesting parts of this trend is that China is projected to surpass Japan as the world’s number 2 producer of all-wheel-drive vehicles by 2025. Wards says one of the biggest factors behind this trend is the push toward electric vehicles, which is making all-wheel-drive cheaper and easier.

The Genesis G70 can competently compete with the best sport sedans from Europe and that’s coming up next.

GENESIS G70 DRIVING IMPRESSIONS
Hyundai has really struggled to launch its Genesis luxury brand. It faces big challenges with distribution, sales and marketing. But when it comes to the cars, Genesis is golden, and the all new G70 is a good example of that. It competes in the same segment as the BMW 3-series and is a serious contender. Last week we gave you the most important specs about the car, now let’s talk about how it drives. We got to experience it on real roads as a daily driver might. But we also got to take it out on a track and that’s when this car can really come alive. As soon as you slide into the firm, front seat, you know this is meant to be a driver’s car. The G70 feels solid and planted, equal to any of the European sport sedans. We did not get a chance to drive the turbo four, but the turbo V6 is very responsive, with a pleasant but not obtrusive exhaust note. The steering effort is a bit on the high end, but very linear. This car goes where it’s pointed. The brakes are similarly linear, allowing you to easily modulate your effort. And we didn’t experience any brake fade, even after repeatedly hauling the car down from high speed. Enthusiasts will immediately appreciate how well this car is engineered, but it will take a connoisseur to actually go out and buy one. And that in a nutshell is the challenge that Genesis faces. So far, only a select few have discovered how good these cars are.  

TESLA MODEL 3 SOLIDLY PROFITABLE
Munro & Associates finished its teardown and analysis of the Tesla Model 3, and the results are startling. Sandy Munro, the president of the company, says his first impressions of the car kind of misled him, and that now he has to eat crow. It’s all got to do with the potential profitability of the car.

(The Tesla Model 3 analysis is only available in the video version of today’s show.)

We have that complete video posted on our website and on our YouTube channel. Just search for the Autoline Network.

WEEKEND RACE RESULTS
In racing news over the weekend, Scott Dixon took advantage of a driving error by Josef Newgarden and drove his Honda powered Ganassi car to victory at the Grand Prix of Toronto. Dixon is one of the greatest IndyCar drivers of all time. The New Zealander only trails AJ Foyt and Mario Andretti for IndyCar wins, and could even top their records someday. In NASCAR, Martin Truex took his Toyota Camry to a dominating victory at the Kentucky Motor Speedway. This is the fourth victory for Truex who is third in the championship standings.

Speaking of motor racing, could this be the race car of the future? That’s coming up next.

THE RACE CAR OF THE FUTURE?
On Friday, we talked about the lackluster run of an autonomous 1965 Ford Mustang up the hill at Goodwood, but it wasn’t the only autonomous vehicle there. One of cars from the Roborace series took a little over a minute and a half to complete the climb. And while it wasn’t exactly exciting, it could be a peek into the future of racing. The goal is for ten teams to race the autonomous, electric cars, but this is a spec series, and the challenge for each team will be to develop the most competitive autonomous software. One of the teams will be crowd-sourced, so if you know how to code, you too could compete. It’s an interesting idea, but so far, they haven’t been able to get any teams to officially join the series.

CITROEN’S WEIRD GLASSES REDUCE MOTION SICKNESS
The French can be known to have quirky styling and check out the glasses from automaker Citroen. But these glasses, called Seetroens aren’t about fashion, they’ve been developed to reduce motion sickness, which happens when the brain gets conflicting signals about what the body is doing. The rings are half filled with a blue liquid, which the eyes use to help establish a horizon and even out the information being sent to the brain. The glasses were tested by the French Navy and said to be 95% effective. They cost about $115, and go on sale in September.

Be sure to join us for Autoline After Hours this Thursday. Have we got a treat for you, an all-electric Corvette from a company called Genovation. Not only is it beautifully engineered, it’s wicked fast. You won’t want to miss this show.

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