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Runtime: 10:00
0:40 Tesla Props Up the EV Segment
1:25 Garrett Turbo Gets Spun Off
1:56 Consumers Making Car Payments On Time
3:08 The SAE Is On An AV Mission
5:05 2019 Acura ILX Updates
6:26 2019 Hyundai Santa Fe Impressions
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On today’s show… if not for Tesla, sales of EVs would be dropping like a rock… consumers are doing a better job of making their car payments on time… and I’ll share my impressions of the new Hyundai Santa Fe. All that and more coming right up on Autoline Daily.
This is Autoline Daily the voice of the automotive industry.
TESLA PROPS UP EV SEGMENT
Here’s an eye-opening statistic. Tesla accounted for 70% of all electric cars sold in the U.S. market last month. In fact, if it were not for Tesla, electric cars would have been down a whopping 30%. Sales of the Chevrolet Bolt, BMW i3, Fiat 500e, and just about every other EV were down. Only the Nissan Leaf and Hyundai Ioniq were up, but not by much. This is bad news for the industry. Automakers will introduce more than 120 EVs in the US market in the next three years. But it seems like car buyers are not that interested in electrics unless they have a Tesla badge on them.
U.S. EV Sales in August | ||
---|---|---|
All EVs | 12,127 | +60% |
Tesla | 8,514 | +259% |
w/o Tesla | 3,613 | -30% |
GARRETT GETS SPUN OFF
Garrett is one of the best known names in turbochargers. It’s been around since 1936 and has been manufacturing turbos for 80 years. You may not be all that familiar with the name because Garrett has bought and sold by a number of big conglomerates. The latest of those is Honeywell which is spinning off Garrett today as an independent, publicly traded company. It’s called Garrett Motion, and while it’s a brand new company it’s been around for the better part of a century.
CONSUMERS MAKING CAR PAYMENTS ON TIME
Car prices continue to grow, which is causing loans and monthly payments to reach new highs. But a new study from Experian found that, despite those increases, consumers are still making payments on time. During the second quarter of 2018, 30-day delinquencies dropped to 2.11% from 2.2% a year ago. And 60-day delinquencies also dipped as well. In addition to that, the number of subprime loans continues to fall. Subprime and deep subprime buyers are less than 20% of the loan market. A year or so ago, there was concern from some financial analysts over buyers defaulting on their loans but automakers and lenders have tightened up their credit standards, which has put those fears to rest.
Still to come… a look at the updates to the Acura ILX.
THE SAE IS ON AN AV MISSION
Earlier this year, the Society of Automotive Engineers did a demonstration with the public to let them experience riding in an autonomous car. On last week’s Autoline After Hours we were joined by David Schutt, the president of SAE and he talked about why it held the event and some of the reactions they got from participants.
(Clip from AAH #433 can only be viewed in the video version of today’s show.)
And don’t forget to join us for Autoline After Hours this afternoon. Our special guest is Christophe Marnat from the supplier ZF, who will be talking about the safety features its developing for autonomous vehicles. So join us Live at 3PM eastern time for some of the best discussions in the auto industry.
2019 ACURA ILX UPDATES
The Acura ILX is going to look a whole lot different for the 2019 model year. The body panels from the A-pillar forward are all-new and it features updated Jewel Eye LED headlights as well as Acura’s signature Diamond Pentagon Grille, which was first shown on the Precision Concept. The rear also sees an all-new decklid, fascia, LED taillights and lower diffuser with exposed exhaust outlets. Like the TLX, RDX and MDX, the ILX will get an A-Spec model with unique touches both inside and out. Speaking of the interior, not much has changed, but the screens are upgraded for better response time and now have Android Auto and Apple CarPlay compatibility. Acura’s suite of driver assist technology, called AcuraWatch will now be standard. The 2019 ILX starts hitting dealerships in October.
Coming up next, I’ll share my impressions of the new Hyundai Santa Fe.
2019 HYUNDAI SANTA FE IMPRESSIONS
Hyundai’s new 2019 Santa Fe is in dealerships now and one of the first things you’ll notice is the new styling. It has a more muscular look, highlighted by its near vertical Cascading Grille. Hyundai’s design team said it wanted to make the Santa Fe look less like a minivan and more like a SUV. As we move to the interior, you might pick up on a strong horizontal design theme. The center air vents have been moved below the infotainment system and now separates it from the HVAC controls. The driver also gets a large cluster display and there’s a couple of nice material touches. Best exemplified by the topographical-looking speaker covers and the heather-patterned material on the pillars and headliner. Hyundai is looking to set itself apart from the competition by offering almost all of its advanced safety features as standard. The only one that’s not is a Rear Occupant Alert. Power for the Santa Fe comes from two engine options, the standard 2.4L 4-cylinder or a 2.0L turbo four with 235-horsepower. Both engines are mated to a new, lighter 8-speed automatic transmission. Also new for 2019 is the HTRAC all-wheel drive system. Not only is it linked to the drive modes and will change characteristics as you cycle through from Normal to Sport, but it gets 50 vehicle input signals to best calculate torque split between all the wheels. The system is actually more predictive, rather than reactive. And it’s one of the things that makes this the best handling Santa Fe ever. The others are the body structure and suspension system. I highlighted a bit of the structure last week, but the suspension has been improved greatly as well. The suspension bushings have been updated to improve agility and vibration and shock absorption. At the front, suspension geometry has been tweaked, the shock absorbers and perches for the spring on the strut are enhanced and the steering knuckle switched from steel to aluminum to save weight. Moving to the rear, understeer has been improved by lengthening the assist arm, the carrier mount moved to aluminum for weight, the suspension structure was beefed up and the rear shock now sits more upright, putting it in line with the forces being exerted on the suspension. There’s usually one to two vehicles a year that really surprise at just how good they are and the 2019 Santa Fe is one of those vehicles for me. And as passenger car sales continue to plummet, as we reported yesterday, you’re going to see automakers put more effort in the CUV and SUV segments. They’re already competitive segments and as the bar keeps getting raised, it’s only going to get harder for an automaker to stand out. Now, let’s talk price. The base SE starts at $25,500. The top-of-the-line Ultimate starts at $35,450. All-wheel drive adds another $1,700 and all in you’ll be close to $40-grand. The 2019 Santa Fe is on sale now.
But that wraps up today’s show, thanks for watching and please join us again tomorrow.
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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.