AD #2466 – Hyundai Veloster N Details, NHTSA Scolds Mercedes Over Recalls, Lewis Hamilton Wins 5th F1 Title

On today’s show…Mercedes brags about its safety but NHTSA says it hides recall information from owners…Lewis Hamilton finishes 4th but wins big…”N” will tell you about our impressions of the performance version of the Hyundai Veloster. All that and more coming right up on Autoline Daily.

This is Autoline Daily the voice of the automotive industry.

NHTSA SCOLDS MERCEDES OVER RECALLS
Mercedes makes a big deal about the safety of its cars. But now it’s in trouble with NHTSA because it’s not informing owners about safety recalls within the 60 days required under federal law. On top of that, NHTSA says Mercedes on numerous occasions left out information about the cause of the recall and details about recall plans. The agency sent a letter to the automaker looking for information and threatening to fine it $21,000 a day, with a maximum fine of $105 million. Mercedes released a statement saying it will work with NHTSA to “address its concerns.”

WHO WILL HIT EV CREDIT LIMIT NEXT?
As we’ve reported before, Tesla already passed the 200,000 sales limit for the full $7,500 federal tax credit for electric vehicles. GM is closing in on that number. According to Wards Intelligence, GM sold 193,500 plug-ins and battery electric vehicles and will pass the cap by the end of the year. Nissan, Ford, Toyota and BMW are the only other automakers to sell more than 50,000 EVs. Wards says Ford will be the next to hit the limit, followed closely by Toyota and Nissan. But once an automaker hits the limit, the full $7,500 credit doesn’t go away immediately, it gets chopped in half every six months until there’s nothing left.

HAMILTON WINS 5TH F1 TITLE
In racing news over the weekend, Lewis Hamilton won his 5th Formula One driving championship in his Mercedes, even though he finished 4th in the Mexican Grand Prix. Max Verstappen dominated the race in his Renault-powered Red Bull. Some people say Lewis could be considered the best F1 driver of all time, and he certainly is extremely good. But Juan Manuel Fangio of Argentina, who raced in the 1950’s, has better percentages than Lewis. Whereas Hamilton sat on the pole in 35% of the Grand Prix that he entered, Fangio was on pole 55% of the time. And while Hamilton won 31% of the F1 races he entered, Fangio won 46%. And one more thing. Fangio did not win his first championship until he was 40 years old, and went on to win 4 more. Lewis will be long retired from F1 before he hits 40.

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

HYUNDAI VELOSTER N DETAILS
Hyundai’s newest N Brand performance vehicle, the Veloster N, will be hitting U.S. dealer showrooms before the year is out, but with the i30 N having been on sale in Europe and South Korea for about a year now, some people might be wondering why the automaker even bothered with making a Veloster version, since the i30 is the same as the Elantra GT sold in the U.S. Autoline has learned from Hyundai it all has to do with size. Not only is the Veloster wheelbase about 2-inches shorter, making it more nimble in the corners, but the overall height is lower, which improves roll, pitch and yaw inertia. And it’s a bit lighter as well. Hyundai also made a number of improvements to help the Veloster N live up to its internal nickname of ‘Corner Rascal.’ There’s a number of body reinforcements, including beefier shock absorber mounts, additional body bracing behind the front suspension and a lot more welds. Available electronic dampers and limited slip differential, improved suspension arms and bushings, bigger brakes and a performance muffler also help make the Veloster N a pretty darn good sports car. Hyundai’s VP of Product Planning, Mike O’Brien, calls it a Reverse Halo car. All Halo cars are meant to improve a brand’s image, bring pride to owners and elicit some sort of emotion, but they’re usually the most expensive vehicle in the lineup. The Veloster N is not and is estimated to start under $28,000, including destination, and the available performance pack will add about another $2,000.

OEMs WITH HIGHEST ADAS PENETRATION
Advanced Driver Assistance Systems or ADAS are starting to make their way into more and more vehicles and according to Wards Intelligence, Honda, Mazda, Subaru, Tesla and Volvo currently have the highest penetration rates of any automakers. Those same companies will also be the first automakers to see all of their vehicles get ADAS technology by 2023, although Mazda is expected to be a year behind.

How much do Uber drivers really earn? That’s coming up next.

HOW MUCH DO UBER DRIVERS EARN?
How much do Uber drivers really earn? At the bottom end of the scale Uber X drivers make about $13.70 an hour before tips. But Uber Black drivers, who are professionals that drive luxury cars, can make nearly $25 an hour. That’s according to Ridester, a company that collects all kinds of data on ride sharing. It surveyed over 2,600 ride sharing drivers and found that Uber X drivers are not satisfied with how much money they’re making and most of them quit after a year.

JLR MANUFACTURING PLAN PAYS OFF
Jaguar’s plans to build assembly plants outside of the UK is looking smarter all the time. With so many questions about how Brexit will affect automotive manufacturing in the UK, Jaguar has hedged its bets nicely. It opened a joint venture plant in China in 2014, and one in Brazil in 2016. And now it just opened one in Slovakia that is capable of making 150,000 vehicles a year.

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