AD #2477 – Waymo Set for Public Launch, GM’s Maven Expands Outside GM, Which Brands Hold Value Best?

On today’s show… big truck sales continue to soar in the U.S…. Waymo is getting ready to launch it autonomous ride hailing service… and BMW introduces its most powerful non-M 3 Series ever. All that and more coming right up on Autoline Daily.

This is Autoline Daily the voice of the automotive industry.

WAYMO NEARLY SET FOR PUBLIC LAUNCH
Self-driving cars are getting closer to being ready for the public. Bloomberg reports that Waymo will launch its autonomous ride hailing service in December in the Phoenix, Arizona area. The service will operate under a new name, using a fleet of Chrysler Pacifica minivans. But it’s going to be a slow rollout. At first, it will only be available to a select number of riders, covering about 100 square miles. There will be backup drivers in the vehicles which will slowly be phased out. But it’s a big accomplishment for Waymo to be the first company to offer this service, while beating out established automakers.

GM’S MAVEN EXPANDS OUTSIDE THE COMPANY
And speaking of mobility services, GM’s car-sharing company, Maven, is going to allow competitor vehicles in its service. Starting next year, members will be able to rent out non-GM cars with its peer-to-peer sharing platform. Maven, which currently operates in the U.S., is also expanding to Canada and other international markets.

WHICH BRANDS HOLD VALUE BEST?
ALG, a company which analyzes residual values of vehicles, just announced the winners of its Annual Pre-Owned Value Awards. They are given to vehicles with the lowest forecasted depreciation from two years to five years of age, during the 2018-2021 period. The winners are determined by analyzing used vehicle performance, brand outlook and product competitiveness. Across all vehicle segments, Subaru was named the top mainstream brand while Jaguar was named the top premium brand. And when it comes to individual vehicle segments, Nissan and Mercedes earned the most awards with three each.

Still to come… Jaguar creates a rally version of its F-TYPE in celebration of its sports car heritage.

BIG TRUCK SALES KEEP GOING UP
Sales of big trucks show no signs of slowing down in the U.S. According to WardsAuto, the medium-duty segment, which consists of Class 4 through 7, saw its sales grow 7% in October. And through the first 10 months of the year, the segment is up 7% as well. The big Class 8 semi-trucks saw sales soar 34% last month and overall are up 33% so far in 2018. And combined, the medium and heavy-duty segments were up 20% in October and are up 19% this year. This is great news since big truck sales are a leading indicator for economic growth, and it suggests that light-vehicle sales will continue to grow as well.

JAGUAR CREATES RALLY F-TYPE
Jaguar just created two rally versions of its F-TYPE convertible to celebrate 70 years of its sports cars. The vehicles pay homage to its 1948 XK 120 and use the same 2.0L turbocharged four-cylinder gasoline engine found in the production F-TYPE. They were built to FIA specs and feature upgraded brakes and suspension along with a roll cage and race seats. Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear these will be competing in any events but as cool as these things are you can bet collectors will be begging to get their hands on one.

And be sure to join us for Autoline After Hours this Thursday. Joining us is Christian Spenser from Nissan to talk about the all-new Altima. So if you have any questions about that vehicle, send them our way to viewermail@autoline.tv or hit us up on social media. Just look for those links below.

Coming up next, a sporty 3 Series and package delivering drones.

MOST POWERFUL NON-M 3 SERIES EVER
To some the BMW M3 is considered the Gold Standard of performance sedans, but for those that don’t want something so sporty, the automaker has introduced the M340i. It’s powered by a 3.0L turbocharged in-line 6 cylinder engine mated to an 8-speed automatic transmission and optional all-wheel drive. At over 380-horsepower and nearly 370 lb-ft of torque, this is the most powerful 3 Series ever that’s not an M. 0-60 comes in a short 4.2-seconds. A couple other things to take note of are body weight has been reduced up 121-pounds mainly due to more extensive use of aluminum, overall body rigidity increased 25% and it features a newly developed suspension system that’s designed to reduce the amount of body movement passengers can perceive. The M340i will make its public debut at the LA auto show later this month and then go on sale in the summer of next year.

ZF TAKES PACKAGE DELIVERY TO THE SKIES
We’ve shown you how drones can be used as rescue devices and inspection tools and now the supplier ZF is using them as delivery vehicles. It’s using drones at one of its plants in Germany to take spare parts from the warehouse and deliver them to the appropriate workshop. The electric drones only have to travel up to 1 kilometer or just over half a mile on each trip, but it’s more efficient than putting a small package into a truck and should help free up space on the road. In the future ZF also thinks the drones could be used to deliver packages outside of the factory walls. And while the drones are only able to carry up to 3 kilograms or just over 6.5-pounds of goods, we can imagine 10 to 20 years down the road when they’re used to transfer much bigger parts.

But that’s it for today. Thanks for watching and see ya tomorrow.