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Runtime: 6:19
0:28 Japan to File More Charges Against Ghosn
1:03 Admin. Wants to End All EV Subsidies
2:11 Integrating Sensors Can Reduce Repair Costs
3:10 Ford Layoffs Could Dwarf GM
4:17 Nov. Sales Down, But Still Strong
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On today’s show… Carlos Ghosn won’t be leaving jail anytime soon… U.S. car sales dip slightly in November… and Morgan Stanley predicts Ford could slash way more jobs than General Motors. All that and more coming right up on Autoline Daily.
This is Autoline Daily the voice of the automotive industry.
JAPAN TO FILE MORE CHARGES AGAINST GHOSN
Carlos Ghosn is going to sit in jail for a little while longer. A report from Japan’s Sankei newspaper says prosecutors will arrest Ghosn and Greg Kelly, a member of Nissan’s board, next Monday on yet a new charge of understating Ghosn’s income. By filing a new charge Japanese prosecutors can keep him in prison longer. Ghosn’s pay was supposedly understated by about $80 million. This means Ghosn and Kelly, who were arrested on November 19th, will likely remain in detention until the end of the year.
ADMIN WANTS TO END ALL EV SUBSIDIES
General Motors, Tesla and Nissan have lobbied Congress to lift the cap on subsidies for electric vehicles. But that won’t happen if the Trump Administration has anything to say about it. White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow said the Administration wants to end all subsidies for EVs and even subsidies for renewable fuels. He said they could be removed by 2020 or 2021. Consumers receive a tax credit up to $7,500 for buying an EV, and the credits are capped at 200,000 vehicles per manufacturer. Ending the subsidies would be a big blow to automakers, who argue they’re necessary to boost sales of electric vehicles.
Still to come… FCA is packaging its sensors in a unique way to help reduce repair costs.
PACKAGING SENSORS TO REDUCE REPAIR COSTS
You may remember a AAA study we reported on back in October that found vehicles equipped with Advanced Driver Assistance Systems, or ADAS, involved in minor front or rear collisions had repair bills two and a half times higher than vehicles without the technology. But automakers, like FCA are addressing the issue. The 2019 Jeep Wrangler and Ram 1500 have the radar and camera for the Automatic Emergency Braking, or AEB, system mounted high on the windshield, behind the rearview mirror. So, in an accident you’d be a lot less likely to have to replace what can be very expensive components. There’s other benefits, too. The interface that connects the radar and camera is simplified and no longer needs the heating element to keep ice off it. Also, Jeep was able to maintain its excellent approach angle, while Ram got more airflow needed for towing and it had an easier time packaging its active grille shutters.
FORD LAYOFFS COULD DWARF GM
General Motors is currently catching a lot of heat for its latest restructuring plan, but according to analysts at Morgan Stanley, Ford’s could lay off more people. It compared GM’s plan to the one Ford announced last October and estimates Ford could get rid of as many as 25,000 employees globally and close a larger number of plants. Most of the actions are expected to take place in Europe. But Morgan Stanley says this is not just a GM and Ford thing. “There are bigger forces at work driving global OEMs to rethink the fundamental idea of supporting increasingly obsolete segments, propulsion systems, and geographic regions.”
Could Tesla actually pass Audi in sales? We’ll have more about that, right after this.
SALES DIP IN NOV., BUT ARE STILL STRONG
Sales of new vehicles in the U.S. market fell slightly last month, but the market is still running at a steady roar. Automakers sold 1.3 million vehicles, down 0.7%. The SAAR wrapped up at a solid 17.4 million, meaning that’s probably how many vehicles automakers will sell this year. Amongst the full line manufacturers it was a mixed bag of results. Only GM and FCA posted gains. FCA was powered by strong double digit gains at Dodge, Ram, Jeep and Alfa Romeo. But at GM, GMC was the only brand that managed to increase its sales. Two other companies that bear pointing out are Subaru, which almost caught Hyundai in sales. In fact, Subaru is now outselling Hyundai on a year-to-date basis. And the other company worth noting is Tesla. Sales rocketed up 488% and Tesla almost caught up to Audi. Give it another month and we would not be surprised to see Tesla outselling the vaunted German luxury brand. Our source for these numbers come from Wards which estimates Tesla’s retail sales. Some other sources report factory shipments, so you may see them report higher numbers. And finally, sales of passenger cars continue to plunge. They dropped by another 63,000 units. A month ago we thought that maybe the downward slide was slowing down. Nope, we’re still nowhere near the bottom. So far this year they’ve fallen by 736,000 cars, which is the equivalent of three assembly plants.
U.S. Sales, November, 2018 | ||
---|---|---|
General Motors | 248,700 | +1.4% |
Toyota | 190,423 | -0.6% |
Ford | 190,247 | -7.3% |
FCA | 180,098 | +17.3% |
Honda | 120,534 | -9.5% |
Nissan | 110,513 | -18.7% |
U.S. Sales, November, 2018 | ||
---|---|---|
Hyundai | 57,499 | +0.5% |
Subaru | 56,782 | +9.8% |
U.S. Sales, November, 2018 | ||
---|---|---|
Audi | 17,082 | -11% |
Tesla | 16,843 | +488% |
U.S. Sales, November, 2018 | ||
---|---|---|
Passenger Cars | -63,300 | -13.7% |
But that’s it for today, thanks for watching and we’ll see you 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.