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Runtime: 7:24
0:26 Carlos Ghosn Resigns from Renault
1:03 Bugatti Says “No” to SUVs
1:41 Lights Could Help Build Trust with AVs
2:49 McLaren Gives Vision of F1 in the Future
3:56 Mazda3 Pricing Goes Up
4:37 Lincoln Reveals Aviator Pricing
5:28 Ford’s 4th Quarter Results Disappoint
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On today’s show… Carlos Ghosn resigns from Renault… Wall Street isn’t going to be happy about Ford’s 2018 earnings… and McLaren shows off its vision of what Formula 1 could like in the future. All that and more coming right up on Autoline Daily.
This is Autoline Daily the voice of the automotive industry.
GHOSN RESIGNS FROM RENAULT
Poor Carlos Ghosn. He’s languishing in a Japanese jail, his future looks bleak, and he knows it. Now he just resigned as chairman and CEO of Renault. The automaker announced it’s splitting up the roles of chairman and CEO. Jean-Dominique Senard, who comes from Michelin has been named the new chairman. That’s where Ghosn used to work before he moved to Renault. And Thierry Bollore has taken over as CEO. No doubt Ghosn negotiated with Renault before stepping down and we don’t know what he got. But he must feel like the captain of a ship whose crew left him marooned on an island.
BUGATTI GIVES SUVs THE MIDDLE FINGER
The utility craze is a global phenomenon. And automakers you never would have expected are jumping on board. Porsche, Jaguar, Bentley, Ferrari, Rolls-Royce and Lotus all have or will have utilities in their lineup. But there’s at least one sports car maker that is turning its nose up at SUVs. In a company report, Bugatti’s president says, “There will be no SUV from Bugatti. An SUV would not do justice to the brand or its history.” I wonder if any of those other previously mentioned automakers wished they had done the same?
LIGHTS COULD HELP BUILD TRUST WITH AVs
Jaguar Land Rover is testing out an intelligent lighting system to see if it could be used to build trust between humans and autonomous vehicles. Studies have shown that 41% of drivers and pedestrians are worried about sharing the road with autonomous vehicles and JLR hopes that by displaying an AVs intent it will help reduce people’s fears. The test pod is fixed with a lighting system that projects lines or bars on to the ground to show what it’s about to do, like stop or turn. The lines move closer together as the vehicle comes to a stop and spread out as it accelerates. They also fan out to indicate direction. In the future the lights could be used for other things as well, like sharing obstacle detection.
Car racing could look wild in the future, and we’ll have more about that, right after this.
THE FUTURE OF F1 LOOKS WILD
McLaren Applied Technologies, a subsidiary of the McLaren Group, is showing off its vision of what a Formula 1 car could look like in the year 2050. Called the MCLExtreme, it still has the look of an F1 car, but as you can imagine, there’s a lot technology in this concept that you won’t find in today’s vehicles. Some of its features include body sides that suck in and balloon out to reduce or increase drag and an electric powertrain, which rockets the racecar up to 500 km/h or about 310 MPH. But the wildest part of the concept is the artificial intelligence, which will act as the driver’s co-pilot. Instead of relying on the pit crew for information, the driver will be connected to the AI through their helmet and race suit, which will provide real-time strategy and info displayed in a holographic head-up display. While we may never see any of these ideas get implemented, it’s still cool to think about what racing will look like in the future.
MAZDA3 PRICING GOES UP
Mazda has revealed pricing for the all-new Mazda3 sedan and hatchback and it’s going up. A base sedan with an automatic transmission is now $21,895, which is nearly 3-grand more than the outgoing model. We should note, that outgoing model comes with a manual, which is now only available on the hatchback in the Premium trim level. The new car also comes standard with a larger, more powerful 4-cylinder engine. As for the hatchback, it’s $1,000 more than the sedan in most cases. And all-wheel drive will tack on another $1,400.
LINCOLN REVEALS AVIATOR PRICING
And speaking of pricing, the new Lincoln Aviator will start a little over $52,000, including destination charges. The hybrid model with that 450-horsepower twin-turbo V6 starts at nearly $70,000. And if you move up to the Black Label hybrid it’s about $90,000. It always seems crazy to me when a vehicle like the Aviator has nearly $40,000 in options.
Coming up next, Ford posts disappointing 4th quarter results, but did ok for the full year.
FORD DISAPPOINTS IN THE 4TH QUARTER
Ford posted its 4th quarter earnings and the numbers are disappointing. It actually lost $100 million compared to a year ago when it made a $2.7 billion profit. While Ford did make a $2 billion profit in North America it lost money everywhere else in the world. North American UAW workers will get a $7,600 profit sharing bonus. For the full year, Ford did better. It posted a $3.6 billion profit, but that’s half of what it earned the year before. No doubt Wall Street will go on the warpath over these numbers. Ford got rid of its former CEO Mark Fields when it felt the stock price and financial earnings were going nowhere. But under new CEO Jim Hackett the numbers are far worse. 2019 should be much better for Ford, which will introduce the new Ranger, Escape, Explorer, and Lincoln Aviator along with the new Mustang GT500. And it has that Mustang-inspired, battery-electric crossover coming that is said to have blistering performance.
Ford 2018 Earnings | ||
---|---|---|
Sales | 5.98 Million | -9.4% |
Revenue | $160 Billion | +2.2% |
EBIT | $4.3 Billion | -46% |
Net Profit | $3.6 billion | -52% |
And speaking of Ford, be sure to join us for Autoline After Hours this afternoon. That’s because we’ll be talking about the new Mustang Shelby GT500 with our special guest, Jim Owens, the Performance Marketing Manager at Ford. So if you have any questions about that muscle car, send them our way to viewermail@autoline.tv or message us on social media. That’s this afternoon at 3PM eastern time.
But that wraps up today’s report, 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.