AD #2535 – New Ford Focus ST Details, Brexit Could Devastate British Industry, Tariffs Would Increase U.S. Built Vehicles

This is Autoline Daily reporting on the global automotive industry.

DESPITE HEAVY DISCOUNTS, CHINA SALES DOWN
There’s trouble in the Chinese auto industry. New car sales plummeted nearly 18% last month, even though dealers resorted to heavy discounting to reduce bloated inventory. Sales of electric cars were up 180% to 75,000 units, but China is about to lower the subsidies for EVs and analysts expect this to hurt those sales.

PUT UP YOUR DUKES!
The auto industry is gearing up for a fight over President Trump’s import tariffs. And Ford just hired the combative Mitch Bainwol as it’s chief lobbyist in Washington. Bainwol, who’s 59, was the President and CEO of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, the lobbying group that represents both American and foreign automakers. He has extensive political and lobbying experience and will report to Joe Hinrichs, Ford’s president of Global Operations.

EUROPE TO REGULATE HEAVY TRUCK EMISSIONS
For the first time ever, Europe is going to heavily regulate CO2 emissions on heavy trucks. The EU just agreed to a 30% reduction in CO2 by 2030. They also endorsed an interim reduction of 15% by 2025. And they want to come up with stricter standards after 2030 targets in 2022. The deal isn’t official yet, it still needs approval from EU governments and the European Parliament but the proposal is expected to be adopted.

NEW FOCUS ST DETAILS
Once again Europe gets the kind of vehicles we only wished we could have in the States. Ford just introduced the all-new Focus ST, which now makes even more power and torque. It’s available with either a turbocharged 2.3L engine that makes 276-horsepower and 310 lb-ft of torque or a 2.0L diesel. You get a choice of a 6-speed manual or 7-speed automatic. Pair all that with larger front and rear brakes, a Continuously Controlled Damping suspension system and Ford’s first application of an electronic limited slip differential on a front-wheel drive vehicle and this is said to be the most responsive and agile Focus ST ever. You can get a 5-door or a wagon and it goes on sale this summer in Europe.

BET ON THE DEMISE OF A SATURN
Oh, you’ve got to check this contest out. A Rotary Club in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula is taking bets on when a 1998 Saturn will fall through the ice of a lake. Ten bucks gets you three guesses and whoever gets closest wins $1,500. They even have a clock attached to a small battery that stops when the car sinks. That way they know the exact time the car sank. Don’t worry, there’s no fluids, powertrain, battery or radiator in the car, so it’s not going to pollute the lake. The Rotary Club has been raising money this way for years. In fact, they even have to get approval from the Department of Natural Resources. If you’d like to place a bet, we’ve put the link in the transcript on our website or the description box below.

RANGE OF PHEV 3 SERIES JUMPS 50%
BMW is increasing the range of its plug-in hybrid 3 Series by nearly 50%. It has a larger 12 kWh battery pack returns an estimated 60 kilometers or 37 miles of range. And with a combined system output of over 250 horsepower the car can do 0 to 100 km/h in 6-seconds. The new 330e will go on sale in July.

BREXIT COULD DEVASTATE BRITISH INDUSTRY
The British auto industry is about to be devastated by Brexit. Honda just announced it’s going to close its massive assembly plant in England. Nissan says its not going to build the next generation X-Trail in England, which could threaten the future of the plant. Ford has warned that it could close its plants in England. Jaguar Land Rover is laying off thousands of employees. Even the head of Mercedes-Benz’s Formula One team says that Brexit could hurt the sport since almost all F1 teams are based in England. And now Sir James Dyson (Sorry, James! We got your name wrong in the video), the richest man in England and an avid supporter of Brexit, is moving his company’s headquarters out of England and over to Singapore. We here at Autoline greatly support the automotive industry and we’re feeling depressed that the British auto industry could collapse in front of our eyes.

TARIFFS WOULD INCREASE U.S. BUILT VEHICLES…
And the U.S. auto industry could be about to go through a blood bath if President Trump follows through on his threat to slap 25% import tariffs on imported cars and car parts. While automakers, suppliers and car dealers are completely opposed to the tariffs, Trump is right about one thing. It would force foreign automakers to build a lot more cars and parts in the US. They don’t have a choice. The U.S. is still the most profitable market in the world for automakers, even more than China. And automakers can’t afford to walk away from it. So even though the prices of cars would go up by thousands of dollars, even sales could drop by over a million vehicles, and even though imported car dealers would be crippled, more cars would end up getting built in the US.

And that wraps up today’s report, thanks for—oh wait, before we go. Don’t forget to watch Autoline After Hours this Thursday when we’re going to take a deep dive into what it takes to design powertrains for electric cars. OK, thanks for watching and we’ll see you tomorrow.