AD #2570 – Depreciation Rates Improving, Toyota Pickups to Share Platform, New Material Reveals What’s Behind It

This is Autoline Daily reporting on the global automotive industry.

DEPRECIATION RATES GOING DOWN
The prices of cars are going up, but depreciation rates are going down. That’s according to the 2019 Cost of Vehicle Ownership Trend Report by the research company Motus. In other words, cars are better at holding onto their value. Depreciation rates improved 8% since 2016, and are expected to improve another half to one percent over the next year. Lower depreciation rates translate into lower monthly lease payments, and this helps explain why sales of new cars and trucks continue to do better than all the experts predicted.

WHAT VEHICLES HOLD THEIR VALUE BEST?
According to Kelly Blue Book, the top ten vehicles that hold their value the most are the Toyota Tacoma, Jeep Wrangler, Toyota Tundra, GMC Sierra, Toyota 4Runner, Chevrolet Silverado, Honda Ridgeline, Chevrolet Colorado, Ford F-Series and Porsche Macan. (Yes, we only named 9 in the video. Not sure how we missed the Colorado). And all we can say is there sure are a lot of Toyota’s and pickup trucks on this list!

FCA SETTLES SHAREHOLDER LAWSUIT
Earlier this year, FCA reached a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice to pay $800 million in fines because some of its pickups and SUVs with diesel engines violated emission regulations. And now the company is paying $110 million to shareholders who sued the company because they claim FCA misled them. The shareholders say they lost money after FCA revealed the violation which caused its stock price to drop. All we can say is whoever decided to bend the rules at FCA sure made an expensive mistake.

HYUNDAI PROVIDES CLEARER VIEW OF NEW VENUE
We’re getting a better idea of what Hyundai’s newest crossover, the Venue, will look like. It just released these sketches of the vehicle, and as you can see it has some bold exterior styling but the interior looks fairly minimalistic. The Venue will be the smallest CUV in the company’s lineup and it makes its global debut next week at the New York Auto Show.

TOYOTA PICKUPS TO SHARE PLATFORM
Platform sharing is very common among cars and utility vehicles, but we think this could be a first. Automotive News reports that Toyota is developing one new platform for both the mid-size Tacoma and full-size Tundra pickups. The platform, known internally as F1, will be used on a global scale and the first truck to be build on it could come as soon as 2021. It could also take a lot of cost out of developing those trucks which are built at the same assembly plant in San Antonio, Texas.

TOYOTA TEASES NEW HIGHLANDER
Speaking of Toyota, it’s teasing the all-new Highlander in a 3D art display. When viewed from the sides, it looks like 200 oddly shaped pieces dangling from the ceiling. But when seen in profile, the 200 pieces come together to form the new Highlander. The 4th-gen SUV will make its debut at the New York auto show.

TRUCKS DELAYED AT MEXICAN BORDER
Some U.S. auto plants may see delays as transportation trucks are getting held up at the Mexican border. It stems from the Trump Administration’s decision to move roughly 750 border agents from commercial duties to immigration duties to handle a surge in families seeking asylum. Last week the number of trucks that normally crosses the border was cut in half. They carry everything from car and plane parts to washing machines and computers, which is worth about $1.7 billion in daily trade. And that slowdown is going to cause a lot of heartburn amongst automakers and suppliers.

NEW MATERIAL REVEALS WHAT’S BEHIND IT
We always like to show you the innovative technology that suppliers are developing, because what they’re showing off now will likely end up in cars in 3 to 5 years time. Check out this new material called Reveal that’s been developed by the supplier CGT. It’s a synthetic leather that lets light through to illuminate functions on the instrument panel or center console. It also allows for physical or capacitive switches to be placed under the material. The key to making it work is with the right materials and manufacturing process to prevent reflection and light scattering. CGT is working with Jaguar to develop a bicycle detector that lights up the top of the door trim and A-pillar when a bicyclist is next to the car. It also shows how this Reveal material could be used to get rid of physical switches on the door to control the seat. And there are applications that go well beyond the auto industry, such as making the screen on your smartphone look like it’s made of carbon fiber.

Be sure to join us for Autoline After Hours this Thursday when Masahiro Moro, the CEO of Mazda North America comes on the show. This is your chance to learn more about what Mazda has in store. Join us when we go live at 3 pm eastern time. (Ben Patel, who was mentioned in the video version of today’s show, is no longer going to be a guest on AAH this week. The news was not passed down in time for us to remove it from the show.)

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