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Runtime: 6:42
0:06 Daimler Stumbles in Q1
0:50 Japanese Not That Interested in EVs
1:26 Another Mercedes One-Two
1:47 Chevy Sweeps Talladega
2:22 DC Chargers for Commercial Trucks
3:12 Ford Under Investigation for Emissions Cheating
4:06 The Ultimate Knock-Knock Joke
4:54 Why Bollinger Will Remain Low-Volume
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This is Autoline Daily reporting on the global automotive industry.
DAIMLER STUMBLES IN Q1
Despite the slowdown in the Chinese market, the United States is where Mercedes-Benz is seeing its biggest fall in sales. Daimler, the parent company of Mercedes-Benz posted surprisingly weak earnings for the first quarter as wealthy customers bought fewer Benzes. Sales were down in Europe, in China and especially in the United States. Sales of heavy trucks and vans were up, however. Daimler managed to rake in nearly 40 billion euros in revenue, about the same as last year. But its earnings before interest and taxes fell 16%, for a variety of reasons, including investigations into the company’s cheating on diesel emissions.
JAPANESE NOT THAT INTERESTED IN EVs
Japanese people are known for their keen interest in new technology. But apparently that does not apply to EVs or plug-in hybrids. Merrill Lynch surveyed Japanese consumers and found they are reluctant to buy used EVs and plug-ins because they’re worried about the performance and reliability of the batteries. And that’s dragging down residual values of new electrics. Merrill Lynch says it looks like the blame largely goes to the first generation of the Nissan Leaf. It had limited range and some of the batteries were known to degrade rather quickly.
ANOTHER MERCEDES ONE-TWO
In Formula One racing over the weekend, Mercedes finished 1-2 yet again. In fact, that’s how all four races this season have played out. But in Azerbaijan, it was Valtteri Bottas who came in first. He and his teammate Lewis Hamilton are now runaway leaders in the driver’s championship.
CHEVY SWEEPS TALLADEGA
In NASCAR, Chevrolet swept the top three positions at Talladega, with Chase Elliot taking the win. Prior to this, Ford won the last 7 races at the track. But once again it was a wreck-filled race with one third of the field taken out.
DC CHARGERS FOR COMMERCIAL TRUCKS
They say that electric vehicles will only catch on when there’s enough charging stations around. So Penske Truck Leasing opened 14 chargers at four of its facilities in Southern California. And they’re the first DC fast charging stations in the U.S. specifically for heavy-duty electric commercial trucks. DC chargers are faster because batteries can only store Direct Current electricity. So these chargers don’t have to convert from AC to DC, which is more efficient and faster. Penske plans to add at least six more chargers in the future for a total of 20. The 50 kW to 150 kW chargers, can fully charge a class 8 tractor in less than half a shift.
FORD UNDER INVESTIGATION FOR EMISSIONS CHEATING
The Department of Justice is investigating Ford over possible emission violations. Earlier this year, Ford said it hired an outside firm to investigate whether incorrect computer modeling caused it to misstate fuel economy and emissions for some vehicles. It notified the EPA of its investigation at the time, which was prompted by a whistleblower at the company. Ford revealed the DOJ investigation in a regulatory filing last week, which it says is just in the preliminary stages. Good thing Ford notified the DOJ that it may have violated emissions testing. The Justice Department is likely to go a lot easier on Ford. Remember, FCA just paid nearly a billion dollars in fines for bending the rules a little too much…and at first denying that it did anything wrong.
THE ULTIMATE KNOCK-KNOCK JOKE
With friends like these who needs enemies? Check out this video of a mechanic having some fun with a co-worker repairing a truck, by making it sound like there’s a major engine problem. And listen for the reaction from the driver at the end of the video. And thanks to long time viewer Charles LeGreca for sending that video our way. If you see anything that you think would be fun to have on Autoline Daily, send if our way, too.
WHY BOLLINGER WILL REMAIN LOW-VOLUME
On last week’s Autoline After Hours we were joined by Robert Bollinger, the Founder of Bollinger Motors, a company that’s making an all-electric, off-road truck. They will be made in low volume and during the show Robert explained why he wants to keep it that way.
(The AAH preview is only available in the video version of today’s show.)
I’m super impressed with Bollinger and how he’s going about developing his electric truck. By keeping it simple to build he doesn’t face massive tooling costs. In fact, you could call it a maker truck. And by keeping it low volume he should easily hit his targets. This should be a lesson from for other startups like Elio, Fisker and Faraday Future. Remember the start-up mantra. Start small. Think big. Move fast.
And with those words of wisdom we wrap up today’s show. 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.