AD #2592 – Ford Creates Self-Driving Robot, Sales Slump Continues in China, Tesla Durability Remarkably Good

This is Autoline Daily reporting on the global automotive industry.

WHICH CARMAKERS WILL DO BEST BETWEEN NOW & 2023?
Which automakers will do the best between now and 2023? Merrill Lynch looked at the new cars and trucks that automakers have coming between now and then and came to these conclusions:

• 70% of the new vehicles coming out will be trucks, and 45% of them will be CUVs. Only 24% will be passenger cars.
• GM is below the industry replacement rate, but it has new full-size SUVs and heavy duty pickups coming that will raise profits.
• Ford has the highest replacement rate, and 96% of its new lineup will be trucks and CUVs.
• FCA’s replacement rate is below the industry average.
• Amongst the Japanese, Honda has the highest replacement rate, Toyota is strong, but Nissan is sputtering.
• Hyundai and Kia are above the industry replacement rate, but are a bit heavy on passenger cars.
• European automakers are below the industry replacement rate, but Daimler is higher than the rest while BMW and VW are at the bottom of the list.

New products in showrooms always help boost sales and profits, so this list can help forecast which car companies will do the best over the next three years.

SALES SLUMP CONTINUES IN CHINA
Car sales in China continue to crater. Automakers sold 1.54 million light vehicles in the country in April, which is a 16.5% drop compared to a year ago. It’s the 11 month in a row sales have dropped in China. And they’re not expected to rebound anytime soon due to a slowing economy and concerns over trade tensions with the U.S.

FORD CREATES SELF-DRIVING ROBOT
Autonomous vehicles from Ford are a few years down the road but it’s using the technology to its advantage at its body and stamping plant in Valencia, Spain. Ford engineers have created a self-driving robot to deliver parts to employees around the facility. Nicknamed Survival, it’s been programmed to know the plant layout and it uses LIDAR to navigate the entire facility without any external guides. It can change its route on its own if someone or something is in the way. The robot doesn’t replace any employees but it can save up to 40-employee hours every day by delivering parts, which is a time-consuming process for us humans. Ford has been testing the robot for nearly a year and hopes to expand it to other plants in the future.

FERRARI REVEALS HYBRID AND ENGINE PLANS
Ferrari CEO, Louis Camilleri had some interesting things to say about the company. It will reveal a top-of-the-line hybrid with supercar performance before the end of the month. He says the car will slot above the 812 Superfast, but won’t be direct replacement for the 488. Camilleri also said Ferrari will stop supplying engines to Maserati in 2021 or 2022, which it has done since 2002. The CEO thinks a good move, both from a margin perspective and because it can transfer a lot of the labor that’s been focused on engines to the car side of the business.

MAZDA DEVELOPING INLINE 6-CYLINDER ENGINES
And speaking of engines, Mazda has confirmed it’s developing inline 6-cylinder versions of its Skyactiv-X gasoline engine and Skyactiv-D diesel engine. They will be mounted north to south in a new “Large Architecture” platform. Mazda says this is all part of its plan as it continues its path to premium. But what do you think? Can Mazda successfully transition to a premium brand?

ROAD TRIP IN A BUICK REGAL
Hey, did you notice that John hosted Daily all last week? That’s because I was fortunate enough to take a week-long road trip. I’m nearly ready to spill all the beans, but here’s a little preview. We set out on a Friday afternoon. Our mode of transportation, a Buick Regal GS. We drove from Michigan to Arizona, then up to South Dakota, over to Indiana and finally back home by Saturday afternoon. In total, we logged 5,300-miles and even had time to cram in a few automotive stops along the way. Poorly painted Cadillacs with still dripping paint in Texas, deceitfully sized classics just outside of Phoenix and true works of art from Indiana. More to come next week.

TESLA DURABILITY REMARKABLY GOOD
Tesloop is a ride sharing company in Southern California, that only has Teslas in its fleet. It’s kind of like Uber but for much longer distances. On Autoline This Week, we’re joined by Rahul Sonnad, the CEO and co-founder of Tesloop, and he says the durability of Teslas is remarkably good.

(The ATW preview is only available in the video version of today’s show.)

You can watch that entire discussion right now on Autoline.tv or you can find it on our YouTube channel.

But that’s it for today, thanks for watching and have a great weekend.