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Runtime: 7:33
0:07 VW Workers Reject Unionization
0:39 GM Considers Building an Electric Hummer
2:05 Which OEMs Do Suppliers Like to Work With?
2:49 VinFast Launches 1st Vehicle
3:39 VW Offers 8-Year Battery Warranty
4:09 Toyota Wins 24 Hours of LeMans
5:06 Why FCA/Renault Deal Makes Sense
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This is Autoline Daily reporting on the global automotive industry.
VW WORKERS REJECT UNIONIZATION
The UAW has once again failed to organize a foreign-owned plant in the South. Last week, Volkswagen hourly workers at its Chattanooga, Tennessee plant, voted against joining the union. Workers at the same plant rejected joining the union in 2014 as well. This is a big blow to the UAW, its membership continues to dwindle and adding VW to its ranks would have been a big boost. Now the union will focus on upcoming contract negotiations with Ford, GM and FCA later this year.
GM CONSIDERS BUILDING ELECTRIC HUMMER
General Motors axed Hummer back in 2010 but Bloomberg reports the company is thinking about reviving the brand. But instead of being gas-guzzling SUVs, the vehicles would be all-electric. This is just an idea GM is considering as it decides which vehicles to include in its future electric line-up. But this also helps explain GM’s interest in forming a joint-venture with Rivian earlier this year, which eventually fell apart. But what do you think, should Hummer be revived as an all-electric brand?
From the company that revealed the secrets of the Tesla Model 3, Munro & Associates will host an Electric Vehicle Conference on Friday, June 21st at its headquarters in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Munro will provide a deep dive into the Motors, Batteries, and Electronics of the Tesla Model 3, BMW i3, Chevy Bolt and Jaguar I-PACE. Purchase tickets on Eventbrite or at leandesign.com. Hurry, only 100 spots are available.
WHICH OEMs DO SUPPLIERS LIKE TO WORK WITH?
Which automakers do suppliers like to work with? According to the latest supplier survey conducted by Plante Moran, suppliers give the best marks to Toyota and Honda and the worst marks to Nissan and FCA. The study measures how much supplier trust the automakers, how well they communicate together, and the impact of late engineering changes. The study evaluates OEMs by chassis, powertrain, body-in-white, interior and electrical and electronics. A key thing to look at is the trend lines. Suppliers increasingly like what GM is doing and are increasingly frustrated by FCA.
VINFAST LAUNCHES 1ST VEHICLE
Vietnamese startup VinFast has ambitions to make 500,000 vehicles a year by 2025 and here’s the first vehicle it’s going to offer. Built in Vietnam, the Fadil is a small hatchback based on the Opel Karl Rocks that carries a starting price of just under $17,000. VinFast also plans to come out with a sedan and SUV, which are based on BMWs, feature styling done by Pininfarina and have components engineered by Magna. The company is scheduled to start exports in the middle of next year and it’s going to need those other markets to reach its half a million vehicle a year goal. In the first 5 months of the year, Vietnam sold less than 120,000 new vehicles.
VW OFFERS 8-YEAR BATTERY WARRANTY
As Volkswagen gets ready to launch its first ID electric vehicle, it’s making sure that customers aren’t worried about having to replace an expensive battery pack. The automaker guarantees its packs will retain at least 70 per cent of their usable capacity after eight years or 160,000 kilometers, which is about 100,000 miles. That’s right in line with the Audi e-tron, Jaguar I-PACE and standard range Tesla Model 3.
TOYOTA WINS 24 HOURS OF LEMANS
And congratulations to Toyota for its one-two victory at the 24 Hours of LeMans, which secured the drivers’ World Championship in the process. Fernando Alonso, along with co-drivers Sébastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima, defended his title in the race, but needed some last-minute luck to do it. Toyota’s other car had a more than 2-minute lead, but was forced to pit because of a tire losing air. A faulty sensor caused the wrong tire to be changed and the car had to come back in a second time, giving the victory to Alonso, Buemi and Nakajima.
WHY FCA/RENAULT DEAL MAKES SENSE
Last month, FCA stunned the auto industry when it proposed to merge with Renault. Those talks have since fallen apart but the deal isn’t completely dead yet. On last week’s Autoline After Hours we were joined by Joe McCabe, an analyst with AutoForecast Solutions, and he explained why the deal makes sense for the companies.
(The AAH preview is only available in the video version of today’s show.
You can watch that entire discussion right now on our website, Autoline.tv or you can find it on our YouTube channel.
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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.