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Runtime: 6:48
0:07 Tesla Takes on Extra Fees for China Plant
0:43 Netflix & YouTube Coming to Tesla Screens
1:00 Porsche Gets 30,000 Taycan Orders
1:54 VW Helps Save Pedestrians
2:57 VW Chops U.S. Warranty
3:39 The Story Behind Mazda’s Eye-Popping Red Paint
5:00 Major Automakers Pull Out of Tokyo Show
5:25 BMW Takes an Axe to Its Lineup
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This is Autoline Daily reporting on the global automotive industry.
TESLA TAKES ON EXTRA FEES FOR CHINA PLANT
Tesla’s upcoming plant in China will help it avoid costly tariffs and keep the price of its vehicles down, but the EV maker had to agree to a few extra fees to get the deal for the plant done. It has to pay local authorities in Shanghai over $320 million in taxes every year and it must also spend $2 billion in capital expenditure over the next 5 years. That’s a lot of money, but Tesla says it believes it will still be able to make the payments even if vehicle production is far lower than what it is forecasting.
NETFLIX & YOUTUBE COMING TO TESLA SCREENS
In other Tesla news, owners will soon be able to stream Netflix and YouTube right from their vehicle screens. Elon Musk tweeted that it will only work when the vehicle is stopped, but when full self-driving is approved, Tesla will enable video while moving.
PORSCHE GETS 30,000 TAYCAN ORDERS
Meanwhile, Porsche will be breathing down Tesla’s neck. It claims that 30,000 customers plunked down 2,500 euros for a deposit on the electric Taycan. The base price of the Taycan is expected to be about $75,000 and it should go on sale before the end of the year. That’s more deposits than the 20,000 customers who paid deposits of 1,000 euros for Volkswagen’s electric ID3 which will cost over $40,000 and goes on sale about a year from now.
VW HELPS SAVE PEDESTRIANS
The number of pedestrians killed by cars in the U.S. continues to rise. Some research suggests it went up 4% from 2017 to 2018 and is up 35-40% since 2008. Part of that has to do with distraction, both the driver and pedestrian, and now we’re seeing automakers come out with technology to help mitigate the problem. Volkswagen is equipping most of its 2019 lineup with Pedestrian Monitoring to make drivers aware if someone steps into their path. A small radar that sits behind the VW logo in the grille sweeps an area in front of the car and could send an audio or visual warning to the driver or slow down or stop the car completely. It works between 4 and 40 miles-per-hour. VW says its Front Assist system, which Pedestrian Monitoring is part of, and automatic emergency braking are expected to be standard on nearly all models by 2022.
VW CHOPS U.S. WARRANTY
And speaking of VW, in late 2017 it extended its People’s First Warranty of 6 years/72,000 miles to almost all of its 2018 models. It was meant to help separate itself from its competitors and, in part, help win back consumer’s trust after the dieselgate fiasco. With sales up nearly 7% so far this year, VW must feel like it’s met its goals. So it’s chopping its bumper-to-bumper warranty down to 4 years/50,000 miles for the 2020 model year. That’s still better than the typical industry standard warranty of 3 years/36,000 miles.
THE STORY BEHIND MAZDA’S EYE-POPPING RED PAINT
We currently have a Mazda6 in the Autoline garage and one of the things that really stands out is its red paint job. It really pops. And there’s an interesting story behind that color. Called Soul Red Crystal, it was originally used for Mazda’s concept cars and painted on by hand. But since that’s not practical for mass production, the company developed a new process for its production models. Called Takuminuri, which is Japanese for “artisan coloring,” painting robots were taught to duplicate techniques of a master craftsman. It’s a three-layer paint that consists of clear, translucent and reflective coats. And it also features tiny aluminum flakes made to a uniform size. The car’s bodylines and curves were also designed so that light and reflections interact with the color and add more depth. It sure is impressive how Mazda developed this color and a lot more interesting than watching paint dry.
MAJOR AUTOMAKERS PULL OUT OF TOKYO SHOW
Auto shows are struggling as automakers choose to pull out and spend their money elsewhere. Bloomberg reports that BMW, Audi, Volkswagen, Peugeot and Volvo will skip this year’s Tokyo show. The only major foreign automakers exhibiting there will be Mercedes and Renault. And you’ve got to wonder if auto shows will ever recover their former glory.
BMW TAKES AN AXE TO ITS LINEUP
German automakers sure have a lot of models in their line-up. Too many, as it turns out. Automobile magazine reports that Audi, BMW and Mercedes are struggling to make a profit on cars that sell for less than $40,000. And so BMW is taking an axe to the 1 Series, 2 Series Gran Tourer, and 3 Series GT, the 2 Series convertible, the standard-wheelbase 7 Series, the Z4 replacement, and both the two-door 8 Series models. BMW is taking drastic action because it lost money on its automotive operations in the second quarter and had to tell its CEO Harald Krueger that his services were no longer needed.
Comrades, proletarians and workers of the world, be sure to tune in to Autoline After Hours this Thursday when we’ll have a Soviet-era Lada in the studio. Come join John and Gary as they learn what this car is all about and how the car ended up in our studio.
And that brings us to the end of today’s report, thanks for watching.
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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.