AD #2650 – Mahindra Could Buy Old GM Plant, Knee Airbags Provide Little Benefit, BMW EV Partnership Hits Snag

This is Autoline Daily reporting on the global automotive industry.

MAHINDRA COULD BUY OLD GM PLANT
While GM’s potential sale of its Lordstown, Ohio plant to an EV startup has been getting a lot of attention lately, another of its shuttered plants could be revived. The Detroit News reports that Mahindra has signed a non-binding letter of intent to buy GM’s iconic Buick City plant in Flint, Michigan. The plant, which has been closed for twenty years, once employed as many as 27,000 workers. Mahindra currently sells its off-road Roxor vehicle in the U.S. and it’s a finalist to build a next-gen delivery truck for the U.S. Post Office. The company is also considering jumping into the commercial vehicle market. So it needs a site to build those vehicles and could hire as many as 2,000 workers. Some hurdles still remain but if the deal does happen, it will be the company’s first major manufacturing facility in the U.S.

GM TO CUT EQUINOX PRODUCTION
In other GM news, while sales of the Chevy Equinox are up nearly 11.5% so far this year, the automaker is going to cut production at its two North American plants that make the CUV. It all has to do with keeping inventory levels in check. It will shut down production at its Ontario plant for a week in late September and slash the third shift at its plant in Mexico starting next week, which will result in 260 job cuts. GM says it’s committed to running the business responsibly.

IIHS SAYS KNEE AIRBAGS PROVIDE LITTLE BENEFIT
Your legs are one of the most vulnerable areas on your body during a crash, so automakers started equipping their vehicles with knee airbags. But according to a new study from the IIHS, knee airbags provide little benefit. The institute looked at data from its own front crash tests and real accident reports and found that knee airbags had little to no effect and in some cases actually increased risk of leg injury. There is one case where knee airbags might be useful, and that’s with unbelted occupants. But the IIHS notes it did not look at that because it always straps its dummies in for crash tests.

FORD TO PAY OWNERS OF MYFORD TOUCH
If you were the owner or lessee of a Ford or Lincoln vehicle with one of those awful early versions of MyFord Touch or MyLincoln Touch infotainment systems, you could be in line for some money. The automaker has decided to settle a class action lawsuit filed by owners that claim the system is defective. Anyone who had a Ford or Lincoln vehicle between 2010 and August of 2013 and live in California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia, and Washington can make a claim before September 24th. If you never took the car in for repair you can get $45, one trip to the dealer gets you $100, two trips $200 and three or more $400. Ford has set aside a total $17 million to make the payments.

And be sure to check out our coverage of the Center for Automotive Research’s Management Briefing Seminar. We’ve been posting interviews from the conference over the last few days and you can find those on our website, Autoline.tv or on our YouTube channel.

BMW & GREAT WALL EV PARTNERSHIP HITS SNAG
Last year, BMW and Chinese automaker Great Wall Motor formed a joint venture to develop a low cost electric vehicle platform that would be used by MINI and Great Wall. But Reuters reports that the partnership has hit a snag and could be in trouble. Great Wall recently warned that there is uncertainty that they will receive regulatory approval to build a new plant that will make the EVs. As of now, both companies are planning to proceed with the partnership but it looks a bit iffy.

DAIMLER TO MAKE 2ND-LIFE BATTERY STORAGE SYSTEMS
Daimler is partnering with Beijing Electric Vehicle, a subsidiary of BAIC to develop second life battery storage systems. The business will be located in Beijing and will use old batteries from Beijing Electric to make the storage units.

NIKOLA AWARDED GRANT FOR FUEL CELL TECHNOLOGY
Nikola Motor, a startup that’s developing hydrogen powered commercial trucks, was just awarded a $1.7 million grant by the U.S. Department of Energy, to advance its research into a fuel cell membrane electrode assembly. The architecture will help satisfy the high-power output and durability requirements of heavy-duty fuel cell applications. Nikola says it has more than 14,000 orders for its Class 8 truck. The company begins tests this year and production is slated to start in late 2022.

DAIMLER TEACHING BIG TRUCKS TO MAKE PAYMENTS
And in other big truck news, Daimler is testing digital technology in its trucks, that will allow them to autonomously communicate with other trucks and make payments, at tolls or electric charging stations, digitally. It’s currently in the pilot phase but Daimler says it is planning further testing of the technology.

And just a reminder that there will not be a new Autoline After Hours today. But the show will be back on August 15th for some of the best insider discussions in the industry.

But that’s it for today, thanks for watching and we’ll see you again tomorrow.