AD #2677 – Could Strike Affect C8 Launch? Bikes & Scooters Could Greatly Reduce Traffic, New Ford Escape Impressions

This is Autoline Daily reporting on all aspects of the global automotive industry.

TEAMSTERS WON’T DELIVER GM VEHICLES
The UAW strike is in its second day and the stakes are getting higher. The Detroit Free Press reports that the Teamsters union will not deliver vehicles to GM dealerships. The Teamsters don’t supply all of GM’s dealers and most of those dealers already have a lot of inventory on their lots, but this is going to put more pressure on GM and its retailers.

COULD STRIKE HIT C8 CORVETTE?
We also wonder how the strike will affect the launch of the C8 Corvette. GM started production of the mid-engine sports car just a few weeks ago, but now the assembly lines have ground to a halt. Some customers already got delivery of their cars, but if this strike goes on very much longer, other customers are going to have to cool their heels until the strike is over. The one good thing for GM is that those buyers are not going to run out and buy a Toyota Supra or Porsche 911 instead. They’ll cross their arms and fume until smoke comes out their ears… but they’ll wait.

BIKES & SCOOTERS COULD GREATLY REDUCE CONGESTION
Micromobility, which includes shared bikes and scooters, could greatly reduce traffic congestion in downtown areas. According to the National Association of City Transportation Officials, scooters are used for trips between half a mile and a mile, while bikes are used for trips between 1 and 3 miles. INRIX, a company that provides traffic analytics, looked at 50 million car trips in the top 25 U.S. metro areas and found that nearly half of them are less than three miles. Researchers say that if even a fraction of those people used bikes or scooters instead, it would help alleviate traffic congestion and reduce emissions. INRIX says the top three cities where micromobility could succeed are Honolulu, New Orleans and Nashville because they all have warm climates and not a lot of hills.

AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE GETTING NIGHT VISION
Veoneer, a company that makes night vision systems for automotive applications signed a contract to make thermal cameras for a Level 4 autonomous vehicle. It did not say what company it signed a contract with, just that it’s a world-leading automaker. But the vehicle will be used in the mobility-as-a-service market and production is planned to start in 2021.

SUBARU OF AMERICA’S 10 MILLIONTH SALE
51 years after the first Subaru 360 micro-car went on sale in the U.S., Subaru of America just sold its 10 millionth car. It was a white 2019 Impreza that sold to a doctor in Utah. All we can say is, that’s a lot of Subarus!

VOLOCOPTER PERFORMS 1ST EUROPEAN URBAN FLIGHT
Last week we had a story about how Germany’s Volocoptor is going to supply flying taxis to China within the next three years. And just to show you it’s on track to hit its goals, Volocoptor performed its first urban flight in Europe at the Mercedes Benz Museum in Stuttgart. There were four passengers on board, including the head of Mercedes Benz Cars, Ola Kallenius. The Volocoptor is also on display there to help gauge the social acceptance of air taxis.

NEW FORD ESCAPE DETAILS & IMPRESSIONS
Ford invited us to the launch of the new Escape and here’s our thoughts. The interior is clean and uncluttered. An 8-inch touchscreen and a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster are available. The trunk space can now fit a full-size dog crate or 6 golf bags. It’s about 200 pounds lighter, which makes the Escape a bit nimbler on twisty roads. There are four powertrain options. It comes standard with a 1.5L 3-cylinder while a 2.0L 4-cylinder is also available. Both those get an 8-speed automatic. There are two hybrid options, a 2.5L hybrid and a plug-in. We drove all of them except the plug-in. Driving impressions for the hybrid are embargoed until Thursday, so we’ll focus on the gas engines. The 2.0L has good power when passing slower vehicles and we were impressed with how quiet the interior is out on the road. As you’d imagine, the 1.5L isn’t quite as powerful but has enough boost when needed. It also features cylinder deactivation, which you can hear when it kicks on but most drivers likely won’t notice it. All models come with four selectable drive modes, Normal, Eco, Sport and Slippery. The driving dynamics change slightly for each mode but overall it doesn’t add much to the driving experience. Titanium trims are available with a head-up-display, the first-time Ford has offered one in North America but we think it’s only marginally beneficial. The new Ford Escape is on sale now, except for the plug-in, which won’t be available until spring 2020.

Coming up next, John has some things to say about this UAW strike with General Motors.

OTHERS MADE BIGGER SACRIFICES DURING GM BANKRUPTCY
The UAW says it’s time that General Motors give its workers a lot more pay and benefits because of all the sacrifices they made when the company went through bankruptcy. And it’s true, the union did make sacrifices. But union workers came out a lot better than everyone else.
GM shareholders lost everything. Their GM stock was wiped out. Bondholders and secured creditors got pennies on the dollar if they got anything at all. Over 2,000 car dealers essentially had the U.S. government confiscate their business and shut it down. Most of those dealerships were family owned and had been in the family for several generations. Other dealers, who were not shut down, still had franchises taken away with no recourse or compensation: Pontiac, Saturn, Hummer and Saab. And GM’s managers all lost their pensions.
The UAW was lucky. The Obama Administration gave it priority over all those other stakeholders and protected their pensions. I don’t mean to belittle the sacrifices those UAW workers made, but they need to remember that a lot more people made much bigger sacrifices and most of them never recovered from it.

Anyway that’s how I see it and with that we wrap up today’s report.