AD #2710 – BMW Reveals Plug-In Hybrid X3, October U.S. Car Sales Drop, Could Alfa Romeo & Maserati Be Spun Off?

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

UAW PRESIDENT TAKES PAID LEAVE OF ABSENCE 
The corruption scandal at the UAW cost the president of the union his job. Over the weekend, Gary Jones took a paid leave of absence, as he was directly implicated in the scandal. Federal authorities say he stole over a million dollars from the union. Even though Jones is on paid leave and has not been charged with anything yet, industry analysts doubt he will ever get his job back. Rory Gamble, the UAW vice president who deals with Ford, stepped in as interim president. 

UAW SCANDAL INSIGHT
Here’s our Autoline Insight. So far the Justice Department is 10 for 10 in getting convictions with the union officials who were brought to trial. We believe that Gary Jones and his predecessor Dennis Williams will be formally indicted. And they could be in deep trouble. Rather than cooperate with authorities, Gary Jones and the UAW stonewalled them. They said any corruption was just a few bad apples, that no union dues were stolen, and that they were frustrated by the bad behavior of the people who were indicted. If you break the law and get caught, the Justice Department will prosecute you. If you lie and stonewall and hold back information from the Justice Department, it will cut your head off. Just ask Volkswagen.

OCTOBER U.S. CAR SALES DROP
Sales of new cars and trucks in the U.S. market slowed considerably in October. Wards reports that the SAAR fell to 16.5 million, down from 17.1 million the month before. Automakers sold 1.3 million new vehicles in October, down a sharp 5.4%. Yet, some automakers had a great month. Volvo shot up almost 16%, Audi was up 15%, Porsche rose nearly 9%, Hyundai was up over 7%, with Kia right behind it.  But Tesla dropped a staggering 26%, Nissan was down over 9%, VW fell 7% and Toyota dropped nearly 5%. While General Motors does not report sales on a monthly basis any more, reports from the field suggest it took a heavy toll from the UAW strike, with a big falloff in sales. We’ll have to wait until the end of the fourth quarter to get official numbers. Historically, when GM loses market share during a strike, it never gets it back.

COULD ALFA ROMEO AND MASERATI BE SPUN OFF?
If the merger between Peugeot and FCA goes through, will the new company spin off Alfa Romeo and Maserati? That’s one of the possibilities that the consultancy LMC Automotive thinks is possible. It says PSA’s CEO, Carlos Tavares, may want to jettison the brands and put that money towards other more profitable parts of the merger. Global sales of Maserati were down 30% last quarter and it’s losing money. While FCA does not break out sales of Alfa Romeo globally, they were down 42% in the first half in Europe, and in the U.S. they’re down 27% so far this year. It’s going to be mighty expensive to try and turn those brands around and Tavares may well decide that would be just throwing money down the drain.

SKODA LAUNCHES NEW CHINA-ONLY SUV
SUV sales continue to grow in all major markets like China and that’s especially true for Skoda, which is part of the VW Group. One out of every three Skoda SUVs are sold in China and so it’s expanding its lineup there. The Kamiq GT is the 5th SUV model Skoda now offers and will be exclusive to China. It’s a fastback version of the standard Kamiq, but is also a little bit longer and offers unique styling elements, which were inspired by the Vision GT concept. Under the hood is a 1.5L gas engine that makes over 100-horsepower. 

CONTINENTAL OFFERS RADAR TO FARMERS
Farm equipment sometimes has to go out on the roads you and I use, but the slow speeds the vehicles travel can make it dangerous. That’s why the supplier Continental is offering some of the same technology it offers for road-going vehicles to farmers. Left-turn assist for agricultural vehicles uses radar that can detect approaching vehicles up to 250 meters or 820-feet and gives the farmer either an audio or visual warning.

MOPAR STAGES SEMA REVEAL
We showed you a little bit of what Mopar will be taking to SEMA this year but you may have noticed those reveals are lacking something that Mopar is known for… horsepower. That all changes tomorrow at 7:26 PM eastern time or 4:26 pacific, which you can watch live at mopar.com. And here’s a little teaser of what will be revealed.

BMW REVEALS PLUG-IN HYBRID X3
BMW is coming out with a plug-in hybrid version of the X3. It’s powered by a 2.0L, four-cylinder gasoline engine and an electric motor that’s integrated into its 8-speed Steptronic transmission. It does 0 to 100km/h in 6.1 seconds and has a top speed of 210 km/h or about 130 MPH. But these numbers are based on European tests. U.S. specs and pricing will be released closer to its on-sale date. But because it only has a 12-kWh battery, it will only provide 20 miles of all-electric range in the U.S. The plug-in X3 will be manufactured at the company’s plant in South Carolina starting in December and it goes on sale worldwide in the first quarter of 2020.

AIWAYS TO SELL METHANOL FUEL-CELL EV
China is already the largest manufacturer of batteries for electric cars. But it’s also putting a ton of research into fuel cells. And the Chinese automaker AIWAYS is moving from R&D to commercialization with a new fuel-cell EV that uses methanol as its fuel. It says it’s using methanol for its practicality and added mileage boost. Range anxiety and slow charging times are an issue with electric vehicles, and a methanol fuel-cell car could resolve those issues. AIWAYS partnered with the Danish company Blue World Technologies to help develop their methanol fuel-cells. This goes to show that in the rapidly changing global market for EVs, fuel-cells haven’t been forgotten.

We’ve got a great Autoline After Hours coming up this Thursday with Joe DeSimone, the CEO of a company called Carbon 3D. They’ve come up with a revolutionary way to do 3D printing that is completely different than anyone else does. And it could have a lot of automotive applications. In fact, it already does. Learn more this Thursday when we go live at 3 pm eastern time.

But that wraps up today’s show, thanks for watching and have a great day.