AD #2833 – Japan Tightens Rules on Foreign Ownership; Tesla Roadster Delayed; NHTSA Backs Off Takata Recalls

This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry.

JAPAN TIGHTENS RULES ON FOREIGN OWNERSHIP
Today we start in Japan where the government is moving fast to prevent foreign ownership of companies it considers critical to national security. All of Japan’s automakers and major suppliers like Denso and Aisin are on the list. Stock markets around the world dropped dramatically due to the economic impact of the pandemic, making it much cheaper to buy up a bunch of stock. Any investor who wants to buy more than 1% of the stock in Japanese companies on the list now faces pre-screening and stringent regulations. Reuters reports that Japan is especially worried about Chinese companies investing in Japanese companies to get sensitive information and technology. The U.S. and Europe are also carefully watching investments in companies that they deem essential to national security.

EUROPEAN SALES WORSE THAN EXPECTED
Now to Europe, where new car sales are worse than expected. LMC Automotive reports that sales in Western Europe were down 80% in April, after falling 53% in March. Alarmingly, the annual sales rate fell to only 2.8 million vehicles. Germany is faring better than the other large European countries, but sales were down 61% there. LMC says sales should start to improve in May but it sees a tough road ahead and expects European governments to step in with a Cash for Clunkers-type program.

PRESSURE MOUNTING FOR CARLOS GHOSN?
OK, over to Lebanon. Remember how Carlos Ghosn’s escape from a Japanese prison was such big news at the beginning of the year? The Covid crisis sort of took that out of the headlines, but the story is far from over. Prosecutors in Turkey are indicting seven people who they say were involved in Ghosn’s escape. After getting out of Japan, Ghosn’s private jet landed in Istanbul, Turkey first and then went to Lebanon. Four pilots and a company executive are being charged with “migrant smuggling” which carries a sentence of up to 8 years in jail. And two flight attendants are being charged with failing to report a crime, which could land them in jail for one year. By the way, though things are getting really bad all over the world, Lebanon is on the brink of collapse and we think Mr. Ghosn may be having second thoughts about escaping there.

TESLA DELAYS NEW ROADSTER
Now we move to the world of Tesla. Two days ago Elon Musk tweeted out that he thought Tesla’s stock was too high. Yesterday we learned that Tesla had to shut down production in China, reportedly due to parts shortages and broken production equipment. Seems to us that his tweet and the China shutdown are more than just a passing coincidence. But investors shrugged off the news. Tesla plans to restart limited production at its assembly plant in California. Musk also said that Tesla is delaying the launch of its Roadster until after it starts making the Cybertruck.

WRANGLER 4-DOOR ROLLS OVER IN CRASH TESTS
Uh-oh, crash testing isn’t supposed to go this way. When the Insurance Institute For Highway Safety crash tested a Jeep Wrangler in the small front overlap test, the Wrangler rolled over. They did a second test. It rolled again. The IIHS sometimes uses crash video provided by an automaker to rate a vehicle, so FCA submitted a video of the crash test in which it did not roll over. And the IIHS accepted that test initially. But the Wrangler was given a “marginal” rating in small overlap after the new round of tests. Even so, it got a “good” rating in the moderate overlap front, side, roof and head restraint tests and a “poor” rating for both types of headlights it offers.

PLASMA IGNITION MAKING PROGRESS
We’ve been using spark plugs to ignite an air-fuel mixture inside of engines for over 100 years. Now a company called Transient Plasma Systems is working on a plasma ignition system that could replace spark plugs. We caught up with the CEO of the company, Dan Singleton and here he gives a good description of how the system works.

Dan Singleton, CEO, Plasma Ignition Systems
“It’s an advanced ignition system which allows automakers to run combustion modes that are, for example, much leaner, more dilute, say with EGR, much more efficient combustion modes you wouldn’t be able to run with a standard spark ignition system. What our technology does is it uses extremely short, tens of nanosecond long, high-voltage pulses to ignite the mixture. It uses different chemistry and physics than a traditional spark would. So, a traditional spark, you can think of it almost like you’re sitting and holding a match to the fuel/air mixture trying to get it to go and it’s causing molecules to collide and eventually will start a combustion reaction. But it’s actually a pretty slow process. With our plasma, it’s a low temperature plasma, and because the chemistry is faster we actually accelerate electrons across the fuel/air mixture, break the bonds apart. For example, oxygen becomes two atomic oxygens that react much more quickly and because that process is faster we can ignite much more difficult to ignite mixtures.”

We spoke with Transient Plasma Systems last year and since that time they’ve been developing smaller systems that would be less expensive. And if you’d like to learn more about plasma ignition you can watch that interview right now on our YouTube channel.

UBER’S FOOD DELIVERY SERVICE EXPLODES
There’s been a lot of negative news around Uber and Lyft lately. Uber reported it lost $2.9 billion in the first quarter because so few people were ride hailing due to coronavirus lockdowns. So, it’s cutting 3,700 jobs and exited some unprofitable markets. Uber is also investing $85 million in Lime, the scooter company. Lime will take over Uber’s bike and scooter sharing brand, called Jump and the two companies will integrate their mobile apps. But there is one bright spot for Uber. It’s food delivery services, called Uber Eats saw demand spike 89% in April. And it just added more accounts, including delivery from grocery and convenience stores. And that could be the saving grace for mobility companies going forward.

U.S. TRAFFIC DEATHS CONTINUE TO DROP
Here’s some good news. U.S. traffic deaths dropped for the third year in a row in 2019. That’s according to preliminary data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. An estimated 36,120 people died in car crashes last year, which is a decrease of 440 or 1.2% from the year before. And that’s even with Vehicle Miles Travelled increasing about 1%. In other words, even though more people are driving more, there were fewer traffic deaths.

NHTSA BACKS OFF TAKATA RECALSS
And speaking of NHTSA, it won’t force automakers to recall another 56 million vehicles with Takata airbags. The agency cited industry research that shows the inflators are safe and will instead monitor the situation and take action if necessary. This will spare 19 automakers from having to spend money on recalling the vehicles. In the U.S., around 50 million Takata inflators were recalled and 100 million worldwide, making it one of the largest recalls in history.

NISSAN MAKES HIGH-ROOF ELECTRIC NV200
Nissan’s small electric commercial van just went through something of a growth spurt. The XL Voltia is a high-roof version of Nissan’s e-NV200 van that also includes an elongated load bay, which expands load space by 90%. It features a 40 kWh battery pack, but Nissan does not offer a range estimate. In the standard roof height, that pack delivers 124 miles of WLTP range. The XL Voltia will be sold in all European markets.

THE SLIPPERY-EST VOLKSWAGEN EVER
And finally, a look back in history. During the oil crisis of the 1970’s, Volkswagen engineers decided to create a vehicle that demonstrated how aerodynamics and a lightweight construction could deliver impressive speed and fantastic fuel economy. In 1980 the team rolled out the Aerodynamic Research Volkswagen, a vehicle that stood just 33 inches tall and a little over 43 inches wide. Right behind the single driver’s seat sat a turbocharged 2.4L inline 6-cylinder engine that produced 177-horsepower. An on-board water tank that fed to the turbo’s intake reduced the amount of engine cooling vents. The vehicle has an extremely low coefficient of drag of only 0.15 and a top speed of 225 MPH, which was a speed record for its class at the time.

And that wraps up today’s report and brings us to the end of this week. Thanks for watching and please join us again on Monday.