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Runtime: 9:44
0:07 Carlos Ghosn Smugglers Arrested in the U.S.
0:34 Advance Auto Parts Sales Up
1:10 Ford Workers Test Positive for Coronavirus
2:10 2020 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid Pricing
2:48 Toyota Still Dominates the Hybrid Segment
3:15 Production Nissan GT-R 50 Revealed
4:03 Hummer EV Will Have Removable Roof Panels
4:27 Rolls-Royce Crafts Amazing Scale Model Replicas
5:35 Skoda Makes SUV Commercials from Home
6:15 You Said It!
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GHOSN SMUGGLERS ARRESTED IN THE U.S.
More people have been arrested for helping Carlos Ghosn escape from a Japanese prison. Turkey already indicted seven people they claimed were involved. And yesterday U.S. Marshals arrested a former Green Beret and his son for smuggling Ghosn out of Japan in a box. Japan wants to extradite them as soon as possible. Ghosn may have got off scott free but the people who helped him are in big trouble.
ADVANCED AUTO PARTS SALES UP
The coronavirus is hurting a lot of automotive related businesses but here’s one company that’s seeing nothing but sunshine. Advance Auto Parts says its sales are up thanks to Americans doing more work on their cars to pass the time while they remain in lockdown. The aftermarket retailer says sales are up in the first four weeks of the second quarter and are in-line with a year ago. Because of the news, Bloomberg reports its stock went up 8%. And the company is likely to see this continue, since consumers tend to do more of their own maintenance during economic downturns.
FORD WORKERS TEST POSITIVE FOR CORONAVIRUS
Well that didn’t take long. Ford, which resumed production in the U.S. on Monday, had to shutdown two plants after workers tested positive for coronavirus. The automaker idled production at its Dearborn Truck plant yesterday and at its Chicago Assembly Plant and had to do the same thing the day before at the Chicago facility. Ford says the workers did not contract the disease at the plants and they’ve asked them to self-quarantine for 14 days. It did a deep cleaning of the areas and said it expected to resume production Wednesday night. So this will make it even more interesting to see if President Trump will wear a mask during his tour of a Ford plant later today.
2020 HYUNDAI SONATA HYBRID PRICING
A couple of weeks ago we posted a test drive review of the Hyundai Sonata hybrid. We were pretty impressed with the car, but couldn’t tell you how much it cost because Hyundai had not announced pricing yet. Well, now it has. Prices range from almost $28,000 for the base version, what Hyundai calls the Blue model. The mid-range SEL is just under $30,000 and the top of the line Limited costs just over $35,000. And those prices include destination charges. Depending on the model and content these prices are very close to the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord hybrids.
TOYOTA STILL DOMINATES THE HYBRID SEGMENT
Even though sales of hybrids are down due to the pandemic, they’re holding up a lot better than almost any segment of the U.S. market. Through April, sales were only down 8%. Toyota and Lexus dominate the segment with almost 65% market share. Ford and Lincoln are in second place with almost 17%, while Honda and Acura have over 11% and Hyundai over 2%.
| YTD U.S. Hybrid Sales | ||
|---|---|---|
| Total Sales | 97,284 | |
| Toyota | 62,966 | 64.7% |
| Ford | 16,288 | 16.7% |
| Honda | 11,252 | 11.5% |
| Hyundai | 2,310 | 2.3% |
PRODUCTION NISSAN GT-R 50 REVEALED
Nissan and Italdesign revealed the first production version of the GT-R 50. If you don’t remember, it’s based on the regular GT-R, but has all kinds of unique elements, highlighted most by styling from Italdesign and a version of its twin-turbo 3.8L V6 engine tuned to 710-horsepower. Buyers will also be able to customize many of the visual components and paint the car in a number of heritage-inspired colors. With the production cars starting to roll out, customers will begin receiving theirs early next year. Only 50 will be made and the good news is, they’re not all spoken for. However, you’ll have to be willing to plunk down a million bucks.
HUMMER EV WILL HAVE REMOVABLE ROOF PANELS
We’ve got two quick GM EV notes. GMC revealed that the Hummer EV will come with easy-to-remove roof panels. And GM announced the site that will make the Ultium battery cells that power the Hummer EV is now under construction. The facility is located in Lordstown, Ohio and is run with joint venture partner LG Chem.
ROLLS-ROYCE HAND BUILDING CULLINAN SCALE MODELS
Rolls-Royce is now using its master crafting skills on small model cars. 1:8th scale replicas of Rolls-Royce’s first SUV, the Cullinan, are hand-made from over 1,000 individual components. Almost every detail of the original is recreated in the miniature model, from functioning interior and exterior lights to a likeness of the SUVs 6.75L twin-turbo V12 under the hood. Open the door and the seats have the same piping and stitching, the headrests are embroidered and there’s even real wood. The paint is also the same as the real SUV. There’s over 40,000 standard colors to choose from or a unique color can be created and once applied it’s hand polished. Each model can take up to 450 hours to make, which is more than half the time it takes to make a full-size Cullinan. Rolls-Royce did not reveal what one of these models would cost.
SKODA CREATES SUV COMMERCIALS FROM HOME
Staying in the miniature world, Skoda came up with a unique way to advertise its SUVs. It had three directors create commercials right from their homes and using only small models of the vehicles. They’re shot using three different mediums and each portrays its own story. They’re really well done and for some reason, a toy car driving through a bathtub is more believable than a Jaguar driving through a dessert, like you’ll see in some real car commercials.
Now it’s time for You Said It, where we answer some of your questions and comments. Roger Shutte wrote in to say, “Can you update us on the latest info with used car pricing? I’m looking to buy a low mileage Ridgeline coming off lease and prices look to be holding up too well.” Roger, we’ve got bad news. Even though used car prices collapsed a month ago, they are roaring back. Cox Automotive says that a month ago used car sales were down 37%. Now they’re only down 6%, and as a result prices have gone up.
Earlier this week I talked about how Japanese companies are on a March fiscal year. I didn’t know why, but I said no doubt one of you viewers did. So Ricky Takayama sent us this explanation. “The Japanese school calendar is from April 1st to March 31st. Japanese companies hire candidates by March, and initial orientation/employment begins in April.” And so that’s why they’re on a March fiscal. Thanks Ricky.
We reported earlier this week that Vaugh Gittin, the drift master, set up a drift course in his own driveway because of the quarantines and talked about how he almost spun out. That didn’t sit well with Chas Orvis. “That video from the “Drift King” Vaughn Gittle, where he spun his car near his living room window, while his wife and son were watching him, and admitted that he almost “lost control” there seems very irresponsible and dangerous to me!!! While I would admit that he is a talented driver, I think he should do his thing at an approved track, not his home!!!” Thanks for your input, Chas.
Earlier this week we talked about how several Japanese car companies ended up making airplanes and jets. And RB Quinn sent in some additional detail. “Kawanishi and Nakajima aircraft started in the 1910s manufacturing aircraft for the Japanese Imperial Army and Navy, and participated in the design and manufacture of well known aircraft during World War II.In 1945 U.S. Occupying Forces prohibited aircraft manufacturing. As a result, a new corporation was established under the name of Fuji Heavy Industries Co. Ltd. and initially built scooters, Subaru (named after a constellation) trucks and Prince automobiles (later sold to Nissan).” Thanks for the history lesson RB!
And finally, Last week I said that Tesla’s were really not designed for battery swaps. That prompted Francis Martin to write in and say not only was I wrong he had pictures to prove it.
Well that will be one of the topics we touch on for Autoline After Hours later today. Our guest is Ed Nierdermeyer who actually camped out at the Harris Ranch in California to watch that battery swapping operation. I’m sure you’ll be interested to hear what he says. Tony Quiroga from Car and Driver will also be on the show, so join me and Gary for some of the best gear head talk you’ll find anywhere.
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.
