AD #2915 – Cadillac CT4 & CT5 Updates; Mercedes Faces Sales Ban in Germany; Maserati Shares EV Plans

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

MERCEDES FACES SALES BAN IN GERMANY
Could Mercedes be forced to stop selling cars in Germany? Sounds crazy but it could happen. Mercedes is being sued by the Japanese electronics company Sharp for using its technology without a license. A German court just ruled that Sharp could force Mercedes to stop selling vehicles. However, Sharp must pay 5.5 million euros to enforce the ban in order to cover any damages if the ruling is overturned on appeal. Last month, Nokia won a similar lawsuit against Daimler but it hasn’t enforced a ban yet. And Mercedes isn’t the only one in the hot seat. Sharp is suing Tesla and is seeking an injunction to stop it from selling cars in Japan.

CONTINENTAL DEVELOPS WEIGHT SENSOR FOR BIG TRUCKS
Starting next year, commercial vehicle operators in Europe have to weigh their trucks more often. It’s all about keeping roads in better shape and reducing the environmental impact of trucks. That means drivers must know the weight of the vehicle before they start a trip to avoid paying any fines. Instead of relying on a stationary scale to weigh the truck, Continental developed an On Board Weighing System that uses sensors to record how much a vehicle weighs, including the tractor and trailer. The driver gets the weight from an app. Not only will this help operators meet the new mandate, the technology also enables trucks to be loaded more efficiently and reduce empty runs.

 

TRATON UPS BID FOR NAVISTAR
And in other big truck news, Traton, the commercial vehicle maker owned by Volkswagen, upped its bid for Navistar. It’s offering to buy all stock it doesn’t already own for $43 per share, up from its previous offer of $35. That translates to a $3.6 billion bid, an increase of 23%. Traton currently owns 17% of Navistar, which makes it the second largest shareholder of the company, only behind billionaire investor Carl Icahn.

MASERATI SHARES EV PLANS
At Autoline we cover both electrification and internal combustion because we know that’s what consumers are into. Maserati knows that too. That’s why the MC20 super car was developed from the get-go to have both piston-engine and electrified powertrains. In fact, Maserati will have a whole range of electric vehicles that will carry the Folgore name, which means lightning in Italian. The first EVs to roll down the line in Turin will be the new GranTurismo and GranCabrio. Autoblog reports all electric Maserati’s will have the same setup; two electric motors out back, one up front and an 800-volt electrical system. While the automaker says it developed the powertrain for maximum range, it also says the MC20 Folgore will “absolutely be more powerful” than the version with the 3.0L V6, which makes 621 horsepower. The electric MC20 is expected to make its debut by 2022 and will be built in Modena. 

MERCEDES CRACKS CODE ON EV & ICE PRODUCTION
Has Mercedes cracked the code on how to make EVs and ICE cars in the same plant and still get significant labor savings? It sure looks that way. The new S-class and upcoming EQS are assembled at a new facility called Plant 56 in Germany. It uses automated guided vehicles, or AGVs, to transport cars down the line. Nothing new there. AGVs have been around for decades. But it looks to us that the AGVs with EVs on them can skip parts of the assembly line. (video 0:18 freeze frame) So when an EV comes to that part of the line where ICE components are attached, like the radiator, exhaust system and fuel lines, the AGV with the EV just turns and goes to another part of the line. In plants with conventional conveyor lines, the EVs have to go through every assembly station in the plant and that means some stations have workers standing around doing nothing until the EV passes through. That hurts productivity. But Ola Kallenius, the CEO of Daimler, says that thanks to the flexibility they added in plant 56, productivity is up 25% compared to the old plant that built the S-class.

 

CADILLAC CT4 & CT5 UPDATES
Cadillac is making some updates to the CT4 and CT5 for the 2021 model year. First off, they get Super Cruise but only on the Premium Luxury and V-Series models. A new 12-inch instrument cluster is offered along with wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay capability. A host of driver assistance features are now standard on the CT4, including Buckle to Drive, which doesn’t let the driver shift the transmission if their seat belt isn’t buckled. A new package called Diamond Sky gets a number of unique features and standard equipment, including a new paint color, which carries over to the rockers and rear diffuser, Brembo front brakes and exclusive grille accents and interior materials. 2021 CT4s and CT5s arrive this fall.

GM EXPLAINS UNDER THE HOOD DESIGN OF FULL-SIZE SUVs
When you pop the hood on GM’s new full size SUVs there’s a sealed-off, recessed area that sits in front of the radiator. It has a strange combination of slots and a circular opening. We figured out that the circular opening is part of the air intake but we couldn’t figure out what the slots are for. So on Autoline After Hours yesterday with Tim Herrick, the vice president of Global Products at General Motors, he explained what it’s all about. Take a look.

Tim Herrick, General Motors
“Cheese grater.”

John McElroy
“Yeah, what is that?”

Tim Herrick, General Motors
“That we affectionately call it the cheese grater. When you started discussing it, I won’t say his last name, but Jim the engineer that actually developed it. What that does, is that cheese grater, the pieces, the undulations in it, as well as the different holes and you can see all the seals we put around it, to seal it up. As it draws air in and then takes it to the edge and it separates water and any debris out of it, through that cheese grater. So you can clean it.”

John McElroy
“Very clever.”

Tim Herrick, General Motors
“Yes, its very clever. We paid him for a good patent on that. And it gets really clean air and a lot of it. It’s the best way to get the volume of air that you need and clean to the air filter, to the engine and then to the wheels.”

There’s a lot more to that show. In fact, there’s a great discussion about the investment firm Hindenburg that attacked Nikola and Trevor Milton as being nothing more than a scam. You can check that out in the second half of the show.

But that’s all for today, thanks for watching and have a great weekend.