AD #2945 – VW to Make Bentley a Subsidiary of Audi; Musk Unlocks Huge Payment; U.S. Market Close to Recovering

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

SUPPLIERS DROPPING OUT OF TURBOCHARGER BUSINESS
Five years ago, supplier companies were falling all over each other trying to get into the business of making turbochargers. Today, there’s a rush for the door. Bosch and Mahle got out of the business three years ago, not long after they started making turbos. Continental is reportedly trying to sell its turbocharger business, even though it’s only been in the segment a few years. And Garrett, one of the largest turbo manufacturers, recently filed for bankruptcy. Turbo sales are strong and growing, but many suppliers are starting to back out of making components for internal combustion engines. They want to invest in EVs and AVs instead because that’s where they see future growth.  

CONTINENTAL INVESTS IN LIDAR STARTUP
And just to put a punctuation point on that, Continental announced it’s investing in a California startup, called AEye, that makes Lidar. Last year Aisin, the Japanese transmission supplier also invested in the startup. AEye says its Lidar can detect vehicles as far away as 300 meters, it can see pedestrians 200 meters away, and can detect small, low-reflective objects like a brick up to 150 meters away. 

U.S. CAR MARKET CLOSE TO RECOVERING
October’s new car sales in the U.S. market are coming in really strong. Ward’s Intelligence says the SAAR will likely come in at 16.8 million units, meaning the market has almost completely recovered. Wards says that sales next year could top 16 million vehicles. Last year, without the impact of the pandemic, sales were around 17 million.

GLOBAL EV SALES UP
The pandemic hurt global sales, but LMC Automotive says sales of battery cars shot up 11%. However, the results vary widely by region, and most of that EV growth came from Europe, which has aggressive policies to boost sales of electrics. European automakers face massive fines if they miss CO2 targets. It’s cheaper for them to lose money selling EVs than to pay fines for ICEs that miss the CO2 regulations. LMC forecasts that nearly 50% of all new car sales in Europe will be BEVs by the early 2030s.   

ZF INTRODUCES HYBRID CONVERSION KIT FOR BIG TRUCKS
Supplier ZF is making it so any diesel-powered semi-truck can convert into a hybrid. All an operator has to do is hook up to its eTrailer, which is integrated with an electric axle and batteries. The pack is charged through regen braking and then it can use that energy to power vehicle functions or assist the engine. Benefits include all-wheel-drive-like performance with increased traction on slippery surfaces and better acceleration, which would be particularly useful when getting on the highway. It’s not crazy to think we’ll see fleets adopt solutions like this. We’ve seen a ton of plug-in hybrids hit the market to help meet stricter emission standards and be able to drive through electric-only zones in Europe and now heavy-duty truck emissions are coming under greater scrutiny. And ZF claims its eTrailer can reduce fuel consumption up to 16% or 6.5L per 100 kilometers driven. 

TESLA PLANS TO DROP SKATEBOARD DESIGN
Tesla is moving on from its skateboard design. Last month, at its Battery Day, the company announced its developing structural batteries. And during the EV maker’s third quarter earnings call, an analyst asked Elon Musk if this means Tesla will get rid of its skateboard design. He responded that the skateboard will become obsolete in the long term but the transition to structural battery packs will take years. For those of you who don’t know, the skateboard features the battery pack in the floor of the car and the electric motor between the rear wheels.

TESLA DIPS SLIGHTLY OVER CAPEX SPENDING NEWS
And in other Tesla news, the company’s stock dipped slightly in pre-market trading after it announced that its capital expenditure spending in 2020 will be on the high-end between $2.5 billion and $3.5 billion. And the company said it expects capex spending to be between $4.5 billion and $6 billion in the next two fiscal years. Tesla says it will be able to continue self-fund its projects through the sales of its cars.

ELON MUSK UNLOCKS HUGE PAYMENT
And wait, there’s even more Tesla news. Bloomberg reports that Elon Musk just got the fourth payment of his outsized compensation package. So far, he’s collected $11.8 billion and has 8 more payments to go. If he continues to meet targets for Tesla’s stock market value and adjusted earnings, Musk could end up putting $50 billion in his bank account. He’s already worth over $100 billion, making him the fourth richest person in the world.  

VOLVO BUSES NOW OFFERING PANTOGRAPHS
Plugging into a charger isn’t the only way to power up an electric vehicle. Volvo Buses is now offering buses with a pantograph. Like an electric trolley, the buses connect to an overhead line, with the pantograph, which is mounted on the top of the bus. The feature will be available next year in Europe on its 7900 Electric buses, including articulated versions. The pantograph allows operators to charge the bus at a bus stop or bus depot. And Volvo isn’t the only truck maker that offers vehicles with pantograph, Mercedes and Scania also offer the feature.

VW PLANS TO MAKE BENTLEY A SUBSIDIARY OF AUDI
We’ve talked a lot about how Volkswagen needs to free up cash for its electrification efforts. A lot of that has focused around the sale of Bugatti, Ducati and Lamborghini, but here’s another possible solution. Reports out of Germany say Bentley will become a subsidiary of Audi starting next year. While there aren’t many details, we would expect to see management cuts and the consolidation of design and engineering divisions. There’s already talk of using Audi technology for an upcoming Bentley SUV.

DAIMLER CELEBRATES UNIMOG ACQUISITION
Everybody’s favorite off-road machine is celebrating a significant milestone. Tomorrow marks the 70th anniversary of the Unimog. Production originally started in 1948 by the Boehringer Bros. but on October 27, 1950 Daimler signed the official contract to take over the Unimog. Those first models used a de-tuned version of the diesel engine from the Mercedes 170 D passenger car and as we all know the Unimog is still serving people today. To this date, over 380,000 Unimogs have been sold around the world.

But that’s it for today, thanks for watching and we’ll see you again tomorrow.