AD #2990 – U.S. Transportation Secretary Resigns; Hyundai in Talks with Apple on EVs; Mercedes Details Massive Hyperscreen

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

U.S. TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY RESIGNING
That riot at the Capitol building on Wednesday continues to impact the automotive industry. Yesterday we reported that the National Association of Manufacturers, which includes automakers and suppliers, called for President Trump to step down. Yesterday, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, announced she is resigning, after supporters of the president stormed and ransacked the Capitol building, which caused five deaths including a police officer. In an email to her staff she said the attack “has deeply troubled me in a way that I simply cannot set aside.”

HYUNDAI IN TALKS WITH APPLE ON EVs
Here’s a bombshell. Hyundai revealed it’s in early talks with Apple about a potential partnership. While the automaker didn’t reveal what the discussions are about, the Korea Economic Daily reported the companies are considering developing self-driving electric vehicles by 2027. They’re also looking at developing batteries which would be built in the U.S. at either Hyundai or Kia plants. Investors really liked the news, sending Hyundai’s shares up nearly 25%, which added about $8 billion to its market value. We know Apple wants to jump into the automotive market and needs a manufacturing partner to build its vehicle. Last month, Reuters reported Apple is moving forward with its EV program and plans to introduce an electric car by 2024.

BLUE PAINT COLOR GAINING POPULARITY
BASF released its annual color report for 2020, which looks at color trends in the global auto industry. It says that a wider range of chromatic colors are becoming more popular. Blue and yellow are making gains in some regions, while red and violet are also gaining in popularity. However, achromatic colors, while, black, silver and gray, are still the most popular colors in the world and overall white is still the top choice for consumers.

DETAILS ON MAZDA’S NEW REAR-DRIVE PLATFORM
Japan’s Nikkei newspaper is reporting details about Mazda’s upcoming in-line 6-cylinder, rear-drive platform. Through talks with the automaker’s suppliers, it learned production is scheduled to start in 2022 and Mazda hopes to produce about 300,000 vehicles off the platform by 2025. It should come as little surprise that the first model is expected to be a SUV and is likely going to be sold alongside existing models. Engine displacement is said to be somewhere between 3.0L and 3.3L and will come in gas, diesel and Mazda’s compression ignition SkyActiv-X setup. The Nikkei also reports the models will be priced significantly higher than existing models, but hopes to cut costs by expanding its supplier base. With production expected to kick off next year, we would expect to learn more information soon.

BIGGEST INVESTMENTS IN THE AUTO INDUSTRY
It’s amazing to see the kind of money going into automotive stocks as they become some of the hottest commodities on Wall Street. Yesterday investors plowed $323 million into buying shares of Aptiv, the automotive tech supplier. That’s a lot of money. But they spent over half a billion dollars investing in Carvana, the used car retailer. Pretty impressive. But they put even more into the Ford Motor Company, $693 million. Even so, that’s nothing compared to the $1.1 billion that went into the solid state battery company Romeo Power, or the $2.3 billion that went into another solid state battery company, Quantumscape. And now, are you ready for this? You knew we were holding the best for last. Investors poured almost $40 billion into Tesla. Stunning. And it’s even more impressive to see that all this represents just one day of trading on Wall Street.

ELON MUSK NOW THE RICHEST PERSON IN THE WORLD
By the way, that runup in Tesla stock yesterday turned Elon Musk into the richest person in the world. He now has a net worth of more than $188 billion. Here’s another way to put that into perspective. If Elon Musk was a country, he’d be Number 53 on the list and richer than 136 other countries in the world.

MERCEDES SHARES DETAILS OF MASSIVE HYPERSCREEN
Style and performance are still great ways to separate yourself from the competition but more and more infotainment systems are becoming important selling points. And Mercedes and Cadillac are showing off their latest offerings. Let’s start with Mercedes’ Hyperscreen, which will be featured in the all-electric EQS. At 141 centimeters or over 55-inches wide and nearly stretching from A-pillar to A-pillar, we think the name is quite fitting. It’s so wide the automaker even had to incorporate the side air vents into the screen. But all that space allows the passenger to have their own display and operating areas that can be customized for up to 7 people. Although, if there’s no one sitting in the passenger seat, the screen becomes a decorative element. The Hypersceen system also uses artificial intelligence to make suggestions to the owner. For example, if you call the same person on the way home every day, it will learn that and automatically prompt you to make the call. There are 12 actuators beneath the screen to provide feedback and Mercedes has what it calls a zero layer, meaning you don’t have to tap through multiple screens to get to the most important controls.

CADILLAC LOOKS OUTSIDE THE INDUSTRY FOR NEW DISPLAY SCREEN
Now over to Cadillac’s new in-vehicle display that debuts on the Lyriq EV. It’s 33-inches wide and is customizable with display themes that reflect the driver’s mood and personality. But what’s interesting is that Cadillac looked to sources outside of the auto industry to help it design the system. It tapped Territory Studio, which specializes in screen graphics and design and Rightpoint for its customer experience. Cadillac said it went this route because it felt it needed a fresh perspective and new ways of thinking, which it hopes will give it a system that’s not only good looking but intuitive to use.

YANFENG INTERESTING WAY TO HEAT INTERIORS
We had a great Autoline After Hours yesterday with Jeff Stout from Yanfeng, the interior supplier company. One of the things they’re working on is extending the range of electric cars by heating the interior surfaces, including door panels, arm rests, and headliner, not just the seats or steering wheel. We asked him if it’s more efficient doing that instead of heating up air and blowing it on you. Here’s what he said:

“We’re finding that it is actually, especially when you get into the algorithm to know ‘when do I need that?’ If you have a heated steering wheel today, boy that’s a great feature especially when I start the car. But the longer I’m in the car, the less important it is. But I can maintain comfort through those contact surfaces even if the air temperature in the cabin is quite low. And it also adds an element that we’ll see coming that, as an EV, plugged into my garage, it knows I’m coming so it can pre-heat all those surfaces while I’m plugged in, in my garage. So the energy load that’s getting the car to a comfortable state, that all happens with a straight electric pull. I get in and everything I touch is nice and warm. And again, the air temperature doesn’t matter so much to my comfort level.”

That show has a lot of great information in it and you can watch it on our website or YouTube channel.

CAN YOU SPOT THE iPAD?
And a little fun from our friend Kevin Hisel to wrap up the week. He posted this picture on Facebook with the caption, “When you spend three days looking for your iPad.” It’s amazing how well the color and stitch lines match up and we hope you got a chuckle out of it.

But that’s a wrap. Thank you and have a great weekend.