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Runtime: 13:38
0:08 Ford’s 2020 Earnings Take a Beating
0:58 Ford Boosts EV & AV Investment
1:19 Nissan Reveals All-New Pathfinder
2:58 Nissan Frontier Gets Significant Update
6:37 Harley Stops Selling Merchandise on Amazon
7:11 Amazon Now Making Deliveries with Rivian Vans
8:09 Ford Raptor Is a Money Making Machine
9:19 Mazda Ditches Traditional Performance Metrics
11:01 Volvo XC60 Plug-In Hybrid Impressions
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FORD’S 2020 EARNINGS TAKE A BEATING
Ford reported its earnings for last year and the numbers are brutal. Sales were down, revenue was down and it lost $1.2 billion. But Wall Street decided the numbers could have been worse and Ford’s stock rose on the news. One thing the investment community liked is that Ford generated impressive cash flow. It ended the year with $50 billion in cash and securities, up $16 billion from a year earlier. And while it lost $2.8 billion in the 4th quarter, it also booked a $2.9 billion charge, mainly to close its operations in Brazil. If not for that, it would have posted a modest profit. And the ‘Street took that as a signal that there’s better things to come.
Ford 2020 Earnings | ||
---|---|---|
Sales | 4.1 million | -22% |
Revenue | $127 billion | -18% |
Operating Loss | $4.4 billion | — |
Net Loss | $1.2 billion | — |
Source: Ford |
FORD BOOSTS EV & AV INVESTMENT
The automaker also announced its significantly boosting its investment in electric and autonomous vehicles. Ford will spend $22 billion through 2025 to speed up the electrification of its lineup, about twice as much as it previously committed. And it will spend another $7 billion to develop autonomous vehicles.
NISSAN REVEALS ALL-NEW PATHFINDER
Nissan wanted to steal a lot of the headlines going into the weekend as it unveiled both the new Pathfinder and Frontier. Let’s start with the all-new Pathfinder, which features new styling, which is a bit more rugged and SUV-like compared to the outgoing model. The front grille is bigger and more vertical and at the back, Pathfinder is spelled out in all caps across the rear door. The interior has also been updated. It’s available with a new 9.0-inch touchscreen that sits on top of the dash and a 12.3-inch digital, reconfigurable instrument cluster is offered as well. The new Pathfinder can seat up to eight passengers but it also has the option for 2nd row captain’s chairs. However, if you go for the bench in the second row it’s available with Nissan’s EZ-FLEX one-touch seat function, making access to the 3rd row even easier. Powering the Pathfinder is a 3.5L V6 engine that gets mated to a 9-speed automatic transmission, replacing the CVT. And it’s available in front or four-wheel-drive configurations. Towing capacity now tops out at 6,000 pounds. For the first time, the Pathfinder is offered with Nissan’s Pro-Pilot driver assistance technology. The feature can be combined with Navi-Link, which uses map data from the navigation system to automatically reduce speed for upcoming curves, junctions or exits on the freeway. The new Pathfinder goes on sale this summer but pricing was not revealed.
NISSAN FRONTIER GETS SIGNIFICANT UPDATE
Now over to the Frontier. Nissan calls it all-new but it actually still uses the same basic frame that was all-new to the Frontier back in 2005. However, Nissan will be quick to note that it’s made improvements to the frame over the years and the new truck has been refined even more. The front and rear suspension has been tuned to the truck, it features new hydraulic cab mounts, new urethane jounce bumpers, larger front stabilizer bar, new-to-Frontier rear stabilizer bar and it gets its hydraulic rack-and-pinion steering back. A 3.8L V6, which makes 310 horsepower and 281 lb-ft of torque, and a 9-speed automatic remain the standard powertrain setup. The truck can also be mated with 2- or 4-wheel drive and when properly equipped can tow a little more than 6,700 pounds. Moving to the styling department, Frontier is more modern and almost looks monolithic. What I mean by that is the design really draws your eye from the bottom to the top. While the interior features new amenities, like a 9-inch touchscreen and 7-inch driver display, the overall look is rugged and a bit simple, a look which doesn’t always age the best. But who knows, despite being long in the tooth, Frontier still sells quite well and these new upgrades may be just what it needs to push past its competitors in a growing mid-size pickup segment. We’ll find out soon enough when the new Frontier goes on sale this summer.
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HARLEY STOPS SELLING MERCHANDISE ON AMAZON
Harley-Davidson is in trouble; the motorcycle maker’s sales have fallen six straight years in the U.S. and it posted a fourth-quarter loss last year. So, to help give its dealers a bit of a boost, the company will no longer sell its merchandise on Amazon, which it says was undercutting apparel sales at dealers. Instead, Harley will create a digital e-commerce business that will be integrated with its dealers. But Harley isn’t the first company to leave Amazon, Nike stopped selling its products through the online retailer two years ago.
AMAZON NOW MAKING DELIVERIES WITH RIVIAN VANS
A year after it announced it was buying 100,000 electric delivery vans from Rivian, Amazon is already making zero emission deliveries to its customers. These current vehicles were made at Rivian’s studio in Plymouth, Michigan, have up to 150 miles of range and are making deliveries in parts of LA right now. Amazon plans to add 15 more cities in the U.S. throughout the year. While these are fully functioning vehicles, they’re still being used to provide data back to Rivian to refine the vans that will roll out of its manufacturing facility in Normal, Illinois, which is expected to be up and running before the end of the year. One thing that surprises us a little is how much Amazon branding is all over the van. It’s on the front, the rear, the sides, the headrests, the steering wheel pad and there’s even a smiley face Easter egg in the headlamp assembly. There’s only one badge that says “Powered by Rivian.”
FORD RAPTOR IS A MONEY MAKING MACHINE
Ford does not break out sales for the Raptor off-road pickup truck. But it does say that over the last four years it outsold the Corvette and all of Porsche’s sports cars. So we can take those numbers and work back from there. That means Ford sells over 20,000 Raptors a year. That probably translates to around $1 billion in revenue and somewhere around $400 million a year in profits. Think about that, it’s a trim level. You take an F-150, sprinkle on some cool components, give it awesome off-road performance, bump the starting price up to $55,000, then get out of the way as customer’s swarm in to buy it. And that’s one way to make money in the automotive business.
MAZDA DITCHES TRADITIONAL PERFORMANCE METRICS
Car enthusiasts are very familiar with 0-60 and quarter-mile times. But Mazda says it doesn’t even measure that anymore. It says development engineers really don’t learn anything from those times. Here’s Jay Chen, the Manager of Powertrain Performance at Mazda to explain.
“Bottom line is zero to sixty times are something that Mazda engineers simply don’t pay attention to because it really doesn’t tell us anything about how a car drives. So bear with me while I get on my engineering soapbox a bit. I don’t know the 0-60 or the 45-60 acceleration times or quarter mile times because that’s just not meaningful metrics for us Mazda development engineers to use during the vehicle development process.”
Instead, what Mazda measures is g force, measured in meters per second squared. And it measures that for acceleration, braking and turning. For example, Mazda says that if you have a cup of coffee in the cup holder and accelerate or brake or turn at more than 1 meter per second squared, you’ll spill the coffee. In stop and go traffic, you’ll rarely exceed 2 meters per second squared. Anything over that and your passengers will look up from their phones to see what’s going on. And if you exceed 3 meters per second squared you’ll scare your passengers. So Mazda develops and tunes its cars with this metric in mind, because cars that have the exact same 0-60 times can feel very different in how they accelerate. By measuring g force by meters per second squared, engineers have a much more meaningful metric to tune the car in a way their customers will appreciate.
VOLVO XC60 PLUG-IN HYBRID IMPRESSIONS
We had a Volvo XC60 plug-in come through the Autoline Garage and all we can say is what a great looking vehicle. It’s sophisticated without resorting to garish styling touches like a gargantuan grille. And it looks sleek without resorting to a fast roof that reduces rear seat headroom or luggage space. The proportions and stance may be the best in the segment.
Inside, it carries the design theme that all Volvos have these days. Nothing new here. But that’s okay because it looks so good. One aspect we love about Volvos, if you’re not streaming services through your phone, is that the big screen displays about 5 radio stations at a time along with the song title and artist. So it helps you instantly choose what you want to hear.
Driving this car is a dream for those who love to travel in comfort. The seats and suspension are decidedly soft, and the cabin is notably quiet, even above posted highway speeds.
The XC60 is powered by a 2-liter turbo with 313 horsepower, but since the plug-in hybrid has an 87-horsepower electric motor, the total output rounds out to a nice 400 horses. Power comes on instantly but smoothly. If you drive with a light foot you get around on pure battery power, but the small 11.5 kWh battery only delivers 19 miles of range in the best of conditions. In winter driving that dropped down to about 12 miles for us.
Volvo is trying to move more upscale and that’s reflected in the price. The loaded, T8 Inscription trim line we test drove was priced at $71,340. But customers seem to be okay with that. The XC60 is now the second best-selling model in Volvo’s lineup and sales keep going up.
But that’s it for today, thanks for watching and have a great weekend.
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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.