AD #3045 – VW Looking into Electric Pickup; Wrong-Way Crashes on The Rise; March Sales Going to Look Spectacular

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

VOLKSWAGEN SEEKS DAMAGES AGAINST FORMER EXECUTIVES
Volkswagen announced its seeking damages against former Chairman Martin Winterkorn and former Audi CEO Rupert Stadler for their roles in the company’s diesel scandal. VW launched a year’s long investigation into the emissions cheating and found that both Winterkorn and Stadler breached their duty of care but said it found no violations by other board members. The automaker admitted in 2015 that it installed illegal software in its diesel engines to pass U.S. emission tests. The company has paid $38 billion in fines, settlements and fixes as a result of the scandal. But VW didn’t say how much in damages it’s seeking against the former executives. This was a huge black eye for the company and the main reason why it’s now making an aggressive push into electric vehicles.

FORD SHARES NEW EU ELECTRIFICATION PLANS
News of Ford dropping the Mondeo from its European lineup a year from now is making headlines but this should come as little surprise to Autoline Daily viewers. We reported about the end of production of the Mondeo’s sister car, the Fusion at Ford’s plant in Mexico, so it could clear room for new models. That facility now makes the Mustang Mach-E, Bronco Sport and as we reported recently, it’s gearing up for the new Maverick small pickup. It also used to make Ford’s 2.5L hybrid engine, but that’s being moved to Spain alongside existing engine manufacturing. The automaker revealed its “first all-electric volume production passenger vehicle” is coming out in 2023 as well. It’s being made at a new Electrification Center in Cologne, Germany that it’s sinking a billion dollars into. Hey, what do you know? Volkswagen’s in Germany. Ford already confirmed it’s going to use VW’s MEB platform for a future EV. We think it’s very possible this could be that vehicle. A second vehicle for the Germany facility is also under consideration.

VOLKSWAGEN TEASES NEW AMAROK
Speaking of the VW-Ford tie up, here’s a design sketch for the new Amarok pickup, which is said to be based on the next-gen Ford Ranger. As you can see, VW is going for a rugged look with big, blocky fenders and a bold grille. It seems like development still has a long way to go before the truck comes out, but we’ll have those details when it does. 

VW LOOKING INTO FULL-SIZE ELECTRIC PICKUP
But that Amarok will never come to the U.S. market. Here’s why. On Autoline After Hours yesterday, Hein Schafer, the senior vice president for marketing and strategy at Volkswagen of America, strongly hinted that they’re looking at a full size electric pickup. Take a look.

“A new battery electric platform does open doors for us. And does maybe kind of level the playing field to a certain degree. And it gives us the opportunity to either bring in a small, mid-size pickup or maybe even something a little bit larger. I think we’re very aware that the U.S. market is very big on mid-size SUVs too. You know we’ve entered with Atlas and Cross Sport. So it wouldn’t be much for us to potentially think about something larger on a BEV platform too. And if we do a large SUV on a BEV platform maybe a large pickup would make sense too.“

That show with Hein has a lot of great insight into VW’s thinking. And you heard it here first. VW is looking at making a full-size electric pickup.

Autoline supports the automotive industry….because it touches all aspects of transportation. Whether its trucks, trains, ships or planes, the auto industry keeps them on the road, on the rails, in the air or on the seven seas. It’s the economic engine of the economic engine. And that’s why we’re proud to say that Autoline is an advocate for the automotive industry.

GM ADDS TWO NEW BOARD MEMBERS
General Motors is adding two new board members. And they’re interesting additions. In fact, you may have even heard of them before. Meg Whitman was the former head of Hewlett-Packard Enterprise. And Mark Tatum is the COO of the National Basketball Association. That gives GM 13 board members, 7 of whom are women, which is far and away the highest percentage of women in the global automotive industry.

AUTO STOCKS UP ON THURSDAY
The Autoline Stock index closed at 4,880, up 93 points yesterday, which is a 2% increase. Automotive retailers led the gain, dragged down slightly by EV battery suppliers. A number of you have wondered which stocks are part of our index. There are over 80 of them and we have the complete list in today’s transcript.

.tg {border-collapse:collapse;border-spacing:0;} .tg td{border-color:black;border-style:solid;border-width:1px;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:14px; overflow:hidden;padding:10px 5px;word-break:normal;} .tg th{border-color:black;border-style:solid;border-width:1px;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:14px; font-weight:normal;overflow:hidden;padding:10px 5px;word-break:normal;} .tg .tg-ps66{font-size:11px;text-align:left;vertical-align:top}

Traditional Automakers	EV Automakers	Traditional Suppliers	EV Suppliers	Retailers/Wholesalers	AV Suppliers
BAIC	BYD	Adient	Blink Charging	AC Auctions	Aeva
BMW	Canoo	Allison Transmission	CATL	America’s Car Mart	Luminar
Changan	Fisker	American Axle	ChargePoint	Asbery Auto Group	Velodyne
Daimler	Hyliion	Aptiv	Romeo Power	Autonation
Dongfeng	Kandi	Autoliv	QuantumScape	Car Gurus
FAW	Li Auto	BorgWarner	TE Connectivity	Carmax
Ford	Lordstown	Cooper Standard		Cars.com
Geely	Lucid	Continental		Carvana
General Motors	Nikola	Dana		Copart
Great Wall	NIO	Faurecia		Group 1
Guangzhou	Tesla	Gentex		Lazy Day Holdings
Honda	Workhorse	Gentherm		Lithia
Mazda	XPeng	Goodyear		Penske Automotive
Mitsubishi		Lear		Rush Enterprises
Nissan		Linamar		Sonic
Renault		Lydol
Stellantis		Magna
Subaru		Martinrea
Suzuki		Schaeffler
Toyota		Tenneco
Volkswagen		Visteon
		Thyssen Krupp
		Valeo

MARCH SALES IN U.S. GOING TO Look SPECTACULAR
Automakers in the U.S. market will post their sales for March a week from today. And the numbers are going to look spectacular. Wards Intelligence predicts sales will hit nearly 1.5 million vehicles, up 43% from a year ago. Of course, you have to remember that a year ago large parts of the country were going into lockdown and sales took a nosedive. Even so, Wards says the SAAR will come in at 16.5 million, which is a decent number.

WRONG-WAY CRASHES ON THE RISE
Fatal crashes involving wrong-way drivers are on the rise in the U.S. According to AAA, there were more than 2,000 deaths from wrong-way crashes on divided highways between 2015 and 2018, an average of 500 per year. That’s up a third from the 375 deaths annually between 2010 and 2014. The main factors involving wrong-way accidents are drunk driving, older age and driving without a passenger. To help prevent these crashes, AAA recommends that alcohol ignition interlocks be installed in cars, more sobriety checkpoints, driver refresher courses for older adults and more warning signs and signals. Another solution could be supplier ZF’s “Wrong-way Inhibit System” we reported on a few years ago. It warns the driver with audio signals, seat vibrations and visual warnings on the dashboard if you’re going the wrong way. If that fails, it will bring the car to a stop on the side of the road, turning on high beams and hazard lights to warn other drivers.

SCHAEFFLER HELPS COMMERCIAL VEHICLES GO ELECTRIC
Traditional automotive supplier Schaeffler is making the transition to electrification and is now helping commercial operators meet future emission standards. It just won two major contracts. The first will see it supply an unnamed company with its electric motor in 2023. The 800-volt unit is meant to be used in pairs and generates output of 180-kW and 950-Nm of torque. The other contract is for a hybrid unit that goes between the engine and transmission that recovers braking energy, which is used to power on-board systems, like the one that controls the exhaust gas aftertreatment. Production of that kicks off in 2024.

EDMUNDS PERFORMS NEW TESLA RANGE TEST
According to a real-world driving test, Edmunds says some Tesla’s fail to hit their EPA range estimates. That includes a 2020 Model 3 Standard Range Plus, 2020 Model Y Performance and 2018 Model 3 Performance. Edmunds originally said all five Teslas it tested failed to hit their estimated range, but concluded a 2021 Tesla Model 3 Long Range and 2020 Tesla Model S Performance will match or exceed range, after Tesla engineers argued Edmunds stopped their test when the gauge read zero miles, not until the vehicle completely ran out of juice, which is how the EPA does it. Like any gas or diesel powered vehicle, EVs have a safety buffer that allows them to be driven even if there’s zero miles of indicated range. It seems like Tesla has a larger buffer than other automakers. To us this just proves automakers and consumers need to provide and seek out more EV education. I would be a little bummed to know my Tesla couldn’t hit its estimated range, but wouldn’t really care all that much either. EV owners quickly learn it’s best to keep the battery between roughly 20% and 80% of charge to prolong its life, so that buffer almost never comes into play. And Teslas are some of the most efficient EVs out there, meaning you get more distance from the electricity you use. As we said, more education is needed.

But that wraps up this week. Thanks for watching and we’ll be right back here again on Monday.