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Runtime: 9:51
0:08 U.S. Car Sales Down Sharply in November
0:35 Top Gainers & Biggest Losers Last Month
1:01 EV Sales Soar in November
1:20 GM Boosts Profit Forecast
2:09 Nissan Helping Japan Develop Lunar Rover
2:52 Nissan Unveils Ariya Single Seater Concept
3:30 Maybach Reveals Retro Inspired Concept
5:32 Toyota & May Mobility Offering Self-Driving Rides in Indiana
6:07 Nuro & 7-Eleven Team Up for Autonomous Deliveries
6:28 Ford Conducts AV Research at London Port
7:02 Cruise Runs into Permit Problems In San Francisco
7:40 Jeep Grand Wagoneer Impressions
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This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry.
U.S. CAR SALES DOWN SHARPLY IN NOVEMBER
New car sales in the U.S. market in November were down sharply from a year ago, and even down from the month before. Wards Intelligence reports the SAAR, or annualized rate of sales, came in at only 12.8 million vehicles. A year ago, it was 15.9 million and in October it was 12.9. Automakers still managed to sell over a million new vehicles last month.
| U.S. NEW VEHICLE SALES NOVEMBER 2021 | |
|---|---|
| SAAR | 12.8 million |
| Total Sales: | 1.0 million |
| Source: Wards Intelligence | |
TOP GAINERS & BIGGEST LOSERS IN NOVEMBER
But only three automakers were able to increase sales: Tesla, Mitsubishi and Ford. Everyone else was down and in some cases, it was a bloodbath. Audi, Subaru, Jaguar Land Rover, Toyota and Mercedes all had a miserable month. While GM does not give out monthly sales, reports from the field say it also had a terrible month.
| U.S. NEW VEHICLE SALES NOVEMBER 2021 | ||
|---|---|---|
| TOP GAINERS | ||
| Tesla | 23,000 | +31.5% |
| Mitsubishi | 8,000 | +85.6% |
| Ford | 151,600 | +1.8% |
| BIGGEST LOSERS | ||
| Audi | 10,500 | -40.1% |
| Subaru | 33,000 | -37.2% |
| JLR | 6,300 | -31.5% |
| Toyota | 153,600 | -28.5% |
| Mercedes | 21,800 | -27.7% |
| Source: Wards Intelligence | ||
EV SALES SOAR IN NOVEMBER
The one bright spot was with electric cars, which were up more than 50% from a year ago, and now have 3.3% market share. Tesla’s Model Y and 3 led the way. Followed by the Ford Mach-E, the Nissan Leaf, Hyundai Kona and Volkswagen ID.4.
| U.S. EV SALES NOVEMBER 2021 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Tesla Model Y | 12,289 | +18.1% |
| Tesla Model 3 | 8,046 | +111.0% |
| Ford Mach-E | 3,088 | — |
| Nissan Leaf | 1,274 | -10.6% |
| Hyundai Kona | 1,080 | +237.0% |
| VW ID.4 | 1,024 | — |
| Source: Wards Intelligence | ||
GM BOOSTS PROFIT FORECAST
If automakers can get over this chip shortage sales will probably explode. And we may be seeing some light at the end of the tunnel. GM boosted its profit outlook thanks to a chip shortage that is starting to ease, but only by a little bit. It says it will make $14 billion on pre-tax profits next year. That’s better than before. Originally, GM thought it would make somewhere between $11.5 and $13.5 billion.
NISSAN HELPING JAPAN DEVELOP LUNAR ROVER
Hey, what is it with all these car companies and lunar rovers? Hyundai, GM, Toyota have announced plans to help develop one and now we can add Nissan to the list. It’s working with Japan’s aerospace agency, or JAXA for short, to help improve the off-road capability of a rover that they’re developing. Nissan is leveraging its e-4ORCE all-wheel drive technology, which can control all four wheels independently. It plans to use the knowledge gained from the project to improve the performance of its system in sandy conditions. So, there could be some real-world benefits. But it sure is weird to see so many car companies working on lunar rovers.
NISSAN UNVEILS ARIYA SINGLE SEATER CONCEPT
Speaking of Nissan, if you gave its design team the all-electric powertrain from the Ariya and said they could build whatever they wanted around it, this is what they would come up with. It’s a single seat race car that sits on a bespoke chassis. Nissan says it took design inspiration from the Ariya. But we think it looks more like they tossed one of the original RoboRace cars, a DeltaWing Indy car and Nissan’s new Formula E car into a blender. Beyond being a fun project, Nissan’s designers said it helped them explore styling for future electric performance cars.
MAYBACH REVEALS RETRO INSPIRED CONCEPT
Maybach is all about elegant styling, exquisite materials… and off-road driving!? That was the vision for two designers when coming up with the Project MAYBACH concept. Unfortunately, one of those designers, Virgil Abloh, recently passed away from cancer. But what he helped create is a really cool 2-door car that we think took inspiration from cars from the 1920’s, like the tall and upright body, long hood and low-slung roof. But with a sense of adventure on their minds as well, they added big off-road tires, rock rails and even a cargo carrier with lights. And while a vehicle like this totally bucks the normal trend of what a Maybach is, we bet its customers would snatch up every one it built, if it ever did make it.
Should car dealers be able to add thousands of dollars to the price of a new car just because inventory is tight? And with online buying becoming so popular, will we even need dealers in the future? That’s one of the topics for Autoline After Hours this afternoon: Are car dealers doomed? We’ll have Jennifer Newman, the editor in chief of cars.com and Pulitzer Prize winning car critic Dan Neil from the Wall Street Journal on the show. So join John and Gary as they try to figure out where in the world this auto industry is going.
TOYOTA & MAY MOBILITY OFFERING SELF-DRIVING RIDES IN INDIANA
When it comes to autonomous cars, it’s kind of two steps forward, one step back. First the steps forward. Toyota is partnering with autonomous shuttle company May Mobility to offer free, autonomous rides in Indiana. The service starts on December 20th in the city of Fishers, which is just outside of Indianapolis. It runs Monday through Friday and will operate on a 3-mile loop. The fleet will consist of five self-driving Lexus RX 450h vehicles, and they will arrive at one of the nine designated stops every 10 to 15 minutes.
NURO & 7-ELEVEN TEAM UP FOR AUTONOMOUS DELIVERIES
Next up is Nuro, which is partnering with 7-Eleven to offer autonomous delivery to customers. The service will operate in Mountain View, California and will initially use self-driving Prius’s, or is it Prii? Eventually Nuro will add its small autonomous R2 pods to the fleet.
FORD CONDUCTS AV RESEARCH AT LONDON PART
And over in the UK, Ford partnered with DP World London Gateway, which is a port in London, to test autonomous vehicles at large worksites. They conducted the tests over the summer but didn’t actually use self-driving vehicles. Instead, they simulated the process using Transit vans made to look like a self-driving vehicle that had a concealed driver behind the wheel. The researchers then monitored how workers loaded and accessed the cargo without help from the driver. They found that employees quickly became comfortable with the vans.
CRUISE RUNS INTO PERMIT PROBLEMS IN SAN FRANCISCO
OK, here’s the step back. San Francisco’s public transit operator does not want to give Cruise LLC the last permit it needs to charge for rides in autonomous vehicles. Transit officials say they have safety concerns. That’s because promotional videos that Cruise used show riders getting in and out of vehicles in the street instead of at the curb. That’s not legal. It also criticized Cruise for not accommodating people in wheelchairs or offering rides in low-income neighborhoods. Cruise said it will respond to the agency’s complaints next week.
JEEP GRAND WAGONEER IMPRESSIONS
We just had a Jeep Grand Wagoneer roll through the Autoline Garage. And if you haven’t seen one up close, take our word for it. This SUV is a beast. It’s over 18 feet long and has a gross vehicle weight of 7,700 pounds. You definitely feel like you’re in a big old prairie wagon while behind the wheel. With that much weight to lug around, fuel economy is not great. Only 15 miles to the gallon from its 6.4L V8 and 8-speed automatic. But it’s responsive, quiet and drives beautifully. It also snowed during our time with it and it’s so nice to have a 4×4 SUV that handles sloppy roads with no problem.
Jeep has been trying to push itself more upscale and the interior is definitely a reflection of that. The leather seats feature prominent stitching, they’re heated in the first two rows and the front seats also have a massage function. But we do have a few complaints. The dash is pretty cluttered with two touchscreens and all their buttons and the capacitive controls for the heated seats and steering wheel weren’t as responsive as we’d like. But the Grand Wagoneer definitely brings Jeep into a space where it’s never operated before. The model we drove has a price tag just over $109,000. That puts it right smack in the middle of other luxury brands, like Mercedes, Cadillac and Land Rover. So, what do you think? Is the Jeep brand capable of selling vehicles that cost over $100-grand? Or is that a bridge too far?
But with that we wrap up today’s show, thanks for tuning in.
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Seamus and Sean McElroy cover the latest news in the automotive industry for Autoline Daily.
