AD #3237 – GM Launching Used Vehicle Platform; China Sees 1st Sale Increase Since 2017; NACTOY Winners Revealed

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

ATP CONTINUES TO CLIMB
Car prices continue to soar in the U.S. Kelley Blue Book reports that the average transaction price for a new vehicle in December hit a record high of just over $47,000, that’s up 14% compared to a year ago. That price includes luxury vehicles, but if you take those out, the average price for a new non-luxury car is still over $43,000. Inventories are low because of the chip shortage and with high consumer demand, prices continue to climb.

GM LAUNCHING USED VEHICLE SHOPPING PLATFORM
That’s why so many people started turning to used vehicles. Although their prices are rising too. But customers will have a new platform to turn to, to buy used vehicles. GM is launching CarBravo where customers will be able to look at used vehicles from dealer inventory as well as vehicles coming off-lease, former company-owned cars and ones from rental companies. Non-GM vehicles will be included too. It will also provide pricing, history reports and pictures of the vehicles. Every vehicle is inspected and will be repaired to a standard set by GM if needed. Customers can also get guaranteed online offers to buy their vehicle even if they’re not purchasing a vehicle through CarBravo. Look for the platform to be up and running this spring.

1ST SALES INCREASE IN CHINA SINCE 2017
Car sales in China increased for the first time since 2017. According to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers or CAAM for short, carmakers sold more than 26 million vehicles in 2021, up nearly 4% compared to a year ago. Sales of new energy vehicles, which includes BEVs, plug-in hybrids and fuel cell vehicles, hit 3.5 million last year, which is up 157%. And that momentum is expected to carry into this year. CAAM estimates that sales will hit 27.5 million in 2022 and that new energy vehicle sales will jump 50% to five million.

VW EV SALES UP
And speaking of electric vehicle sales, Volkswagen revealed its BEV sales increased 96% in 2021, just shy of 453,000 units globally. BEVs now account for 5% of VW’s total sales. The automaker also revealed it sold nearly 310,000 plug-in hybrids worldwide last year, up 61%. But while its electrified vehicle sales were up big, sales of conventionally powered vehicles stumbled. In total, the VW Group sold 8.9 million vehicles last year, down 4.5%.

NACTOY WINNERS ANNOUNCED
Ford walked away with two of the three NACTOY awards yesterday. It won Truck of the Year with the Maverick pickup truck and Utility of the Year with the Bronco. Honda won the Car of the Year with the new Civic. The NACTOY jury is made up of 50 automotive journalists, men and women, from the US and Canada. They represent all kinds of media outlets, including enthusiast, consumer, trade and business. Our own John and Gary are jurors and no doubt they’ll be talking about who won and why on Autoline After Hours tomorrow.

Speaking of which, we’ll have Tim Jackson from the Colorado Car Dealers Association on the show. As you know, some car dealers are being heavily criticized for adding thousands of dollars to the prices of new cars. They’re taking advantage of tight inventory to charge a lot more and that’s going to be Topic #1 on the show, so be sure to tune in Thursday afternoon at 3 pm eastern time.

LEXUS REVEALS OFF-ROAD TUNED LX
True auto show aficionados want to see concepts on display stands, but we’ve been told that a decked-out truck or performance car is enough to get the general public excited. Lexus is taking the latter approach with a custom tuned LX Offroad model that it’s showing off in Tokyo. And it’s got the right look with blacked-out accents, skid plates, custom wheels with aggressive tires and a set of mud flaps for good measure. Lexus isn’t your typical off-road brand, but the LX shares a platform with Toyota’s iconic off-roader, the Land Cruiser.

CITROEN UPDATES THE C5 AIRCROSS
Citroen is giving the C5 Aircross a pretty standard refresh. The big change is the front fascia. Citroen said it dropped the curves of the previous model in favor of a more structured look. At the rear it was given a new LED lighting signature, which is supposed to provide a 3D effect. A new set of 18-inch wheels and floating 10-inch display screen round out the list of improvements.

ZF TO SUPPLY VINFAST WITH ADAS TECH.
At CES last week in Las Vegas, ZF announced it will be supplying Vinfast, the Vietnamese startup, with Level 2, L3 and L4 technology. Vinfast launches this year with a L2 ADAS, then next year it will add Level 3 technology for a traffic jam assist application. That’s where drivers can operate hands-free and foot-free and don’t even have to pay attention to what’s going on around them at speeds up to 40 miles an hour or 63 kilometers an hour. In 2024 Vinfast will launch a Level 4 system from ZF for automated valet parking. Vinfast is moving fast by partnering with companies like ZF. And it turned to Pininfarina to design its vehicles. While it sells vehicles with internal combustion engines, it wants to be fully electric by the end of the year.

BOSCH ADDING CONNECTIVITY TO E-BIKES
Bosch used CES to highlight how it’s taking e-bikes to the next level. Bosch is a pioneer in this segment. It launched its e-bike business in 2010 and has been riding a wave that continues to grow. Now it’s providing connectivity for e-bikes, where riders can connect their bike to their smartphone via an app. They can access info such as the battery state of charge, how much distance they’ve travelled and they can upload data to a fitness app. Bosch will offer over the air updates to the system and will provide cloud services to e-bike manufacturers as it fully expects e-bikes to soar in popularity.

And that wraps up today’s show, thank you for watching.