AD #3334 – Silverado Passes F-150 As Most Shopped Truck; How Lucid Maximized the Air’s Interior Space; Toyota Cuts Production

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

TESLA OWNERS LESS LIKELY TO CRASH THAN IN THEIR OTHER CARS
You hear a lot about the accidents that Teslas do get in, but less about the ones they don’t get in. And according to a study done by Cambridge Mobile Telematics that looked at drivers who own both an electric and ICE vehicle, Tesla owners are much less likely to get in an accident while driving their Tesla compared to any of the other vehicles that they own. In fact, they’re 50% less likely to get in a crash, according to telematics data from millions of vehicles. But it’s not the same story for all brands. Porsche EV owners are 55% more likely to get in an accident in their Porsche compared to their other car or cars. 

TOYOTA SLASHES PRODUCTION FORECAST AGAIN
Parts shortages caused by COVID lockdowns in Shanghai are absolutely hammering Toyota. On Tuesday, we reported that it’s being forced to slash production by another 100,000 units in June. Well, now you can make that 150,000 vehicles. It made the adjustment after a closer look at its operations and expects to make roughly 800,000 vehicles next month. Toyota is still keeping future production targets at 850,000 units per month, but those plans could just as easily be blown to pieces.

CAR RENTAL PRICES LIKELY TO SOAR THIS SUMMER
It’s going to be more expensive to rent a car this summer. Profits for rental companies like Hertz and Avis are soaring, and while that’s good for the companies, it’s not for the customers renting their vehicles. Bloomberg reports that Hertz and Avis charged 25% more on rentals in the first quarter compared to a year ago. That’s because they’re not able to get enough cars to stock their fleets due to parts shortages that forced automakers to cut production. During the first quarter, Hertz charged $59 a day on average for rentals and Avis averaged $54 a day. But that doesn’t include travel taxes, which pushes the actual cost to about $90 a day. And it’s likely to get worse this summer, with more travelers renting cars. One analyst says the average rental cost is likely to increase by another $4 or $5 a day on average. And with companies making more money on rentals, prices aren’t likely to go back to where they previously were.

NIO RECRUITING MANUFACTURING SPECIALISTS FOR U.S. PLANT
It looks like Chinese EV maker NIO wants to jump into the American market and is also planning to build vehicles in the U.S. Gasgoo reports that the company is recruiting manufacturing specialists for a number of different positions in the U.S., including those who already have experience in the country. NIO declined to comment on the report but the company already has a presence in the U.S. Its North American headquarters and autonomous driving R&D center are both located in San Jose, California.

VW LOOKING FOR U.S. LOCATION TO BUILD SCOUT EV PLANT
And speaking of foreign automakers building new EV plants in the U.S., Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess revealed the company is already looking at locations to open a plant that will build electric pickups and SUVs for the Scout brand. Scout was a Jeep-like vehicle built from 1961 to 1980 by International Harvester. Navistar, which was formed after International Harvester went out of business, owned the rights to the Scout name but VW acquired the name when it bought Navistar. Earlier this month, VW announced it will revive Scout, not just as a vehicle, but as a new EV brand. And if you want more insight into VW’s revival of Scout, check out this video John did and why he thinks Scout could become the equivalent of the Jeep brand for Volkswagen. Look for the link in the description box or in today’s transcript on our website.

CHEVY SILVERADO PASSES F-150 AS MOST SHOPPED PICKUP IN Q1
The Ford F-Series has been the best-selling vehicle in the U.S. for decades. But for the first time, the Chevy Silverado passed the F-150 as the most shopped pickup according to Kelley Blue Book’s Brand Watch study. GM’s announcement in January that it’s coming out with an electric version of the Silverado helped generate shopping interest in the truck. The KBB study is a quarterly consumer perception report that incorporates shopping behavior data. On the luxury side, BMW is once again number one as the most shopped luxury brand. Lexus passed it last quarter but fell to number three in the new study. Cadillac made the biggest jump of all luxury brands to the number two spot, thanks to the Escalade, which was the most shopped luxury vehicle for the first time. Tesla fell to fifth from number three in the previous report, but even still, it set a sales record in the first quarter in the U.S. and it gained market share.

HOW LUCID MAXIMIZED THE AIR SEDAN’S INTERIOR SPACE
Lucid’s CEO, Peter Rawlinson, hosted another interesting video on YouTube going into detail about the Air sedan. The first was all about the battery pack. This new one is all about the space concept, or how it was able to maximize interior space. While you have to really consider the entire vehicle, there’s two particular points Rawlinson makes I’d like to highlight. He talks about minimizing the distance between the H-point or hip-point of the rear passenger and the centerline of the rear axle. The shorter the distance the more room for rear seat passengers. But their positioning is also critical for safety, NVH or noise, vibration, harshness and the body packaging with the rear suspension. So, it’s a bit of a dance to make it all work. The other important metric is the distance between the front occupant foot and the front wheel. The further you can push the front seat passengers up the more space for the rear. But again safety is a key. Rawlinson says this distance is not typically a factor with ICE vehicles because you have the engine and transmission in front to help with impact. No so with an EV. Lucid ended up developing a triangulated structure with large castings on either side to help distribute all the forces in the event of an accident. What you end up with is a rather large interior with a smaller exterior footprint. Lucid highlights this by getting its two tallest employees, one 6’7”, the other 6’6”, to sit in the car, one behind the other, to show that it can fit large individuals. We’ll provide a link if you’d like to check the whole thing out.

BENTLEY CONTINENTAL CELEBRATES 70TH BIRTHDAY
Happy 70th Birthday to the Bentley Continental. Production of the R-Type Continental, the first Bentley to wear the Continental name, kicked off in May of 1952. Only 208 examples of this car were ever built and it’s one of the most celebrated in the company’s history.

And a reminder before I sign off. There will not be a new Autoline Daily on Monday as we all celebrate Memorial Day.

But that wraps up today’s show, thanks for watching and have a great weekend.