AD #3883 – Walter P.’s Grandson Wants To Buy Chrysler; Lexus Design Goes Radical; Like To Swim? Why Not Tow Your Pool?

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

GM PUTS BRIGHTDROP INSIDE CHEVROLET
General Motors threw in the towel trying to operate Brightdrop as a stand-alone electric van company. It’s being integrated into Chevrolet. The vans are based on the GM Ultium platform and have a 272-mile range. The smaller 400 version costs $62,725 while the 600 costs $64,425 including cash discounts. For comparison purposes, a Ford e-Transit, which has 159 miles of range, costs $51,000. Last year GM put Brightdrop under its commercial fleet business called Envolve, but it must have decided that allowing any Chevrolet dealership to get certified to sell the vans could help attract a lot more customers. On its website, Envolve lists 7 dealerships across the U.S. that are certified to sell the vans. Through the first half of the year, they sold 746 examples. But the CAMI plant in Ontario, Canada which makes them has the capacity to build 50,000 a year.   

CHINESE NEVS RATED BETTER THAN FOREIGN ONES
J.D. Power came out with a survey in China that rates automakers who make New Energy Vehicles based on who does the best job of selling and servicing them. It’s called the China New Energy Vehicle Customer Experience Value Index. But the customers in the survey rated NIO the best of all, closely followed by Li Auto. Rounding out the top 5 are XPeng, Zeekr and GAC Aion. J.D. Power rated NEV foreign brands separately and the top 5 on that list are Mercedes, followed closely by Tesla, then FAW VW, Audi and smart. It’s interesting to note that overall Nio and Li Auto did better than Mercedes and Tesla. 

China New Energy Vehicle Customer Experience Value Index
China Brands
NIO	798
Li Auto	791
XPeng	788
Zeekr	779
GAC Aion	777
Foreign Brands
Mercedes-Benz	789
Tesla	787
FAW VW	773
Audi	769
smart	767
Source: J.D. Power

GM FACES CLASS ACTION OVER FAULTY TRANSMISSIONS
General Motors must face a class action lawsuit that claims it violated laws in 26 states by knowingly selling vehicles with faulty transmissions. Owners say the vehicles shudder and shake at high speeds and lurch in lower gears, even after repairs. And they claim that GM told dealers to tell customers that the shifts were “normal.” The suit covers 800,000 Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC vehicles equipped with 8-speed automatic transmissions from model years 2015-2019. GM argued that many of the claims should be resolved in arbitration and not under a class action suit because many owners didn’t experience the issue and that there are too many differences to justify a group lawsuit. But an appeals court rejected the automaker’s argument and says it must face the suit.

BYD HIRES FORMER FCA EXEC
To help with its expansion in Europe, BYD hired Fiat Chrysler’s former head of Europe, Alfredo Altavilla, as a special advisor. BYD has more models coming to the market and is planning to open plants in Hungary and Turkey. The company’s sales in Europe are up 331% so far this year to more than 21,000 vehicles. And BYD says it’s aiming to get 5% market share before its plant in Hungary opens, which translates to about 70,000 sales. The automaker’s vice president says Altavilla will play a big role in helping that growth when he starts next week. Altavilla began his career at Fiat and he also worked at Iveco. In 2012, he became COO of Europe, Africa and the Middle East at Fiat Chrysler. But he left the group in 2018 after former CEO Sergio Marchionne’s death.

AUDI HIRES NEW HEAD OF SALES FROM PORSCHE
And speaking of new hires, Audi’s head of sales is leaving the company and will be replaced by Marco Schubert, who is currently Porsche’s head of European sales. Previously, he was head of sales for Audi in China, while he started his career at Mercedes. Schubert will be tasked with helping to turn around Audi’s sales. It sold about 833,000 cars globally in the first half of the year, which is down 8% from a year ago.

GM ADDS ANOTHER APPLE EXEC TO SOFTWARE UNIT
And General Motors also bolstered its management ranks. It hired another former Apple executive, Tim Twerdahl, to its software division. He’ll come in as vice president of product management. While at Apple Twerdahl worked on its AirPod and Apple TV products. But most recently he was the chief product officer of Juno, a sustainable design company. Twerdahl will report to Baris Cetinok, who is another former Apple exec that GM hired. The head of engineering at GM’s software unit, David Richardson, is also a former Apple executive.

LEXUS DESIGN GOES RADICAL
Lexus says the design of its next-generation vehicles is so different, it will be as dramatic as when it introduced the spindle grille in 2011. Automotive News reports the styling will be inspired by the LF-ZC and LF-ZL concepts, which should show up in production models around 2026. The brand’s head of global design and chief branding officer says it’s ok to ask if it goes too far and added “the whole point of the Lexus brand from the very beginning has always been to challenge what was considered the de facto standard of the time.” These vehicles will also take advantage of Lexus’ goal to increase body rigidity, which we talked about on Wednesday’s show. One way it’ll do that is with gigacastings. Parent company Toyota previously revealed it would start using large rear castings, which also combine many body panels into one and clear up additional space. 

BYD JUMPS INTO MINIVAN SEGMENT
BYD has passed up Honda and Nissan in sales this year and now it’s expanding into another vehicle segment, minivans. The automaker revealed the Xia, which is expected to hit the market later this year. It will come with a plug-in hybrid powertrain, BYD’s intelligent suspension system, advanced driver assistance features and a smart cockpit. Pricing should start around $42,000. And by getting into a new segment, BYD should grow its sales even more.

LIKE TO SWIM? WHY NOT TOW YOUR POOL?
Have you ever heard of someone lining their truck bed with plastic and filling it up with water as a make-shift pool? Well a bunch of apprentices from Daimler Truck and YouTuber group “The Real Life Guys” put that idea on steroids. They took three weeks converting a semi-truck tipper into a giant bathtub that can seat up to 20 people and is still mobile. It’s also tricked out with a huge shower head and wood-burning stove.

WALTER P.’S GRANDSON WANTS TO BUY CHRYSLER
Carlos Tavares, the CEO of Stellantis, says he’ll get rid of any brand that doesn’t make money. So the great grandson of Walter P. Chrysler says he’ll take the Chrysler brand, thank you very much.

“My vision is to save Chrysler, the brand that my great grandfather founded in 1925. It’s very important. This is American history right here and we cannot let it go away.”

Frank Rhodes is that great grandson and he doesn’t just want the rights to Chrysler brand, he also wants Dodge, Plymouth and Mopar, too. In fact, he wants the factories and employees that go along with them. He says he’ll put together an investment group along with suppliers, dealers and the UAW to make it happen. So will Tavares sell, or can Frank Rhodes really pull this off? We think this is probably going to go nowhere. But what do you think?

And that brings us to the end of today’s show. Thanks for making Autoline a part of your day and due to the Labor Day holiday here in the U.S. there won’t be a show on Monday.