AD #3904 – Crucial Jeep Redesigns Still Years Away; U.S. Dock Workers Go On Strike; Fiat Extends 500e Production Stoppage

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

U.S. DOCK WORKERS GO ON STRIKE
Well, it’s official. Thousands of port workers are now on strike in the U.S., which has the potential to have a big disruption on automotive imports, especially for European automakers. The union and port operators weren’t able to come to an agreement before their contract expired late last night. The union is seeking higher wages and wants less automation that it sees as a threat to jobs. The strike affects ports along the East and Gulf Coast in the U.S. and involves 45,000 workers. JP Morgan estimates that it will cost the U.S. economy about $5 billion a day, while Oxford Economics estimates the strike will cost $4.5-$7.5 billion a week. So, the longer it goes on, the bigger the impact.

Q3 U.S. SALES FORECAST TO FALL
2024 was supposed to be the year that the U.S. new car market finally started getting back to pre-Covid levels. But that’s not happening. Edmunds is forecasting that automakers sold 3.9 million vehicles in the third quarter, down 2.3% from last year, and down 4.7% from the second quarter of this year. Amongst the full-line manufacturers, Edmunds says only Honda and Ford increased sales. And stunningly, it reports that Stellantis, which saw the biggest drop-off in sales, now trails behind GM, Toyota, Ford, Hyundai-Kia, and Honda. The only good news looking ahead is that Edmunds says the rate cuts by the Federal Reserve will help boost sales. It also expects more buyers to get back into the market once the Presidential election is over, which will eliminate a degree of uncertainty. And we’ll add one more item to the list. Hurricane Helene which battered Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas, wrecked tens of thousands of cars in its path and those will all have to be replaced. And since insurance will pick up the bill, we’re going to see a surge in new car demand over the next couple of months.

CRUCIAL JEEP REDESIGNS YEARS AWAY
Let’s go back to Stellantis for a moment. Its Jeep brand is sliding downward, and yet two of its best selling vehicles, the Wrangler and Grand Cherokee will not get redesigned until the end of the decade. Autoforecast Solutions reports that the next-Gen Grand Cherokee will first go into production in India, Egypt and Thailand in late 2028. The next-gen versions of the Jeep Wrangler and Gladiator will not go into production in the U.S. until 2031. And that’s an awfully long time for one of Stellantis’ most profitable brands to get new versions of vehicles in its showrooms.

FORD OFFERING FREE HOME CHARGER & INSTALLATION
To help make owning an EV more attractive, Ford is now offering a free home charger when you buy or lease one of its EVs and it will have it installed for free. It’s a pretty nice offer and is on top of money already available to consumers for EV chargers. The Inflation Reduction Act covers 30% of the cost of the charger, parts and components and installation up to $1,000. And some states also offer incentives for EV chargers. In Michigan for example, DTE offers a $500 rebate for installing a Level 2 charger.

RENAULT TEASES ALL-NEW RENAULT 4
Renault will reveal the all-new Renault 4 in about 2 weeks at the Paris auto show. The original model debuted in 1961 as a small entry-level family car that still offered decent interior space and the company is trying to replicate that with the new Renault 4 E-Tech. You’ll even notice some design nods to the original as well. But it’s now an all-electric electric model and shares its platform, called AmpR Small, with the Renault 5. Like the 5, the 4 is a 4 door model, but it’s also a little longer and looks like it has a higher ride height. Renault is only showing off these teaser shots right now that show things like a retractable fabric roof, but since it’s based on the same platform as the 5, the 4 should have a similar setup. And the Renault 5 offers three motor outputs of 70, 90 and 110 kW, up to a 52 kWh battery pack that provides 400 kilometers or nearly 250 miles of range and bidirectional charging capabilities. We would also expect pricing for the 4 to be similar as the 5, which is supposed to start under 25,000 euros.

FIAT EXTENDS 500e PRODUCTION STOPPAGE
And Renault is hoping for much better sales with its affordable electric car than Stellantis is experiencing with the Fiat 500e. Due to weak orders, the company is extending a production stoppage of the model where it’s made in Italy. It previously said Fiat wouldn’t resume production of 500e until October 11th, but now it’s pushing the shutdown into November. This and other production cuts in the region has already created tension with the Italian government, which wants the automaker to increase its Italian output to a million units, up from 750,000 last year. So, no doubt they’re not happy about this extended stoppage. But Stellantis says CEO Carlos Tavares is going to address a committee next week about its production plans for Italy. He will likely reiterate the company’s intent to invest 100 million euros into the plant that makes the 500, which includes upgrades for a new high-performance battery and getting ready for the hybrid version of the 500 in 2026.

 

POLICE USING TESLA CAMERAS TO CATCH CRIMINALS
Teslas are now being used to help solve crimes. As you probably know, all Teslas are installed with cameras for Autopilot and FSD. But they’re also used for its Sentry Mode, which is triggered by movement and can record almost anything around the car. So, now police departments are increasingly using footage from Tesla’s parked near a crime scene to help solve investigations. Currently, Rivian is the only other automaker that offers a feature like Sentry Mode. But Mercedes, BMW, Mini, Toyota and Lexus do offer limited security features with exterior cameras.

TESLA STRIKE IN SWEDEN GROWING
And in other Tesla news, it’s facing a growing strike in Sweden. Last year, the technicians’ part of the IF Metall union went on strike after Tesla refused to sign a collective bargaining agreement. And now a union that maintains its Supercharger network is supporting the strike and says it will no longer repair, service or maintain Tesla’s EV chargers in Sweden. Tesla’s shipments to Sweden have also been disrupted because dockworkers in Denmark, Norway and Finland have joined the strike in solidarity with the repair workers.

OEM-BACKED SOFTWARE MARKETPLACE LAUNCHING
Automakers are scrambling to redesign their cars as software defined vehicles, where almost every function and operation is controlled by software. But how do century-old legacy automakers, whose expertise is in the mechanical world, find the software they need and do it quickly? Well, there’s a new marketplace for automotive software called SDVerse, where software companies can sell their software, and automotive companies and suppliers can buy it. So far General Motors, Renault, Magna, Forvia, Bosch, Cummins, NXP and Wipro have joined. SDVerse says its marketplace can slash the time from discovering a new software product or getting a request for a quote by 80%. Automakers are reportedly spending as much as 30% of their R&D budget on software, and this marketplace can help them find what they need so they don’t have to do it themselves.

BRUNO SACCO, ICONIC MERCEDES DESIGNER PASSED AWAY
Unfortunately, the design community recently lost one of its icons. Bruno Sacco has passed away at the age of 90. He was Chief Designer at Mercedes from 1975 until 1999. One thing I found interesting in reading about Sacco is that he’s known for models like the G-Class and SLK, but he was most proud of the company’s first compact car, the Mercedes 190 or the “baby Benz.” It debuted in 1982, offered a Cosworth-modified engine and sold more than a million units worldwide. If you’d like to learn more about Bruno Sacco’s influence on the auto industry, we’ll provide a link in the description box and the transcript.

But that’s it for today’s show. Thanks for making Autoline a part of your day.