#2025 Jeep Cherokee Sport

[e-carlease]

Launching in the USA and Canada in late 2024, this bigger BEV is set to hit the UK and Europe in 2025. A large SUV which is similar to the existing Grand Cherokee, the option will have a 100kWh battery setup for 450kW of power (or 600hp), 0-62 times of just over 3.5 seconds and 800 Nm of immediate torque. Early indications from the brand are ranges of circa 300 miles, which for the UK in the real world may end up being closer to the 250-mile mark. And with a 0.29 coefficient of drag, the Jeep engineers are quoting “sleek aerodynamic designs” and “stat of the art technology”; it will be 15% better than any combustion SUV on the market in this regard.

Based on a 400V arrangement, the charging capabilities are going to see 10% - 80% in around 26 minutes on DC. And in terms of specification, there is suggestions of some great features like the 45” worth of front screen for driver and passenger, premium heated and ventilated seats, 19-speakr sound system with a 1160 watt McIntosh audio system, 20” alloys, dual panoramic sunroof, LED lights, ambient colour lights inside and a host of safety features like - Active Driving Assist, Intersection Collision Assist, Drowsy Driver Detection, Traffic Sign Recognition and Surround View camera. Also key is the Selec-Terrain traction management system which has five distinct drive modes: Auto, Sport, Eco, Snow, Sand, for all weather and road conditions. The car will allow OTA (over-the-air) updates.

[irvinenewshq]

Alfa Romeo Giulia and Stelvio enhanced as soon as once more

With an all-electric future six years away, Alfa Romeo has taken the wraps off the newly up to date Giulia and Stelvio for what’s believed to be one of many remaining lifecycle refreshes. Rear gentle clusters obtain a clear cluster design Though joined by the Tonale in its product portfolio earlier this 12 months with two extra fashions becoming a member of earlier than 2025, a nonetheless unnamed new sports activities automobile in 2023 in addition to the Jeep Avenger-based Brennero in 2024, each are set to live-on to at the very least 2025 or 2026 earlier than being phased out. Just like the Giulia, the Stelvio advantages from a grille and as much as 21-inch alloy wheels. On the similar time, guardian firm, Stellantis, will take go away of the Giorgio platform Jeep makes use of for the Grand Cherokee and Grand Cherokee L and Maserati for the Grecale on account of phasing-in the EV optimised STLA structure. What’s new? The updates are due to this fact extra in depth than these utilized on the first refresh three years in the past and externally comprise the identical SZ-derived 3+3 Matrix LED headlight design as on the Tonale, a brand new entrance bumper with decrease mounted air intakes, a restyled grille and new LED taillights resplendent with clear glass clusters on the Giulia and blacked-out objects on the Stelvio. ALSO READ: Improved Alfa Romeo Stelvio and Giulia Stelvio a mixture of artwork and sense Inside, the pod-like instrument cluster has been revised and sports activities an all-digital structure measuring 12.3-inches with three background designs. No additional adjustments have taken place. Taillight clusters are blacked-out relatively being clear. Slimmed down to 2 trim ranges, Tremendous and Ti, with an obtainable Dash pack on the previous and Veloce on the latter, a brand new addition is the Competizione that primarily consists of exterior and inside enhancements. As customary, little has modified inside Based mostly on the Veloce, objects on supply comprise a Harman Kardon sound system, pink stitching on the dashboard, Competizione embroidered headrests, pink brake calipers, a brand new exterior color known as Moon Gentle Gray Matte and 21-inch alloy wheels on the Stelvio solely. Largest addition inside is the brand new 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster. Except for the Giulia Quadrifoglio Verde and the Stelvio Quadrifoglio not talked about as being recipients of the revisions, Alfa Romeo has saved the dynamics unchanged, however diminished the engine rely to 2. Harman Kardon sound system a part of the optionally available Competizione package deal In Europe due to this fact, patrons can have the selection of the 206kW/400Nm 2.0-litre turbo-petrol that drives all 4 wheels as customary, or two variations of the two.0-litre turbodiesel; 118kW/450Nm for rear-wheel-drive fashions and 155kW/470Nm on all-paw gripping derivatives. Pink stitching types a part of the Competizione package deal. With the dropping of the lower-powered petrol and diesel engines, the six-speed guide gearbox additionally departs, leaving the ZF-sourced eight-speed automated as the only choice. Arrival? Occurring-sale in Europe from February subsequent 12 months, count on each the Giulia and Stelvio to turn into obtainable in South Africa quickly after.    Originally published at Irvine News HQ

[tepcars]

2025 Jeep Cherokee Redesign, Release Date, Colors

2025 Jeep Cherokee Redesign, Release Date, Colors

2025 Jeep Cherokee Redesign, Release Date, Colors – This year’s Jeep Cherokee reaffirms the Jeep crossover SUV’s status as a unique task in the streamlined-SUV class. The Trailhawk version of the 2025 Jeep Cherokee will remain true to its Jeep roots. However, market leaders like the Honda CR-V, Toyota RAV4, and Nissan Rogue (along with almost any other person in the class) have focused on…

[businessliveme]

Carmakers Shedding 80,000 Jobs as Electric Era Upends Industry

(Bloomberg) –It’s turning out to be one of the worst years ever for auto workers across the globe amid shrinking demand and a tectonic shift in vehicle technology, with Daimler AG and Audi announcing almost 20,000 job cuts in just the past week.

All told, carmakers are eliminating more than 80,000 jobs during the coming years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg News. Although the cuts are concentrated in Germany, the U.S. and the U.K., faster-growing economies haven’t been immune and are seeing automakers scale back operations there.

The German companies joined General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. in massive retrenchments put in motion over the past year. The industry is sputtering as trade tensions and tariffs raise costs and stifle investment, and as manufacturers reassess their workforce in an era of electrification, autonomous driving and ride-on-demand services. The global auto industry will produce 88.8 million cars and light trucks this year, an almost 6% drop from a year ago, according to researcher IHS Markit.

Cuts are also being carried out in China, which employs the largest number of people in the industry and has been mired in a sales slump. Electric-vehicle startup NIO Inc., which has lost billions of dollars and watched its New York-listed shares plummet, dismissed about 20% of its workforce by the end of September, shedding more than 2,000 jobs.

“The persistent slowdown in global markets will continue to dent automakers’ margins and earnings, which have already been hurt by increased R&D spending for autonomous-driving technology,” said Gillian Davis, an analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence. “Many automakers are now focused on cost-saving plans to prevent margin erosion.”

Read more: Driverless cars to hit UAE roads in 2021

Being an early leader in electrification hasn’t spared Nissan, which has been in turmoil since the arrest of former Chairman Carlos Ghosn a year ago.

With profits plumbing decade lows, the Japanese automaker is shedding 12,500 positions in the coming years, mostly at factories across the globe, to reduce costs as it rushes to refresh an aging model lineup. A redesigned version of the battery-powered Leaf, which debuted later than planned because of the loss of the company’s longtime leader, isn’t giving the company much of a boost this year.

Factory-floor workers have been rising up against the retrenching. GM’s more than 46,000 U.S. hourly workers staged a 40-day-long strike this fall — the longest against the company in almost half a century — but managed to coax the company into keeping open only one of the four American factories it made plans to shutter a year ago.

On Nov. 22, about 15,000 people marched in the streets to protest job cuts and factory closures in Stuttgart, the German city that’s home to the global headquarters of Daimler, Porsche and major parts supplier Robert Bosch GmbH.

Protesters in the historic downtown square of Schlossplatz wore red scarfs, blew whistles and waved red flags in support of Germany’s powerful labor union IG Metall, which organized the demonstrations. Top union officials who represent workers at Mercedes-Benz, Audi and many parts makers claim the companies are using the shift toward EVs as an excuse to push through deeper cuts and boost profits.

“We don’t let our jobs be taken away just because some managers haven’t done their homework,” Roman Zitzelsberger, the regional head of IG Metall in the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg and the worker representative on Daimler’s supervisory board, told the crowd.

The job concerns proved to be justified. Audi announced a week later it will eliminate as many as 9,500 positions in Germany through 2025 as parent Volkswagen AG prepares for a costly transition to electric vehicles. Daimler announced plans to shed more than 10,000 worldwide.

If it were a country, the auto industry would be the world’s sixth-largest economy, according to Fircroft, a technical job-placement firm. In Germany alone, when including local operations of foreign manufacturers, about 150,000 jobs might be at risk in coming years, according to estimates by the Center of Automotive Management, near Cologne.

The clouds started to form for U.S. carmakers last year, when Ford revealed plans for a years-long, $11 billion restructuring. The company has made a series of piecemeal announcements since then, slashing roughly 10% of its global salaried ranks and shutting six plants: three in Russia and one apiece in the U.S., U.K. and France. Of roughly 17,000 jobs Ford is eliminating, 12,000 will be in Europe.

The state of car-factory jobs in the U.S. is less clear, mainly thanks to the new contracts Detroit-area automakers have been negotiating for the next four years.

The prospects looked somewhat bleak for the United Auto Workers union when talks began this summer. With vehicle demand slowing, production shifts were being pared back across the country — by Nissan at its truck-and-van plant in Mississippi, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV at its Jeep Cherokee SUV factory in Illinois and Honda at an Ohio plant that mostly makes Accord sedans. Workers fear plug-in cars, which have fewer parts and require less labor to build, will doom auto jobs.

Read more: Bugatti Plots Electric Four-Seater for Less Than $1 Million

In the end, the UAW has announced commitments by GM, Ford and Fiat Chrysler to invest almost $23 billion in U.S. facilities over the course of the next four years, and to add or retain more than 25,000 jobs. While that sounds like a lot, it remains to be seen whether the spending will actually boost production. It costs the companies billions to convert or retool existing factories for them to make new cars and powertrains.

The union also didn’t emerge without some bruising losses, with the most notably being its lost battle to save GM’s spacious car plant in Lordstown, Ohio. The factory, opened in 1966, became a political football when the company announced production of Chevrolet Cruze sedans would end in March. President Donald Trump told supporters a year and a half earlier not to sell their homes, assuring them his administration would bring jobs back. GM sold the complex to cash-strapped electric-truck startup Lordstown Motors Corp. last month.

For Scott Brubaker, GM’s offloading of the Lordstown plant could be a one-way ticket out of the auto industry. The automaker transferred him to its Corvette sports-car plant in Bowling Green, Kentucky, which meant leaving an Ohio farm his family has owned for four generations.

The idling of the factory left him with two options: live in his camper trailer in Bowling Green and commute home on weekends, or take a $75,000 severance check from GM and find a new job near Lordstown. He has an offer to work for a company clearing land for developers, but it pays $5 an hour less than GM, and he says it would cost him his pension. Lordstown Motors is still raising money for its electric trucks, and Brubaker has his doubts it will succeed.

“I went to GM for good pay and benefits,” Brubaker said. “What we did in the plant we did successfully, and GM still pawned us off.”

–With assistance from Kristie Pladson, Keith Naughton, Gabrielle Coppola, Craig Trudell and Cécile Daurat.

The post Carmakers Shedding 80,000 Jobs as Electric Era Upends Industry appeared first on Businessliveme.com.

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[mikemortgage]

Sorry Detroit, the next North American car recession has already started

These should be boom times for Detroit. Unemployment is at a half-century low, gasoline is cheap and auto sales in the U.S. were near record levels last year. Yet American automakers are closing factories, cutting  shifts and laying off thousands of workers. The industry is behaving like a recession has arrived.

In one segment of the market, it has.

Detroit is in the grips of a car recession marked by the collapse of demand for traditional sedans, which accounted for half the market just six years ago. Buyers have made a mass exodus out of classic family cars and into sport utility vehicles. Familiar sedan models such as the Honda Accord and the Ford Fusion made up a record low 30 per cent of U.S. sales in 2018, and things will only get worse.

Sales of the passenger-car body style that’s dominated the industry since the Model T will sink to 21.5 per cent of the U.S. market by 2025, according to researchers at LMC Automotive, relegating sedans to fringe products. That leaves automakers with excess factory capacity that can turn out about 3 million more vehicles than buyers want. And overcapacity is precisely what spurred losses the last time a recession wracked the industry.

“You could classify this as a car recession,” said Jeff Schuster, senior vice president of forecasting at LMC Automotive.

It’s a situation that promises to put a damper on the North American International Auto Show in Detroit this week, the last to be held in the chill of January. In a bid to reestablish relevance, the annual car conclave is moving to June next year and will be reimagined as a chance for show-goers to drive new models in warm weather. The car dealers who organize the show hope the new format will entice notable dropouts — a group that now includes Mercedes, BMW and Audi — to return to an event that once commanded the full attention of the automotive world.

Attendees walk through the exhibit floor of the 2019 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit on Monday. With U.S. auto sales poised to slip in 2019, carmakers are fielding a mix of models that’ll whet Americans’ voracious appetite for trucks and sport utility vehicles over sedans that were once fixtures of American driveways.

An optimist might seek solace in the better-than-expected profit prediction issued Friday by General Motors Co. But a deeper look at the numbers reveals that the biggest contribution to the company’s rosy forecast were cost-cutting plans — including closing five North American plants — which it said will help boost profit this year by as much as US$2.5 billion.

The overcapacity plaguing U.S. automakers is the equivalent of 10 excess plants, which would account for at least 20,000 jobs directly, and thousands more as it ripples through the suppliers and support services to the massive industry. “GM has taken some actions, but they still have some well-underutilized plants,” Schuster said. “So we may not be done with this yet.”

One strategy for dealing with the collapsing car market in the past has been to stuff unwanted sedans into rental lots and other commercial fleets. That has only delayed today’s capacity crisis. Those lower-profit fleet sales have inflated the market, keeping U.S. vehicle deliveries above 17 million for the last four years, even as sales to individual retail customers peaked three years ago.

“The car recession and the retail recession have already arrived in the sense that retail sales peaked in 2015 and have gone down ever since,” said Mark Wakefield, head of the automotive practice at consultant AlixPartners. “Cars have just been crushed.”

Many former passenger-car buyers have flocked to crossover SUVs that offer more room and, these days, competitive fuel economy. The Chevy Malibu, a family sedan, gets combined city and highway fuel economy of 26 miles per gallon. The Chevy Equinox, a small crossover SUV, trails by only one mile per gallon.

There are signs drivers are even ditching sedans for big trucks. “Pickup buyers are trading in crossover SUVs and sedans,” said Sandor Piszar, director of marketing at Chevrolet, which is ramping up production of its new Silverado. Total U.S. pickup sales grew 2 percent last year, to 2.4 million vehicles, in a market that was otherwise flat.

F1 driver Fernando Alonso unveils the Toyota Supra Super GT race car during day one of the 2019 North American International Auto Show on Monday in Detroit.

Outside Detroit, auto executives are sticking with sedans. Between the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico, Toyota sells 375,000 of its Corolla compacts each year. The Camry sedan likewise moves in big, albeit shrinking, numbers. “We are not going to get out of that business,” Jim Lentz, chief executive officer of Toyota Motor North America, said in an interview last month. “We still see an opportunity there.”

Ironically, automakers have the last recession to blame for their current plight. A decade ago, when high gas prices and a crashing economy left little demand for SUVs, the auto industry suffered through layoffs, plant closings and, ultimately, the bankruptcies and bailouts of GM and Chrysler. Detroit flipped its factories from making hulking SUVs to sensible, gas-sipping sedans.

“You had two quick, upward movements in gas prices in the 2000s that were like a one-two punch,” said Wakefield, “and it was like a dog whistle went off, and you couldn’t sell” SUVs. His firm helped guide GM through its 2009 bankruptcy. “It felt like gas prices would go up and stay high,” he recalled.

But now the market has flipped back, thanks to consistently low gas prices, and much of Detroit is once again building too many of the wrong products.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV, which anticipated sedans’ death spiral by culling its car lineup in 2016, has largely sidestepped the restructuring pain GM and Ford are experiencing now. Instead of shuttering plants or cutting shifts, it’s  converting an engine factory in Detroit to make room for a three-row Jeep Grand Cherokee and tying its fortunes to an onslaught of SUVs. The Jeep Gladiator, a truck version of the Wrangler, is due out in the second quarter of 2019. A retooled plant in Warren, Michigan, will produce the revived Jeep Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer SUVs.

Unlike last time it ran into trouble, Detroit may have trouble finding friends in Washington or at the United Auto Workers to help them get through this tough transition. President Donald Trump has gone on the attack, taking GM chief executive Mary Barra to task for her decision to close four U.S. plants. Even allies like Michigan Rep. Debbie Dingell, a former GM executive, said last month that GM had made itself “the most thoroughly disliked company in Washington.”

The UAW has sued GM over its plant closings and is girding for a big fight at the bargaining table this year as it negotiates new contracts with U.S. automakers that have begun behaving like the good times are already in the rear-view mirror.

“It’s a very bizarre environment right now because the general economic conditions are still quite favorable,” Schuster said. “But it feels like we’re going back to that” dark period a decade ago.

Bloomberg.com

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[robertkstone]

The 2019 Power List – and the Person of the Year Is…

This is the 14th year Motor Trend has scoured the automotive landscape to produce its Power List. We discern the most influential and transformative people of the past year, the ones that make this elaborate industry hum and whirl, speed up and bog down.

As the powertrains of tomorrow transition away from diesels, optimizing gas-engine efficiency and adding electrification, so too do the faces change with the times. There are always CEOs and other C-suite executives on our list, but we look for the people further down in the trenches whose efforts create a buzz. We love this industry and want to reward a job well done. And we try to find the new faces that reflect the trends, new tech, and sometimes new companies that populate the automotive landscape.

This year there were a few big business moves: Aston Martin went public; Tesla pondered going private. There was boardroom drama with a Volkswagen coup, the untimely death of FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne, and the punitive stripping of the chairman’s title from Elon Musk. But largely it was a year of solid product development, with some remakes of classics and launches of a healthy batch of new nameplates.

These are the people behind those successes. Topping the list is the Person of the Year who left an oversized imprint. But the 49 others are the ones to watch in 2019.

50. KLAUS BUSSE

FCA

HEAD OF DESIGN FOR ALFA ROMEO, MASERATI, FIAT, ABARTH, LANCIA

2018 RANK: UNRANKED

Busse spent 10 years with Mercedes in Germany then moved to the U.S. during the DaimlerChrysler years. He chose to stay after the corporate divorce. Now back in Europe and designing FCA’s European brands, he has shaped cars as disparate as the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio. His next task? Shoring up Maserati’s styling.

49. TOTO WOLFF

MERCEDES-AMG PETRONAS MOTORSPORT

TEAM PRINCIPAL AND CEO

2018 RANK: UNRANKED

The former racing driver is the managing partner of the Formula 1 team and also leads the Mercedes motorsports program. He has a 30 percent stake in Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix. Teamed with Niki Lauda, Wolff has produced results exceeding expectations with drivers Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas.

48. DAVID FREIBURGER

MOTOR TREND GROUP

CO-HOST OF ROADKILL

2018 RANK: 47

Freiburger is a former editor-in-chief of Hot Rod magazine and one of the stars of the breakout Motor Trend original series, Roadkill. Under his direction, the unscripted reality series, now shown on Motor Trend’s SVOD channel and the Motor Trend Network (nee Velocity), Roadkill has built a huge fanbase on the strength of its authenticity and credibility.

47. THOMAS DOLL

SUBARU OF AMERICA

CEO

2018 RANK: 35

After posting a decade of growth for Subaru, Doll was promoted to CEO while unveiling the Ascent three-row SUV, launching the Crosstrek, and introducing the next-generation Forester. Subaru continues to cater to its loyal buyers and sell cars as fast as it can make them.

46. ALEJANDRO AGAG

FORMULA E HOLDINGS

CEO

2018 RANK: 10

As the auto world goes electric, the Formula E founder sees a future where his series overtakes Formula 1 as the leading motorsports series. Formula E is starting its fifth season with faster Gen2 cars. More automakers are planning to participate with big-name drivers in the years ahead.

45. KEVIN CLARK

APTIV

PRESIDENT AND CEO

2018 RANK: UNRANKED

Aptiv was spun off from Delphi to focus on electronics and software for autonomous driving, connectivity, and active safety systems. Under Clark, Aptiv has grown its market cap and partnered with Hertz to get autonomous vehicles on the road and with Lyft to test a fleet in Las Vegas.

44. PAM FLETCHER

GENERAL MOTORS

VICE PRESIDENT OF INNOVATION

2018 RANK: 16

Fletcher, a top engineer, takes on a new role identifying and accelerating new growth opportunities as GM works to transform. She now reports directly to CEO Mary Barra. Fletcher has distinguished herself in managing teams bent on bringing industry-leading electric and autonomous vehicles to market.

43. DAVID HALL

VELODYNE LIDAR

FOUNDER AND CEO

2018 RANK: UNRANKED

Everybody seems to be working on smaller, lighter, and less expensive autonomous vehicle lidar systems. Fighting off the myriad startups is Velodyne, which dominates in this crucial field. Hall invented 3-D lidar in 2005 and turned his vision into a thriving company that continues to lead the field.

42(0). ELON MUSK

TESLA

CEO

2018 RANK: 2

The mercurial genius got into trouble with the SEC over tweets about going private (never happened), which cost him fines and his chairman title. Model 3 “production hell” led him to sleep in the factory and build cars in a tent. Tesla’s wild ride includes ever-evolving tech, as well as Musk’s promises to build electric big rigs, pickups, and sports cars. More vaporware? Don’t count him out.

41. OLA KALLENIUS

DAMILER/MERCEDES-BENZ

BOARD OF MANAGEMENT, GROUP RESEARCH AND MERCEDES-BENZ CARS DEVELOPMENT

2018 RANK: 27

It’s now official: Kallenius becomes chairman of the board of management at Daimler and CEO of Mercedes-Benz cars next year with the mandatory retirement of Dieter Zetsche. The Swede becomes the first non-German Daimler leader. His clear and transparent leadership style and steady climb up the ranks should make for a smooth transition.

40. KYLE VOGT

CRUISE

CO-FOUNDER AND CEO

2018 RANK: UNRANKED

Vogt’s startup was acquired by GM in 2016 and is the basis for Cadillac’s Super Cruise and a fleet of robotaxis. Cruise received a $2.25 billion infusion from the SoftBank Vision Fund, and Honda will invest a further $2.75 billion over 12 years and take a 5.7 percent stake. Cruise rivals Waymo for autonomous vehicle supremacy.

39. CARLOS GHOSN

RENAULT, NISSAN, MITSUBISHI

FORMER CHAIRMAN, CEO

2018 RANKING: 22

Prior to his sudden arrest on the day the Power List went to press, Ghosn was still chairman of Nissan, Renault, and Mitsubishi and was CEO of the global Alliance he created (as this is written, he retains his titles at Renault). He took three struggling companies and made them stronger than the sum of their parts. Before the allegations, which could end his career, his legacy reflected efforts to create an automotive juggernaut.

38. JOY FALOTICO

FORD

GROUP VICE PRESIDENT LINCOLN, CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER, CHAIRMAN FORD CREDIT

2018 RANK: UNRANKED

The longtime head of Ford Credit has heady new duties—running Lincoln and leading Ford Motor marketing—while remaining Ford Credit chairman. She is proving a quick study as Lincoln gains traction. She’s also shaken up marketing with new advertising partners and a new image for the Ford brand.

37. RALPH GILLES

FCA

GLOBAL HEAD OF DESIGN

2018 RANK: 37

FCA’s five-year plan reads like a to-do list for Gilles, who oversees the design of the varied brands, including tough Ram pickups, iconic Jeep Wranglers, tiny Fiats, family-hauling minivans, American muscle cars, and exotic Italian cars. Gilles continues to deliver the goods, keeping each brand distinct and relevant.

36. ALFONSO ALBAISA

NISSAN MOTOR CO.

SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT FOR GLOBAL DESIGN

2018 RANK: 39

Charged with design for Nissan, Infiniti, and Datsun, Albaisa has been prolific. Infiniti has launched the luxe QX50, and Nissan created the smart Kicks. Infiniti also teased its future with the stunning Q Inspiration, Prototype 9, Prototype 10, and Project Black S.

35. AKIO TOYODA

TOYOTA

CEO AND PRESIDENT

2018 RANK: 13

Why is Toyota bringing back the Supra, sustaining the 86, and supporting Gazoo Racing? Because its CEO loves to drive. But Akio is also positioning Toyota as a player in ride-sharing and autonomous vehicles—while ensuring mainstream best-sellers like the Camry and RAV4 continue to evolve. Most recent negotiation: the joint venture plant with Mazda in Alabama.

34. HERBERT DIESS

VOLKSWAGEN

CEO

2018 RANK: UNRANKED

The Dieselgate coup that ousted CEO Matthias Muller also elevated former BMW veteran Diess. He is orchestrating the expensive plan to launch 80 electric vehicles by 2025—including a resurrection of the iconic Microbus. Diess is restructuring the 12 brands under VW’s aegis and tackling a potential IPO of the heavy truck division.

33. PETER SCHREYER

HYUNDAI MOTOR GROUP

PRESIDENT AND CHIEF DESIGN OFFICER

2018 RANK: 18

This trailblazer is reinventing the world’s view of Korean automakers—in terms of both design and drivability. The Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis brands are gaining sales and acclaim as they add new nameplates and improve existing models at a rapid clip.

32. MARK REUSS

IFTTT

[jesusvasser]

Wheelspinning Our Way Through 2017

If 2017 was the year of President Trump everywhere else, in the automotive world, it seemed to be the year of Elon Musk. Again. Musk’s Tesla began 2017 with some 440,000 intenders each holding $1,000 deposit receipts for a new $35,000+ Model 3 with hopes they would start to get their cars by midyear.

Tesla ended 2017 with Musk now building anticipation for a new semi truck, apparently named “Semi,” which he says will have a 500-mile range and will begin deliveries in 2019, with a new Roadster model—actually a 2+2 targa grand touring car capable of 250 mph+ and 0-60 mph in 1.9 seconds—arriving at dealers a year later.

Musk said Tesla delivered just 233 Model 3s by the end of the third quarter. When I asked Tesla public relations for an update on deliveries through, at least, mid-December, the response was to refer to Musk’s third-quarter analysts’ call held November 1. Tesla PR said the number of deliveries will be updated in the first quarter 2018 analysts’ call. So it goes.

In reality, 2017 was the year that traditional automakers ramped up their counter-assault on Tesla’s electric vehicles, with plans for everything from fuel cells and solid-state batteries to new ways to make the internal combustion engine cleaner and more efficient. Here’s how I saw the year in automobiles …

Fords with a future: CEO Mark Fields announces a $700-million investment in its Flat Rock, Michigan, plant to build a hybrid Mustang, a 300-plus mile EV SUV by 2020, and a hybrid-powered fully autonomous vehicle by 2021. Ford also will build hybrid versions of its F-150 pickup, and its Explorer-based Interceptor Police Utility vehicle and Taurus-based Police Interceptor sedan. At the same time, Fields attempts to assuage President-elect Trump’s anti-North American Free Trade Agreement position by cancelling plans for a new Mexican assembly plant.

Mary Barra adds “chairman” to her title: General Motors’ board elects its first female CEO to become its first female chairman, as well. Through much of its 109-year history, GM has assigned those titles to separate executives.

U.S. auto sales hits another record: Automakers report January 5 that they sold 17.54 million cars and light trucks in 2016, topping 2015, the previous record year, by 56,211 units. While car sales clearly have peaked, we’ll finish off calendar year ’17 at a still-healthy 17.1 million, according to AutoTrader’s mid-December estimate.

North American International Auto Show highlights: The 2017 Detroit Auto Show featured the new Kia Stinger, Mercedes-Benz E-Class coupe, Toyota Camry, Nissan Vmotion 2.0 concept (the next Altima), Honda Odyssey, Infiniti QX50 concept, Chevrolet Traverse, Lexus LS, and Volkswagen I.D. Buzz concept (a modern EV Microbus). Sergio Marchionne reveals in his annual Detroit show press conference that the next-generation Jeep Grand Cherokee will share the new longitudinal engine platform that underpins the Alfa Romeo Stelvio. Ford shows nothing of significance.

EPA says Fiat Chrysler’s diesel Jeeps and Rams violate the Clean Air Act with defeat devices: Just prior to President Trump taking office, the Environmental Protection Agency announces it’s investigating Fiat Chrysler for alleged fuel economy/emissions test cheating devices on its Jeep and Ram EcoDiesel engines. Fiat Chrysler in May announces it has a software fix to solve the problem.

GM and Honda announce a fuel cell deal: In late January, General Motors and Honda announce a joint venture to design and develop a next-generation, compact fuel cell stack. They plan to build these fuel cell stacks together at a GM plant in Brownstown Township, Michigan, that assembles battery packs for the Chevrolet Bolt and Volt by 2021.

Geneva International Motor Show Highlights: The new McLaren 720S was the show’s runaway hit, though Robert Cumberford also singles out the Fittipaldi EF7 by Pininfarina. Automobile staff also like the Aston Martin Valkyrie, Mercedes-AMG Concept GT, Volkswagen Arteon, Range Rover Velar, Alpine A110, Volvo XC60, and Bentley EXP12 Speed 6e.

GM sells Opel/Vauxhall to PSA Peugeot Citroen for $2.3 billion: The world’s third-largest automaker runs from one of the world’s largest markets¬—the European Union, collectively, is about as large as the U.S. market in millions of annual sales. It’s also a very tough market, with strict regulations, loose enforcement (see, German-brand diesels), and relatively strong unions that make it hard to move assembly plants to former Soviet satellite countries with lower labor costs. In the end, though, it may have been Brexit that pushed the sale over the line. GM’s Vauxhall was stronger in the United Kingdom than was Opel on the Continent.

Trump rescinds the Obama administration 2025 CAFE standard: Automakers selling cars and trucks in the U.S. were required to reach a 54.5-mpg Corporate Average Fuel Economy standard under an agreement reached with the Obama administration in 2010, shortly after the GM and Chrysler loan guarantee bailouts. But the standard always was subject to a “mid-term review” that could pull back the standards. The new Trump administration jumps ahead of that review with an executive order. For automakers, it will offer relief from having to reach the 54.5-mpg CAFE number. However, automakers already were well on their way in engineering new powertrains and lighter, more aerodynamic (and CAFE standard “footprint” measurements) bodies. We’re not likely to see much pullback from those plans, so most automakers will probably be close to meeting the ’25 standard, if a few years late, anyway. What’s more, Trump’s executive order does nothing to the California Mandate requiring a certain percentage of zero-emissions vehicles sold there and in 16 other, mostly coastal states. The California Zero Emissions Mandate already is responsible for cars like the Chevy Bolt and Nissan Leaf, as well as Tesla’s relative success.

Trump wants to tear up NAFTA and place a tariff on Mexican-built autos: After the U.S. auto sales peaks of 2015 and 2016, there’s no shortage of auto manufacturing capacity. As I reported in late March, Trump’s plan to tear up the North American Free Trade Agreement would not push automakers to build new, $1-billion+ factories in the United States (although Volvo, for one, already plans its first assembly plant here). The president specifically attacks Ford for moving Focus production from Michigan to Mexico in 2018, though it’s adding more profitable Ranger pickup and Bronco sport/utility production in its place in Michigan. Ford has since rescinded its plans for a new Mexican plant, and instead will move Focus production to China. President Trump has yet to act on rescinding U.S. participation in NAFTA.

Tesla’s market cap exceeds GM’s and Ford’s: Tesla’s market capitalization first passes Ford Motor Company’s, then in April, General Motors’. Tesla stock has since settled into the low $300s-per-share range, while GM stock has rallied to top the disruptive EV automaker’s cap, again. As of December 21, Tesla was worth about $55.1 billion to GM’s $60.1 billion. Wall Street bulls have defended Tesla’s stock value as a sign of an all-electric future. Tesla will be well positioned to lead that future, the bulls say, though as it continues to lose money and have problems getting Model 3 production up to speed, more and more bears are popping up in the analysts’ community.

Tesla loses $397 million in the first quarter: The losses are worse than analysts’ expectations, but by early June, stock values start to rise again.

Ford fires Fields: Ford Motor Company CEO Mark Fields, a corporate veteran credited for turning around Mazda (which Ford formerly controlled) in the late 1990s, is fired allegedly for lagging on electric car development. The real reason is Ford’s lagging stock value, a bigger concern for William Clay Ford and his relatives, who control the company with 40 percent of its stock. Fields’ replacement is Jim Hackett, hired away from the office furniture company, Steelcase.

GM shareholders reject a dual-class stock proposal: Greenlight Capital wants to split GM stock into two classes [not unlike Ford’s Class B stock] in order to cash in some value out of the automaker. To those of us far from Wall Street it seems the sort of action that would put GM in the same position it was in 12 years ago, when an economic downturn or a change in automotive tastes due to something like a spike in oil prices could lead to serious cash shortage. At GM’s annual meeting in June, shareholders roundly reject Greenlight’s proposal.

BMW 2 Series to lose manual option?: In June, a BMW executive in Germany was quoted indicating that the company would stop importing manual transmission 2 Series models to the U.S. The uproar that caused in the purist-enthusiasts’ community resulted in a clarification. If BMW stops selling stick shift 2 Series models here, it won’t be until the car’s next generation, expected to be the 2020 model year (now less than two years away). Automobile magazine’s Four Seasons ‘17 M2 came with just one option; the dual-clutch seven-speed automatic, because, BMW said, customer demand for the manual created a shortage. I wouldn’t be surprised if the next 2 Series came only with a DCT, which is handy for Level III or IV autonomous features. And the upcoming X2 “sport/activity vehicle” almost certainly will not be offered with a three-pedal layout.

Volvo goes all-electrified by 2019: The misleading headline at Volvo’s own website reads, “Volvo goes all-electric,” but the copy underneath says that by ’19, all Volvos will have an electric motor. While the hyperbole led The Cult of Elon to believe they had won their revolution, at Volvo, this entails everything from pure battery-EV to plug-in hybrid to 48-volt. For sure, the 48-volt revolution is coming, with that technology aiding stop/start systems and in some cases limited EV driving while accommodating the expansion of elaborate infotainment systems. In any event, Volvo’s announcement spurred similar claims later in the year from rival premium automakers.

Nissan launches ProPilot Assist in its all-new, 2018 Leaf: The automated cruise control will start and stop in rush hour traffic, but you still have to keep your hands on the steering wheel, which gently helps you around curves. The new Nissan Leaf’s range is now 150 miles on a full charge, still 78 miles short of the Chevy Bolt’s stated range.

Cadillac launches Super Cruise: Is Cadillac in the autonomy lead? Yes, I think it is, even if Mercedes-Benz and Volvo have slightly more capable systems in the works. As part of Super Cruise’s safety redundancy, GM mapped 180,000 miles of U.S. roads. You must take the wheel of the Cadillac CT6 to change lanes, but otherwise it’s even easier than two-fingertip steering on long, boring Interstates.

Toyota and Mazda announce joint-venture U.S. assembly plant: Likely to be built somewhere in the UAW-bereft Southeast, the joint venture also will help struggling Mazda get into electrified powertrains. Let’s hope it leads to a future for the Mazda MX-5 Miata and Toyota 86, as their Fiat and Subaru deals are not likely to have sequels.

Mazda announces Skyactive X engine technology: Mazda will equip its next 3, coming in 2019, with a compression ignition gasoline powered engine said to nearly equal a similar-sized four-cylinder turbodiesel, and match it for CO2 emissions.

Fiat Chrysler ‘confirms’ it has not been approached by Great Wall Motors: The late-summer denial that a Chinese automaker was looking to buy Fiat Chrysler comes in the middle of a year in which CEO Sergio Marchionne is pretty transparent about his desire to find a dance partner. In my Motor City Blogman column, I note that Jeep and Ram are the two brands that would attract such a partner, and that if Marchionne expected value to be paid for the rest of the brands, the company might have to go it alone for a while longer.

IAA Frankfurt motor show highlights: The Honda Urban EV concept, Mercedes-AMG Project One, a roadgoing F1 car driven onto the stage by Lewis Hamilton (who would soon win his fourth World Driver’s Championship), Renault Symbioz concept, a modern rolling living room, Ferrari Portofino, Hyundai Kona, Kia Proceed concept, and according to Robert Cumberford, the new Borgward Isabella and something called the Aspark Owl.

Delphi splits in two: We don’t often cover Tier One suppliers, but it’s worth noting that this former GM parts division this year split into two companies. Delphi Technology continues to work on updating and improving powertrains, mostly the internal combustion engine, while Aptiv covers autonomy and connectivity. While I often write about automakers’ latest autonomous technology breakthroughs, much of the advances are coming from companies like Aptiv, Continental, Bosch, etc.

GM will launch ‘at least’ 20 new battery-electric or fuel cell vehicles by 2023: While no one has figured out how to make money on BEVs or fuel cells yet, this announcement spurs on GM’s already soaring share prices. The first two new EVs will arrive by mid-2019 and will be based on the current Chevy Bolt, while the new models after that will be off a new electric/fuel cell platform, including what looks to be the C8 Corvette E-ray.

Tokyo Motor Show highlights: The Honda EV Coupe concept, Mazda Vision Coupe concept, Mazda Kai concept (next Mazda3), Subaru Viviz Performance concept (next WRX/STI), Daihatsu DN Compagno concept, and the Toyota TJ Cruiser. In time for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, Toyota also displays a new Century limousine and a Tokyo cab, replacing models first designed for the 1964 Olympics that raised the city out of its postwar doldrums.

Tesla loses record $619 million in the third quarter: The cost of developing the much-awaited Tesla Model 3 and its production facility no doubt contributed to all this red ink. CEO Elon Musk says Tesla delivered just 233 of its mass-market EVs as of the end of the quarter, and says ramp-up of production to 5,000 per month now is delayed to the end of the first quarter of 2018—originally, this was the goal for the end of the year.

Peugeot-Citroen launches car-sharing service ahead of return to the U.S.: Free2Move is launched as an aggregation app for Car2Go and Zipcar in Seattle. The app will help PSA relearn the U.S. market ahead of its planned return selling cars here, says North American chief Larry Dominique. PSA will sell one of it from Performance Junk WP Feed 4 http://ift.tt/2BXQdmE via IFTTT

[eddiejpoplar]

Wheelspinning Our Way Through 2017

If 2017 was the year of President Trump everywhere else, in the automotive world, it seemed to be the year of Elon Musk. Again. Musk’s Tesla began 2017 with some 440,000 intenders each holding $1,000 deposit receipts for a new $35,000+ Model 3 with hopes they would start to get their cars by midyear.

Tesla ended 2017 with Musk now building anticipation for a new semi truck, apparently named “Semi,” which he says will have a 500-mile range and will begin deliveries in 2019, with a new Roadster model—actually a 2+2 targa grand touring car capable of 250 mph+ and 0-60 mph in 1.9 seconds—arriving at dealers a year later.

Musk said Tesla delivered just 233 Model 3s by the end of the third quarter. When I asked Tesla public relations for an update on deliveries through, at least, mid-December, the response was to refer to Musk’s third-quarter analysts’ call held November 1. Tesla PR said the number of deliveries will be updated in the first quarter 2018 analysts’ call. So it goes.

In reality, 2017 was the year that traditional automakers ramped up their counter-assault on Tesla’s electric vehicles, with plans for everything from fuel cells and solid-state batteries to new ways to make the internal combustion engine cleaner and more efficient. Here’s how I saw the year in automobiles …

Fords with a future: CEO Mark Fields announces a $700-million investment in its Flat Rock, Michigan, plant to build a hybrid Mustang, a 300-plus mile EV SUV by 2020, and a hybrid-powered fully autonomous vehicle by 2021. Ford also will build hybrid versions of its F-150 pickup, and its Explorer-based Interceptor Police Utility vehicle and Taurus-based Police Interceptor sedan. At the same time, Fields attempts to assuage President-elect Trump’s anti-North American Free Trade Agreement position by cancelling plans for a new Mexican assembly plant.

Mary Barra adds “chairman” to her title: General Motors’ board elects its first female CEO to become its first female chairman, as well. Through much of its 109-year history, GM has assigned those titles to separate executives.

U.S. auto sales hits another record: Automakers report January 5 that they sold 17.54 million cars and light trucks in 2016, topping 2015, the previous record year, by 56,211 units. While car sales clearly have peaked, we’ll finish off calendar year ’17 at a still-healthy 17.1 million, according to AutoTrader’s mid-December estimate.

North American International Auto Show highlights: The 2017 Detroit Auto Show featured the new Kia Stinger, Mercedes-Benz E-Class coupe, Toyota Camry, Nissan Vmotion 2.0 concept (the next Altima), Honda Odyssey, Infiniti QX50 concept, Chevrolet Traverse, Lexus LS, and Volkswagen I.D. Buzz concept (a modern EV Microbus). Sergio Marchionne reveals in his annual Detroit show press conference that the next-generation Jeep Grand Cherokee will share the new longitudinal engine platform that underpins the Alfa Romeo Stelvio. Ford shows nothing of significance.

EPA says Fiat Chrysler’s diesel Jeeps and Rams violate the Clean Air Act with defeat devices: Just prior to President Trump taking office, the Environmental Protection Agency announces it’s investigating Fiat Chrysler for alleged fuel economy/emissions test cheating devices on its Jeep and Ram EcoDiesel engines. Fiat Chrysler in May announces it has a software fix to solve the problem.

GM and Honda announce a fuel cell deal: In late January, General Motors and Honda announce a joint venture to design and develop a next-generation, compact fuel cell stack. They plan to build these fuel cell stacks together at a GM plant in Brownstown Township, Michigan, that assembles battery packs for the Chevrolet Bolt and Volt by 2021.

Geneva International Motor Show Highlights: The new McLaren 720S was the show’s runaway hit, though Robert Cumberford also singles out the Fittipaldi EF7 by Pininfarina. Automobile staff also like the Aston Martin Valkyrie, Mercedes-AMG Concept GT, Volkswagen Arteon, Range Rover Velar, Alpine A110, Volvo XC60, and Bentley EXP12 Speed 6e.

GM sells Opel/Vauxhall to PSA Peugeot Citroen for $2.3 billion: The world’s third-largest automaker runs from one of the world’s largest markets¬—the European Union, collectively, is about as large as the U.S. market in millions of annual sales. It’s also a very tough market, with strict regulations, loose enforcement (see, German-brand diesels), and relatively strong unions that make it hard to move assembly plants to former Soviet satellite countries with lower labor costs. In the end, though, it may have been Brexit that pushed the sale over the line. GM’s Vauxhall was stronger in the United Kingdom than was Opel on the Continent.

Trump rescinds the Obama administration 2025 CAFE standard: Automakers selling cars and trucks in the U.S. were required to reach a 54.5-mpg Corporate Average Fuel Economy standard under an agreement reached with the Obama administration in 2010, shortly after the GM and Chrysler loan guarantee bailouts. But the standard always was subject to a “mid-term review” that could pull back the standards. The new Trump administration jumps ahead of that review with an executive order. For automakers, it will offer relief from having to reach the 54.5-mpg CAFE number. However, automakers already were well on their way in engineering new powertrains and lighter, more aerodynamic (and CAFE standard “footprint” measurements) bodies. We’re not likely to see much pullback from those plans, so most automakers will probably be close to meeting the ’25 standard, if a few years late, anyway. What’s more, Trump’s executive order does nothing to the California Mandate requiring a certain percentage of zero-emissions vehicles sold there and in 16 other, mostly coastal states. The California Zero Emissions Mandate already is responsible for cars like the Chevy Bolt and Nissan Leaf, as well as Tesla’s relative success.

Trump wants to tear up NAFTA and place a tariff on Mexican-built autos: After the U.S. auto sales peaks of 2015 and 2016, there’s no shortage of auto manufacturing capacity. As I reported in late March, Trump’s plan to tear up the North American Free Trade Agreement would not push automakers to build new, $1-billion+ factories in the United States (although Volvo, for one, already plans its first assembly plant here). The president specifically attacks Ford for moving Focus production from Michigan to Mexico in 2018, though it’s adding more profitable Ranger pickup and Bronco sport/utility production in its place in Michigan. Ford has since rescinded its plans for a new Mexican plant, and instead will move Focus production to China. President Trump has yet to act on rescinding U.S. participation in NAFTA.

Tesla’s market cap exceeds GM’s and Ford’s: Tesla’s market capitalization first passes Ford Motor Company’s, then in April, General Motors’. Tesla stock has since settled into the low $300s-per-share range, while GM stock has rallied to top the disruptive EV automaker’s cap, again. As of December 21, Tesla was worth about $55.1 billion to GM’s $60.1 billion. Wall Street bulls have defended Tesla’s stock value as a sign of an all-electric future. Tesla will be well positioned to lead that future, the bulls say, though as it continues to lose money and have problems getting Model 3 production up to speed, more and more bears are popping up in the analysts’ community.

Tesla loses $397 million in the first quarter: The losses are worse than analysts’ expectations, but by early June, stock values start to rise again.

Ford fires Fields: Ford Motor Company CEO Mark Fields, a corporate veteran credited for turning around Mazda (which Ford formerly controlled) in the late 1990s, is fired allegedly for lagging on electric car development. The real reason is Ford’s lagging stock value, a bigger concern for William Clay Ford and his relatives, who control the company with 40 percent of its stock. Fields’ replacement is Jim Hackett, hired away from the office furniture company, Steelcase.

GM shareholders reject a dual-class stock proposal: Greenlight Capital wants to split GM stock into two classes [not unlike Ford’s Class B stock] in order to cash in some value out of the automaker. To those of us far from Wall Street it seems the sort of action that would put GM in the same position it was in 12 years ago, when an economic downturn or a change in automotive tastes due to something like a spike in oil prices could lead to serious cash shortage. At GM’s annual meeting in June, shareholders roundly reject Greenlight’s proposal.

BMW 2 Series to lose manual option?: In June, a BMW executive in Germany was quoted indicating that the company would stop importing manual transmission 2 Series models to the U.S. The uproar that caused in the purist-enthusiasts’ community resulted in a clarification. If BMW stops selling stick shift 2 Series models here, it won’t be until the car’s next generation, expected to be the 2020 model year (now less than two years away). Automobile magazine’s Four Seasons ‘17 M2 came with just one option; the dual-clutch seven-speed automatic, because, BMW said, customer demand for the manual created a shortage. I wouldn’t be surprised if the next 2 Series came only with a DCT, which is handy for Level III or IV autonomous features. And the upcoming X2 “sport/activity vehicle” almost certainly will not be offered with a three-pedal layout.

Volvo goes all-electrified by 2019: The misleading headline at Volvo’s own website reads, “Volvo goes all-electric,” but the copy underneath says that by ’19, all Volvos will have an electric motor. While the hyperbole led The Cult of Elon to believe they had won their revolution, at Volvo, this entails everything from pure battery-EV to plug-in hybrid to 48-volt. For sure, the 48-volt revolution is coming, with that technology aiding stop/start systems and in some cases limited EV driving while accommodating the expansion of elaborate infotainment systems. In any event, Volvo’s announcement spurred similar claims later in the year from rival premium automakers.

Nissan launches ProPilot Assist in its all-new, 2018 Leaf: The automated cruise control will start and stop in rush hour traffic, but you still have to keep your hands on the steering wheel, which gently helps you around curves. The new Nissan Leaf’s range is now 150 miles on a full charge, still 78 miles short of the Chevy Bolt’s stated range.

Cadillac launches Super Cruise: Is Cadillac in the autonomy lead? Yes, I think it is, even if Mercedes-Benz and Volvo have slightly more capable systems in the works. As part of Super Cruise’s safety redundancy, GM mapped 180,000 miles of U.S. roads. You must take the wheel of the Cadillac CT6 to change lanes, but otherwise it’s even easier than two-fingertip steering on long, boring Interstates.

Toyota and Mazda announce joint-venture U.S. assembly plant: Likely to be built somewhere in the UAW-bereft Southeast, the joint venture also will help struggling Mazda get into electrified powertrains. Let’s hope it leads to a future for the Mazda MX-5 Miata and Toyota 86, as their Fiat and Subaru deals are not likely to have sequels.

Mazda announces Skyactive X engine technology: Mazda will equip its next 3, coming in 2019, with a compression ignition gasoline powered engine said to nearly equal a similar-sized four-cylinder turbodiesel, and match it for CO2 emissions.

Fiat Chrysler ‘confirms’ it has not been approached by Great Wall Motors: The late-summer denial that a Chinese automaker was looking to buy Fiat Chrysler comes in the middle of a year in which CEO Sergio Marchionne is pretty transparent about his desire to find a dance partner. In my Motor City Blogman column, I note that Jeep and Ram are the two brands that would attract such a partner, and that if Marchionne expected value to be paid for the rest of the brands, the company might have to go it alone for a while longer.

IAA Frankfurt motor show highlights: The Honda Urban EV concept, Mercedes-AMG Project One, a roadgoing F1 car driven onto the stage by Lewis Hamilton (who would soon win his fourth World Driver’s Championship), Renault Symbioz concept, a modern rolling living room, Ferrari Portofino, Hyundai Kona, Kia Proceed concept, and according to Robert Cumberford, the new Borgward Isabella and something called the Aspark Owl.

Delphi splits in two: We don’t often cover Tier One suppliers, but it’s worth noting that this former GM parts division this year split into two companies. Delphi Technology continues to work on updating and improving powertrains, mostly the internal combustion engine, while Aptiv covers autonomy and connectivity. While I often write about automakers’ latest autonomous technology breakthroughs, much of the advances are coming from companies like Aptiv, Continental, Bosch, etc.

GM will launch ‘at least’ 20 new battery-electric or fuel cell vehicles by 2023: While no one has figured out how to make money on BEVs or fuel cells yet, this announcement spurs on GM’s already soaring share prices. The first two new EVs will arrive by mid-2019 and will be based on the current Chevy Bolt, while the new models after that will be off a new electric/fuel cell platform, including what looks to be the C8 Corvette E-ray.

Tokyo Motor Show highlights: The Honda EV Coupe concept, Mazda Vision Coupe concept, Mazda Kai concept (next Mazda3), Subaru Viviz Performance concept (next WRX/STI), Daihatsu DN Compagno concept, and the Toyota TJ Cruiser. In time for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, Toyota also displays a new Century limousine and a Tokyo cab, replacing models first designed for the 1964 Olympics that raised the city out of its postwar doldrums.

Tesla loses record $619 million in the third quarter: The cost of developing the much-awaited Tesla Model 3 and its production facility no doubt contributed to all this red ink. CEO Elon Musk says Tesla delivered just 233 of its mass-market EVs as of the end of the quarter, and says ramp-up of production to 5,000 per month now is delayed to the end of the first quarter of 2018—originally, this was the goal for the end of the year.

Peugeot-Citroen launches car-sharing service ahead of return to the U.S.: Free2Move is launched as an aggregation app for Car2Go and Zipcar in Seattle. The app will help PSA relearn the U.S. market ahead of its planned return selling cars here, says North American chief Larry Dominique. PSA will sell one of it from Performance Junk Blogger 6 http://ift.tt/2BXQdmE via IFTTT

[jonathanbelloblog]

Wheelspinning Our Way Through 2017

If 2017 was the year of President Trump everywhere else, in the automotive world, it seemed to be the year of Elon Musk. Again. Musk’s Tesla began 2017 with some 440,000 intenders each holding $1,000 deposit receipts for a new $35,000+ Model 3 with hopes they would start to get their cars by midyear.

Tesla ended 2017 with Musk now building anticipation for a new semi truck, apparently named “Semi,” which he says will have a 500-mile range and will begin deliveries in 2019, with a new Roadster model—actually a 2+2 targa grand touring car capable of 250 mph+ and 0-60 mph in 1.9 seconds—arriving at dealers a year later.

Musk said Tesla delivered just 233 Model 3s by the end of the third quarter. When I asked Tesla public relations for an update on deliveries through, at least, mid-December, the response was to refer to Musk’s third-quarter analysts’ call held November 1. Tesla PR said the number of deliveries will be updated in the first quarter 2018 analysts’ call. So it goes.

In reality, 2017 was the year that traditional automakers ramped up their counter-assault on Tesla’s electric vehicles, with plans for everything from fuel cells and solid-state batteries to new ways to make the internal combustion engine cleaner and more efficient. Here’s how I saw the year in automobiles …

Fords with a future: CEO Mark Fields announces a $700-million investment in its Flat Rock, Michigan, plant to build a hybrid Mustang, a 300-plus mile EV SUV by 2020, and a hybrid-powered fully autonomous vehicle by 2021. Ford also will build hybrid versions of its F-150 pickup, and its Explorer-based Interceptor Police Utility vehicle and Taurus-based Police Interceptor sedan. At the same time, Fields attempts to assuage President-elect Trump’s anti-North American Free Trade Agreement position by cancelling plans for a new Mexican assembly plant.

Mary Barra adds “chairman” to her title: General Motors’ board elects its first female CEO to become its first female chairman, as well. Through much of its 109-year history, GM has assigned those titles to separate executives.

U.S. auto sales hits another record: Automakers report January 5 that they sold 17.54 million cars and light trucks in 2016, topping 2015, the previous record year, by 56,211 units. While car sales clearly have peaked, we’ll finish off calendar year ’17 at a still-healthy 17.1 million, according to AutoTrader’s mid-December estimate.

North American International Auto Show highlights: The 2017 Detroit Auto Show featured the new Kia Stinger, Mercedes-Benz E-Class coupe, Toyota Camry, Nissan Vmotion 2.0 concept (the next Altima), Honda Odyssey, Infiniti QX50 concept, Chevrolet Traverse, Lexus LS, and Volkswagen I.D. Buzz concept (a modern EV Microbus). Sergio Marchionne reveals in his annual Detroit show press conference that the next-generation Jeep Grand Cherokee will share the new longitudinal engine platform that underpins the Alfa Romeo Stelvio. Ford shows nothing of significance.

EPA says Fiat Chrysler’s diesel Jeeps and Rams violate the Clean Air Act with defeat devices: Just prior to President Trump taking office, the Environmental Protection Agency announces it’s investigating Fiat Chrysler for alleged fuel economy/emissions test cheating devices on its Jeep and Ram EcoDiesel engines. Fiat Chrysler in May announces it has a software fix to solve the problem.

GM and Honda announce a fuel cell deal: In late January, General Motors and Honda announce a joint venture to design and develop a next-generation, compact fuel cell stack. They plan to build these fuel cell stacks together at a GM plant in Brownstown Township, Michigan, that assembles battery packs for the Chevrolet Bolt and Volt by 2021.

Geneva International Motor Show Highlights: The new McLaren 720S was the show’s runaway hit, though Robert Cumberford also singles out the Fittipaldi EF7 by Pininfarina. Automobile staff also like the Aston Martin Valkyrie, Mercedes-AMG Concept GT, Volkswagen Arteon, Range Rover Velar, Alpine A110, Volvo XC60, and Bentley EXP12 Speed 6e.

GM sells Opel/Vauxhall to PSA Peugeot Citroen for $2.3 billion: The world’s third-largest automaker runs from one of the world’s largest markets¬—the European Union, collectively, is about as large as the U.S. market in millions of annual sales. It’s also a very tough market, with strict regulations, loose enforcement (see, German-brand diesels), and relatively strong unions that make it hard to move assembly plants to former Soviet satellite countries with lower labor costs. In the end, though, it may have been Brexit that pushed the sale over the line. GM’s Vauxhall was stronger in the United Kingdom than was Opel on the Continent.

Trump rescinds the Obama administration 2025 CAFE standard: Automakers selling cars and trucks in the U.S. were required to reach a 54.5-mpg Corporate Average Fuel Economy standard under an agreement reached with the Obama administration in 2010, shortly after the GM and Chrysler loan guarantee bailouts. But the standard always was subject to a “mid-term review” that could pull back the standards. The new Trump administration jumps ahead of that review with an executive order. For automakers, it will offer relief from having to reach the 54.5-mpg CAFE number. However, automakers already were well on their way in engineering new powertrains and lighter, more aerodynamic (and CAFE standard “footprint” measurements) bodies. We’re not likely to see much pullback from those plans, so most automakers will probably be close to meeting the ’25 standard, if a few years late, anyway. What’s more, Trump’s executive order does nothing to the California Mandate requiring a certain percentage of zero-emissions vehicles sold there and in 16 other, mostly coastal states. The California Zero Emissions Mandate already is responsible for cars like the Chevy Bolt and Nissan Leaf, as well as Tesla’s relative success.

Trump wants to tear up NAFTA and place a tariff on Mexican-built autos: After the U.S. auto sales peaks of 2015 and 2016, there’s no shortage of auto manufacturing capacity. As I reported in late March, Trump’s plan to tear up the North American Free Trade Agreement would not push automakers to build new, $1-billion+ factories in the United States (although Volvo, for one, already plans its first assembly plant here). The president specifically attacks Ford for moving Focus production from Michigan to Mexico in 2018, though it’s adding more profitable Ranger pickup and Bronco sport/utility production in its place in Michigan. Ford has since rescinded its plans for a new Mexican plant, and instead will move Focus production to China. President Trump has yet to act on rescinding U.S. participation in NAFTA.

Tesla’s market cap exceeds GM’s and Ford’s: Tesla’s market capitalization first passes Ford Motor Company’s, then in April, General Motors’. Tesla stock has since settled into the low $300s-per-share range, while GM stock has rallied to top the disruptive EV automaker’s cap, again. As of December 21, Tesla was worth about $55.1 billion to GM’s $60.1 billion. Wall Street bulls have defended Tesla’s stock value as a sign of an all-electric future. Tesla will be well positioned to lead that future, the bulls say, though as it continues to lose money and have problems getting Model 3 production up to speed, more and more bears are popping up in the analysts’ community.

Tesla loses $397 million in the first quarter: The losses are worse than analysts’ expectations, but by early June, stock values start to rise again.

Ford fires Fields: Ford Motor Company CEO Mark Fields, a corporate veteran credited for turning around Mazda (which Ford formerly controlled) in the late 1990s, is fired allegedly for lagging on electric car development. The real reason is Ford’s lagging stock value, a bigger concern for William Clay Ford and his relatives, who control the company with 40 percent of its stock. Fields’ replacement is Jim Hackett, hired away from the office furniture company, Steelcase.

GM shareholders reject a dual-class stock proposal: Greenlight Capital wants to split GM stock into two classes [not unlike Ford’s Class B stock] in order to cash in some value out of the automaker. To those of us far from Wall Street it seems the sort of action that would put GM in the same position it was in 12 years ago, when an economic downturn or a change in automotive tastes due to something like a spike in oil prices could lead to serious cash shortage. At GM’s annual meeting in June, shareholders roundly reject Greenlight’s proposal.

BMW 2 Series to lose manual option?: In June, a BMW executive in Germany was quoted indicating that the company would stop importing manual transmission 2 Series models to the U.S. The uproar that caused in the purist-enthusiasts’ community resulted in a clarification. If BMW stops selling stick shift 2 Series models here, it won’t be until the car’s next generation, expected to be the 2020 model year (now less than two years away). Automobile magazine’s Four Seasons ‘17 M2 came with just one option; the dual-clutch seven-speed automatic, because, BMW said, customer demand for the manual created a shortage. I wouldn’t be surprised if the next 2 Series came only with a DCT, which is handy for Level III or IV autonomous features. And the upcoming X2 “sport/activity vehicle” almost certainly will not be offered with a three-pedal layout.

Volvo goes all-electrified by 2019: The misleading headline at Volvo’s own website reads, “Volvo goes all-electric,” but the copy underneath says that by ’19, all Volvos will have an electric motor. While the hyperbole led The Cult of Elon to believe they had won their revolution, at Volvo, this entails everything from pure battery-EV to plug-in hybrid to 48-volt. For sure, the 48-volt revolution is coming, with that technology aiding stop/start systems and in some cases limited EV driving while accommodating the expansion of elaborate infotainment systems. In any event, Volvo’s announcement spurred similar claims later in the year from rival premium automakers.

Nissan launches ProPilot Assist in its all-new, 2018 Leaf: The automated cruise control will start and stop in rush hour traffic, but you still have to keep your hands on the steering wheel, which gently helps you around curves. The new Nissan Leaf’s range is now 150 miles on a full charge, still 78 miles short of the Chevy Bolt’s stated range.

Cadillac launches Super Cruise: Is Cadillac in the autonomy lead? Yes, I think it is, even if Mercedes-Benz and Volvo have slightly more capable systems in the works. As part of Super Cruise’s safety redundancy, GM mapped 180,000 miles of U.S. roads. You must take the wheel of the Cadillac CT6 to change lanes, but otherwise it’s even easier than two-fingertip steering on long, boring Interstates.

Toyota and Mazda announce joint-venture U.S. assembly plant: Likely to be built somewhere in the UAW-bereft Southeast, the joint venture also will help struggling Mazda get into electrified powertrains. Let’s hope it leads to a future for the Mazda MX-5 Miata and Toyota 86, as their Fiat and Subaru deals are not likely to have sequels.

Mazda announces Skyactive X engine technology: Mazda will equip its next 3, coming in 2019, with a compression ignition gasoline powered engine said to nearly equal a similar-sized four-cylinder turbodiesel, and match it for CO2 emissions.

Fiat Chrysler ‘confirms’ it has not been approached by Great Wall Motors: The late-summer denial that a Chinese automaker was looking to buy Fiat Chrysler comes in the middle of a year in which CEO Sergio Marchionne is pretty transparent about his desire to find a dance partner. In my Motor City Blogman column, I note that Jeep and Ram are the two brands that would attract such a partner, and that if Marchionne expected value to be paid for the rest of the brands, the company might have to go it alone for a while longer.

IAA Frankfurt motor show highlights: The Honda Urban EV concept, Mercedes-AMG Project One, a roadgoing F1 car driven onto the stage by Lewis Hamilton (who would soon win his fourth World Driver’s Championship), Renault Symbioz concept, a modern rolling living room, Ferrari Portofino, Hyundai Kona, Kia Proceed concept, and according to Robert Cumberford, the new Borgward Isabella and something called the Aspark Owl.

Delphi splits in two: We don’t often cover Tier One suppliers, but it’s worth noting that this former GM parts division this year split into two companies. Delphi Technology continues to work on updating and improving powertrains, mostly the internal combustion engine, while Aptiv covers autonomy and connectivity. While I often write about automakers’ latest autonomous technology breakthroughs, much of the advances are coming from companies like Aptiv, Continental, Bosch, etc.

GM will launch ‘at least’ 20 new battery-electric or fuel cell vehicles by 2023: While no one has figured out how to make money on BEVs or fuel cells yet, this announcement spurs on GM’s already soaring share prices. The first two new EVs will arrive by mid-2019 and will be based on the current Chevy Bolt, while the new models after that will be off a new electric/fuel cell platform, including what looks to be the C8 Corvette E-ray.

Tokyo Motor Show highlights: The Honda EV Coupe concept, Mazda Vision Coupe concept, Mazda Kai concept (next Mazda3), Subaru Viviz Performance concept (next WRX/STI), Daihatsu DN Compagno concept, and the Toyota TJ Cruiser. In time for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, Toyota also displays a new Century limousine and a Tokyo cab, replacing models first designed for the 1964 Olympics that raised the city out of its postwar doldrums.

Tesla loses record $619 million in the third quarter: The cost of developing the much-awaited Tesla Model 3 and its production facility no doubt contributed to all this red ink. CEO Elon Musk says Tesla delivered just 233 of its mass-market EVs as of the end of the quarter, and says ramp-up of production to 5,000 per month now is delayed to the end of the first quarter of 2018—originally, this was the goal for the end of the year.

Peugeot-Citroen launches car-sharing service ahead of return to the U.S.: Free2Move is launched as an aggregation app for Car2Go and Zipcar in Seattle. The app will help PSA relearn the U.S. market ahead of its planned return selling cars here, says North American chief Larry Dominique. PSA will sell one of it from Performance Junk Blogger Feed 4 http://ift.tt/2BXQdmE via IFTTT