Weekly Auto News Wrap-up +VIDEO Week Ending June 29, 2019 - Compiled By Executive Producer Larry Nutson
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Nutson's Automotive News Review - Week Ending June 29, 2019; Vehicle news and back stories in easy to digest nuggets.
* What's the most “American-made” car? Cars.com released its 2019 American-Made Index this week. The top fifteen are: Jeep Cherokee, Honda Odyssey, Honda Ridgeline, Honda Passport, Chevrolet Corvette, Acura MDX, Honda Pilot, Chevrolet Colorado, GMC Canyon, Acura RDX, Chevrolet Camaro, Toyota Avalon, Ford F-150, Honda Accord and Toyota Tundra. All are assembled in the U.S.
* Fiat Chrysler Automobiles hosted the media at their Chelsea, Michigan proving grounds this week. Dodge unveiled a couple of badass family cars...the new 2020 Charger SRT Hellcat Widebody along with the Charger Scat Pack. The 707-horsepower SRT Hellcat hits 60 in 3.6 seconds, does a 10.96 et in the quarter, and has a top speed 196 mph. Dodge says it's "the most powerful and fastest mass produced four-door car in the world.” Other news we can also talk about now is the introduction of the Chrysler Voyage minivan, based on the Pacific but costing under $27,000.
* Paul Eisenstein writing for The Detroit Bureau reports that nearly a decade after emerging from the Great Recession the U.S. auto industry is facing another downturn, and it’s coming at a particularly risky moment. Sales have slipped about 2% for the first half of the year, based on preliminary June numbers, and a new study by AlixPartners forecasts demand will slip to 16.9 million for all of 2019, down from 17.3 million last year. The slump, the consultancy warned, could accelerate in 2020 and 2021 (sales could drop to 16.3 and then 16.1 million). But even as revenues take a hit, automakers are being forced to ramp up spending on the new technologies that are expected to define the industry in the future, including autonomous and electrified vehicles.
* Joe White writing for Reuters reports a Reuters/Ipsos poll today finds that 70% of Americans want to take “aggressive” action to combat climate change, but only a third would pay $100 extra in tax to do so. Deep worry among auto industry executives that most U.S. consumers – and maybe most consumers elsewhere - won’t pay much extra for clean technology lies behind the efforts of car makers to persuade governments to slow down EV mandates. Consultants at AlixPartners, which advises on strategy and financial restructuring, warned in a separate study that automakers face a “profit desert” – forced to invest in EVs that make no money for years to come.
* LMC forecaster Kevin Riddell told a conference Tuesday that Peak ICE (peak production of internal combustion engines) already happened in North America. By 2050, Riddell said 70% of global vehicle sales could be zero emission vehicles -- battery or fuel cell powered. AlixPartners predicts that by 2025, 67% of vehicles sold worldwide will have just a gasoline internal combustion engine - vs. a hybrid, electric or diesel powertrain - down from 76% in 2019.
* London’s lawmakers aren’t against cars and vans driving through its most congested parts, as long as they turn electric soon. More bicycle paths, wider sidewalks, narrower streets, and zero emission zones are in the works. The introduction of a policy not to license new diesel versions of the iconic black taxis has seen the deployment onto the streets of 1,700 cabs capable of working with zero emissions.
* French automaker Renault SA, its Japanese partner Nissan Motor Co and tech giant Alphabet Inc's Waymo are exploring a partnership to develop and use self-driving vehicles to transport people and goods in France and Japan, the companies said. The proposed venture could also be expanded to other markets, the companies said.
* A survey by Consumer Reports found 57 percent of drivers say advanced driver assistance systems have helped them avoid a crash. The survey, which tracked data on about 72,000 vehicles covering 2015-19 models, asked drivers about forward collision warning, automatic emergency braking, blind spot warning and other active safety and driver systems. Survey participants reported the highest satisfaction with adaptive cruise control, automatic emergency braking and blind spot warning systems. Lane-keeping features were less popular or effective, with respondents reporting annoying alert chimes, vibrations or overly aggressive steering corrections.
* Ford is about to reduce its European workforce by 20% in a restructuring of its operations in response to changing automotive business in that market. Operations in Germany, the UK and Russia will take the biggest hits loosing about 12,000 people. Uncertainties about Brexit and much tougher emissions standards have exacerbated the already weak European markets. Ford plans to close six factories including some joint ventures.
* A study published this week by auto industry analyst firm AlexPartners suggests that Volkswagen and Fiat Chrysler Automobile could incur serious penalties if they don’t meet the more stringent European emissions standards due to take affect in 2021. VW may face 1.3 billion euros and FCA 760 million. Volvo and Toyota do not appear to face as much risk. Representing substantial headwinds are the industry's major investments in electrification at a time when new vehicle demand is waning.
* Porsche is recalling almost 340,000 Cayenne and Panamera vehicles due to problems with their automatic transmission. A spokesman for Volkswagen Group's sports-car brand said the cars might roll when parked due to a potentially fragile part in the connection between the gear lever and transmission. Almost 100,000 of the affected vehicles, which date back to 2002, are in the United States and almost 25,000 in Germany.
* The epic Great Race, 2019 version, began this week zig-zagging north though the western tier of states starting in Riverside, California headed for Tacoma, Washington. Presented by Hemmings Motor News and Hagerty Insurance the time-speed-distance rally features an eclectic variety of classic and collector cars older than 1974 competing in special stages on scenic roads. The race will finish Sunday, June 30th at LeMay - America's Car Museum with $150,000 in prize money. Competing are 120 cars from 4 foreign countries and multiple states.
* Mitsubishi will move its U.S. headquarters from Cypress, California to Franklin, Tennessee to be close to its partner Nissan Motor Company. Only the parts distribution arm of the company will remain in California and the R&D facility will remain in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Nissan made the same move from the west coast to the mid-south in 2006 in the early stages of other auto companies making similar moves. Mitsubishi, one of the smallest automakers in the U.S., is in the midst of what they call a revival.
* In the motorsports arena, Dodge has built a one-off Charger SRT Hellcat Widebody concept that will compete in this weekend's 97th Pikes Peak Hillclimb. The race-prepped SRT Hellcat Charger is powered by a special built supercharged 6.2-L Hemi V8 with an 8-speed performance TorqueFlite automatic transmission and sits on 20-inch by 11-inch wheels to help it negotiate the 156 turns in the 12.4 mile climb from the 9,390-foot high start into the clouds at 14,115 feet.