AD #2439 – Dealer Group Predicted Tesla Issues, Ride-Hailing Getting More Popular, Wild New Holographic AR Nav System

On today’s show… Renault reveals a wild looking autonomous delivery pod… the popularity in ride-hailing is growing by leaps and bounds… and Porsche and Hyundai invest in a holographic augmented reality startup. All that and more coming right up on Autoline Daily.

This is Autoline Daily the voice of the automotive industry.

I TOLD YOU SO
Earlier this week, Tesla CEO Elon Musk revealed that the company is going through “delivery logistics hell,” trying to get vehicles in customer’s hands. In the second quarter of the year, the company built more than 53,000 vehicles but only delivered a little more than 40,000 of them. And now Mike Jackson, the outspoken CEO of AutoNation, the largest dealer group in the U.S., is telling Tesla, I told you so. Four years ago, he predicted that the company would run into this problem when trying to ramp up production. And that’s pretty much what happened. He says Tesla could have avoided the issue if it didn’t handle its own retailing. As you know, Tesla snubbed the franchise model and instead sells cars directly to customers. So that’s why we’re seeing some gloating from Mike Jackson.

RIDE-HAILING GETTING MORE POPULAR
Ride-hailing services, like Uber and Lyft, continue to grow in popularity. A new study from ABI Research found that 16 billion ride-hailing trips were made globally in 2017. And this year it’s expected to grow to 24 billion. Asia is by far and away the largest market for ride-hailing. Over 70% of trips globally were made in the region. North and Latin America were next on the list. Ride-hailing is popular in Asia because vehicle ownership is relatively low, plus it’s pretty cheap. The average cost of a trip is as low as 10 cents a mile.

And we’ll have new performance car reveals from BMW and Mercedes right after this.

BMW REVEALS NEW Z4
BMW just introduced the new Z4. It’s bigger than the outgoing model, about 3 inches longer and wider and about a half an inch taller. It’s powered by a new 2.0L four-cylinder turbo, which offers a slight boost in horsepower and torque. The M Version features a 3.0L six-cylinder engine, which helps it move from 0 to 60 MPH in just 4.4 seconds. Both engines are mated to an 8-speed automatic transmission. The new Z4 will arrive at dealerships in the U.S. in March of 2019.

AMG GETS ITS HANDS ON NEW A-CLASS
Mercedes-AMG just got its hands on the new A-Class hatchback and here are the highlights. Under the hood is a turbocharged 2.0L 4-cylinder engine that produces over 300-horsepower. It gets mated to a 7-speed dual-clutch transmission and 4MATIC all-wheel drive, which helps propel the hot hatch from 0 to 100 kilometers an hour in 4.7-seconds. To improve handling, an aluminum underplate was added beneath the engine as well as two diagonal braces at the front of the underbody. It also gets an improved AMG RIDE CONTROL suspension. The interior, of course, features sporty seats and a steering wheel, but the instrument cluster also has three AMG display styles to choose from. The A 35 4MATIC will first hit the market in Western Europe in January of next year.

RENAULT DEVELOPS LAST-MILE POD CONCEPT
Renault unveiled this wild looking concept called the EZ-PRO. It’s an autonomous, electric, connected and shared vehicle, that’s been designed for last-mile deliveries in cities. EZ-PRO travels autonomously in a platoon, which consists of a leader pod and driverless pods that automatically follow it. But humans haven’t been completely eliminated. A concierge sits in the leader pod to supervise the deliveries. Renault says a vehicle like this can help improve traffic congestion, since fewer vehicles will be needed to make deliveries and its connected technology will help traffic flow more smoothly.

Coming up next, Hyundai and Porsche invest in a very interesting kind of navigation system.

HYUNDAI & PORSCHE INVEST IN WILD NAV SYSTEM
The founder and CEO of WayRay came up with his idea for a holographic augmented-reality navigation system after getting into an accident due to being distracted by his GPS system. The startup is now getting investments from major automakers, like Hyundai and Porsche. As you might expect, they plan to use the technology in completely different ways. Hyundai will first use it to improve navigation by displaying things like traffic information, including real-time information about crosswalks, pedestrians, roads and warning signs. Porsche, on the other hand, is showing how the technology could also be used to improve the on-track experience. The system could display things like where other drivers are on the track, the ideal line to take or even let you race against a virtual driver. It almost like turning it into a video game. No word on when we might see WayRay in a Porsche, but Hyundai says it plans to introduce the system into its mass-produced vehicles as early as 2020.

Don’t forget to join us for Autoline After Hours this afternoon, when our special guest will be none other than Bob Lutz. You can be sure he’ll have a lot to say about the state of the automotive industry. If you have any questions, just send them to viewermail@autoline.tv. And then join us at 3PM eastern time on Autoline.tv.

But that’s it for today, thanks for watching and please join us again tomorrow.