Listen to “AD #2807 – U.S. Sales Take a Beating; FCA Opens Online Purchases; PSA Group Hints at First U.S.-Bound Vehicle” on Spreaker.
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Runtime: 11:11
0:07 March U.S. Sales Take a Beating
1:03 U.S. Full-Size Pickup Sales
1:27 China Sales Report
2:14 GM & FCA Try New Sales Strategies
2:45 Kia Extends Warranties Worldwide
3:21 Audi e-tron Sportback Details
4:29 PSA Group Hints at 1st U.S.-Bound Vehicle
5:23 Dongfeng Could Change Mind on PSA Stake Sale
5:50 Hyundai Shows What Other N Models Could Look Like
7:05 Sandy Munro’s 1st Look at Tesla’s Model Y
9:20 German Automakers Show Social Distancing Logos
9:52 Custom Mask Suggestions
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MARCH U.S. SALES TAKE A BEATING
Automakers posted their sales for March and for the first quarter in the U.S. market and the numbers look brutal. Wards says the SAAR fell to only 11.4 million in March, even though sales didn’t really start to fall until mid-month. It predicts the SAAR will fall to only 10 million in April and possibly to single digits in May. That would be a lower SAAR than we saw in the Great Recession. Automakers sold 606,000 fewer vehicles in March than they did a year ago. Passenger cars took the biggest hit down 41%. Crossovers were down 35%, SUVs fell 32% and pickups fell the least, down 29%. Ward’s says commercial fleet sales did the best of all, with full size pickups and full size vans down 9% and 18%, respectively.
| March U.S. Auto Sales | ||
|---|---|---|
| SAAR | 11.4 Million | |
| Sales | 992,000 | -33% |
U.S. Q1 FULL-SIZE PICKUP SALES
One bright spot for General Motors is that the Chevrolet Silverado finally outsold the Ram pickup. Ford still tops the full size pickup segment with the F-Series, but saw sales fall 14%, which Silverado sales shot up nearly 26% and Ram sales were up 7%. Toyota and Nissan continue to struggle in the segment.
| U.S. Full-Size Pickup Sales | ||
|---|---|---|
| F-Series | 171,700 | -14.3% |
| Silverado | 143,350 | +25.7% |
| Ram | 125,500 | +7% |
| Tundra | 21,650 | -13.7% |
| Titan | 5,732 | -41% |
CHINA SALES PERFORMANCE
And the sales reports coming out of China are an indication of what the rest of the automotive world is about to go through. LMC Automotive reports that even though China started to get the virus under control in February sales fell 80% that month. And even though production is starting to get going again, it forecasts that sales probably fell 60% in March. LMC says that if the virus is completely under control by May then Chinese sales could start to recover in the third quarter and could rebound in the fourth quarter. But if the pandemic stretches into the second quarter, it says the Chinese auto industry could suffer catastrophic losses. Like we said, what happens in China is probably an indication of what will happen everywhere else in the world.
GM & FCA TRY NEW SALES STRATEGIES
With sales plummeting automakers are looking for new ways to get customers buying again. FCA will allow U.S. customers for the first time to complete the purchase of a vehicle online without stepping foot in a dealership. They can even trade in their old vehicle and apply for a car loan. GM and FCA are also trying out 0% interest 7-year loans with FCA not taking payments for 90 days on select vehicles.
KIA EXTENDS WARRANTIES WORLDWIDE
We’re also seeing automakers help out existing customers. Kia announced it’s extending vehicle warranties worldwide. Any warranty that expires between February 1 and April 30 will be extended until June 30. Kia says more than 500,000 customers could benefit from the program.
AUDI e-tron SPORTBACK DETAILS
Audi just gave us a lot more details on the new e-tron Sportback. The electric SUV is powered by a 95-kWh battery which provides nearly 280 miles of range based on the WLTP test. It features a drag coefficient of 0.25, and thanks to its aerodynamics, the crossover gets an extra 6 miles of range. Each axle is fitted with an electric motor and the total output of the vehicle is 300 kW, which helps the e-tron Sportback move from 0 to 100 kilometers an hour in 5.7 seconds. It’s offered with digital matrix LED headlights, which lights up the road in high resolution. It seats five people and the interior also features two displays, the upper one is a 12.1-inch touchscreen for driver controls. And the other is a 8.6-inch display climate control and other convenience functions. The e-tron Sportback is scheduled to go on sale in Europe this spring.
COULD THIS BE THE 1ST U.S.-BOUND PSA VEHICLE?
The PSA Group is hinting at which Peugeot model could be the first to be sold in the U.S. market again. As we reported yesterday the merger between PSA and FCA iis still on track despite the worldwide crisis. Speaking to WardsAuto, DS Cars’ product manager says the Group “would have to take the best of the PSA Group cars.” And right now that would be the newly introduced DS 9 sedan. DS developed the car to compete with other luxury cars, like the Audi A4, BMW 3 Series and Mercedes C-Class, but it actually has a slightly longer wheelbase than those vehicles. It says it imagined the car like a long-wheelbase version of what you’d find in China with extra space and comfort. DS says it has plans for vehicles bigger than the DS 9, but that won’t be for some years to come.
DONGFENG COULD CHANGE PLANS TO SELL PSA SHARES
In other PSA Group news, when FCA and PSA announced their merger, PSA’s Chinese joint venture partner Dongfeng said it would lower its stake in PSA to help the merger go smoothly. That move would leave Dongfeng with a 4.5% holding in the new merged companies. But due to a drop in share prices, the Chinese automaker says it could change its plans to sell those shares.
HYUNDAI SHOW WHAT OTHER N VEHICLES COULD LOOK LIKE
Hyundai’s performance N Brand will branch out to other models, but unfortunately it’s teasing us with N models it’s not going to make. The automaker released renderings of what the Palisade, Nexo and Prophecy would look like if they were N vehicles. They all look cool, and we especially like the Palisade’s low stance, fender flares and a little bit of a wild, integrated spoiler off the back. But like we said, these are just teases and Hyundai made that very clear in its Instagram posts.
Does Tesla really make the best gross margins in the auto industry? Not according to our guest on Autoline After Hours this afternoon. That’s because we’ve got Montana Skeptic coming on the show. And let’s just say he’s been critical of the way that Tesla presents its financial earnings to investors. Also on that show is David Welch from Bloomberg. So, join Gary and me at 3PM eastern time for some of the best discussions in the automotive industry.
SANDY MUNRO’S FIRST LOOK AT TESLA’S MODEL Y
Sandy Munro just got his hands on a Model Y. And I was fortunate enough to visit him at his shop earlier this week, don’t worry as you’ll see in the video we took precautions. And while it’s not as bad as the Model 3 he tore down a few years ago, he’s come across fit and finish problems with the Model Y. Here’s Sandy going into more detail.
Sandy Munro
“This is a gap gauge and this is what we use to check the whole car. And what we found was here on the hood, we were running gaps that were basically in the front from one to three and a half. And three and a half to four and a half. If they would have been all the same, I would have been delighted.”
John McElroy
“And when you say one to three and a half, what you’re saying is there’s probably a gap?”
Sandy
“Yeah we just put the gap gauge in, we measure where it says and then we put the number down. And then we look from left to right.”
John
“So you want each side to be exactly the same and what you’re finding is variation from one side to the other.”
Sandy
“That’s right. But the good news is, is the doors are great. This is what people see, so this is a good job, they did a good job here.”
John
“And of course doors are hard to get right but if you get them right no wind or rain noise.”
Sandy
“That’s right, the only problem is when you get down to the sill, you start seeing gaps that were one millimeter out. I can’t really throw too many rocks at that.”
John
“Ok, the rear of the car.”
Sandy
“The rear of the car is where the biggest gaps were, all the way around. So, normally we would like to see left to right the same but unfortunately on here we’re looking at one and a half to one millimeter gaps that are differential. And the biggest one is the taillamp to the body, at the liftgate. And that one there is out the most, three and a half one side and six at the other.”
John
“Yeah I can barely fit my fingers in on this side.”
You can watch that entire video right now on our YouTube channel. And Sandy will also be live streaming his teardown of the Model Y daily, you can check it out at Munrolive.com.
AUTOMAKERS RELEASE SOCIAL DISTANCING LOGOS
Automakers are doing their part to help with the coronavirus, but maybe they’re taking it a step too far. To help get the message out about social distancing, Audi, Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz, have altered their logos on various social media platforms. As you can see, they’ve separated elements on their logos so they aren’t close to each other. And no this is not an April Fool’s joke, Audi and Volkswagen posted these logos more than a week ago.
CUSTOM MASK SUGGESTIONS
Yesterday we asked you for ideas for cool designs for masks. And the folks at Studio VO sent us these fantastic renderings, one with the Mustang Mach-E logo and the other is the Autoline logo. This is great stuff and thanks so much for taking the time to make these.
We also had some other responses. Jim Bielecki wrote “Regarding custom face masks, an artist friend of mine is using wild, brightly colored fabric for the masks she’s making in her basement. Some are covered with hearts, some are mainly floral, others are heavily patterned. Nothing boring about these masks!”
Marshall Hill also had this suggestion, “I’d like bumper sticker slogans on the mask such as ‘If you can read this, you’re too close!’”
Those were just a few of the responses, we can’t get to them all but thanks to everyone who sent in their suggestions.
But that’s it for today, thanks for watching and please join us again tomorrow.
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John McElroy is an influential thought leader in the automotive industry. He is a journalist, lecturer, commentator and entrepreneur. He created “Autoline Daily,” the first industry webcast of industry news and analysis.
