AD #2982 – Mercedes Prepares EV Onslaught; NACTOY Finalists Announced; Hyundai Shuns Chinese Investments

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

HYUNDAI SHUNS CHINESE INVESTMENTS
Zo-Zo Go, the newsletter published by China expert Michael Dunne, says Hyundai faces big problems in China. Ever since South Korea bought a missile defense system from the U.S. in 2017, the Chinese government began a campaign against Korean brands. Since then, Hyundai’s car sales in China fell in half. It had been selling a million cars a year there. Dunne also points out that Hyundai’s investments in future tech, such as robotics, EVs, fuel cells, and mobility do not include any Chinese companies. He says Hyundai is only investing in–and I quote here–”companies that operate in democratic societies where legal systems are reliable and transparent.”

GM INVESTS IN STARTUP YOSHI
General Motors’ investment subsidiary, GM Ventures, invested in a Silicon Valley startup called Yoshi. It provides on-demand auto services, including gasoline delivery, oil changes, wiper blade replacements and washing and detailing through its app. GM didn’t reveal how much it invested but Yoshi has raised $38 million from a number of different investors. Yoshi currently operates in five markets across the U.S. and GM is offering the service to its employees as well. Here’s our Autoline Insight. We’ll have to watch and see how GM’s dealers react to this. They’re already going to lose business in the future as GM offers over-the-air updates on its cars and trucks. And Yoshi could divert even more business away from dealerships.

HOTTEST AUTO STOCKS
Yesterday we reported that the hottest automotive stocks were Hyliion and Blink Charging. Investors must like what they see at those companies because they both posted double digit gains again. Hyllion, which makes EV drivetrains for semis, gained nearly 11%, while Blink Charging, which makes and operates its own EV charging stations was up 11.4%. Investors are sniffing out any opportunity for future tech. Thyssen Krupp saw its shares go up 99 cents for an 11.5% gain. Thyssen is a traditional German supplier that makes steel and body components. But it also just signed a massive deal with Saudi Arabia to build a plant to make hydrogen fuel from solar and wind power.

 

TOYOTA MOBILITY FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES CONTEST WINNER
The Toyota Mobility Foundation launched a challenge in 2017 for designers, engineers and innovators around the world, to create assistive technologies for people with lower limb paralysis. Over 80 teams from 28 countries entered and the winner was just announced. Phoenix Instinct from the UK received a $1 million prize for creating a lightweight, carbon-fiber wheelchair. It uses front-wheel power assist to reduce vibrations and minimize strain on the user. And it features an intelligent power braking system that’s automatic and basically acts like hill-descent control. Phoenix Instinct will use the prize money to further develop the wheelchair with the goal of bringing it to market.

FORD USES AI TO MAKE SCOOTERS SAFER
While shared scooter fleets have proved popular with the general public, there’s also drawbacks like unsightly groups of scooters left anywhere, people that illegally ride on sidewalks and injuries. So, Ford has teamed up with Dover AI to incorporate technology into its fleet of Spin scooters that should help take care of some of those problems. They feature a camera, sensors and on-board computing, which will first be used to detect improper sidewalk use and parking of the scooters. Ford says cities can then leverage this data to enforce regulation and/or identify potential congestion areas. And in the future the technology could also be used to automatically slow the speed when a scooter is on the sidewalk or even provide forward collision warning. 

GM TO MAKE ISV AT NASCAR TECH CENTER
The same building that GM runs all of its NASCAR operations out of is the same place where it will make its Infantry Squad Vehicle (ISV) for the U.S. Army. The 75,000 square-foot Charlotte Technical Center is a new facility, first announced back in January, and is located in Concord, North Carolina just 10 miles from the Charlotte Motor Speedway. So, why would GM want to build military vehicles there. Well, Hendrick Motorsports, which is also heavily involved in NASCAR, is located near the Charlotte Technical Center as well and makes the chrome-moly steel exoskeleton of the frame for the ISV. 

MAZDA OFFERING NEW PARTS FOR RX-7
Mazda has done this already with 1st-gen MX-5s/ Miatas, and now it’s offering new parts for the 2nd- and 3rd-generation versions of the RX-7, as well. There’s a total of 91 parts available and includes things like bolts, belts, bushings and hoses. They go on sale in February. They’re only available in Japan, but Mazda did the same thing with MX-5/Miata parts and they eventually came to the U.S. as well. 

MERCEDES S-CLASS STARTS OVER $100,000
The new Mercedes S-Class comes with more content and standard features, but it also comes with a bigger price tag. It starts at nearly $111,000, including destination charges, which is about $15,000 more than the previous model. There’s actually three trim levels available at the moment; Luxury Line, AMG Line and Executive Line, which starts at $132,500. No word on pricing for the true AMG S-Class or Maybach yet, but the other models go on sale in the U.S. in the first half of next year.

 

MERCEDES PREPARES EV ONSLAUGHT
Speaking of Mercedes, it says it wants to become a leader in electric vehicles and in-vehicle software. To meet its goals, Mercedes has a whole host of EVs coming our way. The automaker is already producing the EQC and EQV and next year it will start making the EQS, the electric version of the S-Class. But wait there’s more. Mercedes’ compact cars are going electric too. The EQA and EQB both go into production next year as well. But wait there’s more. It will also have EQE sedans rolling down the assembly line in 2021, while preparations for the SUV versions of the EQE and EQS start in the U.S. in 2022. But wait there’s more. A total of eight Mercedes EQ vehicles will be produced at 7 different locations in 2022.

NACTOY FINALISTS ANNOUNCED
The North American Car of The Year jury announced its finalists for the award. There are three categories, with three finalists in each. In the car category, the Genesis G80, Hyundai Elantra and Nissan Sentra made the cut. In the truck category, the Ford F-150, Jeep Gladiator Mojave and the Ram 1500 TRX are on the list. And in the utility category the Mustang Mach E, the Genesis GV80 and the Land Rover Defender beat out all the others. Now the jury has to decide which of these vehicles will be the winners for each category, and that will be announced on January 11th. So which ones would you choose? We’d love to know how the Autoline audience would vote. 

MAZDA CX-5 IMPRESSIONS
The most important vehicle in Mazda’s lineup recently rolled through the Autoline Garage, the CX-5. It’s by far and away the best-selling vehicle in the company’s lineup in the U.S. and accounts for a little more than half of the brand’s sales. But like most nameplates, its sales are down this year due to the pandemic. Through November, it’s off by 10,000 units compared to a year ago, which is a 7.5% drop. But this is a nice vehicle that will likely keep customers happy as long as they don’t really listen to the radio. More on that in a bit. A 2.5L naturally aspirated engine is standard but the model we drove had a 2.5L turbo under the hood, that’s mated to a 6-speed automatic transmission. It delivers 24 MPG combined. And while it’s smooth overall, the engine is buzzy when you accelerate hard. The power is pretty good but nothing special at 227 horsepower and 310 lb-ft of torque. Moving to the interior, the CX-5 looks like a premium vehicle, thanks to its tasteful styling and leather seats. The only real knock is its infotainment system, which makes skipping around radio or satellite stations a nuisance. You control it with a rotary knob, which we usually prefer, but you have to make several selections just to get to the controls and they always reset when you turn the vehicle off. So you have to go through the whole procedure again. But if you prefer to use Bluetooth to listen to podcasts or music, then you don’t have to worry about that. The CX-5 starts just over $26,000, but our test model was pretty loaded up, which pushed its price to nearly $40,000.

But that’s it for today, thanks for watching and have a great weekend.