AD #3006 – Could Kei Cars Go Extinct?; Geely & Foxconn To Build EVs For Faraday; Are V8 Engines in Trouble?

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

And it could be a sad day for enthusiasts. Are we on the verge of seeing the V8 engine go extinct? That’s what Tim Kuniskis, the head of the Dodge brand and a total gearhead himself is saying. Here’s the background. 

HEAD OF DODGE SAYS V8 ENGINES ARE IN TROUBLE
Dodge is all about heart-thumping horsepower. Heck, it even ran a program where new buyers got a $10 rebate for every horsepower the car produced. But stricter emission regulations are expected to come under the Biden Administration and Dodge is going to have to adjust. Brand CEO, Tim Kuniskis says, “The days of an iron block supercharged 6.2-liter V8 are numbered. They’re absolutely numbered because of all the compliance costs.” But there’s still a way for Dodge to remain true to its image and that’s electrification. Kuniskis confirmed it would be adding electric and plug-in hybrid technology in the coming years as a way to provide performance that would still rival a Hellcat. Although, he notes that it’s still waiting for the cost of components to come down so its electrification adoption could come a little later than some might expect. 

JEEP PLANS TO ELECTRIFY THE GLADIATOR
But one way to bring down costs is to add more scale and Jeep president, Christian Meunier recently responded “for sure” when asked if the Gladiator will be electrified. The brand has already confirmed the Wrangler will have a plug-in hybrid variant, called 4Xe, so it would make sense for the Gladiator to get the same setup, which includes a 2.0L turbo engine mated to an 8-speed automatic transmission with an integrated electric motor and a 17-kWh battery pack. That same setup or a modified version could be adopted for the Dodge lineup as well.

COULD KEI CARS GO EXTINCT?
And now to the polar opposite end of the spectrum. Could Kei cars go extinct? That’s what they’re saying. The tiny 660 cc city cars are very special to Japan. The category has been around since 1949 when Japan created the regulations for kei cars to help build up the country’s auto industry after World War II. What started out as simple, cheap runabouts has morphed into tiny technical powerhouses. Today’s kei cars are sophisticated but affordable, typically costing around $9,000 to $15,000. But Japanese automakers are afraid that turning kei cars into battery electrics will double the price. Even more, they’re deeply worried that tiny, cheap electrics from China, like Wuling’s Hongguang MINI EV with a base price of only $4,200, will take over the kei car segment.

GEELY & FOXCONN TO BUILD EVs FOR FARADAY FUTURE
Chinese automaker Geely announced it and Foxconn, the company that assembles the iPhone, are in talks to contract manufacturer vehicles for EV startup Faraday Future. Geely says it signed a tentative deal to offer its technology and engineering know-how to Faraday. Geely also revealed it’s now a minority investor in Faraday’s listing. The startup is going public through a reverse merger with Property Solutions Acquisition Corporation, which is valued at $3.4 billion

CHIP SHORTAGE COULD CAUSE CAR PRICES TO GO HIGHER
That chip shortage continues to slow down car production all over the world. And it’s likely to cause car prices to go higher. Here’s why. It looks like some car companies are cutting sales to daily rental companies, especially trucks and SUVs. And that same thing is happening on the commercial fleet side. Automakers typically sell vehicles to fleets at a discount. But with the chip shortage limiting how many vehicles they can make, they’re concentrating on the retail side of the business where they can make more money. But as we keep pointing out, General Motors has not cut production. Somehow GM saw this shortage coming before everyone else and made sure it locked in enough supply. Even so, GM is telling its suppliers that things will be pretty tight for a couple of more months.

TESLA LAUNCHES IN-HOUSE COLLISION REPAIR
In some cases, it can take months for Tesla owners to get their vehicles repaired after they’re in a collision. That’s because the company has to rely on third-party repair shops to fix its vehicles. So to help speed up repair times, in 2019, the company announced plans to launch its own in-house collision repair program. At first it was limited to small repairs like paint scuffs and scratches, minor dents and bolt-on replacements. But now Tesla is expanding the service to include suspension and axle damage, front and rear bumpers, hoods, liftgate and side mirror caps, as well as doors, wheels and all glass repair. Owners can now book an appointment through the Tesla app and the repairs will be taken care of by in-house technicians.

GLOBAL CAR SALES TAKE A BEATING IN 2020
We now know just how much the pandemic hurt car sales last year. According to Wards Intelligence, automakers sold 75.7 million passenger vehicles globally in 2020, that’s nearly 13 million fewer than in 2019 or a 14% drop. Including commercial and heavy-duty trucks, the industry sold 79 million vehicles last year. However, things are starting to improve. Global light vehicle sales in December were up 10% compared to November and up 3.5% compared to the prior December.

24 HOURS OF DAYTONA RESULTS
Race fans were treated to a nail biting 24 hours of Daytona. It was a battle of the manufacturers. Acura took the overall win in the top DPI prototype category, followed by Cadillac and Mazda. In the GTLM category, Corvette C8-Rs took a one-two sweep followed by a BMW M8. And in the GTD category Mercedes-Benz AMGs swept the first two positions followed by a Lamborghini Huracan.

 

CADILLAC TEASES NEW BLACKWING MODELS
And if you tuned in for the action, you may have also gotten your first taste of Cadillac’s track-focused CT4-V and CT5-V Blackwing. The brand showed a teaser video during one of the commercial breaks and while there’s not much detail we can go into now, the cars make their official debut tonight at 7 PM. So, expect a report in tomorrow’s show. 

NISSAN & LEXUS TEASE NEW VEHICLES
And speaking of teasers, we’ve got two more quick ones for ya. Nissan gave a glimpse at the all-new Pathfinder, which gets its full unveiling on February 4th. And Lexus also teased a new concept, which will hint at the design future of its next-generation vehicles.

JAGUAR ADDS C-TYPE TO CONTINUATION FAMILY
Jaguar has brought back a number of its most iconic models, built brand-new at the company’s Classic Works facility to the same standards as they were back in the day. It calls them Continuation vehicles and now it’s doing the same with the C-type, which was originally made between 1951 and 1953. It’s going to make 8 of these new C-types, but they’ll be spec-ed like the race car that won Le Mans in 1953 with disc brakes and a 220 horsepower in-line 6-cylinder with three Weber carburetors. The original, privately owned C-types came with drum brakes and a 200-horsepower engine with two SU carburetors. While some might say these continuation cars dilute the history and value of the original cars, I have a hard time sympathising with that because I don’t think I’ll ever be able to afford one of them. So, not only do we think they’re really cool, they’re raking in some good dough for Jaguar. The automaker doesn’t list the price, but a company official has said that past continuation cars typically cost between $1.3 and $2.7 million. When Jaguar has finished building all of its continuation cars, including the lightweight E-type, the XKSS, the D-type and now the C-type, it will have made 48 in all. That means they’ll have brought in somewhere between $62.4 and $129.6 million. If you consider a decently equipped E-Pace costs about $48,000, Jaguar would have to sell between 1,300 to 2,700 of them just to equal what the continuation cars brought in. Who knows if they generate the same amount of profit, but it’s hard to think Jaguar is losing money on them.

But that brings us to the end of this show. Thanks for watching and we’ll be right back here again tomorrow.