AD #2335 – Buick Reveals Enspire Concept, Tesla Sets New Production Goal, Goodyear And Bridgestone Join Forces

On today’s show…Tesla is like Trump, always in the news…Pininfarina will become the name of an electric car brand…and Bridgestone and Goodyear are joining forces to sell tires. All that and more coming right up on Autoline Daily.

This is Autoline Daily the show for enthusiasts of the automotive industry.

TESLA AIMING TO BUILD 6,000 MODEL 3’S A WEEK
Tesla is scrambling to boost production of its Model 3, so it’s adding a third shift at its California assembly plant. Elon Musk told workers he wants that plant running 24/7 and building 6,000 Model 3’s a week by the end of June. That’s 1,000 more than he promised before. But to put that in perspective, a traditional assembly plant builds 5,000 vehicles a week with two shifts on straight time. With a little bit of overtime, they can hit 6,000 a week. So while Tesla fans are in awe of Elon’s production goals, that’s just par for the course in the automotive industry.    

Speaking of Tesla, be sure to tune in Thursday for Autoline After Hours. We’ll have Sandy Munro on, who’s company tore down the Model 3. In fact, they gutted it. They ripped apart everything mechanical, everything electronic, and the batteries. They found some stupid design mistakes, but also found some brilliant engineering. So if you have questions about the Model 3, send them to viewermail@autoline.tv.

PORSCHE DROPS OUT OF RACING SERIES
Porsche is dropping out of the World Endurance Racing series with its LMP1 919 hybrid at the end of this year. And as part of the car’s farewell tour, Porsche decided to see what the car could really do. So the engineers cranked up the boost, removed the headlamps and revised the aerodynamics. The results were spectacular. They took the 919 to the Spa race track in Belgium where it smashed the track record. In fact, it ran seven-tenths of a second faster than the record pole position for last year’s Formula One race set by Lewis Hamilton.  

Pininfarina’s name is making a comeback, this time as an electric car brand. We’ll tell you more right after this.

BUICK REVEALS ENSPIRE CONCEPT IN CHINA
We thought this teaser image of a new Buick concept, called the Enspire might be Buick’s version of the Bolt EV for China, but that doesn’t look to be the case. It’s a design study featuring flowing body panels met by hard, sharp lines, a blue-patterned grille insert, thin LED lighting and a rounded rear-end. Inside, an OLED display screen sits in the middle of the dash and the head-up display features augmented reality. It generates up to 410 kW or about 550-horsepower, hits zero to sixty in 4-seconds and has a 370-mile range. It gets displayed at next week’s Beijing auto show.

MAHINDRA CREATES PININFARINA EV BRAND
Pininfarina is one of the most famous design houses in the automotive industry. It got bought by Mahindra in 2015, and now Mahindra is putting the name on an all-electric car brand. They call it Automobili Pininfarina. The first vehicle is a 1,500-horsepower, all-wheel drive, 2-seat hypercar, called the PF-Zero that will hit 100-kilometers an hour in under 2-seconds, have over 300-miles of range and each of the planned 100 models will cost $2.5 million. That vehicle is scheduled to come out sometime in 2020. Beyond that, Automobili Pininfarina will also launch higher-volume sedans and SUVs, the first of which will compete with the Lamborghini Urus.

LEXUS REVEALS NEW ES
Lexus is giving us our first good look at the new ES. Not a whole lot has changed in the styling department, but you will notice new treatment around the lower bumper and the slots on this model are vertical rather than a mesh pattern.

Coming up next, Hyundai has a new van, Maybach gets a new interior, and hell has frozen over.

HYUNDAI UPDATES THE H-1 VAN
Hyundai refreshed the H-1, a cargo and passenger van it sells in Europe. It features new styling, and it’s powered by three diesel engines that can be mated to a five-speed automatic or a six-speed manual.

MERCEDES TEASES NEW MAYBACH CONCEPT
Mercedes will take the wraps off a new Maybach concept at the Beijing auto show and is showing this sketch of the interior. Note how they merged the instrument cluster and infotainment screen which is similar to the new A-Class and Sprinter van.

BMW CREATES NEW DIGITAL INSTRUMENT CLUSTER
Speaking of interiors, it’s safe to say BMW has an iconic design, but it’s starting to look dated. Now it’s showing off what they call BMW Operating System 7.0, which features an all-digital instrument cluster that can display a navigation map as well as other selectable content. The center touchscreen has ten configurable main menu pages, each containing between two and four pads, which can be controlled by the iDrive Controller, touchpad, voice or gesture control.

GOODYEAR AND BRIDGESTONE JOIN FORCES
Maybe Hell has frozen over. Goodyear and Bridgestone, who normally fight tooth and nail in the marketplace, are combining their wholesale distribution networks in the U.S. and creating a 50-50 joint venture called TireHub. The new company will be able to provide tire dealers and retailers, with tires for 97% of the vehicles on the road. TireHub will be headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia and will have 80 distribution centers and warehouses across the country. The deal still needs regulatory approval but it’s expected to close by the middle of the year.

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