AD #2351 – Cadillac Will Drop ATS Sedan, Jeep Wrangler 4-Cylinder Fuel Economy, Rolls-Royce Reveals Cullinan SUV

On today’s show… Cadillac will axe the ATS sedan… Panasonic wants to make batteries in China with Tesla… and the low-rider scene makes its way to big rigs. All that and more coming right up on Autoline Daily.

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

CADILLAC WILL DROP ATS SEDAN
As sales of passenger cars continue to crater Cadillac will drop the ATS sedan at the end of this year. The coupe will live on, for now. Last year Cadillac only sold 13,000 ATS’s in the American market. But Cadillac says it will continue to have 3 passenger cars in its lineup, which for now includes the CTS, the XTS and the CT6.

MOBILITY SERVICES BOOMING
The world of mobility services is booming. That includes ride sharing, ride hailing and on-demand shuttles. The consulting firm Frost and Sullivan says that last year there were 983,000 vehicles world wide used for new mobility services. And this year that number will grow to more than 1.2 million vehicles. That’s a quarter of a million vehicles added in just one year.

OEMs TO MEET WITH TRUMP
There’s a big meeting at the White House tomorrow with President Trump and the biggest automakers. Trump wants to roll back fuel economy regulations, and while the automakers will not support Trump publicly, behind the scenes their lobbying group called the Automotive Alliance is actively working to make the standards easier. Automakers are afraid that if Trump pushes too hard, California will set its own standard and 12 other states will follow. Different states with different standards would be a logistical nightmare for the car companies. So tomorrow’s meeting is going to be like watching a ballet performed in a minefield.

It’s amazing what some truckers will do with their big rigs and that’s coming up next.

NEW JEEP WRANGLER FUEL ECONOMY
When Jeep was developing the new Wrangler, a major focus was to make it more fuel efficient. And now we’ve got some numbers. The new Wrangler with a V6 improves by 1 MPG city and 4 MPG highway. A two-door model with the 4-cylinder turbo delivers 23 miles to the gallon in the city, an impressive 5 MPG improvement over the old V6 and gets it gets 25 MPG on the highway. A 4-door model knocks those numbers down by 1 mile per gallon each. Jeep charges $1,000 for the turbo over a V6 auto and $3,000 more than a V6 manual.

CHINA DELAYS U.S.-MADE CARS AT CUSTOMS
China is responding to threats of tariffs by the U.S. by slowing down imports at customs. Reuters reports that Ford, BMW and Mercedes models made in the U.S. were stuck in Chinese ports due to “unusual delays at customs.” Ford could be especially impacted. It imported about 80,000 U.S. vehicles to China last year, with more than half of them being Lincolns. China’s top economic official will be back to the U.S. next week to resume trade talks.

SEMI TRUCK LOWRIDER
Some truckers spend tens of thousands of dollars to deck out their rigs with lights, chrome and large painted murals. And it’s not just limited to the U.S. If you’ve never seen Japanese Dekotora, do a Google image search. And check out this Mercedes truck from Finland that was turned into a Lowrider. We love the bold purple paint with the graphics on the trailers and a huge mural of actor Danny Trejo on the cab, for some reason. And of course no lowrider would be complete without knock-off wire wheels, huge white-wall tires and a purple, white and gold velvet interior.

Coming up next, Panasonic says its ready to make batteries with Tesla in China.

TESLA & PANASONIC WANT TO MAKE BATTERIES IN CHINA
Tesla and Panasonic could start making batteries in China. The Japanese electronics company currently makes battery cells for Tesla in Japan and at Tesla’s Gigafactory in Nevada. Panasonic has big plans to expand into the auto industry and shift away from lower profit consumer electronics. It wants to nearly double its car business revenue by 2022. And it’s also working with Toyota, so it’s not so reliant on Tesla.

ROLLS-ROYCE SHOWS OFF CULLINAN SUV
Rolls-Royce announced a few years back it was coming out with an SUV and here’s the Cullinan. And there’s no mistaking this thing for anything other than a Rolls, from the front-end grille to the Spirit of Ecstasy hood ornament and the rear tail lights. Of course the interior can be had with any fine material you want, from thick leather to carbon fiber, to fine woods imported from far off places. Under the hood is the automaker’s 6 and three-quarter liter V12 engine, which produces over 560-horsepower. The Cullinan will go on sale with a starting price of $325,000.

And hey, be sure to join us for Autoline After Hours this afternoon. Our special guest is Rob Wichman, the director of engineering for RAM Truck, who will be bringing one to the studio with him. So, if you have any questions about that pickup, send them our way to viewermail@autoline.tv. Then join John and Gary at 3PM eastern time on our website, Autoline.tv, for some of the best discussions in the automotive industry.

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