AD #2424 – Details on New Trade Agreement, Mercedes & Kia Teasers Look Very Similar, New Auto Lighting Company

On today’s show… Trump’s new trade agreement puts a cap on Mexican car imports… the latest cars from Mercedes and Kia look like they came out of the same studio… and if you want to get to heaven, you might need a classic hearse. All that and more coming right up on Autoline Daily.

This is Autoline Daily the voice of the automotive industry.

DETAILS ON NEW TRADE AGREEMENT
We’re getting more details on the new trade agreement between the United States and Mexico. It includes a cap of 2.4 million car exports from Mexico to the United States. Anything above that gets hit with a 25% import tariff. Last year Mexico exported almost 1.8 million vehicles to the U.S., so the cap actually allows exports to grow. And if exports of Mexican-made parts to the U.S. exceeds $90 billion, they’ll get hit with tariffs. To avoid all tariffs, Mexican-made cars have to have 75% of their value made in North America. Automakers can count all the design and engineering they do in the US and Mexico as part of their local content. That benefits GM, Ford and FCA, as well as Toyota, Honda and Nissan, who have large engineering facilities in the US.

MUSK BACK TO HIS TWITTER WAYS
Elon Musk is at it again. Back in July, he called the British diver who helped rescue the boys trapped in that cave in Thailand a pedophile. That diver said Musk’s attempt to save the boys by sending over a small submarine was a PR stunt. We thought that story was over and done with but Elon can’t let dead dogs lie. He’s tweeting that the diver didn’t sue him, after he said he would, implying the diver has something to hide. Sure seems to us that Elon is trying to distract everyone from his failed attempt to take the company private.

GIGAFACTORY GETS SOLAR ROOF
Here’s what Elon should be tweeting about. Tesla has finally started installing solar panels on the roof of its Gigafactory in Nevada. The facility was designed for a 70MW solar array on the roof, and by the end of 2019 the Gigafactory will be powered 100% by renewable energy.

Do Mercedes and Kia have spies in their design studios? That’s coming up next.

LET THERE BE LIGHT!
Whether it’s part of the design or just helping the driver to see better, lighting plays a bigger role today than it ever has before. And the giant supplier Magna just formed a new joint venture with lighting company Rohinni, called Magna Rohinni Automotive. Rohinni is known for making thin-film micro and mini LEDs that are brighter, lighter, more energy efficient and flexible. You know how some display screens are hard to read in direct sunlight? Well, Rohinni says its ultra bright LEDs solve that problem and in some cases use 96% less power. And the lights can be used in almost any application. The new joint venture will be based in Michigan.

ARE KIA & MERCEDES SPYING ON EACH OTHER?
Yesterday we got this teaser from Mercedes-Benz of the rear end of its EQC electric which makes its official global debut next week. And then this morning we got this teaser from Kia of the rear end of the new ProCeed which makes its official debut the week after next. Man, it looks like the rear ends of both these cars came out of the same studio. No wonder the public is starting to think that all new cars look the same.

FINAL RIDE IN A CLASSIC HEARSE
There’s an old time song that goes, “Oh you can’t get to heaven in an old Ford car, ‘cause an old Ford car won’t get that far.” But maybe you can get to heaven in an old Cadillac LaSalle hearse. Aretha Franklin, the singing legend who passed away earlier this week, is taking her final ride in the same 1940 LaSalle hearse that was used to carry her father at his funeral.

A lot of people say they hate autonomous cars, until they get in one. More on that after this.

TOYOTA MAKING BIG PUSH IN CHINA
Toyota is able to make a little over a million vehicles in China and sold about 1.3 million cars there last year. But it plans drastically increase those numbers. According to Bloomberg, the automaker is targeting production of 3.5 million vehicles a year in China by 2030, while boosting imports to half a million. Toyota will increase capacity at its two existing facilities to build more plug-in hybrids and EVs and will also build an all-new factory. The automaker hopes the move will help it gain ground on rivals Volkswagen and General Motors, who both delivered more than 4 million vehicles in China.

SAE OUT TO CHANGE AV PERCEPTION
All the polls show that the public is leery of autonomous cars. Of course, most of the public has never seen an autonomous car, they’ve never been in one, and they have no clue how the technology works. Well the Society of Automotive Engineers is out to change all that. They arranged for members of the public to go for a ride in an autonomous car, and that completely changed their perception. We’ll have David Shutt, the president of the SAE, joining us for Autoline After Hours tomorrow. He’ll be talking about their AV demonstration and what they found. So join john and Gary for some of the best insights into what’s going on in the automotive industry.

And with that we wrap up today’s report. Thanks for watching and please join us again tomorrow.