AD #2489 – Tesla Hits Model 3 Milestone, Global Car Sales Tumble in October, Gladiator Vs. Wrangler Differences

On today’s show…Tesla hits another major goal with the Model 3…global car sales tumbled in October…and the new Jeep Gladiator is more than a Wrangler with a bed slapped on the back of it. All that and more coming right up on Autoline Daily.

This is Autoline Daily the voice of the automotive industry.

TESLA HITS MODEL 3 MILESTONE
Despite going through what truly seemed like “production and logistics hell,” there’s more good news at Tesla. Elon Musk sent an email to employees that says the automaker has met its goal of producing 1,000 Model 3s per day. With demand still high for the electric sedan, that’s great news for Tesla and we hope it’s a volume it’s able to maintain.

ALFA TO GET SUV BASED ON JEEP COMPASS
Speaking of production, there’s more details coming out about FCA’s nearly $6 billion investment in its Italian factories. It was announced that Alfa Romeo will get a new small CUV based on the Jeep Compass, which will also be offered as plug-in hybrid. There will be a new EV version of the Fiat 500, the Panda will get a hybrid variant and the 500X will get a plug-in hybrid powertrain as well. As for its premium band, Maserati. It will see a new SUV based on the Stelvio and a new, unnamed model. The Italian press is saying it will be the Alfieri coupe and convertible, which will also be offered as an EV.

If you’d like to keep up to speed with everything that’s going on at Autoline, be sure to follow us on social media. You can find us on Instagram and Facebook by searching for the AutolineNetwork. And to find us on Twitter, just look for @Autoline.

Still to come…slumping sales in Europe and China cause overall global vehicle sales to drop in October. We’ll have more about that, right after this.

GLOBAL CAR SALES TUMBLE IN OCTOBER
Car sales tumbled on a global basis in October. WardsAuto reports that automakers sold 7.8 million vehicles, down 3.3% compared to a year ago. In Europe, sales dropped 7.7% to 1.55 million due to the WLTP, the new emissions test procedure, which is taking longer to certify vehicles. Sales in Asia were down 4.8% to 3.8 million units in October. But that’s because the Chinese market slumped once again, which was down 11%. Sales in North America were up slightly, just half a percent, to about 1.7 million units. And sales in South America were up a strong 8.8% in October. But overall the industry is doing pretty well in 2018. Through October automakers have sold just under 80 million units, which is a 1.2% increase.

U.S. & CHINA AGREE TO TRADE TRUCE
Good news for automakers shipping cars built in the U.S. to China. President Trump tweeted last night that the Chinese government agreed to “reduce and remove” tariffs below the 40% level that’s currently being slapped on vehicles imported from the U.S. The Chinese government raised the tariff to 40% in July due to the trade war with the Trump Administration. But there aren’t any details about how much the tariff will drop. Even still, the news boosted the stock prices of BMW and Daimler, which both build vehicles in the U.S. that are exported to China.

Believe it or not, there’s some big differences between the Wrangler and the new Gladiator. And we’ll take a look at that, right after this.

GLADIATOR VS. WRANGLER DIFFERENCES
You’ve probably seen the new Jeep Gladiator by now. And no doubt you’ve noticed its strong resemblance to the Wrangler. But there are some differences. On last week’s Autoline After Hours we were joined by Mark Allen, the head of Jeep Design, and he discussed how the Gladiator differs from the Wrangler.

(The AAH preview is only available in the video version of today’s show.)

It’s towing capacity by the way is 7,650 pounds, which will be best in class. But for a deeper dive into the Gladiator, you can watch that entire discussion right now on our website or you can find it on our YouTube channel.

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