AD #2558 – New Porsche Cayenne Coupe, Why Bosch Isn’t Splitting Its Business, GM Invests Millions To Build EVs And AVs

This is Autoline Daily reporting on the global automotive industry.

GM INVESTING $300 MILLION TO BUILD EVs AND AVs
General Motors is planning a big investment at its plant in Orion, Michigan to build electric and autonomous vehicles. Reuters reports that the company will spend $300 million to upgrade the facility and will also announce plans to build a new electric, compact vehicle for Chevy, which will be based on the same platform as the Bolt. The company will start assembling the next-gen vehicles in 2023. GM is also expected to endorse the renegotiated NAFTA deal during the conference, which will include UAW leadership. The company has been under fire from President Trump over its decision to idle its Lordstown, Ohio plant, so it’s probably hoping this announcement will take some of the heat off of it.

FORD MANAGEMENT SHAKEUP
Ford is shaking up its management. Its Chief Financial Officer, Bob Shanks, is retiring at the end of the year. He’s being replaced by Tim Stone, who worked 20 years at Amazon and also served as CFO of Snap, the social media platform. He will join Ford next month and take over the CFO role on June 1st. Steven Armstrong, its current president of Europe, is being promoted to chairman of the region. And he will be replaced by Stuart Rowley, the COO of Ford North America. Both of them will take on their new roles on April 1st.

WHY BOSCH ISN’T SPLITTING ITS BUSINESS
Over the last few years, we’ve seen a number of suppliers separate their technology business from their traditional components business. But not Bosch, the largest auto supplier in the world. On Autoline This Week, we’re joined by Mike Mansuetti, the President of Bosch North America, and he explained why the company is taking a different approach.

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

You can watch that entire discussion right now, on our website, Autoline.tv or you can find it on our YouTube channel.

VIETNAM ACCUSED OF BACKING HACKERS
The cyber security firm FireEye is accusing the Vietnamese government of backing hackers to target foreign automotive companies. Bloomberg reports that the hacks began in 2014 and ramped up in February and targeted companies in Southeast Asia. It appears they were looking for corporate operational information, not intellectual property. The Vietnamese government denies the allegations and say they’re unfounded. Either way, cyber security is a growing concern in the auto industry and we’ll take a deep dive into that topic on next week’s Autoline This Week, so be sure to keep an eye out for that show.

PORSCHE REVEALS NEW CAYENNE COUPE
Whether they’re called Coupes, Sports Activity Vehicles or whatever, I’m not normally a fan of fastback SUVs. It’s not the styling, it’s the usability. They’re always based off an existing vehicle and cost about the same, but have less space. And I have a hard time understanding why someone would want that. But the new Porsche Cayenne Coupe is different for me. The first thing I thought when I saw it was, it looks like a raised up Panamera. And I think that’s the customer it’s going to nab. Someone who likes the Panamera look but wants to ride a bit higher. And it has more trunk space. That means the Cayenne Coupe could steal some sales away from the Panamera, but I still believe it will be a success for Porsche. As always, we’d love to know what you think.

But now let’s get down to some of the details of the vehicle. Two engines will be available at launch: a 6-cylinder turbo with 335-horsepower and a twin-turbo V8 with over 540-horsepower, which helps the Cayenne Coupe move from 0 to 60 in 3.7-seconds. There will be two roof options as well: a panoramic, fixed glass roof as standard or an optional carbon fiber roof. The Cayenne Coupe will go on sale in Europe in May and in the U.S. this fall. U.S. prices start at $76,550 for the base model and $131,350 for the Turbo, which is $7,000 – $10,000 more than the standard Cayenne.

CAR PLUNGE CONTEST UPDATE
And a few quick updates. Here’s a recent picture of the Car Plunge Contest, where you can bet on a Saturn’s icy demise. As you can see, there’s still a bit of snow on the ice, which can act as an insulator. So, our first guess of March 29th is not looking so good.

CHEVY UNVEILS NEW ONIX SEDAN
And Chevy revealed the new Onix in China. We think it’s a good looking compact sedan that has adopted Chevrolet’s newest design language.

But that’s it for today, thanks for watching and have a great weekend.