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Runtime: 7:15
0:07 Former Audi CEO Charged with Fraud
0:51 Qualcomm Says U.S. Needs to Adopt C-V2X
1:29 FCA Reports Mixed Q2 Earnings
2:47 ADAS Tech Leading to More Distracted Driving
3:45 Europe Cracks Down on Exhaust Noise
4:21 Ford Makes Acquisitions to Help with AVs And Mobility
5:30 Hispano-Suiza Shows Off New EV
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This is Autoline Daily reporting on the global automotive industry.
FORMER AUDI CEO CHARGED WITH FRAUD
Slowly but surely German prosecutors are closing in on the top executives at Volkswagen and Audi who orchestrated a diesel emissions cheating strategy. The New York Times reports that Audi’s former CEO, Rupert Stadler, was charged with fraud. Stadler denies all the accusations. Amazingly, more documents about Audi’s direct involvement in the cheating strategy continue to come to light, which means this scandal continues to drag on. Earlier this year, Martin Winterkorn, Volkswagen’s former CEO, was charged with fraud, along with three other executives whose names have not yet been divulged. No doubt we’re going to learn those names fairly soon.
QUALCOMM SAYS U.S. NEEDS TO ADOPT C-V2X
Qualcomm is warning that unless the United States adopts a V2V or vehicle-to-vehicle standard based on C-V2X, it will fall behind China in developing automated vehicles. C-V2X stands for cellular vehicle-to-everything communication, which is based on 5G. Some automakers have proposed using DSRC or dedicated short range communication, which is based on WiFi. But that effort seems stalled and Qualcomm and others, like Ford, want to see C-V2X become the standard, which could lead to a drastic reduction in car accidents.
FCA REPORTS MIXED Q2 EARNINGS
Fiat-Chrysler announced its second quarter earnings this morning, and the results are mixed. The company sold 1,157,000 vehicles, down 11%. That brought in nearly 27 billion euros in revenue, down 3%. But it posted a net profit of nearly 800 million euros and that was up a decent 14%. Even so, FCA stock dropped nearly 5% in early morning trading. Almost all the profit came from FCA’s North American operations, which posted a record EBIT of 1.5 billion euros. The company lost money in China, barely made any money at all in Europe, but did post a decent profit in South America. Here are the numbers that tell the story of the struggle in Europe. FCA sold 373,000 vehicles in Europe, twice as many as it sold in South America. And yet it made five times more profit in South America.
| FCA Q2 2019 EARNINGS | ||
|---|---|---|
| Sales | 1.157 M | -11% |
| Revenue | €26.7 B | -3% |
| Net Profit | €793 M | +14% |
| Source: FCA | ||
ADAS TECH LEADING TO MORE DISTRACTED DRIVING
Advanced driver assist systems are helping to reduce the number of accidents but according to a new study from State Farm, they’re also leading to more distracted driving. Researchers found that owners who had Adaptive Cruise Control and Lane Keeping Assist equipped in their vehicles, were more likely to use their smartphone while driving, than driver’s who don’t have those features. And this study reflects what Bryan Reimer, from the MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics, told us on Autoline This Week. He says power steering and automatic transmissions have also contributed to drivers paying less attention.
(The ATW clip is only available in the video version of today’s show.)
EUROPE IS BEING A REAL dB
A number of European cities have said they will start banning internal combustion engine vehicles and now European regulations are cracking down on how much noise they can make. In 2016, a vehicle could not be louder than 74 decibels. By 2026, the limit will be 68 decibels. It means vehicles, like Mercedes-AMGs, will be pumping exhaust noise into the cabin. And it won’t just be its European vehicles. Mercedes-AMG says it could design specific exhaust systems for each market, but it would be too expensive.
FORD MAKES ACQUISITIONS TO HELP WITH AVs AND MOBILITY
Ford keeps making acquisitions to speed development of autonomous cars and mobility services. It has bought Quantum Signal, a defense contractor with software that allows the military to remotely control robotic vehicles from thousands of miles away. It also bought the Journey Holding Company which develops software for intelligent transportation systems. That fits in to Ford’s vision of on-demand and fixed route systems for smart cities. And Ford also announced that its electric scooter company, Spin, is coming out with a new model and will expand its service to more cities in the U.S. The new scooter is beefier, comes with 10-inch tires, and now has 37.5 miles of riding range. It also uses custom made screws to make it harder for vandals to tamper with them.
HISPANO-SUIZA SHOWS OFF NEW EV
Hispano-Suiza is a Spanish automotive company that was founded in 1904 and is best known for is pre-WW2 luxury cars. Fast forward to today and it’s getting ready to make the first deliveries of the Carmen in June of next year. The wild-looking car is the modern evolution of the 1938 Dubonnet Xenia. But now features an 80-kWh battery pack and two electric motors that drive more than 1,000-horsepower to the rear wheels. The Carmen is said to have roughly 250-miles of range and will do 0-60 in under 3-seconds. Hispano-Suiza continues to do testing as it gets ready for delivery, which has resulted in a completely new suspension system and a number of weight reduction and rigidity enhancements. There’s even talk of a 105-kWh battery. But as I’m sure you guessed, the Carmen ain’t cheap. It costs $1.7 million and only 19 will be made.
Comrades, proletarians and workers of the world, be sure to tune in to Autoline After Hours this Thursday when we’ll have a Soviet-era Lada in the studio. Come join John and Gary as they learn what this car is all about and how the car ended up in our studio.
But that’s it for today, thanks for watching and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow.
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John McElroy is an influential thought leader in the automotive industry. He is a journalist, lecturer, commentator and entrepreneur. He created “Autoline Daily,” the first industry webcast of industry news and analysis.
