AD #2806 – Skoda Highlights Lesser Known Models; Gov. Finalizes Fuel Economy Plans; China May Ease EV Quotas

This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry.

Here’s the latest on the auto industry’s battle with the coronavirus.

BORGWARNER MAY DROP OUT OF DELPHI BUYOUT
BorgWarner says it may drop its buyout of Delphi because Delphi tapped out a $500 million line of credit without getting permission from BorgWarner. Delphi accuses BorgWarner of maliciously withholding its consent, Borg says Delphi breached its agreement. Analysts say Delphi needed the money to get through the crisis, but BorgWarner did not want to buy a company that just took on another half a billion dollars in debt.

FCA SAYS PEUGEOT MERGER STILL ON TRACK
But reports out of Europe say the Peugeot merger with Fiat-Chrysler is still on track. Publicly at least, FCA says it expects the merger of the two automakers to be completed next year.

FORD OFFSETS CAR PRODUCTION WITH VIRUS EQUIPMENT MAKING
Ford stopped building Mustangs and Lincoln Continentals at its assembly plant in Flat Rock, Michigan, and will manufacture respirators instead. The plant will operate on 3-shifts around the clock with paid UAW volunteers. Ford is partnering with 3M to make the respirators, and is even using off-the-shelf parts it has, like the blower fan used to cool seats in the F-150. It’s also partnering with GE Healthcare to make ventilators at Ford’s Rawsonville plant in Michigan. That facility is expected to deliver 50,000 ventilators once production starts on April 20.

GM NEEDED CUSTOM MACHINERY TO MAKE MASKS
General Motors says it will deliver its first 50,000 face masks next week which it’s making at its transmission plant in Warren, Michigan. And once it gets that line up to full speed it will be able to make 1.5 million masks a month. The Detroit News reports that GM collaborated with JR Automation in Holland and Esys Automation in Auburn Hills to design and build the custom machinery needed to assemble the masks. GM says it’s actually ahead of schedule. Last week President Trump berated GM and Mary Barra for wasting time. But now he’s changed his tune and says that GM is doing a fantastic job. I’m glad to hear that because so many people at GM are putting in exhausting hours to quickly ramp up production of masks, ventilators and respirators.

WHAT WOULD YOUR CUSTOM MASK BE?
Speaking of all those face masks that automakers and suppliers all around the world are making, are they missing a branding opportunity? Those masks are so clinical and sterile looking. Wouldn’t people be more likely to wear them if they had cool looking designs on them? I think slapping on a company logo would be crass. But what if the masks incorporated the front end graphics of their favorite car, or at least something that was fun to look at, like the Mustang logo? What do you think? Would you be in favor of masks with graphics on them, and what would be your graphic? Let us know in the comments section.

HYUNDAI TO OPEN NEW INNOVATION LAB IN SINGAPORE
Hyundai announced it will establish a new open innovation lab in Singapore. The facility will focus on developing business ideas and technologies for future mobility solutions for global applications. It will also create a human-centered smart manufacturing platform that will be validated through a small pilot EV production facility. Construction of the lab is scheduled to start in May and it will be completed in the second half of 2022.

SKODA’S LESSER KNOWN MODELS
Skoda is starting a new series that will look at some of the lesser known models from its past and it’s kicking off with a three-wheeled motorcycle. The LW by Laurin & Klement was made between 1905 and 1911 and is powered by a 780cc water-cooled single cylinder engine that produced 5 horsepower or 3.7 kW. The popularity of the model took off when the company designed a way for the bike to be started while stationary by developing an idle hub and clutch and installed a two-speed gearbox. There was even a demonstration that showed a mail or post carrier could empty 37 mail boxes in 58 minutes, which would have taken 2.5 hours on foot. Today, Skoda thinks there’s only 3 surviving examples and a single replacement engine. Follow the link if you’d like to learn more about the LW three-wheeler.

CUPRA’S LIMITED ATECA SUV TESTS IN THE SWISS ALPS
CUPRA, the performance division of Spanish automaker SEAT is getting set to launch the limited edition of its Ateca SUV and so it’s off to test the vehicle in the Swiss Alps. The Ateca’s 2.0L turbocharged 4-cylinder has been boosted to nearly 300 horsepower and is mated to a 7-speed dual clutch and all-wheel drive. It does 0 to 100 km/h in 4.9 seconds. Unique exterior highlights include copper accents on the lettering, door mirror caps and wheels, which also house 18-inch Brembo brakes in the front. The interior is a bit more subtle with exclusive materials, premium floor mats and unique accents around the dash center and HVAC controls. The CUPRA Ateca Limited Edition will be held to just 1,999 units.

VW TO OFFER PLUG-IN ARTEON & TIGUAN
Many European vehicles are getting plug-in hybrid variants to help their automakers meet more stringent fuel economy regulations and Volkswagen continues to expand its PHEV lineup in the region. It announced the Arteon sedan and Tiguan crossover will get plug-in powertrains this year. Unfortunately, there’s no other details at this time. But both of those vehicles are also offered in the American market. What do you think of the plug-in V-Dubs coming to the U.S.?

LUCID DELAYS PRODUCTION AIR DEBUT
Lucid is delaying the introduction of the production version of its electric sedan, the Air. It was supposed to debut at the New York auto show, but that show was pushed back because of the coronavirus. Lucid currently doesn’t know when it will debut the Air.

GOVERNMENT FINALIZES FUEL ECONOMY PLANS
The Trump Administration finalized plans to roll back fuel economy standards enacted during the Obama Administration. Originally, the White House wanted to freeze rules at 2020 standards but instead, automakers must increase their fleet average fuel economy by 1.5% annually from 2021 to 2026. Under the Obama rules, automakers were required to achieve 5% annual increases. Automakers will have to hit a 40.4 MPG average by 2026, down from the previous 46.7 MPG by 2025. The EPA and NHTSA claim this will lower the price of new cars by $1,000. But environmentalists and consumer advocacy groups say the rollback will result in higher fuel costs and repairs for consumers as well as hurt air quality.

VOLVO JOINS OTHER AUTOMAKERS THAT BACK CALIFORNIA’S STANDARDS
And because of the rollback, Volvo is going to adopt California’s standards. It’s joining Ford, BMW, Honda and Volkswagen in a pact with California to boost the average fuel economy of their fleets to 50 MPG by 2026. The deal, which was reached last year, drew the ire of the Trump Administration, which unsuccessfully launched an anti-trust investigation into the agreement. Fourteen other states follow California’s standards.

CHINA MAY RELAX EV QUOTAS
And speaking of fuel economy, Reuters reports that China may ease electric car quotas in order to help automakers hurt during the slump caused by the coronavirus. The country is also considering delaying new emissions rules for up to six months for the same reason. At the same time, Bloomberg reports that China is extending EV subsidies for two years to help automakers. The country planned to phase rebates out this year, so automakers wouldn’t be so reliant on them, but with the huge slump in car sales it decided to keep them in place.

HOW MAHLE’S JET IGNITION TECHNOLOGY WORKS
There’s still a lot of life left in the internal combustion engine. And the industry keeps on making improvements. The supplier Mahle has developed what it calls jet ignition technology, which improves the efficiency in gasoline engines by up to 20%. I recently spoke with Mike Bunce the head of powertrain research at Mahle and he explained how the technology differs from fuel injection. 1:53-3:07

Mike Bunce, Head of Powertrain Research, Mahle
“It’s somewhat similar to that type of concept. It uses what’s called a pre-chamber technology. And for people who are familiar with old diesel engines from the early 1900’s, pre-chambers should be somewhat familiar. They are used for kind of a different purpose here. But essentially, it’s a very, very small chamber, we’re talking about something that’s maybe the size of a thimble, it’s only a couple of cubic centimeters, so very small. And that’s kind of where your combustion event starts, so you have a spark plug in there, you have a very small fuel injector as well. So you’re kind of burning this very small quantity of fuel and air. That pre-chamber then kind of opens up into the regular cylinder that you would have, it’s got a nozzle. So what happens is these products that are burning in this sort of initial event, they exit out of the pre-chamber as very high speed jets, it almost kind of looks like a series of jets coming out of the top of the roof of the cylinder. And that’s what ignites the rest of the contents in the main cylinder in the same way that a spark plug would normally. So it’s kind of cascading different combustion events.”

For more about Mahle’s Jet Ignition technology, you can watch that full interview on our YouTube channel.

Be sure to join us for Autoline After Hours tomorrow for what promises to be an engaging donnybrook over the way Tesla manages its financial accounting. We’ve got Montana Skeptic coming on the show, who has been very skeptical of Tesla, even while the company’s stock skyrocketed. And we welcome your questions. You can post them in the comments section, tweet them to us or send an email to viewermail@autoline.tv. We’ll also have David Welch from Bloomberg joining us on the show, so join me and Gary Vasilash for some of the best insights into the automotive industry.

And that brings us to the end of today’s report, thanks for watching.