AD #2907 – Toyota Launches Yaris Cross; NHTSA Delays Quiet Car Mandate; Global Car Sales Down 25%

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

GLOBAL CAR SALES DOWN BY A QUARTER
And the global auto industry is hurting this year. Wards Intelligence reports that sales in the first half of the year dropped 25%. That means that automakers around the world built 13.5 million fewer vehicles. Here’s our Autoline Insight. That’s the equivalent of shutting 54 assembly plants and laying off more than 160,000 workers. It’s also the equivalent of shutting 27 engine plants and 27 transmission plants, which gets rid of another 80,000 people. And remember, this doesn’t include all the people at the supplier companies that were impacted. The second half of the year should be better, but these numbers show how hard the pandemic hit the industry.

ANALYSTS PREDICT LONGER PRODUCT CYCLES
With production down, automakers are looking for any way they can to cut costs. One quick way is to reduce different trim options. Last year, GM eliminated about 3,500 parts coming into its assembly plants simply by getting rid of trim lines. For example, it cut two trim lines on the Chevrolet Equinox, and chopped 11 different powertrain combinations down to five. Buick just eliminated two trim lines on the Encore. But even that is not enough. IHS Markit predicts that instead of redesigning their cars every 5 years or so, automakers will extend that to 8 or 10 years, with a mid-cycle refresh. And we’d like to point out that as electric vehicles adopt the so-called skateboard chassis, it’s going to be easier to do a simple refresh. 

 

TOYOTA LAUNCHES YARIS CROSS
Earlier this year, Toyota unveiled a crossover version of the Yaris. And it’s now on sale in Japan. It’s the first compact vehicle built on Toyota’s TNGA platform. It’s powered by a 1.5L three-cylinder engine that can be mated to a CVT or six-speed manual. A hybrid version is available as well, which is powered by the same 3-cylinder engine. It’s also offered in front or four-wheel-drive and hybrid models are available with electric 4WD too. Toyota’s SafetySense suite of advanced driver assistance systems is standard on most trims. The gasoline model starts at about $17,000 while the hybrid starts at around $21,500. It will also go on sale in Europe next year.

HONDA & TOYOTA PARTNER ON MOBILE POWER SYSTEM
Disasters have the tendency to bring people and apparently automakers together. In a highly unusual move, Toyota and Honda are collaborating on a mobile power system to aid areas that lose power during natural events like typhoons or rainstorms. The system, called the Moving e, consists of a Toyota Fuel Cell bus with double the hydrogen capacity of the standard bus, which is then packed with nearly 100 portable battery packs of different sizes from Honda. The buses are able to generate up to 490 kWh of power with a maximum output of 18 kW. However, the further the bus has to drive to a disaster area the less power it will be able to generate since it runs off of that hydrogen too. But another benefit is that the Moving e can still transport people or just be used as a place to rest. 

NHTSA DELAYS QUIET CAR MANDATE
Due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is giving automakers another 6 months to meet the quiet car mandate. That’s where all electric and hybrid vehicles must make some sort of sound when travelling below about 19 MPH so that anyone outside of the vehicle can hear it coming. We only have one question, what the heck is taking so long with this? Congress first asked for an acoustic alert system back in 2010 and Europe has had it in place for over a year now on all new vehicles. We wonder what the difficulty is? In April, GM, VW and Toyota all asked for the deadline to be extended by a year. Instead of September 1st like they ask for, they’ll now have to have it done by March 1st. NHTSA says the delay strikes a balance between providing relief and implementation of the technology.

JEEP TEASES NEW WAGONEER
Just in case you’ve missed it, Jeep keeps teasing the new Wagoneer. We’ve seen a shot of the grille, a silhouette of the front end, a view from the top, a look at a part of the dash and air vent and even a little bit of the badging. But at least we won’t have to wait much longer to see the whole thing. The Wagoneer debuts on Thursday the 3rd at 9AM eastern time on YouTube.

VW OFFERS ONLINE SHOPPING FOR ID.4
More and more people are interested in shopping for a vehicle online. So, Volkswagen is launching a new website for car buyers in the U.S. for the upcoming ID.4. The site allows visitors to research the vehicle, helps them decide if an EV fits their needs, schedule a test drive, make a $100 reservation and then track their vehicle from the plant to the dealership. Volkswagen hopes the website will lead to more interest in EVs as well as expand online ordering. But Volkswagen executives say it’s not an attempt to minimize dealers and they will remain a big part of the sales process. Volkswagen will unveil the ID.4 next month and it goes on sale in ZEV states in the U.S. by the end of the year.

CONTINENTAL FACES ITS DARK PAST
Continental, the giant German supplier, conducted an amazing study of how it collaborated with the Nazi regime during World War II. It commissioned a comprehensive, four-year, academic study and the conclusions are grim. It says Continental became a pillar of the Nazi war machine and benefitted greatly from its collaboration. While many German companies were able to prevent the Nazis from influencing or dominating them, Continental embraced the Nazis. It even exploited and mistreated concentration camp prisoners. It’s a terrible story, but you’ve got to admire Continental for dredging up its ugly past, and using that to start an internal debate on corporate social responsibility and integrating that into its corporate strategy. That takes guts, and we salute Continental for not trying to hide from its past.

But that’s it for today. Thanks for watching and we hope to see you back here again tomorrow.