AD #2908 – Honda Odyssey Impressions; Audi Updates the Q2; Could China Become a Big Pickup Market?

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

U.S. TRAFFIC FATALITIES UP
More bad news related to the pandemic. Traffic fatalities, at least in the U.S., shot up dramatically at the same time that much of the country started to quarantine. Fatalities went up 12% in March. In May, they were up 32% and were up 23% in June, according to the National Safety Council. That’s kind of weird, that traffic fatalities shot up as traffic fell dramatically. The problem is that too many people are driving recklessly. The only good news is that fatalities involving pedestrians and bicyclists are down.

FORD CUTS 1,000 WHITE COLLAR JOBS
Bloomberg reports that Ford is going to cut 1,000 white collar jobs. Supposedly it’s not because of the impact of the Covid pandemic, but here’s our Autoline Insight. At the same time, most employees are working from home, automakers and suppliers have seen their productivity go up. So, it’s become far easier for managers to track who’s actually getting work done, and who isn’t. And that’s what we think these jobs cuts are all about. 

COULD CHINA BECOME A BIG PICKUP MARKET?
Could China become a big market for pickup trucks? A couple of automakers are about to jump into the segment. Geely unveiled its first pickup and is building a new assembly plant with the capacity to make them. And General Motors, in a joint venture with SAIC and Guangxi, wants to get in on the action. It’s asking the government for permission to make them. Pickups only account for 2% of the Chinese market, but sales are holding up better than those for sedans and SUVs. Great Wall Motors currently dominates the segment, but let’s watch where this goes. Pickups didn’t go mainstream in the American market until automakers started equipping them with all the features and options that you could get in passenger sedans. If the same thing happens in China, the segment could grow dramatically.  

 

MERCEDES TO BUILD NEW GLS IN AT LEAST 4 COUNTRIES
We’ve got more future product intel from Autoforecast Solutions. And it shows that Mercedes sure expects to sell a lot of GLS sport utes. It’s going to build them in at least four different countries and the next generation of the vehicle will roll out in a quick cadence. In June of 2026, it will go into production in the United States. In July, India starts making them. In August, they start rolling down the line in Indonesia. And Russia starts building them in September. By rolling them out, one month after another, Mercedes will be able to transfer lessons learned from one plant to the other, and that’s how you keep quality up in the launch phase.

LUCID EXPLAINS WHY IT’S LAUNCHING WITH A SEDAN
Over the last several years, consumers are buying more and more crossovers and SUVs instead of sedans. That’s why it’s curious to see EV startup Lucid Motors launch with a sedan as its first vehicle, instead of a crossover. But in an interview with Autoblog, Lucid says it will be able to make a bigger splash with its Air sedan. First off, it says it’s not chasing volume but the company also argues that sedans are lighter and sleeker than crossovers, so its specs are much better. The company is developing an SUV but it won’t start building it until 2023. We’ll learn more about its Air sedan when it is unveiled next week. But what do you think, do you agree with Lucid or is the company making a big mistake by not launching with a crossover first?

AUDI UPDATES THE Q2 CROSSOVER
Audi updated the Q2 compact crossover, which is slightly longer than before but its width and height are the same. The front and rear styling has been refreshed and it looks a bit more aggressive than before. LED headlights are now standard and Matrix LED lights are optional. The interior styling has also been refreshed. The new Q2 is being launched with a 1.5L four-cylinder gasoline engine which can be paired to a six-speed manual or a seven-speed dual clutch transmission. It achieves up to 46 MPG but that’s based on the more lenient NEDC cycle. Two more gasoline engines are also offered, as well as two diesels, which will be available after it launches. And all engines meet Euro 6 emission standards. Customers in Europe can begin ordering the new Q2 this month and pricing starts at 25,000 euros in Germany which is nearly $30,000.

2021 HONDA ODYSSEY IMPRESSIONS
Alright, let’s talk minivans, specifically the 2021 Honda Odyssey, which was just refreshed and the latest vehicle to come through the Autoline Garage. Before we get to some of those changes, there’s a couple of facts about the Odyssey I learned recently that I find interesting. First, in the last 4 years the Odyssey has gained 11% market share in the minivan segment and commands 41% of sales, not including to fleets. A good portion of that increase has to do with the Caravan and Town and Country leaving the market. The second thing is that the Odyssey has the youngest average buyer of all the major minivan players. In fact, only the Civic brings in a younger average buyer to Honda. That kind of makes sense if you think about it. Minivan buyers typically have young kids and parents of young kids also tend to be younger themselves, around 35 to 45.

 

Since the buyers are similar, what sets minivans apart from one another are features and styling. And for 2021 the Odyssey gets some new looks. The most noticeable is the chrome accent bar across the front is straighter, no longer dipping down into the Honda logo in the grille. There’s also changes to the fog lights and lower fascia, new wheel designs for some trims and an accent piece on the rear tailgate was changed to a glossy black finish. Interior styling stays the same, but there are a few updates. Honda’s driver assist tech is now standard, as is rear seat reminder. Another trick thing it did was to tie the rear seat camera system into the rear seat reminder. So, when you shut off the vehicle the reminder pops up in the cluster, but so does a view of the rear seats on the infotainment screen. The camera is mounted between the two Captain’s chairs on the roof and as a parent, I liked being able to see into the back without having to turn around. The CabinTalk feature is also nice. That’s where a microphone picks up what’s being said in the front and pumps it into the rear through the speaker system. What I didn’t like is I had to tap through the center screen to get to these features, which was distracting while by myself and trying to focus on other things. I would have much rather preferred a couple of buttons on the steering wheel or dash. But the amount of buttons to open the side doors is much more satisfactory. There’s 3 by my count, on the key fob, on the dash and on the B-pillars. It seems like you can never have enough buttons to open a door when you have young children.

But no minivan is complete without some sort of tantrum-reducing technology. And these days that seems to be a screen to look at. The Odyssey has the option for a single roof-mounted, flip-down unit. More screens would be better for stopping arguments over what to watch, but Honda’s MagicSlide 2nd row seats seem to help with that. The Captain’s chairs can move side to side, even coming together in the middle. My kids talked about how much they liked being able to slide together and the seats are very easy to operate, very similar to the bar release for adjusting non-power seats. And it’s a great way to get access to the third row with kid’s seats installed. Honda says it considered 2nd row seats that fold into the floor, but felt most customers would use the feature only a few times a year, so the Odyssey’s seats are removable. For the 2021 model year, removal is said to be even easier because the seat back folds flatter than before. I’ll say as the owner of a later-model Town and Country with Stow ‘n Go seating, I use it more than a couple of times a year, but I’ll say less than a dozen.

Speaking of a dozen, that’s about the same amount of times people hit their head on the tailgate of this vehicle. On our test model, the tailgate opened automatically, but the stopping height seemed really low. I estimate anyone around 5’8” could hit their head. It does open further if you push it, but that seems pointless. It’s like if the sliding doors at the grocery store opened just enough for you to squeeze through. I’d rather just open it by hand. I think I’ve yakety yaked about the Odyssey enough for one day, but I still have more to say, so we’ll get to that tomorrow.

Thanks for watching everyone.