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Runtime: 8:48
0:39 Manley Named Head of Americas At Stellantis
1:01 Chrysler The Crown Jewel of Stellantis
1:44 China Updates BEV Sales Target
2:21 China EV Companies May Get Kicked Off U.S. Stock Exchanges
3:48 VW Warns Semiconductor Shortage Will Cause Production Delays
4:45 Scania Creates Inward Swinging Door for Cab-Forward Trucks
5:34 Toyota Reveals SEMA Concepts
6:31 VW Shows Off Augmented Reality HUD
7:27 New Nissan Leaf on Sale Now In U.S.
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MANLEY NAMED HEAD OF AMERICAS AT STELLANTIS
It’s official. PSA and FCA were given a green light by the European Union to go ahead with their merger. Last week, there were rumors that FCA’s chief executive officer Mike Manley was being considered for the top job at Ferrari. Instead, Manley will become the Head of the Americas for the newly merged company, called Stellantis.
CHRYSLER THE CROWN JEWEL OF STELLANTIS
Here’s our Autoline Insight. Carlos Tavares, the CEO of PSA, undoubtedly wants Mike Manley on his team. After all, FCA is bigger than PSA. It sells more vehicles. It brings in more revenue, and it makes a bigger profit. Even more importantly, virtually all of FCA’s profits come from Chrysler. Neither Fiat, Alfa Romeo or Maserati turn a profit. And most of FCAs profits come from North and South America. So it makes sense for Manley to run the Americas. Chrysler is really the crown jewel of Stellantis, and Carlos Tavares needs to make sure it continues to make a lot of money.
| FCA | PSA | |
|---|---|---|
| Vehicle Sales | 4.5 million | 3.8 million |
| Revenue | €108 billion | €74 billion |
| Net Profit | €4.2 billion | €3.2 billion |
| Source: Company Annual Reports | ||
CHINA UPDATES BEV SALES TARGET
China is ramping up its efforts to dominate the EV industry. It announced what it calls Roadmap 2.0 to phase out pure internal combustion cars by 2035. The ICE won’t disappear at that time, because China is pushing heavily to boost sales of hybrids. Even so, the data house LMC reports that China is targeting BEVs to be 18% of all new car sales by 2025. That jumps to 37% by 2030 and to 47% by 2035.
| CHINA ROADMAP 2.0 | ||
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 32 million new vehicles | BEVS = 5.7 million (18%) |
| 2030 | 38 million new vehicles | BEVs = 14 million (37%) |
| 2035 | 40 million new vehicles | BEVs = 19 million (47%) |
| Source: LMC Automotive | ||
CHINA EV COMPANIES MAY GET KICKED OFF U.S. STOCK EXCHANGES
Meanwhile, Chinese EV companies that are listed on American stock exchanges are in danger of getting kicked off. The U.S. Congress enacted a bill requiring companies listed on stock exchanges to undergo financial audits by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. And President Trump signed it. If companies don’t get those audits they can be delisted from any stock exchange. But China will not let the board audit Chinese companies. Even so, NIO says it is in compliance with the new rules. The threat of delisting hasn’t scared away investors, who continue to buy and sell Chinese EV stocks. NIOs shares were up 72 cents, or 1.6%; Xpeng was unchanged and Li Auto was up $1.08 or 3.5%.
VW WARNS CHIP SHORTAGE WILL CAUSE PRODUCTION DELAYS
Last week, we reported that chip shortages were going to lead to manufacturing delays and here’s the first. Volkswagen says it will have to implement production restrictions in China, Europe and the U.S. due to shortages in semiconductor supplies. This will affect models from Audi, its commercial division, SEAT, SKODA and VW that ride on the automaker’s MQB platform. The problem started when automotive production shut down during the pandemic, which led semiconductor manufacturers to look to other markets, like consumer electronics. But now that automakers are running at full bore, the semiconductor industry can’t keep up. And this could have a big impact. Volkswagen says “We are doing everything in our power to minimize lost production and to ensure that normal deliveries to customers can be resumed as rapidly as possible.”
SCANIA CREATES SWINGING DOOR FOR CAB-FORWARD TRUCKS
Speaking of the VW Group, Scania, which is part of its truck and bus division Traton, is taking the benefits of an inward swinging door, like you might find on a city bus, and applying it to its L-series cab-forward truck. But rather than two halves making up the door, it’s two layers of tempered glass that’s completely undivided, which provides better visibility for the driver. In order to incorporate the City Door, as it’s called, into the truck, Scania engineers had to strengthen the cab floor and door frame. They also moved the passenger seat further back to give drivers that exit and enter the truck often more space to move around. But it’s also really nice that you wouldn’t have to worry about a big swinging truck door getting in your way.
TOYOTA REVEALS SEMA CONCEPTS
Here’s a concept that I think should go into production. Toyota revealed a removable hardtop version of the Supra for this year’s virtual SEMA Show. It looks good to me and is a nod to past Supras that should make a comeback. Toyota also showed how you could take the bed from a Tacoma and turn it into the ultimate Overlanding trailer. A scissor lift raises a platform out of the bed, which can support a number of different things, including a tent. There’s also a toilet, fridge, sink, stove and hot water heater.
VW SHOWS OFF AUGMENTED REALITY HUD
Volkswagen is offering a new augmented reality head-up display for the ID.3 and ID.4 electric vehicles. Turn arrows and markings are superimposed over real surroundings and the display window is separated into two fields and levels. One is located at a virtual distance of 10 meters or about 33 feet, and it shows turn arrows, and starting points and destinations of the navigation system. The other window shows speed, road signs and navigation symbols, which appear 3 meters or just under 10 feet in front of the driver. For navigation, three arrows are located where you need to turn, which become larger, the closer the driver gets to that point. And the display also shows lane departure and forward collision warnings. VW says it’s the first automaker to introduce the technology to the compact segment.
NEW NISSAN LEAF ON SALE NOW IN U.S.
And speaking of electric vehicles, the new Nissan Leaf is on sale now in the U.S. It’s available with two batteries, a 40-kWh lithium-ion battery that provides 149 miles of range and a 62-kWh battery with 226 miles of range. It’s available with Nissan’s ProPilot driver assistance system, and comes standard with the NissanConnect telematics system and the company’s Safety Shield 360 crash avoidance technologies. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are also standard. The base model with the 40-kWh pack, starts just over $32,000, while the bigger battery version starts just under $40,000.
A programming note here. Wednesday will be the last Autoline Daily for 2020. The Autoline crew will be taking a well-earned break for the holidays, and we’ll be back on January 4th.
But that’s it for today’s show, thanks for watching and please join us 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.
