Listen to “AD #3013 – Audi Introduces e-tron GT; GM Earnings Good Despite Pandemic; Hyundai Unveils Wild Mobility Concept” on Spreaker.
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Runtime: 10:28
0:08 GM Earnings Look Good Despite Pandemic
0:46 California Releases 2020 Autonomous Vehicle Report
1:53 Toyota Not Affected by Chip Shortage
3:51 Audi Introduces New e-tron GT
5:54 Mitsubishi Updates the Eclipse Cross
7:33 Honda Offering Civic Type R Crate Engine
8:13 Battery Dispute Could Mean Trouble for VW & Ford
9:12 Hyundai Unveils Wild Mobility Concept
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GM EARNINGS LOOK GOOD DESPITE PANDEMIC
General Motors posted its earnings for last year and there’s good reason for optimism in the numbers. Sales fell 11% and that dragged down revenue by 10%. Yet GM boosted its operating profit by 21% thanks to slashing expenses by $16 billion. And its net profit of $6.3 billion was down by only 5% from 2019. GM has been bragging that its financial discipline has put it in a position to ride out significant downturns in the marketplace. And these numbers sure bear that out.
| GENERAL MOTORS 2020 EARNINGS | ||
|---|---|---|
| Sales | 6.8 million | -11.5% |
| Revenue | $122 billion | -10.5% |
| Operating Profit | $6.6 billion | +21% |
| Net Profit | $6.3 billion | -5% |
| Source: GM | ||
CALIFORNIA RELEASES 2020 AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE REPORT
Is Apple really interested in getting into the automotive industry? You bet it is. Its autonomous test cars racked up more than 18,000 miles last year, according to the California Department of Motor Vehicles. Even so, that’s nothing compared to Tesla or GM Cruise, which drove more than 770,000 miles, or Waymo which drove nearly 630,000. The California DMV requires AV companies to report how many miles they drive and how many times they have to disengage and let a human being take over. While disengagement is not a great stat to measure, it’s the only one we’ve got. Apple’s cars disengage every 118 miles. Cruise averaged over 28,000 miles between disengagements for the year. But by the second half of the year they got that up to 60,000 miles, and in the 4th quarter they had zero disengagements. And that shows real progress for autonomous technology.
TOYOTA NOT AFFECTED BY CHIP SHORTAGE
We thought GM had done a good job of dealing with this semiconductor chip shortage that is crippling automotive production. But even GM is running out of chips. Instead we should be praising Toyota’s purchasing department. Reuters reports that thanks to planning ahead, Toyota has a 4-month supply of chips. Toyota says it’s not expecting to see a hit in production, but it warns there are risks ahead. And with its most popular models still running down assembly lines Toyota raised its full year profit forecast by a whopping 54%.
AUDI INTRODUCES NEW e-tron GT
Audi fully revealed the all-new e-tron GT, which shares the same platform as the Porsche Taycan. As a result, the two vehicles share a lot of styling similarities, especially in the side silhouette and rear end. Although, you will notice a different lighting signature. The e-tron GT also has a new front end look with an inverted grille in body color that’s surrounded by a gloss black finish. We wouldn’t say there’s anything revolutionary about the interior, but it does feature a nice layered look with a 12.3-inch instrument display and 10.1-inch center screen. The Audi and Porsche share much of the same hardware as well. The e-tron GT has a front and rear electric motor with a 2-speed transmission mounted on the rear axle. As far as we know, right now, there will be two versions at launch. The standard version combines for 350 kW of power and will do 0-60 MPH in 3.9 seconds. The performance RS version has 440 kW and will do 0-60 in 3.1 seconds. Both feature a 93.4 kWh battery pack with 85 kWh of usable space, which is estimated to return 232 to 238 miles of EPA range. For those of you who’ve got the Taycan numbers memorized, the e-tron GT is a little slower but has a little more range. And in terms of price, the EVs are pretty similar too. The e-tron GT starts at $99,900 in the U.S., excluding destination charges and federal tax credit. That’s only $4,000 less than the Taycan. The RS e-tron GT is $139,900. It goes on sale this month in Germany and will reach the U.S. this summer.
MITSUBISHI UPDATES THE ECLIPSE CROSS
Speaking of new vehicles, Mitsubishi released pricing for the refreshed Eclipse Cross. In the U.S., the base ES trim with 2-wheel drive starts at just over $24,500, including destination charges. All-wheel drive adds another $1,600 to the price. That’s a base price increase of less than $500, but includes fresh styling and new content. The grille is still quite wild and the upper section now comes in black instead of chrome. The turn signal and headlamp were removed from the upper assembly and now sit lower in the fascia, while thin DRLs flank the grille. The big change at the rear is that the back glass is no longer split in two. The interior was also freshened up a bit and Mitsubishi engineers retuned and made updates to the suspension as well.
Speaking of new product, be sure to join us tomorrow on Autoline After Hours for a deep dive into the all-new Ford Raptor. We’ve got Tony Greco, who runs the Raptor program coming on the show. And if you’ve got questions you’d like us to ask him, send it to viewermail@autoline.tv or tweet it to @ AutolIne.
HONDA OFFERING CIVIC TYPE R CRATE ENGINE
The engine in the Honda Civic Type R is a sweet bit of kit, so in 2017 Honda started offering it as a crate engine. But it was only available to Honda Racing Line members and race teams and it didn’t include the controls to run it. Well, the automaker is changing that. Starting May 1st, Honda will sell its K20C1 engine, including alternator, turbocharger, and starter and the ECU, wire harness and accelerator pedal, to anyone that’s willing to shell out the required $9,000. The package can be purchased through HPD’s newly established official dealers.
BATTERY DISPUTE COULD MEAN TROUBLE FOR VW & FORD
Uh-oh could Ford and Volkswagen get cut off from their source of battery cells for the electric F-150 and ID.4? LG Chem and SK Innovation are in a big legal dispute. LG accused SK of poaching workers to get inside information about its batteries. And it accuses SK of destroying those documents. SK doesn’t deny destroying the evidence but says it did so before LG filed its complaint and that no critical records were lost. But the judge in the case didn’t buy it, and ruled in LG’s favor. So now the case is being reviewed by the U.S. International Trade Commission and today it could rule to ban SK from importing cell components for batteries that it plans to make in Georgia later this year. And those cells are supposed to go in the electric Ford F-150 and Volkswagen ID.4.
HYUNDAI UNVEILS WILD MOBILITY CONCEPT
A little over two years ago, Hyundai took the wraps off a wild, modular concept vehicle called Elevate that can traverse just about any terrain. Now its showing off a new concept that’s similar called TIGER, which stands for Transforming Intelligent Ground Excursion Robot. Unlike the Elevate, it’s unmanned and is designed to deliver goods or deliver aid packages in emergency situations over remote and inaccessible terrain. TIGER can be deployed to remote areas with a drone and it can travel on the ground with its wheels. But if it gets stuck or can’t use its wheels, it has articulating legs that allows it to walk over the ground. The vehicle is being developed by Hyundai’s New Horizons Studio in California along with engineering design software company Autodesk and design experts Sundberg-Ferar.
But that’s it for today, thanks for watching.
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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.
