AD #3108 – Used Car Prices About to Go Down; All-New Infiniti QX60 Debuts; Ford Offers Pay-As-You-Drive Insurance

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

USED CAR PRICES ABOUT TO GO DOWN
Used car prices are going through the roof. They were up 10% in April and another 7% on top of that in May. In fact, used car prices now account for one-third of the increase in the overall inflation rate in the United States. But now it looks like prices are coming down. Bloomberg reports that auction prices at Manheim have peaked and that prices of used cars should start to drop in a matter of weeks. And that should drag down the national inflation rate.

USED CAR PRICES UP $5,000 IN ONE YEAR
Even so, the price rise has been shocking. Cox Automotive reports that the average used car with about 67,000 miles on it, or about 107,000 kilometers, now costs $24,400. At franchised dealerships, used cars cost even more, about $26,000. About a year ago the average used car was selling for about $19,000.

U.S. TO IMPOSE TIRE TARIFFS ON KOREA, TAIWAN & THAILAND
Korea, Taiwan and Thailand are about to get hit with higher U.S. tariffs on imported tires. The U.S. International Trade Commission says U.S. tire manufacturers are being harmed by imports from those countries because they’re being sold for below cost. So the U.S. Commerce Department will issue anti-dumping duties on tires for passenger vehicles and light trucks from Korea, Taiwan and Thailand. Vietnam is on the list too, but it’s not dumping as much. The U.S. imported $4.4 billion in tires from those countries in 2020. The Commerce Department opened an investigation in response to petitions from the United Steelworkers, which represents a number of tire companies in the U.S.

ALL NEW INFINITI QX60
Infiniti sure wasn’t joking when it said the QX60 Monograph concept hinted at the production version’s future design. Add some door handles to the concept and you’ve practically got the all-new QX60. Styling is highlighted by a larger grille and front air curtains, thin LED running lights in the front and rear, and blacked out pillars surrounded by bright accent striping that seems to fade off into nothingness. Sticking with styling, the interior is a big departure from the current model. It looks much more sophisticated. Inside, this top-of-the-line model features a quilted diamond pattern throughout–even on the dashboard. The thin 12.3 inch display is actually standard on all models and there’s also an option for an all-new 10.8 inch HUD. Mechanically, the QX60 is based on the Nissan Pathfiner. Power still comes from the same 3.5L V6 that makes 295 horsepower, with an all-new 9-speed automatic and optional AWD, which is available on all trim levels. That setup is able to tow up to 6,000 pounds, a 20% improvement. The all-new 3-row, 7 passenger QX60 arrives in North America late in the year, while the Nissan Pathfinder is on sale now.

HONDA OFFICIALLY UNWRAPS NEW CIVIC HATCHBACK
Sticking with new car reveals, the new Honda Civic Hatchback made its official debut last night. The big difference from the sedan is that it’s available with a 6-speed manual, which can be paired to both a naturally aspirated 2.0L or a turbocharged 1.5L engine. The other option is a CVT. Rear end styling still features lighting that stretches across the car, but it’s less attention grabbing than the current Hatchback. Speaking of that hatch, it’s now made of a composite material, which not only reduces weight, but it allowed Honda to use smaller hinges that help clean up the roofline. For the first time the Civic Hatchback will be built at Honda’s plant in Indiana and production is scheduled to kick off later this year. And it may surprise you how important the hatchback is for Honda in the U.S. It accounts for over 20% of all Civic sales.

FORD UK OFFERS PAY-AS-YOU-GO INSURANCE
Why should you pay for insurance on your car when it’s parked? Even though many businesses are opening back up, there’s still a lot of people working from home. That means they’re driving a lot less. So, Ford in the U.K. is offering pay-as-you-drive insurance. Customers with vehicles that have an embedded modem will be able to sign up for the policy online. Then they have to accept a prompt on the vehicle’s screen that they’re willing to share their distance data. Ford says that 51% of its customers could save nearly 260 pounds a year on their insurance bill using pay-as-you-drive. That’s about $360.

MACH-E PERFORMANCE MODELS GET BETTER RANGE THAN EXPECTED
In other Ford news, it underestimated the EPA range for the performance versions of the Mustang Mach-E. It originally estimated the Mach-E GT and GT Performance would go 250 and 235 miles, respectively. But the new EPA estimates put the GT at 270 miles and the GT Performance at 260 miles. Both vehicles feature a dual motor setup with an upgraded secondary motor that pushes output to 480 horsepower. The GT will 0-60 in 3.8 seconds, while the GT Performance with slightly more torque and standard summer tires will do 0-60 in 3.5 seconds. Ford did not give a reason why the range came out better than it expected.

 

U.S. YEARS AWAY FROM RARE EARTHS SELF-SUFFICIENCY
President Biden wants to see the United States develop its own supply chain of critical materials. And that is the topic on our television show Autoline This Week. We asked Jack Lifton, an expert on rare earth minerals whether the US could develop its own supply chain. Currently the auto industry relies almost completely on China for those materials. Here’s what he had to say.

“The U.S. could actually be independent from China for rare earths. Our total use per year is about 10,000 or 12,000 tons of rare earth permanent magnets. Two thirds of that is from the automotive industry. That’s the industry the needs these things the most. The United States has the capability to provide that. What we don’t have is any processing capacity. There’s no point to developing a mine in the United States if it’s just to supply China. This is why private equity has not been interested in this area. With the latest White House directive, so to speak, and the response, it’s possible the federal government will step in here. And quite frankly there are several federal solicitations out right now asking people to test out systems for separating and making rare earth metals and alloys and then report on the economics of them. The Department of Defense and the Department of Energy are both very much involved in this. The thing that everybody has to remember is that it takes years. Once you model something and say we can do it, even if it’s subsidized, we’re years and years away from this.”

There is a ton of great information on that show which you can watch right now on our website or our YouTube channel.

A programming note here. Autoline After Hours is off this week, but we’ll be back next week with Trevor Scott, the Marketing Manager and Chris Mazur, the Chief Program Engineer for the new Ford Maverick pickup truck. So put your thinking cap on. And if you got questions you’d like to ask them send us an email at viewermail@autoline.tv

And that wraps up today’s report, thanks for watching.