Listen to “AD #3403 – EVs Catching On Faster Than Expected; Russia Threatens EU Industrial Base; Ford Tells Dealers To Slash Costs” on Spreaker.
Follow us on social media:
Runtime: 8:37
0:08 Russia Threatens EU Industrial Base
1:02 Ford Tells Dealers to Cut $2,000 In Delivery Costs
1:53 Honda To Reveal Smart ADAS
3:13 Lincoln Corsair Gets Mid-Cycle Refresh
4:17 Hyundai IONIQ 5 N Brings Wicked Performance
5:05 VW ID.5 Concept Made by Apprentices
6:34 Geometry M2 EV Debuts in China
7:09 EVs Catching on Faster Than Expected
Visit our sponsors to thank them for their support of Autoline Daily: Bridgestone, Dolby Atmos, Intrepid Control Systems, MEDC and Schaeffler.
This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry.
RUSSIA THREATENS EU INDUSTRIAL BASE
The European Union is in danger of losing a lot of its industrial base and it’s all because Russia cut off gas supplies to the continent. Europe has depended heavily on cheap Russian natural gas to keep its industrial production competitive. But Vladimir Putin cut off all supplies to Europe earlier this month to retaliate against European sanctions because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. And that doubled the cost of energy in Europe which is crippling industrial production. Aluminum and steel plants use vast amounts of energy. So do plants that make glass. The bake ovens in the paint shops of automotive assembly plants also use a lot of energy. The Wall Street Journal reports that those operations are cutting back production and some are closing down, and that some of them may never reopen.
FORD TELLS DEALERS TO CUT $2,000 IN DELIVERY COSTS
Ford’s CEO Jim Farley is meeting with his U.S. dealers this week to talk about a new franchise agreement that will dictate how the company wants to sell electric vehicles. Farley says Ford dealers need to cut $2,000 from the cost of selling and delivering a car to customers. About $600 to $700 of the savings will come from having no inventory by adopting direct sales to customers. He’s going to challenge dealers to come up with additional savings. Farley says Ford cannot compete with Tesla unless it slashes at least $2,000 from delivery costs. If Ford was able to spread that savings across its global sales it would save the company about $8 billion a year.
HONDA TO REVEAL SMART ADAS
Honda is previewing some of the technologies it will showcase at next week’s ITS World Congress in Los Angeles. One that caught our eye is the Driver Augmentation HMI. It provides driver assist at the right time based on the condition of the driver as well as the traffic situation the car is in. Honda says the technology is part of its goal to achieve zero collision fatalities by 2050.
LINCOLN CORSAIR GETS MID-CYCLE REFRESH
Early next year you’re going to start seeing the updated version of the Lincoln Corsair. It will be hard to pick out a new one from an old one if you’re driving behind it but the grille on the 2023 Corsair extends much further down the fascia. As for the interior, the lower section of the dash is more streamlined with fewer buttons, a larger 13.2-inch center screen is available and the 12.3 digital instrument cluster is now standard. Technology wise, the Corsair gains the newest version of Ford’s hand-free driver assistance system, which Lincoln calls ActiveGlide and it’s also capable of getting over-the-air updates. And the last bit of news on the Corsair is that it will no longer offer a 2.3L turbocharged 4-cylinder engine, which was the most powerful in the lineup at 295 horsepower. A 2.0L turbo with 250 horsepower and 2.5L PHEV with 260 horsepower are still available.
HYUNDAI IONIQ 5 N BRINGS WICKED PERFORMANCE
Sounds like the performance version of the Hyundai IONIQ 5 is going to be similar to the Kia EV6 GT. When asked about the IONIQ 5 N, company executive and former head of the N division, Albert Biermann said, “It will be much faster (than the Hyundai i30 N). How could it be slower? It has almost 600 horsepower.” And he said it will have better brakes as well. That matches up pretty well with the EV6 GT, which has bigger brakes, 576 horsepower or 430 kW and will do 0-60 in 3.4 seconds. It makes sense the two performance EVs would be so similar. They both ride on the Hyundai Group’s e-GMP platform.
VW ID.5 CONCEPT MADE BY APPRENTICES
Volkswagen is again showing off a tricked out electric concept. The ID.5 GTX Xcite has all the makings of a SEMA show car with matte and gloss paint finishes, unique fenders and fascia, special 22-inch wheels and a giant sound system in the trunk. But what we think is the coolest part of this concept is that it was done by a group of apprentices, one of whom it quotes in the article is only 19 years old. And over the course of the year-long project, the young team had to deal with real automotive issues like budgeting, planning and implementation.
GEOMETRY M2 EV DEBUTS IN CHINA
With the wild success of the Wuling Hongguang MINI EV in China, you knew it wouldn’t be long before it got some more competition. Here is the new Geometry M2 from the Geely Group. The two-door, four-seater comes in two power outputs, 20 kW or 30 kW. And it has a lithium iron phosphate battery but its capacity is unknown. It also has a panoramic roof. The Geometry M2 will make its debut at the Guangzhou Auto Show in November and is expected to go on sale shortly after that.
EVs CATCHING ON FASTER THAN EXPECTED
Electric cars are catching on faster than many companies expected. The supplier Schaeffler said that in 2018 it forecast that by 2030, 30% of vehicles sold globally would be ICE, 40% would be hybrids and 30% would be electric. Now, just 4 years later it’s revised that forecast. It now believes pure ICE vehicles will drop to only 20% of sales, hybrids will stay the same at 40% and EVs will rise to 40%. And then it sees a real tipping point. By 2035 it sees ICE at only 10%, hybrids dropping to 30% and EVs rising to 60%. Schaeffler is one of the largest automotive suppliers in the world, so when it starts investing to meet this kind of forecast, it’s a sign that the auto industry is changing quickly.
| GLOBAL VEHICLE MIX FORECAST | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 2022 | 2035 | |
| ICE | 30% | 20% | 10% |
| HEV | 40% | 40% | 30% |
| EV | 30% | 40% | 60% |
| Source: Schaeffler | |||
And that brings us to the end of today’s show. Thanks for tuning in.
Thanks to our partner for embedding Autoline Daily on its website: WardsAuto.com
Seamus and Sean McElroy cover the latest news in the automotive industry for Autoline Daily.
