Technology – Page 2 – GreatOldTrucks.com

Daimler Getting Back Into Bed With Chrysler for Battery Biz

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Pixfly/Shutterstock

Daimler is getting cozy with Chrysler again, or at least the American side of Stellantis, so they can tackle battery development and production. Those in the know will recall that Chrysler has been passed around more than a bottle of booze at a middle school party. But its long history of partnerships also kept it in business and resulted in some of its better products.

Before the Amero-French merger that resulted in Stellantis, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles was an Italian-American company with facilities dotted around North America. Prior to that, it was known as DaimlerChrysler – resulting in the LX Platform, Pentastar V6, and a wider variety of Jeep Wranglers. Now, Chrysler’s alienated German wife has shown up on the doorstep with a wad of cash and news that she’ll be investing it into the new battery business.

Daimler has purchased a 33 percent stake of Automotive Cells Company (AAC), which was established and uncreatively named by Stellantis and TotalEnergies, in a bid to ensure Europe parent isn’t left behind in the electric revolution.

“Mercedes-Benz pursues a very ambitious transformation plan and this investment marks a strategic milestone on our path to CO2 neutrality. Together with ACC, we will develop and efficiently produce battery cells and modules in Europe – tailor-made to the specific Mercedes-Benz requirements,” Ola Källenius, CEO of Daimler AG and Mercedes-Benz AG, explained. “This new partnership allows us to secure supply, to take advantage of economies of scale, and to provide our customers with superior battery technology. On top of that we can help to ensure that Europe remains at the heart of the auto industry – even in an electric era: With Mercedes-Benz as a new partner, ACC aims to more than double capacity at its European sites to support Europe’s industrial competitiveness in the design and manufacturing of battery cells.”

From Daimler:

The entire ACC project will require an investment volume of more than seven billion euros – in a combination of equity, debt and subsidies – to reach a capacity of at least 120 Gigawatt hours in Europe by the end of the decade. Mercedes-Benz will invest a mid-three-digit-million euros amount next year. In total, the investments are expected to remain below one billion Euros. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including agreement on definitive documentation and regulatory approvals.

The German automaker would like to scale up the development and production of next-generation battery cells and modules so it can keep its promise of being an all-electric company by 2030. However, it said it needs a total battery production capacity of more than 200 Gigawatt hours by that time, requiring it to build at least eight facilities and engage in numerous partnerships.

Following Daimler’s formal investment, the company will have an even 33 percent equity stake in ACC – giving it two of the six Supervisory Board seats and equal footing with Total and Stellantis. It’s expected that hardware will begin manifesting within the next couple of years and be shared among the three companies. For now, Daimler will be providing its “technical and production know-how” to help spur development. But more direct involvement is anticipated when the automaker finishes its Drive Systems Campus finishes construction in 2023, with additional European facilities to be considered later.

[Image: Pixfly/Shutterstock]

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Honda Targets 70,000 Annual Sales for Prologue EV — Depending Upon “Fair and Equitable” U.S. Incentives

Honda expects to sell 70,000 of its Prologue battery-electric vehicles annually after its launch in 2024 — but today warned it could fall short if federal lawmakers fail to take a “fair and equitable” approach to the new EV incentive program now being debated in Congress.

Honda’s been teasing its all-electric Prologue sport-utility vehicle.

The Honda Prologue will be one of two BEVs that the carmaker plans to launch mid-decade, both developed and manufactured as part of a joint venture with General Motors. That’s part of its goal of having BEVs and other zero-emission vehicles account for 40% of its sales by 2030. Honda plans to subsequently introduce more BEVs of its own design.

“Launching our first volume BEV in 2024 is the start of an exciting new direction for Honda,” Dave Gardner, executive vice president of National Operations at American Honda Motor Co. Inc. said in a statement. “We are working with our dealers to plan the transition from sales of primarily gasoline-powered vehicles to selling 100% electric vehicles by 2040.”

Honda wants more money from Congress

President Joe Biden recently set a target that would have BEVs, PHEVs and fuel-cell vehicles, or FCVs, account for 50% of U.S. sales by 2030. To get there, the president is asking Congress to help fund a nationwide network of 500,000 chargers. Congress, meanwhile, is working up new EV sales incentives. But that has generated significant controversy as a plan approved by the House Ways & Means Committee would not only extend the current, $7,500 tax credits but add $5,000 for EVs and batteries built in the U.S. using union labor.

Honda last week condemned those provisions, sending a letter to Congressional leaders arguing that the plan “discriminates among EVs made by hard-working American auto workers based simply on whether they belong to a union.”

While a target of 70,000 Prologues may not seem like much compared to Tesla’s numbers, it equates to an average year for the Honda Pilot.

In the statement issued today, it followed up by saying reaching its 40% zero-emission target for the U.S. is “contingent upon fair and equitable access to state and federal EV incentives intended to encourage American consumers to purchase electric vehicles.”

Coming from behind

Honda was a pioneer of automotive electrification. Its original Insight, a high-mileage two-seater, was the first mass market hybrid to go on sale in the U.S., beating the Toyota Prius to showrooms by several months.

It briefly introduced a limited-volume battery-electric model, the EV Plus, in the late 1990s. And it followed up, nearly two decades later, with a battery-powered version of the Clarity line. That low-range model was dropped in 2020.

The automaker has come under increasing pressure to bring out a long-range BEV with key competitors like Toyota, Ford and even Subaru and Mazda getting into the growing electric vehicle market.

In April, Toshihiro Mibe, who became global president and CEO earlier this year, set a goal of having all Honda vehicles powered by some form of battery and hydrogen drive system by 2030. They are expected to generate 40% of its North American sales by the end of the decade, 80% by 2035, and 100% by the end of the next decade.

Honda turns to its partner

The GM-Honda relationship began more than two decades ago.

To speed up the process, Honda turned to General Motors — the two traditional rivals already having several joint ventures in the works, including one focused on fuel-cell technology, another on autonomous vehicles.

“Leveraging strategic partners to achieve scale and mitigate initial investment requirements” will let Honda bring a competitive battery-car to market sooner than it could on its own, Gardner acknowledged during a media briefing in June. “Our zero-emission focus has begun,” he said.

While the 70,000 sales target might seem modest compared to the volumes some new BEVs — particularly those from Tesla — are generating, the figure is roughly in line with annual demand for the Honda Pilot SUV.

A regional approach to sales

When it launched the original EV Plus, Honda focused primarily on the California market, the largest for BEVs. While manufacturers like Tesla, General Motors, Ford and Nissan now are rolling out their battery-electric cars nationwide, Honda plans to continue focusing on select markets with Prologue.

Honda put an end to its battery-electric Clarity sedan in 2020.

“Honda’s initial approach to selling the Prologue will be regional, focusing on California and the ZEV states, including the BEV-friendly Sunbelt states of Texas and Florida,” it said in a statement today. “Honda anticipates these regions will represent the bulk of sales at the onset of launch due to higher customer acceptance and regulatory requirements.

“As EV infrastructure expands and customer interest grows nationwide, the company will rapidly expand sales and marketing efforts to other areas of the country.”

More to come

The automaker has provided no specific details about Prologue’s drivetrain beyond the fact it will share the Ultium battery technology GM will launch later this year, starting with models like the GMC Hummer pickup and Cadillac Lyriq SUV. That would suggest that Honda’s electric SUV will deliver at least 250 miles or more of range between charges.

Honda has been completely mum about the second vehicle to come from its GM alliance. But it did note that subsequent battery-powered cars will rely on its own new e-Architecture. That is expected to follow the same skateboard-style approach used for Ultium, with its batteries and key drive components mounted below the load floor.

Others May be Coming, But Tesla’s Still King of the EV Mountain in U.S.

2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E front driving — The 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E Premium is a true competitor for the Tesla Model Y.

Much of the talk about electric vehicles lately focuses on the wave of EVs coming in the next 12 to 18 months; however, until then the latest round of electric vehicle registrations shows Tesla’s still king of the EV world, well, at least in the U.S.

According to Experian, which tracks new vehicle registrations in the U.S., sales of electric vehicles are up through the first six months of the year — and up big. There were 255,393 EVs registrations during the time period, equating to an increase of 133% compared to the same period last year. Automotive News first released the registration numbers.

A look at the top 10 EVs registered shows some new names, most notably the Ford Mustang Mach-E. The automaker’s first long-range EV debuted with a splash last fall and, according some analysts, has taken away as much as 10% of Tesla’s sales.

The only electric vehicle that outsells the Tesla Model 3 in the U.S. is the Model Y.

However, the lofty sales number doesn’t appear to be so much Ford conquesting from Tesla, although some of that is happening, the entire market is up, meaning there is plenty to go arounds. In fact, the Tesla Model Y, the vehicle the Mach-E most directly competes with, was up five-fold through July, logging 93,708 registrations.

The reports of my demise …

As the number of options for buyers interested in electric vehicles has grown — slowly — in the last 12 to 18 months, so has the number of predictions about when Tesla will be surpassed as the leading seller of battery-electric vehicles.

If the latest top 10 list of EV registrations is any indication, it’s going to be awhile. Here is the top 10 list of EV registrations in the U.S., according to Experian:

2022 Chevrolet Bolt EUV driving — Despite its current recall, the Chevrolet Bolt was the third-best-selling EV in the U.S. through July.

Tesla Model Y: 93,708 units
Tesla Model 3: 68,448 units
Chevy Bolt EV: 21,898 units
Ford Mustang Mach-E: 13,950 units
Nissan Leaf: 9,445 units
VW ID.4: 8,404 units
Porsche Taycan: 6,071 units
Hyundai Kona EV: 6,069 units
Audi e-tron: 5,473 units
Kia Niro EV: 4,091 units

Some of the non-Tesla vehicles have seen substantial sales gains in 2021, including the Chevrolet Bolt EV and EUV, which is currently the subject of a massive recall due to battery manufacturing problem that has been pinpointed as the cause of more than 10 vehicle fires.

The company’s recalled all of them and shut down the Orion, Michigan plant that produces them as it works with its supplier, South Korea’s LG Chem, to fix the problem. Despite all this, its sales were up 138% during the timeframe, according to InsideEVs.com.

The Launch Edition of the Rivian R1T will begin production and deliveries later this month.

However, the dominance of Tesla is still strong. It holds the top two spots on the list, accounting for 162,156 units. This is more than two times the rest of the top 10 at 75,401 vehicles. What vehicles occupy the No. 11 and No. 12 spots? The Model S and Model X, respectively.

Overall, the company gives new meaning to the term “California King” as it accounts for more than two-thirds of all EVs sold in the U.S. right now.

Change is inevitable

While Tesla enjoys a substantial lead, it seems it’s only a matter of time when the rest of the world begins flooding the U.S. market with new electric options — and that time essentially starts, well, now.

Starting with newbie Rivian and its Launch Edition R1T electric pickup which will begin deliveries later this month, at least 27 brands accounting for nearly 50 distinct vehicles, which TheDetroitBureau.com chronicled in two part story you can read by clicking here for Part I and here for Part II, are scheduled arrive in the U.S. between now and the end of next year.

Tesla’s not twiddling its thumbs, waiting for the wave to come crashing down on it, expanding its production base in the U.S. with Giga Austin, its massive new plant expected to come online by the end of this year or early next to produce even more of the Model 3 while prepping to for the Cybertruck and possibly a less expensive vehicle in the $25,000 range.

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Tesla CEO Musk Says Second-Gen Roadster Delayed Until 2023

Tesla made its splash into the car world with the first Tesla Roadsters more than a decade ago, and now deliveries of the second-generation of the 2+2-seater are likely going to be pushed back to 2023.

CEO Elon Musk confirmed the new timeline via Twitter when asked about details of the Roadster, which was supposed to get a push toward production once the Model S Plaid hit the market.

“2021 has been the year of super crazy supply chain shortages, so it wouldn’t matter if we had 17 new products, as none would ship,” he tweeted. “Assuming 2022 is not mega drama, new Roadster should ship in 2023.”

Musk suggested earlier this year the already once-delayed 2+2-seater — it was originally slated to arrive last year — would arrive at the end of next summer. However, it appears the chip issue, which is expected to continue into next year, sunk the 2022 timeline.

Revised arrival time

Delayed due dates are nothing new to Musk, who’s cracked several jokes about missing his “overly ambitious” deadlines before. The Semi and the Cybertruck have also been pushed back at least once each, with some observers now expecting the latter to not arrive until 2023, though the official word, according to the configurator, is that it will arrive in 2022.

Part of the issue is that demand for the Model Y and Model 3 — Tesla’s best sellers — require the resources that could be used to bring the others to the market. Ensuring there is cash going into the corporate coffers is what makes the other vehicles possible, Musk has also noted in the past.

Tesla’s also not alone when it comes to supplier issues these days with GM, Ford, Stellantis, Honda, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz and more all forced to shut down plants due to the shortage of chips.

Musk debuts Plaid full car — In June, Tesla CEO Elon Musk hailed the new Model S Plaid as the fastest and safest car built today.

Happy campers once it arrives

Despite the delay, the Roadster — which at one point Musk said would use rockets borrowed from SpaceX — will be the fastest production car on the road, or so Musk claimed when he revealed the next-gen model.

“The new Tesla Roadster will be the fastest production car ever made. Period,” the South African-born entrepreneur declared in November 2017. “The purpose of this is to give a hardcore smackdown to the gasoline car.”

The title will remain in-house, at least of nothing changes. The Tesla Model S Plaid currently gets there in 1.99 seconds. The Roadster, Musk said, will do it in 1.9 seconds — unless the rockets come into play. He said at the time it will race from 0 to 100 mph in just 4.2 seconds, and top out at more than 250 mph.

Just as importantly, the $200K model will do all of that while getting more than 620 miles on a single charge — the distance between Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Munich Motor Show to Spotlight Dozens of New Concepts, Production Models

While the Frankfurt Motor Show is no more, Germany retains its role in the hierarchy of automotive events with the debut of the first Munich Motor Show next month — and the event will bring out a broad array of new concept and production models.

IAA Mobility Munich — No longer the massive event it was when it was in Frankfurt, the Munich show is still going to be impactful.

While a number of manufacturers won’t be on hand for the debut Munich Motor Show, a preliminary count suggests those marques that will participate plan to reveal about two dozen new vehicles. And the final number could be even higher as some are expected to roll out a few, last-minute surprises.

As one might expect in Europe, there’ll be a big emphasis placed on new green machines, everything from conventional hybrids to pure battery-electric vehicles — as well as at least one new hydrogen model from BMW.

Here’s a look at some of the most significant announcements that will be made at the Munich Show — also known as IAA Mobility 2021 — during its run from Sept. 7-12:

Audi

The German luxury brand doesn’t plan to produce any new models that will run solely on gas or diesel by 2026. And while it will soldier on with plug-in hybrids through the end of the decade, its longer-term plan is to shift entirely to battery-electric vehicles. We got a sense of what’s in store this month at the Pebble Beach Concours with the unveiling of the Skysphere, one of three cutting-edge concept models. The Grandsphere is next in the series and shows where Audi hopes to go with an all-electric and fully autonomous SUV. The automaker also has two other models set to make public debuts in Munich: the RS3 hatchback and sedan line taking aim at the likes of the Mercedes-AMG A 45, as well as the all-electric Q4 e-tron. It will slip into a space just below the current, gas-powered Audi Q5.

BMW

The Bavarian automaker has had a long-running interest in hydrogen power — though it early on explored the possibility of using the lightweight gas as an alternative to gasoline in its internal combustion engines. BMW abandoned that approach and, like other manufacturers, now sees hydrogen working best in a fuel-cell system. That’s what will power the new BMW iX5. This is not a concept but a production model due out in 2022, albeit at low volumes and targeted for markets where there’s an available hydrogen distribution system. The other green machine is the facelifted BMW iX3 city car. And BMW isn’t ready to give up on gas models. It also plans to show the uplifted X3 and X4 sport-activity vehicles in Munich.

Mercedes-Benz

The German luxury brand is also planning a big showing of all-electric models, starting with the debut of the Mercedes-Benz EQE. It will serve as the company’s all-electric E-Class model and share the same Electric Vehicle Architecture, or EVA, as the larger Mercedes EQS flagship. Speaking of the EQS, the German marque will offer the usual family of variants and they will be getting previewed in Munich. They include an even larger and more luxurious EQS-Maybach model, as well as a more powerful EQS-AMG rumored to make 800 horsepower — taking aim at the Tesla Model S Plaid. Like BMW and Audi, Mercedes isn’t ready to go 100% electric but is continuing to tinker with other green drivetrains. That will become apparent with the debut of the new Mercedes-AMG plug-in hybrid. We’ll also see the high-riding Mercedes-Benz C-Class All-Terrain, and the armored S-Class Guard. Is there a surprise in store? Some reports suggest Mercedes could debut the EQG, an all-electric version of the big G-Class SUV.

VW ID.5 GTX — Volkswagen will brin g a slew of new vehicles to Munich, including the new ID.5 GTX.

Porsche

The sports car company will have a relatively modest presence in Munich — but a significant one, nonetheless. It will reveal a facelifted version of its smaller SUV, the Macan. That will provide insight into the upcoming debut of an all-electric version of the Macan due out in 2023. While they’re expected to have similar exterior designs, the BEV version of the SUV will be based on the new Premium Platform Electric, or PPE, architecture jointly developed by Porsche and Audi. Also on tap: the all-out version of Porsche’s bigger SUV, the Cayenne Turbo GT.

Volkswagen

Cupra EV from Seat — Spanish maker Seat, owned by VW, will show off it’s new electric spinoff, Cupra.

The German giant is planning to invest $86 billion to electrify its line-up and that will be obvious when Munich showgoers see what’s on tap from all of its various marques. As for the VW brand itself, it has a mix of electric and gas offerings to reveal next month. That includes a new electric city car that could be named either the ID.1 or ID.2 if the automaker sticks with its current naming strategy. Then there will be sportier versions of two of its current battery-electric vehicles. The ID.4 GTX is already available in Europe, and while the ID.5 GTX is being described as a “prototype,” a production version of the coupe-like SUV is expected to reach showrooms before year-end. Munich also will bring the public debut of the new Volkswagen Polo and GTI models, the latter unveiled online earlier in August. Completing the list, we’ll get a first public look at the new VW Taigo, a small, coupe-like SUV based on the current T-Cross line.

Other brands

Cupra, the all-electric spinoff of Volkswagen’s Spanish brand Seat, will reveal a battery-powered hatchback based on the VW ID.3. It will share the Volkswagen MEB all-electric architecture but put more of an emphasis on performance than the ID.3.
Dacia will bring out a new 7-seat people-mover.
Hyundai is making an appearance in Munich and is set to give the European public debut of the all-electric Ioniq 5 — but it could have a surprise in store, as well.
Renault will weigh in with a small, all-electric SUV dubbed the Megane E-Tech Electric.

Smart is transitioning to an all-electric brand and is teasing plans to reveal a battery-powered micro SUV. It’s believed to be using a drivetrain developed as part of a joint venture between Smart parent Mercedes-Benz and China’s Geely.

South Korean Chip Maker Planning New Factory in Michigan

With demand for semiconductors soaring, SK Siltron, a South Korean semiconductor wafer maker, plans to build a $300 million manufacturing plant in the heart of U.S. auto industry, a little more than 110 miles north of Detroit.

GM recently announced plans to temporarily shutdown its Orion plant where it builds the Bolt due to the chip shortage.

The new facility in Monitor Township, which is just outside Bay City, Michigan, will support electric vehicle growth, creating up to 150 jobs. The company is investing $302 million to build the new operation. It is the company’s second facility in the state.

The project also builds on Michigan’s position in semiconductor supply chain, electric vehicle development by producing more of the chips the auto industry in Michigan, according to the Michigan Economic Development Corp.

Automakers across the globe have been scrambling for supplies of semiconductors, which have been in short supply. The shortages have curtailed production for the past several months, prompting President Joe Biden to call for the expansion of semiconductor manufacturing capacity in the United States.

Electric vehicle development spurring development

Biden waves at CEO Chip Summit — President Joe Biden has repeatedly pushed for expanding semiconductor production capability in the U.S.

“The growth of electric vehicles is opening an exciting new chapter for the auto industry as it provides consumers with more environmentally friendly transportation options,” said Jianwei Dong, chief executive officer for SK Siltron CSS.

Last month, the Michigan Strategic Fund announced support for Ford’s new battery center, dubbed Ion Park, providing further evidence that Michigan continues to emerge as an electric vehicle R&D and manufacturing leader, the MEDC said.

Ford will invest $185 million in its new global battery center of excellence, which will be home to as many as 200 employees focused on the development and production of lithium-ion as well as solid-state batteries

“Ford already is delivering on our plan to lead the electric revolution with strong new vehicles including Mustang Mach-E, 2022 E-Transit available late 2021 and the 2022 F-150 Lightning available from spring next year,” said Anand Sankaran, Ford Ion Park director.

2022 Ford F-150 Lightning charging — EVs use about $550 worth of semiconductors for the powertrain compared with just $80 for internal combustion engines.

“The new lab will help Ford speed up the battery development process to deliver even more capable, affordable batteries and is part of Ford’s renewed commitment to making Michigan a centerpiece of its focus on EVs.”

Semiconductor industry faces challenges

“Every car that gets smarter needs more semiconductors,” said Kroeger, who added during the interview he expected the shortages well into 2022.

Electric cars need very powerful and efficient semiconductors in order to get more range out of each kilowatt hour of battery, he added. The typical gas-powered model can use as many as 100 microprocessors — or more — to operate everything from their powertrain controls to their infotainment and digital safety systems.

With BEVs, that number can run into the hundreds, many of those chips required to monitor the health of the cells that make up a battery pack.

UBS analyst Francois-Xavier Bouvignies told CNBC last week that cars with internal combustion engines typically use around $80 worth of semiconductors in the powertrain, but electric vehicles use around $550 worth.

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Ford Suffers Setbacks on Big Sellers: Bronco and Mustang Mach-E

Ford’s enduring a tough day, forced to deal with big problems on two of its hottest vehicles: the Bronco and Mustang Mach-E.

Ford Bronco 4-door quality check — The roof problems with the new Bronco are still unresolved, forcing Ford to replace the parts on all owners’ vehicles while halting production.

The long-awaited Bronco’s problems with its removable hardtop still haven’t been resolved, forcing it to replace the pieces on existing models and halt production on new hardtop models to solve the issue. Soft top Broncos will continue to roll down the line.

Meanwhile stopping production is the problem for the Mach-E as it awaits — no surprise — more semiconductors. Perhaps no company’s been hit harder by the chip shortage than Ford. The company’s had to temporarily shut down builds on its biggest sellers, like the F-150, Explorer and now the Mach-E.

Bronco busted

The problem with the Bronco’s roof applies to the removable molded-in color plastic panels only, as reported by the website, bronco6g.com. The color and protective coating applied to the roof pieces is faulty, which becomes apparent a few weeks after the vehicle’s been exposed to the elements.

As a result, the coating comes off on the edges of the panels, which are not smooth. With a bit of time, weather can change the color of the panels. Reportedly, this issue’s plagued the design for some time now.

2021 Ford Bronco 2-Door - in brush — The Bronco roof issues apply to the two- and four-door models, but not soft tops.

The automaker’s telling owners who have already taken delivery of their vehicles that they will replace the panels at no cost. However, the real tough sell is for buyers who haven’t gotten their vehicles yet and will now be forced to wait even longer to get their vehicle — possibly until 2022.

Not only might you have to wait until next year, it may be next year’s model as well, which could make those who felt it was important get the first year offering angry. The exception is for the prospective owners who ordered a First Edition model, those will be 2021 vehicles.

Ford is offering reservation holders $1,100 in reward points, which can be used to buy Bronco accessories for their SUVs. Also anyone who made a reservation before March 21, 2020, are protected from any price increases that could be applied to 2022 vehicles.

Soft top owners are obviously excluded from the problem and are virtually assured of getting their vehicle a little sooner now.

Mach-E matters

2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E side barn — Production of the Mach-E will be delayed six weeks as the company secures more chips.

The Mustang Mach-E, which is sold out through the rest of the year, now faces the same delays that have plagued the F-150, the Explorer and other vehicles, due to the dearth of semiconductors.

According to MachEForum.com, new owners will now be forced to wait six weeks or more for their vehicles. Once the automaker gets the chips it needs, and installs them in the vehicles, it will update the owners via email about when they can expect to get their EV.

To smooth ruffled feathers, Ford is offering 250 kWh of free charging via the “Blue Oval Charge Network.”

The delays are another gut punch for the automaker, which sees the Mach-E’s turn in just 12 days. Not only that, but they’re also big additions to the bottom line as 95% of customers choose the Blue Oval Intelligence software state service. Sales of the Mach-E jumped 15.8% in July compared to June, and this is definitely going to stall that momentum.

The Bronco’s issues also hit the bottom line as they, as the automaker noted in its July sales release, play “a significant role in Ford’s transaction price expansion. Ford SUV transaction pricing in July is a record of $42,000 per SUV, up $6,200 over last year.”

Lexus Finally Gets Charged Up Over EVs

The first Lexus electric vehicle will be a rapid, five-passenger SUV with a dramatic shape that previews the future of the Japanese luxury brand. As The Detroit Bureau has previously noted, Lexus and its parent company, Toyota, have not always been enamored by EVs. Toyota’s President and CEO, Akio Toyoda, called BEVs overhyped late last year, and he’s questioned their environmental benefits as countries plan to phase out sales of gas and diesel-powered automobiles.

While the debut of the Lexus LF-Z Concept and Toyota bZ4X show the two brands are moving ahead with full-electric models, their ambitions for EV models is far more muted than rivals like Volkswagen and General Motors. In total, Lexus will have 10 “electrified” vehicles in its lineup by 2025.

Keep in mind that Toyota and Lexus count hybrid models, even those without any electric-only range, as falling into the electrified category. This being said, Lexus’ first dedicated EV will be part of this grouping and promises to have the performance to match competing model like the Audi e-tron, Jaguar I-Pace, and Tesla Model X.

What you see is what you’ll get

In terms of design, the production version of the LF-Z should remain close to the concept. This includes highly sculpted sides, tapering tail, and a grille-less version of Lexus’ signature (and still controversial) spindle grille. The gaping maw found on current Lexus vehicles has been blanked off on the LF-Z Concept – and arguably looks better for it. Similar to today’s Jaguar I-Pace, the LF-Z seeks to bridge the gap between swept-back sedan and high-riding

2021 Lexus LF-Z concept rear — The 2021 LF-Z concept is just the latest LF concept car shown by Lexus.

The cabin of the LF-Z Concept offers fewer hints about what to expect when Lexus’ electric SUV rolls into dealerships within the next 3 years. The driver sits in a pod-like enclosure in which the right-side bottom of the seat sweeps upward and connects to the dash.

No big surprise, the dashboard consists of touch screens, three of them to be exact. And true to concept car norms, the end result looks extremely futuristic, mostly unfeasible for production, and incredibly uncomfortable. Why do concept car seats never have cushions of any sort?

What we know so far

Details like pricing, performance, and range are still under lock and key. While the Lexus EV will be based on the same platform as the Toyota bZ4X and Subaru Solterra, very few specifics about these joint-venture-engineered vehicles has been released up till now.

All three ride on versions of the jointly developed e-TNGA platform, and the Lexus variant will certainly have the upper hand when it comes to outright performance. While the LF-Z Concept boasted in excess of 500 horsepower and a range of nearly 400 miles, we expect those figures to float slightly back to Earth in the production model.

2021 Lexus LF-Z concept cockpit — The LF-Z’s battery-electric concept interior

A range of 250 to 350 miles sounds realistic, as does a 0-60 mph time of roughly 4.0 seconds – the LF-Z supposedly needed only 3.0 seconds for the same acceleration run. Lexus has stated its electric SUV will feature an advanced all-wheel drive system capable of shuttling power and grip extremely fast from wheel to wheel.

Lexus has said even less about pricing than it has any mechanical aspects of its first dedicated EV (the brand presently sells an electrified version of the UX crossover in Europe). An educated guess would put the production version of the LF-Z around $60,000-$70,000, which is right on point with rivals from Audi, Jaguar, and Tesla.

Data Breach at VW of America Vendor Impacts 3.3 Million People

Volkswagen of America revealed 3.3 million buyers and prospective buyers in North America were the subject of a data breach after one of its vendors left some files unprotected.

VW said only a small number of people had sensitive information, like social security numbers and dates of birth, exposed.

The automaker is offering some assistance and says the info was mostly phone numbers and email addresses. The majority of those involved were interested in Audi, a VW subsidiary. The information obtained is typically used by Audi and some of its U.S. and Canadian dealers for digital sales and marketing efforts.

According to Reuters, most of the information exposed was collected between 2014 and 2019, and largely consisted of phone numbers and email addresses; however, within the 3.3 million, about 90,000 Audi customers and potential buyers had sensitive information put at risk.

Bigger potential problems for some

VW is offering credit production to those affected by the data breach.

For the 90,000, in addition to things like the type of vehicle purchased or lease or, in the case of prospective buyers and lessees, what they were interested in, the hackers accessed data relating to purchase and lease eligibility.

Even worse, for 95% of those driver’s license numbers were collected. In a small number of cases, it included information like dates of birth, social security numbers and other account numbers. VW said none of that information was gotten from Canadian accounts.

The automaker thinks the data was secured between August 2019 and last month. VW found the problem. The company said it will offer free credit protection services to those impacted by the event.

“We recently discovered that an unauthorized third party obtained limited personal information received from or about customers and interested buyers from a vendor that Audi, Volkswagen and some authorized dealers in the United States and Canada use for digital sales and marketing activities,” the company said in a statement.

“We regret any inconvenience this may cause our current or potential customers. As always, we recommend that individuals remain alert for suspicious emails or other communications that might ask them to provide information about themselves or their vehicle.”

Aston Martin’s New CEO Takes the Wheel

Having been owned by any number of automakers and industrialists, Aston Martin Lagonda is once more getting a new lease of life.

The crisis-prone automaker barely skirted bankrupt for the eighth time last year, thanks to a cash infusion by Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll and an increase in Daimler AG’s equity stake to 20%, up from 2.6 percent.

New Aston CEO Tobias Moers came over after leading Mercedes-AMG.

This was followed by the August arrival of the firm’s newest CEO, Tobias Moers, the former chief executive officer of Mercedes-AMG.

A new chief executive and new goals

Moers came to Aston Martin Lagonda after more than 25 years at Daimler AG, most recently as Chairman of the Management Board, Chief Executive Officer, and Chief Technical Officer of Mercedes-AMG. During his tenure, Mercedes-AMG more than doubled its product portfolio and quadrupled the number of AMG units sold as part of a financially successful brand management strategy.

The move comes as Stroll, now Aston Martin Lagonda Executive Chairman, is looking to attain annual sales of 10,000 units, and achieve earnings of 500 million pounds, or $704.6 million, on annual revenues of 2 billion pounds, or $2.8 billion, by 2025. For now, merely securing a profit would be notable.

Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll bailed out Aston Martin and is now executive chairman.

Aston Martin posted a first-quarter loss of 42.2 million pounds, or $59 million; that’s down from the 110-million-pound loss, or $153 million, from the same period last year. But revenue increased to 244 million pounds, or $340 million, a 153% increase year-over-year.

Action plan

The improving financial picture comes as Moers puts his plans into action by selling excess inventory, simplifying production, revising its product strategy, and entering into a technology agreement with Mercedes-AMG, which already supplies engines to Aston Martin, a point of contention with some brand enthusiasts, even though Aston Martin hasn’t designed and built its own engines from scratch since the 1960s.

“It is our obligation to fix the business and the company to get on a much more efficient level to produce and manufacture cars,” Moers said, during a recent interview with TheDetroitBureau.com from the company’s Gaydon, Warwickshire headquarters.

“A company like us, you cannot run your own electrical architecture, it’s impossible. You’re not going to be able to be pay the bill for that. A Vantage could give a good margin, but we have to fix the business around us.”

This snarling V-12 puts out 1,000 horsepower and 11,000 rpms and it powers the new Aston Martin Valkyrie.

Moers is looking for the company’s production to be driven by demand, rather than wholesale supplying dealers with cars. “We started into the year close to 3,000 cars in stock,” Moers said, “and this is not good.”

This explains why Moers will be keeping its two production facilities, in Gaydon, England and Saint Athan, Wales, but closing Gaydon’s paint shop. Saint Athan’s shop is new and can handle 10,000 units a year — more than enough to accommodate the 4,000 vehicles a year Moers sees as the brand’s natural demand.

Looking ahead

Beyond what’s on the ground, Moers is streamlining future products by cancelling the hybrid V-6 planned for the Valhalla mid-engine supercar, and replacing it with a Mercedes-AMG hybrid electrified powertrain that will produce 1,000 horsepower.

The Valkyrie, powered by a Cosworth-built V-12, is expected later this year, along with a mild hybrid version of the DBX, followed next year by a high-performance variant. And look for the Vantage, DB11 and DBS to receive mid-cycle facelifts. Further out, the company is planning to produce a fully electric Aston Martin, as well as vehicles based on the DBX platform.

The Aston Martin Valkyrie takes the British brand into a new realm of performance.

“It is not a challenge to bring all these products to life, that’s not the challenge,” Moers said. “But rebuild the brand and get a clear definition of what Aston Martin stands for? That’s one of the challenges, but we have a clear plan to do that.”

The new CEO said that the company’s IPO amidst crumbling finances caused consumers to doubt the firm’s continued existence, which is now assured, he said.

“The ultimate goal for us is turning Aston Martin into a self-sufficient company, a self-maintaining company. You can see the strength of the brand. Everybody knows what Aston Martin is; but what does Aston Martin stand for? For sure we could be Ferrari competitors, but I don’t want to talk about being a competitor. We have to define our own path.”

However, that path doesn’t include a takeover by Daimler.

“There is no hidden agenda. I’m not here because they’re going to the buy whole company; that’s not the reason I’m here,” Moers said. “There are some cars out there which we count as a true competitor; their life is a bit too easy at the moment.”

Look for that to change.

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Tag: Technology