+++ BMW has announced a tie-up with US solid-state battery company Solid Power to develop next-generation solid-state batteries for electric vehicles. The German car giant is now exploring durability testing and other development issues, and aims to have solid-state batteries ready for production by 2026. A statement released by Colorado-based Solid Power announced that the two firms will collaborate on battery technology for high-performance EVs, although it’s not yet clear if the use of ‘performance’ here relates to speed, range or both. Solid Power claims to be an industry leader in solid-state battery technology, which the company says possesses the “ultimate safety and reliability”. Established in 2012 and with links to the University of Colorado Boulder, Solid Power has its own facility with prototype assembly, small-scale cell production and material synthesis capabilities. Recent trademark filings of a range of iX-badged models suggests that BMW aims to ramp up EV activity with a number of electric SUVs. Given the timeframe of BMW’s solid-state battery target, it’s likely that these upcoming models will feature traditional liquid or gel lithium-ion batteries. +++
+++ The CADILLAC ATS serves an important role as the company’s entry-level sedan but new documents suggest the model could be going away for the 2019 model year. According to VIN codes, Cadillac will only sell the ATS in coupe form in 2019. That would be a drastic change as the ATS is one of the company’s best-selling sedans. Carsalesbase data shows Cadillac sold a combined total of 21,505 ATS sedans and coupes last year but that’s down significantly from the 38,319 units that were sold in 2013. This year looks particularly bad as the company has only sold around 12,000 units in the United States through November. CTS sales have also fallen significantly in recent years as Cadillac sold 15,911 models in 2016 which is a drastic drop from the 31,115 units that were sold 2 years prior. Cadillac wasn’t feeling too talkative about the ATS’ future but Cadillac President Johan de Nysschen recently said “We have to rebalance our sedan portfolio” and this will eventually lead to the elimination of the ATS, CTS, and XTS. All 3 models are set to be replaced by the new CT5 which is slated to start at around 70,000 euro in The Netherlands. Later on, the company will introduce a new entry-level sedan which is set to compete with the Audi A3 and Mercedes CLA-Class. +++
+++ After a decade of development, often through buying or benchmarking foreign technology and know-how, automakers from CHINA are looking with greater ambition at selling their cars in major Western markets. Improvements in car design, technology and marketing at firms including Geely, GAC Motor and Great Wall Motor have brought them a bigger share in their home market, the world’s largest, and give them a better chance of survival in competitive markets in Europe and the United States. Once distant dreams of staking a claim in Western strongholds may now be edging nearer. “We have in the Western world an outrageous arrogance. We think we’re ahead. It’s going to change”, says Alain Visser, Senior Vice President of Lynk & Co, a new brand set up by Geely. “China is passing you at a speed that in our arrogance we don’t even see”, Visser told Reuters earlier this month. Hangzhou-based Geely, which owns Volvo and Lotus and makes London black cabs, has its sights set on selling cars in Europe in 2019 and the United States a year later. The Lynk & Co brand, set up in Sweden with Volvo, will spearhead its attack. Geely plans only to sell ‘green’ cars (conventional hybrid, plug-in hybrid and all-electric models) in those markets, and would primarily sell through directly-owned stores and online rather than through traditional dealer franchises. It could also offer cars for rent via a subscription model similar to Netflix and Spotify. GAC Motor, whose parent Guangzhou Automobile Group partners Honda, Toyota and Fiat Chrysler in China, may beat Geely to the U.S. market, eyeing entry by end-2019. But unlike Lynk & Co, GAC is more likely to sell through a traditional distribution network of franchised retail stores there. It’s taken Chinese automakers years to get this far, and, to be sure, there will be significant road bumps. “A key obstacle in markets like the United States is a consumer bias against Chinese-made goods”, said Jeff Cai, a Beijing-based senior director at JD Power & Associates. “Our research found most U.S. consumers think China is a third-world country that builds low-quality products”. There’s also the thorny issue of China’s trade surplus with the United States; an imbalance high on U.S. President Donald Trump’s radar. Cars shipped in from China would likely increase that surplus. Geely’s Lynk & Co aims to open its own flagship store in Berlin in the second half of 2019, and a similar outlet in San Francisco in 2020. In some U.S. states, which don’t allow direct selling, Lynk & Co plans a subscription-based sales model, renting cars to consumers on contracts as short as a month. Those deals will include insurance, warranty and other benefits. Visser says Lynk wants to test this unconventional retail model because it reckons around a quarter of revenue is lost through the traditional distribution business in dealer margins and discounting. He expects to recoup more than half those ‘losses’ by selling direct. Some of those savings will be passed on to customers by selling Lynk & Co cars at a more affordable price, Visser said, adding Lynk & Co aims to sell 250,000 vehicles a year across Europe and the United States, though he gave no firm timescale for that. In the United States, selling direct could put Lynk & Co on a collision course with the politically powerful National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA), the lobby group for franchise dealer operators. While Visser says NADA has “unbelievable power”, he believes dealers will eventually come around to Lynk & Co’s retail model as it would likely be franchise dealers who get to service Lynk & Co cars, carrying out repairs and regular maintenance; and that’s where dealers make most money. For its part, GAC Motor is looking at the possibility of building out its overseas presence from the U.S. northeast, 2 people close to the company said. That region, including Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine and New York, is seen as being more open to foreign sedans and to the SUV that GAC Motor plans to sell, they said. The company said it has not yet decided a U.S. entry point, but would more likely opt to build a sales network with franchise dealers or join an existing dealer group. GAC Motor (which says it has developed rather than acquired its technologies) said it was conducting market research to determine the brand’s positioning and identify products for its U.S. business. Its first U.S. offering is likely to be an SUV sold in China as the Trumpchi GS8. Given the political sensitivities, the model will be renamed for the U.S. market. “We respect culture in the U.S. and understand there’s no precedence to use the current president’s name as a brand name”, the company said through a spokeswoman. +++
+++ FORD Chief Executive Jim Hackett said the automaker is reviewing its product portfolio as consumers show a preference for SUVs that have fuel efficiencies closer to sedans. Hackett, at a Ford event in Detroit, said that in the past SUVs were not fuel efficient, but “we’re starting to crack that code”. The automaker is conducting an annual review of its product portfolio against that backdrop, he said, but did not address specifics. Ford has signaled a plan to stop producing mid-size Fusion sedans for North America at a plant in Mexico, people familiar with Ford’s communications with suppliers told. Ford had previously announced plans to shift production of its Focus to China from Mexico. Separately, Ford also said it would relocate its autonomous and electric vehicle units to Detroit from Dearborn, Michigan. “The relocation brings together Ford teams that are creating new business models in a resurgent, diverse neighborhood with industrial roots”, Ford said. The company said the new facility located in the Corktown neighborhood would be up and running early next year. The team in Corktown will be led by Sherif Marakby, Ford’s vice president of autonomous vehicles and electrification. The company will begin testing its latest self-driving vehicle technology next year. +++
+++ MERCEDES-AMG offers a dizzying array of high-performance models including everything from the entry-level CLA 45 to the bonkers G65. The company’s lineup has also grown in recent years thanks to new additions such as the C43, E43, and GLC 43. These budget-friendly models offer the AMG experience at significant savings over full-blown AMG vehicles such as the C63. The new 43 lineup has helped to increase AMG sales in the United States by 50 percent through the first eleven months of the year. In fact, the 30,116 AMG units sold so far represent nearly 10 percent of all Mercedes sales in America this year alone. AMG boss Tobias Moers is pleased with the results and told we can expect a “big expansion” of AMG models in 2019. He declined to say what we can expect but the company will introduce the CLS 53 at the North American International Auto Show next month and it could be followed by 53 variants of the E-Class Coupe and Convertible as well as the GLE. 2019 will also mark the introduction of the four-door AMG GT which been dubbed the AMG GT 4. +++
+++ The all-new NISSAN Leaf has officially gone into production at the automaker’s plant in Sunderland, UK, as the first European customers will be receiving their cars in February 2018. Nissan has been building the Leaf nameplate in the UK since 2013, selling over 85,000 units on the Old Continent, including those built at the Oppama plant in Japan, since 2011. “We’re excited to start production in Sunderland and to bring the new Nissan Leaf to European markets from February”, said Nissan Europe manufacturing VP, Kevin Fitzpatrick. The all-new Leaf comes with a driving range of 378 km on a single charge, and also features new technologies such as the new e-Pedal, the ProPilot system, or the ProPilot Park. Aside from building the new Leaf, Nissan’s Sunderland plant is also responsible for the Qashqai and Juke crossovers, as well as Infiniti’s Q30 and QX30 models. Due to its output of over 9 million vehicles per year, it is the biggest UK car plant of all time. +++
+++ As the current range-topper, you might expect that the new GTS versions of the PORSCHE 718 Boxter and Cayman would represent a relatively small proportion of the model line’s sales, but you’d be mistaken. In fact, Porsche’s North American CEO expects that the GTS could account for as much as 50 percent of all 718 sales in the United States. “People know what they get if they buy a GTS, which is more sporty, and we certainly hope for more people engaging in our 718s”, said Klaus Zellmer. “The segment overall of where we play with our 718 is a challenging segment, but especially now with the GTS, we see some activities at the shop floor, and orders being taken”. Sales of the 718 range have been falling: the Boxster by 14 percent in the first 11 months of this year, the Cayman by 22. Last year, when the new models were introduced, Boxster sales dropped by similar numbers, while the Cayman rose by a very modest 0.8 percent. Customers, it seems, have been waiting for the arrival of the more focused and powerful version. Introduced at the LA Auto Show just last month, the GTS versions of the 718 Boxster and 718 Cayman pack a 2.5-liter turbo 4, good for 365 horsepower; 15 more than the S models and 35 more than the previous Boxster / Cayman GTS. They’ll represent the pinnacle of the 718 line for the time being, but what enthusiasts are really looking forward to are the arrivals of a new Cayman GT4 and Boxster Spyder. +++
+++ VOLKSWAGEN subsidiary Electrify America has announced plans to build more than 2,800 charging stations throughout the United States by June 2019. VW created Electrify America as part of its diesel settlement with the U.S. federal government to spend $2 billion on electric vehicle charging stations across the country. In a statement, the company confirmed that the 2,800 Level 2 charging stations will be located at approximately 500 sites across the 17 largest metropolitan areas in the United States. These stations will provide electric vehicles with roughly 20-25 miles of range per hour of charging, a far cry from the quick-charging stations appearing around the world. Electrify America intends on building 75 percent of its charging stations at existing workplaces while the remaining stations will be found at apartment buildings, condominiums, and other multi-family properties. Rather than provide EV owners with quick-charging options, VW hopes its more affordable solution will perfectly suit those looking to charge their EVs during work hours or while they’re at home. Speaking about the plan, chief executive of Electrify America Mark McNabb said the charging stations will make owning an EV more convenient. “One of the biggest barriers to the mass-market adoption of electric vehicles is access to chargers. Having chargers where people work and live will help them see that an electric vehicle can be their primary vehicle because charging is convenient and reliable at the places where they spend time”. +++