+++ As far as achievements go, selling a total of 1 million premium SUVs with a single nameplate is very impressive, especially for a product that was initially considered controversial. Still, nearly 2 decades later, the Porsche CAYENNE is going strong, serving as a real benchmark for its segment. It’s arguably the most fun-to-drive model among its peers, which are all pretty exceptional too. The millionth unit to be sold was a Carmine Red GTS variant, rolling off the assembly line in Bratislava, Slovakia before being delivered to a German customer. The story of the Cayenne starts with the first-generation 955 model, a car that literally rescued Porsche from a financial crisis, while establishing a whole new sub-segment: fast luxury SUVs. There wouldn’t be a Lamborghini Urus today without the Cayenne Turbo; although that goes without saying, seen as how the Urus is built on a shared Volkswagen Group platform. Back in the 90s, Porsche wasn’t doing too great in terms of sales volume. Sure, the introduction of the Boxster did help, but at the turn of the millennium, they clearly needed fresh blood in order to survive and the Colorado project delivered the goods, as a collaboration between Porsche and Volkswagen was called. The product they were working on was required to be “powerful with dynamic driving features and suitable for all types of terrain. A 5-seater family car with typical Porsche DNA. Sporty”. “It was a bold decision to build an SUV at the end of the 1990s, but this decision meant that Porsche was able to surpass all expectations just a short time later”, remembers Hans-Jurgen Wohler, Porsche’s former product line vice president. “Ferry Porsche once said that if we would build an off-road vehicle in line with our quality concepts, it would certainly sell”, recounts the 61-year old. The Cayenne made its debut in September of 2002 at the Paris Motor Show and Porsche never looked back, with the nameplate now in its third generation. There were many highlights along the way, among them the high-performance Turbo and Turbo S, the sporty GTS and of course, the Cayenne Diesel, which proved very successful in Europe thanks to its 3.0-liter V6 TDI unit, rated at 240 hp and 550 Nm of torque. The diesel variant was unveiled in 2009 on the facelifted Cayenne. The second-generation Cayenne (out in 2010) grew in size, featuring Carrera GT-like headlights, longer tail lights, a sleeker exterior, fully redesigned interior and it weighed almost 250 kg less than its predecessor. It offered a much more comfortable ride, had better ergonomics and it was easier to drive. It also marked the arrival of the S Diesel variant, powered by a V8 TDI unit, as well as the Cayenne Hybrid, followed by the S E-Hybrid PHEV in 2014. Performance was up, naturally, across the board. “Hybridisation has great significance for us since we brought 8- and 6-cylinder engines to market”, explains Wohler. “Our hybrid concept was a major milestone for the Cayenne on its journey to becoming the plug-in-hybrid 2014 with an electric range of more than 30 kilometres”. The introduction of the third-generation Cayenne also marked the debut of the Coupe variant, which was always to be expected. “With this car, we introduced a model to the market which creates an even stronger link between the everyday usability of an SUV and the driving characteristics of a sports car”. Some say that the Cayenne Coupe is what the Cayenne should have been from the beginning. In today’s SUV thirsty market, there’s definitely room for both, as midsize luxury SUV buyers have long been used to making these types of distinctions (X5/X6, GLE/GLE Coupe etc). When asked about the future, Wohler delivered the following statement: “Cars will change in the next 10 years. The Cayenne will continue its journey and will continue to be the best SUV in its segment. I can happily hand over the reins to my successor”. Hard to argue with a job well done. +++
+++ CHEVROLET dealerships in California and Washington can no longer order a coupe or convertible 2021 Camaro SS, 2SS, ZL1 and ZL1 1LE. These variants of the Chevrolet Camaro are equipped with brake pads that exceed the maximum amount of copper allowed in the 2 states, meaning they do not comply with their legislation. As such, customers cannot order an affected 2021 Camaro model for delivery after January 1, 2021, and dealerships will only be permitted to sell cars they currently have in stock. “Due to restrictions in California and Washington state related to copper brake pads, customers in those states cannot order a 2021 Camaro SS, ZL1 and 1LE for delivery after January 1, 2021”, Chevrolet spokesman Kevin M. Kelly told. “Customers can, however, purchase these models from available dealer stock in those states”. It is believed that the issue relates to Camaro SS, ZL1 and 1LE models with the upgraded Brembo brakes, although this hasn’t been confirmed by the manufacturer. Fortunately, Chevrolet is looking to rectify the issue. “We will resume allowing customers in California and Washington state to order the Camaro SS, ZL1 and 1LE models in 2022 when we introduce a new brake system that is compliant with the copper requirements”, Kelly added. California and Washington introduced legislation in 2010 and 2011 respectively to limit the amount of copper that can be used in brake pads. These 2 bills require that no more than 0.5 % of the material used in the brake pads is copper by 2025, and for 2021, the Brembo brake pads are said to exceed the permitted amount. +++
+++ The sales volume of CHINA ’s passenger cars in November reached 2.08 million; up 8 % year-on-year, according to data from the China Passenger Car Association. “The sales showed a low-to-high trend this year”, said Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the CPCA, noting retail sales were mainly impacted by the coronavirus pandemic and an early Spring Festival. But the market had maintained robust growth since July. The CPCA posited that better-than-expected warmth in the export market and the macroeconomic situation were the primary causes, and doubled sales of new energy vehicles was another powerhouse to boost the market. In November, 169.000 new energy vehicles were sold; up 136.5 % year-on-year. Looking to brands, sales for limousine brands posted 27 % growth year-on-year, joint venture brands grew 3 percent, and domestic brands rose 9 %, accounting for 39.1 % of the market share, up 0.4 percentage points from a year earlier. “The growth in sales share for domestic brands was mainly thanks to new energy vehicles. The sales share for traditional cars made by domestic brands was flat compared to that of last year”, Cui Dongshu said. In recent years, the low-end market has shrunk remarkably and domestic brands have seen huge divergent development results, with some finding it hard to keep afloat as others have managed to expand their brand recognition in the market. Top domestic brands performed strong in November, the CPCA said. Geely sold 150.500 vehicles last month; up 5 % year-on-year. Great Wall Motors sold 145.000; up 26.1 % year-on-year. And Changan Auto posted 114.000 car sales; up 36.4 % year-on-year. CPCA asserted the recovery trend in China’s passenger car market will expand to 2021, but there are still some uncertain factors. +++
+++ Online search engine giant Baidu has received permission from transport authorities in Beijing to conduct road tests for 5 fully DRIVERLESS VEHICLES , marking a significant step toward the commercialization of self-driving technologies. The announcement makes Baidu the first and only company which has got permission to conduct driverless tests-where there is no safety driver in the autonomous driving vehicle-on public streets in the capital. The permits will enable the Beijing-based technology firm to gradually reduce human intervention in test vehicles and eventually remove in-car safety drivers from its autonomous vehicle road tests. Experts said obtaining the driverless testing permit in Beijing is a breakthrough that will accelerate the large-scale deployment of autonomous driving technology across the nation. Beijing has the most stringent safety requirements for obtaining driverless testing permission in China. Vehicles must have obtained T3 or higher testing ability, completed more than 30.000 kilometers of safe test driving on open roads, and passed an evaluation on a closed track, according to the requirements announced by the Beijing municipal government last month. Baidu’s test vehicles have cleared all these requirements. License plates used in the autonomous driving road tests in Beijing have five levels, from T1 to T5. T3 shows that the vehicles possess capabilities such as road condition recognition, vehicular traffic laws compliance and emergency disposal. The driverless permits are a key milestone in Baidu’s plan to build a commercial autonomous driving business. The company’s AI-powered autonomous vehicles are now capable of operating in complex urban road conditions, it said. It added all the fully driverless vehicles undergoing the road tests in Beijing are powered by the 5G remote driving service, which allows safety drivers to remotely take control of vehicles in case of an emergency. The move came after Baidu fully opened Apollo Go Robotaxi, its self-driving taxi service, to the public in Beijing in October. Each of the driverless taxis has a backup driver, who is ready to take manual control in an emergency. Jiang Zheng, a self-driving expert at China’s GAC research and development center, said the driverless road tests are a key link in the development of self-driving technologies, and will speed up the commercialization of autonomous vehicles. “Compared to the tests on closed tracks and under the supervision of a backup driver, the driverless road tests on public streets will examine various capabilities of autonomous driving system, especially how the self-driving vehicles deal with emergencies”, Jiang said. He said the authorities are relatively cautious on autonomous driving due to some safety issues, and more efforts are needed to make breakthroughs in key technologies, supervision, laws and regulations and test scenarios to promote the large-scale commercial use of the self-driving technologies. China is planning to realize the scale production of vehicles capable of conditional autonomous driving and commercialization of highly autonomous vehicles in certain circumstances by 2025, according to a blueprint issued by the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and nine other ministries. Zhang Xiang, an automobile analyst at the new energy and intelligent connected car industry think tank under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said the driverless testing permits in Beijing showed that the technological level of China’s autonomous driving has improved, while noting more cities, such as Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chongqing are expected to allow similar driverless road tests in the future. +++
+++ Carmakers are reportedly worried that upcoming EURO 7 EMISSION standards will increase compliance costs to the point where it will no longer be profitable to build passenger vehicles without a plug-in hybrid system or fully electric propulsion. Euro 7 standards will further reduce the maximum allowable emissions and are expected to go into effect in 2025 at the very earliest. One proposal would see nitrogen oxides (NOx) drop to 30 milligrams per km, which by today’s standards would actually be below the margin of error seen on portable emissions measurement systems. Come January, Euro 6d standards will enforce vehicles having to emit no more than 80 mg/km, on the test bench as well as in real world conditions – excluding the margin of error on portable emissions measurement units, estimated at 34.4 mg/km max. Now, a senior engineer at Volkswagen stated that if Euro 7 proposals from the EU’s Advisory Group on Vehicle Emission Standards go into effect (such as one that takes into consideration statistically infrequent edge cases, like extreme temperatures), the German carmaker will no longer afford to sell a Polo for as little as €20.500 in The Netherlands. “If they extend the boundary conditions of the test to include uphill driving while towing a trailer, then that will be the end of combustion engine cars. Not even a 48-volt mild hybrid could meet such low requirements in every situation”, he said, while refusing to be quoted by name. “We would have to get rid of manuals in order to be able to dictate the precise timing of the gear switch and accelerations would be far more gradual”, the engineer continued, “so, the car would behave like it was on sleeping tablets. Not only would costs soar, everything that is fun about driving would also disappear”. While some of us might be more than happy to tell ICE-only models good riddance, we need to consider the fact that not everybody will be able to afford purchasing new plug-in hybrids or battery-electric cars. “People who for whatever reason cannot make the switch to electric cars end up holding onto their existing cars, rather than replacing them with cleaner ones”, added the VW engineer. This scenario would indeed end up increasing harmful emissions, at least in the short term. Meanwhile, industry lobbying group ACEA says that Euro 7 engineering targets would have to be set close to zero in order to take account of the measuring tolerance. “There is no evidence to show that a NOx limit of 30 mg/km is technically feasible today, especially over all possible types of on-road driving. The same limit would also have to be met under a whole range of more extreme driving conditions, including high altitude, high speed, uphill driving, driving with a full load and driving in harsher winter and summer conditions”. In any case, regardless of when these new norms come into effect and how stringent they are, the days of the non-electrified internal combustion engine are clearly numbered. +++
+++ FERRARI boss Louis Camilleri has stepped down from his position with immediate effect. Confirmed by Maranello overnight, Camilleri has departed from his CEO role and board member position, with chairman John Elkann stepping into the former role on an interim basis. He’s also charged with finding a successor. Camilleri took over in mid-2018, shortly after former CEO Sergio Marchionne died from complications following surgery. It’s widely reported that Camilleri was hospitalised due to Covid-19 in recent weeks and is recovering at home, but his illness wasn’t the main reason for his resignation. In a statement, Camilleri said: “Ferrari has been a part of my life, and serving as its chief executive has been a great privilege. My admiration for the extraordinary men and women of Maranello and for the passion and dedication they apply to everything they do knows no bounds. I’m proud of the company’s numerous achievements since 2018 and know that Ferrari’s best years are still to come”. The sudden leadership change comes after a period of difficulty for the wider automotive industry during the Covid-19 pandemic. Ferrari’s shares have bucked the wider trend, rising by about a fifth throughout 2020, but fell by around 1 % this morning as the news broke. Camilleri oversaw Ferrari’s greatest year to date for sales in 2019, with more than 10.000 cars shifted for the first time. Five new models were introduced in that year, while average transaction prices increased as the brand moved even further upmarket and increased its customisation options. Elkann is unlikely to stay in his interim position for long, because he’s set to become chairman of the merged Fiat Chrysler and PSA Group company, Stellantis, once the merger is finalised. Elkann is also CEO of holding company Exor as a member of the Agnelli family that controls Ferrari. +++
+++ Toyota put its revamped Mirai HYDROGEN FUEL CELL CAR , with a 30 % greater range, on sale in Japan in a fresh push to promote zero-emission technology amid growing demand for electric vehicles, including its own. Toyota has failed until now to win drivers over to fuel cell vehicles (FCV), which remain a niche technology despite Japanese government backing, amid concerns about lack of fueling stations, resale values and the risk of hydrogen explosions. “The new Mirai will serve as a new departure point for creating a hydrogen-based society of the future”, Toyota said in a statement. It will cost about 5 million yen after subsidies, about the same as its predecessor. By the end of September, Toyota had sold only 11.100 of its first generation Mirai, almost 6 years after its launch. Most other automakers have eschewed FCV in favor of electric vehicles (EV). In 2019, automakers sold 2.1 million electric cars, 40% more than the previous year, the International Energy Agency says. The new Mirai launch comes after prime minister Yoshihide Suga announced a goal in October to cut Japan’s carbon emissions to zero by 2050. Toyota had planned to use the postponed 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo as a platform to showcase its fuel cell technology, with 100 buses meant to shuttle visitors between venues. The Japanese firm is also looking to China, the world’s biggest auto market, which has just about 7.000 FCVs, versus more than 4 million EVs, to boost demand. Fresh support measures for FCVs announced in September included requiring projects with government subsidies to boost the number of hydrogen-charging stations and efforts to cut the price of the fuel. +++
+++ HYUNDAI ’s top priority is electric mobility, and specifically hydrogen-powered mobility, according to its investor relations briefing. The Korean automaker pledged to invest 60.1 trillion won ($55 billion) from 2020 to 2025 in research and development and strategic investment in various business fields, spanning from internal combustion engine cars to electric vehicles powered by lithium-ion batteries or hydrogen fuel cells and even flying cars. The investment amount has been toned down from 61.1 trillion won originally announced last year for the same time period, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the carmaker explained. While the amount earmarked for internal combustion engine vehicles shrunk from 41.1 trillion won to 36.6 trillion won, funding for future mobility businesses including hydrogen vehicles, self-driving cars and the electrification of powertrains increased from 20 trillion won to 23.5 trillion won. Within the future mobility business, the amount allocated to hydrogen-related business has significantly increased from 0.6 trillion won to 4.1 trillion won. Funding for the electrification of powertrains also increased to 10.8 trillion won, up from the previous 9.8 trillion won. The company reiterated the goal to have an 8 % operating profit rate in the automotive sector by 2025. The hydrogen business was once again at the forefront of Hyundai’s plans, from just manufacturing vehicles powered by the eco-friendly energy to developing and manufacturing the fuel cell system as well. The carmaker newly launched a brand dedicated to hydrogen fuel cell systems called HTWO, pronounced “H two”, which the automaker says represents both the molecular structure of hydrogen and the union of 2 words starting with the letter H, hydrogen and humanity. “Not only selling or sharing Hyundai Motor’s fuel cell system with other carmakers, we plan to develop it so that it can replace existing internal combustion engine system in ships, trains and urban air mobility”, Hyundai Motor said in a statement. Its flying car initiative, or what Hyundai calls Urban Air Mobility (UAM), will also have a tangible output by 2026, the automaker said. Hyundai said it will showcase an unmanned aircraft system for cargo topped with a hybrid powertrain in 2026, followed by an electric UAM model designed for urban operation by 2028. By 2030, the carmaker promised to launch a UAM that is able to connect cities. “UAMs are not going to replace ground transportation”, said Shin Jai-won, who leads the UAM division at Hyundai Motor, during the online investor relations conference. “Rather, it is going to augment society’s ability to meet the rapidly growing urban mobility needs by expanding the 2-D world to 3-D”. Hyundai said that the UAM market could be worth 1.5 trillion won by the 2040s. Shin said the company is currently working on a hydrogen system that can power flying cars as well. With the recent launch of its modular E-GMP system, an electric vehicle-dedicated platform that increases the efficiency of vehicle production, the company said it plans to take up 8 % to 10 % of the global EV market by 2040. In terms of autonomous vehicles, Hyundai said it plans to apply Level 3 self-driving technology, where the car navigates on its own without a driver’s hands on the steering wheel in certain situations, to its mass-produced vehicles by 2022. By 2024, the carmaker said its vehicles will be able to park on their own, including moving short distances to meet the driver. +++
+++ Hyundai has confirmed it will launch the first model of its new fully electric sub-brand, IONIQ , in the early part of next year. An “early 2021” reveal date for the model, which is then expected to be in showrooms by the middle of the year, is promised. Called the Ioniq 5, it’s the first of 3 EVs set to fall under the Ioniq umbrella in the next 4 years. Each will use a numerical naming strategy similar to Volkswagen’s ID line-up. Odd numbers will be used for SUVs and even numbers for saloons and other models. The 2021 Ioniq 5 will be a compact crossover based on the radical 45 concept from last year’s Frankfurt motor show. New details of the car confirmed by Hyundai include 3 ‘extras’ it will launch with. The first is vehicle-to-load (V2L) technology: bidirectional charging that allows owners to use the car’s batteries to store energy and then discharge it back to the national grid, or the home, when it is required during peak demand times. The second is fast-charging capability, although the Korean firm is yet to detail the exact charging speeds the car is capable of. The third is the car’s “soon-to-be-announced array of features”. The Ioniq 5 will be followed in 2022 by the Ioniq 6 electric sports saloon, which will take cues from the low-slung Prophecy concept. A large, as yet unseen SUV called the Ioniq 7 will land in 2024. The final production designs of all 3 remain under wraps. However, Hyundai has previously said it plans for each to have a distinctive and different design, but they will all feature pixel headlights, as seen on the 45 and Prophecy concepts. Each will sit atop the brand’s all-new Electric Global Modular Platform, which is said to be capable of fast charging and a long range. With a long wheelbase and a flat floor, it also allows for each model to have a spacious interior, which, Hyundai says, will be modelled on “smart living rooms”. The company also says all Ioniq-branded models will offer enhanced connectivity features “to integrate in-car and out-of-car experiences for a seamless journey”. The Hyundai Ioniq will not form part of the new model range, suggesting it will either be renamed or replaced entirely. By 2025, Hyundai intends to launch 16 new EVs to increase its annual EV sales to more than half a million; the equivalent of just over 10 % of its total sales in 2019. As a whole, the Hyundai Motor Group is aiming to achieve a 5 % global automotive market share and transition to be a ‘smart mobility solution provider’, rather than purely a car manufacturer. +++
+++ By the middle of the next decade, cars that run on gasoline may be as common at dealerships in JAPAN as VCRs are at electronic shops today thanks to an ambitious policy under consideration by prime minister Yoshihide Suga’s administration to buttress its decarbonization efforts. But will Japan really be able to phase out sales of new petrol-fueled vehicles by the mid 2030s, as has been reported in local media? And how would such a plan (which would be the first time the country has put a time frame on ending sales of petrol vehicles) affect its auto sector, the pillar of the nation’s industrial might? On Thursday, the industry ministry held a closed panel meeting to discuss the shift to electrified vehicles, with some members pointing out the importance of setting a specific deadline, according to an industry ministry official who briefed reporters. Industry minister Hiroshi Kajiyama has said that his ministry will compile a new plan by the end of this month. Ahead of the move by the central government, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government earlier this week announced its goal to end the sale of new petrol cars excluding hybrids by 2030. If Japan does ban the sale of new petrol cars by the mid-2030s, it will mark a significant shift from the country’s previous target. In 2010, the nation said it would reduce the ratio of new gasoline-only car sales to between 30 % and 50 % and bolster environmentally friendly cars to between 50 % and 70 % by 2030. Whether the new goal is achievable for carmakers depends on whether the government permits gasoline-electric hybrids, experts say. Media reports have so far said the plan is likely to allow automakers to continue selling hybrids, an indication that the government may want to avoid switching gears too fast for fears of the damage it would cause to the auto industry, especially auto parts makers. The flip side is that such an approach would fall short of efforts by other countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In Europe, countries such as the U.K. and Denmark plan to ban the sale of petrol and diesel cars starting in 2030 and hybrid cars from 2035. If Japan were to also aim to completely phase out hybrids, that would raise the bar really high, said Tomohide Kazama, a senior consultant at Nomura Research Institute. “Given that the current petrol-vehicle society will be drastically changing, it’s ambitious”, Kazama said. But if sales of hybrid cars continue, “I think Japan’s target is quite achievable”, he said, as domestic firms have already developed hybrid technologies and hybrid vehicles are fairly popular in Japan. According to the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, gasoline-powered vehicles made up about 60 % of the total new car sales in 2019 while hybrids were about 34 % and electric vehicles accounted for less than 1 %. The government had also set a new fuel efficiency standard of 25.4 kilometers per liter for carmakers to meet by fiscal 2030; a 32.4 % improvement from the fiscal 2016 standard of 19.2 km. In fiscal 2018, which ended in March 2019, the auto industry was responsible for 15.9 % of carbon dioxide emissions in Japan. “Previously, the government was rather hesitant to push policies that will drastically shift Japan to electrified vehicles because it won’t necessarily be all good for the auto industry”, said Yoshihisa Noro, research director at Mitsubishi Research Institute’s Mobility and Smart City Group. Phasing out the sales of new petrol cars will be “challenging” in that context, but it’s clear the government is still refraining from accelerating the shift too quickly out of concern for the auto industry, Noro said. If the plan becomes official, “it will have a tremendous impact on parts suppliers, so it needs to proceed carefully”, he said. Noro, however, added that domestic parts makers have adjusted to drastic changes in the past, including changes to materials, and noted that the shift could also offer new business opportunities. Still, Kazama of Nomura Research Institute said some negative impacts will likely be unavoidable. “It’s not that combustion engines will completely disappear, since hybrid cars will still be sold on the market. But it will affect parts makers”, as engines designed for hybrids are a bit different from conventional petrol cars, he said. Permitting gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles would give carmakers more time to adjust, but would make it harder for the nation to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. Somewhere down the line, Japan will need to unveil a roadmap toward its carbon-neutral goal, Kazama said. The government also needs to consider how consumers will react as hybrid and electric cars are typically more expensive than those that run on gas, said Tsubasa Hirai, a researcher at Mitsubishi Research Institute. “Even if the government sets the target, it is possible that not many users would actually choose electrified vehicles”, said Hirai, adding that it will probably need to offer financial incentives including subsidies and tax cuts to motivate consumers. According to Hirai, it will be a challenge to make compromises among the 3 stakeholders (the government, the auto industry and consumers) to create a win-win-win situation. +++
+++ KIA ’s labor union on Wednesday began a partial strike, its third collective action this year, following the collapse of negotiations over wages and other issues a day earlier. Lost production from strikes this year is expected to exceed 30.000 vehicles. Representatives of the management and the union held talks for 2 days, but failed to reach a compromise. Following the talks’ collapse at midnight Tuesday, the union decided to cut work short by 4 hours per day for 3 days through Friday. It is the third such action at the automaker. Unionized workers had already staged 4-hour strikes November 25-27 and December 1, 2 and 3. Kia’s labor union has staged strikes in 9 consecutive years. The stoppage was to affect all aspects of Kia’s operations, from parts assembly to sales and maintenance. Disruptions appear inevitable for all of its car models, including the Sorento. Customer delivery could be delayed. The automaker had already suffered more than 25.000 vehicles’ worth of lost production from factory shutdowns due to Covid-19 outbreaks among its workers and the partial strike at its Gwangju plant. During their 2-day negotiations, labor and management reportedly reached a substantial agreement on salaries and incentive payouts, as well as the establishment of an electric and hydrogen car module production line in its existing plant. The management had proposed to freeze basic salaries but pay performance-based incentives totaling 150 % of the monthly salary, as well as 1.2 million won ($1.108) per person in special bonuses for Covid-19 and 200.000 won in gift certificates for traditional markets; the same package that Hyundai Motor employees have. Negotiations broke down due to differences over overtime work. While the union wanted to add 30 minutes of overtime to the daily shift system, the management rejected it because it would mean extra labor costs. A union official said, “Although we can see that the company struggled to meet the union’s demands, there were still many shortcomings in reaching an agreement”. The union said it is open to negotiations if the management comes up with a fresh proposal, and it plans to hold a committee meeting Friday to discuss its next course of action. +++
+++ The British government’s recent announcement that new vehicles with internal combustion engines will be banned in 2030 while hybrids will be banned from 2035 has thrown a spanner in the works for all car manufacturers, particularly those that produce high-performance supercars like MCLAREN . How will the automaker deal with these challenges? Electrification. During a recent interview, McLaren chief executive Mike Flewitt was asked what the next decade looks like for the car manufacturer. “It is challenging. We had 2035 in our mind as the sort of pivot point for EV. Our business plan now progressively moves to hybrid. All of the significant launches going forward will be hybrid cars”, he said. “I think by 2026, we’ll be fully hybridized right across the range. We will probably do our first EV supercar in the latter part of the decade, so 2028, 2029”. While Flewitt appears confident that McLaren can adapt to this new era in the automotive industry, he expressed concerns that the UK simply doesn’t have the necessary infrastructure in place to transition to an all-electric fleet. “What we don’t have yet in the world is the infrastructure to support running electric cars”, he said. “Right now, I think the U.K. sales are like 2 – 4 % electric cars. To move that to 100 %, we just don’t have the infrastructure to charge cars, to support them. What the governments almost don’t realize is the bigger challenge, for them, is to put the infrastructure in place, not for the manufacturers to make the car. There’s some great electric cars in the world, even now”. McLaren’s latest step in its electrification plan will involve the launch of the Artura, designed as a successor to the Sports Series. This model will be based on an all-new carbon fiber monocoque and feature a twin-turbocharged V6 engine with an electric motor. Specifications haven’t been announced but the car is expected to deliver north of 600 hp while having the ability to travel 30 km on electric power alone. +++
+++ PORSCHE sales in the UK positively surprised in November, as the number of registrations improved 16.7 % year-over-year to 2.216 and stand above some mainstream brands like Citroën and Honda. The most interesting thing is that the top model for the brand last month was the all-electric Porsche Taycan, which beat even the Macan. Unfortunately, no numbers were provided. The German brand is still 10.4 % down year-to-date (at 12.104 new registrations), but it seems that it was able to improve its results in the second half of the year thanks to EVs. Plug-in sales in the UK are doing really well. The Porsche Taycan turned out to be the #1 luxury saloon in the first nine months of the year (1.605 registrations), above the BMW 7 Series (901), Mercedes S-Class (607) and Panamera (445). The Taycan sales are really strong in 2020 and the company expects to exceed its target of 20.000 units. +++
+++ SSANGYONG ’s latest partially revamped Rexton has given a much-needed boost to the carmaker’s domestic sales. The large SUV, which was partially revamped in November, sold 1.725 units in its launching month; a whopping 210.8 % month-on-month jump. It also recorded a 23.1 % year-on-year jump for that month. Rexton is a large SUV model that first launched in September 2001 and is one of the few vehicles the automaker markets as a luxurious model. The latest version comes with a brand new powertrain and major technology upgrades, such as the advanced driver assistance system and connectivity service. The new 2.2 liter diesel engine is able to generate a maximum 202 horsepower, which is 15 horsepower more than the previous version. The combined fuel efficiency also improved by 10 % to 11.6 kilometers per liter. The new model, however, has more to offer than just a slight performance boost. It has undergone a major exterior redesign. The front grille now has a diamond-shaped radiator grille that fills the front of the car, giving the revamped version a much more powerful look than its predecessor. The back has new LED rear lamps shaped like the letter ‘T’ rotated 90 degrees. The bumper line is more rectangular, giving the car a more stable look, according to the carmaker. SsangYong has also doubled down on safety in the updated vehicle. The car uses 1.5 gigapascal high-strength steel, making it dramatically more durable and less likely to buckle in case an accident happens. The software has also been revamped, including the addition of intelligent adaptive cruise control (IACC), which keeps the vehicle at a safe distance from the car in front while cruising in the center of the lane on both highways and urban roads. The software is also able to control the speed of the car in connection with the navigation system on highways and stop on its own when the car detects an approaching object when reversing. With the installment of Infoconn, SsangYong’s connected car system, the power and air conditioning systems of the car can be controlled remotely. The luggage space of the car, one of the most important factors for both camping aficionados and big families, is not so bad either. The trunk provides 820 liters of space, expanding to 1.977 liters when the second row seats are folded. +++
+++ TESLA unveiled a $5 billion capital raise, its second such move in 3 months as the electric-car maker cashes in on a stellar rise in its shares this year. The company’s shares touched a record high on Monday, pushing Tesla’s market value above $600 billion and further cementing its position as the most valuable auto company in the world despite production that is a fraction of rivals such as Toyota, Volkswagen and General Motors. 10 major banks, including Goldman Sachs, Citigroup Global Markets and Morgan Stanley, will conduct the sale, the carmaker said in a filing, giving no timeline for its completion. Demand for Tesla’s shares has been further fueled by the decision last month to add the company to the S&P 500 index, making it one of the most valuable firms ever to join the main U.S. stock market benchmark. Some investors and Wall Street analysts believe Tesla’s stock is in a bubble, and a few have warned against adding it to the S&P 500 at current levels. Analysts’ median price target on the stock stands at $400, which is $230 short of the current price. The 670 % rally in Tesla’s shares this year has also boosted chief executive officer Elon Musk’s net worth from $27 billion to $155 billion, making him the world’s second-richest person, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. In September, Tesla said it would raise $5 billion to ease its future debt pressures as the company seeks to massively expand production of its existing vehicles and build new factories near Berlin, Germany and Austin, Texas. The company also has plans to launch new lines of vehicles, including a semi-truck called the Tesla Semi and its futuristic Cybertruck. +++
+++ TOYOTA will grow its European line-up in the next 5 years with a focus on further expanding its SUV range, and the promise of more high-performance halo models to follow the GR Yaris. The Japanese firm has set ambitious growth targets for the European market, with the goal of selling 1.4 million vehicles a year by 2025, an increase of around half a million from current levels. Toyota has renewed and refreshed much of its line-up in recent years and will expand its SUV range with the launch of the new Yaris Cross compact crossover and by introducing the large Highlander to the market for the first time. They will join the C-HR, RAV4 and Land Cruiser off-roader in the brand’s high-riding line-up, with a RAV4-sized EV due to be revealed next year. But Matthew Harrison, Toyota’s Europe vice-president, told the range will grow further in the next 5 years, with a key target being a new model that will sit between the C-HR and RAV4. “There are parts of the market we’re not covering, particularly with SUVs”, said Harrison. “Some of the segments are growing so big they are almost sub-divided, providing other opportunities for us to cover. If you look at the compact C-SUV segment, we’re going a good job with C-HR, but we’re playing at the top end with people buying the car for emotional or design reasons, and there’s a whole part of the segment we’re not really covering. The Yaris Cross is developing firmly for the smaller B-SUV segment. Certainly, both below and above B-SUV, there continue to be opportunities. Certainly, there are opportunities for Toyota, particularly with crossovers and SUVs”. Toyota has committed to offering an electrified option on every new model, deploying hybrid, plug-in hybrid, electric and hydrogen technology to meet the demand in each segment. Although Toyota has put a major focus on its SUV models to meet the most popular market segment, it has also developed a range of performance models under its Gazoo Racing brand, with the GR Supra and GR Yaris set to be joined by the still unconfirmed GR86 next year. Harrison said such halo models are designed to boost the image of Toyota’s range and will be followed by more in future. “When we launched Gazoo Racing in Europe with the WRC project, we fully embraced it. Halo models like the GR Yaris are critical. If you want to inject excitement, desire and appeal into a brand, which is everything we were missing a bit of, these products have a huge role to play. It’s not about the volume or profit contribution. It’s about the excitement they bring to the brand. The revenue will then come with the core models, because people aspire to want to drive Toyota products: our GR Sport grade is now the best-selling grade across Corolla and soon with C-HR, and that is a big revenue generator for us. Halo models are critical and we’re lucky because of our hybrid mix we have enough space to be able to bring low-volume product like that and cope with it in our vehicle fleet emissions average. That we’d like to continue as long as we can and there will be more halo products, I promise”. +++
+++ TOYOTA is preparing to join the ranks of manufacturers with bespoke electric vehicles in their line-up. The new vehicle was first announced at the start of this year, but now Toyota has provided a few more details. It’ll be roughly the same size as a RAV4 family SUV (although the wheelbase is almost certainly likely to be longer than that of the conventionally powered vehicle, and the front and rear overhangs should be shorter). The car is the first product of a collaboration between Toyota and Subaru on a flexible pure-electric platform, and the panel creases highlighted in the sketch make it clear that the two models are going to share more than their underpinnings. There are clear similarities between Toyota’s car and a concept that was revealed by Subaru back in January. There’s no word yet on a name for the bespoke EV but Toyota has spent much of the past few months registering trademarks based on ‘BZ series’: everything from BZ1 to BZ5. These are for its new family of standalone electric models and that the BZ references ‘Beyond Zero’, the title of Toyota’s public push towards zero-emissions motoring. Toyota says that it will announce final details on the car “in the coming months” and that the model “has already been developed and is being readied for production”. It will be manufactured in Japan. Toyota calls its new EV platform e-TNGA, and says it is designed to support a wide range of vehicles, since only a few areas of the architecture (notably the space between the front axle and the base of the windscreen) are fixed. Toyota claims this allows difference widths, lengths, wheelbases and heights, and also says e-TNGA can be fitted with front-, rear- or four-wheel drive, and a range of battery and electric motor capacities. Some of the trademarks registered by Toyota, including BZ4X and BZ5X, would sit easily on a four-wheel-drive vehicle. Toyota Europe’s executive vice-president Matt Harrison said the new EV would be positioned slightly above the RAV4 on pricing, but said that customers would be able to cross-shop between the 2 models. “The size is similar to RAV4”, he said, “so between RAV4, which is already available as a hybrid and plug-in hybrid, and this product as zero-emissions option, we’ve pretty much got this covered. Customers would choose between these 2 vehicles in our portfolio. We’ll have to see when we get closer to the start of production what the incentive situation is, because this can have an impact on where the model transacts. But we’re trying to make sure that with any of the EVs, we don’t count on incentives to secure the business equation”. +++
+++ VOLKSWAGEN chief executive Herbert Diess expects to see fully self-driving cars on public roads anywhere between 2025 and 2030. Diess recently told that improvements in computer chips and advancements in the area of artificial intelligence are speeding up the development of autonomous driving technologies. “It is foreseeable that the systems will soon be able to master even the complex situations of autonomous driving”, he stated. Diess took over Volkswagen in 2015, arriving from BMW in the wake of the former’s diesel scandal. Volkswagen will be investing a massive €73 billion into future electric and connected technologies. This investment also includes building up the group’s new Car.Software organization, whose goal is to create a proprietary software stack, which then Audi’s Artemis project will embed into advanced, self-driving vehicles. According to Diess, Volkswagen is now a global leader in terms of its electric platforms and broad range of EVs, and in the coming years it will aim to reach “a leading position in car software in order to meet people’s needs for individual, sustainable and fully connected mobility in the future. To that end, we have doubled our digitalization spend”. Within the next 10 years, Volkswagen believes it will produce some 26 million fully electric vehicles for Europe, China and the United States, 19 million of which will be based on the MEB architecture, and the other 7 million on the high-performance PPE platform. +++
+++ VOLKSWAGEN ’s fifth ID electric car, a production version of the ID Vizzion concept, will offer a range of up to 700 km when it’s launched during the final quarter of 2023, according to the German car maker’s head of research and development, Frank Welsch. Known to Volkswagen insiders under the name Aero-B, the future rival to the BMW i4 and Mercedes-Benz EQE is set to be called the ID.6 and will be offered in both saloon and estate forms, with similar exterior dimensions to the current Passat but interior room comparable to the larger, now-discontinued Phaeton. Built on the Volkswagen Group’s EV-specific MEB platform, the new model will follow the ID.3 hatchback, the recently revealed ID.4 SUV, the ID.5 coupé-SUV that’s due to be revealed next year and a production version of the ID.Buzz MPV that’s due in 2022. While the ID.6 title isn’t official yet, the number 6 has connotations of wellbeing in China, Volkswagen’s biggest market, and the large saloon is expected to be particularly popular with Chinese buyers. The ID.6 will be offered with 1 motor for rear-wheeldrive or 2 motors for four-wheeldrive. The latter layout will also underpin a GTX performance model that Welsch said will be capable of 0-100 kph in around 5.6 seconds. By comparison, the single-motor model will have a 0-100 kph time of about 8.5 seconds. As with other ID models, the ID.6 is set to be sold with a choice of battery sizes. While it’s still in the early stages of development, Welsch claimed the largest battery, an 84 kWh pack mounted within the flat floor of the MEB platform, will provide the car with a range of around 700 km, some 150 km more than that quoted for the ID.3 with a 77kWh battery. Welsch pinpointed improved lithium battery cell efficiency, a reduction in rolling resistance and new aerodynamic developments as being central to the longer range of the ID 6. Additionally, the model is planned to support charging at a rate of up to 200 kW, allowing around 250 km of range to be added in just 10 minutes from a DC rapid charger. Production of the ID 6 is set to take place at Volkswagen’s Emden plant in Germany from 2023. The current home to Passat and Arteon production is currently undergoing a heavy upgrade that Volkswagen claims will provide it with annual capacity for up to 300.000 EVs by 2023. +++
+++ VOLVO will continue to build SUVs in the Swedish firm’s fully electric future, but Björn Annwall has said their design will need to become optimised. The head of the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) region for Volvo told: “We need to adjust the design of our future cars to find the right balance between consumer appeal and functionality and range. The cars will look different in the future due to that. The aerodynamics will become more important, especially if you drive at higher speeds on the motorway. They’re less important for city cars that are used for shorter distances because the aero doesn’t play such a big role here”. Higher speeds on motorways tend to drain batteries disproportionately quickly because of the drag created at speed. But Annwall sees a future where the more urban-focused cars won’t need to focus on such a slippery drag coefficient. Divergence of design will be the key, to make sure that a car is fit for purpose depending on where it’s used. Despite this variance, Annwall doesn’t expect a chop-and-change system of car ownership to be the solution to electric car adoption. Volvo is not interested in changing its subscription model to enable people to swap their car for the weekend. “Our subscription model is not meant to let people change their car like you change underwear. Longer range is the answer. And the availability of fast charging”, Annwall said. Nevertheless, Volvo will continue to invest in the subscription model. By 2025, it wants 50 % of its global sales to be online. It believes subscription has worked well since the launch in September, with a 93 % conquest rate in the subscribers to date. In the meantime, Volvo remains bullish about electrification. PHEVs will feature but, like Honda, Annwall sees these as a stop-gap. “For us, long term, it’s a full-electric future. PHEVs are a transition and a stepping stone. The only question is how long that transition is. 5 years, 10 years: we don’t know how long. But the sooner Volvo becomes electric, the better Volvo is going to be in winning in the premium segment”. +++