Author: CNBC Online news

Tesla investigating apparent explosion of parked car in Shanghai

Wang Zhao | AFP | Getty Images
People visit a Tesla showroom in Beijing.

Tesla said Monday it immediately sent a team to investigate an apparent explosion of one of its cars that occurred in Shanghai on Sunday evening local time.

There are no known casualties at this time, the electric car company said in a Chinese-language post on Weibo, China's version of Twitter. Tesla also said it is in active communication and cooperation with relevant departments about the situation.

It was not immediately clear which Tesla model was affected, but reports indicated the car was parked at the time of the fire.

In January, Chicago law firm Corboy & Demetrio said that there have been at least a dozen cases worldwide in the last five years of Model S batteries exploding in collisions and parked vehicles. The statement was part of a lawsuit filed against Tesla that alleged a 2014 Model S had a defective battery pack, causing an 18-year-old passenger to die in an accident last year, Reuters reported.

—Reuters contributed to this report.

Nissan is said to cut global production by 15 percent

Johnny Milano | Bloomberg | Getty Images
An employee passes in front of vehicles on display for sale at a Nissan Motor Co. car dealership in Patchogue, New York, U.S., on Friday, April 27, 2018.

Nissan Motor will cut global production by about 15 percent for the current fiscal year ending March 2020, as it shifts away from the aggressive expansion campaign promoted by former Chairman Carlos Ghosn, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Friday.

That would be the steepest production cut in more than a decade by the Japanese automaker, as it battles weak sales in overseas markets including the United States where it plans to scale back sales operations, the Nikkei reported.

Nissan aims to produce about 4.6 million units in fiscal 2019, the Nikkei said, citing plans being communicated to the automaker's suppliers. The move is likely to impact earnings and could cast a pall over Nissan's alliance with French automaker Renault SA, the Nikkei reported, without elaborating.

Earlier this year, Nissan, which has been battling falling sales, lowered its operating profit forecast for the current fiscal year to 450 billion yen ($4 billion), 22 percent lower than a year earlier. It would be Nissan's lowest profit since 2013.

Nissan was not immediately available for comment when contacted by Reuters.

Shares in Nissan, mired in a financial misconduct scandal involving Ghosn and the company itself, were trading down 1.2 percent early on Friday, versus a 0.6 percent rise in the broader market.

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Ford gives relaunched Escape sleek look, refined cabin in bid for car drivers

Adam Jeffery | CNBC
2020 Ford Escape

The market for sport-utility vehicles has grown at an unprecedented rate, especially for car-based crossovers, and few industry analysts expect the surge to level off anytime soon, which is why this year's New York International Auto Show is awash in new “two-box” designs of various sizes and prices.

One of the most important of those debuts will be the next-generation Ford Escape. Ford was a pioneer in the SUV boom with its big Explorer. But in recent years the Escape has become its dominant offering — generating sales second only to the full-size Ford F-Series pickups. And with so many new competitors coming to market for 2020 and beyond, Ford is going to have to nail it with the new crossover utility vehicle, or CUV.

Adam Jeffery | CNBC
2020 Ford Escape

One way it hopes to increase Escape's appeal is by offering the compact crossover with a variety of powertrain options that, for the first time will include not only a gas-electric hybrid but a plug-in hybrid. It is also planning to add a more rugged version that will challenge the off-road credibility of Jeep's Cherokee.

“This all-new Escape brings a sleeker, sportier design with the capability to take you on just about any of your life's adventures,” Kumar Galhotra, Ford's North America president, said ahead of Escape's debut in New York. “With our class-leading hybrid powertrains, customers will spend less time at the gas station and more time on the road.”

Ford was actually a latecomer to the compact utility vehicle segment, following Japanese offerings like the Toyota RAV4 and Honda CR-V. And, in its initial incarnation, it used a more traditional, truck-based body-on-frame design. That meant it was more rugged than the Asian models that were often derided as “soft-roaders,” but it also lacked their on-road manners and fuel economy.

Ford Motor US sales down 1.6% from a year ago
9:43 AM ET Thu, 4 April 2019 | 01:59

When a third-generation Escape was launched in 2013, Ford migrated to a crossover platform, boosting comfort and handling, as well as mileage, and gaining traction with U.S. buyers.

The fourth-generation Escape takes the same approach, but it adopts an even sleeker look, in part to put some distance between it and the reborn Bronco model that Ford will launch in 2020.

“We want to have really differentiated styling. “The new Escape's silhouette is very sleek, dynamic — more progressive. The off-road [Bronco] will be more upright, boxy,” said Hau Thai-Tang, Ford's executive vice president of product development.

The Escape's cabin will also take on a more refined, car-like look, reflecting the fact that Ford expects it to pick up many of the buyers it might otherwise lose as it abandons such familiar sedan nameplates as the Fiesta, Focus and Fusion over the next several years.

Escape will be loaded with the sort of high-tech features that younger buyers crave, including the latest take on Ford's Sync infotainment system, now able to handle both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. It also will offer an assortment of advanced driver assistance features, dubbed Co-Pilot 360, including automatic emergency braking and blind-spot detection, as well as the ability to park itself in a tight spot.

Adam Jeffery | CNBC
2020 Ford Escape

As for powertrains, the 2020 Escape will start off with two gas engines, including the premium turbocharged 2.0-liter EcoBoost inline-four making 250 horsepower and 273 pound-feet of torque. The hybrid will pair a 2.5-liter gas engine with an electric motor to boost mileage, though Ford has not yet released final EPA numbers.

The plug-in hybrid, the first in the segment, will add a larger battery pack capable of propelling the 2020 Escape for up to 30 miles in all-electric mode. Using a 240-volt Level 2 charger, the same type many homeowners are adding, charge times for a drained battery will run around 3.5 hours.

As for the more rugged version of the Escape, Ford is only dropping hints for the moment, Thai-Tang said an “off-road version” is in development and should make its debut late this year.

Pricing will be released over the coming weeks, but the base 2020 Ford Escape is expected to top the current entry model, which starts around $24,100.

Disclosure: Paul Eisenstein is a freelancer for CNBC. Ford paid for his transportation and lodging at the New York International Auto Show.

Faster than a fighter jet: The $2.5 million Pininfarina Battista electric hypercar debuts in US

H/O: Automobili Pininfarina
The Pininfarina Battista hypercar

While other automakers packed the Javits Center for the New York International Auto Show, Automobili Pininfarina launched one of the week's most exciting car debuts at an off-site event.

The company's new all-electric Battista hypercar produces a whopping 1,900 horsepower and reaches 60 miles per hour in under two seconds. That makes it the fastest street-legal car ever built by an automaker, even outrunning a Formula One race car to 60 mph.

Pininfarina has previously said that a Battista will hit 180 mph in less time than an F-16 fighter jet. All of that thrust comes from electric motors that are fed by a 120 kWh battery and should be good for around 300 miles of range on a single charge.

The company — which has roots in the storied Italian design house that styled iconic cars like the Fiat 124, Maserati GranTurismo, Ferrari Testarossa and Alfa Romeo Spider — is targeting a 2020 release date for the Battista.

H/O: Automobili Pininfarina
The Pininfarina Battista hypercar

The company enters the all-electric hypercar fray at a competitive time with companies like Rimac and NIO rushing to market ultimate-performance EVs. More established brands are also pushing for performance electrics, as Tesla gears up to build the next Roadster and Porsche puts its Taycan on sale.

Automobili Pininfarina has secured U.S. retail partnerships with distributors in Los Angeles, Miami, New York and San Francisco. With just 50 of the 150 Battistas destined for the North American market and a $2.5 million price tag, the Battista is sure to be a rare sight. According to the company, over half of the cars slated for North America have been reserved.

The Battista was first shown during Monterey Car Week in a private showing. The company plans to return to Monterey this year to launch the “PF1,” which is supposedly Automobili Pininfarina's upcoming electric luxury car.

H/O: Automobili Pininfarina
The Pininfarina Battista hypercar

Chinese electric sports car Qiantu K50 by Mullen coming to US roads next year

Haze Fan | CNBC

An estimated 40 battery-electric vehicles are on display at this week's New York International Auto Show, and contrary to their popular image as slow and stodgy, many of them put an emphasis on performance, including the new Qiantu K50 by Mullen.

With its twin electric motors drawing power from a lithium-ion battery pack, the K50 can punch out 430 horsepower and 560 pound-feet of torque, enough to launch it from 0 to 60 in just 4.3 seconds, with an electronically limited top speed of 112 mph.

Already on sale in China, there is a two-month backlog of orders, said David Michery, founder and CEO of California-based Mullen Technologies, a start-up partnering with Chinese automaker Qiantu Motor to bring the K50 to the U.S. market next year.

Adam Jeffery | CNBC
The Mullen Qiantu K50

When the first generation of electric vehicles came to market at the beginning of the decade, products like the Nissan Leaf put an emphasis on range above everything else, largely limiting the fun-to-drive factor. Tesla changed the equation with its original sedan, the Model S, which could match the acceleration of some of the fastest sports and muscle cars on the market, especially when equipped with optional Ludicrous Mode.

The K50 sits low and wide, with classic supercar proportions, and the partners behind the project are betting there is an emerging and still largely untapped market for high-performance electric cars.

Adam Jeffery | CNBC
The Mullen Qiantu K50

To maximize both range and performance, the K50's development put a premium on what the industry refers to as “lightweighting.” The body is made of super-light carbon fiber, the roughly two dozen exterior panels weighing in at just 103 pounds, noted Mullen's chief engineer, Frank McMahon. They're wrapped around an all-aluminum space-frame.

Twin, liquid-cooled electric motors, one on each axle, are connected to a 70 kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack. The layout allows for what McMahon called “Dynamic Torque Vectoring.” By shifting power from front to back, the K50 can enhance its ability to negotiate sharp corners and twisty roads. Its independent double-wishbone suspension further improves maneuverability.

The pack is rated for 230 miles between charges in China, though that figure is expected to come in lower using the U.S. EPA test cycle.

Adam Jeffery | CNBC
The Mullen Qiantu K50

One of the odd details of the K50 is the use of a T-shaped battery pack. That was an approach used early in the decade by manufacturers like General Motors, which had a T-shaped pack in its Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid. That approach gobbled up interior space and raised the Chevy's center of gravity, working against its handling. McMahon told CNBC that Mullen and Qiantu opted for the approach because it reduced investment costs and also allowed for more flexibility in the K50's overall design.

That said, the partners are working to develop a next-generation platform which, much like the skateboard-like layout used on Tesla's Models S, X and 3, mounts batteries and motors below the load floor. Mullen and Qiantu hope to use that “architecture” on a new SUV McMahon says they plan to debut in 2022.

Adam Jeffery | CNBC
The Mullen Qiantu K50

For the U.S. market, Qiantu will ship a number of key components of the K50 to the U.S. where Mullen will assemble them, much like a kit car. Some parts will be sourced from the States, however, including the battery pack that is currently produced in San Francisco and then shipped to China.

The Chinese version of the K50 will undergo a number of modifications for the U.S. market, many of those focused on meeting American safety regulations. McMahon said Mullen also wants to tighten gaps between carbon fiber panels to meet the expectation of picky U.S. buyers.

The electric drive system on the K50 is paired with an array of advanced technologies including a 15.6-inch touch screen that controls the car's infotainment system and other vehicle functions. There are also a number of high-tech advanced driver assistance systems, including forward collision warning, lane keeping assist and blind-spot detection.

Adam Jeffery | CNBC
The Mullen Qiantu K50

Michery said the start-up expects to price the U.S. version of the K50 at around $149,000 when it reaches showrooms next year.

The initial target is to sell about 1,000 of the sports cars in 2020, the figure rising to 5,000 annually, starting in 2022. Whether it will be able to build that much of a market is far from certain. Despite the rise in demand for the Tesla Model 3 last year, overall sales of battery-electric vehicles barely topped 1% of the American market.

The Qiantu K50 will initially be sold through five California dealerships owned by Mullen Technologies' affiliate, Mullen Auto Sales. The new car company says it is negotiating franchises with other retailers and hopes to open another showroom in Brooklyn, New York, by the time the first K50 is ready for the U.S. market.

Phantom Auto closes Series A funding, expands plans for remote-controlled autonomous vehicles

David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Vehicles in traffic travel northbound on Highway 101 in Mountain View, California, U.S.

Phantom Auto, a start-up firm in Mountain View, California developing software for the teleoperation of autonomous vehicles, has closed its first major round of fundraising.

The company said it raised approximately $19 million in Series A financing led by venture capital firm, Bessemer Venture Partners.

The money will help Phantom Auto expand development of technology that allows remote drivers to operate vehicles or robots from thousands of miles away.

Since its founding in 2017, the company has worked with firms testing and developing autonomous vehicles that drive on public roads. While that remains a focus of Phantom, the start-up is also working with logistics firms to allow remote drivers to control autonomous vehicles in a variety of environments like shipping centers or industrial parks.

“If you see a delivery robot in public, there is a solid chance it is using our teleoperation software,” said Phantom co-founder Elliot Katz in a statement announcing the Series A financing.

Phantom has partnered with yard truck manufacturer Terberg to test the operation of yard trucks in Atlanta from remote control center 2,500 miles away.

Teleoperation of autonomous vehicles could be a key link in the deployment of self-driving vehicles.

Cameras and Lidar radars — or sensors that help autonomous vehicles recognize their surroundings — allow the “brains” of self-driving cars and trucks to handle the vast majority of traffic situations. But there will likely be moments, such as an unannounced road closure or major accident, where autonomous vehicles could become confused and unsure how to proceed.

In such cases, a teleoperator who is sitting in a cockpit with a steering wheel, and watching the images fed via cellular networks by cameras in the autonomous cars, will be able to take control of the vehicle and steer it through tricky situations.

Apple in talks for sensors that could hint it’s building a self-driving car

David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Tim Cook, chief executive officer of Apple Inc.

Apple has held talks with at least four companies as possible suppliers for next-generation lidar sensors in self-driving cars, evaluating the companies' technology while also still working on its own lidar unit, three people familiar with the discussions said.

The moves provide fresh evidence of Apple's renewed ambitions to enter the autonomous vehicle derby, an effort it calls Project Titan. The talks are focused on next-generation lidar, a sensor that provides a three-dimensional look at the road.

Apple is seeking lidar units that would be smaller, cheaper and more easily mass produced than current technology, the three people said. The iPhone maker is setting a high bar with demands for a “revolutionary design,” one of the people familiar with the talks said. The people declined to name the companies Apple has approached.

The sensor effort means Apple wants to develop the entire chain of hardware to guide autonomous vehicles and has joined automakers and investors in the race to find winning technologies.

Current lidar systems, including units from Velodyne mounted on Apple's fleet of self-driving test vehicles, use laser light pulses to render precise images of the environment around the car. But the systems can cost $100,000 and use mechanical parts to sweep the laser scanners across the road.

That makes them too bulky and prone to failure for use in mass-produced vehicles. The shortcomings have spurred $1 billion in investment at dozens of startups and mature companies alike to make lidar smaller, cheaper and more robust.

Apple's interest in next-generation lidar sensors comes as it has sharply increased its road testing while bringing on key hires from Tesla and Alphabet's Google.

It remains unclear whether the goal of Apple's Project Titan is to build its own vehicle or supply the hardware and software elements of self-driving car while pairing with a partner for the entire vehicle.

But what is clear from Apple's interest in cheaper lidar systems is that it wants to control the “perception stack” of sensors, computers and software to drive an autonomous vehicle, regardless of who makes the vehicle, another person familiar with the talks said. The three people familiar with the talks declined to be identified because the discussions are not public.

In addition to evaluating potential outside suppliers, Apple is believed to have its own internal lidar sensor under development, two of the people said.

Alphabet-owned Waymo has taken a similar path, assembling a sensor and computer system while inking deals to buy vehicles from Fiat Chrysler.

Apple gets “a lot of optionality by working on the perception stack,” said the second person familiar with the talks. “Bringing a passenger car to the market is really, really hard, and there's no reason right now they need to jump into it.”

Reducing costs

The designs Apple is seeking could potentially be made with conventional semiconductor manufacturing techniques, all four people familiar with the talks said.

That has the potential to lower prices from the many thousands to the hundreds of dollars as the sensors are produced in larger numbers, similar to chips in phones and other devices. Apple also wants sensors that can see several hundred yards down the road.

The long-distance requirement shows Apple is interested in fully self-driving vehicles, versus the more limited features such as adaptive cruise control used today, two people familiar with the matter said.

“They're not happy with most of what they see,” the first person familiar with the matter said. “They're looking for a revolutionary design.”

A third person familiar with the matter said Apple is seeking a “design-oriented” sensor that would be sleek and unobtrusive enough to fit into the overall lines of a vehicle.

Apple declined to comment.

Apple once investigated building its own vehicle. The company had a team of more than a dozen engineers dedicated to detailed work such as ensuring doors closed quietly instead of slamming shut, a fourth person briefed on the matter said.

Apple last year re-hired Doug Field, an Apple veteran who was serving as Tesla's engineering chief, to work on Project Titan. The project has about 1,200 people, according to a count in court documents.

Field has been putting his stamp on the effort, laying off about 190 workers but also bringing on key hires such as Michael Schwekutsch, who oversaw electric drive train technology at Telsa. Apple also ramped up its testing miles in California, driving nearly 80,000 last year compared to 800 the year before.

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Ford shakes up management in a move to retool business model to high-tech auto market

Bill Pugliano | Getty Images
Jim Farley, Ford Motor Company Executive Vice President and President of Global Markets, reveals the 2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT 500 at the 2019 North American International Auto Show during Media preview days on January 14, 2019 in Detroit, Michigan.

Ford announced a big management shakeup Wednesday, shifting around key executives to retool its business model toward the future car market, including moving Joe Hinrichs from executive vice president of Global Operations to president of Automotive.

In this role, he will oversee product development, purchasing, manufacturing, marketing and sales, as well as be responsible for the company's global business units around the world, the company said.

Executive Vice President of Global Markets Jim Farley will become president of New Businesses, Technology & Strategy. He and Hinrichs will assume their new roles May 1.

America is falling back in love with trucks and SUVs, and that's causing big changes at big car companies
10:38 AM ET Tue, 5 Feb 2019 | 04:45

Ford Mobility group's president, Marcy Klevorn, will retire in October. Klevorn has overseen Ford's investments in new businesses outside selling cars, such as shuttle services, scooters and self-driving cars. Until she leaves, she will act as chief transformation officer, the company said.

The second-largest U.S. automaker has been undertaking a massive restructuring of its businesses that top executives previously said will cost at least $11 billion and take several years. Since Ford CEO Jim Hackett took the job in May 2017, the automaker has said it will phase out the production of almost all of its traditional passenger cars, invest in new businesses and cut jobs around the world.

Ford shares were up 1 percent Wednesday afternoon. The second-largest automaker's stock has risen 20 percent since the beginning of the year.

“In the past two years, we have made tangible progress in improving the fitness of our business, overhauled our regional strategies, created a winning product portfolio and are working to transform Ford to succeed in an era of profound change and disruption,” Hackett said. “With this strong foundation in place for our auto and mobility businesses, we can now accelerate our transformation.”

Here’s what keeps Ford’s new No. 2 executive, Joe Hinrichs, up at night

David Orrell | CNBC
Joe Hinrichs

Ford Motor is investing $900 million to set up both a battery-car plant — its second — and an autonomous vehicle center in southeast Michigan, not far from its headquarters in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn.

It's part of the automaker's push to lead in autonomous vehicles while also trying to catch up to rival Tesla in the emerging electric vehicle market.

CNBC sat down with Ford's newly appointed president of its global automotive division, Joe Hinrichs, in recent weeks. The company just announced his promotion in a management shake-up Wednesday along with Jim Farley, who will run the company's autonomous vehicle and “smart mobility” efforts, among other things. Although both men will have the title of president starting May 1, Hinrichs' job is bigger and makes him the heir apparent to CEO Jim Hackett.

“Uncertainty” is one of the things that keeps Hinrichs up at night. And he's facing a lot of it these days. In his newly expanded role, Hinrichs will oversee product development, as well as global automotive operations — core units in the midst of radical change. Ford is pulling out of the sedan and coupe market, even as it invests billions to develop battery cars that have yet to catch on with consumers.

Like its rivals, the second-largest Motor City automaker is facing a variety of challenges. Sales have been sliding in the U.S., European operations are losing money and Ford is reportedly considering a major shake-up of its Indian operations, to name just a few challenges Hinrichs has to handle. Now, add the threats posed by the Trump administration's trade wars — tariffs on aluminum and steel last year alone adding $1 billion in costs.

Here are some excerpts from CNBC's interviews with Hinrichs:

CNBC: A year ago, Ford announced plans to increase its investment in electric and hybrid vehicles to $11.1 billion and a company statement says a “fresh look” at the potential market says it's likely to be bigger than initially expected.

Hinrichs: We were always confident there would be growth in demand for electric vehicles. As we take a closer look, we're seeing more acceptance. That's especially true among millennials [who], over the next five to 10 years, will be the biggest buying group in the market. The multibillion-dollar question is getting your timing right. We're still trying to find that. We believe electrification is a really important part of our future.

CNBC: On the same day Tesla revealed its Model Y electric SUV, Ford teased its own “Mustang-inspired” battery-electric crossover on Twitter. It's supposed to be your first long-range model, but when is it coming to market?

Hinrichs: We haven't given a timeline, but it's next year, 2020, and we're very excited about it. One of the things that often gets lost in the conversation about electric vehicles, because of the cost, is that there are attributes of a vehicle you can make better with electrification.

Along with instant torque, there's the smoothness and quietness of the ride, the low center of gravity. There are fewer moving parts, so reliability [should be better]. And the way you can use the package gets more efficient because you don't have all that stuff in the engine compartment up front.

CNBC: The $900 milliion investment also includes money for autonomous vehicles. What are you planning?

Hinrichs: We found a more capital-intensive way of building [autonomous vehicles]. So, we're going to build them in a special manufacturing center the same way we produce our police interceptor in Chicago. [Ford takes a regular vehicle off the line and sends it to a special conversion center.] That allows us to produce the same number of vehicles but frees up capital for the second battery plant.

CNBC: In January, you announced what was said to be the first of several possible deals with Volkswagen, including one that could pair up your EV programs. Where do things stand now?

Hinrichs: We made the announcement on partnering on vans and trucks outside North America. Those conversations, I would say, went very well. There's a good matching up of needs and strengths. We're very excited about that alliance. We signed an MoU about continuing to have discussions on other topics, and those conversations are going well. There's a good alignment and the talks are going well, which is as far as I can go.

CNBC: But Farley, who is currently president of the Americas, seemed to recently dash expectations, saying it will be hard to come together on electric vehicles because the timing of your programs is different.

Hinrichs: Timing is always a challenge when you're talking to a partner about how your needs and programs line up. But those conversations continue to go well.

CNBC: Speaking of a changing market, the industry is in the midst of a dramatic shift from cars to trucks which now account for 70% of the U.S. market. Is there much room for more growth?

Hinrichs: I would say that it's gone further than I estimated it would and it is still going. There are a few key contributors. The [light trucks] we offer today don't have the compromises they did in the 1990s. Now, you don't have to give up the ride comfort and the relative difference in fuel economy has diminished significantly.

The cost of gas has certainly had an influence. I also think our society has gotten used to the idea that devices can do all sorts of things. Your smartphone is your rolodex, your phone, your camera. Society now expects vehicles to be multi-functional, too. So, I don't think it will stop.

CNBC: Since a management shake-up nearly two years ago, Ford has been going through a lot of changes. What can you tell us about the planned Ford reorganization?

Hinrichs: You mean the “smart redesign” we started last fall which is really about flattening the organization and removing some of the bureaucracy. We want to let the people running each layer of the organization handle that redesign, rather than from the top down. We think we'll get bigger insight and a bigger buy-in.

CNBC: How is that different from your broader global restructuring?

Hinrichs: We've already announced plans for our Brazilian [truck plant] in Sao Bernardo to close, and that's our first big step there. In Europe, we don't have a lot to announce because we're in discussions with our partners, but we're having very constructive and engaging discussions. We've set up our China operations as a standalone business under Jim Farley and we're looking at everything in our China business.

CNBC: What about North America?

Hinrichs: We don't have as deep a restructuring as in those other markets, but we're looking at the cost structure and execution of the launch of some very important products over the next few years that will have a big impact on our business — the new Ranger [pickup], the Explorer and Aviator and Escape [SUVs] this year and then a number of incremental nameplates the next year, including the Bronco and the 300-mile all-electric SUV. And we're keeping our trucks super fresh. In North America, we think we're going into a really sweet spot over the next 18 months.

CNBC: We've heard about job cuts in Latin America and Europe, as well as white-collar cuts in North America. What about blue-collar cuts in the home market where General Motors has eliminated five plants and thousands of hourly jobs?

Hinrichs: In December we announced that both Louisville and Flat Rock will remove a shift but we plan to move those people to where we need more capacity like the Livonia transmission and Kentucky Truck Plant. So, in North America, with all the product launches coming, we don't see substantial assembly plant changes coming in the near future.

CNBC: So, hourly workers don't need to worry?

Hinrichs: If the U.S. economy stays strong and the industry stays where it is, I don't see dramatic changes to our manufacturing plans for this year in North America.

CNBC: But how concerned are you about the U.S. economy?

Hinrichs: This “peak auto” story has been around for several years. It wouldn't surprise me, given where we are in the U.S. economic and automotive cycle that people are being cautious about hiring. January and February sales were down but they were impacted by severe weather. We'll see what the spring selling season brings. It usually tells a better tale of what the year will hold. But there's clearly a lot of uncertainty out there.

CNBC: “Uncertainty” i..

Volkswagen hints it could jump back into the steaming hot US pickup market

Handout/Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.
Vokswagen Tarok concept pickup

Among an assortment of new cars, crossovers and concepts that will fill up the Volkswagen stand at this week's New York International Auto Show, plenty of attention will likely be focused on one dubbed the Tarok.

In recent years, the German automaker has made a big push into the light truck market, models like the big Atlas crossover helping it reverse years of declining sales. But the Tarok concept vehicle could see Volkswagen make its return into a segment it abandoned decades ago: the compact pickup truck.

“Although there are no plans to produce the vehicle for the U.S. market, the Tarok concept is being shown to gauge market reaction for a truly versatile and compact entry-level pickup,” the automaker said in a statement released ahead of the prototype's unveiling on Wednesday during a NY International Auto Show media preview.

Handout/Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.
Vokswagen Tarok concept pickup

VW currently offers pickups in a number of global markets, but it hasn't played in the segment in the U.S. since dropping a truck based on its old Rabbit hatchback in 1984. But company officials have clearly been reading the tea leaves, especially as the American market for midsize trucks has staged a rapid turnaround since mid-decade.

America is falling back in love with trucks and SUVs, and that's causing big changes at big car companies
10:38 AM ET Tue, 5 Feb 2019 | 04:45

Coming out of the Great Recession, all three of the Detroit-based automakers abandoned midsize trucks, as did Honda, many industry executives, including former Ford CEO Mark Fields, predicting the segment would all but dry up. But since General Motors made its return in 2014 with the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon models, sales have rebounded.

In 2016, Americans purchased 448,398 midsize pickup trucks, a figure that jumped to 524,231 last year, according to industry data. “And there is plenty of room to grow,” said Joe Hinrichs, president of automotive operations for Ford, which brought its own midsize model, the Ranger, back into production late in 2018.

Handout/Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.
Vokswagen Tarok concept pickup

Volkswagen first teased the possibility of reentering the U.S. pickup market at the 2018 New York auto show unveiling the Tanoak concept based on its three-row Atlas sport utility vehicle.

The Tarok concept that will be introduced at New York's Jacob Javits Convention Center this week was previously revealed at the Sao Paulo International Motor Show in Brazil late in 2018 but is being shown in the U.S. for the first time.

It measures 193.5 inches, bumper to bumper, or about 21 inches shorter than the Tanoak concept. The Toyota Tacoma, the segment leader with 245,659 sales in the U.S. last year, measures anywhere from 212.3 to 225.3 inches, depending upon the body and bed configuration.

Despite its diminutive size, the Tarok is designed to handle a payload of up to 73.2 inches, however, slightly longer than what many of the current crop of midsize trucks can fit in their bed. To pull that off, VW explained, the rear seats, along with the panel that normally separates the passenger compartment from the cargo bed, fold away, extending the cargo space.

Handout/Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.
Vokswagen Tarok concept pickup

The Tarok would be one of only two pickups based on a passenger car platform, rather than a classic, truck-like body-on-frame chassis. The other is the slow-selling Honda Ridgeline.

VW has taken pains to show that Tarok would be able to handle serious workloads, among other things fitting it with an underbody skidplate and an all-wheel-drive system that, with the turn of a rotary dial would be tuned to off-road conditions.

How serious the automaker is about getting back in the pickup segment is uncertain, though Scott Keogh, CEO of Volkswagen of America, told CNET's Roadshow last month that “Without a doubt, the biggest open space [in the VW lineup] is pickup. Without a doubt.”

Handout/Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.
Vokswagen Tarok concept pickup

Keogh told the website VW has “opportunities to do it ourselves,” should it choose to get back into the pickup market. But the German automaker in January signed a joint venture with Ford that will see them collaborate on the development of future commercial vehicles. Hinrichs has confirmed that the two companies are exploring other possible partnerships, including electric vehicles. And pickups are also reportedly under discussion.

For its part, Ford has confirmed it is also looking at opportunities for a pickup smaller than its new Ranger. Officials have declined to confirm whether they might work with VW on such a project.

The sales surge in the midsize truck segment has other manufacturers looking at their options, according to industry analysts. Hyundai, for one, has confirmed it is moving ahead on the development of the Santa Cruz, a model that would be based on a well-received concept vehicle of a few years back. Like the Tanoak concept, the Cruz prototype also used creative engineering to carry a large load, in this case, a pullout bed extender. Hyundai officials have said they hope to have the Santa Cruz in production by late 2020 or early 2021.

Handout/Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.
Vokswagen Tarok concept pickup