Tag: GM

Lyft Builds Out its Design Team by Adding 5 New Directors

Lyft designers are the driving force behind how we frame the consumer experience and tackle problems like shaping behavior change and reimagining cities. We’re excited to continue that momentum as we welcome a new group of talented and expert designers to the Lyft family. Directors Brian Ng, Jessica Rosenberger, Renato Valdés Olmos, Nick Barrett, and… Continue reading Lyft Builds Out its Design Team by Adding 5 New Directors

Demand is falling: Opel Ruesselsheim threatens short-time working

DPA Rüsselsheim headquarters: Employees must expect short-time work or even the discontinuation of a full shift in the coming year The models Insignia and Zafira apparently sell worse. Therefore, Opel has a substantial personnel overhang at its headquarters in Rüsselsheim, it says in a press release. Now short-time working or even one-shift operation threatens in… Continue reading Demand is falling: Opel Ruesselsheim threatens short-time working

US auto sales are expected to drop below 17 million for first time since 2014

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A man walks by new vehicles at a Queens auto dealership in New York City.

U.S. auto sales are tumbling further and further away from record highs hit just a few years ago.

Automakers are projected to sell 16.8 million passenger vehicles in 2019, a 1.1 percent decline from this year and below 17 million for the the first time since 2014, according to the National Automobile Dealers Association's annual sales forecast released Thursday. U.S. sales eclipsed 17 million in 2015 for the first time since the recession, peaking at 17.6 million vehicles sold in 2016. They've been falling ever since, and they are expected to continue that trend next year.

Higher interest rates and a bevy of new cars coming off lease stand to push more customers into the used market in 2019, said Patrick Manzi, senior economist for the trade group.

For 2018, car dealers are expected to sell 17 million vehicles, a better year than the industry had anticipated.

“This was a little bit unexpected,” Manzi said on a conference call on Thursday. “If you had asked me at the beginning of the year, I was expecting new vehicle sales to fall off more than they had. But then the new tax law was passed. The new tax law put more money in the pockets of consumers including the average new vehicle consumers. And many went out and purchased new vehicles.”

Car buyers mostly purchased light trucks, cross-over vehicles, pickups and SUVs, he said.

But with rising interest rates, dealers are growing concerned about “price creeping” that could keep some buyers out of the market, said NADA Chairman Wes Lutz, who is also president of Extreme Dodge-Chrysler-Jeep-Ram in Jackson, Michigan.

Falling incentives and rising rates could put “tremendous” pressure on consumers' monthly payments, he said, adding that interest rates remain a “wildcard.”

Average interest rates on new-vehicle financing have risen 60 to 70 basis points from 2017 through the third quarter of 2018, Manzi said. That has dramatically the cost of borrowing, he said, and he expects interest rates to continue to rise, though there has been some speculation that the frequency of rate increases may slow.

“Customers who are returning to the store this year and may have leased a car or purchased a car three to four years ago at a very low interest rate and are hoping to keep their payment roughly the same will not be able to do that, because the cost of borrowing has gone up considerably,” he said.

The other side of this of course, is that record sales over the last few years mean used car lots are stocked with robust inventories.

The other big trend is the staggering shift from passenger cars to crossovers and truck-based vehicles that has taken place over the last several years. Automakers have been scrambling to realign portfolios around the shift. Earlier this year, Ford said it will essentially stop selling traditional passenger cars in the U.S. altogether, except for its Mustang sports car.

“As someone who likes to drive sedans, I am a little concerned because there are fewer and fewer choices out there,” Lutz said. However he added that the breadth of choice in SUVs far surpasses what was available several years ago.

General Motors said in November it plans to slash production at several U.S. factories that focus on making passenger cars, such as the Chevrolet Cruze mid-size sedan. The decision has labor leaders and lawmakers in Ohio, Michigan, and Maryland up in arms.

Light trucks are on track to account for about 70 percent of all sales, with cars dropping to 30 percent, NADA said. A decade ago, car sales represented 52 percent while light trucks, including SUVs, accounted for 48 percent of all sales.

Those vehicles tend to be more profitable than sedans and passenger cars, in part because they simply cost more. Customers are willing to spend a bit more on an SUV, crossover or pickup because they feel they are getting more for their dollar in terms of space and flexibility. While these vehicles are becoming more efficient, rising gas prices have been cited by some industry analysts as a potential catalyst for at least a partial swing back into sleeker, more efficient vehicles.

But gas prices are not expected to rise enough to make consumers panic and send them flocking back to cars, Manzi said.

“We haven't seen the bottom of the car market yet,” he said.

Car maker: PSA intervenes at Opel – 2019 threatened short-time working in Rüsselsheim

Protests against sales plans at Opel In particular, workers are opposed to the sale of parts of the International Technical Development Center (ITEZ) to service provider Segula in November. (Photo: AP) DüsseldorfThe message is short, intended only for a small circle and unusually frills formulated. Your author comes to the point immediately. Already in the… Continue reading Car maker: PSA intervenes at Opel – 2019 threatened short-time working in Rüsselsheim

Aptiv Announces Autonomous Driving Milestones and Expands Capabilities with the Opening of its Las Vegas Technical Center

New facility is home to Aptiv’s Las Vegas autonomous vehicle commercial operations, command center, and customer showroom. LAS VEGAS, Dec. 17, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — Aptiv (NYSE: APTV), provider of the first autonomous driving technology to be used in a public commercial autonomous vehicle (AV) service, announced today the grand opening of its Las Vegas Technical… Continue reading Aptiv Announces Autonomous Driving Milestones and Expands Capabilities with the Opening of its Las Vegas Technical Center

Toyota struggles to save breakthrough Prius hybrid

Source: Toyota
2019 Toyota Prius AWDde

In an automotive industry that offers American buyers hundreds of different options, few models have the immediate name recognition of the compact Toyota Prius.

When it debuted in Japan in 1997, it became the world's first mass-market hybrid electric vehicle and demand exploded when it reached the U.S. three years later.

The Prius delivered around 50 miles a gallon and had far more interior space than the typical fuel-saving minicar — all at an affordable price. That made it the best-selling car of any form in California, and the best-selling hybrid vehicle worldwide earlier this decade.

But, as an updated 2019 version of the Prius gets ready to roll into U.S. showrooms, Toyota is facing a difficult situation. Sales of the Prius have been tumbling for several years and were down 23.2 percent for the first 11 months of 2018. The new version delivers updates Toyota hopes will revive the hybrid's momentum, including a new all-wheel-drive system that could improve its appeal in the Snowbelt. But whether that will be enough is uncertain and company officials admit they're struggling to figure out what to do next.

First look

“For the next Prius we have to think about how to … separate [it] from the rest of the Toyota line-up,” Deputy Chief Engineer Koichi Kaneko said in an interview in Kohler, Wisconsin where the automaker was giving journalists a first chance to drive the 2019 model last week.

There are a variety of reasons why Toyota sold just 3,180 of its Prius hatchbacks in November. Sales of the entire Prius “family,” including a plug-in hybrid version, are running barely a quarter of its peak.

The sharp downturn in fuel prices has scuttled sales of all mileage-minded vehicles. But, as Kaneko alluded to, Toyota has also diluted the appeal of the Prius by now offering hybrid powertrain options on a variety of its more conventional models, such as the Corolla sedan and RAV4 crossover-utility vehicle.

The RAV4 is now Toyota's best-selling American model, last year nudging past the familiar Camry sedan. And some observers believe the hybrid version of the cross-over utility vehicle could out-sell Prius in 2019. As a result, many are questioning whether Toyota even needs the Prius anymore.

“Toyota can say the Prius did everything they needed,” said Stephanie Brinley, principal automotive analyst for IHS Markit, helping burnish the Japanese automaker's green credentials and proving there's a market for gas-electric drivetrain technology.

“But what do they need Prius for” anymore? Brinley quickly added. “It's difficult to walk away from a nameplate with so much equity, but it may make sense to drop it.”

For now, at least, that's not something Toyota plans to do. And the 2019 model shows that the automaker is looking for ways to revitalize the hybrid hatchback's appeal. That includes some modest tweaks to interior and exterior design responding to wide criticism of the fourth-generation model after its 2016 model-year debut.

More technology

There's also a lot more technology, something that appears to appeal to buyers of a vehicle using a high-tech powertrain. There's a tablet-sized 11.6-inch touchscreen, lots of USB ports, Apple CarPlay and the Toyota Safety Sense suite of advanced driver assistance systems, such as forward collision warning with automatic emergency braking.

But the biggest addition for 2019 is an electric all-wheel-drive system that markedly improves the Prius hatchback's grip on slick roads, as Toyota set out to demonstrate during its media preview in frigid Kohler.

The system is a simpler version of the all-wheel-drive technology found on some products, and works only at relatively low speeds, but it helps Toyota maintain Prius's position as “an affordable hybrid.” A base model starts at just $23,770, and versions with all-wheel-drive start at $26,380.

Still, Toyota officials concede that the 2019 updates aren't going to be enough to keep Prius a viable player going into a future where, as Brinley points out, virtually all products will use some form of electric drive. General Motors and Volkswagen are planning to eliminate gas and diesel drive technology entirely.

“Toyota has to be ready to respond to these trends” reshaping the automotive market and might even have to consider the possibility of either shifting to a crossover body style or adding a CUV to the broader Prius family that today also includes the small Prius C and bigger Prius V.

“I don't think Prius can be the same as before,” said Kaneko, looking forward to the gen-5 model that is just now beginning to enter the development process. “Our role is to figure out what we can do with it. We need to find a new direction.”

Though Toyota won't discuss the timing of that next model, its traditional product cadence would suggest it should reach market by around the 2022 model year. That is, of course, assuming Prius remains part of the brand's line-up. But considering how much Toyota has invested in the world's first hybrid, it clearly will be reluctant to give up on Prius without trying out every possible approach to keeping it viable.

Source: Toyota
2019 Toyota Prius AWDde