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| Let’s go all the way |
The auto industry is dividing into two camps at this moment. And you’re seeing it happen live on our pages.
One camp is populated by manufacturers who are excited and zealous about a new era of vehicle power, the transformation from joyously booming internal combustion engines to miraculously silent and green electric motors.
This camp is trumpeting to the world their remarkable product plans for new EVs and new initiatives. In this week’s issue you’ll read about Hyundai Motor Group earmarking $7.4 billion to electrify and mobilize its U.S. business, about Ford’s zeal to produce an electric F-150, and about Marelli, the established supplier of lighting and air conditioners, boldly pushing into those components we now call “e-axles.”
This movement is big. And it’s all over Automotive News, every week.
But then …
Then there’s this other emerging camp.
A small handful of automakers have gone one step further. Camp No. 2 is saying, “Half-way isn’t enough for us. We are going beyond. We’re not merely going to introduce ‘some’ new EVs — we’re going to go ALL electric, completely chucking the gasoline engine that brought us here.”
For those few entities — Jaguar, Volvo, Ford of Europe, Cadillac, Mini, and most recently Honda Motor Co. — the equation is: “If this is the right direction, why don’t we go ahead and go there?”
But as you will read in this week’s issue, this growing industry outlook is hardly a consensus. There are more people straddling the middle of the discussion than there are on the edges of it. And with good reason — it rhymes with “honey.”
Gray-haired caution has always governed the auto industry. But there is a thing out there that never fails to overrule caution: It’s called competition.
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“Every so often, a new vehicle comes along that disrupts the status quo and changes the game … Model T, Mustang, Prius, Model 3. Now comes the F-150 Lightning. America’s favorite vehicle for nearly half a century is going digital and fully electric. F-150 Lightning can power your home during an outage; it’s even quicker than the original F-150 Lightning performance truck; and it will constantly improve through over-the-air updates.” |
– FORD CEO JIM FARLEY, IN A STATEMENT ANNOUNCING THE ELECTRIC F-150’S MAY 19 UNVEILING |
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Coming Monday in Automotive News:
A good problem to have or a Catch-22? Rental-car companies have seen their fleets age with a lack of new-vehicle supply. At the same time, the value of their fleets have swelled with rising used-vehicle prices. Here’s the rub: As much as they might like to tap into their fleet value, the companies must maintain supply to stay in business — and some are buying more low-mileage used vehicles at inflated prices to supplement a lack of new supply. Automotive News looks at the difficult decisions facing rental-car companies.
Microchip shortage threatens critical launches: Production of the redesigned Nissan Pathfinder begins this week, and a new Frontier and Infiniti QX60 are expected in showrooms this year. Volkswagen, meanwhile, has new Taos and Tiguan models to launch, one year after its Atlas Cross Sport launch was derailed by COVID-19. Automotive News looks at how both automakers will navigate their important product schedules amid a microchip shortage that is likely to create some production havoc.
Weekend headlines
Tesla crash victim lauded ‘full self-driving’ in videos on Tiktok: A Tesla car driver killed in a recent accident in California posted videos in which he appeared to drive with his hands off the wheel. On May 5, a Tesla Model 3 crashed into an overturned truck on a highway in Fontana, killing the Tesla driver and injuring the truck driver and a motorist who had stopped to help him.
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Subaru’s first mass-market EV set for mid-2022 launch: The new battery-powered crossover, which is being developed jointly with Toyota, will carry the Solterra name.
Texas dealership employees charged: Two former employees of Covert Ford Hutto, who were fired after management learned of their arrests, allegedly sold rifles and ammunition off the lot.
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A selection from Shift and Daily Drive:
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May 22, 2017: Jim Hackett, 62, is named Ford Motor Co. CEO. It was an unorthodox route to the top of Ford — Steelcase CEO to college athletic director to Ford board to Ford Smart Mobility head.