AD #3635 - Kia Reveals Production EV5; Long UAW Strike Will Put Small Suppliers at Risk; Hummer EV Camper Kit

This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to the enthusiasts of the global automotive industry. If the UAW goes on a long strike, it could be the

straw that breaks the camels back. There's a lot of small automotive suppliers that

are financially stress right now, and a strike that lasts over two weeks could cause them to collapse. The last three years have been really hard on small

automotive suppliers, as COVID shutdowns in the chip shortage forced automakers to chop production by millions of vehicles. With interest rates at their highest levels in years,

these small suppliers can afford to borrow money simply to keep their operations going, and many of them couldn't get a loan anyway since they're not profitable. Harbor

Results, which studies four hundred smaller suppliers, says that thirty percent of them cannot get a bank loan. If there's a short strike, these companies could

manage it, but a longer strike could force many out of business, and that could cripple automotive production. Speaking of that, Hyundai's line workers in South

Korea just voted to strike. Writers reports that they want an extra one hundred

and thirty nine dollars a month and a performance bonus equal to thirty percent of Hyundai's net profit. They also want Hyundai to raise its mandatory retirement age to

sixty four years old. It's currently sixty. South Korea has low pension replacement

rates, so retirees only get thirty percent of their former wages, which is why they want to work longer. Honda has a history of troubled labor relations,

but analysts do not expect a long strike. The IAA Auto Show in

Munich is next month, and it's shaping up to be a show dominated by Chinese automake. While Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes will display new cars, Automotive

News reports there will be twice as many Chinese automakers, including byd mg Xpung Leap Motors series and dong FUNGATL the batterymaker, will be there too. Some

European auto execs have voiced their concern about Chinese evs taking over the entry level segment in Europe, which automakers are the best at writing software, the Americans and the Chinese. That's according to an index created by Gartner, the consulting

firm. It calls it the Digital Automaker Index, and it studies the software

capabilities of automakers in eight different areas including leadership, talent, corporate culture, architecture, connected vehicle autonomy, electrification, smart cockpits, and online sales.

And not surprisingly, Tesla tops the list. It's followed by Neo and x

Punk, then come Rivian, Lucid, General Motors, Glean, Ford, VW and Mercedes are in the top ten, but the Japanese and Koreans are at the bottom of the list. The Taging Automotive Technologies we combine world class

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Kia revealed the production version of the all electric EV five in China.

The exterior styling stays very true to the concept which was shown in March of this year. However, the interior is a different story. We'll say it

follows the theme of the concept. A thin display under one piece of glass

that rests on the dash, and a center console slash armrests that seems to flow out of the front seats, but it's nowhere is futuristic looking. Unfortunately,

there's not a lot of other details at the moment, but we should learn more soon. The EV five launches in China later this year and will

learn more about its EV strategy at the Kia EV Day in October. There's

a caravan show going on in Germany, so we're seeing a number of new camper vans making their debut. And here's the next gen version of Ford's Nugget

Camper. It's based on the new Transit Custom which features an all new platform,

so the Nugget Camper benefits from the upgrades of that platform, including a new electronic architecture, all wheel drive capability, and advanced powertrains, and for the first time it will be available as a pe have It features the same setup as the Kuga pe have a Guess two and a half leader engine paired with an electric motor and an eleven point eight kilowatt hour battery pack, but other setups will be available, including a diesel Highlights of the Nugget Camper include

swivel front seats, a rooftop tent, a little kitchen area, and even a solar roof panel. Orders are kicking off in Europe right now and deliveries

will start next spring. Mercedes also showed off the new camper version of its

V class van, what it calls Marco Polo. Styling has been updated slightly

with a deep plunging grill and a nicer looking interior which includes dual twelve point three inch display screens. In fact, Mercedes will start putting nicer interiors in

all of its vans when it launches its all new van architecture in twenty twenty six, including new camper vans. The Marco Polo also features a new interface

that allows owners to control camping functions right from the center's screen or their phone, as well as a new air suspension system. Like the Ford Van.

It also features a rooftop tent and kitchen area, but its appliances pull out of custom drawers. And we've got one more camp or reveal. And while

the new Earth Cruiser kit for the Hummer EV wasn't revealed in Germany, it certainly fits with the overall theme and it's like one of those campers that can drop into the bed of a truck, put much more sophisticated. The body

is made from carbon fiber and is integrated directly into the chassis of the Hummer.

The roof extends up to reveal a full size RV mattress, as well as a small kitchen area and display screen. GMC says the Earth Cruiser kit

will be available to owners sometime next year. Sales of new vehicles are expected

to be strong in the US this month. According to a forecast from JD

Power and Global Data, automakers will sell more than one point three million new vehicles this month, up fifteen percent from a year ago. That includes both

retail and non retail or fleet transactions. Part of the growth is due to

improving inventory levels, which are expected to be nearly fifty percent higher than they were last year, and while average transaction prices are estimated to go down one point two percent this month, car buyers are expected to spend forty seven point eight billion dollars on new cars, which is ten and a half percent more than last year and our record for the month of August. Carlos Going,

the former CEO of Renoah Nissan, is the subject of a new docuse series on the Apple Plus streaming service. The four part series will give a detailed

look at his life from his childhood to his rise to become the head of Renoah Nissan, and of course his drum mattic escape from a Japanese prison to fleet a Lebanon in order to avoid charges that he misappropriated Nissan money. But

that brings us to the end of today's show and this week. Thanks for

tuning in and I hope that you have a great weekend. Autoline Daily is

brought to you by Bridgetone Solutions for your journey Intrepid Control Systems over the year engineering boost your game, Scheffler We Pioneer Motion and by Tajin Automotive Technologies the formula for better mobility. We want to know what drives your testing, OTA,

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