William Maley

Guys, you're really testing my patience today with the comments being thrown in this thread. I have cleaned it up and will be watching to see if anything warrants a lock. Don't push it.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles will produce no more passenger cars in the U.S. early next year. The Dodge Dart will end production in September, while production of the Chrysler 200 will cease in December. This is to make way for more production of SUVs and trucks - Jeep Cherokee at Belvidere, Illinois and Sterling Heights, MI for the next-gen Ram 1500. "By the time we finish with this, hopefully, all of our production assets in the United States — if you exclude Canada and Mexico from the fold — all those U.S. plants will be producing either Jeeps or Ram," said FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne during a call with analysts yesterday. Why would FCA end passenger car production in the U.S.? Profit margins. The Detroit Free Press reports this is part of Marchionne's multibillion-dollar plan to match the profit margins seen at Ford and General Motors. Part of the plan involves taking advantage of the popularity of crossovers, SUVs, and trucks in the U.S.; low gas prices, and the lower costs of producing passenger cars in Mexico. "When you look at the economics of car manufacturing ...the margins that we were getting from our experience of both the Dart and the Chrysler 200 ...yielded returns that would not, on a competitive basis, match even anything close or remotely close to what we could derive from utilization of those assets in the Jeep or Ram world. So we have made that shift," Marchionne said. Despite FCA ending production of both the Dart and 200, Marchionne said he is still looking for a partner to build these vehicles. “I think we have made progress. We’re not in a position to announce anything." But would any automaker be willing to take up FCA's offer? "Who would want to commit to that capacity in their own plant when they didn't sell well when they were new?" said Dave Sullivan, an analyst with AutoPacific to Automotive News. "No one wants to build sedans when their own capacity is at a premium and they can't build enough crossovers to satisfy demand." Source: Detroit Free Press, Automotive News (Subscription Required) View full article

Luxury automakers are finding it difficult to make the business case for building V8 engines. Stricter fuel economy and emission standards, along with sales of V8 powered models dropping have them wondering if they should continue work on developing new variants. Take for example Jaguar Land Rover. The current V8 in naturally-aspirated and Supercharged forms has been with us for 20 years. While the company has been trying its best to keep the engine up to date, the thirsty nature and possibility of it not meeting future emission standards has the future of V8 up in the air. But Automobile reports that a deal is currently being worked out by JLR and BMW for the German automaker to supply V8 engines to the British. The possible engine is a new 4.0L twin-turbo V8 that promises to be more powerful, fuel efficient, and lighter than the current V8s on offer from either automaker. Why is BMW making a possible deal with JLR? Most likely it comes down making a stronger business case as to why they should go forward with developing a new V8 engine. Source: Automobile View full article

Last month, Volkswagen announced that it had reached a $14.7 billion settlement with the U.S. Government over the illegal software used on the 2.0L TDI engine. But before anything could be put into motion, it had to get the go-ahead from U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer. Yesterday at a hearing in San Francisco, Judge Breyer gave his preliminary approval on the settlement. This now means Volkswagen and Audi can start sending out official notices to owners explaining what happens next. Those hoping for buyback offers will need to wait a few more months. Breyer has scheduled a hearing on October 18th to hopefully give the final approval. Also, a lawyer for the Department of Justice told the court yesterday that Volkswagen would be proposing a new fix for the 3.0L TDI V6 within the next month. Source: Reuters, Volkswagen Press Release is on Page 2 VOLKSWAGEN ANNOUNCES PRELIMINARY APPROVAL OF 2.0L TDI SETTLEMENT PROGRAM IN THE UNITED STATES Wolfsburg / Herndon VA 2016-07-26 -- Volkswagen AG announced today that Judge Charles R. Breyer of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California has granted preliminary approval of the settlement agreement reached on June 28 with private plaintiffs represented by the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee (PSC) to resolve civil claims regarding eligible Volkswagen and Audi 2.0L TDI vehicles in the United States. Individual class members will now receive notification of their rights and options under the agreement. Volkswagen will begin the settlement program immediately after the Court grants final approval to the class settlement, which is anticipated on October 18, 2016. Under the proposed settlement, eligible customers will have two choices: (1) they can sell back their vehicle to Volkswagen or terminate their lease without an early termination penalty, or, (2) keep their vehicle and receive a free emissions modification, if approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the California Air Resources Board (CARB). Customers who select any of these options under the settlement will also receive a cash payment from Volkswagen. More information about the program can be found at www.VWCourtSettlement.com. Volkswagen appreciates the constructive engagement of all the parties, under the direction of Judge Breyer and with the active participation of Special Master Robert S. Mueller III, as the settlement approval process moves forward. The parties believe that the proposed settlement program will provide a fair, reasonable and adequate resolution for affected Volkswagen and Audi customers. Notes to Editors The following 2.0L TDI engine vehicles are included in the proposed 2.0L TDI settlement program: VW Beetle VW Golf VW Jetta VW Passat Audi A3 2013- 2015 2010-2015 2009-2015 2012-2015 2010-2013; 2015 Volkswagen continues to work closely with the EPA and CARB on an approved emissions modification for each of the 2.0L TDI engine vehicles listed above. Volkswagen is also trying to secure approval of a technical resolution for affected vehicles with a V6 3.0L TDI engine as quickly as possible. In addition to the proposed class settlement, Volkswagen has entered into a separate Consent Decree with the United States Department of Justice (acting on behalf of the EPA), CARB and the California Attorney General and a separate Partial Stipulated Order for Permanent Injunction and Monetary Judgment with the United States Federal Trade Commission regarding 2.0L TDI vehicles. Volkswagen has also resolved current and potential consumer protection claims of 44 U.S. states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. The agreements are not an admission of liability by Volkswagen. By their terms, they are not intended to apply to or affect Volkswagen's obligations under the laws or regulations of any jurisdiction outside the United States. The company continues to work to resolve other outstanding legal matters in the United States. View full article

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has issued their preliminary report on the fatal crash involving a Tesla Model S in Autopilot mode and a semi-truck back in May. According to data that was downloaded from the Model S, the vehicle was traveling above the speed limit on the road (74 mph in 65) and that Autopilot was engaged. The speed helps explain how the Model S traveled around 347 feet after making the impact with the trailer - traveling 297 feet before hitting a utility pole, and then going another 50 feet after breaking it. The report doesn't have any analysis of the accident or a possible cause. NTSB says their investigators are still downloading data from the vehicle and looking at information from the scene of the crash. A final report is expected within the next 12 months. Car and Driver reached out for comment from both Tesla and Mobileye - the company that provides Tesla the chips that process the images being captured by Autopilot's cameras. Tesla didn't respond, but a blog post announcing the crash said: "neither Autopilot nor the driver noticed the white side of the tractor trailer against a brightly lit sky, so the brake was not applied." A spokesman for Mobileye told the magazine that their chips aren't designed to flag something like the scenario that played out in the crash. “The design of our system that we provide to Tesla was not . . . it’s not in the spec to make a decision to tell the vehicle to do anything based on that left turn, that lateral turn across the path. Certainly, that’s a situation where we would hope to be able to get to the point where the vehicle can handle that, but it’s not there yet,” said Dan Galves, a Mobileye spokesperson. It should be noted that hours before NTSB released their report, Mobileye announced that it would end its relationship with Tesla once their current contract runs out. The Wall Street Journal reports that disagreements between the two on how the technology was deployed and the fatal crash caused the separation. “I think in a partnership, we need to be there on all aspects of how the technology is being used, and not simply providing technology and not being in control of how it is being used,” said Mobileye Chief Technical Officer Amnon Shashua during a call with analysts. “It’s very important given this accident…that companies would be very transparent about the limitations” of autonomous driving systems, said Shashua. “It’s not enough to tell the driver to be alert but to tell the driver why.” Recently, Mobileye announced a partnership with BMW and Intel in an attempt to get autonomous vehicles on the road by 2021. Source: NTSB, 2, Car and Driver, Wall Street Journal (Subscription Required) View full article

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is making some major changes in how they report sales and has admitted that their 75-month streak was only 40 months and it ended in September 2013. The new sales reporting methodology announced by FCA in a statement will comprise of, Sales reported by dealers Fleet sales delivered directly by the company Retail 'other' sales, including those by dealers in Puerto Rico Using this new methodology, FCA went back and reviewed past monthly reports and found a 3 percent decrease in sales in September 2013 - a month that it had reported a 1 percent increase. Likewise, in August 2015, sales would have dropped 1 percent - not an increase of 2 percent. FCA says its “annual sales volumes under the new methodology for each year in the 2011-16 period are within approximately 0.7 percent of the annual unit sales volumes previously reported.” "Recent press reports have raised questions about the manner in which FCA US reports vehicle unit sales data on a monthly basis. These reports have mistakenly suggested that potential inaccuracies in the monthly data somehow impact the integrity of FCA's reported revenues in its financial statements," FCA said in a statement. This implies that there isn't a connection between monthly retail sales reporting and revenue disclosures, something the company is being investigated for by the Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission. FCA went on to say that individual dealers were to blame for inflating sales and then 'unwinding' the transaction the following month. The company says there isn't any economic incentive for a dealer to do this as any incentives are reversed once the sale is unwound. Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required), Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Press Release is on Page 2 FCA US LLC EXPLANATORY NOTE ON SALES REPORTING PROCESS July 26, 2016 , Auburn Hills, Mich. - Recent press reports have raised questions about the manner in which FCA US reports vehicle unit sales data on a monthly basis. These reports have mistakenly suggested that potential inaccuracies in the monthly data somehow impact the integrity of FCA’s reported revenues in its financial statements. This note is intended to explain how FCA US’s monthly sales reporting process has worked, recognizing the limitations inherent in a process that collects sales data entered by some 2,600 dealers until midnight of the last reporting day of a month and releases the aggregate data typically within 8 hours of the final data entries. FCA US believes that its current process has been in place in more or less the same form for more than 30 years, with reporting previously being made every 10 days and eventually evolving into monthly cycles. The vehicle unit sales data reported by FCA US is comprised of three main components: (a) sales made by dealers to retail customers; (b) sales of vehicles shipped directly by FCA US to fleet customers and © other retail sales including sales by dealers in Puerto Rico, limited deliveries through distributors and a small number of vehicles delivered to FCA employees and retirees and vehicles used for marketing. Dealer Sales Retail sales data is collected from the dealers (through a reporting system called the New Vehicle Delivery Report, or NVDR). This system is primarily designed to capture the time of a retail sale for two purposes. First, the date of sale recorded in the NVDR system begins the retail customer’s warranty coverage on the vehicle. Second, the recording of the retail sale in the NVDR system triggers FCA US’s obligation to make any manufacturer’s incentive payments to the dealer. These incentives may be based on the particular model sold, the number of certain models sold in the period and the achievement of certain overall dealer volume objectives. These retail sales are made by dealers out of their own inventory of vehicles. This inventory was purchased by the dealers from FCA US before any retail delivery to the customer. Consistent with other automakers’ practices, it is this initial sale -- by FCA US to the dealer -- that triggers revenue recognition in FCA US, and not the ultimate sale of the vehicle by a dealer to a retail customer. It is for this reason that the process of reporting monthly retail unit sales has no impact on the revenue reported by FCA in its financial statements. It is possible for a dealer to “unwind” a transaction recorded in the NVDR system and return the vehicle to the dealer’s unsold inventory. This “unwind” results in the return by the dealer of any incentives paid by FCA US to the dealer for the sale and it cancels the beginning of the warranty period. These unwinds may, and in fact do, occur for a number of reasons including: inability of the retail customer to finalize financing for the purchase or a change in customer preferences, among others. It is admittedly also possible that a dealer may register the sale in an effort to meet a volume objective (without a specific customer supporting the transaction). There is, however, no obvious economic incentive for a dealer to do so, since FCA US’s policy is to reverse all incentives due or paid to a dealer that resulted from the unwound retail sales transaction. When reporting monthly retail sales in the morning of the first day of the following month, a manufacturer cannot know which, if any, transactions may be unwound after the data is released. Because FCA US believes that most unwinds are recorded shortly following the time the initial sale is registered in the NVDR system, FCA US has not historically reflected either unwinds or the subsequent sales of these vehicles in its sales reporting. As a safeguard against double reporting, however, FCA US blocks the vehicle identification number (VIN) in its NVDR files to ensure that a subsequent retail sale of the vehicle does not enter into any tally of reported sales in any future month (i.e. a vehicle cannot be counted twice as a retail sale by the dealer). Fleet and Other Retail Sales The other component of the monthly reported unit sales has been vehicles that FCA US delivers directly, principally to fleet accounts, and retail and other sales consisting of limited deliveries through distributors and a small number of vehicles for company and marketing uses. Sales by dealers in Puerto Rico have also been included in other retail sales. It has been a matter of historical practice (going back many years before 2009 bankruptcy) for FCA US and its predecessors to maintain a “reserve” of vehicles in this category that had been shipped but not been reported as “sold” in the monthly sales reports. While the origin of this practice is unclear and is being looked into, FCA US believes that it was probably originally designed to exclude from the reported sales number vehicles that were in transit to fleet customers, as well as vehicles that were not yet deployed in the field (because, for example, they were being tailored by the fleet customer or a third party to the fleet customer’s specifications). The rationale for this exclusion, we believe, was to introduce some level of conformity in the reported monthly numbers, since the sales data was intended to reflect vehicles put in use during the month. This “not-in-use reserve” has ranged in size from month to month, and resulted from a subjective assessment at month-end. A review of the data suggests that the reserve has always been positive, such that FCA US has always, in the aggregate, reported fewer sales than the aggregate number of shipped units on a running basis. Nevertheless, there appears to be no objective methodology for establishing and maintaining such a reserve and thus several plausible values exist for such a reserve. To the extent that the methodology historically used does not yield a unique value, the outcome is inherently arbitrary. Our Evaluation of Past Practices and a Way Forward Our review of industry practice has not revealed a standard reporting practice among OEMs in the U.S., although we believe that FCA US’s competitors have used broadly similar approaches in compiling monthly sales data. The complexity of this compilation task is unique to the U.S. In Europe, for example, automakers generally report data generated by the national vehicle registration offices on the basis of the number of vehicles licensed by government agencies in a given month. The data is thus verified by a third party and is not subject to interpretation by the automakers. Due to the nature of the U.S. registration system involving 50 states with diverse recording and reporting practices, applying a registration-based system in the U.S. has never been thought to be feasible. FCA US has seriously considered simply ceasing to report this sales data on a monthly basis, and to rely only on published quarterly financial statements as a gauge of improvement or deterioration in our U.S. activities. We understand the sales data are used by some market followers, the automotive press in particular, to opine about the state of the industry and we accept that our decision to suspend monthly reporting would impact those constituencies and possibly may impair their perception, and in turn the public perception, of FCA US. FCA US has therefore decided to continue monthly sales reporting with a revised methodology. Total sales will be comprised of Dealer reported sales in the U.S.; Fleet sales delivered directly by FCA US; and Retail other sales including sales by dealers in Puerto Rico. [*]Dealer reported sales (derived from the NVDR system) will be the sum of All sales recorded by dealers during that month net of all unwound transactions recorded to the end of that month (whether the original sale was recorded in the current month or any prior month); plus All sales of vehicles during that month attributable to past unwinds that had previously been reversed in determining monthly sales (in the current or prior months). [*]Fleet sales will be recorded as sales upon shipment by FCA US of the vehicle to the customer or end user. [*]Other retail sales will either be recorded when the sale is recorded in the NVDR system (for sales by dealers in Puerto Rico and limited sales made through distributors that submit NVDRs) or upon receipt of a similar delivery notification (for vehicles for which NVDRs are not entered such as vehicles for FCA executives and employees). The objective of this new methodology is to provide in FCA US’s judgment the best available estimate of the number of FCA US vehicles sold to end users through the end of a particular month applying a consistent and transparent methodology. It continues to include some level of estimation in respect of, for example, unwound transactions that straddle a month end and fleet deliveries, which may be placed into service at various times after shipment and delivery. FCA US believes, however, that the consistency in application and transparency of this new methodology provides the most appropriate data for the limited uses to which the monthly vehicle unit sales data should be applied. FCA US has prepared unit sales reports going back to the beginning of 2011 using this approach, and has included the results in the attached Exhibit. The Exhibit also compares the data derived under this new methodology with previously reported US monthly sales data. This comparison yields the following results. 1. FCA US in March of this year last commented specifically about a “streak” of year-over-year monthly sales improvements since April of 2010. Applying this new methodology, during the periods presented below, year-over-year monthly sales would have declined in September 2013 (-3%), August 2015 (-1%) and May 2016 (-7%). The so called “sales streak” would have stopped in September 2013 (after 40 months) and would have had three additional periods of sequential year-over-year improvements of 22, 8, and 1 month(s). 2. Annual sales volumes under the new methodology for each year in the 2011-2016 period are within approximately 0.7% of the annual unit sales volumes previously reported. 3. The monthly adjustments to previously reported sales as a result of the adjustment to deduct sales later unwound and add back sales attributable to previously unwound sales over the period January 1, 2011 to June 30, 2016 are a mix of positive and negative numbers which did not exceed 0.5% of the reported data in any month. The maximum numerical reduction from previously reported data was 770 units (0.5% of the month’s volume) in May 2015 and the maximum numerical addition to previously reported data was 437 units (0.4%) in September 2014. The total over the 2011 to 2016 period representing unwound transactions previously reported as sold for which vehicles remain in dealer stock at June 30, 2016, is approximately 4,500 vehicles, or 0.06% of the total volume reported over the period (7.7 million cars). FCA US will report its July 2016 sales using the new methodology. View full article

Note from the admin: Guys, I have hidden a few of the comments because of it turning slowly turning into a mess. Please don't give me a reason to lock the thread. Try to be civil.

For the first time ever, Nissan will be offering a single cab variant of the Titan and Titan XD models. The Titan regular cab measures out to the same length as the crew cab (228.1 inches) and uses the same wheelbase length (139.8 inches). The Titan XD regular cab is about a foot shorter than the XD crew cab (231 vs. 242.8 inches). Both models will get an eight-foot bed. Both the Titan and Titan XD will feature a 5.6L V8 with 390 horsepower paired with a seven-speed automatic. The Titan XD will also get a 5.0L Cummins turbodiesel V8 with 390 horsepower. The Titan will get a V6 engine, though specs on this engine will be announced later. Here is how the Titan regular cabs stack up in terms of payload and towing, Titan: Maximum Payload - 1,930 pounds, Maximum Towing - 9,730 pounds Titan XD: Maximum Payload - 2,910 pounds, Maximum Towing - 12,640 pounds Nissan says the Titan and Titan XD regular cabs will go on sale later this fall. Both models will be offered in the S and SV trims. Source: Nissan Press Release is on Page 2 Nissan TITAN full-size pickup line-up expands for 2017 with the addition of new TITAN Single Cab model New TITAN XD and TITAN Single Cabs join currently available TITAN XD and TITAN Crew Cabs at Nissan dealerships in late fall First single cab in TITAN history, offers Nissan durability and innovation in ideal fleet/work truck configuration Equipped with choice of advanced Cummins® 5.0L V8 Turbo Diesel (XD) or Nissan's new 5.6-liter Endurance® V8 gasoline engines (XD and TITAN) Available in two entry grade levels and choice of 4x2 and 4x4 drive Integral part of Nissan's "Year of the Truck" – celebration of Nissan's new TITAN lineup, Armada, Pathfinder and more throughout 2016. CARMEL, Calif. – The next chapter of Nissan's "Year of the Truck" was unveiled today with a sneak peek of the latest members of the TITAN full-size pickup family – the 2017 TITAN XD and TITAN Single Cab models. The first-ever single cab offering in TITAN history, the new trucks are designed to provide an affordable and rugged entry-point in the commercial fleet/work truck market. The Single Cab is the second of three eventual TITAN body configurations, joining the current Crew Cab and future King Cab. The Single Cab models are scheduled to go on sale in late fall 2016. "Once we complete the roll-out of all TITAN cab, bed, powertrain and grade level configurations, our all-new TITAN family will cover about 85 percent of the total light pickup marketplace," said Rich Miller, director of Product Planning for Trucks, SUVs and Commercial Vehicles, Nissan North America, Inc. and chief product specialist for TITAN and TITAN XD. "More importantly, the TITAN XD and TITAN single cabs will have the power, torque, heavy duty chassis and durability demanded by today's demanding worksites – including the highest towing capacities and payloads in the lineup." TITAN will ultimately be available in a total of three cabs, three bed lengths, three engines, 4x4 and 4x2 drive and S, SV, SL, PRO-4X and Platinum Reserve trim levels. The new single cab will be offered in both TITAN XD and TITAN configurations, with both versions sharing the same cab dimensions and 8.0-foot pickup beds but completely separate fully boxed ladder frame chassis. The TITAN XD Single Cab, like the TITAN XD Crew Cab, will be offered in a choice of two engines – the Cummins® 5.0L V8 Turbo Diesel, which is rated at 310 horsepower and 555 lb-ft of torque; and the 5.6-liter Endurance V8, rated at 390 horsepower and 394 lb-ft of torque. The TITAN Single Cab, with about a foot shorter wheelbase, will be offered initially with the new 5.6-liter Endurance V8 (a V6 engine will be available at a later date). Diesel equipped models feature an Aisin 6-speed automatic transmission and V8 gasoline engine equipped versions will utilize a 7-speed automatic transmission. Along with a choice of 4x4 and 4x2 drive configurations, two grade levels will be available with both TITAN XD and TITAN Single Cabs – S and SV, along with a number of optional equipment packages. "The new Single Cab takes TITAN into new territory, bringing the innovative design and bed utility that TITAN has been known for to a wider base of commercial use buyers," added Miller. View full article