The automaker responsible for Jeep, Ram and a host of other brands already pulled out of CES, but now it’s pulling out of two other major events.
Stellantis announced Friday it will cancel its plans to exhibit its vehicles at the rapidly approaching SEMA show in Las Vegas as well as the LA Auto Show in November. According to the manufacturer’s brief statement, the decision (much like its earlier plan to pull out of CES) comes as a result of the ongoing United Auto Workers (UAW) strike.
Their statement in full says: “As the costs of the ongoing UAW strike continue to mount, Stellantis has decided to cancel its planned display and all other presentations at SEMA (Las Vegas Oct. 31- Nov. 3, 2023) and the LA Auto Show (Nov. 16-26, 2023), as part of its contingency plan.”
While we recently covered vehicles the automaker teased for SEMA, it appears the decision to draw down its debut plans came in recent days. On Tuesday, the automaker issued a statement cancelling its plans for this upcoming January’s CES show as it takes “comprehensive countermeasures to mitigate financial impacts and preserve capital,” in wake of the UAW’s labor actions.
Fiat was set to debut the new, all-electric 500e in Los Angeles, and it’s unclear for the moment whether we’ll see that debut as a standalone event either before or shortly after the auto show.
The union’s strike began on September 14 and currently has no distinctive end in sight, though representatives on both sides of negotiations have hinted at some recent progress. General Motors, for its part, offered a 23% wage increase over the next four years (per Automotive News) and add its EV plants to what’s called the “national agreement”, effectively unionizing those plants once they’re operational.
The Kandi K27 is a ruthlessly cheap EV that’s slow, underpowered and uncomfortable.
Just so we’re on the same page: the Kandi K27, which was imported to a “dealership” in Texas, initially sold for about $12,000. Ours, with almost no miles on it, was purchased for less than half. Given the silly safety regulations, set forth by the Department of Transportation, the Kandi cannot be driven on a highway. It is electronically limited to 35-MPH… if you’re lucky.
Roman and Tommy, who have their heartless moments, offered me the keys to the K27 – in lieu of our sweet Tesla Model 3, or the Rivian we were testing. They can be odious indeed. I’m fairly sure my 265-lbs of heft did the 61-hp-ish Kandi no favors, and the street route from Boulder to Denver, CO would take up to two hours to drive.
That is: IF the Kandi didn’t break down!
In the past, this Chinese-built catastrophe has died on just about all of us. It has electronic issues, but some of these problems seem to have remedied themselves. Still, the crew insisted I have a backup for my journey there. As such, Andre followed me in the Rivian towing one of our flatbed trailers. It’s all for you, this entertianment.
I want to clear up a few things: mainly about Chinese EVs. The Kandi 27 is a terrible representation of the high tech vehicles China is now making. This vehicle is based on tech that’s over a decade old. I recommend watching Tommy’s video from England, where he checks out some of China’s newest products. Also, this video wasn’t made for just the sake of making a video.
Terrible drive, but it was to a good destination
Along the way, many elated drivers presented the one finger salute as they passed. Others used cellphones to take photos of the funny fat-guy in the tiny car. It was too windy (noisy) to drive with the windows open, for filming. Every time I was passed by a Prius, the wake from it’s disturbed air sent a shiver in the cockpit. The A/C didn’t work, and after about 1/2-an hour, warm air crept into the cabin. Thus, I sat in a tiny, vinyl-filled over – worried about being blown off the road, all for the sake of entertainment. Fun.
The Denver Press Club, our destination, hosted an intimate conference on owning, and the future of EVs. In addition to staff members from Colorado Public Radio and Denver Electric Vehicle Councilbeing on hand, Will Toor from the Colorado Energy Office was on-hand as well. It was a Q&A discussion with people, and the event went quite well. Oddly, the main star was the K27.
EVERYONE wanted to look at the quirky little car. Some folks opted to stay until the very end, when Andre showed up again in the Rivian with the trailer in tow to pick me up. You see, even though it said it had about 75-precent power left, Tommy said it dies at about 58-percent. In other words, it probably won’t make it back to Boulder. Given that it was nighttime, having the little guy towed back to base seemed prudent.
Not only will the Nissan Hyper Punk concept appear in-person at the Japan Mobility Show this October 25th It’ll be in Fortnite too!
Nissan will debut four EV concept cars, Nissan Hyper Urban, Nissan Hyper Adventure, Nissan Hyper Tourer, and the Nissan Hyper Punk at the Japan Mobility Show, on October 25. Yep, they’re all about the “Hyper” name. Nissan will use digital-3D billboards in the Shinjuku district of Tokyo to start some buzz. That buzz will lead up to the Japan Mobility Show.
That starts right now, but there’s more: on October 25, these concept will available on the online game – Fortnite. Look for the name “Electrify the World.” According to Nissan, it’s “for further exploration and enjoyment of these special vehicles.” I’m not a gamer, so I don’t fully understand the reference, but I have a son who is.
Each concept has a Manga-like character representing the vehicle. The Nissan Hyper Punk has the character “Yuki.”
Here’s what Nissan has to say about it:
“The Nissan Hyper Punk, wrapped in a functional and stylish body style, is an all-electric compact crossover tailored for content creators, influencers, artists, and those who embrace style and innovation. Offering seamless connections between the virtual/physical and the inside/outside worlds, the Nissan Hyper Punk next-generation crossover inspires self-expression in all worlds. The vehicle’s V2X system ensures that users can run and charge their devices anytime and anywhere, while also sharing the vehicle’s energy with collaborators and local community events.”
There is a ton of origami designs ques inside, and out. Nissan says the Hyper Punk is meant to be a creative personal space for on and off-road. While no numbers are shared (other than its 23-inch wheels), Nissan says it is capable of AI-infused driving characteristics. It can record (in Anime/Manga-like graphics) images it sees outside the vehicle. Using an AI special headrest, the vehicle can detect the driver’s mood and adjust the music to express that emotion.
There are three large screens in front of the driver, and the interior looks like a 2+2 setup. “The Nissan Hyper Punk is a vehicle for creativity, whether it be brainstorming publishing.” Okay… well it’s certainly creative. It’s also rather utilitarian, as it has the ability to power a camping adventure, or a rave hidden in an industrial complex.
Stay tuned for TFL’s coverage of this concept and more at the 2023 Japan Mobility Show in Tokyo!
Honda will build the Civic Hybrid sedan in Canada and the hatchback in the U.S.
In the lead up to the brand’s full electrification, Honda aims to market its most popular models with a hybrid powertrain option. That includes reintroducing the Civic Hybrid for the eleventh-generation model, after a decade-long hiatus in which there was no electrified option available for the tenth-gen Civic.
This time around, you’ll be able to get the 2025 Honda Civic Hybrid as either a sedan or a hatchback. Honda plans to build the sedan on the same Canadian line as the standard sedans, in Alliston, Ontario. In reviving the four-door Civic Hybrid for our market, we’ll have the direct replacement for the Insight, which Honda killed off last year.
Eventually, the Civic Hybrid hatchback will follow the sedan into production, and Honda will build those models at its Greensburg, Indiana plant, again like the standard gas-only hatchbacks. When both versions of the 2025 Honda Civic Hybrid are available for folks to buy next year, the automaker expects the electrified version to comprise 40% of total Civic sales in North America.
Like the Accord and CR-V Hybrid, the Civic Hybrid sources its 2.0-liter Atkinson-cycle engine and two-motor hybrid system from its Ohio engine and transmission plants, respectively. Honda claims an output of 204 horsepower and 247 lb-ft of torque for both its other hybrid models, though we’re not 100% sure whether the specs will be exactly the same here. Honda did not mention fuel economy targets just yet, though the old Insight did manage 52 mpg combined. It’s likely we’ll see a figure in the upper 40-mpg range since Honda’s using a larger gas engine this time around, but we’ll have to wait a few more months for official EPA figures.
Toyota has a “new dawn” coming, and it’s in the form of a new sedan.
The sun rises on another news day, and Toyota is bringing a teaser to preview the next major update it has coming down the pike in the coming weeks. Naturally, since we’re just talking about a teaser here, you can only see the new car’s silhouette, and the automaker isn’t yet divulging any more specific information. Only a question: “Can you guess what’s on the horizon?”
By all means, feel free to make a guess and leave your thoughts below. While Toyota is not confirming anything here, though, you can probably figure out from context clues what’s lurking in the shadows.
Here’s a hint: It’s a decently sized four-door model that hasn’t seen an overhaul since the 2018 model year. Oh, and its main rivals were just redesigned. This car carries a larger footprint than the Corolla (which is still pretty fresh on its own), but obviously a bit smaller than the also-new Crown sedan. That said, what Toyota has on the horizon here almost certainly starts with “C” and ends with “amry”.
What can we expect here?
Sure, that wasn’t a tough guess if you’ve followed the news cycle, or you’ve just stepped onto a dealer lot lately. The current Camry is getting long in the tooth by now, and while we still have a way to go before the full reveal…come on, you know the brand’s most popular sedan is overdue for an update. Based on the spy shots we’ve seen thus far (and Toyota’s own retail site), the new Camry will ultimately launch as a 2025 model.
At its core, the 2025 Toyota Camry won’t be radically different from the outgoing model. It should still ride on the brand’s TNGA-K platform like the rest of Toyota’s larger sedans. Where we likely will see Toyota shake things up, though, is under the hood. Specifically, the company is largely ditching its old 3.5-liter naturally aspirated V6 in favor of a new, 2.4-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine putting out 265 horsepower and 317 lb-ft of torque. It’s likely the Camry Hybrid will still carry over with the 2.5-liter mill and an electric motor, and the naturally aspirated four-banger may still represent the lower trims.
While it’s definitely functional, expect the 2025 Toyota Camry to get a major interior overhaul, as well. That means a larger infotainment display (possibly a 12.3-inch unit like the new Highlander), as well as a much-needed update to the operating system. Toyota’s latest solution isn’t 100% perfect, but the infotainment system in the Highlander and Crown as well as several other models is a vast improvement in usability and responsiveness on the old setup.
There are still a few questions: Will there be a TRD version? What new or unexpected features might we see this time around?
Fortunately, it seems like we won’t have to wait much longer to see the next new car that Toyota has waiting in the wings.
Stellantis has previously shown its tech-forward concepts at CES, but will not be there in 2024.
This week, the company that debuted its 4xe plug-in hybrid models and the Ram Revolution concept at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) announced it is cancelling its participation this coming January. In its public statement, the company cited “the costs of the ongoing UAW strikes” as the primary reason for pulling out of the world’s biggest technology show, and a forum in which automakers have increasingly shown off their electrified models as the industry invests heavily into new technology.
Stellantis also said it is “executing comprehensive countermeasures to mitigate financial impacts and preserve capital”…or in much more direct terms, to save money. As analysts have discussed over the past several weeks, the United Auto Workers’ strike against the Big Three automakers cost each one hundreds of millions of dollars in lost production (and, therefore, lost revenue).
This isn’t the only cost-saving measure the Netherlands-based automaker is considering. Since at least early 2022, Stellantis has considered options to sell its 500-acre campus in Auburn Hills, Michigan, where its U.S. arm (FCA US LLC) is headquartered, and then lease back only the space it needs from the prospective buyer. At the time, the company weighed its options in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent work-from-home boom, but the strike once again brought the issue of selling the HQ building to reduce its footprint and overhead.
The UAW strike is now in its fifth week, and there seems to be no imminent deal in sight for any of the Big Three automakers. While the union has most recently spared Stellantis from its expanding labor actions — like when workers suddenly struck Ford’s Kentucky Truck Plant — that situation may change in the coming days, further impacting the company’s bottom line. Nearly 34,000 workers are on strike against the Big Three automakers, as well as other U.S. automotive manufacturers like Mack Trucks.
As for CES, the next iteration of the tech-focused event will be on January 9-12, 2024 in Las Vegas. The Ram Revolution concept ultimately morphed into the production-spec Ram 1500 REV, which you can check out below:
BMW models will soon be able to use Tesla’s Supercharger network, expanding the list to 20 brands.
Within the next couple years, it’s fairly safe to assume at this point that your new electric car will be on the North American Charging Standard (or NACS for short). BMW announced this week it would join the growing list of automakers adopting the standard. From 2025 onward, it will officially convert its existing and upcoming EVs to use the Tesla-style ports. The move marks a distinctive shift away from the Combined Charging System (CCS) connector, currently in use on nearly every non-Tesla electric model.
With this switch, all three brands will use NACS ports from 2025 onward.
“With six fully electric BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce models now available in the U.S. market, and more to come, it is our top priority to ensure that our drivers have easy access to reliable, fast charging,” said BMW of North America President & CEO Sebastian Mackensen. “This agreement is the latest in our longstanding and continued effort to expand charging options for our customers as we continue on the road to electrification.”
Like many other brands, BMW is working to ensure a smooth transition to NACS in 2025. That likely includes offering an adapter for current CCS-equipped vehicles, as well as allowing Supercharger access through the brand’s own app to pay for charging. BMW also joined in with six other automakers to build out a brand-new North American charging network with 30,000 stations, with the first set to go online next year.
Interest rates and price hikes are pushing new cars further out of reach – but there’s some good news.
It’s not something that really needs to be repeated, but I’ll go ahead and say it anyway: Buying a new car sucks right now. Not only are prices creeping ever northward, but higher interest rates mean payments are ballooning well beyond what your average buyer can reasonably afford. In fact, according to a new report from market analysts at iSeeCars, buyers now need to take out a 90-month loan to make the average new car “affordable”, though folks are obviously taking on a huge amount of extra baggage in the process. Over that outrageously long 7.5-year period, you’d have to pay around 30% above and beyond the settled price for whichever vehicle you’re looking to score.
Fortunately, with all the news about the market being objectively and collectively insane, iSeeCars did unearth some good news in their data. The firm looked at new and used car prices over the past three years and distilled the data into its “Car Affordability Index” — a comparison of median household income against an “idealized income” for comfortably financing a car. The study notes that while median incomes did increase about 4% over the past year, interest rates and stubbornly high prices have made any car purchase burdensome. At least, that’s what everyone expected, though the picture is a bit more hopeful than it’s been over the past three years since we found ourselves neck-deep in a global pandemic.
How the Car Affordability Index works
For some context, here’s how iSeeCars determines how “affordable” a new or used car is to the average American buyer:
“iSeeCars analyzed new and used car affordability over time by calculating its Car Affordability Index, which compares median household income to an idealized income for financing a car.
An index value of 100 suggests household income is exactly equal to the idealized income for a car purchase. Values above 100 indicate household income is above the idealized income and therefore cars are increasingly affordable; similarly, values below 100 suggest actual income is less than the idealized income, meaning cars are unaffordable. For example, an index value of 125 means household income is 25 percent more than the idealized income, and an index of 75 means household income is 25 percent less. The idealized income is based on typical car loan rates and terms for 60 months and 48 months for new and used car loans respectively, with down payments of 10 percent for new and 20 percent for used cars, and annual car payments no more than 10 percent of a household’s annual income.”
iSeeCars determined median household income for their report from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS) 1-year estimates and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Earnings reports.
Used car affordability has improved considerably since May.
When comparing the average household income against the relative drop in used car prices over the past few months, the market looks much more favorable to actually finding an affordable prospect. According to iSeeCars executive analyst Karl Brauer: “The list of newly affordable used cars includes a healthy mix of luxury and mainstream brands, with nearly every vehicle type represented. Family buyers seeing a three-row SUV, performance enthusiasts searching for a sporty coupe, and fans of hybrid or electric vehicles looking to cut fuel costs and CO2 emissions can all find a car on this list.”
In addition to simply calculating the affordability threshold, this study also lays out 23 used car models up to 3 years old that dropped below that threshold since October 2022. The higher their rank on this list, the more affordable they are against the average 3-year-old price threshold, as of September 2023.
For reference, the average used car price as of September is $33,373. All the used car models in iSeeCars’ list are below that figure, if only just. iSeeCars’ affordability index was 98.36 in October 2022, but rose to 104.03 in September 2023 (per the chart above).
Rank
Make/Model
% Price Difference below
% Price Drop Since Oct. 2022
Average 3-Year-Old Used Car Price
1
BMW i3
-16.9%
-18.1%
$27,748
2
Chevrolet Blazer
-12.9%
-16.6%
$29,062
3
Volvo S60
-11.6%
-14.4%
$29,507
4
Alfa Romeo Stelvio
-8.8%
-9.0%
$30,431
5
Genesis G70
-8.0%
-10.9%
$30,689
6
BMW 2 Series
-6.8%
-15.8%
$31,116
7
Volvo XC40
-6.2%
-11.7%
$31,302
8
Cadillac XT4
-6.0%
-9.2%
$31,373
9
Buick Enclave
-4.2%
-6.4%
$31,986
10
Lexus IS 300
-4.1%
-4.7%
$31,993
11
Honda Pilot
-3.4%
-3.6%
$32,230
12
Audi A5 Sportback
-3.4%
-12.3%
$32,230
13
Nissan Armada
-3.3%
-10.8%
$32,268
14
Jeep Grand Cherokee
-2.5%
-5.6%
$32,547
15
Audi Q5
-2.2%
-8.5%
$32,646
16
Toyota Avalon
-1.9%
-3.1%
$32,748
17
Kia Stinger
-1.7%
-8.8%
$32,811
18
Tesla Model 3
-1.5%
-28.9%
$32,861
19
Lexus UX 250h
-1.3%
-9.9%
$32,931
20
BMW 3 Series
-1.0%
-6.0%
$33,036
21
Ford Ranger
-0.9%
-4.0%
$33,080
22
Jaguar E-Pace
-0.2%
-3.5%
$33,303
23
Lexus NX 300
-0.1%
-3.9%
$33,352
Among the vehicles on the list, EVs certainly had the biggest price drop. Namely, the #1 BMW i3 and the Tesla Model 3 experienced double-digit price drops, while certain brands known for exceptional resale values, like Lexus, dropped far less substantially.
iSeeCars’ EV Affordability Index jumped from 72.48 (a sign of just how expensive cars were in late 2022 and early 2023) to 90.1 in in September 2023. According to their data, that comes from an average 19.5% drop in EV prices and a 16.6% drop (or $144/month) in payments for used EVs.
“While the average used EV remains beyond the reach of today’s used car buyer,” Brauer said, “they are much closer to being affordable than they were 11 months ago.”
