Drew Dowdell

Big, people mover, crossovers are in right now and FCA only has one, the Durango. A Pacifica based one would compete with the upper end Pilots, Traverse High Country, and Buick Enclave. Probably the Palisade and Telluride as well. It would bring in $$$$

No spark needed for these trucks

Yes, It's in my report above.

I wasn't that impressed with the VC Turbo, but it's main claim to fame is that it's supposed to get really good fuel economy when cruising but greater power when accelerating hard. I didn't get enough time with it to test that.

Yesterday we reported that Nissan may be cutting up to 10,000 jobs.... we were short by about 2,500. Nissan Motor Company's CEO Hiroto Saikawa said "The results were really more negative than we expected" in a financial briefing at Nissan Headquarters. Operating profit was nearly wiped out, falling to just $14.8 million in the first fiscal quarter ending June 30th. Operating margin shrank from 4.0 percent last year to barely 0.1 percent this year. Global retail volume fell 6.0% to 1.23 million vehicles. On the back of these poor results. Nissan has annouced job cuts of up to 12,500 worldwide as part of a plan to revive the company. Of that, 6,400 job cuts are already underway with 1,420 jobs lost in the U.S. An additional 6,100 job cuts are planned over the next 4 years. Most of the job cuts will be at plants that are working below capacity. In the U.S., Nissan is trying to move away from fleet sales and focus on increasing retail sales, with the goal of boosting retail sales by 100,000 units. View full article

The Elon Musk for Mercedes right here... making big promises but delay after delay... and then the eventual goal post shift.

Ford's second quarter 2019 income fell 86 percent to just $148 million. The result is largely due to one-time charges related to its restructuring of operations globally. Excluding the one-time items, Ford's income before interest and taxes fell just 2% to $1.65 billion. Global revenue was flat year over year at $38.9 billion. The charges are primary caused by plant closures in Europe and South America. Ford has said it would cut 12,000 jobs in Europe by the end of 2020. Ford's sales in the US have fallen 7 percent, including a large decline in Ford Explorer sales as the company moves the nameplate to a new rear wheel drive platform. Ford CEO Jim Hackett said that the changover was a "bigger endeavor" than overhauling the F-150 to an aluminum body. View full article

The solution to saving Chrysler is clear to anyone who isn't actually at Chrysler. Take the Pacifica platform and build premuim crossovers out of it. Build a premium crossover out of the Cherokee. Notice I didn't say full luxury, but at least take on Buick and some of Lincoln (though I think Lincoln is moving up fast in the world)

Once the diesel rolls out for the 2020 Silverado, it will take the title of most fuel efficient full-size truck on the market with an EPA rating of 23 City / 33 Highway / 27 Combined. The 3.0 liter inline six-cylinder diesel generates 277 hp and 460 lb-ft of torque. The diesel is mated to a 10-speed automatic transmission and also features a start stop system. In the Silverado, the price of the diesel engine is the same as upgrading to the 6.2 liter gasoline V8. It adds, $2,495 to the price of an LTZ or High Country model, or $3,890 to the cost of an LT or RST. Naturally, the engine will be available in the GMC Sierra as well. For those counting, this means the Sierra diesel is more efficient than the 4-cylinder diesel in the Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon. It is also a less costly upgrade than on the two smaller trucks, there costing $5,745 on an LT GM is likely to hold the MPG title for a while as Ford's F-150 diesel was just released for 2019 and is rated for 22 City / 30 Highway / 25 Combined. Ram hasn't sold their 3.0 V6 Ecodiesel since 2017, but it was rated at 20 City / 27 highway / 23 combined. Honda does not field a full size truck. Nissan does, but does not offer a diesel in their standard duty models. Toyota does not offer a diesel at all, though it is rumored that the next Tundra will be coming with a twin-turbo V6 hybrid. The Silverado Diesel arrives in dealerships this fall. View full article

The next generation Durango is going to be a Jeep Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer.

That may be the case... but what kind of cost cutting and shortcuts are they going to take to drive down costs?

Rumor has it that that Nissan is about to report that its first-quarter profit fell by nearly 90%. Nissan has yet to recover from the financial scandal caused by Carlos Ghosn. Additionally, years of chasing volume over profits in the U.S. has damaged the brand, requiring heavy discount and cheap financing to move metal. Investors are also worried that the alliance with Renault is breaking down. Friction with France's Renault over the failed merger with Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles has brought tensions between the two companies to an all-time high. Reports are that due to the falling profits, Nissan will be cutting up to 10,000 jobs, primarily in Asia and South America. In doing so, Nissan would join the ranks of Mercedes-Benz, Ford, Honda, and others with global layoffs in the five digit range. Nissan/Infiniti sales in the US are down 8.9 percent year to date as of June. View full article

The picture of the blue minivan in the article is the Voyager.

Daimler AG says it has lost €1.2 billion ($1.3 Billion) in quarter two 2019. This is the company's first quarterly loss since 2009. Daimler says the primary causes for the loss are airbag recalls and lawsuits and investigations regarding its diesel engines. U.S. and European regulators have gone after diesel engine emissions after Volkswagen AG was caught in 2015 with cheat software in their engine control computers. The fallout has caused Daimler and other manufacturers to recall those vehicles and update the engine control software. Daimler has previously announced cost cutting efforts, including laying off up to 10,000 employees globally. Further cost cutting efforts are pending, however, Daimler declined to comment on such measures until an investor presentation in November. The company did say that it would be reviewing its product portfolio and cutting where needed. Models that have already seen cuts are the Mercedes-Benx X-Class truck and the Mercedes Benz SLC. View full article

The Dodge Caravan is one of the vehicles that helped saved Chrysler Corporation in the 1980s. Introduced in November 1983, the Caravan, along with the Plymouth Voyager, was based on the K-Car platform championed by Lee Iaccoca. Chrysler recently re-introduced the Voyager under the Chrysler brand as the low cost entry into the minivan market. The Voyager is a low cost version of the Chrysler Pacifica Minivan that was introduced in 2016. Dodge continued production of the Grand Caravan as the low-cost model while the Pacifica aims for higher end customers. The Voyager, starting at $26,958, will come in three trims, L, LX, and LXi, the last one reserved for fleet buyers. Chrysler has previously taken this two-prong approach of Voyager being the value option and Town & Country being the premium offering during the 2001 - 2007 time frame. Voyager production begins in August 2019 at Chrysler's Windsor Ontario plant and will run alongside the Grand Caravan for now. If you're looking for a Grand Caravan, you have some time left. The Grand Caravan is scheduled to go out of production in May 2020. View full article