Motoring News

Hyundai Santa Cruz

Hyundai is labeling its new Santa Cruz, a long anticipated vehicle designed in California to be sold, at least initially, in the North American market, a sport adventure pickup. This vehicle, which is based on the Hyundai Tucson, combines a four-seat crew-cab-style passenger cabin with a small cargo box at the rear. Styling and vehicle driving dynamics are said to make this more of a car than a truck, yet its utilitarian possibilities place it in the truck category. Features include a locking tonneau cover and an adjustable tailgate. The vehicle will also boast a range of driver assistance systems. Initial reports suggest that the Santa Cruz is car-like comfortable and fun to drive.

It features a frame isolated from the body structure for a platform that can accommodate gasoline or batteryelectric drivetrains. Initially, the Santa Cruz will be offered with either a

2.5-liter, 191-horsepower four-cylinder engine that generates 181 pound-feet of torque, or a turbocharged 2.5-liter engine rated at 281 horsepower and

311 pound-feet of torque. EPA combined fuel economy estimates are 22 miles per gallon for the turbo and 23 miles per gallon for the normally aspirated engine. Pricing starts at $23,990. Assembly started at Hyundai’s Montgomery, Alabama plant in June. Vehicles will start arriving at dealers shortly.

New Nissan Frontier

Nissan midsize pickup truck, the

Frontier, has gone for 16 years without a significant redesign. Now, a new 2022 Frontier is set to arrive next month and it promises to be a strong competitor for market leaders such as the Toyota Tacoma and Ford Ranger. Pricing is to start at $29,015 for a crew-cab King

Cab S trim level 4x2 version. The offroad ready Pro-4x will start at $38,415. While this pricing, especially for the base version, seems higher than that of its competitors, the Frontier will come with a standard V6 engine, as opposed to the four-cylinder power plants offered in other models.

Audi concept vehicle is two cars in one

Audi has shown off a concept vehicle that has an interesting twist. In addition to being low, sleek, and electric, the

Audi skysphere can change from being a grand touring auto with level 4 selfdriving capabilities to a sports car. It does this thanks to a unique frontal structure that in seconds can move toward the rear of the car, subtracting 10 inches from its length and wheelbase.

Simultaneously, as it goes from grand touring self-driving mode to sports car mode, a steering wheel and foot pedals appear, turning the skysphere into a

sports car. The transition gives the car two personalities, claims Henrik Wenders, senior vice president of Audi AG.

The car is powered by a single, rearaxle-mounted electric motor rated at

465 horsepower and 553 pound-feet of torque. Interior features include an electronic display screen that stretches from one side of the cabin to another. When the car is in its autonomous driving mode the screen serves entertainment functions. In the sports car mode this

screen features traditional gauge and control displays. The car was displayed during Monterey Car Week on the fairways at Pebble Beach, California.

EV Tax Credits

In a non-binding amendment, the U.S. Senate narrowly approved proposed limits for tax credits that can be claimed by buyers of plug-in electric vehicles.

The vote approved an income limit of $100,000 a year for anyone seeking the credit. People who earn more than that would be ineligible. In addition, the proposal would limit the tax credit to electric vehicles that cost less than $40,000.

The amendment, which passed by a vote

of 51 to 48, would allow tax credits on only four electric vehicles now sold in this country, the Hyundai Ioniq Electric and Hyundai Kona EV, the Mini Cooper

SE, and Nissan Leaf S Plus. Each of these falls under the $40,000 purchase price limit. Chevrolet Bolts also can cost less than $40,000, however electric vehicles from General Motors, maker of Bolts, and Tesla, have been ineligible for the tax credit once they exceeded the 200,000 electric vehicle sales threshold that was included in previous EV tax credit legislation.

Democrats Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Arizona’s Mark Kelly and Kyrsten Sinema voted for the limits. Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee voted against the limits. Tennessee is home to Nissan and Volkswagen auto plants, with both companies planning to make EVS in Tennessee. In addition, General Motors and LG Chem are building a $2.3 billion EV battery plant in The Volunteer State.

Top pay in the auto industry

Automotive News has teamed up with Equilar for a study of CEO compensation in the auto industry for the year 2020. Included in the analysis were CEOS at domestically based automakers,

suppliers to the auto industry, dealers, suppliers of automotive services, and CEOS at companies working on mobility technology.

The top paid CEO of an automaker was

Mary Barra of General Motors, who placed second on the overall list. Her total compensation package last year came to $40,298,883. Of that amount $1,995,000 was base salary. The rest of her pay consisted of bonuses, incentives, and stock options or gains. In 2019 her total pay package came to $29,778,185.

James Farley, CEO of Ford Motor

Company placed 23rd on the list. He earned $6,632,041 last year, which included a base salary of $1,425,000. Also on the list were Persio Lisboa of Navistar International, with $2,791,682 in earnings, and Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, who reported taking no compensation in 2020 after earning $30,507,010 in 2019. All of these totals pale in comparison to the top earner on the list. Nvidia’s Jen-sung Huang had earnings of $255,196,003. While Nvidia is included on the list for its role in supplying technology to a wide range of automakers and suppliers, its business extends far beyond the auto industry. As for its automotive efforts, Nvidia on its website notes that it “work[s] with over 370 of the world’s most forward-looking automakers, tier 1 suppliers, developers, and researchers.”

Stellantis electric vehicles

Stellantis, the company formed by the merger of Fiat Chrysler and PSA Group of France has announced its electric vehicle strategy for its 14 brands. The company

is developing a new platform that will serve vehicles ranging in length from 15 to 17 feet with widths of 6 to 7.5 feet.

All of the resulting vehicles will have electric drive motors at either or both ends and a low-mounted battery pack. Eight new vehicles are currently slated to use this platform. These include a luxury sedan, a muscle car, an SUV, and a truck. Also slated is an off-road capable Jeep. The vehicles, the company says,

will start arriving in three to five years.

Malaysian COVID outbreak impacts Nissan’s Tennessee plant

A COVID outbreak at a Malaysian plant that makes electronic chips has brought output from that facility to a halt. Half a world away, the resulting shortage of these chips has prompted Nissan to halt production at its Smyrna, Tennessee plant until August 30. Production was stopped on August 16.

Throughout the world, Autoforecast Solutions LLC estimates that the chip shortage has prevented automakers from producing 5.8 million vehicles. That total could rise to 7.1 million before the shortage ends.

Plug-in hybrid sales

There are several plug-in hybrids available in the United States, with Toyota’s Prius Prime and RAV4 Prime perhaps coming to mind first. Others, such as the Chrysler Pacifica PHEV (plug-in hybrid electric vehicle), Honda Clarity, and Ford Escape PHEV are also available. However, the best selling PHEV is not one of these, according to Carlos Tavares, CEO of Stellantis. Instead, it is

one of the newest PHEVS on the market, having arrived last March.

In a press release issued last week, Tavares claimed, without offering specific numbers, that the new Jeep Wrangler 4xe is now the best selling plug-in electric hybrid vehicle in the United States. The Wrangler 4xe is not the only Jeep PHEV, either. Plug-in hybrid versions of the Jeep Compass and Jeep Renegade also sell well, Tavares said, but they do so in Europe. No U.S. versions are offered.

Miles to empty displays not always accurate

AAA, in a recent survey, learned that 74 percent of drivers rely on distanceto-empty readouts on their vehicle’s instrument panel to decide when to refuel. That might not be a good idea. AAA and the Automotive Research

Center conducted tests that showed the estimates could be inaccurate, though some procedures, such as resetting the trip computer with each refueling, could improve their reliability. Vehicle usage also plays a part. A sudden change in a usage pattern, for example, getting

stuck in a slow-moving traffic jam after cruising on a secondary road at 45 miles per hour, could produce an optimistic readout. AAA suggests that motorists refuel when the gauge shows a quarter tank of fuel remaining.

Stellantis recall

Stellantis is recalling 212,373 2015-2020 Ram 3500 pickup trucks and cab-chassis vehicles, 2500 pickups, and previous generation Ram 1500s (now called Classic) to replace side curtain air bags. The latest Ram 1500 pickups launched in 2019 are not affected. The recall was prompted by a single side air bag inflator rupture, which produced no injuries. It was caused by moisture contamination that occurred during a supplier’s

manufacturing process. Repairs will be made at no charge.