MOTOR BRIEFS
0-100km/h sprint in 3.9 seconds, but the distinctive sound of a Mercedes-AMG car is what lures buyers as much as the performance.
Will these customers accept a silent-but-violent experience, or a simulated AMG roar through the car’s speakers? Time will tell.
CONTINENTAL DESIGNS TOMORROW’S SMART TYRE
With cars getting ever smarter and more digitised, tyres are following suit.
Tyre pressure monitors have been around for some time now in mostly higher-end cars, but at the Frankfurt Motor Show Continental launched tyres that can also monitor their own tread depth, their temperature, and possible damage.
The monitoring system, which is called ContiSense, transmits the information to drivers and also remotely to fleet operators, who can monitor the tyre condition of their vehicles in real time.
Tyre pressure can be adjusted on the move by centrifugal pumps built into the wheel. As the vehicle accelerates, the centrifugal force of the turning wheel acts on the pump to generate compressed air, which keeps the tyre at the ideal specified pressure. An integrated tank is used to store any excess compressed air, which is used to rapidly adapt the tyre pressure to various driving situations. Continental didn’t reveal how soon the technology would be available.
PORSCHE 911 IS WORLD’S MOST PROFITABLE CAR
The most profitable car launched in the past year was the new Porsche 911, according to a report by Bloomberg Intelligence. The eighth generation of Porsche’s sports car, launched at the beginning of this year, accounted for 29% of Porsche earnings even though it made up only 11% of sales, the report said.
That 29% beats cars like the Aston Martin DBX (21% of total vehicle contribution), Ferrari F8 Tributo (17%), Mercedes-Benz GLE (16%) and BMW X5 (16%), each of which also punch above their weight in terms of profit margins.
The F8 Tributo, for example, has a 50% sales margin but contributes just 17% of total vehicle earnings at Ferrari. Aston Martin will sell an anticipated 4,500 units of its DBX in 2020, doubling sales volumes and singlehandedly accounting for 21% of total vehicle contribution at the UK sports car maker.
As for the SUVs, the GLE and its GLS sibling will account for 24% of earnings at Mercedes in 2020, from just 9% of total volume; the BMW X5 will account for 16% of auto earnings, with just 7% of BMW’s volume.
All these models generate a disproportionately high level of overall earnings, said Michael Dean, automotive equity research analyst for Bloomberg Intelligence.
The 911 is very profitable in standard form, and when you add the variations, the margins became immense. He added that automakers use lucrative options such as ceramic brakes and turbocharging variants to increase the base suggested retail prices without incurring much additional cost themselves.