3-in-1 = Automotive Fun: VW's Woes, Tesla Has The Keys, & Transformers

Darn Dirty Diesel

As part of a follow up to my previous 3-in-1 article, it appears as if Volkswagen’s diesel woes continue to plague the company’s forward progress. One lead engineer recently plead guilty to the company's emission charges, and now, this diesel crisis has apparently won the overall war. Well, at least in the U.S. market. Within the last couple weeks, the company that has become world-renowned for their “clean diesel” vehicles announced that they will be discontinuing all diesel models in the United States.

Now, this isn’t necessarily the most shocking thing ever, but it is a very slight surprise. Because as many of you may know, VW basically has (well… HAD) a monopoly on the diesel car market, to the point where they still have existing plans to produce diesels for the North American market thru the 2019 model year (pending some approval). However, beyond that point, VW says they’ll need to reevaluate their U.S. powertrain lineups. Hinrich Woebcken, CEO of WW America, has said that wherever diesel engines make sense for application, they will be used. However, as tor the USA, VW’s diesel push is done. And besides, emission regulations get stricter come 2019, so my guess is that we’re going to end up seeing fewer diesel powertrains in the industry overall. Plus, the company already owes dealers $1.2 billion in settlements, plans to implement a buyback of unfixable vehicles, as well as provide compensation to owners. However, many owners have stated they prefer buybacks to compensation. Not surprising, given that buyback totals could range from roughly $12,000 to $34,000 dollars!

Volkswagen still unnamed new three row crossover.

Starting this fall, VW’s efforts to refocus their lineup will really begin. The biggest buzz is all about their upcoming, still unnamed 7-passenger crossover. Its scheduled to launch early next year and will compete with the likes of the new 2017 GMC Acadia, Dodge Durango, Ford Explorer, Honda Pilot, and other 7-passenger crossover vehicles. Additionally, there’s a new Tiguan-based small crossover that will come out. Fast forward even further to the 2020 model year, and VW plans to begin introducing electric vehicles and more hybrid technology to the U.S. to compensate for their diesel losses.

Will these upcoming models employ these new technologies effectively? Will Volkswagen ever be able to return to their former form following this crisis? All of these questions will likely have answers in the future. Read up on some more at the links below.

• http://www.autonews.com/article/20160719/OEM11/160719836/vw-done-with-diesel-push-in-u-s-exec-says?cciid=email-autonews-blast
• http://blog.caranddriver.com/cash-money-owners-of-cheaty-vw-tdi-diesels-prefer-buybacks-to-fixes/
• http://blog.caranddriver.com/volkswagen-wont-attempt-to-regain-diesel-leadership-in-u-s-many-tdi-models-may-never-return/

Tesla's Master Plan

Tesla is always up to something. And recently, Elon Musk announced that he has come up with a “master plan” for the brand moving forward. He intends to have Tesla become a renewable energy enterprise, meaning the brand will end up producing more than just electric cars. Musk intends to do this by expanding Tesla’s portfolio to solar products and services offered by SolarCity Corporation. This makes sense, as it was proposed that Tesla purchase SolarCity prior to this plan, and Elon Musk owns 22% of SolarCity’s shares. Now, Tesla is moving forward with plans to purchase SolarCity Corp. for $2.6 billion. As a result of this move, the combined companies can reach customers of both entities more effectively and offer customers solar panels, home battery storage systems, and electric cars under one umbrella. Tesla also expects achieve significant cost savings as a result of the merger, saving roughly $150 million in costs after the first full year of joint operations.

Under provisions of the deal, Tesla will have 93.5 percent ownership of both companies and SolarCity 6.5 percent. This deal should be completed sometime in the fourth quarter of business. Given how much money Tesla is burning through in order to launch the new Model 3 sedan and the recent investigation of the company’s Autopilot software, it seems as if this agreement couldn’t come at a better time. If all goes as planned, Tesla should be able to provide consumers with everything they need to “live a largely carbon-free lifestyle” according to Musk. You can find out more on this topic by following the link below. We shall see how this works out for both companies in due time. Until all is said and done, we can be sure of one thing: Tesla is staying on the offensive.

• http://www.autonews.com/article/20160720/OEM05/160729981/musk-set-to-launch-new-tesla-master-plan

Transformers Assemble In Michigan!

Like cars? Like action movies? Do you live in Michigan? Then you might be excited to know that a rural portion of M-52 was closed recently to film for the next movie in the popular series, “Transformers: The Last Knight”. Many fans of the franchise gathered around to view a chase scene that was being taped, and both Bumblebee and Optimus Prime were visible at certain times. One of my coworkers at my internship in Webberville, Michigan actually showed me a picture of Optimus Prime sitting at a truck stop and going down the road! Can you imagine how surprised many people probably were to be sitting at a light and all of a sudden have Bumblebee or one of the other vehicles pull up next to them? Can you say, AWESOME???

Pictures taken by a coworker of mine from near the set of "Transformers: The Last Knight".

Optimus Prime in the flesh! Well... In the steel.

Now that next Transformers movie has completed filming in Detroit and along M-52 as well, the next stop will likely be Europe. Transformers released its first live-action movie in 2007, and is known for featuring some of the fanciest new rides of the time. In the upcoming film, the latest Chevrolet Camaro in Bright Yellow will be feature of course, but I can remember back when the Pontiac Solstice was featured as well in one of the earlier movies. Typically, a tax credit was offered to filmmakers to entice them to work in-state, but these credits were stopped last summer. Paramount Pictures will likely still receive some incentive, however, as will the automakers of featured cars. The movie stars Mark Wahlberg, Laura Haddock, Josh Duhamel, and Anthony Hopkins and is scheduled to be released in June 2017.

Are you a Transformers fan? If so, what’s your favorite movie, and also, what various cars are you looking forward to seeing in this new movie? While it may be too late to see the cars and actors here in Michigan, here’s a bright side: There’s less than a year until the new film releases!