What it takes to be successful is more than any one thing. . .
By Gary S. Vasilash
When it comes to the German luxury Big Three, it seems as though Mercedes is roiling with things like headcount reductions and other measures to reduce costs; Audi is somewhat invisible (in the U.S. its 2024 sales were down by 14%, which puts it in third place, but at 196,576 to second place Mercedes’ 324,528, so that is a far-away third), and BMW, well, it would be fair to say it is doing well.
Last year BMW Group sold a total 371,346 vehicles in the U.S., up 12.3%.
(Image: BMW)
There are arguably two reasons this is likely the case:
BMW has an assortment of powertrains: ICE, hybrid and EV. Customers have a choice.
The company’s supervisory board made an announcement today regarding members of its board of management, focusing on the Development Division, but going beyond that. Oliver Zipse, chairman of the board of management, said: “Technology and innovation are and will remain key success factors for BMW. “That is why we have been combining the technological expertise and the great innovative capacity of our Development, Production, Purchasing and Supplier Network Divisions in our comprehensive technology clusters for years.”
Note well Development, Production, Purchasing, and Supplier Network.
The success of a company just isn’t what it puts under the hoods of its vehicles or what kind of ADAS is deploys.
It is predicated on the integration of parts of its organization.
Without this solid integration, something gets left out and problems arise.
When it comes to compact crossovers, the Toyota RAV4 is a pioneer, having made its way to U.S. showrooms in January 1996.
The acronymic designator is said to stand for “Recreation Active Vehicle with 4-wheel drive.”
That “4” bit has morphed somewhat as (1) you can get a RAV4 with “all-drive,” not four-wheel drive (a primary difference being a transfer case, which the ute doesn’t have) and (2) the vehicle is available with front-wheel drive (though all-wheel is an option).
The vehicle is now in its fifth generation.
What is somewhat astonishing is the vehicle’s market performance in the U.S. in 2024. It became the best-selling vehicle in the U.S. To get to the top it had to supplant the Ford F-150 pickup, which had been #1 for so long that were someone to have an oversized foam finger with the Ford logo on it from when the F-150 got there it would now be crumbly.
Who would have thought that a compact SUV would supplant a full-size pickup in the U.S. market? Not me.
Through the years the exterior design of the vehicle has gone from boxy and functional (presumably as in “utility”) to softer to sharper to where it is now, which is fairly truck-influenced.
Maybe this is why it is doing so well in the market against trucks.
Even on the inside there are things like rubber-wrapped knobs that allow good grip and there are even buttons that are used, for example, to activate the heated steering wheel (this is an upper grade XSE model, incidentally). It has a wonderful simplicity compared to so many vehicles in this category (and others) that are focusing on doing things through screens and capacitive interfaces rather than, well, knobs and buttons.
Look: Real knobs and buttons!
(“But wait!” you say. “There aren’t any knobs or buttons on my phone, and that works just fine, thank you very much.” Yes, that is true, but consider this: you are holding your phone and staring at it in order to do something. A vehicle that weighs nearly two tons (in this case 3,775 pounds) and is traveling at, say, 70 mph is not the same thing: you’re eyes need to be on the road not trying to get to the right position on a surface to adjust the temperature.)
Oh, there is a 10.5 inch screen for infotainment. Toyota offers “Connected Services Drive Connect” that includes an “Intelligent Assistant” that is accessed via a “Hey Toyota.” Using that you don’t need to use any knobs or buttons or screens or surfaces. Just your voice.
The vehicle driven here is powered by a 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine that is orchestrated with two motor generators and a continuously variable transmission. There is one motor in the front and one in the rear which provides the all-wheel drive capability. The rear motor operates as needed and without a torque distribution system. Otherwise, the vehicle operates as a front-wheel drive vehicle, thereby helping optimize fuel economy.
And on that subject, the estimated fuel economy is 41/38/39 mpg (city, highway, combined). So with a 14.5-gallon fuel tank, you’ve got a considerable range.
The vehicle isn’t going to throw you back into your seat when you mash the accelerator—but then why would you? This is not engineered for that.
As for the “utility” aspect, there’s 37.5 cubic feet of cargo volume with the second row in position and 69.8 cubic feet when that seat is folded.
Seems like people who don’t haul things like gravel or equipment on a regular basis and so need a pickup have figured that that is enough volume to make that Costco run with a RAV4.
Fifth-gen RAV4. Exterior design is biased toward the “utility” rather than the “sport” in the SUV. (Image: Toyota)
So now the tariffs on everything from Canada and Mexico that are covered by the USMCA agreement are pushed back to April 2.
This is really quite silly.
For supporters of the Administration, this is being characterized as a “deal-making” strategy.
Couldn’t it also be characterized as someone not knowing what the hell is going on and so can’t make up their mind?
Don’t serious people know what they’re going to do and follow through?
This on-again-off-again is nothing but waste for those who are trying to run businesses.
And that waste costs money for nothing. Think of all the people at OEM and supplier companies that are spending time figuring out how to handle things that are supposed to be happening–and then aren’t.
Sure, it is good that they are not happening, but given the competitive nature of the auto industry it would probably be better if these people weren’t busy trying to figure out how to deal with vehicles that are being produced in their own factories and concentrataing on how to compete with those being built by others.
In addition to which, if the objective is to prevent fentanyl from crossing the borders, as well as migrants, wouldn’t it be simpler and more straightforward to (1) address the issue with the leaders of Canada and Mexico (does anyone really imagine Trudeau and Sheinbaum are unwilling to sit down and talk about how these issues can be mitigated without having their economies put in some jeopardy?) and (2) increase the security at the borders to interdict this rather than to cause potential pain at the grocery store and dealership for American citizens?
Here’s hoping that something is resolved before there is a Take Four.
So let’s see: on Tuesday (yesterday) the Trump administration imposed 25% tariffs on everything coming from Canada and Mexico, including automobiles.
This afternoon (Wednesday) the Trump administration, through White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, announced that the automakers have a one-month reprieve.
Leavitt: “We spoke with the Big Three auto dealers. We are going to give a one-month exemption on any autos coming through USMCA.”
While it is possible that they talked to auto dealers—perhaps Leavitt is looking for some new wheels—odds are they talked with Big Three auto execs.
This may seem to be a quibble, but it goes to the point that if, indeed, Leavitt didn’t mean dealers—after all, dealers are probably not experts on the United-States-Mexico-Canada Agreement that was orchestrated by Trump during his first administration—the administration isn’t exactly hitting on all cylinders when it comes to understanding the auto industry and this isn’t an encouraging statement from the White House.
To be sure, a month extension is not a bad thing.
But anyone who knows even a little about the way businesses operate—especially incredibly complex businesses like the auto industry—there needs to be a horizon of planning that isn’t merely a month long.
As you may recall, on February 3 he pushed back the tariffs by a month, to yesterday.
So this month-by-month situation is not good for the auto industry.
And let’s keep in mind that so far, at least, there are still 25% tariffs coming to steel and aluminum imports, and these are supposed to take effect March 12.
While he rolled copper into the materials he said he is going to put a tariff on, on February 25 he signed an executive order that launches “an investigation into how copper imports threaten America’s national security and economic stability.”
This means that the Commerce Department is supposed to report on the copper supply chain conditions and then make recommendations before tariffs go into effect. Unless he simply says to hell with waiting and puts tariffs on copper.
Perhaps it is a good thing he is doing what he can to minimize electric vehicle sales because EVs use a lot of copper.
The price of eggs still hasn’t come down and soon the prices of vehicles are going up. . .
By Gary S. Vasilash
If you were thinking about buying a new vehicle, you might hurry given the application of tariffs on vehicles imported from Canada and Mexico.
No, it won’t mean that the price will go up 25%. But they will go up sufficiently such that you’ll more than notice it on your loan payments.
Anderson Economic Group has figured that vehicle prices will rise on the order of $4,000 to $10,000.
Now, of course, this pass through of pricing isn’t going to be instantaneous.
But it is going to be significant.
According to Stephanie Brinley, analyst at S&P Global Mobility, the vehicle manufacturers are going to be building some 20,000 fewer vehicles per day.
Brinley, speaking to the Automotive Press Association, also pointed out that there is a whole lot of trade going back and forth across the borders, and this is not only parts being produced by suppliers.
Say you want to buy a Ford F-150. Those trucks are built at plants in Dearborn and Kansas City. No problem there.
But say you want a V8.
That’s built in Windsor, Ontario, Canada.
EV sales are already tough.
Chevy has a hit with the Equinox EV. A large part of that is undoubtedly that it is a 315-mile range EV that starts at $41,900. For now.
It is built at the GM plant in Ramos Arizpe, Mexico.
So are the Chevy Blazer EV and the Cadillac Optiq.
Let’s say you want to buy a Ford Mustang GT, which ranks highly in the 2024 Made in America Auto Index from Kogod School of Business.
What’s the likelihood that if the price of other things in the showroom go up (the Mustang Mach-E is built in Cuautitlan, Mexico) the price will be held on the Mustang GT with the gas engine?
Low, I suspect. After all, not only are there going to be fewer vehicles to sell, they’re going to want to make something, and there’s only one way that’s going to happen.
Sure, maybe the vehicle manufacturers will eat the costs. For a while.
But if the trade dispute carries on, there will be little appetite for that.
The old line has it: “Win on Sunday, sell on Monday.”
Which basically goes to a point of why OEMs participate, particularly, in NASCAR.
This is a bit of a problem, however, for Chevrolet, as it races the Camaro in NASCAR and that vehicle has been out of production for a while, so fans of William Byron, Chase Elliott, etc. would be out of luck at their local Chevy dealers.
But another brand has hopes that seem somewhat quizzical because the relationship between what is available for sale and what is on the track is largely a logo.
“We’re thrilled to have Cadillac Racing return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans with four cars competing for the overall win in the Hypercar class,” said John Roth, vice president, global Cadillac.
Hypercars are to showroom Cadillacs what Wagyu beef is to dusty gas station beef jerky.
Roth continued: “After scoring our first podium finish at this iconic endurance race in 2023 and securing a top 10 finish last year, we look to build on that success and showcase the Cadillac V-Series.R’s technology, performance, and innovation with our 2025 entries.”
In 2023 Cadillac finished third and fourth.
In 2024 it qualified second and third in the Hypercar category and its best finish that year was seventh.
The cars have a special Cadillac 5.5-liter V8 developed by GM’s Performance and Racing Propulsion team that operated in Pontiac, Michigan.
The cars, designed and developed by Cadillac Design and Cadillac Racing, are constructed by Dallara.
Cadillac first went to Le Mans in 1950. Then skipped it until 2000. It raced in 2001 and 2002, too, before giving it a pass for a few years.
The 24-hour race will be contested June 14 and 15. The 15th is a Sunday.
What is the likelihood Cadillac dealerships will see a bump in buyers on the 16th?
This is actually one of the two Cadillacs the company campaigned at Le Mans in 1950. It was nicknamed “Le Monstre.” (Image: Cadillac
A study in competency—which is mainly why people want to get a vehicle
By Gary S. Vasilash
(Images: VW)
One of the things that is probably going to happen in the market given the high prices of vehicles—high prices that people are having a difficult time affording (sure, they might be able to get a low(ish) monthly car payment, except that by the time they pay off the loan, were they to have given birth to a child the day they bought the car, the kid would be old enough to get a driver’s license by the time it was paid off).
While it once was that ±$20,000 was the point people considered to be where “economy” resided for vehicles, it is now ± $30,000.
As is the case with age, 30 is the new 20.
Which brings me to the 2025 Taos SE Black, which has a base MSRP of $30,145.
About Black
It should be noted that the “Black” is a trim level for the vehicle that includes, well, features like two-tone paint that includes. . .black on the roof as well as black 18-inch wheels (for the FWD version or 19 for the AWD) and black mirror caps and a black illuminated grille. One feature that it brings that isn’t black is the panoramic sunroof, but it provides more illumination of the extensive use of piano black plastic on the instrument panel.
However, the 2025 Taos in S trim starts at $24,995, so while it is closer to that $20K of days gone by, that’s still about a 25% bump, which is a non-trivial thing.
This is a subcompact SUV, which might lead some people to hear alarm bells, in that they think “compact” is “small” so “sub” must be “mirco.”
Sizeable
It is not particularly small.
It has a wheelbase of 105.5 inches, length of 175.9, width of 72.5 and height of 64 inches. It offers 99.5 cubic feet of passenger space and there is bona-fide utility, as there is 27.9 cubic feet of cargo space with the seats in place and 65.9 cu ft with the second row folded down (again, for the FWD version; packing for that 4Motion system takes away a bit of that capacity: 24.9 cubic feet behind the second row and 60.2 cubic feet with it down, so if stuff handling is a bigger concern than, say, driving in the snow, that decrease in capacity is something to keep in mind).
Inside
Circling back to the black theme, the interior, in addition to the aforementioned piano black, is mainly gray-on-gray, with differences in hues, but still gray so far as the seats, door cards and other surfaces on the vehicle driven. There is nice white stitching on the seats which adds a perceptible bump in visual aspects. The upholstery material in the SE Black are a combination of cloth and what VW calls “CloudTex,” which has a suede leather-like appearance, although it is not made from animals. The material is used on the IP and door panels for trim, too. On the surfaces that people are not likely to touch (e.g., top of the IP) there is a hard(ish) plastic that is grained so it looks appropriate but doesn’t include padding that is otherwise not going to bring anything to the party beyond price.
The 8-inch infotainment screen is centrally located (it is described as being “semi-floating,” which simply means that it is ahead of the main IP surface) and easy-to-use. The higher trim level (SEL) includes navigation, but in the case of the SE Black I used Waze through Apple CarPlay; wirelessly pairing the phone with the vehicle was simply simple. And in addition to two USB-C points with 45-w fast charging below the screen in a bin, there is a wireless charging pad in that space.
Power
The Taos is powered by a 1.5-liter four-cylinder engine that produces 174 hp and 184 lb-ft of torque. It is mated to an eight-speed automatic.
The fuel economy numbers are 28 city, 36 highway and 31 mpg combined, and I got 31 mpg during my city and highway driving. Imagine.
The thing that strikes me about the Taos is that things like the Atlas SUV notwithstanding, VW has a depth of knowledge when it comes to the execution of smaller vehicles. The Taos does what it is supposed to do, and that matters a lot.
No, not everyone drives a manual in the U.K.—a lot do, but the number is declining
By Gary S. Vasilash
One of the things that isn’t often taken into account when looking at the number of vehicles sold in a given time period is that that number is additive to what exists on the road at that time.
Last year S&P Global Mobility calculated the average age of light vehicles in the U.S. was 12.6 years old.
From the standpoint of vehicles in operation (VIO) last January there were 286 million vehicles rolling around in the U.S.
So making a change (e.g., percentage of overall EVs in operation) will take a considerably longer time than might be thought.
An example of this are numbers from a British automotive data company, cap hpi, on types of transmissions in vehicles on the U.K. roads.
It found that at the end of 2024 automatic transmissions are in 29.3% of the U.K. car parc.
Which means more than two thirds of the vehicles are still manuals.
Yes, they found there is a considerable uptake in the number of automatics and a decrease in those buying vehicles with manuals: over 1.5 million new vehicles with automatics registered in 2024; 274,000 with manuals registered.
And the trend toward automatics is seemingly going to continue.
Unlike in the U.S. where a driver’s license is a driver’s license, in the U.K. there are differences in terms of the gearbox.
Stacey Ward, senior data director at cap hip, noted, “Additionally, more new drivers are opting for automatic-only driving licenses. In 2012, there were just 550,000 drivers with automatic licenses. In 2022, there were over 1.1 million, with this figure expected to continue to increase. Estimates suggest that by next year, a quarter of learners will qualify with a license limited to automatic cars only.”
Seems that gasoline is still reasonably popular. . .
By Gary S. Vasilash
The good news for companies in the European Union that make things like con rods and pistons is that according to the most recent vehicle registration figures from the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) people are still buying vehicles that use internal combustion engines.
Its figures for January 2025 show that 29.4% of EU new vehicle registrations in January were for “petrol” powertrains.
The number in January 2024 was 35.4% petrol power, so clearly things are moving in the wrong direction for those in the business of making engines and the components thereof.
However, looking at the numbers for hybrids, things appear in a different way.
In January 2024 hybrids represented 28.7% of the new registrations in the EU.
But in January 2025 hybrids are at 34.9%.
So while there was a 6% decline in petrol registrations between the two months, there was a 6.2% increase in hybrid registrations.
And hybrids, of course, use internal combustion engines, too.
So if we sum the figures, 64.3% of the new vehicle registrations in the EU in January have internal combustion engines.
If the plug-in hybrids are added (7.4%), that gets to 71.7% of the market.
Electric vehicles?
They’re 15% of the January 2025 new vehicle registrations, which is a move toward the upside compared to January 2024, when EVs were at 10.9%.
However, EU regulations regarding CO2 emissions are such that 20% of the vehicles sold by automakers must be zero emissions.
If the ~37% increase from January 2024 to January 2025 for EVs holds, there is not going to be a problem reaching that figure.
Still, presumably when the 20% rule was written it was a stretch goal but not one thought to be wholly unattainable.
At the end of the day, the Market will decide on what powers its vehicles.
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