Toyota spruced up the Avalon with the Nightshade package for 2021. It’s ending production after the 2021 model year.
Everybody’s buying crossovers, sport-utilities and trucks these days, but officials within Toyota’s North American operations consistently maintain the company is happy to remain one of the top producers of sedans — but it’s cutting the Avalon from its line-up after the 2022 model year.
The move, first reported by Automotive News, was outlined in a letter to suppliers, and later confirmed by the automaker. The sedan is built at Toyota’s plant in Georgetown, Kentucky. It will leave the company with four sedans, one of which is the Mirai, the company’s fuel-cell model that sells in very low volume right now.
The Avalon is the Japanese brand’s largest offering in the segment. Refreshed in 2019 and due for an update next year, the fifth-generation model is selling well this year, up 36.6% through the first six months of the year. However, of the five sedans in the company’s line-up, it was the laggard, trailing Camry, Corolla and Prius.
In fact, the Prius sold 28,000 more units through June than the Avalon. However, it did outperform one four-door model: the aforementioned Mirai. However, the fuel-cell sedan — by percentages — smoked the Avalon, seeing a 664.1% jump in first-half sales.
The Avalon’s been the brand’s flagship model for 26 years.
We like sedans
Last week, Toyota’s U.S. sales chief Bob Carter reiterated the company’s commitment to the segment during an online meeting with reporters.
“As a company — both Toyota and Lexus — we sold nearly 70,000 sedans last month,” he said. “Compare that to the other companies out there, that’s a very dominant number. There are consumers out there, even at 20% of the industry we’re looking at 4, 4.25 million sales out there so there is a market.”
Carter conceded the profits may be lower on those vehicles, but “it is a profitable business for us.” However, it’s the large car segment that may be suffering the most in the sedan market, and the Avalon was also a laggard there too, outselling only the Nissan Maxima in the first half of the year. Plus, the top sellers in the very small segment are essentially muscle cars: the Dodge Charger and Chrysler 300C.
For those looking to buy an electric vehicle, it’s a good time to be in the market as there are a variety of incentives available. Electrify America’s offering the latest with 250 kWh of complementary charging for new 2022 Volvo XC40 Recharge and the coming 2022 C40 Recharge buyers.
The 2022 Volvo C40 Recharge is being produced in Ghent, Belgium, like the XC40 Recharge — gets 250 kWh of free charging too.
The program only applies to the first owners of the vehicles. Once owners have chewed through their free allotment, they’ll automatically be eligible for Electrify America’s Pass+, which gives them lower rates and a membership paid by Volvo for one year.
“Increasing access to fast and reliable charging is critical to the adoption of battery electric vehicles,” said Anders Gustafsson, president and CEO of Volvo Car USA. “Our collaboration with Electrify America ensures our drivers will be able to enjoy the benefits of an electric car whether they are taking short trips or long journeys.”
Free juice is one of the go-to moves to entice potential BEVs owners buy a particular electric vehicle these days. Even the popular Ford Mustang Mach-E, which is reportedly responsible for stealing 10% of Tesla Inc.’s marketshare, came with a deal.
New owners once got 250 kilowatt hours of free charging through FordPass Rewards at Electrify America fast-charging stations. It’s not just Ford. General Motors has turned to petro-giant Shell to help buyers of BEVs like the Chevrolet Bolt charge up using renewable energy.
The program allows owners to charge up overnight — when demand on the grid is normally low — at no cost using renewable energy. The new partners also plan to provide energy at reduced rates to GM suppliers. Initially, the program will be limited to Texas, but the plan is to expand to other markets “in the future,” they said in a statement.
Ford Mustang Mach-E owners once received 250 kWh of complimentary charging through FordPass Rewards at Electrify America stations.
Cash rebates haven’t cut it
In the past, cash rebates or special low interest rates have been used to entice buyers into a specific vehicle, but not so with EVs. Makers have seized upon range anxiety fears to get attention by offering no-cost EV charging.
The “free juice” push isn’t a recent phenomenon. Nissan’s offered it sporadically on its Leaf EV for several years. Ford offered the incentive on its C-Max five years ago too. Recently General Motors jumped on the bandwagon.
GM looked to attract buyers by making it easier to charge up at home and on the road, setting up alliances with more than a half-dozen public charging companies, including Blink Charging, ChargePoint, EV Connect, EVgo, FLO and SemaConnect, as well as Greenlots. The latter company was acquired by Shell in 2019.
Of course, Tesla really started the whole “free charging” by offering it for a lifetime to early owners of its vehicles through its proprietary SuperCharger network.
General Motors and Shell are working together to offer renewable energy solutions to GM’s customers in Texas.
Working with automakers
EVgo’s worked with Nissan on to make charging easier, including working with the Japanese automaker to add 2,000 charging stations to its network in the last six years, including a series of nine fast-charging stations stretching across a 500-mile stretch of I-95 between Boston and Washington, D.C.
Electrify America offered special pricing for Kia Niro EV owners last year. The “Kia Select” program offered a flat rate of 35 cents per-minute charging for current Kia Niro EV drivers, designed specifically for the unique DC charging characteristics of the model. The program also waives session fees and has no subscription fees for participants.
It is owned by Volkswagen, which formed the company as part of its dieselgate scandal settlement a few years back. It just recently announced plans to double its current electric vehicle charging infrastructure in the United States and Canada with more than 1,800 fast charging stations and 10,000 individual chargers installed by the end of 2025.
The expansion will increase the deployment of 150 and 350 kilowatt chargers – the fastest speed available today – and help pave the way for more electric vehicles in North America, according to Electrify America officials.
“This roadster has stood for automotive fascination and desire for decades,” said Gorden Wagener Chief Design Officer Daimler Group. He characterizes the new SL’s interior as, “a great opportunity and challenge for design, because every designer wants to create icons. The result is a revolutionary interior experience caught between digital and analog luxury.”
More space for passengers
For the first time since the 1989 Mercedes-Benz SL R 129 model, the SL boasts a 2+2 seating configuration finished in single- or two-tone Nappa Leather, Nappa Leather with the now-ubiquitous diamond stitching, or a mix of Nappa Leather with Dinamica Race microfiber and contrasting topstitching in yellow or red. The last is, perhaps, the most ecologically sensitive choice, as Dinamica is an Italian-produced recycled microfiber made from polyester fibers and plastic bottles.
While the addition of rear seats suggests the new model has a more spacious usable cabin, Mercedes-Benz did not provide any specifications.
A far more refined interior
The new SL boasts a 2+2 seating configuration.
The new instrument panel is anchored by a center-mounted 11.9-inch center-mounted multimedia touchscreen alongside a 12.3-inch high-resolution LCD instrument cluster.
The screen’s massive vertical orientation is a switch from the horizontal one used previously. It’s framed in a gently sinuous motif that envelopes the touchscreen and flows into the center console, offsetting the screen’s rectilinear form.
Mercedes-AMG’s signature air-conditioning vents used in the AMG GT dot the instrument panel, which has a far more integrated appearance, wrapping seamlessly into the doors, unlike the 2021 SL. The design’s finesse possesses an artistry clearly lacking in the previous model, which looked as if an engineer, not a designer, had cobbled together the interior.
The new instrument panel is anchored by a center-mounted 11.9-inch center-mounted multimedia touchscreen.
Technology
For many drivers, the performance of a vehicle’s infotainment system is as important as the car’s overall performance. In the SL’s case, the touchscreen uses the latest-generation Mercedes-Benz User Experience software, while the instrument cluster can be customized. A head-up display is optional, and can be personalized to match the instrument cluster’s appearance. Further technology details were not disclosed.
New ways to achieve old objectives
The new interior resides in a vehicle that adheres to the original SL’s goal of being Super Leicht, or Super Light. Engineers are using aluminum, steel, magnesium and composites to shed weight from the vehicle, with its spaceframe weighing in at 595 pounds.
“Compared to the previous model series, the torsional stiffness of the bodyshell structure increased by 18 percent. The transverse rigidity is 50% higher than that of the AMG GT Roadster, while the longitudinal rigidity is 40% higher,” said Jochen Hermann, chief technical officer of Mercedes-AMG GmbH.
The first-generation 300 SL roadster interior.
A model steeped in history
The company is calling the 2022 SL a “reinterpretation” of the original coupe from 1954.
The SL’s life began as a racecar, one built with an innovative spaceframe design to keep weight down. Debuting at 1952 Mille Miglia, the 300 SL came in second, going on to win races at the Nürburgring, Le Mans and the Carrera Panamericana.
Its success caught the attention of Mercedes-Benz importer Max Hoffman, who asked Daimler-Benz to make a production version of the 300 SL race car. Debuting at the 1954 New York Auto Show, it featured roof-hinged gullwing doors and thick door sills, as the race car’s space frame design dictated using non-traditional doors.
The new 2022 Mercedes-AMG SL’s interior.
Its design would be built for three years until it was modified into a roadster, beginning the iconic car’s long history.
Mercedes-Benz is looking to reconnect the new model’s aura with that of its long-ago forbearer in the eyes of customers. “The new SL is the rebirth of an icon for the modern era,” said Philipp Schiemer, chairman of the Board of Management at Mercedes-AMG GmbH.
Given consumers declining appetite for coupes and roadsters, fielding a new SL is imperative. Having sold 7,007 units when last redesigned in 2013, last year, the SL found a mere 1,784 buyers, down nearly 75 percent.
Time will tell if even the best that Mercedes-Benz has to offer is enough to entice buyers to once again consider an SL.
Environmental activists are calling on the Biden administration to ban the sales of passenger cars, light-duty trucks and SUVs equipped with gasoline engines by 2030. The State of California, the nation’s largest market for new vehicles, is calling for a ban the sale of new vehicles with gasoline engines by 2035.
Call for tough federal ban
The Center for Biodiversity wants tougher regulations of auto emissions.
In an opinion piece published online by The New York Times, Daniel Becker, director of the Safe Climate Transport Campaign at the Center for Biodiversity and James Gerstenzang, the campaign’s editorial director, argued for the tougher regulations of auto emissions, noting that President Joe Biden could move to tighten regulations sometime this month.
“As a first step, he should reimpose auto emission reductions for and cars, SUVs and other light trucks to 5% per year as called for under the Obama rules. Because those regulations went through the full rule-making process in 2012 and we’re reviewed in 2017, we believe we should be able to do this with a minimum of red tape,” the Becker and Gerstenzang said.
“Then, he should instruct the Environmental Protection Agency to write rules that phase out sales of gas burning versions of vehicles by 2030. Annual emission should be raised to 7% a year through 2030,” they said.
“These steps, which could take at least a year to make their way through the federal rule-making process and would guarantee the transition to electric vehicles so that cars and trucks are virtually emission free by 2050,” they added.
California rules are not tough enough
California Governor Gavin Newsom.
They went on to say that the current rules that apply in California, to which automakers such as Ford, Volkswagen, BMW, Honda and Volvo have agreed, don’t go far enough to protect the environment. Those rules include an executive order issued in September 2020 by California Governor Gavin Newsom, calls on California’s state agencies to build a plan to phase out sales of all new gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035.
Other carmakers, such as General Motors, Daimler and Toyota, reluctantly signed on the California deal after the 2020 Presidential election, since Biden had vowed to withdraw a federal lawsuit launched by the Trump administration that had contested California’s authority to set the rules for automotive emissions.
Partisan divisions hamper effort to build consensus
Bjorn Lomborg: Climate change skeptic
The opinion piece is likely to ignite a full-blown political and legal war with carmakers in the middle, coping with uncertain and volatile regulatory environment as they move through the transition to electric vehicles. At the same time, automakers such as GM want to protect profits from trucks and SUVs powered by gasoline engines.
Conservatives have argued electric vehicles are too expensive, could stifle economic growth and don’t address the needs of ordinary Americans. Many of them are also remain skeptical about climate change. Bjorn Lomborg, Danish political scientist and statistician, has gained renown for his critique of mainstream theories of ecological crisis.
The threat of climate change has become more apparent, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists, which has long been an advocated for tighter emission controls. “People around the country are already experiencing record-breaking drought, deadly heat waves, unusually early tropical storms with the prospect of an above-normal hurricane season, extreme flooding, and major wildfires with a dire forecast of an intense wildfire year in Western states,” the organization noted in appeal to activists this week.
“All these extremes are part of a ‘sobering’ trend — we keep surpassing records year after year, with 2020 tied for the hottest year on record, it said. “The climate crisis is here and we cannot wait,” the organization added.
Car & Driver’s first “Electric Car of the Year: the Ford Mustang Mach-E.
At the same time, the auto industry has moved on. Since last autumn, GM and Ford have significantly increased the amount of money they are investing in EV technology. Globally, regulators in Europe and China are legislating automakers to expedite the introduction of electric vehicle technology.
As a result, car culture in the U.S. is also beginning to shift. “Car & Driver,” a magazine that has long been considered a ‘’must-read’ for car enthusiasts, announced this week it was naming an “Electric Car of the Year.” The first award will go to the 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E, the magazine said.
Tesla raised the price on its Model Y Long Range by $10,000 due, in part, to supplier issues.
As many automakers struggle to find semiconductor chips for their high tech vehicles, Tesla Inc. clearly has the issue taken care of as its second-quarter sales pass the 200,000-unit mark.
“In the second quarter, we produced and delivered over 200,000 vehicles,” the company said in a statement. “Our teams have done an outstanding job navigating through global supply chain and logistics challenges.”
For many car companies, the second quarter’s been difficult as it relates to keeping a steady supply of the chips. Tesla did have a short shutdown in February due to the problem, but since then has been churning out vehicles steadily, especially during the most recent quarter.
Tesla delivered more than 200,000 Model 3 and Model Ys during the quarter.
The company produced 204,081 Model 3 or Model Ys last quarter, a massive increased when compared with the year-ago period’s 75,946 vehicles. While pushing out its most popular vehicles — Model Y being the company’s biggest seller — it put the freshened 2021 Model S and Model X on the road during the quarter. It moved
Chip problems
The company did have a production hiccup in the first quarter of last year due to chip problems, but has since not had a problem. CEO Elon Musk said the semiconductor problem was causing some companies to behave impulsively.
“Our biggest challenge is supply chain, especially microcontroller chips. Never seen anything like it,” he tweeted June 2. “Fear of running out is causing every company to overorder — like the toilet paper shortage, but at epic scale. That said, it’s obv not a long-term issue.”
However, it doesn’t mean Tesla hasn’t been part of the sales rush. The Financial Times reported Tesla held discussions with chip makers to pay in advance, including offering deposits on high-volume orders. The company reportedly explored the idea of buying a plant to build its own chips.
Japanese automaker Toyota donated $55,000 to 37 GOP lawmakers who tried to decertify the results of the 2020 president election.
Toyota donated $55K to 37 Republican politicians who voted against certifying the 2020 election results.
Not only did the Japanese automaker support those politicians, but it was their top supporter — by a lot, according to investigative news website Axios, which pulled the data from a study by the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
The company’s $55,000 was nearly than double amount of the next closest company, defense company Cubic Corp., which approached nearly $30K in donations. Toyota spread that money out to four times more Republican politicians than the next closest company. Toyota officials defended their donations.
“We do not believe it is appropriate to judge members of Congress solely based on their votes on the electoral certification,” Toyota officials said in a statement emailed to Axios.
“Based on our thorough review, we decided against giving to some members who, through their statements and actions, undermine the legitimacy of our elections and institutions.”
Influencing U.S. elections is a hot-button issue
For decades, what groups are funding politicians has been a contentious issue, but divisiveness surrounding the funding and influence has escalated in the last two presidential elections — Americans want to know who or what organizations are supporting their politicians and candidates.
In the wake of the attack on the U.S. Capitol Jan. 6 where protestors attempted to overturn the election while several Republicans inside the building attempted to forestall the inevitable, the divide has skyrocketed.
In all, 147 GOP members of the U.S. House of Representatives voted against certifying the November 2020 election results that saw former Vice President and Democratic challenger Joe Biden defeat Republican then-President Donald Trump.
Biden captured the popular vote with 81.3 million votes to Trump’s 74.2 million votes. The Electoral College vote was 306 to 232 in favor of Biden with 270 needed to win the presidency.
Since then, Trump and many others have contended the election was stolen. However, neither the Trump campaign nor individual supporters have been able to produce evidence of this, including two cases that went to the Supreme Court — both were shot down.
Where did Toyota’s money go?
The automaker spent big on politicians, including Andy Biggs, an Arizona Republican in the U.S. House. Biggs has been an ardent purveyor of what many call “The Big Lie,” the idea that Trump actually won the election.
Axios reported an organizer of the “Stop the Steal” rally that immediately preceded the storming of the Capitol Building Jan. 6, Biggs helped organize the event. Biggs denies the allegation.
The negative response on social media was swift and predictable with thousands expressing their disappointment and vowing to no longer buy a Toyota. Many tweets used plays on words to talk about the newest Camry S-Edition or some other version of it and typing “#toyota” into the search function automatically pulls up #ToyotaHatesDemocracy.
The new GT version of the Ford Mustang Mach-E will deliver substantially better range than the automaker originally estimated — the EPA rating the high-performance package at up to 270 miles per charge.
Ford’s Mustang Mach-E is one amongst a wave of new EV products coming to market.
That’s 20 miles more than what Ford initially claimed for the Mach-E GT. Meanwhile, the Mach-E GT Performance Edition will deliver 260 miles per charge, up from Ford’s original estimate of 235 miles.
“We already pushed the envelope by creating an electric vehicle with the pony badge, so it’s only natural that we push it even further,” said Darren Palmer, Ford’s global director for battery electric vehicles. “Mustang Mach-E GT Performance Edition not only gives you the added performance you expect from the GT name, but accentuates the thrill with the responsiveness of an all-electric powertrain.”
Charging up the market
The 2021 Mustang Mach-E GT gets 270 miles on a full charge, better than the previously expected 250 miles.
The electric “pony car” received something of a mixed response when Ford first unveiled it in November 2019 at the Los Angeles Auto Show. Some traditional fans lamented the idea of going electric, others disturbed to see an SUV wearing the familiar Mustang badge. But since the base and mid-range models went on sale late last year, the Mustang Mach-E has scored a solid hit. It has taken market share away from Tesla and helped power the 95% jump in overall U.S. sales of plug-based vehicles during the first four months of 2021.
Several factors have played out for Ford. Despite the concern of traditionalists, the crossover design comes at a time when SUVs have come to dominate the American market. And the initial models have come in with some of the best range numbers of any new battery-electric models. Depending upon the trim level and battery pack, the original front- and all-wheel drive Mach-E models delivered EPA numbers of 211 to 305 miles per charge.
The 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E GT Performance Edition is expected to arrive sometime this fall.
The new GT models don’t quite match what the Tesla Model Y Performance model delivers, at 303 miles, but they remain contenders in the emerging electric muscle car segment.
The “standard” GT, meanwhile, punches out 480 horsepower and 600 pound-feet of torque. The Performance Edition bumps the torque number up to 634 lb-ft, enough, Ford says, to launch from 0 to 60 in 3.5 seconds. The special edition gets some additional help from stock Pirelli summer tires, the stock GT coming with all-season rubber.
Going head-to-head with Tesla
That’s about the same as the Tesla crossover with its performance package making 456 hp and 497 lb-ft of torque. Preliminary reviews have also faulted some aspects of the Tesla crossover’s handling. Initial reviews of the Mustang GT and GT Performance Edition are not yet available.
The GT will start at $61,000, the Performance Edition at $66,000. Those figures don’t factor in the current $7,500 in federal tax credits, nor do they include delivery fees and taxes.
With a new wave of electric vehicles moving closer to launch pads, Fisker announced it signed a binding agreement with Magna International Inc. to build a new EV for distribution in Europe and North America.
Henrik Fisker said his company and Magna aligned very quickly when it came to the Ocean.
Fisker and Magna, one of the world’s largest automotive suppliers, also confirmed production of the all-electric Fisker Ocean SUV is slated to begin Nov. 17, 2022, keeping it on the original timeline for deliveries in late 2022. Production is expected to jump to 50,000 units in 2023.
The new vehicle will be built at Magna’s facility in Graz, Austria. The factory has produced more than 3.7 million vehicles for several global automakers, such as BMW and Jeep, throughout the years. The finalized agreement gives the EV maker a partner with deep pockets as it launches its EV venture.
“From the start of this partnership, Fisker and Magna aligned very quickly on the importance of delivering a high-quality vehicle on time,” said Chairman and CEO Henrik Fisker.
“We continue to strengthen our partnership beyond platform development and manufacturing into areas such as the development of Fisker Intelligent (FI) Pilot. I am very confident Fisker and Magna will deliver an incredible product to our customers.”
Broad agreement critical
Magna’s facility in Graz, Austria already builds a variety of vehicles for established automakers.
This agreement runs through the expected lifecycle of the vehicle — 2029 — covering planned volumes, manufacturing costs, quality metrics as well as critical planning and launch phases. It also covers all facility investments, including body shop, a clear path to start-of-production in November 2022 and rapid ramp up to full run-rate production, the two companies said in a statement.
It also allows for future collaboration and partnerships with the Ocean or other FM29 architecture variants, as well as collaboration on efficiencies in the production process that may drive post-launch manufacturing and cost innovations, the company noted in a release.
Along with the previously signed agreements on electric vehicle (EV) platform sharing and ADAS package, the agreement finalizes the framework established between the two companies beginning in October 2020, the statement added. As part of the deal, Canada-based Magna will take a 6% stake in Fisker.
“Our complete vehicle systems approach, combining all elements of our portfolio, makes Magna’s proposition highly competitive — in capital efficiency, launch reliability and speed to market,” said Magna Steyr President Frank Klein. “Our collaboration with Fisker is an excellent example demonstrating the unique capabilities Magna offers as the go-to supplier when it comes to delivering world-class technologies and vehicles for our customers.”
Fisker offers a good hint as to what it plans to bring out by 2025.
Partnership accelerates timeframe, reduces costs
By teaming up with Magna, however, Fisker should be able to better spread out its assets as it won’t have to come up with the money needed to set up a factory to start building the Ocean SUV – a project that Henrik Fisker said should save as much as $1 billion.
Fisker also will have a ready-made, skateboard-style platform it can use to underpin the Ocean and some of the products scheduled to follow, amounting to more big savings.
The platform Magna has developed is slightly larger and will allow Fisker to make Ocean slightly larger. “So, it allows us to put in a third row and achieve class-leading range” with a larger battery pack than originally planned, said Fisker.The prototype featured an 80 kilowatt-hour lithium-ion pack. Fisker won’t say how much larger the new platform’s pack will be but stressed that it will allow the production version of the Ocean to top the longest-range version of the Tesla Model Y which currently manages 315 miles between charges, according to the EPA.
Cruise LLC CEO Dan Ammann announced the company secured a $5 billion credit line to buy the Origin shuttles it needs for its autonomous vehicle services from General Motors in a few years.
GM has already begun building the 100 pre-production Origin shuttles in Detroit.
GM — essentially Cruise’s parent company — will build the Origin’s driverless shuttles at its new Factory Zero plant in Detroit. To close the loop on this deal, the credit line comes from GM Financial, the auto company’s in-house finance arm.
The $5 billion credit line makes it so Cruise “can efficiently finance the expansion of our fleet as we scale up over the next few years,” Ammann wrote in a blog post Tuesday. “This bumps up Cruise’s total war chest to over $10 billion as we enter commercialization.”
Production is already underway as GM’s already built several pre-production models — a total of 100 are coming before they’re set for business.
Next step in the business plan
GM’s Factory Zero in Detroit is readying the first round of shuttles for validation and testing.
Ammann, who was previously president of GM before taking over as CEO at Cruise, noted in the blog entry that he’s excited seeing the first few vehicles already built and to have them begin the validation and testing process.
“Seeing them up close and in person is absolutely thrilling,” he wrote in the post.
The company, which also counts Honda and Microsoft among its investors, recently received the go-ahead to begin testing its self-driving technology in California from the state’s public utilities commission. The company is using Chevrolet Bolt EVs for the testing run.
To date, Cruise has fielded 300 modified Bolt EVs, logging 2 million miles of testing on public roads. Most are being run near its San Francisco headquarters, though others are operating in Phoenix, another popular test site for autonomous startups, including Waymo.
Cruise’s $5 billion credit line aims to ensure the business can operate efficiently.
Until recently, companies like Cruise, Waymo and others have been allowed to test their autonomous technologies on public roads, but only with a back-up “safety operator” onboard, ready to retake control in an emergency.
Autonomous businesses
The Cruise Origin is expected to be used in a ride-sharing service similar to what Google spinoff Waymo plans to set up. It is unclear whether the GM subsidiary may also sell the Origin or other products to competing ride-share services.
The first production models of the toaster-shaped shuttle are expected to be ready for 2023. The company already set to begin a commercial ride-sharing service in Dubai that same year.
The Cruise vehicles will use Level 4 technology that expands the range of roads on which they can operate without a driver onboard. The planned Cruise Origin shuttles won’t even have controls like a steering wheel or brake and accelerator pedals. Still, the vehicles will be “geo-fenced,” meaning they can be used only on specific roads and places and under defined conditions. It remains unclear when it will be possible to go the next step, fielding driverless vehicles that will be able to operate on their own, anywhere and at any time.
The recently revealed Honda Civic sedan is set to get some company, the automaker set to unveil the next-generation Civic hatchback later this month.
The new Civic will make its global debut on June 23 at 9 p.m. EDT during the Civic Tour “Remix” virtual concert that will be livestreamed on YouTube.
If you squint and apply a little imagination, you can merge this spy shot with the teaser photo. (Photo credits: CarScoops)
But we’re getting a sense of what’s in store thanks to the teaser the Japanese automaker released today. And, beyond the obvious differences in a five-door layout, the 2022 Civic Hatchback appears to pick up on the same, basic mantra of the sedan with a design language Honda has described as “simple,” “clean” and “modern.”
“The Civic Hatchback builds on the sporty and youthful design of the 11th generation Civic Sedan while showcasing European-inspired exterior styling, enhanced five-door versatility, and an available, fun-to-drive 6-speed manual transmission,” Honda said in a statement released today.
Lots in common
One safely can bet the new Civic hatchback will share plenty of new technologies, both for infotainment and safety, with the latest Honda sedan.
The interior of the Civic hatchback is likely to mirror that of the Civic sedan, which debuted earlier.
Based on the teaser — and recent spy shots — we can expect the Civic Hatchback to pick up on key sedan design cues. That includes a “thin and light” body design that adopts a low hood and front fenders. The nose also features a small grille above the front bumper, a larger one below, giving the new Civic sedan a more planted feel — something one can expect to carry over. Subtle flaring around the wheels yield a more aggressive and premium feel, or so Honda designers contend. The windshield pillars, meanwhile, have been moved rearward two inches, the glass flowing into a coupe-like roofline that tapers into a short rear deck.
Even with the windshield pushed back, the new cabin offers reasonable space for both front and back passengers, especially considering competitors in the compact segment. The low instrument panel is accented by a honeycomb mesh and the cabin adopts more premium materials than the outgoing sedan.
We also expect to see the two models to largely align on technology. The sedan’s base trim now gets a 7-inch color touchscreen for an infotainment system that comes with both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. There’s an upgrade to a high-definition, 9-inch touchscreen that is paired with wireless versions of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The 2022 Civic sedan became the first to offer a 12-speaker Bose premium sound system, and Touring models come with Qi wireless smartphone charging.
Si and Type-R also in the works
Expect to see the 11th-generation Civic hatchback appear in a variety of different configurations, including Si and Type-R performance packages.
The new Civic sedan’s about to get a stablemate with the debut of the hatchback later this month.
In the base trim, Honda will offer at least one of the two 4-cylinder powertrains now available in the Civic sedan:
A naturally aspirated 2.0-liter package making 158 horsepower and 138 pound-feet of torque and paired with an updated CVT;
The other option is an updated 1.5-liter turbo-4 now making 180 hp and 177 lb-ft, up 6 and 15, respectively.
The Type-R not only will get a boost in power but Honda has confirmed a manual gearbox will remain on the option checklist.
U.S. production planned
The 2022 Honda Civic Hatchback will be produced at the automaker’s plant in Greenburg, Indiana, marking the first time it’s been assembled in the U.S. While the ongoing semiconductor shortage is impacting industry production plans, the 5-door currently is scheduled to reach American showrooms later this year.
We’ll have more to report on the 2022 Civic Hatchback later this month.
