Auto Industry News: RAM Outsells Silverado, California and EPA at Odds, and Hummer Coming Back?
RAM outsells Silverado, as CarGurus survey implies overall truck sales may face some uncertainty. Meanwhile, the state of California and EPA officials continue to butt heads over fuel economy standards. And is it possible the Hummer is coming back … as an electric vehicle?!
RAM Outsells Silverado, Pushing the Bowtie Badge to #3
While the Ford F-150 holds its crown as America’s best-selling pickup, the battle to round out the top three heats up. According to Q1 numbers, now RAM outsells Silverado in the popular truck market.
Chevrolet has sold only 114,313 Silverados as of April 2019, a near-16-point decrease compared to the same period last year, MotorTrend points out. Sales of the GMC Sierra are also down, dropping 2.2 percent to 40,546. RAM, alternatively, saw its sales increase 15 percent last quarter to 120,026. In fact, according to Automotive News, RAM models have outsold Silverados nine of the past 10 months, and held a lead of nearly 22,000 heading into May 2019.
While both RAM and Chevy’s sales numbers still pale in comparison to the 214,611 F-Series trucks Ford has sold so far, this is a telling shift in the pickup landscape. However, GM execs confidently state that they aren’t worried, swearing the company is more focused on profits than market share.
“Given our limited availability, we deliberately launched with a really high mix in trims,” Barry Engle, GM’s president of the Americas told Automotive News this month. “But as we get broader availability and get the full portfolio out there, we’ll be just fine.”
Engle also insists the sales dip might have to do with GM not fully rolling out its new, redesigned pickups to fleet customers just yet. He feels such sales numbers will be “all plus business” on top of the automaker growing its retail share of the market. Engle also intends to double Silverado Trail Boss production, claiming that demand for the off-road trim has been higher than expected.
Pricing Affects Brand Loyalty
While GM may not be concerned about RAM outselling Silverado at the moment, we anticipate that tone to change if these numbers continue to hold for next quarter.
Additionally, it’s worth mentioning that a recent survey by car-buying website CarGurus has found rising truck prices to be affecting sales, consumer confidence, and perhaps most importantly, brand loyalty.
According to the survey, 68 percent of truck owners think their pickup was overpriced, with nearly 50 percent saying they feel trucks aren’t made as well as they used to. Also, of the 17 percent of people surveyed who said they will likely not buy a truck again, 37 percent said they’d switch to an SUV or crossover and another 35 percent said they’d switch to a sedan. (Bet Ford didn’t expect to read that…)
Furthermore, a whopping 70 percent of truck owners stated they would switch to a competing brand if the price was right, indicating that if automakers want to keep seeing truck prices rise every year, they may need to start considering more incentives and deals at point of sale.
California and EPA Butt Heads Over Fuel Economy
In August 2017, the Trump administration announced its decision to place a cap on fuel economy and emissions standards, which would keep them at 2020 levels—scrapping the last administration’s plan of rising them annually.
In turn, California and 13 other like-minded states who oppose this stance, are aiming to adopt their own, stricter standards. In April, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) filed a lawsuit against the EPA and NHTSA, demanding access to information that the agencies used to initiate the rule change.
Since then, things have only escalated, with it appearing that California and the EPA are destined to fight this out to the end via the courts. Talks between Californian and White House officials died back in February regarding a compromise. And now, tensions have reached a point where the two parties refused to even sit at the same table during hearings last week.
As talks between the two sides devolved into a “war of words” between EPA Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler and CARB Chairwoman Mary Nichols, the auto industry is left eagerly awaiting a resolution.
Automakers continue to pour resources into prepping for lowered emissions standards, through a calculated shift toward electric and hybrid vehicles. If California, the largest auto market in the country, succeeds in setting its own emission standards under the Clean Air Act, OEMs will be left in a pinch, with a real possibility of having to produce two different versions of the same vehicle.
Some Context…
The U. S. Department of Transportation recently reported that cumulative travel continues to increase every year in America, with the adoption of electric vehicles failing to keep pace. As the traffic volume trends grow, it’s easy to understand why the nation’s most populated state—and home to the U.S.’s most polluted cities—would be anxious about potential roll backs in fuel emission standards.
Alternatively, as we’ve pointed out on the blog before, the former administration’s EPA has been accused of government overreach before, particularly in the way it reinterpreted the Clean Air Act in 2015 to deem it illegal to convert any motor vehicle into a racecar if the emissions system was modified or removed.
With all of this in mind, it appears the courts are the right place for this to be settled.
Is the Hummer Coming Back… as an EV?!
Speaking of GM sales, emissions, and electric vehicles, it looks like the automaker is kicking around the idea of reviving the Hummer with a cleaner, greener twist.
Despite GM halting production of the gas-guzzling mini monster truck back in 2010, a rebirth as a fully-electric, zero-emission model might be on the cards. With GM embracing the shift towards cleaner fuel options, a move Chief Executive Officer Mary Barra calls an “all-electric future,” it will need something to separate itself from the growing pack of electric models.
While the buzz is certainly exciting, GM has yet to confirm the Hummer is coming back.
When pressed about a potential return by Bloomberg, GM President Mark Reuss seemed unconvinced. “I love Hummer,” Reuss said on the sidelines of a press conference on June 12. “I’m not sure. We’re looking at everything.”
As more Americans embrace getting behind the wheel of electric vehicles, a rugged SUV model breaking the mold of the typical tiny, sleek EV’s we’re seeing today might be just the thing GM needs to do to stand out in a crowded market.
Perhaps the automaker will take a cue from former California Governor and literally-huge Hummer fan, Arnold Schwarzenegger, who teamed up with Kreisel Electric in 2017 to transform his H1 into a fully electric rig.
Around the Circuit
Formula 1
Another day, another dominant display from Lewis Hamilton.
Leading from start to finish at the French Grand Prix, Hamilton locked in the 79th win of his career ahead of Valtteri Bottas in second and Charles Leclarc in third. Finishing a full 18.056 seconds ahead of his nearest competitor, the win puts him a massive 36 points ahead.
Hamilton will look to continue his dominance with the Austrian Grand Prix on June 30.
NASCAR
Martin Truex Jr. won the Toyota/Save Mart 350 for the second straight year, finishing ahead of Kyle Busch and Ryan Blaney at Sonoma Raceway for his fourth win of the season. Truex ran a great race, flying off the corners of the 12-turn course with ease to keep Busch at bay. He led for 59 out of 90 laps, including the final 24.
Truex has been on a bit of a hot streak recently, winning four of his last eight races. “I just dug down deep and tried to be smooth and hit my marks,” said Truex. “What a season we’ve turned this into. This is great, man, unbelievable. Hopefully, we can keep it going.”
Next up for the Monster Energy Series in TheHouse.com 400 at Chicagoland Speedway on June 30.
After the colossal disappointment of losing due to a failed post-race inspection last week, Ross Chastain pulled to the head of the pack after a late restart to win the Camping World Truck Series race at Gateway.
Holding off Todd Gilliland and Stewart Friesen for his second win of the season, leading only for 21 out of the 160 laps. “I can’t believe it, but I can, man,” said Phil Gould, Chastain’s crew chief. “This is a tough bunch. This has been a tough, tough week for this team and everybody involved. To come back and battle back through that adversity, that’s pretty damn awesome.”
NHRA
In a thrilling weekend for NHRA action in Bristol, Tennessee, Bob Tasca III picked up back-to-back Funny Car wins ahead of Jack Beckman, Steve Torrence notched a Top Fuel win, and Chris McGaha topped the Pro Stock category.
This was a particularly big weekend for Tasca, who notched his second victory in a row after breaking a seven-year dry streak. “I always knew if I could get the right car under me, we could do great things,” said Tasca. “I woke up this morning and was as confident as I ever was, and when you make four runs in the 3.00s in very challenging conditions, there was no reason why we couldn’t have won. I’m glad we got it done.”
Next up for NHRA drivers is the New England Nationals at New England Dragway July 5 to 7.
