Ford is gearing up for an onslaught of the crossover kind. With the 2016 Chicago Auto Show as its stage, the company’s vice president of marketing, sales, and service, Mark LaNeve, announced that four new SUVs are coming to market in the next four years.
These will be four new nameplates (not variants of the Escape, Edge, or Explorer) in segments where Ford “does not currently compete.” “Ford is a full-line manufacturer and we believe we should be competing in all the relevant segments,” said LaNeve.
Referencing low gas prices, Millennials’ aversion to large sedans, and the greater fuel efficiency of modern SUVs, Ford believes the time is ripe to inject new high-riding models that will still fit within CAFE targets.
So which segments might these new vehicle fit into?
“We don’t compete in the mini utility category,” noted LaNeve – which is another way of saying, “we will introduce a subcompact crossover to rival the Nissan Juke, Jeep Renegade, and Chevrolet Trax.” So it’s a fair bet that Ford’s global market EcoSport, based on the Fiesta, will make its way to the U.S. market.
LaNeve continued to bolster his case for more crossovers by referencing the diminishing interest in passenger cars over the past few years. In 2010, sedans held 52 percent of the U.S. market. Last year, they were just 41 percent. LaNeve pointed out that this trend evolved despite exceedingly high gas prices during that period. It’s not yet clear whether the introduction of four new SUVs will come with the removal of some of its other models, but it’s not out of the question.
As for the three remaining SUVs, a revived Bronco has been rumored for some time now, but LaNeve explicitly called attention to EVs. “There will be more electrified vehicles across all segments,” he said. Read in context, that likely means either a plug-in hybrid or full EV crossover in the playbook.
LaNeve also mentioned Ford’s recently announced $4.5 billion investment into electrified platforms, “so you can imagine there will be broad usage across all segments — cars, utilities, everything,” he said.
BYD has launched the third-generation Qin Plus DM-i in China, and the first thing that caught my eye is its price. According to CarNewsChina, the plug-in hybrid sedan starts at 79,900 yuan, which is about $11,980. That’s an incredibly low price for a brand-new car, especially by US standards.
What’s even more impressive is the range. The Qin Plus DM-i can drive up to 137 miles on electricity alone, which should cover most people’s daily commutes without using a drop of gas. Once the battery runs out, the 1.5-liter engine takes over. Thanks to its 17-gallon tank and roughly 91 mpg with a drained battery, the combined range reaches up to 1,423 miles.
Apple won the PC market’s worst quarter, but that’s not the entire story. It won the race by stumbling less than everyone else.
PC makers shipped just 57 million computers worldwide in Q3, which might look good, but it’s a 21% year-over-year plunge (via Counterpoint Research). And despite Apple’s Mac shipments falling by 11%, to 5.6 million, its market share rose from 8.7% to 9.8%. How did that happen?
Update (October 22 23:54 PT): In response to our query, GM clarified that offline recording support is already available on eligible vehicles. Like Tesla's Sentry Mode, it requires owners to connect a USB drive to save incident recordings, which can be viewed on the vehicle's infotainment screen. The upcoming Connected Cameras feature will build on this by giving owners remote access to these recordings via the revamped OnStar app, allowing them to check footage without walking out to their car.
General Motors has announced plans to add a new Connected Cameras feature to its OnStar service starting next year, giving drivers a way to monitor parked vehicles remotely and capture footage of certain incidents.