Autoline This Week

Autonomy is a startup that provides subscriptions to a Tesla Model 3. Customers can learn firsthand whether an EV meets their driving needs, without a big, long-term financial commitment. And it’s cheaper than renting a car. Scott Painter, the CEO of Autonomy, explains the advantages, and also warns that the shortage of inventory in the used car market is about to get a lot worse.

You cannot believe how many laws regulate the auto industry. So many that it’s almost impossible to keep track of. But two legal eagles, Kevin McDonald from VW Credit and Karl Hochkammer from Honigman LLP, have compiled a very complete catalog of laws and they explain what they’re about in plain English that anyone can understand. They’ve managed to take a boring topic and make it very interesting.

You’ve heard of the chip shortage that crippled automotive production. But you probably haven’t heard about the critical shortage of headlamp engineers. And you also probably didn’t know that thanks to consolidation in the industry, there aren’t many headlamp manufacturers left, either. All automakers are struggling with this problem, but that’s especially true for the EV startups. They can’t get the lamps they need. Klaus Matauschek from Forvia HELLA, Wolfgang Huhn from Driving Vision News and Michael Pickholz from MagWerks Vision, talk about how the industry got into this mess.

Lordstown Motors changed its business plan. Instead of building electric trucks, it’s going to have Foxconn build them for it—in the plant that Lordstown used to own. It raised the money it needs to launch its truck by selling the plant to Lordstown. That truck, called the Endurance, will start production in Q3, 2022. But Lordstown is already working on other commercial models that will use a skateboard chassis. Edward T. Hightower, the President of Lordstown Motors, explains the new direction the company is going in.

Automotive suppliers have strong opinions about the automakers they sell parts and services to. Some automakers have great relations with their suppliers, others not so much. Plante Moran, the consulting company, does an annual supplier survey that captures what suppliers are saying. Dave Andrea and Mark Barrott from Plante Moran go through their latest findings.