General Discussion: 2018 Investor Roundtable

[RobStark]

yeah but how many of those are exported to the EU?

Hypothetically those plants could export 100% of production and still export nothing to EU. I mean there are a lot of Japanese owned factories all around the world that export close to nothing back to Japan, but still create a lot of exports. Wouldn't it be the same for European car manufacturers?

All BMW SUVs are manufactured in S Carolina.

Whatever BMW SUVs are sold in Europe are manufactured in S Carolina.

MB makes all GLE and GLS in Alabama and some C Class for US/Canada.

I think all Tennessee VW are for US/Canada.

BTW The Japanese export quite a bit out of Thailand to Japan. There are labor shortages in Japan due to low birth rate and virtually no immigration.

 

[Sparky]

Total value of U.S. trade worldwide 2004-2016 | Statistic
Of course I exaggerate. 2016 shows 3.6T in imports and 1.5T in exports. ...

Actually, I think you're misinterpreting.
In 2016, as Esme Es Mejor reported, imports were 2.2T not 3.6T. The total value of goods (imports and exports) was 3.6T.

 

[immunogold]

CES 2018: Phantom Auto Demonstrates First Remote-Controlled Car on Public Roads

Remote human drivers, used to intervene on an ‘as needed’ basis, could enable earlier adoption of Level IV autonomy. This service could be developed in-house by autonomous fleets, or it could be contracted to a company like ‘Phantom Auto’ of Mountain View, CA. One human operator could monitor several vehicles simultaneously, assuming control only in the edge cases not yet fully resolved in autonomous software, such as construction sites, temporary road obstructions, stationary vehicles, difficult-to-manage intersections, or if pedestrians or another vehicle attempted to “bully” an autonomous vehicle by taking advantage of its cautious approach. A service such as this could also be used by a ride hailing system, like the Tesla Network, if the passenger requests human intervention for the pickup or drop off portion of the ride.

 

[avoigt]

It's amazing to me how quickly the GOP dumped the principle of free trade and free markets at just the moment renewables start to undercut fossil fuels.

Just to be clear what conservatives used to give lip service to, here's classic Milton Friedman.

Thats the best and most easy explanation why free trade is beneficial for every party I have ever heard.

Hope that someone picks it up and shows it to the "smart" guys in Washington.....

 

[ValueAnalyst]

BMW quietly reintroduces diesel-powered 5-Series to lineup

What are they thinking?!

 

[Drax7]

Thats the best and most easy explanation why free trade is beneficial for every party I have ever heard.

Hope that someone picks it up and shows it to the "smart" guys in Washington.....

I hope the “smart” Germans in Berlin get rid of tariffs on American cars set at 10% ,
Or is Germany a developing country that needs assistance.

 

[mongo]

BMW quietly reintroduces diesel-powered 5-Series to lineup

What are they thinking?!

Sunk cost? Already made it so might as well try to recoup investment?

 

[avoigt]

I hope the “smart” Germans in Berlin get rid of tariffs on American cars set at 10% ,
Or is Germany a developing country that needs assistance.

I recommend to listen to Friedmann video twice and after reading your post again. That should help...

No offense but you miss the point I am afraid.

 

[TheDoktor]

BMW quietly reintroduces diesel-powered 5-Series to lineup

What are they thinking?!

VA, they are likely thinking that this is a wildly successful vehicle (they sell more than 300k per year worldwide) and they want it to continue to be that

 

[Drax7]

Free trade , free to choose, free and voluntary exchange, I hope Germany adopts those
Principles for the well being of its people.
No hard feelings.

 

[BETA1019]

Been a while since I’ve posted and checked in, but has anyone been talking about this video from jaguar?

I watched the video and I genuinely think they’ve nailed it with the iPace. It could practically be a Tesla ad (albeit some notable differences like the supercharging network).

I for one am so glad to see them come out with this.

And actually up until this point (about five minutes ago) I actually believed Jaguar was still owned by Ford. I was asking myself how a traditional automaker would push an EV this way. Had no idea Tata Motors - an Indian company - had bought them out. They’re introducing a pretty full on EV here, and it looks and sounds great. I bet (hope) Elon sees this and smiles.

There are going to be a lot of people who like Tesla’s mission but don’t yet want to compromise on their (sort of expected) luxury car experience. Just based on what I can see (no judgements on reliability or overall experience at this stage) I imagine this is may sell quite well and will further push automakers to commit en masse to their electric vehicle programs.

 

[Yggdrasill]

Free trade , free to choose, free and voluntary exchange, I hope Germany adopts those
Principles for the well being of its people.
No hard feelings.

Yeah, I hope the US also adopts those principles.

 

[elasalle]

Been a while since I’ve posted and checked in, but has anyone been talking about this video from jaguar?

I watched the video and I genuinely think they’ve nailed it with the iPace. It could practically be a Tesla ad (albeit some notable differences like the supercharging network).

I for one am so glad to see them come out with this.

And actually up until this point (about five minutes ago) I actually believed Jaguar was still owned by Ford. I was asking myself how a traditional automaker would push an EV this way. Had no idea Tata Motors - an Indian company - had bought them out. They’re introducing a pretty full on EV here, and it looks and sounds great. I bet (hope) Elon sees this and smiles.

There are going to be a lot of people who like Tesla’s mission but don’t yet want to compromise on their (sort of expected) luxury car experience. Just based on what I can see (no judgements on reliability or overall experience at this stage) I imagine this is may sell quite well and will further push automakers to commit en masse to their electric vehicle programs.

Mix the Jag tech with a Tata Nano(India) and they will have an instant hit in India

 

[Yggdrasill]

Been a while since I’ve posted and checked in, but has anyone been talking about this video from jaguar?

I watched the video and I genuinely think they’ve nailed it with the iPace. It could practically be a Tesla ad (albeit some notable differences like the supercharging network).

I for one am so glad to see them come out with this.

And actually up until this point (about five minutes ago) I actually believed Jaguar was still owned by Ford. I was asking myself how a traditional automaker would push an EV this way. Had no idea Tata Motors - an Indian company - had bought them out. They’re introducing a pretty full on EV here, and it looks and sounds great. I bet (hope) Elon sees this and smiles.

There are going to be a lot of people who like Tesla’s mission but don’t yet want to compromise on their (sort of expected) luxury car experience. Just based on what I can see (no judgements on reliability or overall experience at this stage) I imagine this is may sell quite well and will further push automakers to commit en masse to their electric vehicle programs.

The planned production is only around 13k per year, so it's not a car that will matter in the big picture, but I tried to compare it to the Model S/X when similarly equipped:

I tried to equip the i-Pace with all the equipment Tesla has as standard, to see how Jaguar and Tesla compare.

And this is how I view the comparison with Tesla, from my Norwegian perspective:

View attachment 284071


View attachment 284070

I think the i-Pace will do well in Norway, and I think Norway may in fact become the biggest market. I can see them selling 3k i-Pace per year here.

 

[ggr]

Mod: plenty of discussion of the i-Pace elsewhere; please make sure to keep any discussion here about market/investment. --ggr.

 

[scaesare]

My biggest question is what would Tesla do with the grill. It has become a macho symbol, the bigger the grill the bigger the engine the bigger the *****. I would love for Tesla to blaze a new trail, invent a new shape and a new type of truck, like what the VW Beetle and Type 2 did for cars and vans. There are always going to be traditionalist who won't like a Tesla pickup truck for one reason or another. But there are also other truck buyers who are just buying it for the utility, and will be more open minded to a new innovative shape if it makes a better truck. I don't see a need to chase the 1st group and ignore the 2nd group.

I think that a pickup truck taking styling cues from the Semi would appeal to enough buyers that they could sell all they could make for some time. It certainly wouldn't appeal to all of the current generation of truck owners/enthusiasts, but that's not necessary out of the gate.

 

[scaesare]

View attachment 283969

This X based design would work for me.

While that shape/stlye works well for the sedans, I feel it works somewhat less well for the X... it's starting to loo a little duck-shaped. I think it translates even less well to a pickup truck... the profile starts to look quite odd.

As I mentioned in reply to another post, I'd like to see what something that takes cues from the Semi would look like. It could have a stance that would seem to be a lot like the International or Ford F-650 medium duty trucks, but have the aero efficiencies of the semi...

 

[Drax7]

Yeah, I hope the US also adopts those principles.

Milton Friedman a libertarian that voted republican in order not to waste a vote.

 

[Bobfitz1]

What stops Trump levying some type of pain on cars produced here by foreign companies. An example is China forces car companies to partner and share IP with Chinese auto makers. I mean hell, socialist countries just seize entire industries, for example XOM and Venezuela. Not that I think it's a good idea, but we are dealing with someone who loves winning so much and may not be very rational. Trump is right that having huge trade deficits gives him leverage and he could inflict 10x the pain as anyone who might retaliate. The effects of that would devastate the world economy and probably start world war 3. My guess is that this is all bluster and a negotiating tactic because the l alternative is 100% chance for everyone losing. Some might lose more then others but no one would lose more than Trump in even the best case scenario. He needs these tariffs to bring trade partners to the table in weakened positions or they fail miserably. The idea is that they will be more rational than Trump.

MAD (Mutual Assured Destruction) applied to trade? How is the "our unpredictable madman with a red button is less rational than your unpredictable madman with a red button" working out?

 

[Drax7]

Google Netflix Amazon Facebook all pretty much blocked from
Doing business in china for national security reasons .

When they block it’s legitimate , if we threaten to protect ourselves
It is criminal .