MCG Executive Briefing for April 20, 2018

Top sellers at the 2018 Mecum Houston auction included this Plum Crazy 1971 Dodge Challenger with 426 Hemi power, which hammered down at $184,250. Get all the latest auto industry news in the Executive Briefing.

 

 

 

Today’s Headlines: 

 Effective immediately, General Motors has removed Cadillac president Johan de Nysschen, formerly of Audi and Infiniti, replacing him with GM Canada chief Steve Carlisle. More at Motor1.com. 

 The European Commission has won greater oversight over new car models to prevent a repeat of Volkswagen Group’s diesel-emissions scandal. More at Automotive News Europe. 

+   According to a new Edmunds study, the average price paid for a new car in the United States has risen from $31,078 to $34,623 over the past five years. More at CNBC. 

 Ford is switching from its current Fusion sedan to Mustang body shells on its 13 NASCAR Monster Cup team entries beginning with the 2019 season. More at Sporting News. 

 Minnesota-based Indian Motorcycle is recalling 3,300 units from the 2018 model year to correct a defective electrical switch that could cause the bikes to self-start. More at The Detroit News. 

+   Ford will offer in the U.S. its new 1.5-liter three-cylinder engine with cylinder deactivation technology, giving it the capability to operate on two cylinders. More at Motor Trend. 

 Tesla has halted production of the Tesla 3 sedan at its Fremont, California assembly plant in order to work out manufacturing problems that have plagued the program. More at The Verge. 

 The president and CEO of eBay, Devin Wenig, is joining the General Motors Board of Directors, subject to his election by shareholders at their annual meeting on June 12. More at the Detroit Free Press. 

+   The Mecum Houston 2018 sale produced $21.4 million in total sales and a 70 percent sell-through rate, with 621 vehicles sold over the three-day event. More at Sports Car Digest.

+   The 2019 Corvette ZR1 has been selected to serve as the official pace for the 2018 Indianapolis 500, marking the 15th time a Corvette has performed pace car duties there. More at Automobile. 

Review the previous Executive Briefing from April 16 here.

Photo courtesy of Mecum Auctions. 

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6 thoughts on “MCG Executive Briefing for April 20, 2018

  1. Glad to see Johan de Nysschen is out. I didn’t like the way he managed the brand. Cadillac needs to be an American marque, not a European wannabe.

    > Plum Crazy 1971 Dodge Challenger with 426 Hemi power, which hammered down at $184,250
    What would this have gone for ten years ago? Maybe half a million?

    >selected to serve as the official pace for the 2018 Indianapolis 500
    Time for Chevy to end that contract. The cycle of Corvette-Camaro-Corvette-Camaro is tiresome. I was going to suggest that we open up bidding to the world, but we’ll probably have to wait until Trump is out before we try that. I’m not even sure we can get away with FCA. As long as it’s not another truck, I’m not picky.

  2. Instead of switching from Fusion to Mustang body shells, it would be more accurate to say that they are rebranding their race cars as Mustangs instead of Fusions. The bodies will still be basically the same with new decals to give them a Mustang-like appearance. NASCAR teams, Ford and the others, haven’t used any stock body pieces in many years.

  3. Ford’s three to two engine would seem to be a shaker. Two cylinder motorcycle engines shake. Indian bikes start by themselves and I have already owned vehicles with cylinder deactivation technology that worked by accident.

  4. Instead of switching from Fusion to Mustang body shells, it would be more accurate to say they are “rebranding” their cars as Mustangs. The bodies will be basically the same, built in-house and bearing no relationship to any stock parts. They will use different decals to give the cars a Mustang-like appearance. It has been many years since any NASCAR race car, Ford or the other brands, used any stock body panels. The Fords raced in NASCAR have more in common with the Camrys and Camaros than they do with the production Mustang.

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