Twice owned by the Henry Ford Museum, this 1913 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost brought $1,001,000 at the Bonhams Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum sale in Philadelphia. Get all the latest auto industry news in the Executive Briefing.
Today’s headlines:
+ General Motors has pledged to introduce at least 20 new all-electric vehicles by 2023 as it works toward eventually phasing out all gasoline and diesel vehicles. More at The Detroit News.
+ Auto sales in Western Europe dropped 2.8 percent to 1.36 million vehicles in September due to weakening demand in Germany and the United Kingdom. More at Automotive News Europe.
+ At the Justice Department’s request, District Judge William Pauley in New York dismissed a criminal charge against Toyota stemming from the 2009 sudden acceleration case. More at Reuters.
+ Ford CEO Jim Hackett says the automaker will reduce its number of models while shifting away from internal-combusion to electric vehicles and toward self-driving technology. More at the Detroit Free Press.
+ Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin called for the NASCAR revenue redistribution system to be overhauled to provide more earnings for teams and drivers. More at NBC Sports.
+ Mitsubishi has revealed additional details and several more photos of the e-Evolution concept, which features three electric motors and torque-vectoring all-wheel-drive. More at Autoblog.
+ Studio publicists announced via Twitter that the release date for the film Fast & Furious 9 has been pushed back from April 2019 to April 10, 2020. More at Motor Trend.
+ Formula 1 broadcasts will move from NBC to ESPN and ABC in the United States beginning in 2018, with all 21 races and more than 125 hours of programming aired live. More at Racer.
+ A Koenigsegg Agera RS has claimed a record time of 36.44 seconds in 0-248-0 mph acceleration/braking tests, beating the existing mark of 41.96 seconds by the Bugatti Chiron. More at Automobile.
+ At slightly more than $1 million, a 1913 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost was the top seller at the Bonhams Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum sale in Philadelphia. More at Hemmings Daily.
+ The National Hot Rod Association has notified Pro Stock competitors that race fields will be reduced to eight cars at nine events next year, signalling that the category is in grave condition. More at Autoweek.
Review the previous Executive Briefing from October 2 here.
Photo courtesy of Bonhams.
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It seems that all of the vehicle manufacturers are scrambling to introduce electric powered and/or self driving cars…to “keep up with the Jones”. That is, every other auto manufacturer.
Several questions come to mind. Regarding electric vehicles: How effective will they be in cold weather climates? How much strain will they put on the nation’s electrical grid, which we are continually told is antiquated, outdated, susceptible to failure, terrorist attack, etc. How much will owning electric vehicles increase a family’s electric bill each month? What does the petroleum industry think of electric vehicles looming as replacements for internal combustion engines? “If” electric power does replace the cars we are driving, how long before “they” legislate internal combustion engine vehicles out of existence?
(as they surely will).
Regarding self driving cars: When we learned how to operate and control (drive) a motor vehicle, we were taught to place both hands on the steering wheel at approximately “10 o’clock, and 2 o’clock”. Thus, theoretically we can control the vehicle. What happens in an autonomous (self driving) car, with no hands on a steering wheel, if a blowout occurs?
How long will it be before hackers figure out how to create havoc in both electric and self-driving cars? How will adverse weather affect these vehicles?
Some of these questions should be asked and satisfactorily answered before we get these “new high tech” vehicles forced upon us.
All very good questions Jim. I don’t see how electric vehicles can take the place of internal combustion engine vehicles, at least in the near future. There are many people who cannot afford new vehicles now, and will have to continue to drive ic vehicles for a long time until prices on used electrics come way down. Also, the limited range of electrics doesn’t work well with those of us who live in rural areas, far from major cities. The dollars needed for the charging stations infastructure has to be enourmous, who is going to foot the bills for that? The “greenies” think electric power will be cleaner, well it may be on the highway, but what about all those new powerplants that will be required to furnish all this new electricity? There ain’t no free ride, fossil fuels or something will have to be used to power the generators, there’s simply no way to generate enough power with wind, solar, or hydro power.
Well, either Mary Barra and a whole lot of other people are out to lunch or you guys are. I guess we will see.