auto alert
This new design philosophy, as recently
demonstrated in its A6 TDI and RS 5 TDI
concept vehicles, introduces a subsidiary
electrical system, utilising lithium-ion
batteries. Audi says that the advancing state
of vehicle technology has taken traditional
12-volt electrical systems to their very limits,
especially in low temperature conditions,
when static load consumers can account
for total output of a conventional alternator.
The objective of the 48 volt intervention is to
make more energy available for new design
features, including dynamic chassis control,
and an electrically powered compressor.
The latter is, in effect, a small supercharger,
operating independently of energy from
the engine (conventional superchargers
are driven mechanically from the engine,
while turbochargers are rotated by exhaust
gas energy). The main advantage of the
electric compressor is an improvement in
initial acceleration performance, but the
total 48-volt system also offers additional
benefits in the form of smaller cable crosssections, lighter wiring harnesses, and
greater efficiency. The technology also
includes an efficiency-optimised alternator
which features a ten kilowatt energy recovery
output, which brings a mild hybrid capability
to the drivetrain, and provides diverse means
of starting, controlling and deactivating the
combustion engine. Audi has promised
to reveal a variety of applications for this
technology in the near future.
The True Cost of
Alternative Power
Auto Alert first raised this issue a little more
than a year ago. We said, inter alia,: “There
has been a perception abroad among
industry analysts, for some time, that the true
cost of building alternative driveline cars,
such as hybrids and all-electric vehicles, is
a closely-guarded secret. The prices being
charged by major manufacturers for the
relatively small volumes of these products
currently being produced are seen as being
artificially close to conventional equivalents,
to help them present as rational alternatives,
and a sufficiently attractive purchase
proposition, to the environmentallyconscious target market. This practice,
known as product cross-subsidisation, is
well-established in the global motor industry,
and is usually used to achieve a specific,
relatively short-term marketing objective, by
pricing a model or variant at what the market
will bear, even if the resulting profit margin is
abnormally low, or completely absent. This
situation can be made tenable if the volume
of these anomalous units is firmly controlled,
and the resulting profit shortfall can be made
up by higher volume sales of more normally
price-positioned siblings”.
In August, Volkswagen announced the
price of its all-electric drive 2015 e-Golf
for the United States market. At $US 36
265, it was just about double the price of
the base 2015 Golf 1,8-litre at $US 18 815.
Some of the discrepancy can be explained
by an extremely high level of equipment in
the e-Golf, including 16-inch alloy wheels,
LED dynamic headlights, automatic dualzone climate control, cruise control, VW
Car-Net connected services, front and rear
Park Distance Control, heated windshield,
heated mirrors and heated washer nozzles.
However, we still cannot be sure that the
comparison is definitive, as VW may have
decided to throw in some of this extra
spec at cost or less to disguise the true
differential. But, we suspect that this is a
more indicative situation than some we
have seen up to now. It also becomes more
significant in that this pricing allows us to
compare two virtually identical “packages”,
other than the drivetrain configurations, of
course.
Buying the e-Golf in America will be
sweetened by the federal tax credit of $US
7 500 applicable to this model, which wipes
out nearly half of the difference, plus some
individual state low-emission incentives.
These credits may also have been factored
into VW’s pricing strategy, so we are still
left somewhat in the dark when it comes
to establishing the true cost differential.
The model incorporates a fast-charge
capability which allows charging to 80%
of capacity in less than half an hour, and
is expected to become available “in select
states” during November, 2014. Although
some additional clarity may now have
emerged, we still expect the pricing position
of alternative driveline vehicles to become
more apparent only when their popularity,
and sales volumes, have increased
considerably above present levels.
Mercedes-Benz and
Infiniti - a Comfortable
Relationship?
We have frequently reported on
developments relating to the now fouryear-old partnership between Daimler
and Renault-Nissan. Our level of interest
| words in action
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has been maintained because this
arrangement, based on minimal crossequity shareholding, and involving
two (or is it three?) entities with highly
differentiated market positioning, seems
to be working so well on a global scale,
and could be a model worth imitating by
others.
Last month, we reported on a new
50:50 joint-venture plant to be located
in Mexico, which will build Infiniti and
Mercedes-Benz brand compact premium
vehicles. Development of the products
to be produced at this plant will involve
close co-operation from advanced
research to design and production “to
ensure that vehicles within the scope of
the project will clearly differ from each
other in terms of product design and
specification”.
We have noted that Renault-Nissan’s
main thrust in this partnership appears to
be the advancement of Nissan’s luxury
Infiniti brand. In the global “luxury car”
market, BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz
are the main contenders for leadership,
while Toyota’s Lexus brand leads the
rest, followed by Infiniti and Honda’s
equivalent Acura. According to Forbes
magazine, “Mercedes-Benz lost the
global luxury sales crown to BMW in
2005, and now ranks third behind both its
compatriots BMW and Volkswagen AG’s
Audi in terms of global volumes”.
Mercedes-Benz is also reportedly coming
under threat from both BMW and Lexus
in the US market, wh W&R