Strong January, but chips are down for car makers

 A shortage of semiconductors is significantly impacting the world’s car makers.

Toyota Hilux enjoyed another strong month, though overshadowed - yet again - by Ford’s Ranger.

 NEW vehicle sellers made a strong start to the year – but some in the industry wonder if troubles lay ahead.

The Motor Industry Association, which represents distributors, is positive about last month’s tally of 13,893 new passenger vehicle registrations – citing it as being up 6.2 percent on the same month of 2019 and the third most successful January for car purchases. 

Individual brands are celebrating bonanza returns, most particularly Mitsubishi Motors New Zealand which cites the sale of 1403 of its vehicles – 1002 being passenger models and the remainder Express vans and Triton utilities – as being a 30-year peak.

 MIA chief executive David Crawford says the overall industry count suggests huge promise after more than six months of speculation about whether the local motoring industry has ‘turned a corner’ since its big losses during the Covid-19 pandemic’s numerous lockdowns.

He concedes, though, that January’s result was buoyed by “comfortable amounts” of supply arriving, much of which comprised backorders from previous months. 

One industry involver, who declined to be identified, believes January, this month and perhaps March might be the best months of the year.

From there on, he believes, most if not all distributors might start to feel the impact of a global issue for car makers around the world – the shortage of vital computer chips, particular semiconductors.

The factories making these items are now snowed under – and car assembly lines are slowing because products cannot be finished.

A global semiconductor shortage is hurting the world’s car makers.

The local commentator says car makers all around the world have been impacted.

That view is supported by overseas reports that have termed the shortage a “crisis within a crisis.”

Audi is among victims. According to media reports from Europe, it is resigned to 10,000 fewer cars in the first quarter of the year and putting more than 10,000 workers on furlough because it cannot finish cars. 

Its parent company, Volkswagen, announced its own go-slow due to a lack of chips last week, alongside rivals such as Honda.

The issue pre-dates the global Covid crisis; 2020 started poorly for new car sales, particularly in Europe, so brands believed fewer components were required.

Once plants and the countries they locate in were hit, often hard, by Covid-19, many manufacturers cut their orders from the Chinese factories making computer chips. 

The market has since rebounded but now the components are no longer so readily available, as suppliers switched their attention to other sectors, most notably gaming and home electronics.

Ordering new chips has proven to be a challenge. 

As one overseas’ analyst explained: "Semiconductors have a broad range of applications but a very limited pool of companies capable of manufacturing the silicon. 

"Demand is high, and supply is tight" and any sudden needs "can prove very difficult to accommodate". 

"Modern cars are becoming computers on wheels, with an abundance of silicon required to control everything from the infotainment system to camera, radar and lidar," he said. 

The demand from carmakers "competes for manufacturing capacity with smartphones, servers and a host of other segments".

And a boom in the market for devices such as PCs and new game consoles was making it doubly difficult to book manufacturing time. 

Numerous brands have had to suspend production, some for days, some for weeks.

The shortages have seen Mercedes-Benz, Fiat, Ford, Honda, Nissan, Subaru and Toyota all reportedly suspend production for days or weeks at a time.

The MIA has yet to address this matter.

In comment pertaining to last month, it says most of the growth was in the passenger vehicle and SUV sector, which saw a 6.7 percent rise year on year. Commercial vehicles (a sector driven largely by utes) also increased, but by a lesser 5.1 percent. 

The Ford Ranger and Toyota Hilux were the country;s most popular vehicles, respectively with 948 and 750  registrations in January.

Toyota maintained its spot as market leader, with 17 percent market share. Mitsubishi, Ford, and Kia were all trailing, on 10 per cent market share a piece.

It was also a strong month for electrified vehicles, with 1073 hybrids, 93 PHEVs and 244 pure electric vehicles sold. The strongest-selling EV was the Hyundai Kona, with 56 sales, followed by the MG ZS EV, with 49.

Battery-driven Transit confirmed for NZ residency

The electric Transit is confirmed for local sale. But what versions we will see and for how much is as yet unknown.

AVAILABILITY is confirmed, arrival date is two years away and, until price is narrowed down, fleet managers will be left pondering the total cost-effectiveness.

That in a snap is the situation in respect to the E-Transit, the wholly electric edition of Ford’s workhorse van, which the national distributor has confirmed for sale here, though not until some time in 2022.

Ford New Zealand’s confirmation of the model, on the same day of its global unveiling, reflects the distributor’s strong conviction that electric is the way forward for this class of vehicle, particularly when used for urban work.

The range? That’s interesting. American models are rated by the EPA for 202km of travel per charge (in low bodystyle variants), while European models are good for 350km of travel per charge according to the WLTP.

E-Transit’s drive modes are also tailored to its electric powertrain. A special Eco Mode aims to provide up to an 8-10 pe cent improvement in energy usage if it’s driven unladen with spirited acceleration or at highway speeds, according to Ford data. Eco Mode limits top speed, regulates acceleration and optimises climate control to help maximise the available driving range.

All models irrespective of market are powered by a 67kWh battery feeding a punchy 198kW/430Nm electric motor that drives the rear wheels.  

The big question mark is price. Ford NZ says that – along with the market’s specification – won’t be sorted for quite a while yet.  

Even so, the pricing structure already established for the Transit in its orthodox diesel format and plug-in hybrid format – plus market recognition that full-out electrics, due to their technology, unavoidably carry a premium - surely has to give an early warning about the lines’ probable placement.

As things stand, the wholly fossil fuel-reliant models span from $63,000 to almost $75k. The PHEV cargo van that is establishing now is a $89,990 ask. Conceivably, then, the cheapest fully electric model might be up around $100,000, so line-ball with the  Tourneo Titanium people mover that carries a $99,990 premium.

The PHEV and EV models will make for interesting comparison, on performance and per kilometre costing.

Ford is urging potential customers to consider that the E-Transit boasts maintenance costs that are 40 percent lower than its internal combustion cousins over an eight-year or 161,000km period. Which camp does the PHEV sit closer to? That’s not yet clear.

The plug-in uses a 92.9kW electric motor to power the front wheels, drawing on energy stored in its 13.6kWh lithium-ion battery pack.

This gives it around 50km of EV range before a 1.0-litre three-cylinder turbopetrol fires up as a generator to charge the battery pack, but when that happens the model has a range similar to that of the diesel, with around 500km overall. An average optimal fuel burn of 2.4L/100km on the combined cycle is claimed in the United Kingdom. 

The battery pack can be charged via the mains in 4.3 hours or by a Type-2 AC charger in 2.7 hours. The pack comes with an eight year/160,000km warranty.

The full electric’s range varies depending on version. The low-roofed editions have the best range, of 200km. It’s 189km for the medium-height roof version and 174km for the high-roof versions. That compare well with the E-Transit’s rivals including the Peugeot Partner Electric (170km), LDV EV80 (190km) and the Mercedes-Benz eVito (150km).

The E-Transit features AC and DC fast-charging. A full charge on DC using a 115kW fast charger will top the battery up from 15 percent to 80 percent in 34 minutes. The more common 50kW chargers will to that in 65 minutes. Stick it into a home power socket and it’s a 12-hour replenishment. 

In both the full EV and the PHEV, the battery is positioned under the floor. In the plug-in this reduces load capacity a little compared with the standard Transit, however. Suggestion from Ford is that this isn’t the case with the full electric.

The situation for the the maximum payload is not yet clear. The PHEV in its short roof, low wheelbase version has a 1723kg payload compared with the diesel version’s 1339kg.

Another appeal with the full electric is that it features Ford’s SYNC 4 that can connect to the internet to unlock software subscriptions that help fleets manage charging transactions, telematics services and more.

So who’s buying? It’s clearly less likely to be used on long haul than the traditional models, but that’s not the idea anyway. Ford says E-Transit ideal for urban environments, fixed drive routes and deliveries within geofenced zero-emission driving zones, without requiring fleet owners to pay for excess battery capacity they don’t need.

E-Transit is part of Ford’s more than $11.5 billion global investment in electrification through 2022. The all-new, all-electric Mustang Mach-E and the fully electric F‑150, which starts hitting North American dealers in mid-2022, are also part of this push.

NZ-confirmed SM17 set to be a $150k ask

The price is likely going to be higher here than across the Tasman – but who’ll care about that?

 KIWIS intending to enjoy a special edition Ford Mustang honouring a homegrown Supercars hero will be spending more to enjoy the car than the Australian audience it’s been initially aimed at.

While pricing has yet to be set on either side of the Tasman, Ford New Zealand – which helped broker the deal to secure the impressively muscled SM17 created by Melbourne-based Herrod Performance – has indicated a Mustang GT-based fireball honouring three-times Supercars champion Scott McLaughlin will likely sit around $150,000.

 That’s about $30k above the sticker it’s reportedly expected to carry in Australia, prior to on-roads applying, and would buy two examples of the V8 GT coupe from which it derives.

That New Zealand has become a destination for the Herrod SM17 might seem a given. Though his family shifted to the Gold Coast when he was nine, McLaughlin was born in Hamilton and like all NZ entrants in Supercars, he achieves an ardent following here.

Yet that alone didn’t guarantee access to a Mustang that delivers a supercharged V8 making a Supercars-busting 578kW and 810Nm, plus a host of suspension, aerodynamic and visual improvements.

The background as to how the SM17 gained residency was explained by Ford NZ managing director Simon Rutherford.

His operation is right behind the car’s availability but it cannot represent the model directly. Which is why the distribution rights are with Team Hutchinson Ford, centred in Christchurch. Orders can be placed at any Ford dealership, but thereafter the process goes through Team Hutchinson.

Even so, Ford NZ – whose most expensive Mustang of the moment is the $97,990 Mach 1 coming next year - has been closely involved in sorting this out and is an enthusiastic backer.

Rutherford says it’s all about getting the celebration car to an audience revved up by the “McLaughlin factor”; the driver has a high profile and strong popularity in NZ, he said.

“We think it’s important to do that because Scott McLaughlin has a fanbase here for obvious reasons,” he said in explaining the sales arrangement. 

 “It would be a shame not to support customers who want that option.”

Even though it took Herrod to realise the dream, the concept could also be called Kiwi inspired in that it was McLaughlin’s dad, Wayne, who came up with the idea for a celebration Mustang.

“Scott’s dad was always telling Ford they should do a limited-edition car. Once he had wrapped up his third Supercars title it seemed like the right time to accelerate the program,” says Ryan Story, the managing director and principal of DJR Team Penske, the outfit for which McLaughlin knocked off three consecutive championships. 

The first of those was in a Falcon then the two following were with the Mustang. Story also has also been a key collaborator on SM17 with Herrod’s owner, Rob Herrod.

The car’s price tag is unlikely to deter enthusiasts wanting something truly special. Aside from the driver association, the car should be a beast.

It is not only far more powerful than the standard GT (339kW, 556Nm) or Mach 1(345kW but same torque as the GT) but also has more oomph than the No.17 Mustang GT McLaughlin has raced, but now retired from the pursue a new dream of being a top driver in America’s Indycar.

The key performance-lifting feature is a Whipple supercharger but it also has the largest intercooler available, plus bigger Bosch fuel-injectors and numerous other updates to handle the big lift in horsepower. 

There’s a performance transmission cooler on the 10-speed automatic transmission that’s optional to the six-speed manual. The auto also has a unique transmission calibration for crisper shifts.

The suspension features adjustable sway bars and an alternate tune in the magnetic ride, the 20-inch wheels are bespoke and the tyres are higher performance items than the standard V8 Mustang gets. It also has a more distinctive exhaust.

Herrod has already built one SM17 but production won’t start until January of 2021. The first New Zealand car is expected to land two months after that. It’s a limited-run product, so how many will cross the Tasman is anyone’s guess.

X-rated Wildtrak a limited run … but not a runout

Another special edition Ranger has been announced. But don’t misconstrue why it is here. The current model has more life left it in yet.

“WE’RE getting there … but we’re not there yet.”

So goes the line from Ford New Zealand’s communication manager in response to the obvious question in relation to Wildtrak X, the latest special edition Ranger announced today – namely, is it a ‘runout model?’

Categorically, no.

Rather, says Tom Clancy, a dress-up that purportedly adds $7000 worth of gear for a $2000 premium over the model’s regular sticker is “a special edition.” Nothing more, or less.

“It’s not a runout action … just an awesome action.”

Already rolled out into the dealer network, and restricted to 150 units, the Wildtrak X is a $75,490 variant of the biturbo 2.0-litre automatic that, the national distributor says, builds on a Ranger tradition of delivering greater choice and personalisation to Kiwis.

“Ford continues to adapt, grow and expand the Ranger offering, bringing more targeted, specific capabilities and attributes to customers to help them meet any challenges they face; whether at work or on the weekend,” says Ford New Zealand Managing Director Simon Rutherford.

“Now with Ranger Wildtrak X, customers can get even more out of their off-road adventures.”

The donor is the 157kW and 500Nm bi-turbo diesel 10-speed auto version that is the second most popular choice with Ranger fans, beaten only by XLT in monthly sales that consistently keep the type in sector leadership, with an impressive 750 registrations per month average.

The X variant wears unique 18-inch alloy wheels with +35 offset in tough matte black finish, has fender flares - also finished in black, to emphasise the new alloys and give the Wildtrak X an unmistakable on-road presence – and has a black nudge bar, complete with an LED light bar for improved night-time vision, as a work light or to light up a campsite.

Also fitted is an A-pillar-mounted snorkel, which allows the Ranger Wildtrak X’s powertrain to breathe better on dusty roads, while reducing the risk of water entering the engine compartment so that owners can make the most of the Ranger’s best-in-class 800mm water wading capability, Ford says. 

This is the second additional Ranger announced recently, following the FX4 Max that is set to land in early 2021. At $69,990, the Max will effectively offer as a ‘working man’s’ version of the flagship Raptor but with a $15k saving.

It delivers with Fox suspension all-round, 32-inch off-road rubber and plenty of other dirty work upgrades … yet retains a 3500kg tow rating and one-tonne payload, largely through eschewing the Raptor’s fancy independent rear suspension and instead sticking with the standard leaf-sprung set-up.

Clancy has no comment on thought that Ford is going to keep outputting special editions to keep Ranger interest on the boil as the current generation, which released in 2011, heads into a final full year of full production before restarting all over in 2022.

The next Ranger will be a co-development with Volkswagen, though with Ford’s design and engineering base in Melbourne still taking the lead, just as it did with the current generation. 

Thought is that the next Ranger will continue on the current Australian-developed T6 platform, a version of which also underpins the Ford Everest four-wheel-drive wagon and the Ford Bronco built specifically for North America, but potentially yet to be re-engineered for right-hand-drive.

The next gen Ranger is expected to maintain strong styling similarity to what we have now, but will be slightly larger and will continue to be the class leader for technology.

The current generation Ranger’s strength in respect to advanced safety – remember, it was first ute in its class globally to earn a five-star rating from the national safety auditor, ANCAP  – will be built upon, with available safety aids such as blind zone warning, rear cross-traffic alert, and a 360-degree camera implementing to supplement the autonomous emergency braking, radar cruise control and speed sign recognition on today’s model.

The model will be likely obliged to adopt a centre airbag in the middle of the two front seats, a feature that has already come to the Isuzu D-Max and its Mazda BT-50 twin. That device is a new requirement to meet increasingly stringent crash safety ratings to prevent contact between the front occupants in a collision. Having it earned the D-Max a five-star under the latest ANCAP testing process, which kicked in at the start of this year.

Ranger line’s ‘king’ hit by special FX?

FX4 Max? Let’s just call it the working man’s Raptor.

GNARLY but not overly extrovert in look, Fox suspension all-round, 32-inch off-road rubber and plenty of other dirty work upgrades … yet retaining a 3500kg tow rating and one-tonne payload: Is this the Raptor you always really wanted? 

If so, then Ford has finally obliged, with the FX4 Max.

A special edition quite probably coming out now to keep Ranger interest on the boil as the current generation heads into a final year of full production before restarting all over – this time as a co-development with Volkswagen – this edition will be on sale from early 2021, for $69,990.

And that there’s another attention-getter: The price.

As massive as the Ranger fanbase clearly is – given it’s continually siting in the monthly stats as the top-selling one-tonner here and sometimes becomes our best-selling new passenger vehicle overall - the relatively modest percentage uptake that Raptor achieves in those tallies suggests it’s always been a bit too much of a sticker shock, when availed at full retail.

Argument for that $84,990 tag has always been aligned with proposal that Raptor gave so much more.

Which it kinda does… in that it looks super beefy and definitely is tuned to tackle tough off-road conditions. However, Raptor’s shift to a complex and clever independent rear end also significantly reduces the ute 101 of being up to tow and haul big weights.

Not so FX4. The Max part of the name is a good reminder it doesn’t shirk a load. It’ll take near as dammit an honest tonne (well 981kg to be exact) on the back and tow 3500kg (so, 1500kg more than Raptor) just like any other regular Ranger wellside. Hence why it comes with a tow bar. 

The secret to this isn’t steroidal. It’s simply through the F-trooper staying with the standard (so leaf-sprung) suspension. 

This regardless that it adopts those whizz-bang Fox shocks that, ahem, Ford also intimated back at Raptor’s release were also a reason why the top trumps truck carried such a premium. Maybe the exchange rates have improved. Or something.

To be fair, put the FX4 and Raptor together and the latter will still express as the more expensive truck insofar as content goes. The first is based on the XLT, so carries over that mid-grader’s blue collar trim.

Yet if you’re buying toughness over tech, then it’s hard to imagine why the FX4 isn’t going to win over plenty more friends.

Ford is certainly pushing the newbie’s merits by straight out saying the cheaper concoction’s upgrades are very much ‘Raptor-inspired’.

Of those extra ingredients, the most eye-catching are the 32-inch BF Goodrich All-Terrain tyres, attached to 17-inch dark grey alloy wheels.

With a width of 8.0 inches, the wheels feature an offset of +42mm, which gives the FX4 Max a 26mm-wider track than the normal Ranger line-up. For reference, the Raptor’s track is 150mm wider than the normal Ranger.

A full-size spare tyre with the chunky rubber has also been fitted underneath the rear tub. 

Squeezing the larger tyres under the wheelarches has been made possible with the fitment of Fox 2.0-inch shocks which creates a 20mm suspension lift, which combine with the tyres to provide 31mm-higher ride height over the XLT.

The bespoke suspension features a unique tune for the front coils and rear leafs (the latter of which scores remote reservoir shocks), while new lock-stop profile steering knuckles, front jounce bumpers and a 29mm front stabiliser bar are also included.

A number of exterior styling features have been borrowed from the Raptor, including the ‘FORD’ lettering on the front grille with dark grey surround, also included on the skid plate, exterior mirror caps, door handles, rear tray surrounds and wheelarch mouldings, which have been extended to fit the wider track.

It also muscles up for marketing purpose by taking a matte black tubular sports bar, lighting modules for the tray and body-mounted hooped side steps. There’s also a graphics pack for those who need even more attention.

Two colour options are available – Alabaster White pearlescent and Conquer Grey. Yes, the latter used to be restricted to Raptor. Talking about knocking a hero down to its knees, Ford. 

Like the Raptor, the FX4 Max is available exclusively with the 157kW/500Nm 2.0-litre bi-turbo four-cylinder diesel engine, driving all four wheels via a 10-speed automatic transmission.

Even though it isn’t as flash harry inside, the FX4 Max sounds like it’s putting on extra effort to dress for its extrovert crowd. 

The models features new seats with suede inserts and FX4 Max embroidery, Raptor sports pedals, leather-wrapped steering wheel, all-weather floor mats and a set of six blank auxiliary switches, designed to support accessories like light bars and winches – a Ranger-first.

 The new features join existing XLT kit such as an 8.0-inch SYNC3 touchscreen infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, dual-zone climate control, autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian detection, lane keep assist and reversing camera.