Autoline This Week - Audio

John McElroy revisits some of the most interesting ATW shows from 2017.

John McElroy and three top auto journalists – Joe White with Reuters, Greg Migliore from Autoblog and Automobile’s Todd Lassa -- examine the top automotive news stories from 2017.

Back in January 2016, GM saw that it needed to make a move; actually several of them if it wanted to remain viable for the future. Since it already had the cars it started with a Zipcar-like rental service called Maven and now has graduated to something called Maven Gig. Joining John McElroy to explain the story of Maven and how GM plans to expand it is Rachel Bhattacharya, Maven’s director of Commercial Mobility Strategy.

Today’s cars collect data. The computers and electronics on cars, trucks and SUVs capture almost everything we do and where we go with it. And some of that information can be valuable to different sectors of the auto industry. To explain to us what this data is and who owns it, John McElroy is joined by a powerhouse panel including Acxiom information analyst Michael Perugi, privacy expert Jennifer Dukarski from the law firm Butzel Long and automotive analyst Sam Abuelsamid from Navigant Research.

Entrepreneur Dale Pollak made his name developing software to solve day-to-day dealership issues. But along the way he witnessed the tsunami of changes that would envelope 21st century automotive retailers and chronicled many of them in his book “Like I See It.” Today he joins Autoline to discuss not only his book, but how the changing retail world is affecting your local car dealer and how it impacts both you and me. Joining John McElroy on his journalist panel is Gary Vasilash from Automotive Design and Production and WardsAuto’s Steve Finlay.

With so much of the auto industry working on autonomy, it’s hard to say who is doing what. On this week’s Autoline we talk to a manufacturer, a Tier One Supplier and an auto analyst to get the straight scoop on where we stand with autonomous cars.

The newest Chairman of the National Auto Dealers’ Association, Mark Scarpelli of Illinois, makes his annual pilgrimage to the Autoline THIS WEEK panel to talk about sales, product, customers and how things look for 2018.

So much of what the country is, can be traced to transportation: especially the car. And boy do we love to drive. But with all the talk of mobility services and autonomy, some worry that our wanderlust will wither if we’re not driving for enjoyment anymore. Join John and noted transportation author Peter DeLorenzo, McKeel Hagerty of the Hagerty Group and Mark Gessler from the Historic Vehicle Association for a fascinating discussion of what driving does for Americans.

John McElroy invites the head of Tier One Supplier Lear Corporation to join him on the panel to talk about the current state and future of the auto industry from a supplier’s perspective.

Donald Trump’s victory over Hillary Clinton turned many long-understood answers into questions, especially when it comes to trade. For instance, Mr. Trump claimed NAFTA was a much bigger benefit to our neighbors and threatened to change it. And with so much of the auto industry involved John McElroy invited Washington, D.C. NAFTA expert, Les Glick, to enlighten us on what may, can or will happen. Joining the panel is Jamie Butters of Bloomberg and Daniel Howes of The Detroit News.

Most all of us know how autonomous cars are progressing and that many of us already drive vehicles with autonomous elements in them already. But what about autonomous plane travel? This week’s panel features a discussion on how autonomous travel drones are not too far away. On the panel are: Bob Lutz, Former Vice Chair of General Motors; Robin Lineberger, Deloitte; Jon Rimenelli, Detroit Aircraft Company.

This is Part 2 of a look at Mobility Services taped onsite in Traverse City, MI. This panel features Carla Bailo of The Ohio State University; Kristin Welch, SPLT; Mellisa Cefkin with Nissan Research.

On location in Traverse City, MI, this is Part 1 of two separate segments on mobility and what is coming sooner rather than later. Joining John McElroy on this panel are Larry Dominique, the CEO of PSA North America; analyst Michael Robinet from IHS Markit; and John Waraniak with SEMA.

What’s going on with your local auto show? Is it still viable or is the steam running out on this 100 year old tradition as the baby boomers find less need for autos in retirement and the younger generations seem more wedded to the concept of mobility? You may be surprised by what the experts say. Joining John McElroy for this roundtable is Rick Deneau, the Head of Product Communications for FCA; Steve Bruyn is with Foresight Research and Stephanie Brinley is an auto analyst with IHS Automotive.

Ford, like its competitors, is facing the future straight on. And perhaps the biggest question to answer is what will be powering its cars: hybrids, fuel cells, electrics or the good old I.C.E.? The man on Ford’s frontline of propulsion systems is Robert Fascetti. Today he joins John McElroy and his panel to discuss Ford’s future driving options.