Because of the lockdown that was introduced on March 25, the car industry is at a standstill. The coronavirus pandemic is taking a staggering $306 million per day from the manufacturers, dealerships and other entities involved.
As an example, in April 2019, 247,541 passenger vehicles and 68,680 commercial vehicles were sold in the country. April 2020 was the month with no activity for the car industry at all.
According to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), the automotive industry is losing $306 million per day. The automakers include Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, MG Motor, and Toyota Kirloskar. The picture was a bit rosier in April of 2019 when the industry sold 247,541 passenger vehicles, 68,680 commercial vehicles, and 1,684,650 two and three-wheeled vehicles.
Quartz India reports that vehicle sales in the country were already on a downward path. In March, year-over-year domestic Maruti Suzuki sales dropped 47.9 percent, while Mahindra & Mahindra sales dropped 90 percent.
According to businesstoday.in, India’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India Limited has said it reported zero sales in the domestic market, (including sales to OEM), in April in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The company cited zero sales due to compliance with the government orders to shut down all production facilities. The company also said that after the government allowed resumption of port operations, the first export shipment of 632 units was undertaken from the Mundra port.
Letter to the Home Secretary at the Ministry of Home Affairs
The lockdown has been extended to May 17 and will further depress an already tough situation for automakers. The industry has written a letter to the Home Secretary at the Ministry of Home Affairs asking for the automative sector to be allowed to open up.
“The automotive value chain is highly complex, integrated and interdependent. A vehicle manufacturer cannot commence operations if any one of its suppliers is unable to undertake production,” says a letter addressed to Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla. “Further production for a vehicle manufacturer would only amount to adding to inventory and thus blocking working capital incase dealers are unable to sell vehicles. If any element in any segment does not commence operations, the value chain will not be able to re-start.”
“With challenges of working capital across the sector, several of the players in the industry, right from the component suppliers to the dealerships, are faced with the challenge of staying solvent. Starting of economic activity in the sector is therefore critical and the only hope to infuse life back into this once vibrant industry,” the letter says.
When you think about it, the idea of comparing a Duster with a Rubicon seems kind of impossible, mostly because there are very different cars. But there is no rule that can stop any of us comparing the Duster or any other car with another. First of all it’s fun to do, fun to watch and fun to talk about after. They may be different cars and you may think the Rubicon will win in every situation, but you might be wrong.
Dacia Duster in this video has the following specs:
110 HP from a 1.5 L diesel engine;
all-terain tires (Cooper Discoverer AT3 4S R16);
Bilstein 3,5 lift kit;
total weight around 1.6 tones.
The Rubicon, on the other hand, has more impressive setup:
First try is for the jeep, but the surface is very sticky and the tires are not getting rid of the mud as quickly as it should and the grip is lost. And the weight seems to be more of a problem than a helping matter.
On the same trail, but o a different day and a slightly different surface, the Duster seems to go up easier, gains the necesary momentum and gets over the hill from. of course, it’s not the same situation, but it’s clear that in this case, the weight has an important role as well as the different axel system.
On 30 December 2019 I decided to go and have some snow fun. It was a bad decission. So I got to the places I wanted to shoot some clips and the snow layer was very thick and starting to melt on the surface. The photo above is made after I nearly got stuck on the base of a hill near this cleared trail. As you can see, there was snow in every place underneath the car.
And I made a few attempts in 2WD, Auto, 4WD, ESC On and Off, the Duster did well, I didn’t have to force it and because it was easy I said “Let’s go and try climbing a hill, with fresh snow!”.
This was the hill, on the first attempt I almost got it to the top, but the car started to slide to the right and ended up in this position, gathering even more snow in the rims, and brake discs.
After I got out form the fresh snow and back on the celared trails, the following lights came on board: check ABS, check ESC, check 4WD, check HDC, check ramp support start, check Start-Stop. And I could only use the 2WD Mode.
Plus the steering has become very hard, like there a non-servo steering.
Basically I was on the base of a hill, in 2WD, alone, at -10 degrees Celsius with very small chaces of finding someone to pull me out of there. When I saw that I had no chance of going uphill, I thought the failure of the system was due to the snow on the interior of the rims and I took off the front wheels and cleaned it.
The cause of the ABS, ESP, 4WD failure
After taking the first wheel down, I noticed a thick layer of snow around the interior of the steel rim and snow in behind the brake pads. That made the ABS sensor to report a problem and from that problem the car’s computer started shutting down the other components: the ESC and the 4WD, in order to prevent any physical damage. At that time it seemed like a wrong thing for me, but now I know that I would have tried many times to get out and maybe end up damaging something. Only after cleaning the both rims and brake pads and the whole suspension, the car started to recover. Not from the first start, but third time lucky.
After this experience, I do not recommend the steel wheels, the model like mine, because the snow accumulates very quickly in them. The side sliding while the brakes were engaged “helped” the snow reach the space behind the brake pads. That’s what you have to avoid while offroading in snow. I’ll switch to some alloy wheels on the 16th, with as much space as possible between the spokes.
Conclusion: It seems like a failure, but, in fat, it’s a safety feature very useful in offroad situations!
Renault plans to reduce the number of contractors it is working with to develop new models. This comes in the context in which before the outbreak of the Covid-19 crisis the company ended 2019 with its first net losses in the last 10 years. The plan is to save up to 200 milion Euros per year, said two sources from the company to Reuters.
Renault’s engineering department will play a central role in this savings program. Sources claim that Gilles Le Borgne intends to reduce the number of subcontractors Renault works with from 15, currently to four or five. “There will only be a few large subcontractors who will share 80% of their cake, but who will have to make us better global offers,” said one source. Companies in the automotive industry frequently outsource development tasks to engineering companies such as Altran, Segula, Expleo, Alten or Akka.
It is due to outline some 2 billion euros in cost cuts from mid-May, on a 3 years periond, alongside a joint strategy update with Nissan on how to reboot their partnership, as the company struggles with shrinking margins.
In order to have better offroading capabilities, the engineers behind some Dodge, Jeep, and Ram models introduced the posibility of disengaging and reengaging their vehicles’ sway bars from inside the cabin. Disconnecting the sway bar allows for greater suspension articulation over rough terrain, enhancing off-road capabilities, while reconnecting the sway bar improves on-road handling and stability.
In theory, electronic sway bar offers drivers the best of off and on-road, but according to a lawsuit filled in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, the system’s “stunningly bad” design puts it at risk of premature failure, even on late-model vehicles. The suit’s plaintiffs describe the issue as follows.
“[…] the electronic circuit board for the sway bar disconnect is in a housing with seals that are prone to failure and is located in an area that is likely to get wet or sprayed under ordinary or expected conditions, such as driving over puddles or in the rain. Failure of the circuit board occurs when liquid or contaminants breach a seal of the housing, resulting in a disconnected or malfunctioning sway bar. In some instances, the electronic sway bar disconnect will fail and not reconnect, forcing the driver to drive on roads and highways without a sway-bar.” Flores et al v. FCA US LLC, reads.
Vehicles with “death wobble” underneath
The problem was reported even on a 2018 Ram 2500 Power Wagon, and the owner claims to have visited dealers “several times” to have his nonfunctional sway bar disconnect serviced after failing. He rounded up other owners of FCA products with similar malfunctions to organize the suit, which implicates the following vehicles:
2007-2017 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon (“JK”)
2007-2017 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon (“JKU”)
2018-2020 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon (“JL”)
2018-2020 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon (“JLU”)
2020 Jeep Gladiator Rubicon
2005-2010 Dodge Ram 2500 Power Wagon
2011-2020 Ram 2500 Power Wagon
He is also acussing Fiat Chrysler Automobiles of nowingly selling vehicles with “dangerous” sway bar disconnect mechanisms that are putting the passengers in danger.
For a better understanding of the “death wobble”, here is a video example:
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