SARAH YOKUBAITIS, HOST:
The New York International Auto Show runs this weekend through next. In the wake of Covid, global warming, and gas prices, how are car makers responding? Our reporter, Mark Gilchrist, visited the show to find out.
MARK GILCHRIST, BYLINE:
The Javitts center was transformed into a car showroom. Hundreds of new vehicles to be released next year. Giant banners from all the car companies.
Kelly Paredes is a spokesperson for Toyota and she said the real news for them is the push in all forms of electric vehicles… hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and fuel cell cars.
KELLY PAREDES, TOYOTA:
“Toyota has over 20 million hybrid vehicles on the road today and the fuel reduction that those vehicles provide is the equivalent of having 5.5 million EVs on the road today.”
GILCHRIST:
But, are other companies as keen on electric cars going forward?
Ken Paul, a product specialist at Nissan, says that although his company has also been a leader in launching EV’s, his company is hedging its bets.”
KEN PAUL, NISSAN:
“Because that is only about 2% of the market, right now, we are continuing to be very aggressive about redesigning and reconfiguring combustion vehicles.”
GILCHRIST:
The car industry is hoping the Javits car show will be a big one. The show was canceled during the covid pandemic. And some car dealerships struggled to stay open. But Rhonda Bambrick from FORD says that she was amazed at how well the company did.
RHONDA BAMBRICK, FORD:
It’s interesting. Our dealers were really quick and nimble to find opportunities to reach customers in thoughtful ways during the pandemic. Ah, we went to online sales. We started delivering vehicles to their homes. And, it seemed to work. We were able to rebound very quickly. Um, even though some of our dealers had to close down for periods, based on whatever the state mandates were.
GILCHRIST:
The pandemic was also a problem for car manufacturers. They had a shortage of the computer chips needed for navigation and fuel efficiency. Car manufacturers are also on the lookout for supply chain problems from the war in Ukraine. Mark Gilles from Volkswagen says they have seen a few impacts.
MARK GILES, VW:
“We had an issue with a supplier in western Ukraine that was doing wiring harnesses, and they had to suspend production for a short period of time on, actually, the ID4. The wiring harnesses for our electric vehicles were coming from western Ukraine. So it’s had an issue… or its had an effect, I would say. Um, I don’t think it is as dramatic an effect as, obviously, the chip shortage that is still ongoing, but it definitely has had an effect.”
GILCHRIST:
Overall, there was a lot of optimism at the NY International Auto Show. But the purpose of the event is to sell cars and if they had problems, to put it all behind them.
MARK GILCHRIST, COLUMBIA RADIO NEWS
