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Cadillac Celestiq and Honda Civic Type R revealed | Autoblog Podcast #740

In this episode of the Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Senior Editor, Green, John Beltz Snyder. They kick things off by talking about the latest vehicle reveals, specifically the Cadillac Celestiq show car and the 2023 Honda Civic Type R. They discuss Chevy's move to offer incentives to help prevent customers from flipping the new Corvette Z06. Greg has spent time behind the wheel of the 2022 Range Rover First Edition, while John has been driving the 2023 Genesis GV60 Performance. From the mailbag, a listener is looking to replace a 2003 Subaru Forester with something that can hold three dog crates and gets decent fuel economy. Another listener asks whether to keep a 2008 Porsche 911 Turbo or replace it with a 992-generation 911 for which he is awaiting an allocation. Send us your questions for the Mailbag and Spend My Money at: Podcast@Autoblog.com. Autoblog Podcast #740 Get The Podcast Apple Podcasts – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes Spotify – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast on Spotify RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Rundown Cadillac Celestiq show car revealed 2023 Honda Civic Type R revealed Chevy offers incentives to prevent Corvette Z06 flipping Cars we're driving 2023 Genesis GV60 Performance 2022 Land Rover Range Rover First Edition Spend My Money: Replacing a 2003 Subaru Forester Spend My Money Update: New or 2008 Porsche 911? Feedback Email – Podcast@Autoblog.com Review the show on Apple Podcasts Autoblog is now live on your smart speakers and voice assistants with the audio Autoblog Daily Digest. Say “Hey Google, play the news from Autoblog” or "Alexa, open Autoblog" to get your favorite car website in audio form every day. A narrator will take you through the biggest stories or break down one of our comprehensive test drives. Related video:

Rising aluminum costs cut into Ford's profit

When Ford reports fourth-quarter results on Wednesday afternoon, it is expected to fret that rising metals costs have cut into profits, even as rivals say they have the problem under control. Aluminum prices have risen 20 percent in the last year and nearly 11 percent since Dec. 11. Steel prices have risen just over 9 percent in the last year. Ford uses more aluminum in its vehicles than its rivals. Aluminum is lighter but far more expensive than steel, closing at $2,229 per tonne on Tuesday. U.S. steel futures closed at $677 per ton (0.91 metric tonnes). Republican U.S. President Donald Trump's administration is weighing whether to impose tariffs on imported steel and aluminum, which could push prices even higher. Ford gave a disappointing earnings estimate for 2017 and 2018 last week, saying the higher costs for steel, aluminum and other metals, as well as currency volatility, could cost the company $1.6 billion in 2018. Ford shares took a dive after the announcement. Ford Chief Financial Officer Bob Shanks told analysts at a conference in Detroit last week that while the company benefited from low commodity prices in 2016, rising steel prices were now the main cause of higher costs, followed by aluminum. Shanks said the automaker at times relies on foreign currencies as a "natural hedge" for some commodities but those are now going in the opposite direction, so they are not working. A Ford spokesman added that the automaker also uses a mix of contracts, hedges and indexed buying. Industry analysts point to the spike in aluminum versus steel prices as a plausible reason for Ford's problems, especially since it uses far more of the expensive metal than other major automakers. "When you look at Ford in the context of the other automakers, aluminum drives a lot of their volume and I think that is the cause" of their rising costs, said Jeff Schuster, senior vice president of forecasting at auto consultancy LMC Automotive. Other major automakers say rising commodity costs are not much of a problem. At last week's Detroit auto show, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV's Chief Executive Officer Sergio Marchionne reiterated its earnings guidance for 2018 and held forth on a number of topics, but did not mention metals prices. General Motors Co gave a well-received profit outlook last week and did not mention the subject. "We view changes in raw material costs as something that is manageable," a GM spokesman said in an email.

Jaguar Land Rover is going to call itself 'JLR' and spin off brands

Embracing the current popular philosophy that less is more, the executives at Jaguar Land Rover plan to officially rename their company “JLR” and to create a new “house of brands” that will emphasize name equity and refocus its vehicle offerings. In simple terms, the British-based, India-owned company will split into four separate brands: Range Rover, Discovery, Defender and Jaguar. While this shift may appear to be essentially a function of marketing and dealership bookkeeping, the over-arching reason is to give some of the brands more visibility. Details of the plan, which would reconfigure showrooms in Britain into discrete brand footprints, were discussed this week at a presentation by JLR CEO Adrian Mardell. “The reality is Range Rover is a brand and so is Defender,’” said creative officer Gerry McGovern. “Customers say they own a Range Rover. In luxury, you need absolute clarity. Land Rover Range Rover SV Autobiography doesnÂ’t give it. We love Land Rover, but there isn't as much equity as Range Rover, and Defender is increasing massively.”  Underlying the effort is plans to reinvent Jaguar as an electric-only luxury brand, Mardell said that this was “unfinished business” for him since he joined Jaguar 32 years ago. “The Jaguar of 32 years ago is where weÂ’re going back to and the right place for us to be." He further acknowledged that JLR had been “quiet” recently in the face of semiconductor chip shortages, but allowed that that situation was easing at his company.