1989 Volkswagen Vanagon Campmobile Van Camper 3-door 2.1l on 2040-cars

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Automakers face reality of EVs' cost — to jobs, and their bottom line

Related: We obsessively covered the Frankfurt Motor Show — here's our complete coverage FRANKFURT, Germany — European car bosses gathering for the Frankfurt auto show are beginning to address the realities of mass vehicle electrification, and its consequences for jobs and profit, their minds focused by government pledges to outlaw the combustion engine. As the latest such announcement by China added momentum to a push for zero-emissions motoring, Daimler, Volkswagen and PSA Group gave details about their electric programs that could give policymakers some pause. Planned electric Mercedes models will initially be just half as profitable as conventional alternatives, Daimler warned — forcing the group to find savings by outsourcing more component manufacturing, which may in turn threaten German jobs. "In-house production is almost irrelevant to the consumer," Daimler boss Dieter Zetsche told reporters on the eve of the Frankfurt Motor Show, in the midst of a German election campaign in which automotive jobs have loomed large. The company set a target of saving 4 billion euros ($4.8 billion) by 2025 to help fund the cost of its electric cars. "Daimler is the first company to state explicitly how much electric vehicles are going to hurt margins," said Bernstein analyst Max Warburton. "It was brave to go first — but of course it won't be the last." Volkswagen, for its part, said it was seeking new global supplier contracts to source 50 billion euros ($60 billion) of electric car content including batteries, which are not yet manufactured competitively in Europe. "A company like Volkswagen must lead, not follow," Chief Executive Matthias Mueller told reporters. VW diesel emissions-cheating exposed by U.S. regulators in 2015 triggered global public outrage, dozens more investigations into test-rigging by the wider industry and a push by some lawmakers to ban diesel and eventually all engines. TIGHTENING NOOSE Tesla shares jumped nearly 6 percent on Monday after a Chinese minister said it was a question of when, not if, Beijing bans fossil-fuel cars, tightening the noose around the combustion engine. France and Britain have promised its outright abolition by 2040. But PSA, the maker of Peugeots and Citroens, said it was concerned about the risks if consumers were left behind in the rush, and a new generation of battery cars does not sell.

Seinfeld's Porsches and VWs command $22 million at auction

Jerry Seinfeld sold off parts of his private collection last weekend at the Gooding & Company auction at Amelia Island, and the comedian's prized possessions garnered an impressive $22 million. Seinfeld is a passionate collector of Porsches, and the top lot which Gooding moved from his collection was a 1955 Porsche 550 Spyder, which sold for $5.35 million – right in the middle of its estimated range. Others inline with their pre-sale estimates included a 1990 962C racer ($1.65 million), a '94 964 Flatnose Turbo ($1 million), a '66 911 ($275,000), and a '64 VW Camper ($99,000). A few lots exceeded expectations, notably a '74 911 Carrera IROC RSR that went for $2.3 million (over an estimate of $1.2-1.5 million), as did a pair of 911 Speedsters from 1989 and 2011 and a 356 Speedster from '57. Jerry's 1960 Volkswagen set a new record for Beetles sold at auction when it went for a top bid of $121,000, well exceeding its estimated $45,000 value. The '73 Porsche 917/30 Can-Am Spyder, however, sold for $3 million – which might seem like a lot of money until you realize that it was estimated to fetch upwards of $5 million. A '59 718 RSK went for only $2.86 million when it was valued at $4 million. A pair of 356s sold for $825,000 (instead of $1.25 million) and $1.5 million (instead of $2.25 million). A 993 Cup and a '58 Jadgwagen fell below expectations as well. Altogether, CNBC notes that the $22 million brought in by the collection fell well below the $28-32 million it was anticipated to raise. Far be it from us to count someone else's money, but something tells us Seinfeld won't be hurting too much after the sale. This is the guy, after all, who turned down an offer from NBC that would have netted him $5 million per episode for another 22-episode season of the eponymous show that made him famous. Related Video: Gooding & Company Sets Amelia Island Record for Single Lot and Celebrates More Than $60 Million in Sales from its 2016 Amelia Island Auction 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider Fetches $17,160,000, a Gooding & Company Record Selections from The Jerry Seinfeld Collection Total More Than $22.2 Million AMELIA ISLAND, Fla. (March 13, 2016) – Gooding & Company, the auction house acclaimed for selling the world's most significant and valuable collector cars with the tradition of presenting some of the greatest collections to ever come to market, realized $60,162,150 in a single day at the company's 2016 Amelia Island Auction.

Volkswagen iBeetle gets integrated iPhone dock, little else

Apple fans have been itching to see the tech giant flex the full muscle of its iOS operating system in an automotive infotainment system for years, which is why we turned all sorts of excited when we caught wind of the Volkswagen iBeetle. The machine is headed to the Shanghai Motor Show for a debut, and VW promised it would be one of the "first cars in the world to have a genuine integrative interface for the iPhone that was coordinated with Apple." Listen closely, and you can hear the contented sigh of a million wallets opening.
Go ahead and close those up, kids.
In reality, the iBeetle offers little more than a dash-mounted dock and a special app that shows a few vehicle functions, which is about as far from an infotainment revolution as you're likely to find. In fact, the setup is little more than a factory rehash of aftermarket items, and hardly worth a whole model debut at an international motor show. And that's to say nothing of the fact that Apple relishes in changing the shape and form of its darling handheld at every generation. Volkswagen better be prepared to keep pace with appropriate docking mechanisms for the upcoming iPhone 5S, 6, 6S, et al.