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- Trouble in EV Land

- N.A. Production Up

- Bye-Bye Mulally

- Caddy Needs Another Decade

- Cadillac Teams with Saks 5th Ave.

- Nissan BladeGlider

- Will Chevy Offer a Mid-Engine ‘Vette?

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Hello and thank you for joining us on Autoline Daily this November 11th, which is Veteran’s Day, and we want express our appreciation for all you veterans who are out there. Now to the news.

TROUBLE IN EV LAND

As we’ve been reporting here for over a year, sales of electric cars are nowhere near where the auto industry thought they’d be. Now the Obama Administration seems to be moving its support away from EVs and to fuel cell cars instead. In an interview with Autoline Daily in June of last year, then Secretary of Energy Stephen Chu admitted he needed to put less emphasis on EVs and more on fuel cells. The Administration has not offered any new EV funding since then. Now Bloomberg reports that the California Air Resources board is considering slashing the credits its gives to EV markers. Tesla could see its credits drop 40% in the next two years. In fact, Tesla is already seeing its income from credits drop. In the first quarter of this year Tesla earned $68 million in California credits. that fell to $58 million in the second quarter and to $10 million in the third.

NORTH AMERICAN PRODUCTION UP

Carmakers in North America are confident that sales are going to keep climbing. Wards reports that they’re increasing their production plans for the fourth quarter by 2.2%. That puts them on pace to build 4.1 million vehicles between October and December. For the year they’re on pace to build 16.5 million vehicles compared to 15.8 million last year.

BYE-BYE MULALLY

As you know, Microsoft is looking at Ford’s Alan Mulally to become CEO of the company. Now Reuters confirms that Ford’s Alan Mulally is officially on the short list. Earlier this summer, when the rumors first appeared I said that there was little chance Mulally would go to Microsoft. Now I’ve changed my mind. At several recent press conferences Alan Mulally has ducked the question when asked if he would go to Microsoft. In my experience, CEO’s don’t duck questions like that. They unequivocally deny they’re going to take a new job at another company. Also, Mulally does not have a formal contract with Ford, so there’s nothing that legally binds him to stay at the company. If I’m reading the tea leaves right, look for an announcement early next year.

CADDY NEEDS ANOTHER DECADE

It can take forever to change people’s perception of a brand. Cadillac relaunched its brand 14 years ago with its new styling look that it calls Art and Science and it’s made a lot of headway. But Cadillac’s new head of global marketing, Uwe Ellinghaus, says it’s going to take yet another decade before Cadillac can truly compete with the likes of Mercedes and BMW. He says that the brand has name recognition thanks to its history but most people don’t see Cadillac as relevant.

CADILLAC PARTNERS WITH SAKS 5th AVE.

And to help turn around its image, Cadillac just announced a partnership with Saks Fifth Avenue for a specially designed 2015 Cadillac Escalade which will be on display at the Saks’ store in New York City. Also, a 2014 special edition ELR will be offered in Saks’ holiday catalog.

EURO MUSTANG

The next-gen Ford Mustang will be officially offered in Europe for the first time since 1979 and a new survey suggests it will sell better than most people expected. Of the 75,000 Europeans polled by the website AutoScout24, 37% of them said the pony car is the top classic car they would like to own, beating out the BMW M1 and Volkswagen Beetle. What do you think? How well will the new Mustang sell in Europe? Let us know in the comments section below today’s show.

NISSAN BLADEGLIDER

Check out this wild-looking concept from Nissan, called the BladeGlider. It’s an electric vehicle that the company calls an exploratory prototype of an upcoming vehicle. Although not quite as radical, styling for the EV is clearly drawn from the DeltaWing racecar with its narrow front end and wide rear track. The concept adds in-wheel hub motors for propulsion, gullwing doors and seating for three. The BladeGlider will debut at the Tokyo Motor Show starting later this month.

Corvette enthusiasts have dreamed for decades about a mid-engined Corvette. But we’ve got bad news for you, and you can hear all the gory details right after this.

WILL WE SEE A MID-ENGINE ‘VETTE?

My guest on Autoline After Hours last week was Tadge Juechter, the chief engineer on the Corvette. During the Rapid Fire part of the show, which is where we take questions from you, our viewers, one of you wanted to know if we will ever see a mid-engined Corvette.

(Clip about if Chevy will offer a mid-engined Corvette can only be viewed in the video version of today’s show.)

By the way, there is a ton of information on the technology and development of the new ‘Vette in that show with Tadge Juechter. Check it out on our website at Autoline.tv or you can watch it on our YouTube channel, just look for the Autoline Network.

And also be sure to check out our LIVE coverage of the LA Auto Show on Wednesday, November 20th at 4PM eastern or 1PM Pacific with our signature sponsor Hyundai. I will be talking with top executives about what they brought to the show. Once again, that’s Wednesday November 20th at 4PM at our website Autoline.tv.

And that wraps up today’s report. Thanks for watching, we’ll see you tomorrow.