Rest stop: Geneva, speed limits and changing horizons [Discussion]

The Leftlane staff reflects on the news of the past few weeks.

It has been several weeks since we've talked about the goings-on in the auto industry, so we have quite a bit to cover. Happy Friday, and let's dive in.

[This week's participants: Drew Johnson, Managing Editor; Justin King, News Editor; Byron Hurd, Buyer's Guide Editor; Ronan Glon, European Editor]

Byron: I want to start with the GT500 speed limiter announcement. The 2013 GT500 was one of the first all-muscle, no-apologies cars I truly fell in love with, and the top speed tribute to Carroll Shelby was one of its most charming (if thoroughly unattainable) features.

Byron: I don't know if there's really much else to say about that besides "bummer," but, well, bummer.

Ronan: Well, that's not the only speed limiter story we've seen lately. There's Volvo.

Byron: Segue!

Ronan: Volvo set its speed limiter at 112 mph, which is illegal in nearly every country. Will anyone notice? How often does the average motorist go above 100 mph? Who has ever bought a Volvo because of its top speed?

Byron: Right; especially something that is essentially purchased to make a certain statement in the elementary school drop-off lane.

Drew: This one is a head-scratcher for me. If setting a speed limiter to 112 mph saves lives, I'm all for it. But as far as I'm aware, Volvo hasn't issued any hard data that suggests capping speed at 112 mph is the silver bullet for saving lives. What percentage of traffic fatalities involve speeds above 112mph? Why not 111 mph? It seems like a marketing ploy to me, but Volvo is a safety expert, so I guess I should give them the benefit of the doubt.

Byron: My guess on the "why" was tire speed ratings. It lines up with an S-rated radial. That's all I've got.

Justin: Volvo explained its 112 mph speed limiter as necessary to achieve a zero-deaths goal, claiming it is "worth doing if we can even save one life." This implies that Volvo has done everything else in its power to improve safety and must now resort to arbitrary restrictions on vehicle capabilities. Taking a look at IIHS ratings shows just one model with 'good' headlights, the XC40, and you have to purchase a top trim level and optional tech package (the base model's headlights are deemed 'poor'). Volvo, before you put resources into arbitrary speed limiters that implicitly blame safety deficiencies on scofflaws, can you please ask your engineers to make better headlights so normal drivers can see deer or debris on the highway at night?

Ronan: In Europe, officials want to make speed limiters mandatory by 2021. These devices will be linked either to GPS data, or to a camera-based traffic sign recognition system. It won't matter whether your car can do 90 or 190, you won't be able to get there unless you're on the Autobahn, or on a race track. I think Volvo is following the direction lawmakers are pointing in, while boosting its image as a safety leader.

Byron: I think that hits the nail on the head. It's convenient good press. And there's something to be said for self-regulation getting out ahead of government regulation.

Ronan: Interestingly, Polestar will not follow Volvo's lead on this.

Byron: Not surprising. Speaking of Polestar, let's circle back to Geneva here momentarily, but first, while we're on the subject of speed limits, how about that California proposition to remove them on certain highways?

Ronan: The Autobahn proposal in California comes at an interesting time; Germany recently floated the idea of getting rid of the unlimited sections of its Autobahn in a bid to reduce CO2 emissions. The odds of that happening are slim to none; it's like trying to ban Oktoberfest.

Ronan: Plus, the odds of California -- of all places -- allowing motorists to freely explore the upper echelons of their cars' rev range are equally low. It would take a tremendous amount of discipline for that system to work in the Golden State. In Germany, no one hogs the left lane, and if motorists see a car coming up behind them at 130 mph, they normally move over immediately.

Drew: As much as I would love a U.S. autobahn, it's a terrible idea. Have you seen the way Americans drive? Even a Volvo with a 112 mph top speed wouldn't be enough to save us from ourselves.

Ronan: You'd end up with a used 3 Series doing 140 mph in the middle lane, a 60-mph Prius driver in the left lane, and a Volvo owner doing 75 in the right lane.

Byron: Yeah, you just can't justify it here. The re-education alone that would be required to make that work would be catastrophically expensive for a state that already struggles to balance its checkbook. It's a neat idea that needs to remain purely hypothetical.

Byron: OK, Geneva.

Drew: The highlight of this year's Geneva show was easily the $18.9 million Bugatti La Voiture Noire. And not just for the fact that Bugatti made a $18.9 million car, but because someone actually bought it.

Drew: We're clearly still on the ascent to peak hypercar, and a steep one at that. A few years ago Bugatti was struggling to sell 450 copies of its all-mighty Veyron, and now the Chiron -- which is roughly double the price of the Veyron -- is selling so well that Bugatting decided to come out with a car that's six times the price.

Drew: In my opinion, there's only one thing more insane than the La Voiture Noire's selling price: If other high-end automakers don't come out with an $18.9 million car of their own.

Byron: I loved the thoroughly indelicate way Bugatti mentioned the price of the car in its announcement. That was some golden-toilet-level self-congratulation. Never let it be said that Europeans don't know how to put a good shine on something completely tacky.

Byron: How do we feel about the ID Buggy?

Ronan: I like the ID Buggy concept. It's original, and I admire Volkswagen's decision to build it, even if it's through a partner (e.GO). I hope it doesn't end up like the Citroen E-Mehari, though. It was super-cool as a concept, I was completely on-board with it, but it got super-boring on its way to production, and it's incredibly expensive for what it is. Volkswagen, you have the opportunity to bring something unique to the market. Please, don't screw it up.

Byron: I think the real potential here is in Volkswagen's promise to provide the platform to third-party developers. That's essentially how we got the Meyers Manx buggy back in the day (though via a far less formal arrangement, granted) and I'm hoping it will bear fruit this time around.

Byron: There's been some chatter about Volkswagen appropriating the MM buggy design for its own gain, but I'm having trouble getting worked up over the "economic justice" angle of this when MM used Volkswagen components to build the buggies in the first place. It's OK to benefit from Volkswagen's engineering, but not OK for Volkswagen to capitalize on the success of that venture? Sounds like everybody won, if you ask me.

Ronan: Speaking of Volkswagen, how about the Golf R400 cancellation?

Byron: Oh, you know I want to talk about this one. It's a perfect example of the Mustang problem. Our readers even acted it out for us right in the comments the Volkswagen article. My cup truly runneth over.

Ronan: I think Volkswagen has a valid point. I can't imagine the R400 selling well as a regular-production model, not if it's priced above 50,000 euros. The standard Golf R is niche enough as-is. But, I could see the company selling a few hundred examples for that price; capping production would turn it into an instant classic, and it'd be an awesome -- though likely not very profitable -- way to send off the seventh-gen Golf. It can't be that expensive to engineer, especially if it uses the Audi-sourced five-cylinder.

Byron: For years, it really seemed like Audi was fighting hard to keep that 2.5T a four-rings-only engine, and frankly I think that was a valid strategy. What probably disappoints Volkswagen fans most is that they were this close to getting their hands on a factory-built five-cylinder turbo hatchback for a discount price, even if that discount wouldn't really have been enough to put it in reach of the typical VW enthusiast. It would have been a symbolic win, but I'm not sure Audi would have felt the same way.

Ronan: Speaking of performance cars that have been in the making for far too long, it's weird that with all of the computing power available in 2019, the C8 Corvette still makes churros out of its frame. You'd think engineers would have realized that, I dunno, four years ago when they asked an intern to play around with CAD? I don't know how accurate the report is, but damn: electrical problems, a Play-Doh frame, and some unspecified problem in the ergonomic department? Those are serious setbacks for a car that should have already been unveiled.

Byron: Yeah, even if the stories are overblown, this seems like a case of smoke indicating fire. Perhaps an unfortunate metaphor given the fact that electrical gremlins are among the reported problems, but...

Ronan: Going back to the drawing board this late in the development process can't be cheap or easy. I wonder what effect it will have on the production car.

Byron: Hopefully the rumors are heavily exaggerated and it never really came to that.

Byron: What's next?

Drew: Tesla.

Byron: Fire away.

Drew: People are buying everything online these days -- from toothpaste to hot tubs -- but I'm not sure the buying public is ready for online car shopping. Even the cheapest Tesla is $35,000, and that's a lot to plunk down on a vehicle you've never seen before, especially given Tesla's spotty quality control. The 1,000 mile/seven-day return policy does help, but it's not exactly the perfect safety net.

Justin: Tesla's willingness to try new things and question conventional wisdom has been critical to its success. In some cases, however, the apparent lack of internal deliberation and erratic changes make the company seem amateur or even desperate to meet quarterly sales goals. "Full Self-Driving" should never have been offered as a pre-order option without clear launch timing.

Byron: "Erratic" is definitely the right word for it. Tesla (and Musk in particular) often seems to lack long-term direction and discipline, but the ADD generation probably doesn't really care that much. The problem with all of that impulsiveness is that there are consequences.

Drew: Case in point: If you took out a loan to purchase your Tesla and decide to take advantage of the return policy, that lending institution might charge you a fee to cancel your contract. And Tesla will keep your $1,200 destination charge. Online car buying will become a thing, just not in 2019. And I think that's exactly the reason why Tesla almost immediately backtracked on its plans to sell online-only.

Byron: On that note, I think we've reached a good stopping point. Have a good weekend, everybody!

Photo by Ronan Glon.