Auto Industry Briefing — week ending 27th September 2020
VW in Tesla’s rear view mirror; Amazon makes things interesting; and no child left behind. Please enjoy our auto industry and mobility briefing for 21st September to 27th September 2020. A PDF version can be found here.
Before you read the detail, what were my favourite stories of the past week…?
- Mama Said Knock You Out — VW is taking the fight to Tesla with the launch of the ID4 in the USA. It is locally built, priced more cheaply than the Model Y and freely available examples of the Model 3, and unlike Tesla cars nowadays, it has unlimited use of a charging network. Now the choice is down to customers. Where will they put their money?
- Can’t C Me — Amazon is creeping into the automotive market. There was already an in-car Alexa on the market, but you could accuse it of being a bit boxy. With the new dashcams and alarms, Amazon has chosen areas where competition is weak, options are expensive and feature sets are often underwhelming. What comes next?
- What About The Rest Of Us — Elon Musk says there won’t be an internal combustion industry in the long term (2:02:00 in this video). It seems like in more economically developed countries things are only going one way, but what about poorer areas? Will everyone there suddenly find the financial means to buy electric cars, solar roofs and wall mounted batteries, or will these products remain out of reach? Is he blinkered to their plight or does he have plans for a sub $10,000 car on the drawing board?
News is arranged by company and topic. Stories that apply to more than one company or topic are duplicated.
Find our archive here.
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News about the major automakers
- Will begin producing battery packs at the Leipzig, Germany, plant. (BMW)
- Opened a new R&D centre in Munich. Home to 4,800 engineers, it cost a cool €1 billion to build. (BMW)
- Settled a case over incorrect reporting of US retail sales by paying an $18 million fine. (Reuters)
- Invested in energy saving motor manufacturer Turntide Technologies. (FINSMES)
- Reportedly set to eliminate 4,000 jobs at the main plant in Stuttgart, Germany, and another 1,200 at an engine factory in Berlin, Germany. As part of plans to meet larger headline targets. (Handelsblatt)
- Former CEO Zetsche said he was turning down the job of supervisory board chairman that he was due to inherit in 2021 because some investors had expressed a lack of confidence in him and he didn’t want to take on the role with anything less than full support. It is unclear who will take on the mantle instead. (Handelsblatt)
- CEO Källenius says demand has stabilised, but China is looking healthier than North America and Europe. (Economic Times of India)
Ferrari
- Unveiled the latest one-off car created for a fabulously wealthy client: the Omologata. (Ferrari)
- Reached a deal with Canadian unions for a new labour contract, helped by promises from the Canadian government to provide dollops of cash. (Detroit Free Press)
- Incoming CEO Farley says China is the most advanced market for digital consumer experience. (China Daily)
- Reportedly applied for €500 million in German government loan guarantees aimed at helping companies affected by coronavirus. (Reuters)
- The Bridgend engine plant closed, for good. (BBC)
Geely (includes Volvo) (history)
- Volvo published the framework it intends to use to raise green bonds. (Volvo)
- Volvo’s CEO reckons that despite a rise in coronavirus cases across Europe, a recovery in the car market is well underway, with volumes similar to 2019 levels in the most recent months. (Reuters)
- Polestar is aiming for annual sales of over 50,000 units in the next two to three years. (Reuters)
- Lynk&Co unveiled the Zero Concept, previewing the brand’s first all-electric entry in 2021. (Geely)
- Geely revealed details of the SEA architecture that its brands will use for all-electric vehicles. The company says that cars from A to E segment, plus light commercial vehicles, can be accommodated by a scalable common component set. It can also be used for range extenders and the company is open to selling the design to rivals. (Geely)
- Will use MobilEye chips in driver assistance features offered across several Geely-owned brands. (Intel)
- GM’s deal with Nikola to build the Badger all-electric pickup truck lets GM use 80% of the zero emission credits generated by sales of the truck in the USA. (Detroit Free Press)
- Revealed a battery electric SUV called the SUV e:concept, which the company says previews the design direction for China and may be the same car the firm intends to launch in Europe in around 2022. (Honda)
- Designed a rear seat-centric concept for an interior with help from LG. The vehicle features a massive curved screen in place of a sunroof and a floor cleaning robot. (Hyundai)
- Hyundai’s South Korean unions agreed to a wage freeze. They normally strike for higher pay. (Reuters)
Nissan and Mitsubishi (history)
- Mitsubishi is rumoured to be planning a cull of 500 – 600 managerial jobs in Japan. (Reuters)
- Acquired, and retired, 1.1% of PSA’s shares owned by Dongfeng, in accordance with a share purchase agreement that is part of the merger terms with FCA. PSA and Dongfeng also changed the terms of the agreement for the remaining shares to be bought (about twice the amount in this transaction) saying that if they aren’t sold to PSA by the end of 2020, they will definitely go to a third party by the end of 2022. (PSA)
- Reportedly offered to make vans for Toyota more cheaply, and increase the number it will build for the Japanese company, as a way to assuage European antitrust concerns about the impact a merger with FCA will have on the commercial vehicle market. (Reuters)
- Held a combined annual meeting and battery day presentation, with a limited number of attendees who sat in Tesla cars in front of a main stage and beeped horns at every comment they approved of (nearly all of them). (Tesla)
- In closing remarks for the annual meeting, CEO Musk said that the ultimate volume ambition for the Shanghai, China, plant is one million units per year (28:05) In a dig at upstart competitors, Musk said that Tesla’s contribution to the automotive industry wasn’t “making exciting prototypes” (28:50) Musk gave investors a lesson in basic economics, offering such insights as: cutting the time between order, build and delivery improves cash flow; and having factories in different regions means you can meet local demand more quickly (“build where you sell” in industry parlance) . (32:00) He believes that it is 10 or 100 times harder to design a car factory that create a prototype car. (42:00) A quick look at the relative headcount figures for manufacturing engineering and product development in established OEMs indicates that this is hyperbole. The “true measure” of Tesla’s success will be the number of years that the firm accelerated the take up of sustainable energy by, so… impossible to measure then. (45:00) (Tesla)
- CEO Musk said that progress on Autopilot had stalled over the last two or so years because of limitations in the way information was gathered and analysed. He says that the code was rewritten and the labelling approach was changed so that it is now “3D video”, which means rather than labelling each frame from each camera, the combined camera outputs are labelled across a series of frames. Musk said that this dramatically improves performance and a private beta version (for a small subset of users to test) will be available in “a month or so”. He says the new system is “amazing” and “clearly going to work”. (39:00) (Tesla)
- Wants to halve the cost of battery packs on a per KWh basis over the next three years through optimised product and manufacturing design and use of lower cost materials, each of which brings benefits in energy density, unit cost and capital spending. The numbers quoted: a roughly 55% improvement in both energy density and piece cost are about in line with expectations based on industrywide trend improvements to date looking towards 2030. Tesla is claiming leadership through an explanation of the detail, and predicting it can achieve the improvements more quickly than most forecasts (but not all). The first method will be moving to larger cells by more than doubling the diameter from 21mm to 46mm, an approach that a few years ago Tesla was dismissive of. The new cell will be called 4680. The larger cell alone improves energy density by 16% (and reduces cost by 14%). The company now claims to have redesigned the cell in such a way that the primary drawback of slower charging for larger cells is almost entirely overcome. CEO Musk also says the batteries will be more efficient to produce. (1:08) The next stage is to reduce a step from the production process by making battery films via a process of drawing powder through a press, rather than today’s technology which requires wet coating and drying. The new process is based on developments acquired when Tesla took over Maxwell. CEO Musk admitted that the company may fail to make this work at scale because current quality levels are low. Using its knowledge of battery charging and discharging, Tesla says it can reduce the time taken to quality test the cells at the end of the line by 75%. These steps, combined by designing its own bespoke manufacturing equipment will in future give Tesla the ability to reduce the investment in a new factory by 75%, and the footprint necessary. By 2030, Tesla hopes to be able to produce 3 TWh of batteries annually (and 200 GWh by 2022) — it will continue to buy batteries from third parties. (1:28) By changing the battery materials, mainly moving to silicon rather than graphite and nickel rather than cobalt, Tesla says costs can drop whilst battery capacities increase. (1:33) Finally, by paying more attention to how the battery pack acts as a structural member (which some companies imply they are doing already), some parts of the pack and surrounding car body can be eliminated. (Tesla)
- Confirming earlier rumours, CEO Musk said he wants to launch a car with a $25,000 price point “about three years from now” (and it will be fully autonomous too). Given Tesla’s prior realisation of pricing targets, this might not be widely available in the lowest cost trim. The car does not yet have a name but in line with the exist S3XY naming convention, Ad Punctum humbly suggests it will be either the “Model !” or “Model 2”. (Tesla)
- Elon Musk doesn’t think there will be an internal combustion engine industry long term (2:02), implying that either he believes the World’s poorest countries will be able to afford high performing electric vehicle infrastructure (whether through micro grids or otherwise), or he has forgotten that poorer countries exist, or that long term could mean any point in the very distant future. (Tesla)
- Tesla’s long term goal, previewed by a question in the earnings call, was confirmed by CEO Musk as 20 million units per year. (1:55). This would put Tesla way above the current leading producers (Toyota and VW on about 10 million units each). (Tesla)
- Significance: With Tesla’s volume per model failing to outstrip conventionally powered competitors, even in segments where it currently has the market to itself (e.g. Model S, Model 3), achieving this level of volume would require either for the brand to become far more popular than today, or for the release of a massive portfolio of vehicles.
- No sooner had the battery day presentations finished than people started to pour scorn on the claims made. Experts said that Tesla’s plan to reduce material costs by sourcing its own lithium used techniques no one had ever heard of and the company would struggle to get environmental permissions. (Reuters)
- Toyota Tsusho invested in software developer Aurora Labs (a different company to the similarly-named entity that is trying to build self-driving cars). (Toyota)
- Truck division Traton is teaming up with TuSimple to develop self-driving heavy goods vehicles, with Traton taking a minority stake in TuSimple as part of the deal. Navistar, a takeover target for Traton, is a TuSimple investor. (Traton)
- Audi might agree a joint venture for electric cars with existing partner FAW. (Reuters)
- Unveiled the production version of the ID4 all-electric SUV that will be built in Germany and the USA. (VW)
- VW sales of the ID4 in the USA are taking the right to Tesla. New owners will get unlimited charging for three years, rather than a fixed credit as Tesla offers, and VW’s Electrify America network offers faster chargers too (except the vehicle’s design means it can’t access the full power). (VW)
- Lamborghini need a new boss after their CEO was snapped up to head Formula 1. (Formula 1)
- Will pay around $6.5 million to settle claims of improper conduct by the company during the Brazilian military dictatorship. (VW)
- Porsche is experimenting with making parts of racing cars out of natural fibres. (Porsche)
Other
- Investors backed by the Chinese state are reportedly looking to take Brilliance, BMW’s partner, private. (Reuters)
- Xpeng unveiled a flying car that can carry two people at altitudes of around 25 metres. (SCMP) The company also said that with the help of local government aid it will build a 100,000 units per year factory in Guangzhou, China, that is scheduled to start up at the end of 2022. (Reuters)
- McLaren’s CEO says his company will likely have a fully electric vehicle between 2025 and 2030. (CNBC)
- The Fisker Ocean has been delayed again, this time until the end of 2022. (Fisker)
- WM Motor (formerly Weltmeister) says it has raised another $1.5 billion. (Reuters)
- Karma will name its forthcoming all-electric vehicle the GS Series, rather than sharing the Revero nameplate with the plug-in hybrid car it already makes. (Karma)
News about other companies and trends
Economic / Political News
- The UK government is reportedly soon planning to announce that sales of internal combustion engine powered vehicles will be banned by 2030, despite pleas from industry that even 2035 is too soon. (The Guardian)
- California’s governor wants to ban sales of internal combustion engined vehicles by 2035. (The Guardian)
Suppliers
- Mahle is closing two German factories making powertrain components and cutting jobs at others. (Handelsblatt)
- Toray thinks that demand for carbon fibre parts, particularly hydrogen tanks for fuel cell vehicles, is going great guns and plans to increase capacity by 50%, mainly from switching facilities away from aviation grade materials. (Nikkei)
- Bosch and Schaeffler are joining forces to produce rear wheel steering units. (Schaeffler)
- Osram and Continental are dissolving their lighting systems joint venture. (Continental)
Ride-Hailing, Car Sharing & Rental (history)
- Vehicle rental start-up Drivezy is reportedly looking to raise $35 million but will see its valuation drop by around one quarter. (Deal Street Asia)
Driverless / Autonomy (history)
- Intel’s MobilEye division will collaborate with Al Habtoor to launch a fleet of self-driving vehicles in Dubai by the end of 2022. (Al Habtoor)
- The investment firm led by Nikola’s interim chairman, Steven Girsky, is rumoured to be planning an investment in TuSimple. (TechCrunch)
- Tesla CEO Musk said that progress on Autopilot had stalled over the last two or so years because of limitations in the way information was gathered and analysed. He says that the code was rewritten and the labelling approach was changed so that it is now “3D video”, which means rather than labelling each frame from each camera, the combined camera outputs are labelled across a series of frames. Musk said that this dramatically improves performance and a private beta version (for a small subset of users to test) will be available in “a month or so”. He says the new system is “amazing” and “clearly going to work”. (39:00) (Tesla)
- VW’s truck division Traton is teaming up with TuSimple to develop self-driving heavy goods vehicles. (Traton)
- Charging network ChargePoint is going public via a merger with a special purpose vehicle in a $2.4 billion deal. (Economic Times of India)
- Chinese charging services provider Star Charge raised $125 million in a round co-led by charging equipment manufacturer Schneider. (Deal Street Asia)
- Solar energy specialist SPI Energy said it would launch an electric vehicle company and its share price jumped 4,000%. (Axios)
- Tesla wants to halve the cost of battery packs on a per KWh basis over the next three years through optimised product and manufacturing design and use of lower cost materials, each of which brings benefits in energy density, unit cost and capital spending. The numbers quoted: a roughly 55% improvement in both energy density and piece cost are about in line with forward looking expectations based on industrywide trend improvements to date. Tesla is claiming leadership through an explanation of the detail, and predicting it can achieve the improvements more quickly than most forecasts. (Tesla)
Connectivity
- Otonomo launched a connected car data platform that allows users to access anonymised data collected from cars all over the world. (Otonomo)
- Amazon has started making car alarms, through its Ring brand. (The Verge)
- Software developer Aurora Labs (a different company to the similarly-named entity that is trying to build self-driving cars) raised $23 million from investors including Porsche SE (already announced) and Toyota Tsusho. (FINSMES)
Other
- Advertising-funded UK bicycle rental start-up HumanForest suspended operations after an accident uncovered problems with the design of bicycle used. (TechCrunch)
- Indian on-demand refuelling service FuelBuddy raised $2.3 million. (Autocar)
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Auto Industry Briefing — week ending 20th September 2020
Monthly charges for driver assistance; self-driving hyperbole; and start-up shenanigans. Please enjoy our auto industry and mobility briefing for 14th September to 20th September 2020. A PDF version can be found here.
Before you read the detail, what were my favourite stories of the past week…?
- Dollar Bill — GM says that owners of Super Cruise enabled cars will have to pay $25 per month to use the feature once the car is three years old. Although there are some examples of ongoing costs, such as mapping the road network, that underpin such charges, we are entering unchartered territory in pricing. GM has already made customers pay thousands of dollars to have the kit in their new cars (unlike Tesla which installs the sensor set at its own cost), and now it wants hundreds of dollars more each year. Is this a valid maintenance expense or gouging?
- What Do You Mean? — Human Horizons’s new car will feature “Level 4” driving capability. Don’t get too excited about a car that drives itself, it turns out it will do no more than find its own parking space in a garage. This stretches the use of SAE terminology to near breaking point. If anyone can use the shorthand to imply work leading capabilities then people will simply dismiss it. This is a shame as hitherto it has provided some degree of separation about the various stages of self-driving technology. Can we put the genie back in the box?
- Cheap Thrills — Nikola admitted, to the horror of many investors, that its early prototypes hadn’t worked properly and some of them contained bought-in parts rather than the company’s own secret sauce. Welcome to the real world. Renders, static models, early prototypes built from a parts bin — these are all tools in the armoury of companies trying to develop products and raise funding at the same time. Some of them may have good reason to and some may be covering for a lack of real progress. Can the market tell the difference?
News is arranged by company and topic. Stories that apply to more than one company or topic are duplicated.
Find our archive here.
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News about the major automakers
- Will fit vehicles with road condition and grip availability monitoring software from 2021 onwards. (Tactile Mobility)
- Daimler’s head of heavy trucks admitted that presently the brand’s only plan to accommodate spending on fuel cells, battery power and traditional diesel for the next generation of logistics vehicles was to triple the budget and that costs will only be contained through cooperation. (Handelsblatt)
- Will release an all-electric heavy truck in 2021 with a plan for a long haul version and fuel cell powered model to come around 2025. (Daimler)
- Confirmed a settlement with US authorities, and an accompanying lawsuit, over diesel emissions irregularities that will cost the company about $2.2 billion. Daimler sounded relieved that it has escaped a monitoring program of the type imposed on VW. (Daimler)
- FCA and PSA changed the terms of their merger deal to preserve cash. FCA shareholders will get a smaller special dividend before the companies are combined but the spin-off of Faurecia will be delayed so that FCA’s owners can share in the spoils. (FCA)
- The European Investment Bank increased its loans to FCA to nearly €800 million. (EIB)
Geely (includes Volvo) (history)
- Volvo’s head of online sales says that 10% of new car volume coming from short term leasing schemes such as Care by Volvo is a “realistic goal within a reasonable time frame”. He sees greater online sales as inevitable given the choices available to consumers in other industries and that unless OEMs take the lead, dealers will respond to the trend, but in a fragmented way. (Autocar)
- Kandi established a subsidiary to hold its battery swapping technology, a move the company thinks will make it easier to attract investment. (Kandi)
- Set the ongoing price for the Super Cruise automated highway driving function at $25 per month, once a three year trial period (starting when the vehicle is new) expires. There will be a lower fee — $15 per month — if the owner already subscribes to some of GM’s other connected services. Unlike Tesla’s Autopilot activation fees, GM owners have to pay upfront for the technology and are then subject to ongoing maintenance fees. (Business Insider)
- Believes that flying cars will be a good application for batteries and electric motors. (Detroit Free Press)
- GM expects each Cadillac dealer will need to invest $200,000 to be able to sell all-electric models. The money will go into workshop equipment, chargers and training rather than new showroom space. (Detroit News)
- GM thinks that its electric motors will be a source of competitive advantage because the power electronics are integrated into the design, saving weight and space. The company has designed several modular front and rear axle set ups which can accommodate a range of motor sizes and outputs. (GM)
- As part of an existing commitment to have 11 battery electric vehicles by 2025, the Kia brand said that by 2027 it will release 7 new battery vehicles by 2027 (a slightly different timeframe). The first is set to be unveiled in 2021 – Kia says the project name is CV, likely the same as the Imagine concept from 2019. (Kia)
- Released the next generation Hyundai Tucson mid-size SUV. (Hyundai)
- Selling fuel cell units for use as stationary generators. (Hyundai)
Nissan and Mitsubishi (history)
- Unveiled the Z Proto, a preview of the forthcoming 370Z sportscar replacement. (Nissan)
- Says that 30% of customers for the Nissan Juke choose a two tone paint scheme. (Nissan)
- Opel disbanded yet another national sales company in favour of an importer model. This time, Hungary. (Opel)
- FCA and PSA changed the terms of their merger deal to preserve cash. FCA shareholders will get a smaller special dividend before the companies are combined but the spin-off of Faurecia will be delayed so that FCA’s owners can share in the spoils. (FCA)
Suzuki
- Unveiled the Swace, a car based on the Toyota Corolla. (Autocar)
- Revealed a minor refresh for the Jaguar F-Pace. (JLR)
- Reportedly interested in setting up a technical centre in Bengaluru, India according to local officials who promptly leaked details of their meeting with the firm. (Economic Times of India)
- In-house marketing company Delphys is being restructured to better prepare it for the rise of digital media. (Toyota)
- Toyota executives in India said the company would put market expansion plans on hold due to the high taxes imposed on vehicle sales. (Europa Press)
- VW has met the conditions laid out by the independent monitor appointed in the wake of the diesel scandal and has now exited the special supervision process. (VW)
- VW’s top legal executive says that whilst, due to its size, VW Group may have compliance breaches in future, a problem as large as the diesel scandal could no longer lie undetected. (FT)
- Raised €2 billion through a green bond that VW will use to develop electric vehicles. (VW)
- Rumoured to be selling the Bugatti brand to Rimac in return for a bigger share in the Croatian company. (Car)
Other
- Atlis, developers of a battery electric full size pickup truck, are hoping to raise $25 million through an offering of shares to the public with the company remaining private (a funding option available in the USA so long as the amounts aren’t too high and certain disclosure protocols are met). (Atlis)
- Evergrande announced a rights issue that will raise around $520 million. (SCMP)
- Nikola’s founder stepped down as chairman, to be replaced by Steve Girsky, one of the brains behind GM’s bankruptcy, after the company failed to completely restore investor confidence following a research note published by a short seller which said some of the brand’s early prototypes had been less capable then they seemed (the company admitted to pushing one down a hill rather than doing the work to get it running properly). (Nikola)
- HAAH, which plans to assemble vehicles in the USA using plans supplied by Chery under the Vantas brand announced that it will have a second brand, called T-GO. (HAAH)
News about other companies and trends
Economic / Political News
- A report saying that EU negotiators had rejected a UK proposal for post-Brexit trade that electric vehicles should be able to count Japanese components as local content because both the UK and EU would have separate trade deals with Japan — a mechanism known as “cumulation” — will frighten manufacturers. (FT)
Suppliers
- It was a tough week for tyre factory workers in Europe. Bridgestone announced that it will close the Béthune, France, plant (Bridgestone) and Continental could shut the Aachen, Germany, site. (Industry Europe)
- Following the announcement of another round of job cuts — around 7,000 globally — German unions complained that Mahle was not taking a 2016 labour contract, which guaranteed a future for all the firm’s German plants, seriously. (IG Metall)
- TT Electronics is acquiring magnetic products specialist Torotel. (TT Electronics)
- Garrett Motion put itself into Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and agreed that investment firm KPS Capital should take over its assets in a $2.1 billion deal. (Garrett)
- LG Chem plans to separate its battery business, although it says there are no firm plans to have an IPO for the new unit. (LG Chem)
- Brembo wants to become a solutions provider and will invest in artificial intelligence for R&D activities, plus brand building so that its products become “cool”. (Brembo)
Dealers
- Online used vehicle trader Spotawheel raised €10 million. (TechCrunch)
- ASEAN online car marketplace iCar Asia (owner of several brands) is reportedly up for sale. (Deal Street Asia)
Ride-Hailing, Car Sharing & Rental (history)
- Uber is reportedly interested in selling some of its stake in Didi Chuxing to raise cash. (Bloomberg) The company sold its European freight operations to sennder. (Reuters) It also refinanced $500 million in debt. (Uber)
Driverless / Autonomy (history)
- Although Uber has escaped charges over the death of a pedestrian after they were run over by one of the company’s test vehicles, the safety driver has been charged with homicide. (BBC)
- Human Horizons will offer automated parking on the HiPhi X. The brand calls the system “Level 4 autonomous driving”. (Human Horizons)
- Significance: The term Level 4 for self-driving on a closed course stretches the SAE definitions to breaking point and suggests that before long they will either need to be revised or completely abandoned.
- Electric vehicle conversion specialist XL Fleet merged with a special purpose vehicle in a deal that values the company at around $1 billion. (XL Fleet)
- Infrastructure providers Aral, Vattenfall and BP will collaborate to offer fleets a comprehensive charging service on the go, and to install wallbox chargers at their home base. (Vattenfall)
Connectivity
- INRIX and Here will offer a white label parking availability and booking service. (Here)
Other
- Proterra launched the ZX5, a new battery electric bus. (Proterra)
- Volocopter is accepting deposits for flights in the company’s air taxis. The only catches? The firm can’t say where the fight will be or when it will happen. At €300 per trip, the pricing suggests the democratisation of short term air transport is some way away. (Volocopter)
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Auto Industry Briefing — week ending 13th September 2020
More blockchain speed required; massive money for advanced research; and the start of a big move in online retail. Please enjoy our auto industry and mobility briefing for 7th September to 13th September 2020. A PDF version can be found here.
Before you read the detail, what were my favourite stories of the past week…?
- Frozen — Renault is testing a blockchain-based supply chain management tool created by a group of leading suppliers. The bad news is that at the moment it can only process 500 transactions a second. Slow speeds are a criticism often levelled at the bitcoin blockchain and can sometimes be difficult to eliminate, but with a single engine line needing around 10 transactions per second, you can’t add too many before the system runs out of steam. Have the architects got their sums right?
- I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing — Toyota’s research arm announced a new $800 million fund to invest in new technologies. At a time when rivals are clamping down on spending as far as possible, Toyota is keeping its foot on the accelerator. Will the competition come to regret that they didn’t bet on the future, or will Toyota just splurge on the wrong things?
- Follow You Follow Me — Toyota announced that it is starting a Japan-wide online store for used cars, with plans for new car sales in the pipeline. Before you start yawning, consider this: Toyota holds a market share of close to 50% in Japan (with a population north of 120 million), so this single move, if well executed and well received, could be transformative and potentially the largest single bet on online retail we’ve yet seen. How seriously will Toyota apply themselves?
News is arranged by company and topic. Stories that apply to more than one company or topic are duplicated.
Find our archive here.
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News about the major automakers
- Chose a new agency group to lead marketing communications for Europe. Unusually, the team will not be entirely marketing specialists and will include strategy consultants from Berylls. (BMW)
- Cut the ribbon on a new battery plant in Tiexi, China, doubling local capacity. (BMW)
- Invested in 3D printing marketplace Xometry. (FINSMES)
- CEO Källenius says that coronavirus has made him question the firm’s competitive strengths and that he is willing to eliminate underperforming models. (FT)
- Lost a patent infringement case brought by Sharp. Daimler says it will appeal. The ultimate sanction could be a stoppage of sales in Germany but Daimler considers this unlikely since a sub-supplier is now paying a licence fee and the case is about historic royalties. (Handelsblatt)
- Collaborated with Off White, who have helped Nike to make several ranges of extraordinarily expensive trainers, to make a concept G-Class that explores future interpretations of luxury. Apparently this means abandoning materials that damp noise, vibration and harshness. (Daimler)
- Maserati unveiled the new MC20 sports car. The design has been in development for only 2 years. (Maserati)
- In detailing the organisation for the MC20’s Italian launch, Maserati made the unbelievable claim that 7,500 meals were served, yet only 4,000 cups of coffee were drunk. (Maserati)
- Selected by the Canadian autoworkers’ union as the lead company in pattern bargaining. (Detroit News)
- Said in an investor presentation that logging data from connected cars was helping to choose what content to delete from cars to make them cheaper to build. Ford gave a specific example of showing how often owners locked the car using the rear doors — where it found the answer varied by vehicle line. (Ford P10)
- The forthcoming Mustang Mach E will identify drivers based on the signature of their key fob and mobile phone, so that individual settings are applied before they even settle in. The car’s infotainment system will learn all sorts of regular habits, such as regular routes and phone calls, assuming owners don’t find it creepily effective. (Ford)
- Took an 11% stake in hydrogen electric truck company Nikola and agreed to supply battery and fuel cell technology, plus engineer and build the already announced Nikola Badger pick-up truck. GM received the equity, worth around $2 billion at current levels for free in return for unspecified in kind consideration (e.g. the technology transfer). The forecast value of the supply contracts is another $2 billion. Since the Badger was announced in 2020 and is planned to launch in 2022, GM’s engineering team will have to get a move on, even if it runs of the forthcoming all-electric platform that will be used for the new Hummer. (GM)
- Sold the Lang Lang, Australia, test track to VinFast. (Economic Times of India)
- Says that using a next generation battery management system from supplier Analog Devices will reduce wiring within the battery pack by up to 90%, reducing weight, and increasing pack density. (GM)
- Announced a fleet supply deal with Uber that will offer substantial discounts (the same level that employees receive) to Uber drivers if they buy a GM electric car. (GM)
- Hyundai’s marketing department need to start saying potential names out loud before committing to them. The brand’s latest camper van conversion is called the “Porest” — seemingly a clever combination of the donor vehicle (Porter) and the idea of leisure (rest). (Hyundai)
Nissan and Mitsubishi (history)
- Nissan’s COO says the tipping point for electrification will be when battery cost falls below $95 / kWh, but that Europe is already in the midst of a change despite prices still being above that level. (Autocar)
- The Japanese government has reportedly provided massive loan guarantees for banks giving Nissan credit, and would be on the hook for around $1.2 billion if the company failed. (FT)
- Nissan plans to raise $8 billion is US dollar bonds after Japanese bond issues raised less than hoped. (Nikkei)
- Has now produced half a million Nissan Leaf all-electric car (over two generations). (Nissan)
- Nissan’s COO confirmed that the next generation Micra will be developed and built by Renault. (Reuters)
- Opel continued its clear out of national sales companies in smaller European markets, announcing an importer had been chosen for Serbia, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Kosovo and Albania. (Opel)
- In a memo to staff, new CEO de Meo said that the company would probably need to increase cost saving targets for the restructuring plan announced before he started to escape the “red zone”. He called the cashflow projections he has seen “alarming” and suggested that there was scope for 25% price increases in mid-size cars, whilst cutting the portfolio by around one third. (Reuters)
- Renault and Nissan are hoping to bag a sizeable slice of Uber’s demand for electric vehicles in the near term, signing a fleet deal with the ride hailing operator to sell vehicles to drivers. (Renault) A separate release by GM about a similar scheme in the USA indicates that drivers will be entitled to heavy discounts. (GM)
- Testing a blockchain-based parts tracking system called XCEED sponsored by several major suppliers. Methods to increase the current capacity of 500 transactions per second must be found if the system is to be used across the supply base. (Renault)
- Dacia unveiled new Sandero and Logan models. (Dacia)
Suzuki
- Slightly increased its shareholding in Maruti Suzuki, from 56.28% to 56.37%. (Economic Times of India)
- Reportedly exploring the sale of stakes in Tata Technologies and a construction machinery joint venture with Hitachi to raise cash. (Live Mint)
- Once Tesla’s Chinese plant is running at full steam, the plan is reportedly to export cars to Europe and Asian markets. (Reuters)
- Toyota’s advanced research institute — to be rebranded as Woven — is launching a venture fund with an $800 million war chest. (Toyota)
- Announced an online store selling used cars across Japan. The company hopes to expand the offering into new cars in future. (Toyota)
- The Traton truck unit increased its takeover bid for Navistar. (Navistar)
- The head of Škoda’s Czech organised labour complained that the company plans to move too much production out of the Czech Republic, calling it a campaign against the brand. His comments could bring him into conflict with VW’s union leader in Germany who has applauded such moves in the past. (Reuters)
- Highlighted the challenges of procuring ethically sourced batteries by revealing that 134 suppliers and 18 mines are used to produce component parts for VW Group’s batteries. (VW)
- Significance: With VW forecasting battery electric vehicle production rising by an order of magnitude in the next few years, keeping tabs on suppliers threatens to become a substantial bureaucratic overhead.
- Former CEO Winterkorn will face trial in Germany, charged with fraud over the diesel emissions scandal. (Reuters)
- Showed off the station wagon and rugged estate versions of the new Golf. (VW)
Other
- Lucid revealed the production version of the Air, with the brand’s CEO saying it was aiming squarely at the Mercedes S-Class (which sold 71,300 units globally in 2019 including 12,500 in the USA). The car boasts a massive 113 kWh battery (good for almost 520 miles) and a price tag well north of $100,000. Lucid says cheaper versions with lower range will become available post launch. (Lucid) Executives announced at the launch event that the second product – already confirmed as an SUV – will be called Gravity. (TechCrunch) The company also intends to launch a range of stationary storage products. (Economic Times of India)
- McLaren is contemplating a sale and lease back of its headquarters in a bid to raise cash, despite recent statements from the Formula 1 team that there was no longer a problem with liquidity. (The Guardian)
- VinFast acquired GM’s Lang Lang, Australia, test track. (Economic Times of India) There was also a new limited edition SUV announced: The President, which has a $164,000 price tag and of which only 500 will be built. (Nikkei) The brand’s parent denied that it was interested in selling off some of the non-automotive businesses in its portfolio to raise money. (Reuters)
- After the high of announcing a tie-up with GM, Nikola had to vehemently deny claims made in a research note that the company’s technology was sub-par. (Nikola)
News about other companies and trends
Economic / Political News
- Under the recently-signed Formula 1 commercial contract, new teams will have to pay $200 million to enter the championship, with the money going to existing teams. Good news for the likes of Daimler, Ferrari, McLaren and Renault should anyone have a big enough chequebook. (Autosport)
Suppliers
- Schaeffler announced a new restructuring plan aimed at saving €250 million – €300 million annually. The firm is looking to cut around 5% of the workforce. (Schaeffler)
- The CEO of German steel supplier Salzgitter is not interested in a merger with Thyssenkrupp’s ailing steelmaking division. (Reuters)
- Kongsberg’s CEO stepped down. The firm appointed interim co-CEOs whilst a replacement is found. (Kongsberg)
- Battery supplier Envision is reportedly hunting around for a new site in France. (Reuters)
- KCC Glass is acquiring all of the Korea Autoglass joint venture it operates with AGC. (Yonhap)
Ride-Hailing, Car Sharing & Rental (history)
- Uber’s target is for 100% of trips to be in all-electric vehicles by 2040, with an earlier target of 2030 for US, Canada and Europe. The company is creating an $800 million fund to help drivers buy new cars. (Uber) The company is negotiating large discount programs with OEMs such as GM, Nissan and Renault.
- Indian all-electric ride hailing business BluSmart Mobility raised $7 million. (Live Mint)
- Rental operator Europcar is in talks with lenders over a debt restructuring. (Auto Rental News)
Driverless / Autonomy (history)
- Lidar developer Ouster raised $42 million. (Ouster)
- A Cruise blog post gave an overview of the complexity involved with machine learning for self-driving vehicles – and demonstrated that the group have no intention of writing detailed rules for coping with extreme manoeuvres, seeing the task as “impossible”. (Cruise)
- Waymo published a blog explaining how it combines real world data with scenarios for rare problems it stages at a test track called Castle. (Waymo)
- ZF has teamed up with Aeva to bring the latter’s lidar technology into production. It is unclear how this affects ZF’s existing relationship with Ibeo, which it part-owns (the rumour is that the stake is up for sale). (Aeva)
- A study of British car buyers found half of those asked will NEVER buy an electric car because of a shortage of charging points. The disconnect between a transient number of charging points and a supposedly absolute level of disinterest didn’t stop headline writers from seizing on the news. (The Telegraph)
- Charging provider Wallbox acquired Spanish firm Electromaps. (Europa Press)
- GM says that using a next generation battery management system from supplier Analog Devices will reduce wiring within the battery pack by up to 90%, reducing weight, and increasing pack density. (GM)
Connectivity
- Nvidia is acquiring chip designer ARM from SoftBank in a $40 billion deal. (BBC)
- Parking app SpotHero is acquiring Canadian rival Rover Parking. (FINSMES)
Other
- AYLI says that it has letters of intent from a buyer who wants lots of the electric motorcycles the company has under development. (AYLI)
- Ad-funded bicycle rental firm HumanForest raised £1.8 million. (TechCrunch)
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Auto Industry Briefing — week ending 6th September 2020
Saintly limited series cars; Renault’s massive punt on Alpine; and two powerhouses get together. Please enjoy our auto industry and mobility briefing for 31st August to 6th September 2020. A PDF version can be found here.
Before you read the detail, what were my favourite stories of the past week…?
- Daydreamer — Alongside E-Types, Bentley Blowers and various Aston Martins, you can now buy a continuation Volvo P1800 courtesy of Geely’s in-house racing arm. The $500,000 price tag (including some fettling of the performance) makes it cheap by comparison to some of those and makes me think about the possibilities for others… if the P1800 is fair game for a reissue, why not the Ford Escort Mexico? Does this Volvo bring continuation editions into the mainstream or is it a step too far?
- Chasing Pavements — Alpine is going to become one of the three key brands at Renault and will get a re-branded Formula 1 team to help sell itself to the masses. Given the failures of Jaguar, Alfa Romeo et al (not to mention BMW and Toyota) to make an impression. With sums of money that rival vehicle program investment being spent, how is the nominal cost switching the branding to Alpine rather than leaving it as Renault justified in these times of exacting capital allocation?
- Someone Like You — GM and Honda are getting together to develop and product vehicles and powertrains in North America. It makes a great deal of sense: to compete in North America, Honda has to develop big vehicles that don’t sell well elsewhere whilst GM can’t build smaller vehicles because of the measly returns and puny volumes. How will Ford and FCA react?
News is arranged by company and topic. Stories that apply to more than one company or topic are duplicated.
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News about the major automakers
- Unveiled the new Rolls-Royce Ghost. Plutocrats’ chauffeurs will be relieved to know that the days of rushing round to the back of the car are over — the Ghost is equipped with power opening doors. (Rolls-Royce)
- Rolls-Royce’s CEO says that the brand is set to be profitable in 2020, thanks to massive pricing power, and will set up a second shift to deal with the anticipated demand for Ghost. He isn’t sure yet whether the new limousine or the Cullinan SUV will emerge as the brand’s biggest seller. (Automotive News)
- Unveiled the new S-Class. The car comes with all the usual mod-cons, plus new occupant monitoring sensors which enable gesture recognition and automation of some functions by pre-empting the need based on the movement of the driver. Mercedes have also fitted an optional rear steering system for enhanced manoeuvrability in congested city centres. (Daimler) Daimler executives told assembled journalists that the target letter for the S-Class’s specification was 689 pages long. (Reuters)
- Daimler will not be investing in additional capacity in Germany, preferring to build where it sells (e.g. more production in China). CEO Källenius admitted that the restructuring plans were now intended to be deeper than when they were first announced (pre-coronavirus). (FT)
- There is likely to be a Maybach version of the all-electric EQS limousine, with Daimler executives suggesting that there were “opportunities”, almost certainly code for the program having been already approved. (Bloomberg)
- Daimler’s boss remains open minded about an expanded future cooperation with Aston Martin but says that he can’t comment on any initiatives at present. (Top Gear)
- Issued a €1 billion green bond that will fund development of low CO2 transport and sustainability measures. Daimler will pay just 0.75% interest. (Daimler)
- Setting up a new test site in Albuquerque, USA to develop self-driving trucks with the recently acquired Torc Robotics team. (Daimler)
- Daimler says that the factory building the new S-Class will be 25% more efficient than when the previous generation was built. (Reuters)
- Unveiled the three-row Jeep Grand Wagoneer, a vehicle that is intended to push the brand upmarket, as well as increase volumes. There will also be a shortened version, called simply Wagoneer, that is yet to be revealed. The vehicles are set to be launched in 2021. (FCA) The head of the Jeep brand sees the vehicle’s competitors as the Range Rover and Cadillac Escalade. (Reuters)
Ferrari
- Production of the GTC4Lusso — the closest thing Ferrari had to a family car — has ended. (Motor1)
- Confirming earlier rumours, Ford announced plans for an early retirement program, aiming to get 1,400 North American employees off the payroll. (Detroit Free Press)
Geely (includes Volvo) (history)
- Cyan Racing, which traditionally handles motorsport for Volvo and Geely in Europe, announced a continuation edition of the 1960’s Volvo P1800 coupe. Unlike recent efforts from Bentley and Aston Martin, the car is substantially upgraded versus the original, boasting higher power, lower weight and a steeper price tag — a cool half million dollars. (Autocar)
- Volvo is acquiring a Swedish dealer group with the intention of rolling out a set of IT tools and processes that allow for seamless transactions online and at the dealership, so that customers won’t have to restart orders just because they choose to drop into a dealership, or vice versa. Volvo’s plan is to hone to system in Sweden and then deploy in other markets around the world. (Volvo)
- GM and Honda intend to create a partnership in North America that will see vehicles and powertrains shared, with joint purchasing efforts that seek to leverage the scale of the two companies. (GM)
- Significance: Although the companies don’t mention the products involved, the deal could mean GM can still participate in car and minivan / MPV segments that it has recently abandoned on the basis of cost efficiency and offset some of the technologies it can no longer cost effectively develop in-house after selling Opel.
- GM and Honda intend to create a partnership in North America that will see vehicles and powertrains shared, with joint purchasing efforts that seek to leverage the scale of the two companies. (GM)
Nissan and Mitsubishi (history)
- Nissan says it has developed a new method of working with carbon fibre to produce car parts. Although the company is cagey on the details, it claims that development time has halved and cycle time can be reduced by 80%, indicating that the facility and tooling costs can be substantially reduced, although not to the point where the parts are cheaper than aluminium or steel (although extreme performance demands could demand carbon fibre’s use). (Nissan)
- The launch of the next generation Qashqai has reportedly been delayed until the middle of 2021. (FT)
- Formed a joint venture with Total, owner of the Saft battery development brand, called Automotive Cells Company (ACC) that will produce batteries in France and Germany. The intention to form the joint venture was announced in January 2020 and the production sites are PSA powertrain plants. (Total)
- Unveiled a minor design for the Peugeot 3008 (PSA) and 5008. (PSA)
- Announced a reorganisation led by new CEO de Meo. There will be four major divisions: Renault; Dacia; Alpine and New Mobility, with de Meo himself heading the Renault brand. He hopes that the changes will put an emphasis on profitability over volume. (Renault) As part of the move Renault has decided that the Alpine brand needs more, rather than less, attention and will become the constructor name for the Formula 1 team, whilst Renault will continue as engine supplier. Given the lack of success from similar expansion efforts for Alfa Romeo and Jaguar, it remains to be seen whether giving such a considerable marketing push to a marque with only a single vehicle will pay off. (Renault)
- Plans to raise $5 billion through issuing new stock. (Tesla)
- Despite its rocketing share price and recent improvements in financial performance, Tesla was not added to the USA’s S&P 500 stock index. (Reuters)
- Rumours swirled over a flying visit made by CEO Musk to VW’s headquarters. VW’s CEO sought to quash the more colourful theories by saying Musk had simply stopped by to test drive the ID3 all-electric compact car, and been slightly rude about its top speed. (LinkedIn)
- Porsche is looking for collaborators to develop synthetic “efuels” that have lower carbon emissions than fossil fuels, even offering to jointly build small scale factories to pioneer the technology. The brand also hopes that CO2 regulators might credit brands with developing the products. (Porsche)
- Porsche is borrowing about 400 production workers from nearby Audi facilities to help meet demand for the all-electric Taycan. (Automobilwoche)
- The chairman of VW’s works council thinks that by 2023, when VW has several factories producing electric vehicles at full tilt, people will start talking about VW more than Tesla. He also expressed a lack of interest in a four day working week, reportedly under consideration by other German car makers (e.g. Opel), saying VW has plenty of work for its employees to do. (Manager Magazin)
Other
- Byton, which suspended operations in July, will reportedly raise about $300 million by forming a new company called Shengteng, and hopes to get mass production underway again soon. (Caixin)
- Daimler’s boss remains open minded about an expanded future cooperation with Aston Martin but says that he can’t comment on any initiatives at present. (Top Gear)
- Lotus is being sued by Williams Advanced Engineering because Lotus took electrical work on the forthcoming Evija inhouse. (Autocar)
- Gordon Murray announced a track focused version of the recently unveiled T.50 hypercar. The T.50s will cost over £3 million and only 25 will be built. (Gordon Murray)
News about other companies and trends
Economic / Political News
- The UK government decided that now is a good time to take a hard stance on Brexit, with the top negotiator saying how red the country’s red lines are and the prime minister expected to declare that he would be comfortable with trading with the EU on WTO terms. (BBC)
- US light vehicle SAAR of 15.2 million in August was down (11)% versus prior year but was the strongest industry level seen since February. (Wards)
- UK passenger car registrations in August of 87,226 units fell (5.8)% on a year-over-year basis, dampening hopes of an industry recovery glimmers of hope in July. (SMMT)
- German passenger car registrations of 251,044 units in August fell (20)% compared to prior year. (KBA)
- French passenger car sales in August of 103,631 units was a drop of (20)% versus August 2019. (CCFA)
- Spanish passenger car registrations of 66,925 units in August fell (10)% compared to prior year. (ANFAC)
- Italian passenger car sales in August were down only (0.4)% versus prior year, at 88,801 units. (UNRAE)
Suppliers
- Magna is buying Chongqing Hongli Zhixin (宏立至信) a seating supplier with which it has had a joint venture in China since 2015. (Magna)
- Valmet expects sales of battery packs to exceed revenue from contract manufacturing within five years. (Valmet)
- Bosch acquired 26% of swappable battery pack maker Sun Mobility. (Economic Times of India)
- Continental announced an expanded cost saving plan (the company originally announced a recovery plan in September 2019) with a target of saving €1 billion annually by 2023. About 30,000 jobs globally will be affected, but not all of them will go. (Continental)
Ride-Hailing, Car Sharing & Rental (history)
- Uber and Yandex’s Russian ride hailing joint venture is spinning off its self-driving division. Yandex will take the lion’s share of the autonomous business (73)%, with Uber retaining a 19% stake. (TechCrunch)
Driverless / Autonomy (history)
- Allegro MicroSystems acquired lidar developer Voxtel. (Allegro)
- Self-driving truck firm Ike says that Ryder, DHL and NFI have signed up to use Ike’s kit on 1,000 of their trucks, which the company hopes can replace drivers on highway trips. Rather than selling an entire vehicle, Ike will modify existing trucks and sell a subscription to its software and hardware. (Ike)
- Uber and Yandex’s Russian ride hailing joint venture is spinning off its self-driving division. Yandex will take the lion’s share of the autonomous business (73)%, with Uber retaining a 19% stake. (TechCrunch)
- Bosch remains convinced that, for heavy trucks, hydrogen fuel cells are a better bet than battery electric vehicles. The key reason is that the battery sizes necessary for long range add to vehicle weight, potentially at the cost of reduced payload. (Bosch)
- Battery developer QuantumScape will list via a merger with a special purpose vehicle. (Reuters)
- The UK’s automotive trade body, the SMMT, reckons that it will cost almost £17 billion to prepare the country’s infrastructure for mass adoption of electric vehicles by installing more chargers. (SMMT)
Other
- Japanese flying car start-up SkyDrive raised around $35 million. (Deal Street Asia)
- Volta showed off the prototype of the 16 tonne heavy truck it intends to produce from 2022 onwards. The design of the vehicle had already been shown in 2019 as a render. (Volta)
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Auto Industry Briefing — week ending 30th August 2020
Porsche pushes forward with new retail models; trying to understand the markets; and in-wheel motors getting their time in the spotlight. Please enjoy our auto industry and mobility briefing for 24th August to 30th August 2020. A PDF version can be found here.
Before you read the detail, what were my favourite stories of the past week…?
- Take On Me — Whilst others are underwhelmed by the performance of their short term rental schemes Porsche are pushing forward with a third expansion (albeit still relatively small). The offering is being expanded with a new tier that gives a discount if you don’t change cars. It’s easy to rationalise a list of exceptional reasons why Porsche’s brand can provide customers with something special that rivals can’t match, but is that true or can the results be matched with hard work?
- You Win Again — Daimler won an order from Amazon (check: tech customer) for a load of all-electric vans (check: emerging technology) that are going to be delivered this year (check: not vapourware). Yet markets didn’t swoon as they have for similar order numbers for smaller players. It makes sense in a way because the numbers are trifling in the context of Daimler’s business and the global industry, but the same argument could be made for any number of start-ups with orders for vehicles that aren’t yet available. So, what matters? Selling the future or simply not being one of the established brands?
- You Spin me Round — Mahindra agreed to work with electric motor maker REE on a new design for commercial vehicles that will properly leverage REE’s in-wheel motor technology. In-wheel motors promise a great deal for package, efficiency and control. There are only a handful of firms offering the units (let me know if you are wondering who the others are) and hopefully the move will make rivals consider whether they are taking the technology seriously enough. Could its time have come?
News is arranged by company and topic. Stories that apply to more than one company or topic are duplicated.
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News about the major automakers
- Cutting staff and shifts at the Mini plant in the UK. (BBC)
- Ineos and Daimler are reportedly close to agreeing the sale of the Hambach, France, factory. (Manager Magazin)
- Daimler announced that it was selling 1,800 all-electric vans to Amazon, but the share price didn’t jump by a bajillion dollars — even though it plans to deliver them this year. (Daimler)
- Estimates of Daimler’s headcount reductions continued to grow, and fluctuate. Some said 20,000 jobs would go. (Automotive News), whilst others said that, net of unfilled positions, the number was 30,000. (Manager Magazin)
- Recalling around 186,000 pick-ups trucks because the floor mats could foul the pedals. (FCA)
- Reportedly set to announce 1,000 job losses in North America as part of profit recovery efforts. (Bloomberg)
- Undertaking a trial of vehicles that can park themselves. Ford’s press release implies that the sensor set is the same that cars with the L2 driver assistance package will receive, plus some upgraded software that can interact with local infrastructure to safely find a parking space. (Ford)
- Recalling a small amount of vehicles because side impact airbags might not have been installed correctly. (Ford)
- The UAW union are up in arms because GM is using salaried staff to cover for hourly absenteeism (related to coronavirus) at the Wentzville, USA, plant. (Detroit Free Press)
- Toyota and Honda are starting a joint research project called Moving e that will see a fuel cell bus used as a mobile generator, focused on disaster relief efforts. Toyota will provide the bus whilst Honda will contribute generator expertise. (Honda)
- Kicked off the (previously announced) formal processes for integrating Keihin, Showa and Nissin Kogyo into Hitachi, in which Honda will take a share. (Honda)
- Hyundai’s Ioniq brand hopes to capture legions of teenage fans after enlisting the services of K-Pop sensations BTS to create a new brand song. (Hyundai)
- Rumoured to be planning large land sales at Opel’s Rüsselsheim base to raise cash. (Wirtschaftswoche)
- Opel’s boss is open to a four day week if it helps to save jobs and is cheap. (Handelsblatt)
- Tata wants cashflow to increase enough to repay almost $6.5 billion of debt over the next three years. (Reuters)
- After Ford’s Bridgend engine factory closes, JLR will take over manufacturing of V8 engines (which it owns the development cycle and IP for) at the Wolverhampton plant, taking on equipment and staff from the Ford plant to do so. (Autocar)
- Hackers targeted Tesla’s Nevada Gigafactory but were thwarted by a double agent. (Reuters)
- Toyota and Honda are starting a joint research project called Moving e that will see a fuel cell bus used as a mobile generator, focused on disaster relief efforts. Toyota will provide the bus whilst Honda will contribute generator expertise. (Honda)
- Porsche has pushed back the launch timing for the all-electric Taycan Cross Turismo shooting brake model because demand for the saloon variant is so strong. (Autocar)
- Porsche unveiled a major refresh for the Panamera four door. (Porsche)
- Whilst others are ending their experiments with short term car leasing, Porsche is expanding further in North America, adding more cities and a new monthly offering that makes subscribers commit to a single car. (Porsche)
- Significance: Porsche’s brand strength, and portfolio diversity, appear to position the company well for an offering that is similar to joining a car club but with greater convenience. It is unclear whether other brands have the same cachet required to promote themselves in this way.
Other
- Borgward has gone silent on plans for a full-scale European launch after underwhelming sales in the Chinese market and problems with at its parent. (Autocar)
- Ineos and Daimler are reportedly close to agreeing the sale of the Hambach, France, factory. (Manager Magazin)
- Electric hub motor maker REE and Mahindra will develop commercial vehicles together. (REE)
- The founder of electric truck maker Nikola is giving away part of his shareholding to loyal employees. (Nikola)
- Bollinger plans to make an all-electric commercial vehicle on the same platform as the SUV and pickup truck that have already been unveiled and a manufacturing partner will be announced soon. (Bollinger) The brand’s founder says the firm is in the process of raising investment, with the annual sales target remaining in the low four-digits, and that several special purpose entities had approached the company with a view to a listing as used by Fisker, Canoo, Luminar et al. (Reuters)
- Spyker is back, thanks to a partnership with racing outfit BR Engineering, and plans to put three models into production from 2021 onwards. Since two of them were unveiled in 2013 and 2016, it is unclear how positive the customer response will be. (Spyker)
- Workhorse is using Hitachi to provide financing and consultancy services. (Workhorse)
- Nio announced another share issue. (Nio)
- McLaren showed off the new carbon fibre chassis that will underpin its next generation models. (McLaren)
- Xpeng’s initial product offering went great guns and the firm is now worth over $10 billion. (Reuters)
- Chinese car maker Lifan agreed a restructuring plan with creditors. (China Daily)
News about other companies and trends
Suppliers
- Shiloh Industries agreed a deal to sell most of itself to an investment firm. (Shiloh)
- Hella is reportedly considering selling off its driver assistance unit. (Bloomberg)
- Honda kicked off the (previously announced) formal processes for integrating Keihin, Showa and Nissin Kogyo into Hitachi, in which Honda will take a share. (Honda)
Dealers
- Mexican used car website Kavak is merging with Argentina peer Checkars. (Reuters)
- OKXE.vn a Vietnamese website for selling motorbikes raised $5.5 million. (Deal Street Asia)
- CoPilot, an app that gives car buyers information on the best prices, raised $10 million. (Business Journals)
Ride-Hailing, Car Sharing & Rental (history)
- Lyft and Uber are reportedly preparing plans to licence their brands in California to fleet operators as a contingency measure, as the legality of their current practice of treating drivers as contractors rather than employees hangs in the balance. (New York Times)
- Ride hailing advertising firm Firefly is acquiring Strong Outdoor. (TechCrunch)
Driverless / Autonomy (history)
- Qualcomm and Veoneer will collaborate on an integrated self-driving hardware and software suite. (Veoneer)
- Uber’s self-driving car unit released an updated safety report. (Uber)
- Self-driving truck company Ike also released a new safety report. (Ike)
- Motiv Power raised $15 million. (Reuters)
- Mitsubishi has licenced Paice Hybrid’s technology. (Paice)
- Electric hub motor maker REE and Mahindra will develop commercial vehicles together. (REE)
- Toyota and Honda are starting a joint research project called Moving e that will see a fuel cell bus used as a mobile generator, focused on disaster relief efforts. Toyota will provide the bus whilst Honda will contribute generator expertise. (Honda)
- Significance: Although the idea has clear application potential, it is less obvious how to transport all the hydrogen required to the disaster area.
Other
- Additive manufacturing company Desktop Metal is listing via a merger with a special purpose vehicle in a $2.5 billion deal. (Reuters)
- Bicycle rental firm Bolt (not the same as the ride hailing company) raised $11 million and changed its name to Zoomo. (FINSMES)
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