Electric cars for all (who can afford them); science fiction sensor capabilities and; supercars that don’t push the envelope. Please enjoy our auto industry and mobility briefing for 2^nd March to 8^th March 2020. A PDF version can be found here.

Before you read the detail, what were my favourite stories of the past week…?

• Everyday People — GM invited investors and the press to marvel at its battery technology. The intended message was that GM is best placed to bring electric cars to the masses and that they have been super-smart about the design so they won’t get caught out by technology changes. So far so cool, but if they have really cracked the problem, why do most of the cars they are rolling out look like they will end up with a six-figure price tag?
• Distance And Time — Waymo raised $2.3 billion and released some details of the sensors it has been working on. The company reckons it has lidar with 300m+ of range, cameras that can see more than 500m and as for radar, they just gave up counting and called a great distance. The figures are impressive; nearly good enough for motorway speeds, depending on weather and the speed of making decisions. But are they real? Are they reliable? And can Waymo’s AI handle that much information without grinding to a halt?
• Never Ever — Koenigsegg unveiled a new model called the Gemera. According to the Swedish firm it will be so scarily fast that they daren’t do the maths in case the numbers give them a heart attack. In fact, they are so bruised by the experience that they are pledging to hold back on all future cars so this one is never bettered. I know I’m not your typical hypercar buyer, but is that the sort of brand message they will buy into when Koenigsegg make the car after this one?

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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Chart of the week

Long suffering readers will have seen me write many times about how, contrary to much of the news flow, European CO₂ regulations are unlikely to result in fines. Mainly since the cost of adding technology to the car is cheaper than paying the fines (albeit still harmful to profits).

I think this chart it is an interesting example of manufacturers successfully encouraging customers to buy the engine types that suit the brand’s overall goals. The pie charts cover the (same) ten best-selling vehicles (e.g. VW Golf, Audi A4). The left-hand side shows the final three months of 2019, the right-hand side is 2020 so far. Despite no major product introductions, hybrid and electric share from went from 8% to 11% and diesel has seen increases too. In just two months. An aberration? Seasonality? Or just good old mix management? You decide.

News about the major automakers

BMW ^(history)

• Unveiled a car called the Concept i4 that CEO Zipse promised is “quite close” to the production version. (BMW)

Daimler ^(history)

• The recent spate of senior departures from the ranks of Daimler’s financial team are reportedly the result of a turf war between newish CFO Wilhelm and the insiders that he beat to the job. (Handelsblatt)
• Unveiled the facelift for the E-Class. (Daimler)
• Plans on culling models, platforms and engines as part of an efficiency drive but the only action it will confirm publicly is that the next generation SL will be on a shared platform. (Reuters)

FCA ^(history)

• Investing $400 million to convert a US transmissions factory to build engines instead. (FCA)
• FCA’s head of US sales stepped down (he previously filed a whistle-blower suit against FCA’s sales reporting practices).  (FCA)
• Unveiled the all-electric variant of the new Fiat 500. Specifications and performance look reasonable; less clear is whether Fiat will find many takers given the £30,000 asking price. (FCA)

Ford ^(history)

• Confirmed that two employees had contracted coronavirus and launched a travel clampdown reminiscent of the actions the company normally employees when under pressure to improve financial results. (Detroit Free Press)
• Confirmed plans to produce an all-electric Transit van. (Ford)

Geely (includes Volvo) ^(history)

• Geely is going into the satellite business, building a new plant in China. (Autocar)
• Lotus says there are enough orders for the Evija supercar to fill the 2020 production plan, but it isn’t clear how many of the planned 130 cars this represents. (Autocar)

General Motors ^(history)

• Presented its plans for electric vehicles to investors and press. GM’s forthcoming ultium battery design will see some vehicles sporting pack sizes of 200 kWh and will be in production from late 2020 onwards. The first new product will be the next generation Chevrolet Bolt, followed by a Bolt EUV, then a new Cadillac called the Lyriq (exact timing is still unclear) and the already confirmed Hummer. GM believes that customer adoption may be faster than most forecasters are expecting. GM thinks that the new design of cells it is adopting will make them easier to fit into different shapes and sizes of vehicle; to swap out worn out units and; to be technology agnostic – both with regards to suppliers and in introducing new chemistries as they arrive. (GM)
• Is producing 550 different combinations of internal combustion engine type, output and transmission and says that with electric motors that figure can be reduced to 19 battery and motor sets. (GM)
• Said that coronavirus won’t affect production plans until the end of March at the earliest. (Reuters) GM has also instigated travel restrictions for employees. (Detroit Free Press)

Honda ^(history)

• Offering European customers electricity from renewable sources for their vehicle charging under a scheme called e:PROGRESS run with help from Moixa and Vattenfall. (Honda)
• Said that coronavirus was causing some production problems in Japan and that plants were using the parts they had around them, even if these weren’t the trim levels in the original schedule. (Reuters)

Hyundai / Kia ^(history)

• Hyundai unveiled the all-electric Prophecy concept car, a sleek sedan that appears to draw many styling cues from Tesla and Porsche. (Hyundai)

Nissan and Mitsubishi ^(history)

• Nissan’s Russian factory will go to a one shift pattern (from two today) until the market has recovered. The company said the move was unrelated to coronavirus. (TASS)

PSA ^(history)

• CEO Tavares suggested that the British government would have to compensate his firm for any tariffs payable if the UK and EU fail to agree a trade deal, and it wants to keep the Ellesmere Port plant open. (The Guardian)
• PSA stands ready to drop Huawei as a partner for its connected vehicle network if US authorities made it a condition of the FCA-PSA merger. (Reuters)
• CEO Tavares says the combined strategies of PSA and FCA in China will require a post-merger rethink. (Reuters) He also has a point of view about electric cars in Europe believing that at present, only “green addicts” are buying them.

Renault ^(history)

• Unveiled the Morphoz concept, a car that can expand and contract thanks to embedded electric motors. Renault said the car was previewing the design of a new line of electric vehicles, likely to be the next generation models of the Koleos and Kadjar. (Renault)
• Took the wraps off the Dacia Spring, a budget electric car based on the China market City K-ZE. (Renault)

Subaru

• Announced an executive reshuffle and reorganised the audit and quality departments. (Subaru)

Tata (includes JLR) ^(history)

• JLR was accused of not doing enough to properly classify workers under a new British law that seeks to tax captive workers as if they were employees regardless of the legal structure of the arrangement (many contract via companies that they own). JLR said it had done everything correctly and there was nothing to worry about. (FT)

Toyota ^(history)

• Announced a senior executive shake-up, with several of the top brass departing, and a new CFO. (Toyota)
• Expanded a recall for faulty fuel pumps to now cover 3.2 million units globally. (Bloomberg)

VW Group ^(history)

• Will drop natural gas powered models from the line-up, probably by 2025, citing low demand levels. (Handelsblatt)
• VW’s seat making subsidiary Sitech is closing a factory in Hanover, Germany, with the loss of 450 jobs after the plant lost production contracts to Faurecia. (Handelsblatt)
• Porsche executives poured cold water on any idea of an all-electric 911 before 2030 and suggested a hybrid was unlikely in the lifespan of the current model. (Autocar) The CEO was categorical that a 911 would always be available with an internal combustion engine. (Porsche) Officials also suggested that an all-electric hypercar was unlikely because they are concerned that there is too little opportunity for differentiation. (Autocar)
• Temporarily reduced Skoda Rapid production in Kaluga, Russia due to a shortage of tail lamps. (TASS)
• Audi unveiled the fourth generation A3. (Audi)
• Announced a joint venture with consulting firm Capgemini to create a cloud software unit. (Audi)
• Set up a team to work on securing green financing (which often conveniently happens to be cheaper than the regular sort) for VW’s future product plans. (VW)
• Bentley unveiled the limited edition Bacalar open top GT. (Bentley)

Other

• Aston Martin’s CEO says the main reason the company is developing a new V6 engine for entry models is that current V8 supplier Daimler is moving towards engines he considers too small for sportscars. He is leaving the door open for manual transmissions but implied there are none in the cycle plan for future products. (Car and Driver)
• Aston Martin unveiled the already announced limited edition V12 Speedster. The firm says that the car, a new exterior design built from a parts bin of other models, took 12 months to develop to “production intent” (with deliveries no starting until early 2021 there is some more development to do). (Aston Martin)
• McLaren’s boss complained about UK government plans to ban sales of all cars without plug-in capability by 2035, believing that hybrids should be given more time (the new rules wouldn’t preclude plug-in hybrids, only the sort that function purely through regenerative braking and scavenging from the engine). (Autocar)
• Bristol Cars was put into liquidation, scuppering hopes of a revival. (Autocar)
• Pininfarina said that it had sold more than 50% of the all-electric Battista supercars it intends to build for the USA and Europe and thinks that when the car is available for test drives, the remainder of the orders will flow smoothly in. The company also suggested that Rivian has been directed by Amazon not to licence its electric chassis to anyone who isn’t a shareholder (i.e. themselves and Ford). (Autocar)
• Fuel cell truck maker Nikola announced plans to list with a valuation of $3.3 billion. (Nikola)
• Yet to launch any products, Neuron EV has begun development of mobile quarantine facilities. (Neuron EV)
• Koenigsegg unveiled the Gemera, a hybrid four-seater limited to 300 cars. (Koenigsegg) It also has a new version of the Jesko available and says the Absolut version is the fastest car it has ever made (they claim to not even know its ultimate performance) and it won’t ever try to beat it. (Koenigsegg)
• Morgan has a new car, with the BMW-powered Plus Four replacing the Plus 4. (Morgan)
• McLaren unveiled a new high performance car, the 765LT. (McLaren)
• Nio raised $235 million in short term debt with zero interest. (Nio)
• Isuzu set a series of environmental targets for 2050: zero greenhouse gas emissions; and 100% recycling of waste and old vehicles. (Isuzu)
• Micro says it has 17,000 orders for the Microlino city car. (Micro)

News about other companies and trends

Economic / Political News

• US light vehicle SAAR of 16.83 million units rose 1.8% year-over-year. (Wards)
• German registrations of 239,943 passenger cars in February fell (10.8)% from the same period in 2019. (KBA)
• February passenger car sales in the UK of 79,594 units dropped (2.9)% on a year-over-year basis. (SMMT)
• French sales of 167,784 passenger cars in February were (2.7)% lower than a year earlier. (CCFA)
• February’s Spanish passenger car registrations totalled 94,620 units, down (6)% on prior year. (ANFAC)
• Italian passenger car sales of 162,793 units in February fell (8.8)% from 2019. (UNRAE)
• The former head of the UAW was charged with corruption and US officials floated the idea of a federal takeover of the union to rid it of bad practices. (CNBC)

Suppliers

• STMicroelectronics acquired a majority stake in Exagon to improve its power electronics offering. (STM)
• LG Chem bought a television factory in Poland to repurpose into one for batteries. (Yonhap)
• Martinrea reported full year 2019 revenue of $3.86 billion and operating income of $266 million. (Martinrea) The company also completed the takeover of Metalsa’s automotive assets. (Martinrea)
• Grammer issued a profit warning for Q1 2020. (Grammer)
• Goodyear is developing a tyre containing capsules of liquid that restore some of the tread, and prolong the life of the tyre. (Goodyear)
• Continental’s 2019 full year revenue was €44.5 billion, there was a €(1.2) billion net loss. (Continental)
• Adient is selling its automotive fabrics division to a unit of Asahi Kasei. (Adient)

Dealers

• Used car website Spinny raised $44 million. (Tech In Asia)

Ride-Hailing, Car Sharing & Rental ^(history)

• Chinese on-demand service Meituan Dianping invested in agricultural products distributor Wangjiahuan in a $87 million round. (Deal Street Asia)
• JLR-backed ride hailing firm Havn has declared its pilot scheme to be a success and is expanding. (JLR)
• Uber is happy to have driverless cars from other suppliers on its network provided “the tech is safe enough” (unsurprisingly, how that will be decided remains unclear). (Reuters)
• French courts ruled that Uber drivers are employees. (Reuters)

Driverless / Autonomy ^(history)

• UK-based Five(AI) raised $41 million to further develop self-driving technology, saying that it no longer planned to develop its own vehicles or run a ride hailing service and instead wants to sell technology. (TechCrunch)
• Waymo raised $2.25 billion from investors including Magna and dealer AutoNation. (Waymo)
• Waymo claims that its lidar sensors have a range of over 300 metres and the camera vision can read traffic signs more than 500 metres away. The radar recognises objects over “great distances”. (Waymo)
• Lidar developer SiLC raised $12 million from investors including Dell. (Robotics Business Review)
• Finnish self-driving vehicle start-up Sensible 4 raised $7 million. (Sensible 4)
• Chinese driverless vehicle developer Neolix says its products have been pressed into service to combat coronavirus, carrying out tasks such as ferrying supplies and cleaning streets. The firm has booked 200 orders in the last two weeks on the back of this success. (Deal Street Asia)

Electrification ^(history)

• GM presented plans for electric vehicles to investors and press. GM’s forthcoming ultium battery design will see some vehicles sporting pack sizes of 200 kWh and will be in production from late 2020 onwards. The first new product will be the next generation Chevrolet Bolt, followed by a Bolt EUV, then a new Cadillac called the Lyriq (exact timing is still unclear) and the already confirmed Hummer. GM believes that customer adoption may be faster than most forecasters are expecting. GM thinks that the new design of cells it is adopting will make them easier to fit into different shapes and sizes of vehicle; to swap out worn out units and; to be technology agnostic – both with regards to suppliers and in introducing new chemistries as they arrive. (GM)

Other

• Scooter rental firm Bolt is reportedly close to raising $30 million. (FINSMES)

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Cool cars for cool kids; 3D printing keeps getting better and; Deutsche Post loses patience with StreetScooter. Please enjoy our auto industry and mobility briefing for 24^th February to 1^st March 2020. A PDF version can be found here.

Before you read the detail, what were my favourite stories of the past week…?

• He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother — Citroën released a new city car, the AMI. The inspiration appears to have come from the question, what do you get if you cross a Smart ForTwo with a Renault Twizy? And the answer is a tiny, cheap as chips electric car that can’t go very far, or fast, and can be driven by teenagers. Not everyone’s cup of tea perhaps but making intelligent compromises on performance (i.e. making a city car that can’t leave the city) seems sensible if it saves big money. What will Greta Thunberg et al think?
• Bend Me, Shape Me — VW says 3D printing is good enough to make engine blocks. The only problem is that it takes 12 days (on a very expensive machine). Nowhere near mass manufacturing pace, but intriguing for prototype and small series runs. Twenty years ago 3D printing was only good for making models of blocks, so this is great progress. How far away are we from this technology being taken seriously and used with some imagination?
• Money For Nothing — Electric delivery van pioneer StreetScooter is shutting down. After years of complaining about high costs, owner Deutsche Post has finally decided to pull the plug and says there is no hope of finding a buyer. On paper the brand had everything it needed: anchor customer? Check; no competition? Check; make job specific electric vehicle tailored to a price point? Check. Where did it all go wrong (obviously cost) and how should people following a similar strategy (but are yet to launch) change their approach?

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

Daimler ^(history)

• Electric bus maker Proterra is teaming up with Daimler’s Freightliner unit to develop an electric truck. (Proterra)

Ford ^(history)

• Argo AI’s CEO confirmed that Ford’s initial plans for self-driving cars still exclude all-electric vehicles (Ford has earlier talked about plug-in hybrids). He had two reasons for pursuing the course, even as rivals choose all-electric vehicles, or at least hedge their bets: that electric vehicles cost more so profitability is harder and; that fast charging the battery to keep the vehicle in use would reduce its life expectancy too much. (The Verge)
• Recalling about 250,000 F-150 trucks to fix problems with auxiliary heaters and headlamps. (Ford)
• Ford’s Spin electric scooter rental subsidiary is starting operations in Europe with plans to launch is Germany and France (it would like to be in the UK too if the law changes). (Ford)
• Aston Martin will produce its own V12 engines from 2021 onwards, creating a (small) surplus labour problem at Ford’s Cologne factory. (AML)

Geely (includes Volvo) ^(history)

• Polestar unveiled the Precept concept car, it what looks like a preview of a Model 3 fighter. (Polestar)
• Volvo reportedly told dealers about two new products: a sleek coupe-ish SUV (dubbed the C40) and a massive SUV given the working title of XC100 (although the sequence XC40, XC60, XC90, XC100 feels odd). (Automotive News)

General Motors ^(history)

• Adding shifts at two Michigan, USA plants to meet increased demand for SUVs and Cadillac cars. (GM)
• VinFast implied an interest in the design and testing facilities GM will vacate when it closes Holden’s operations in Australia. (Motoring)
• Sold the Turin powertrain engineering centre to Punch Group. (GM)

Hyundai / Kia ^(history)

• Recalling 193,000 cars in the USA to fix leaking fuel hoses, (Detroit News)
• Suspended production in Ulsan, South Korea (Hyundai’s main plant) because a worker tested positive for Coronavirus. (Nasdaq)
• In the process of deciding where to locate a fuel cell plant capable of supporting 100,000 vehicles per year. (Reuters)

PSA ^(history)

• Reported 2019 full year revenue of €74.7 billion, up 1% on a year-over-year basis. Automotive revenue of €58.9 billion improved 0.7% YoY. Operating income of €4.7 billion rose 6% YoY. Automotive adjusted operating income was €5.0 billion with PSA claiming an 8.5% margin. The year over year performance was more than explained by positive mix and cost reductions. PSA says its European breakeven point (a somewhat fuzzy measure since pricing often deteriorates with industry weakness) is now 1.8 million units, 2019 European sales were 3 million units. (PSA)  
• CEO Tavares is contemplating an all-electric platform, but thinks it won’t be worthwhile until 2024. (Seeking Alpha)
• Citroën unveiled the AMI all-electric city car. Seemingly sprung of a desire to merge the philosophies behind the Smart ForTwo, Bolloré Blucar and Renault Twizy, the AMI is a two-seat quadricycle (which means that in France 14 year-olds can drive it) with a low price — €6,000 — and citybound range (70km). (PSA)
  • Significance: Citroën has taken a brave approach to marrying the two seemingly incompatible needs of future city cars: to be small and cheap whilst accommodating an (assumed to be expensive) electric drive system. Citroën’s answer had been to create a decidedly no-frills, performance compromised (outside the city) car, but counterbalance that with great inner city practicality and expand the potential customer base by making it as a quadricycle. Where the windowless Twizy (I know you could get ill-fitting fixed panels) was perhaps too revolutionary, this might be the right mix.

Renault ^(history)

• Renault’s wholly owned European dealer group is slightly downsizing, offloading ten sites. (Renault)
• Stressed that a recovery plan (with headline targets if €2 billion in structural cost savings) was still under development and firm decisions wouldn’t be taken until just before the plan is announced in May. (Renault)

Subaru

• Spending $158 million to add a transmission and spare parts warehouse at the Lafayette, USA, plant. (AP)

Tata (includes JLR) ^(history)

• Supplier AAM said the all-electric I-Pace was selling only half of Jaguar’s initial forecasts. (Bloomberg)
• Looking to sell off wholly owned Indian dealer group Concorde Motors. (Livemint)

Tesla ^(history)

• US regulators complained that Tesla had been less cooperative than rival carmakers in implementing their recommendations to risk the risk of drivers becoming overly reliant on driver assistance features. (CNBC)
• Panasonic is pulling out of Tesla’s solar panel factory but says it has no impact on the partnership to build batteries for cars. (Reuters)

Toyota ^(history)

• Investing $400 million in Chinese self-driving developer Pony.ai. (Pony.ai)
• Rebranded the recently acquired fleet leasing arm of Inchcape as Kinto. (Toyota)
• Toyota Tsusho invested in emerging market multimodal developer WhereIsMyTransport. (EU Startups)

VW Group ^(history)

• Reported full year 2019 group revenue of €252.6 billion, up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Earnings before tax of €18.4 billion rose 17.3%. VW will release detailed financial results in mid-March. (VW)
• Will buy out Audi’s minority shareholders (0.36% of the Audi’s shares), after this is completed, Audi’s legal entity status won’t change and it will remain as a stock corporation at the behest of unions who feel it is protection against the brand’s independence being eroded. (VW)
• Truck making unit Traton will buy up the remaining 5.64% of MAN’s stock that it doesn’t own. (VW)
• Porsche has been testing low speed camera-based autonomous driving to move vehicles around workshop areas. Longtime observers of ponderous self-parking technologies and laidback garage mechanics will wonder whether there is any real world benefit to be achieved. Slightly more interesting is Porsche’s belief that it could be a rich source of training data for on the road driverless applications. (Porsche)
• Škoda is very pleased with the initial results from its BeRider electric scooter rental scheme and is expanding the fleet to 700 units, to be scattered across Prague, Czech Republic. (Škoda)
• Audi is working on a way for shopfloor personnel to create special 3D-printed tools without having to create CAD models manually, saving time and reducing the skill level required to implement new ideas. Detail on how this is accomplished is thin on the ground and photos show staff carefully examining… CAD models. (Audi)
• VW has 60 different types of authority to approve funds, with 25 levels of secondary signature. To make things easier it has created a website to guide users but might want to work on the bureaucracy itself. It seems managers are not even trusted to approve their own travelcards (they can do so for others, but not themselves). Since this example is selected by VW, more ludicrous ones almost certainly abound. (VW page 2)
• Although VW is impressed by the high finishing standards of modern 3D printing, the company doesn’t see the technology as cost effective for mass production yet — with cylinder blocks taking 12 days to print — but has plenty of potential for prototype and small series runs. (VW Page 4)
• An employee at VW’s ItalDesign subsidiary contracted coronavirus, shutting operations there for three days (although diligent staff worked from home). (VW)
• CEO Diess is looking to shake things up by hiring a climate change activist to speak truth to power and “aggressively” challenge the company’s plans for improving its environmental impact. (FT)
• Reached an agreement with German consumers that will see VW pay €830 million in compensation for losses suffered as a result of the diesel scandal. (VW)
• Porsche unveiled the next step in personalisation. A customer’s fingerprint can be painted onto the bonnet (would-be identity thieves will sadly have to stick to applying blusher to the door handles as the image appears to cover too small a surface area to unlock a smartphone). The cost? A cool €7,500. Porsche haven’t said how the next owner can get rid of it. (Porsche)
  • Significance: Although having your fingerprint on the front of your car seems gauche, the application of specially painted personalisation is notable, albeit at a price point few will probably find bearable.

Other

• Aston Martin reported full year 2019 results. Sales of 5,862 cars, down (9)% year-over-year, resulted in revenues of £997 million, also down (9)%. A profit warning had presaged the operating loss of £(37) million, down from £73 million in 2018. The CFO will step down in April. Aston Martin’s outgoing Chairwoman said the company had suffered from an “unexpectedly large downside risk of underperformance”. The company expects 2020 to be tough, with the new DBX coming at the same time as a reduction in sportscar sales, but wouldn’t be drawn on roughly how many cars it hopes to sell. (AML)
• Aston Martin will produce V12 engines in the UK from 2021, relocating production from Ford’s Cologne site. It wasn’t clear where the factory will be and whether Aston Martin is planning to machine the main components, or buy them in. (AML)
• Nio received a boost by agreeing a deal with the local government in Hefei, China that will see Nio relocate its headquarters there in exchange for funding (said to be almost $1.5 billion). (Nio)
• Lucid will use battery cells sourced from LG Chem. (Lucid)
• Polish consortium ElectroMobility Poland plans on having two vehicles in production by 2023. (BBJ)
• Deutsche Post announced that it was shutting electric van maker StreetScooter and was no longer looking for a buyer. Although the brand is relatively young, the shutdown is ultimately expected to cost €300 million to €400 million – some of which may be vehicles in inventory. (Handelsblatt)  
  • Significance: The closure of StreetScooter raises a number of difficult questions for emerging electric vehicle makers: how big does an anchor customer need to be to ensure viability (since Deutsche Post ordered thousands of vans)? Is the delivery vehicle market less lucrative than many think? If the IP of a company with several years of production experience was considered worthless, what is the value of their assets?

News about other companies and trends

Economic / Political News

• The Geneva show was cancelled as the Swiss government banned events with more than 1,000 people. Many manufacturers announced plans to use online reveals of new products instead. (The Guardian)

Suppliers

• Plastics supplier OK Play is selling its automotive business to Lumax. (Autocar)
• Gestamp reported 2019 revenue of €9.1 billion and EBIT of €504 million. (Gestamp)
• Grammer agreed a series of new loans to expand its credit line and fund the final payment for the acquisition of TMD (which took place in 2018). (Grammer)
• CATL is hoping to raise $2.85 billion for new battery factories. (Reuters)
• Kongsberg reported full year 2019 revenue of €1.16 billion and PBT of €43.5 million. (Kongsberg)
• Bosch invested in internet of things software developer FogHorn. (FINSMES)
• Magna held an investor day. Despite a weak outlook for industry growth in North America and Europe (Magna thinks Europe will be slightly higher by 2022), Magna expects all business units except completed vehicles to see revenue and EBIT margin improvements. (Magna)

Ride-Hailing, Car Sharing & Rental ^(history)

• Uber is reportedly planning to pay drivers who put an advertising screen on top of their car a $300 one-off fee, plus $100 per week (if they are on the road for 20 hours or more). The firm plans to offer advertisers intelligent swarms of screens which can show the same messages as nearby fixed display boards. (Business Insider)
• Chinese ride hailing company Shouqi Limousine is trying to reassure coronavirus-obsessed customers by installing ultraviolet air purifiers in its cars. (Shouqi)
• Grab and Gojek denied that they were in merger talks but journalists, urged on by their sources, remain convinced that something is afoot. (TechCrunch)

Driverless / Autonomy ^(history)

• Zoox promises to show everyone “what we’ve been up to” this year, less clear is whether this will be before or after a hoped-for mega fundraising round. (Axios)
• US regulators suspended all passenger services using EasyMile vehicles after a passenger was hurt during an emergency stop. (Reuters)
• Bosch invested in UISEE, a Chinese developer of autonomous off-highway products. (Bosch)
• A research team is experimenting with ground penetrating radar to help drive in poor conditions. The unit is presently far too expensive and large for production vehicles and it is unclear what benefit it offers if a vehicle is already equipped with frequently updated maps because the sensor’s primary purpose seems to be detection of the road surface, rather than creating any useful semantic understanding of driving conditions (partly because the sensor is located so close to the vehicle). (ZDNet)
• Idriverplus, a developer of self-driving vehicles ranging from street sweepers to cars said it will use Velodyne lidar sensors. (Velodyne)
• California released self-driving statistics for 2019, this time in a database file, rather than electronic copies of the detailed reports. (CA DMV)
• Toyota is investing $400 million in Chinese self-driving developer Pony.ai. (Pony.ai)
• Argo AI’s CEO confirmed that Ford’s initial plans for self-driving cars still exclude all-electric vehicles (Ford has earlier talked about plug-in hybrids). He had two reasons for pursuing the course, even as rivals choose all-electric vehicles, or at least hedge their bets: that electric vehicles cost more so profitability is harder and; that fast charging the battery to keep the vehicle in use would reduce its life expectancy too much. (The Verge)
• Porsche has been testing low speed camera-based autonomous driving to move vehicles around workshop areas. Longtime observers of ponderous self-parking technologies and laidback garage mechanics will wonder whether there is any real world benefit to be achieved. Slightly more interesting is Porsche’s belief that it could be a rich source of training data for on the road driverless applications. (Porsche)

Electrification ^(history)

• Magna says that next generation electric drives, transmissions and ancillaries could boost electric vehicle range by up to 120km over today’s models. (Magna)

Connectivity

• Driverless car developer Oxbotica and communications infrastructure provider Cisco are undertaking a pilot project to explore the practicalities of using a network of wifi hotspots for data exchange between vehicles instead of relying on onboard modems. (The Engineer)

Other

• Electric moped rental start-up CityScoot is raising €24 million. (TechCrunch)
• Electric scooter rental firm Vogo raised an additional $19 million. (Deal Street Asia)
• Flush with new cash, Tier has acquired the physical assets of shuttered moped rental firm Coup. (TechCrunch)
• Mobile servicing service RepairSmith acquired rival CarDash. (Tech Startups)

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Making money from cyber security; customers turning their backs on clever engines and; autonomous pods have a branding problem.Please enjoy our auto industry and mobility briefing for17^th February to 23^rd February 2020. A PDF version can be found here.

Before you read the detail, what were my favourite stories of the past week…?

• Oranges And Lemons — FCA has agreed to let Mahle’s diagnostic devices access vehicle computers so that third party repairers can service their cars. The reason they can’t do so already is down to FCA’s cyber security protocols that unfortunately lock out unauthorised repairers, so you need special codes and portals to prove you are a goodie and someone needs to pay for all that. BMW do something similar. Is it just a happy coincidence that third parties must buy their way in (an extra revenue stream compared with those before), or will carmakers find themselves under fire from competition regulators arguing they are making life too hard for third parties?
• If You’re Over Me — Mazda is struggling to generate much interest in the very high tech Skyactiv-X engine. Rather than the hoped for 25% of sales, it is hovering nearer to 5%. The engine is Mazda’s bet that you can persuade customers that electric powertrain is over-hyped and on a well-to-wheel basis internal combustion is the best path. But it doesn’t seem to be working. Is this a sign for Mazda (and others) to bow to the inevitable and come up with powertrain strategies that are more clearly on a pathway to electrification?
• Aint Nothing Going On But The Rent — JLR showed off the Project Vector concept car, saying the vehicle will be used in on-road trials during 2021. The car highlights a key problem for premium brands in an autonomous world: it may be  that a bland pod is exactly what Uber et al will be calling out for; it must make sense for vehicle utilisation to be improved by using the same vehicles for local delivery. The problem is that neither of these things speak to either Jaguar or Land Rover’s brand values. If local delivery is a fantastic opportunity for JLR, why not jump in now (Mercedes manage to have the three pointed star on Sprinter and S-Class)? And if it doesn’t fit the brand image now, why will things be different in a few years’ time?

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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Chart of the week

Building on some of the earlier information we’ve shared about electric vehicle registrations in Germany, here’s a piece of analysis that you might find interesting. We looked at vehicles which come with a choice of powertrains: traditional, plug-in hybrid and battery electric vehicles. Because the sample size is small, we added in cars which have a sister product with a different drivetrain (e.g. Renault Zoe and Clio or Jaguar F-Pace and I-Pace).

As you can see from the graph below, VW’s vehicles are something of an outlier, with very small electric shares but those aside, all-electric shares taken upwards of 15% of sales, and in many cases above 30%.  If the analysis stands up to scrutiny, these levels would almost certainly meet 2025 and 2030 CO₂ targets if applied to the wider fleet. Can you argue that the all-electric share is flattered because some customers might be considering that car due to the limited competitor set when they wouldn’t be interested in the conventionally powered one? Yes. You wouldn’t necessarily have anything other than your own anecdotal objection to base it on, but yes. Here’s the chart:

News about the major automakers

BMW ^(history)

• Efficiency ideas from 8,000 employees saved a claimed €62 million last year, more than half of that came from a single submission regarding the vehicle’s central computer. (BMW)
• Participated in a funding round for existing investment DSP Concepts, alongside Porsche. (Porsche)

Daimler ^(history)

• Announced a series of executive moves that will see Daimler’s top management take on roles in the Mercedes-Benz operational divisions and the creation of a COO position. (Daimler)
• Heycar, Daimler and VW’s joint venture for buying cars online acquired UK automotive consumer advice website Honest John, which boasts 25 million visitors. (Automotive Manager)

FCA ^(history)

• Maserati’s new sports car will be called the MC20. (Detroit News)
• Agreed a deal with Mahle to sell access to vehicle diagnostic systems, on a subscription basis, to workshops that use Mahle’s hardware. (Auto Service World)
  • Significance: Following BMW’s lead, FCA is monetising access to vehicle systems for third parties (who can currently read diagnostics but have no editing capability). Under the banner of cyber security, manufacturers will have multiple options to control access. However, they will have to be mindful of competition rules that force openness with third party service centres and could get into hot water if a rival broke ranks and made such services available for free.

Ford ^(history)

• Reportedly trimming the dealer network in the UK, historically one of Ford’s largest markets. (Motor Trader)
• Ford has begun installing McDonald’s-esque self-service digital screens in service centres so customers can avoid talking to real humans. (Ford)

Geely (includes Volvo) ^(history)

• LEVC expects to sell almost 4,000 vehicles in 2020, up from 2,507 in 2019. (LEVC)
• Customers in China can now buy a Geely-branded car online and have it delivered to their door without having to step inside a dealer. (Geely)
• Volvo’s financial results will only be reported every six months, rather than quarterly. (Volvo)
• Claims 30,000 orders for the Chinese market Icon small SUV. (Car Advice)

General Motors ^(history)

• Dealers reported that GM would offer them discounts of AUD $8,500 – AUD $17,500 (about $5,600 – $11,600) to shift outgoing Holden models as the brand is retired before the end of 2020. (The Guardian)

Honda ^(history)

• Closing its factory in the Philippines. (Honda)
• Undertaking a series of changes to the legal entity structure in Japan, hoping to improve efficiency. (Honda)
• Eliminated a layer of senior management by combing the 4^th and 5^th tiers of the organisation. (Honda)

Hyundai / Kia ^(history)

• Recalling around 230,000 minivans and SUVs in North America to fix a problem where moisture can enter the ABS system and cause short circuits, leading to fires. The vehicles were built from 2005 – 2009. (Yonhap)
• Continues to experience stoppages at South Korean factories because of Chinese supplier shortages. (Chosun Ilbo)
• Hyundai and Kia have developed an automatic transmission that uses real time data on weather and traffic conditions, collected via an in-car modem, to decide the best time to change gear (primarily by switching to one of a series of different maps). The primarily benefit is in fewer shifts and less braking. Despite the headlines, it isn’t yet in production. (Hyundai)
• Hyundai’s chairman is stepping down. (Reuters)
• Hyundai Capital’s European joint venture with Santander agreed to buy a 42% share in Sixt Leasing (presently a subsidiary of rental firm Sixt), and plans to take majority control. (Fleet Europe)
• A survey of UK consumers by Kia suggests that one third of them want an electric car as their next purchase. (Kia)

Mazda

• Thus far, Mazda’s high-tech Skyactiv-X gasoline engine has received a muted reception in the US market with less than 5% of customers choosing the motor, far short of hopes that it would claim 25% of sales. (Nikkei)

Nissan and Mitsubishi ^(history)

• Nissan’s new CEO pleaded with shareholders to be given more time to come up with a coherent recovery plan and said he would happily be fired if he fails. (Reuters)
  • Significance: Perhaps unwittingly, CEO Uchida is channelling Carlos Ghosn, who pledged to resign if his initial turnaround plan failed.
• Trialling a short-term leasing scheme called “Switch” in Houston, USA. (Nissan)

PSA ^(history)

• Will launch the Opel brand in Japan in 2021. (Opel)
• Faurecia reported 2019 full year revenue of €17.8 billion and operating income of €1.3 billion. (Faurecia)
• PSA’s retail arm plans to recruit 1,300 people in 2020. (PSA)

Renault ^(history)

• Moody’s cut Renault’s debt rating to junk and Standard & Poor’s said its rating outlook was negative. (Reuters)
• France’s finance minister said the government would “play its role as shareholder” to make sure that there weren’t any job cuts in France. Looks like FCA’s trepidation about government intrusion was unwarranted. (Reuters)

Tata (includes JLR) ^(history)

• JLR unveiled Project Vector, a four-person minivan with claimed driverless capability. 20 examples will be part of an on-road test program in 2021. JLR says it has, in line with the latest fashion, developed a running “skateboard” chassis that packages drivetrain and batteries beneath the floor. (JLR)
  • Significance: JLR’s concept highlights the problem for premium brands in exploring low speed urban transport, namely that it is difficult to translate revenue-bearing attributes associated with private ownership into a pod. The car is co-branded yet carries no real design elements of either marque and JLR mention last mile delivery as a potential use case even though the firm has no credible entry in that space today. These uncomfortable inconsistencies with today’s brand DNA and customer base are, in part, why VW chose a newly invented name, MOIA, for similar activities.
• JLR’s CEO implied that the Project Vector chassis and technology would be made available to third parties, who could invest in the venture. (Autocar)
• Invested in online car financing provider Digital Motors. (JLR)
• JLR says it will run out of parts in the next two weeks if Chinese suppliers don’t resume production with CEO Speth claiming parts were currently being flown out in suitcases to keep factories going. (BBC)
• Reportedly decided not to pursue another bond issue after investors demanded too much interest. (Bloomberg)
• FCA’s soon-to-be-ex CEO Mike Manley is rumoured to be in the running for JLR’s next CEO. (Times of India)

Tesla ^(history)

• Rumoured to be switching to prismatic batteries from CATL for entry level Chinese-built Model 3s. (Reuters)
• Tesla fans tracking Cybertruck reservations reckon that more than 535,000 orders have been taken. (Forbes)
• Brazil’s government said it wants Tesla to open a factory in the country but so far it hasn’t got much further than having a video conference with someone at the US embassy. (Reuters)

Toyota ^(history)

• Developing batteries for hybrids in collaboration with Toyota Industries. (Toyota)

VW Group ^(history)

• Dealers in Germany will get a flat fee for selling ID3 and won’t have a role in negotiating prices. VW hopes that this will mean the same sales experience for the customer whether they are online or offline. What is less clear is whether the dealers will favour cars with traditional engines (and incentive structure) if a client is choosing between, for instance, an ID3 or a Golf. (VW)
• Audi e-Tron production was halted for several days due to a lack of batteries from LG Chem, the same supplier used by the Jaguar I-Pace. (Handelsblatt)
• VW is reportedly struggling with the launch of the ID3 with executives expressing doubts (off the record) that the start of deliveries will take place on schedule. (Manager Magazin)
• Porsche is so pleased with the new companies it is meeting through Startup Autobahn that it has extended the latter’s contract by a further three years. (Porsche)
• Participated in a funding round for audio software developer DSP Concepts, alongside BMW. (Porsche)
• CFO Witter reportedly plans to step down in mid-2021. (Manager Magazin)
• Heycar, Daimler and VW’s joint venture for buying cars online acquired UK automotive consumer advice website Honest John, which boasts 25 million visitors. (Automotive Manager)
• Škoda is re-entering the Sri Lankan market, using an importer model. (Škoda)
• Rumoured to be contemplating a VW-badged sports car, perhaps called the ID R. (Autocar)
• VW’s UK finance arm had its knuckles rapped for failing to tax and insure a handful of vehicles properly. VW said it was because of administrative errors. (MK Citizen)

Other

• W Motors wants to raise $100 million to finance a 500-unit run of a forthcoming all-electric supercar. (Bloomberg)
• Pininfarina will release an even more exclusive version of the Battista, only five will be made. (Pininfarina)
• The CEO of Lucid Motors said the company’s funding was healthy but that he wanted to raise more money (“a nine figure sum”) to accelerate the product development cycle. He intends to hold a demonstration drive in the coming weeks to showcase the Lucid Air’s claimed 400-mile range. (Bloomberg) Reservation numbers are reportedly in “low four figures”. (TechCrunch)
• Atlis showed off the XP “skateboard” chassis the firm hopes to sell (in addition to the XT truck built on the same platform). Using a 1.5 MW charger (which Atliss hopes it can make for under $50,000 per unit), Atlis say the battery pack can gain 500 miles of range in 15 minutes (that is fast considering the 250 kWh size of the pack). (TFLTruck) Watch a shaky version of Atlis’s presentation here.
• Czinger unveiled the 21C, a $1.7 million supercar designed to showcase 15m x 15m automated factories that use 3D printed components, each supposedly capable of making 10,000 chassis per year. (Top Gear)

News about other companies and trends

Economic / Political News

• Passenger car registrations in Europe during January of 1,135 million units fell (7.4)% from prior year. (ACEA)

Suppliers

• Magna reported 2019 full year sales of $39.4 billion and income from operations of $2.2 billion. (Magna)
• Bridgestone reported 2019 full year revenue of 3.525 trillion JPY (about $31.6 billion) and operating profit of 326 billion JPY (about $2.9 billion). (Bridgestone)
• Visteon reported full year 2019 sales of $2.945 billion and net income of $70 million. (Visteon)
• Touchscreen developer UltraSense raised $20 million from investors including Bosch and Sony. (FINSMES)
• Bosch consolidated its internet of things organisation into a single team serving all customer groups. (Bosch)
• Faurecia reported 2019 full year revenue of €17.8 billion and operating income of €1.3 billion. (Faurecia)

Dealers

• Ally Financial is buying credit card and consumer finance firm CardWorks. (Reuters)
• Automotive finance start-up MotoRefi raised $8.6 million. (FINSMES)

Ride-Hailing, Car Sharing & Rental ^(history)

• Lyft purchased Halo Cars, which provides advertising on car roofs. (Reuters)
• South Korean short-term car rental firm SOCAR raised $18 million. (Deal Street Asia)
• Gojek purchased a 4.3% stake in Indonesian taxi company Blue Bird. (Bloomberg)
• Cabify says it turned a $3 million profit, on an EBITDA basis, in Q4 2019. (Auto Rental News)

Driverless / Autonomy ^(history)

• A team of researchers working at McAfee undertook strenuous research culminating in an ability to get earlier versions of MobilEye’s forward-looking cameras to mis-classify speed signs and (on some models) feed the incorrect result to the car’s cruise control speed limiter. Although the methods used, and results achieved, seem impractical in everyday use, they highlight the problems with older sensor sets in the field. Even though MobilEye appear to have upgraded current hardware to resist such sabotage, older models were still vulnerable; even those with Tesla’s fabled over the air updates. (Autocar)
• Outrider, a firm developing autonomous trucks for shunting trailers in goods yards, raised $53 million. (TechCrunch)

Electrification ^(history)

• US charging start-up Electriphi raised $3.5 million. (TechCrunch)
• Tesla is rumoured to be switching to CATL’s prismatic batteries for entry level Chinese-built Model 3s. (Reuters)
• Toyota is developing batteries for hybrids in collaboration with Toyota Industries. (Toyota)

Other

• Electric scooter rental firm Tier has kept its funding round open and has raised $100 million so far. (Reuters)
• Flying taxi developer Volocopter extended its Series C round and now has €87 million. (TechCrunch)

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How to meet your CO₂ targets; GM exits fringe markets stage left and; mega expensive car dealerships.Please enjoy our auto industry and mobility briefing for10^th February to 16^th February 2020. A PDF version can be found here.

Before you read the detail, what were my favourite stories of the past week…?

• Milkshake — BMW and Renault both disclosed a bit more information about how they will meet 2020 EU CO₂ targets. They agree that around one third of the improvement will come from improvements to internal combustion engines, with the rest through an increase in electric vehicle mix. Have they got the orders coming through?
• Cups — GM is shutting up shop in Australia, New Zealand and Thailand. The firm will still import cars but the days of purpose-built models are gone. By getting out now, GM can organise a soft landing (enabled by the appetite of Great Wall and VinFast for existing factories). Will any of their competitors regret not moving sooner or has GM’s departure left enough room for everyone?
• Lifestyles Of The Rich & Famous — A new two storey Ferrari dealership in the UK is forecast to cost a cool £9 million. Luxurious brand standards see even mass-market manufacturers demanding dealers cough up nearly £5 million for new sites. Startups have neither the footprint, nor the expensive facilities, will they get left behind in the arms race, or make the existing players look silly by doing far more with far less?

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

BMW ^(history)

• CEO Zipse says BMW is on course to reduce EU fleet average CO₂ by 20% in 2020 versus 2019 (therefore meeting regulatory targets and avoiding fines). One third will come from traditional fuel economy improvements, with the remainder from an increase in the mix of all-electric and plug-in hybrid cars. (Times of India)
• Invested in financing comparison service AutoFi. (BMW)

Daimler ^(history)

• Reported Q4 and full year 2019 financial results. 2019 revenue of €173 billion rose 3% on a year-over-year basis whilst EBIT fell over (60)% to €4.3 billion (Daimler’s adjusted figure was €10.3 billion). CEO Källenius declared himself dissatisfied with the company’s ability to translate strong consumer demand into weak bottom line earnings. 2020 guidance is for profits to “significantly” improve. (Daimler)
• Daimler believes that trucks and passenger cars have “huge synergies” but when it came to specifics, all the examples were about electrification, begging the question about what happens when those parts are commoditised..? CEO Källenius cautioned once again that Daimler might not meet 2020 and 2021 EU CO₂ targets if it meant heavily discounting products. (Seeking Alpha)
  • Significance: Ad Punctum continues to find the logic behind these comments troubling. Firstly, no other mainstream competitor is now talking in such terms, creating substantial reputational risk for Daimler if they pay fines whilst others don’t; secondly, the fine cost of €95 per gram CO₂ missed per vehicle sold is higher than the additional product cost required to reduce emissions (especially if it pays for a plug-in hybrid), so it doesn’t seem to make business sense either.
• Renault is discussing “a whole bunch of ideas” with Daimler for future sharing. (Seeking Alpha)
• Recalling around 300,000 cars to fix wiring problems that could cause a fire. (Business Today)

FCA ^(history)

• Expects South America light vehicle industry to increase by 1.5% in 2020, with Brazil growing 6%. (Reuters)
• Stopped production of the 500L in Serbia due to coronavirus-related parts shortages. The factory is a serial downtime candidate due to poor sales and FCA appeared relaxed about a timeline for restarting. (Reuters)

Ford ^(history)

• Moved to a four-day week at the Cologne, Germany, factory due to reduced demand for Fiesta. The lower schedule will reportedly remaining in place until the end of the year. (Automotive News)
• Spin, the scooter rental firm owned by Ford, reckons that employing all personnel (as opposed to using contractors, the practice favoured by many rivals) is a competitive advantage because despite higher fully-fringed pay levels it has lower staff turnover and can invest more in training. (Business Insider)
• Mahindra claims that by pooling development costs for a new C-sized SUV with Ford, the two companies will save a collective 10 billion INR (about $140 million). (Economic Times of India)
• Recalling around 230,000 cars in North America to fix problems with the rear suspension. (Ford)
• Launched a travelling exhibition that will tour Europe and “de-mystify” electric vehicles for consumers. (Ford)
• Recalling recently launched Pumas to fix airbags. (Autocar)
• Ford remains committed to the Australian market, despite GM’s exit. (Mail Online)

Geely (includes Volvo) ^(history)

• Upgrading the filters in Chinese-market air conditioning units in response to coronavirus. The company is now researching self-cleaning interior buttons and grab handles (Geely)

General Motors ^(history)

• Withdrawing the Holden brand in Australia and New Zealand, and stopping all engineering operations by 2021. The Chevrolet brand will also exit Thailand by 2020, with GM’s plant in the country being sold to Great Wall (who recently purchased a GM factory in India). GM will only sell high end imported vehicles in these markets. GM said that it couldn’t make a business case for local production in Thailand, and without a factory Chevrolet couldn’t be competitive. (GM)
  • Significance: GM continues its course of leaving markets, and their associated facilities, which are marginal or lossmaking. The firm has become quite adept at exiting without controversial wholesale plant closures (thus retaining enough goodwill to continue sales of profitable models), showing willingness to subsidise new owners and even licence IP (e.g. with VinFast).

Hyundai / Kia ^(history)

• Kia revealed the next-generation Sorento SUV. The design looks like an homage to Ford’s Explorer. (Kia)
• Hyundai and Kia will use a modified version of Canoo’s (née EVelozcity) electric rolling chassis for a series of small electric cars and autonomous pods. (Kia)
  • Significance: Following recent investments in, and partnership agreements with, Rimac for sports cars and Arrival for commercial vehicles, this investment implies that Hyundai-Kia’s strategy is to licence chassis technology from third parties where the vehicle is outside the current core product portfolio. It also suggests an appetite for risk, since none of these companies have yet demonstrated the ability to produce in volume.

Mazda

• Recalling around 37,000 cars because of corrosion in the daytime running lights. (Mazda)

Nissan and Mitsubishi ^(history)

• Nissan reported Q4 2019 (fiscal Q3) revenue of 2.504 trillion JPY (about $22.8 billion) fell (18)% from the same period in 2018. Ordinary income was 37 billion JPY (about $337 million) but there was a net loss of (22) billion JPY (about $(200) million). The forecast for full year operating income was slashed. (Nissan)

PSA ^(history)

• The Opel brand is launching in Colombia and Ecuador. (Opel)

Renault ^(history)

• Reported 2019 full year financial results. Sales of 3.8 million units fell (3.4)% on a year-over-year basis. Revenue of €55.5 billion was similarly affected — down (3.3)% YoY, although Renault said that ignoring exchange it wasn’t quite as bad. Operating income was €2.1 billion, down (30)% versus 2018 and net income was a paltry €15 million. For 2020, Renault hopes that revenue will be about the same, despite expecting sales declines of (3)% – (5)% in its major markets. The Guidance implied that restructuring costs would outweigh operational free cash flow. (Renault)
• Plans to sell a 10% mix of BEV and PHEV in Europe in 2020, plus 10% LPG. The gap to CO₂ target should be closed by roughly one third additional sales of BEV and PHEV, one third ICE improvement and elimination of worst performing entities and one third through application of super credits (which is really those BEV and PHEVs again). (Renault Presentation p. 36) Renault aims to sell 100,000 ZOE this year. (Seeking Alpha)
• Plans to reduce fixed costs by at least €2 billion over three years and will announce a series of actions in May within the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance to deliver part of this but further details will wait until after the new CEO joins in July. Renault’s comments implied that cost savings from using the (brand new) CMF-B platform shared with Nissan were underwhelming because the top hats were engineered separately. (Seeking Alpha)
• Renault is discussing “a whole bunch of ideas” with Daimler for future sharing. With LCV a focus, but not the entire scope of the conversation. (Seeking Alpha)
  • Significance: Given the existing cooperation on the small Citan commercial vehicle, this would imply that a Trafic / Vito / Master / Sprinter tie-up could be on the cards (especially if the FCA/PSA merger means the end of the Trafic / Talento sharing).

Tata (includes JLR) ^(history)

• Suspended production of the all-electric I-Pace due to a shortage of batteries. JLR expects the stoppage to be temporary but wouldn’t comment on the root cause. (This Is Money)

Tesla ^(history)

• Raising $2.3 billion by issuing new stock, just days after CEO Musk said he didn’t see any need (but we all thought he was going to do it anyway). (Tesla)
• Environmental protestors won a court order forcing Tesla to stop site clearance for the new Brandenburg, Germany, factory to protect animals and woodland but work is likely to ultimately resume. (Manager Magazin)
• A “leaked” copy of Tesla’s employee handbook that reinforces the company’s preferred image of itself as a no-nonsense, go-getting, ass-kicking, world-changing machine sounded more useful as a propaganda tool than in conveying terms of employment. Also, a book seems a bit old-fashioned, shouldn’t it be an app? (Business Insider)
• Recalling around 20,000 Model X (including 3,000 in China) to fix problems with the power steering. (Reuters)

Toyota ^(history)

• A speech by Toyota’s boss in Canada calling for an emphasis on hybrid vehicles over battery electric ones highlighted some of the weaknesses in the company’s case: (1) Toyota’s economic rationale leans heavily on an assumption of a shortage of battery materials (hypothesised by others but not proven as a long term issue) and; (2) it offers no alternative for achieving zero tailpipe emissions (such as beefing up the relatively puny motors and batteries of conventional, non plug-in, hybrids). (Driving)
• Continued to leverage the virtues of its electrified fleet by raising a $750 million “green bond” for the captive finance company to offer leases on hybrid cars. (Toyota)
• Made a further investment in Intuition Robotics, a developer of digital companions. (FINSMES)

VW Group ^(history)

• Škoda’s forthcoming all-electric SUV will be called the Enyaq. (Škoda)
• German utility E.ON is installing chargers developed in partnership with VW that use batteries to enable discharging at higher rates than the local grid can support. (VW)
• Audi has started offering virtual factory visits, allowing people to tour the shop floor from the comfort of their armchairs. You still have to book a timeslot though. (Audi)
• Offered to settle a class action suit over the diesel scandal directly to the claimants and over the heads of their lawyers, who VW said wanted too fat a fee. If accepted, it will cost VW €830 million. (VW)
• Closing two coal fired power stations in Germany that supply electricity to VW’s sprawling Wolfsburg plant and wants to tear them apart, having declined offers from people hoping to rebuild them. (Reuters)
• Porsche’s motorsport boss implied that the brand is considering an electric version of the 718 sportscar, whilst playing down the idea that it could be a plug-in hybrid. (Auto Motor Und Sport)

Other

• Mahindra is looking for partners on electric vehicles aiming to “collaborate on the back end and compete on the front end”. The comments imply an interest in new partnerships beyond the joint venture with Ford. (Autocar) SoftBank has been mentioned as a potential investor in Mahindra’s electric vehicle arm. (Deal Street Asia)
• A consortium led by Gordon Murray Design unveiled the MOTIV, a small form factor vehicle ready for autonomous sensors and AI. The car is designed for city transit with a top speed of 40 mph. (GMD)
• Lordstown Motors, the Workhorse-related company that hopes to build electric trucks at an ex-GM plant, might have difficulty obtaining the US government loan that is key to its funding plan. Local lawmakers said they will ensure that it gets the money. (Detroit News)
• Nikola unveiled the Badger full size pickup. The brand plans to enter what is increasingly becoming a crowded space with entries from established players and start-ups on the horizon. Nikola’s vehicle features a somewhat unique powertrain — a high performance fuel cell combined with a massive battery. It probably won’t be cheap. (Nikola)
• Nio raised a further $100 million in short-term debt (Nio). The firm told employees that January salaries would be paid late, apparently because of coronavirus. (Bloomberg)
• Westfield reckons that, for niche car makers, all-electric variants cost around £20,000 – £25,000 more than conventionally powered models. (Telegraph)
• BYD’s president says that Chinese electric cars need to become more competitive with Western models, citing a need to improve in safety and reliability. (Yahoo)
• A sketch released by Lister suggested that the forthcoming Storm supercar will be electric. (CarBuzz)
• Pagani released a Huayra-based supercar called the Imola. (Automobile)
• Fisker released an image of a pickup truck called Alaska, then deleted it. (Car and Driver)

News about other companies and trends

Economic / Political News

• After announcing an intention to end sales of new non plug-in or zero emissions cars by 2035, a UK government minister floated the idea of bringing that forward to 2032. (BBC)

Suppliers

• Michelin reported full year 2019 revenue of €24.1 billion and operating income of €3 billion. (Michelin)
• Goodyear reported full year 2019 sales of $14.7 billion and a net loss of $(311) million. (Goodyear)
• Delphi reported 2019 revenue of $4.4 billion and operating income of $141 million. (Delphi)
• BorgWarner (which hopes to buy Delphi) had 2019 sales of $10.2 billion and operating income of $1.3 billion. (BW)
• AAM’s 2019 revenue was $6.53 billion and net loss was $(485) million. (AAM)

Dealers

• Indian omnichannel dealer Shriram Automall acquired online used car site Bluejack. (Autocar)
• Dealer standards are going mad — a new UK Ferrari showroom will cost £9 million. (Motor Trader)
• SureSale, a firm that gives used cars a clean bill of health, raised $7 million. (TechCrunch)

Ride-Hailing, Car Sharing & Rental ^(history)

• Lyft reported 2019 revenue of $3.6 billion and a net loss of $(2.6) billion. Even taking the highly optimistic measure of adjusted EBITDA the net loss was $(679) million. Lyft seemed pleased and hopes revenue will grow to around $4.5 billion in 2020 with the adjusted EBITDA loss under $(500) million. (Lyft)
• Lyft is buying rental car provider Flexdrive for $20 million. (TechCrunch)
• Peer to peer car rental firm Turo raised $30 million. (Phocuswire)

Driverless / Autonomy ^(history)

• An ex-Waymo driver took out his frustrations on one of the firm’s self-driving cars in Arizona, causing a crash. Don’t rush to call the opening shots of a new luddite rebellion though, he was sacked for poor performance, not replaced by a robot. (The Verge)
• Yandex has spent $35 million on self-driving research and is running at around $9 million per quarter. (Reuters)
• Lighting supplier Koito invested $50 million in lidar firm Cepton. (Koito)

Electrification ^(history)

• Indian moped rental firm Fae Bikes started a charging network. (Charzer)
• Electricity firm EDF acquired a majority stake in charging provider Pod Point. (EDF)
• Renault says that about 80% of charging by French customers is at home or at the office, with the remainder being on public facilities. The company admitted to being surprised by the high interest from rural customers, with 50% of cars going to owners outside cities. (Seeking Alpha)
• German utility E.ON is installing chargers developed in partnership with VW that use batteries to enable discharging at higher rates than the local grid can support. (VW)
  • Significance: Although this philosophy has been employed before, the application in Germany matters because many engineers at German-based OEMs have convinced themselves that the potential for electric vehicles in the country is low because of the low power levels of the local grid. This method (albeit at a fairly large unit cost) may change their minds, and the attitude of the departments they lead.
• Hyundai and Kia will use a modified version of Canoo’s electric rolling chassis for a series of small electric cars and autonomous pods. (Kia)
• Westfield reckons that, for niche car makers, all-electric variants cost around £20,000 – £25,000 more than conventionally powered models. (Telegraph)
• BYD’s president says that Chinese electric cars need to become more competitive with Western models, citing a need to improve in safety and reliability. (Yahoo)

Other

• BP wants to be fully carbon neutral by 2050, offsetting all CO₂ resulting from the oil and gas it produces. It is unclear how this will be achieved. (Reuters)

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Fewer accidents on the way; the importance of ride hailing; and flip-flopping self-driving car developers. Please enjoy our auto industry and mobility briefing for 3^rd February to 9^th February 2020. A PDF version can be found here.

Before you read the detail, what were my favourite stories of the past week…?

• Ain’t No Mountain High Enough — Toyota says that a basket of driver assistance systems including emergency braking and lane departure warning reduce rear end collisions by 70% – 90%. This scale of improvement has been suggested for a while, but Toyota has collected data from 10 million vehicles to get its number. If, in future, accidents will reduce tenfold, are self-driving vehicle developers setting themselves tough enough targets by referencing today’s accident rates?
• Basket Case — Ride hailing has become so important to Indonesia’s economy that fares from the biggest location operators will go into the inflation calculation. If catching a cab can be such an important part of the transport mix there, why are so many in the West convinced that it will never catch on?
• Remember What I Told You To Forget — Just a few weeks ago GM (Cruise) was saying that using disengagements as a proxy for progress in driverless car developments was a load of old rubbish. So why are they using the same metric in their investor day presentation (p108) to provide how much progress they have made?

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

BMW ^(history)

• Expanding in-house production of electric motors and battery modules thanks to rising demand for plug-in hybrids. Staff numbers will more than triple and floor space will increase tenfold. (BMW)

Daimler ^(history)

• Rumoured to be about to announce 15,000 job losses. (Handelsblatt)
• Stopping production of the X-Class in May. (Autocar)

FCA ^(history)

• Reported full year net revenue of €108 billion, down (2)% on a year-over-year basis. Adjusted EBIT of €6.7 billion was about in line. FCA expects things to improve slightly in 2020. (FCA)
• Reckons that European production could be affected by coronavirus within two to four weeks. (Reuters)
• Settled a tax dispute with Italian authorities over Chrysler’s value. FCA agreed to a higher taxable gain, but the availability of losses carried forward and offsets mean there is no net impact. (Reuters)

Ferrari

• Reported full year shipments of 10,131 cars, up 9.5% on 2018. Revenue of €3.8 billion rose 10.1% and EBIT of €917 million rose 11%. Ferrari upgraded the outlook for 2020. (Ferrari)

Ford ^(history)

• Reported Q4 and full year financial results. In Q4 2019 revenue of $39.7 billion fell (5)% versus prior year whilst adjusted EBIT of $0.5 billion fell two thirds. Full year revenue of $155.9 billion was (3)% worse year-over-year and adjusted EBIT dropped (9)%. Q4 saw a net loss of $(1.7) billion and only just above breakeven in the full year. Ford blamed launch delays on Explorer and big bonuses to UAW workers. (Ford)
• Promoted Jim Farley (hitherto Ford’s joint number two) to chief operating officer and announced the “retirement” of 53-year-old Joe Hinrichs (his slightly more powerful counterpart). Ford also beefed up the already expansive role of its product supremo (53, but not yet ready to retire). (Ford)
  • Significance: In the last two decades, Ford has only had a chief operating officer position twice: under Bill Ford when de facto CEOs couldn’t be given the title because he had claimed it for himself and; Mark Fields was COO whilst being groomed to take over from Alan Mulally. In this context, Farley appears to be a shoe-in for the top job when Hackett goes.
• A puff piece on Farley, timed to coincide with the announcement of his promotion, was long on promises of unspecified action and short on gushing quotes from underlings. It also debuted a new phraseology for improving profits: “bending the curve” of financial performance. Hopefully it won’t catch on. (Detroit Free Press) A cryptic post on LinkedIn by a former Ford marketing executive hinted at what some insiders think.

Geely (includes Volvo) ^(history)

• Volvo had full year 2019 revenue of 274.1 billion SEK (about $28 billion) and operating profit of 14.3 billion SEK (about $1.5 billion). (Volvo)
• Announced a project to merge Geely and Volvo with a view to a joint listing and the creation of a group that “could realise synergies”. (Geely)

General Motors ^(history)

• Reported Q4 2019 and full year financial results. Q4 revenue of $30.8 billion fell (20)% on a year-over-year basis, entirely due to North America (and the UAW strike). Adjusted EBIT of $105 million was (96)% worse. Full year revenue of $137 billion was (7)% down whilst adjusted EBIT of $8.4 billion dropped (29)%. (GM)
• Took the wraps off the next generation Cadillac Escalade large SUV. (GM)
• Reportedly blames an initiative to only offer downsized three-cylinder engines on some models for a slump in Chinese sales and plans to reverse course. (Reuters)
• Despite recently disparaging the measure of miles between reportable disengagements, GM used it in an investor presentation to show how much Cruise had improved. (GM – CMD presentation p108)

Honda ^(history)

• Reported financial results for Q4 2019 (fiscal Q3). Revenue of 3.75 trillion JPY (about $34 billion) fell (5.7)% from a year earlier. Operating profit of 167 billion JPY (about $1.5 billion) fell (2.1)%. (Honda)

Hyundai / Kia ^(history)

• Kia is rumoured to be considering moving its recently opened Indian factory to another part of the country in response to state-level changes to employment laws and incentives. (India Today)
• Kia unveiled the Sonet, a compact SUV due to start sales later in 2020. (Kia)
• Says that almost half of its operations (by revenue) will be impacted by coronavirus-related stoppages. (Hyundai)

Mazda

• Reported Q4 2019 (fiscal Q3) revenue of 849.7 billion JPY (about $7.7 billion), down (5)% versus prior year. Operating profit of 6.5 billion JPY (about $60 million) fell (76)%. (Mazda)

Nissan and Mitsubishi ^(history)

• Moving to quarterly sales reporting in the US, following the lead of GM, Ford and FCA. (Nissan)
• A UK consortium headed by Nissan completed a 230 mile “self-navigated” trip on public roads. (Nissan)

PSA ^(history)

• The DS brand will be a net positive for PSA’s European fleet average CO₂. (Automotive News)

Renault ^(history)

• Unveiled the next generation Mégane, which includes a plug-in hybrid. (Renault)
• Renault Samsung was forced to take down days because of coronavirus-related parts shortages. (Reuters)

Subaru

• Reported Q4 2019 (fiscal Q3) revenue of 2.485 trillion yen (about $22.6 billion) rose 4% versus prior year but operating profit of 153 billion JPY (about $1.4 billion) fell (2)%. (Subaru)

Suzuki

• Reported Q4 2019 (fiscal Q3) revenue of 871 billion JPY (about $7.9 billion), down by (4.3)% on a year-over-year basis. Operating income of 52 billion JPY (about $470 million) dropped (11)%. (Suzuki)
• Building a battery recycling facility in India. (Autocar)
• Taking steps to resource components currently made by suppliers in China for Maruti Suzuki. (Reuters)
• Maruti Suzuki is focused more on the improvement of internal combustion engines than electric vehicles because internal forecasts are that even by 2030, only 8% of the local industry will be electric cars. (Bloomberg)
  • Significance: Whilst it is dangerous to read too much into such comments, it is worth noting that a considerable portion of contemporary fuel economy savings are coming from electrification (i.e. anything from 48V to plug-in hybrids). Therefore there is a path where electric vehicle-led improvements can benefit those with internal combustion engines.

Tata (includes JLR) ^(history)

• Tata unveiled an array of new products at the Indian Auto Expo, including the Sierra Concept, an all-electric SUV and the production version of the Gravitas. (Tata)
• JLR will reportedly take several down days at Solihull and Castle Bromwich before the end of March. (Reuters)

Tesla ^(history)

• Filed patents that indicate the firm is seriously considering steering wheels that contain touchscreens in future vehicle generations. (Electrek)
• Received negative publicity after it downgraded the capabilities of a car Tesla had offloaded to a dealer, who then re-sold it to an end customer. Although the car had driver assistance features enabled at the time of delivery, Tesla subsequently decided this was an error and removed them, demanding $8,000 for reinstatement. (Business Insider)
  • Significance: Currently an isolated case, and hopefully it stays that way otherwise Tesla could find itself developing a reputation for tin-eared customer service.  
• Elon Musk implied that Autopilot would create maps of features including potholes to help subsequent vehicles avoid them. If true, this further blurs Musk’s criticism of rivals in the self-driving race for relying on maps, when Tesla would be doing much the same (the subtlety may lie in the degree to which the maps decide, rather than merely influence, the vehicle’s route). (Electrek)

Toyota ^(history)

• Reported financial results for Q4 2019 (fiscal Q3). Revenue of 7.5 trillion JPY (about $68.7 billion) fell (3.3)% on a year-over-year basis and operating income of 654 billion JPY (about $6 billion) was also down slightly. Net income was way up, aided by gains on equities. (Toyota)  
• In 2019, half of Toyota’s sales in Europe were hybrids (p4 of the competitiveness presentation). (Toyota)
• Data collected from 10 million vehicles fitted with Toyota’s safety system comprising emergency braking, lane departure alert and automatic high beam, says that rear end collisions can be reduced by 70% – 90%. (Toyota)
  • Significance: Although not a complete surprise, Toyota’s figures will put pressure on self-driving vehicle developers who currently assume that anything better than today’s average accident level is a threshold of safe driving at which autonomy has a business case. In short – if the new standard is a near tenfold reduction from figures they have been assuming, they need to aim higher.
• Working on an all-electric compact car powered by a battery pack that is designed for a second life — in this case, electricity storage in the home as part of a system built by 3^rd parties such as Panasonic. (Nikkei)
• Has now acquired enough shares for 20% voting rights in Subaru. (Subaru)

VW Group ^(history)

• Škoda won’t launch a next-generation city car unless it can offer an affordable price. The company is convinced that the only way forward is fully electric, which will drive costs upward from the current model. (Autocar) The brand hopes to introduce more compact models in India, with an SUV and hatchback, both under 4 metres in length, under discussion. (Autocar)
• Porsche invested in business back office payments start-up Nitrobox. (Porsche)
• VW is dropping diesel from its small car line-up in India, saying that the next stage of emissions regulations will demand an expensive SCR system, so it is getting out whilst the going is relatively good. (Autocar)

Other

• Aston Martin’s CEO blamed a market slump for the firm’s cash shortages (which he hopes a recent investment have now laid to rest) saying the costs of the DBX SUV were “fixed in a bullish market that turned to crap”, indicating that the decision to build a new factory for the car might not be repeated if taken today. He feels comfortable with delaying an all-electric car until 2025, believing that no competitor except Porsche will have a car until then. (Autocar)
• Lucid says the production model of the Air will have a 900V system. (Electrek)
• After missing earlier targets, Ariel will reportedly unveil the Hipercar in summer 2020. (Autoblog)
• Ssangyong released full year 2019 results. Total vehicle sales were 135,235 units, down (6)% on a year-over-year basis. Revenue of 3.6 trillion KRW (about $3.1 billion) fell (2.2)% YoY and operating loss of (281) billion KRW (about $(240) million) more than quadrupled. (Ssangyong)
• Mahindra (Ssangyong’s owner) reported Q4 2019 (fiscal Q3) revenue of 121 billion INR (about $1.7 billion) down (6)% versus prior year. PBT of 3.8 billion INR (about $53 million) fell (34)%. (Mahindra)
• Nio will raise $100 million in debt. (Nio)

News about other companies and trends

Economic / Political News

• The UK government announced a plan to cease sales of all combustion engine powered new cars (including standalone hybrids but not the plug in-kind) from 2035 onwards. This is not a law, or a draft law and replaces an earlier target, also not a law, to ban internal combustion engines by 2040. (BBC) Manufacturers accused the government of “moving the goalposts” — as if their 2035 product plans were already fixed. (SMMT)
• European passenger car sales by fuel type for Q4 2019 were released. Overall, sales of battery and hybrid vehicles rose strongly on a year-over-year basis, with some exceptions. Norway, normally quoted as a poster child for electric vehicle take-up, saw battery electric vehicle sales fall (26)% versus Q4 2018. Although the market was down overall, mix still fell from 40% of sales in Q4 2018 to 34% in Q4 2019 — still high though. (ACEA)
• US light vehicle SAAR in January of 16.84 million units improved 1.4% from a year ago. (Wards)
• German passenger car registrations of 246,300 units in January were (7.3)% lower than 2019. (KBA)
• Passenger car sales in the UK during January of 149,279 units fell (7)% from a year earlier. PHEV and BEV share of total sales leapt from 2.2% in January 2019 to 5.9% last month. (SMMT)
• Sales of passenger cars in France during January fell (13.4)% on a year-over-year basis to 134,230 units. (CCFA)
• January passenger car sales in Italy of 155,528 units fell (6)% from prior year. (UNRAE)
• Spanish passenger car sales in January of 86,443 units dropped (7.6)% versus the same month last year. (ANFAC)

Suppliers

• TomTom reported full year 2019 revenue of €701 million, up 2% year-over-year. (TomTom) The fine celebrated an extension to its supply deal with PSA. (TomTom)
• Veoneer reported full year sales of $1.9 billion and an operating loss of $(460) million. (Veoneer)
• Grammer Group reported full year 2019 revenue of €2 billion and operating EBIT of €77 million. (Grammer)
• Anand Group reckons that composites are ready for use in low-cost vehicles in India and has enlisted the help of UK firm Far to help prove it. (Autocar)
• Nidec announced a stock split. (Nidec)

Ride-Hailing, Car Sharing & Rental ^(history)

• Uber reported full year revenue of $14.1 billion on $65 billion of gross bookings. The net loss was $(8.5) billion. The firm says it recognises that the “era of growth at all costs is now over”. (Uber)
• Fair is stopping its program of leasing to ride hailing drivers (which the company acquired from Uber), blaming insurance costs. (TechCrunch)
• Child-focused ride hailing service HopSkipDrive raised $22 million. (TechCrunch)
• Enterprising car thieves in Washington, DC, are using peer-to-peer app Getaround to identify suitable targets because they know the vehicle will contain keys. (Auto Rental News)
• Ride hailing has become so important to Indonesia’s economy that prices from Gojek and Grab are now included in the basket used to calculation inflation. (Tech In Asia)
• Didi and ThunderSoft are collaborating to produce a whitelabel fleet management system that they hope to sell to third parties. (ThunderSoft)
• Uber invested in logistics start-up ClearMetal. (FINSMES)
• ViaVan’s Berlin service, named Berlkönig, is reportedly in financial trouble with the operator and Berlin’s public transport provider arguing over who should fund it in future. (Autonomes Fahren)

Driverless / Autonomy ^(history)

• US authorities gave Nuro permission to test self-driving vehicles on the road. The approval contained a series of obvious, but previously unauthorised design changes from normal vehicles: there are no external mirrors (cameras are used instead); the windscreen is opaque and; the rear camera is on all the time (forbidden in passenger vehicles where it could prove distracting). (Nuro)
• Lyft’s team discussed the trade-offs between developing self-driving cars that can quickly learn how to drive well in a specific location versus creating AI that can drive in many places (“generalizing” in Lyft’s terminology). (Lyft)
• Data collected from 10 million vehicles fitted with Toyota’s safety system comprising emergency braking, lane departure alert and automatic high beam, says that rear end collisions can be reduced by 70% – 90%. (Toyota)
• Despite recently disparaging the measure of miles between reportable disengagements, GM used it in an investor presentation to show how much Cruise had improved. (GM – CMD presentation p108)

Electrification ^(history)

• A survey by Deloitte reckons one in ten UK customers want their next car to be electric. (Motor Trader)
• Battery developer Forever New Energy raised $20 million. (Deal Street Asia)
• Lucid says the production model of the Air will have a 900V system. (Electrek)

Connectivity

• A beta release of Apple’s updated iPhone operating system suggested that the company is working on a keyless entry app that could be used across brands. (The Verge)

Other

• Boeing-backed flying taxi start-up Wisk is going to conduct trials in New Zealand. (The Verge)

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Aston Martin’s independence; the difference between electric winners and losers; and secret emissions trading is a thing. Please enjoy our auto industry and mobility briefing for 27^th January to 2^nd February 2020. A PDF version can be found here.

Before you read the detail, what were my favourite stories of the past week…?

• Lady In Red — Aston Martin is set for £500 million in fresh funds, thanks to the intervention of billionaire F1 team owner Lawrence Stroll (and chums) who will end up controlling 20% of the business. Mr Stroll just so happens to be a massive Ferrari fan, participating in their exclusive track-only models (FXX and so on). Might he prefer owning a smaller stake of Ferrari-AML in future?
• Big Calm — GM’s president says the main reason the company’s forthcoming electric cars will be profitable is because of the scale benefit. He also appeared dismissive of companies with only one or two electric cars in their portfolio. Will companies that haven’t committed to higher volumes find themselves struggling for cost competitiveness against more earnest rivals?
• Share My World — Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi will pool their fleets for the purposes of measuring CO₂ in Europe and Geely’s taxi unit LEVC subtly signalled that it is open to letting someone benefit from the net benefit of its fleet of plug-in hybrids. Taken together with earlier moves by FCA-Tesla and Toyota-Mazda, are car companies starting to get the hang of creating proprietary CO₂ trading schemes? If so, who’s next?

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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Chart Of The Week

Last week’s chart got some interest, so I thought I would try another. If you read a lot of the pro-electric vehicle websites (as I do) then you will be familiar with articles like this one that trumpet the sales performance of Tesla cars compared to the conventionally powered competition in any given month. I went and looked at some German data and found something rather strange.

Now, I’m not suggesting this is anything other than coincidence but there seems to be a pattern where Tesla’s market share (of the relevant segment for each of Model 3 / S / X) jumps in the final month of the quarter. Remember this is share, not volume, so seasonality shouldn’t be much of a factor. Here’s the chart:

News about the major automakers

BMW ^(history)

• Delayed the next-generation Mini, partly to save money by extending the current car’s lifespan, and partly in the hope that it will know the final outcome of a UK-EU trade deal before it has to decide the production footprint. (Reuters)
• Not interested in making BMW-badged products in the same segment as Mini, preferring to have distinct brands that do not compete with one another. (Autocar)

Daimler ^(history)

• Trialling the use of blockchain technology provided by Circulor to track CO₂ emissions in the supply chain. (Autocar)
• Recruited sellside analyst Max Warburton as head of special projects, reporting to the CEO. (Daimler)

FCA ^(history)

• Launched the next generation infotainment system called Uconnect 5. FCA reckons it is more user friendly than competitor products and well futureproofed. (FCA) TomTom will be the mapping supplier. (TomTom)
• Announced a further period of idling at the Belvedere, USA, plant. (Bloomberg)

Ford ^(history)

• Confirmed that a forthcoming Lincoln battery electric vehicle will be built off Rivian’s platform. (Ford)
• Experimenting with 3D-printed locking wheel nuts that are unique for each vehicle. (Ford)
• Completed the sale of its former UK administrative HQ for £40 million. (EssexLive)

Geely (includes Volvo) ^(history)

• Taxi maker LEVC is open to joining a pool that could benefit from its low CO₂ per vehicle. It has issued a request for an open pool via the EU’s system. Presumably inviting partners in return for financial reward. (EU)
  • Significance: The open pool declaration implies that Volvo is on track meet EU fleet average CO₂ levels

General Motors ^(history)

• GM’s president doesn’t think there is an inflection point for EV adoption believing that they have already entered the mainstream and that the rate of take-up is now in the hands of customers. In echoing previous statements that the next generation of all-electric cars would be profitable, scale was highlighted as a major factor in the business case. He also said that battery packs didn’t need to increase in size from the current generation, but GM will be able to squeeze out more performance thanks to a better understanding of how the battery is used in the real world. (Electrek)  
• Confirmed rumours that Hummer will be resurrected as an all-electric model. The vehicle won’t be revealed until May and GM didn’t elaborate on the bodystyle (expected to be an SUV and a pick-up variant). The new Hummer won’t be a standalone brand however, it will be a model within the GMC portfolio. The new truck boasts an impressive specification: 1,000 hp and 0-60 in 3 seconds. (GM)
• Cadillac will roll out a new driver assistance system, called enhanced super cruise, that will enable hands-off highway driving, including lane changes. (GM)

Honda ^(history)

• Honda produced 5.17 million vehicles in 2019, down (3.5)% on the prior year. (Honda)

Hyundai / Kia ^(history)

• Says bottlenecks in production of the Hyundai Kona BEV for European markets have been reduced, in part by the start of production in the Czech Republic. (Autocar)
• Claims the new Genesis GV80 SUV will differentiate itself by providing an adaptive cruise control system that learns driver preferences. (Detroit Free Press)
• The Genesis GV80 has electronically controlled suspension that uses cameras to see features such as speed bumps and pot holes on the road ahead and adjust settings before the vehicle hits them. (Hyundai)
• Says it will now offer US customer complimentary maintenance for three years on new cars. On closer inspection however, the services included only extend to oil changes, filter changes and tyre rotation. (Hyundai)

Nissan and Mitsubishi ^(history)

• Rumoured to be planning further spending cuts (on top of the summer 2109 turnaround plan) by cutting 4,300 salaried staff globally (e.g. some US sales and marketing offices) and closing two (unidentified) factories. The global line-up will be pared to 62 models, but average aim will be reduced to 2.5 years (from 5 today). (Reuters)
• Reportedly prepared a plan for a hard Brexit that would see Nissan plants on mainland Europe closed and an attempt to capitalise on the lack of homegrown UK production by taking market share from competitors who would be subject to higher tariffs than Nissan (~3% vs 10% of material cost). (FT)
  • Significance: Ad Punctum’s own Brexit analysis (published in 2017 but still relevant now) pointed out the disparity in tariff costs for UK-produced cars versus those built in Continental Europe under default WTO terms. Producers with footprints in Britain would gain a cost advantage of around £1,000 even on cheaper models (although they would still lose ground to vehicles that are imported from outside the EU today so already bear the higher tariff levels).
• Will prioritise the Nissan brand in India (over Datsun), including for designed / made in India products, calling into question Datsun’s market positioning. (Autocar)
• Nissan, Renault and Mitsubishi announced a series of measures to deepen integration. Nissan will lead engineering on models for China; Mitsubishi for Southeast Asia and Renault in Europe. Engineering of components will also be shared out, although no details were given. The three brands also plan to pool their collective fleet average CO₂ in Europe, starting in 2020. (Mitsubishi)
• Mitsubishi’s Q4 2019 revenue (fiscal Q3) of 1.67 trillion yen (about $15.3 billion), down (7)% versus the same period in 2018. Operating profit of 3.6 billion yen (about $33 million) fell (96)% from prior year. (Mitsubishi)
• Said the diesel engines subject to investigation by German authorities for emissions cheating were supplied by PSA and denied the existence of any defeat devices. (Mitsubishi)

PSA ^(history)

• PSA and Total’s Saft division announced a plan to create two battery plants, one in France and one at Opel’s Kaiserslautern site in Germany. The €5 billion investment (€1.3 billion coming from public funds) will lead to a combined 48 GWh of capacity by 2030, good for one million vehicles per year by their maths. Over time PSA’s share in the JV will go from 50% to 67%. (PSA)

Renault ^(history)

• To no one’s surprise, Renault confirmed former SEAT executive Luca de Meo as CEO from July 2020. (Renault)
• Nissan, Renault and Mitsubishi announced a series of measures to deepen integration. Nissan will lead engineering on models for China; Mitsubishi for Southeast Asia and Renault in Europe. Engineering of components will also be shared out, although no details were given. The three brands also plan to pool their collective fleet average CO₂ in Europe, starting in 2020. (Mitsubishi)

Subaru

• Produced 987,283 vehicles in 2019, (3.1)% down on prior year. (Subaru)

Tata (includes JLR) ^(history)

• Tata Motors (including JLR) reported Q4 2019 (fiscal Q3) revenue of 716.8 billion INR (about $10.1 billion), down (7)% on a year-over-year basis. Volumes fell (12)% to 275,907 units. Happily, EBIT of 16.8 billion INR (about $240 million) was much improved from a prior year loss as improvements at JLR more than offset losses on Tata-branded vehicles. (Tata)
• JLR reported Q4 2019 (fiscal year Q3) revenues of £6.4 billion, up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis and PBT of £318 million, from a loss in the prior year. The company credited its “Project Charge” program for delivering cost savings and said it will now enact “Project Charge +” to save even more. (JLR)
• JLR CEO Ralph Speth will step down in September 2020. (JLR)

Tesla ^(history)

• Reported Q4 2019 automotive revenue of $6.4 billion, up 1% on a year-over-year basis, and PBT of $132 million, down (25)% YoY. In the full year, automotive revenue of $20.8 billion rose 12% versus 2018 and PBT of $(665) million improved $(1.0) billion in 2018. Investors were cheered by a third consecutive quarter of free cash flow and Tesla’s bullish outlook for deliveries in 2020. The firm says it is already producing Model Ys for customers in the USA, will deliver a few Semis in 2020 and everything is going great guns in China. (Tesla)
• On the earnings call Tesla ruled out a capital raise, despite the rocketing share price, saying positive cash flow met funding needs. The company will likely host a day of presentations about battery technology in April, with Musk promising exciting news arising from the acquisition of Maxwell. (Seeking Alpha)
• CEO Musk thinks that battery modules are just a holdover from a time when lower cell manufacturing and management performance required a capability to swap out failed cells without chucking away the entire pack. He now wants to dispense with Tesla’s module engineering team entirely. (Clean Technica)
• Elon Musk re-framed his definition of “feature complete” self-driving, saying that this meant it would be possible for the car to drive a journey itself sometimes but “doesn’t mean the features are working well”. (Business Insider)
• Chinese owners are getting free supercharging during the coronavirus outbreak. (Clean Technica)

Toyota ^(history)

• Toyota Tsusho invested in Kenyan on-demand logistics company Sendy as part of a $20 million round. (FINSMES)
• The battery-making joint venture between Toyota and Panasonic will be called Prime Planet. (Toyota)

VW Group ^(history)

• Truck division Traton launched a takeover offer for US-focused truck maker Navistar. (VW)
• Agreed to sell 76% of the Renk heavy engine division to Triton in a €530 million deal. (VW)
• Audi says employee suggestions saved at €100 million at two German factories. (VW)
• Porsche’s CEO sidesteps the question of whether electric vehicles are truly the most environmentally friendly transport solution (considering the manufacturing) by calling it the “most marketable” technology and that the brand will be “well below” EU CO₂ fleet targets. (Porsche)

Other

• Aston Martin announced a £500 million financing plan that includes £182 million from a consortium led by F1 team owner Lawrence Stroll (who will become executive chairman) in return for a stake that is intended to eventually become 20%. Despite being short on cash, part of the plan is for Mr Stroll’s F1 team to be re-branded as Aston Martin from the 2021 season onwards. The relationship with Red Bull technologies will end after delivery of the Valkyrie — the two firms originally planned to collaborate on a further range of supercars. The company also confirmed it won’t release any electric cars until 2025 at the earliest, calling into question plans for the Lagonda brand (which was to be all-electric) (AML)
  • Significance: Since Mr Stroll is well known for his collection of Ferraris, it seems a more than reasonable guess that as time passes, the two storied brands might discuss collaboration opportunities (and more).
• Arrival has received an order for 10,000 all-electric delivery vans for delivery between 2020 – 2024 (with an option for a further 10,000) from UPS in a €400 million deal. (The Guardian)
• Karma intends to make an SUV and pick-up using an all-new platform. (Bloomberg)
• VinFast says it has 17,000 orders for its new line-up of cars. (Vietnam+)
• Lordstown Motors is hoping for $200 million loan to build its new pick-up, which it will unveil at the Detroit motor show. (Reuters)

News about other companies and trends

Economic / Political News

• The Coronavirus caused many OEMs to suspend production (due to Chinese New Year, a shorter break was always planned). Amongst them were Tesla, Toyota, Honda, Ford, Renault and VW. Supplier FTech is relocating some production to the Philippines because its plant is in Wuhan. Hyundai and SSangyong said production in South Korea was affected because of parts shortages.
• TomTom says Bangalore, India is the world’s most congested city. (TomTom)

Suppliers

• Bosch reported preliminary 2019 sales of €77.9 billion and profits of €3 billion. Bosch says worldwide automotive production will shrink in 2020 and thinks it might never recover. The company intends to review capacity. (Bosch)
• BorgWarner agreed to acquire Delphi in an all-stock deal. (BW) BorgWarner reported preliminary FY 2019 revenu of $10.2 billion and operating income of $1.3 billion. (BW) Delphi reported preliminary FY 2019 revenue of $4.4 billion and operating income of $315 million. (Delphi)
• Nidec thinks revenue will more than triple off the back of increased electric vehicle production. (Reuters)
• Autoliv reported FY 2019 revenue of $8.5 billion and operating income of $726 million. (Autoliv)
• Lear’s FY 2019 revenue was $4.8 billion and net income was $126 million. (Lear)
• Denso’s Q4 2019 (fiscal Q3) revenue was $35.5 billion and operating profit was $1.5 billion. (Denso)
• Meritor reported Q4 2019 (Fiscal Q1) revenue of $901 million and net income for $39 million. (Meritor)
• Aptiv reported FY 2019 revenue of $14.4 billion and net income of $990 million. (Aptiv)
• Veoneer has now exited the brake systems joint venture it owned with Honda and Nissin Kogyo. (Veoneer)
• WABCO is selling the RH Sheppard steering division to Knorr Bremse ahead of ZF’s takeover. (WABCO)
• Adient reported Q4 2019 (fiscal Q1) revenue of $3.9 billio and EBIT loss of $(42) million. (Adient) The firm is exiting the interior trim joint venture with Yanfeng in a $379 million deal and the pair have extended the JV for seating and altered arrangements for their mechanisms JV. (Adient)

Ride-Hailing, Car Sharing & Rental ^(history)

• GoJek has suspended several drivers after it discovered they were using modified versions of its app that allowed them to see more information about passengers and reject trips. (Tech In Asia)
• Lyft’s restructuring made the headlines, but it only affects about 90 people. (NYT)

Driverless / Autonomy ^(history)

• Automated truck developer Embark said it wouldn’t publish a 2019 disengagement report but was happy to say it hadn’t had any crashes. (Embark)
• Postal firm UPS will test autonomous technology in cooperation with Waymo. (Reuters)
• Uber is reportedly investigating different ways of financing a fleet of driverless cars — internal proposals apparently include bundling vehicles into structured trusts that would pay out a set rate using the cash from ride. (FT)
  • Significance: Although this article rightly points out the difficulty of financing cars in the same way as buildings, due to depreciation, existing leasing models for aircraft and rolling stock (where unit volume is lower but value is far higher) suggest that this is not an insurmountable problem.
• Comma.ai says, following the launch of its latest smartphone-based driving assistant, it is profitable. The company hopes to achieve a mean distance between disengagements of 100 miles during 2020. It says that this cannot be compared to most self-driving firms because it does not always test in the same location (although the relatively low number of users would imply it isn’t that different). (Comma)
• Tesla’s Elon Musk re-framed his definition of “feature complete” self-driving, saying that this meant “some chance” the car could drive a journey itself but “doesn’t mean the features are working well”. (Business Insider)
• Cadillac will roll out a new driver assistance system, called enhanced super cruise, that will enable hands-off highway driving, including lane changes. (GM)

Electrification ^(history)

• Indian tariffs for electric vehicles have been hiked — at the same time as those for conventional engines — to 40%. The previous (favourable to EV) difference in tariff between electric and conventional powertrain has been eliminated. The government says it simply wants more local manufacturing. (Economic Times of India) It also believes that within three years, EVs will be cheaper than those with combustion engines. (Economic Times of India)
• India is plotting a 12-lane, 1,300km electrified highway, to be completed by the start of 2024. It would have fixed overhead lines for trucks and buses and charging service stations for light vehicles. (Economic Times of India)
• Tesla’s Elon Musk thinks that battery modules are just a holdover from a time when lower cell manufacturing and management performance required a capability to swap out failed cells without chucking away the entire pack. He now wants to dispense with Tesla’s module engineering team entirely. (Clean Technica)
• Aston Martin confirmed it won’t release any electric cars until 2025 at the earliest, calling into question plans for the Lagonda brand (which was to be all-electric) (AML)
• GM’s president doesn’t think there is an inflection point for EV adoption believing that they have already entered the mainstream and that the rate of take-up is now in the hands of customers. In echoing previous statements that the next generation of all-electric cars would be profitable, scale was highlighted as a major factor in the business case. He also said that battery packs didn’t need to increase in size from the current generation, but GM will be able to squeeze out more performance thanks to a better understanding of how the battery is used in the real world. (Electrek)  
• The battery-making joint venture between Toyota and Panasonic will be called Prime Planet. (Toyota)

Connectivity

• TomTom is the mapping supplier for FCA’s upgraded infotainment system. (TomTom)

Other

• In a sign that large automotive companies might be losing interest in bright ideas that will change the future, the Techstars Detroit incubator is closing. (TechCrunch)
• Truck maker Volvo reported 2019 full year revenue of 432 billion SEK (about $44.8 billion) and adjusted operating income of 47.9 billion SEK (about $5.0 billion). (Volvo)
• Scooter rental firm Bird confirmed a deal to acquire Circ and raised a further $75 million. (TechCrunch)

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Not enough money to go around; Mercedes EQC news is good and bad; and cars that last a really long time. Please enjoy our auto industry and mobility briefing for 20^th January to 26^th January 2020. A PDF version can be found here.

Before you read the detail, what were my favourite stories of the past week…?

• Too Many Broken Hearts — The Hydrogen Council (backed by lots of big-name OEMs) want $70 billion spent on hydrogen, forecasting costs will fall by 50%. The thing is… many of the same group are complaining about the low investment in electric vehicle charging infrastructure. So why ask for even more money to be spent on something else?
• I’ll be There — Some say that Mercedes is having problems getting enough batteries for the EQC, and it is hindering production. Others say that everything is just hunky dory and Mercedes will sell 50,000 units this year. That would be Tesla Model X volume territory. What would the Tesla fanbase make of one of their beloved products being beaten in the sales charts? Popcorn anyone?
• Old Before I Die — GM’s Cruise unveiled the Origin, a small shuttle developed with Honda. They put the vehicle lifespan at a million miles. Sounds reasonable, since taxis in New York and London routinely make it to 500,000. But if this vision of the future is correct, won’t that mean far fewer registrations?

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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Chart Of The Week

Okay, so this isn’t something that we normally do, but I thought this was a cool chart. OEMs in Europe need to significantly increase sales of all-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles in 2020 and 2021 and there is so much opinion flying around about whether customers will embrace or resist the change.

So, here is some real data… it’s from Germany; richer than most countries but also approximately 80 million people, so a decent sample size. In the large car segment (what I think of as D/E size, e.g. Audi A6, BMW 5-Series, Mercedes E-Class), hybrids went from 2% of registrations at the beginning of 2018 to 47% by the end of 2019. Maybe customers aren’t so averse after all if they like the overall product? Here’s the chart:

News about the major automakers

BMW ^(history)

• Invested in electric motor developer Software Motor Companyas part of a $25 million round. (SMC)

Daimler ^(history)

• Issued another profit warning, saying it would make €1.1 billion – €1.5 billion less because of losses from fines and court cases relating to diesel engine performance. The van division will make a whopping €(2.4) billion loss. (Daimler)
• Reportedly dealing with substantial constraints on battery supply for the EQC, resulting from problems at the supplier (LG Chem) and high reject rates at Daimler’s own battery module plant. (Manager Magazin) Daimler said that it would make about 50,000 EQC in 2020, as planned. (Reuters)
• Daimler and BYD are putting around $100 million in fresh funds into all-electric JV Denza. (Deal Street Asia)
• Working with UBQ Materials to find possible uses for “climate positive” thermoplastics. (Green Car Congress)

FCA ^(history)

• Foxconn reckons the first shipments of electric vehicles produced in partnership with FCA will start in 2022. (Nikkei)
• Dutch authorities say that FCA and Suzuki vehicles (all equipped with FCA diesel engines) have breached emissions rules because of defeat devices. (Reuters)

Ford ^(history)

• Updates in a spare parts database by over-eager analysts suggested that Ford’s next generation Mondeo will launch in 2021. (Autocar)
• Ford executives said the all-electric Mustang Mach-E will be profitable immediately. (Business Insider)

Geely (includes Volvo) ^(history)

• Expects that 20% of Volvo’s cars sold in EU markets this year will be plug-in hybrids and says that paying fines “shouldn’t be in the equation”, because the money is better spent investing in new products. (Bloomberg)
• Warned that the UK line-up could be pared back if local market rules started to deviate considerably from EU-wide standards. (FT)
• Volvo has received thousands of firm orders for the all-electric version of the XC40. (Volvo)

General Motors ^(history)

• Unveiled the Cruise Origin, a collaboration with Honda, a driverless vehicle with room for six. GM says the car can last one million miles — albeit with some refurbishment and upgrades — and will cost half as much as a conventional electric SUV (a somewhat fuzzy definition that spans a range of $30,000 – $100,000). (GM) The vehicle will apparently be built at the Detroit-Hamtramck, USA, plant as part of a $2.2 billion investment to turn the plant into an electric-only facility. (GM)
• Opening a new technical centre in Charlottle, USA, near to lots of NASCAR teams. (GM)

Hyundai / Kia ^(history)

• Hyundai reported Q4 2019 revenue of 27.9 trillion KRW (about $23.7 billion), up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. Operating income of 1.2 trillion KRW (about $1.1 billion) more than doubled. Full year revenue of 106 trillion KRW (about $90 billion) rose 9.3% from 2018, with operating income of 3.7 trillion KRW (about $3.1 billion). (Hyundai)
• Kia’s Q4 2019 revenue of 16.1 trillion KRW (about $13.7 billion), up 16.5% on a year-over-year basis. Operating profit of 591 trillion KRW (about $500 million) was 55% higher. Full year revenue of 58 trillion KRW (about $49 billion) rose 7.3% from 2018, with operating profit of 2.0 trillion KRW (about $1.7 billion). (Kia)
• Released renderings previewing a forthcoming compact SUV for emerging markets. (Kia)
• Activist shareholder Elliott has reportedly sold off its entire stake in Hyundai after failing to get its restructuring plan accepted. (Reuters)
• Kia is increasing production of the Telluride SUV thanks to high demand, and reportedly aims to sell 100,000 per year. (CNET)

Nissan and Mitsubishi ^(history)

• Carlos Ghosn reportedly predicted that Nissan would go bust by 2022, according to someone who interviewed him for a book (before he became a world-renowned escape artist). (Bloomberg)
• German regulators are investigating whether Mitsubishi diesel engines contained defeat devices. (Reuters)
• Nissan and Renault’s top engineering executives are planning a feelgood session to reignite shared projects (Reuters) or, Nissan is angling for a sell-down of the cross-shareholding. (Bloomberg) You decide.

PSA ^(history)

• Vauxhall’s MD confirmed that there will be a next generation Insignia (but that doesn’t mean it will be anything more than a badge-engineered Peugeot). (Autocar)
• Despite PSA’s insistence that Opel and Vauxhall will retain distinct brand identities from the rest of the PSA stable, the design team is reportedly set to shed 40% of its workforce (about 160 people). (Handelsblatt)
• Doesn’t know whether it supplied the Mitsubishi engines under investigation by German regulators for defeat devices. (Reuters)

Renault ^(history)

• Conducting a series of experiments over a four-year period to look at technologies for electric vehicle charging and the customer reception to them. (Renault)
• VW’s CEO said ex-SEAT boss Luca de Meo is in talks with Renault about the CEO job. (Les Echos)
• Renault Samsung workers are staging partial strikes whilst negotiations over wages continue. (Yonhap)
• Nissan and Renault’s top engineering executives are planning a feelgood session to reignite shared projects (Reuters) or, Nissan is angling for a sell-down of the cross-shareholding. (Bloomberg)

Suzuki

• All EU-bound cars from Suzuki’s Hungarian factory will have hybrid engines. (Budapest Business Journal)
• Dutch authorities said some diesel-engined Suzuki cars (the engines were supplied by FCA) breached emissions regulations and the firm has until mid-February to respond. (Reuters)

Tata (includes JLR) ^(history)

• Tata Motors says it will offer the safest cars (as measured by NCAP) in their class. (Autocar)
• Making around 500 staff at the Halewood, UK, factory redundant. JLR says it is because the plant is becoming more efficient, not because of falling volumes. (Autocar)
• Tata’s research suggests that Indian customers can be persuaded to upgrade to an all-electric car if the price is within 25% of the conventionally powered version. (Times of India)

Toyota ^(history)

• Toyota’s Japanese union will reportedly seek a $92 per month wage increase in 2020, lower than 2019. (Reuters)
• Moody’s changed the outlook for Toyota’s rating to negative. (Moody’s)

VW Group ^(history)

• Formed a joint venture with Aeris, called Ventic, to develop connected vehicle services in North America. (Aeris)
• Any second model added to Bugatti’s portfolio won’t share any platform with other VW group products and would have lifetime volume targets “in the low thousands”, but nothing has been approved by the board (indicating that any launch would be post-2022 at the earliest. (Autocar)
• Porsche’s CEO says half of (all-electric sports car) Taycan buyers are new to the brand. (Bloomberg)
• VW’s works council will approve the sale of the Renk heavy truck engine unit, provided they are happy with the buyer. (Reuters)
• CEO Diess said he backed a higher CO₂ tax in Germany. (Handelsblatt)
• Canadian regulators fined $150 million for diesel emissions irregularities. (Reuters)

Other

• Aston Martin is exiting the German DTM touring car championship after a single season. (Motorsport)
• Indian electronics brand Detel intends to launch an electric vehicle. (Economic Times of India)
• TVR’s new Griffith looks like it has been further delayed because of problems with the factory. (CarBuzz)
• Lucid opened reservations for European customers, saying deliveries will begin in 2021. (Lucid)
• Nio is aiming to build 200 new dealerships this year. (NBD)
• Rivian says its new pick-up truck will be cheaper than previously announced. (Reuters)
• Subaru showed off a model of an unnamed electric SUV. (Auto Express)

News about other companies and trends

Economic / Political News

• Full year 2019 sales of commercial vehicles in Europe of 2.635 million units rose 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. Most of the market (2.2 million units) is in vehicles of 3.5 tonnes or less. (ACEA)
• The European car making trade body issued a list of emission reduction talking points. In addition to urging caution about mandates for certain technologies types (i.e. electric vehicles), the manufacturers want future rules to give them credit for replacing older vehicles with newer, lower emitting ones (despite this improvement being an implicit part of current targets). (ACEA)
  • Significance: Although billed as a “plan”, there are few concrete proposals, none of which have clear cost/benefit assessments, and the list reads as an attempt to draw politicians and other industries into the quagmire of emissions reduction.  
• Russia is increasing the fee it charges manufacturers to register vehicles assembled locally, to $2,500 per unit and making it harder to claim back money for recycling vehicles. (Automotive Logistics)

Suppliers

• Tata AutoComp signed a joint venture agreement with Prestolite Electric to produce motors and power electronics. (Autocar)
• Bridgestone reported Q3 2019/20 revenue of 891 billion JPY (about $8.2 billion) and operating income of 92 billion JPY (about $840 million). (Bridgestone)
• Eaton’s hydraulics business is being sold to Danfoss for $3.3 billion. (Eaton)
• Mitsui and Teco Electric are setting up a joint venture plant in India to make electric motors. (Nikkei)
• Bosch is upping its stake in fuel cell developer Ceres Power from 3.9% to 18%. (Bosch)

Ride-Hailing, Car Sharing & Rental ^(history)

• Uber sold its Indian food delivery unit to Zomato, taking a 9.99% stake in the enlarged business return. (Uber)
• Zoomcar raised $30 million from investors including Sony. (Deal Street Asia)

Driverless / Autonomy ^(history)

• AutoX raised “tens of millions” shortly after closing a $100 million Series A round. (Deal Street Asia)
• Aurora monitors progress based on a self-generated series of priorities for improving the ability of its self-driving AI (such as being able to push into slow moving traffic). The firm accepts that its current explanations are a bit vague plans to expand on them soon. (Aurora)
  • Significance: The beginning of 2020 has seen a drumbeat of developers questioning the value of monitoring disengagements. However, they agree far less on what is an improvement. There is also a growing emphasis on virtual testing without confronting the two main shortcomings: (1) the reaction of other participants in the simulation is itself simulation (comprehensive multiple driver-in-the-loop simulations — which no one seems to be doing — aside) so the value in predicting and dealing with real life human behaviour is open to question; (2) part of the real world problem is that incomplete or noisy sensor data makes object detection and identification hard, whilst all simulations on show present the AI with a clearly identifiable object. If the real-world sensors cannot be so exact, why is it correct to simulate them as such?
• GM and Honda unveiled the Cruise Origin, a collaboration with Honda, a driverless vehicle with room for six. GM says the car can last one million miles — albeit with some refurbishment and upgrades — and will cost half as much as a conventional electric SUV (a somewhat fuzzy definition that spans a range of $30,000 – $100,000). (GM)

Electrification ^(history)

• Battery developer Oxis Energy claims it is “close to” an energy density of 500 Wh / kg (today’s best is around half that or less) from a solid-state lithium-sulphur chemistry. (Oxis)
• Total will install 20,000 charging points in the Netherlands. (Total)
• The cost of Hydrogen could fall by 50%, if only $70 billion is invested in it. (Hydrogen Council)
• Hyundai says modern vehicle batteries will last 1,000 cycles if they are fully discharged and recharged every time and, taking Hyundai’s view of a more realistic use case, if 20% of the capacity is used and topped up each day then they will be good for 22 years. (Hyundai)
• Electric motor developer Software Motor Company raised $25 million from investors including BMW. (SMC)

Connectivity

• VW formed a North American connected vehicle services joint venture with Aeris, called Ventic. (Aeris)
• Zenuity will use Hewlett Packard’s infrastructure to run its self-driving and advanced driver assistance AI. (HPE)

Other

• Indian parking app Park+ raised $11 million. (Deal Street Asia)
• Electric scooter rental firm Bird is reportedly in talks to buy smaller German service Circ. (FT)

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Facing up to reality in Europe; too little money to go around; and the benefits of getting the basics right. Please enjoy our auto industry and mobility briefing for 13^th January to 19^th January 2020. A PDF version can be found here.

Before you read the detail, what were my favourite stories of the past week…?

• I Have Seen — VW says that by 2030 at least 40% of the vehicles mass market producers sell in Europe will need substantial electrification (plug-in hybrid or full-electric) to comply with EU CO₂ rules at that time. This shows companies clearly understand how their sales portfolio will need to evolve in the next ten years. Are they being honest about their financial outlook?
• Destiny — Mahindra and Mahindra’s Ssangyong brand needs more money, NIO needs more money, Aston Martin is talking to people about more money and Sono Motors just raised some money, but will soon need more. Rewind to 2018 and the stuff seemed to be growing on trees. Will everybody make it?
• Home — GM says the high-end AT4 trim level on GMC vehicles is going great guns, providing a useful foil to the sleek high-end Denali trim. It all sounds a bit boring in these days of electrification, connectivity and self-driving but good choices that drive revenue up are the mainstay of the business and worth big bucks when you get it right. How many companies will trip themselves up chasing the future and forgetting the basics?

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

Daimler ^(history)

• Selling its Colombian light vehicle parts and distribution arm to dealer Inchcape. (Daimler)

FCA ^(history)

• In discussions with Foxconn / Hon Hai about developing and manufacturing all-electric vehicles in China. (FCA)
• Issued a press release to ensure it received proper credit for improving the sales experience around electric vehicles. FCA had added a button to their website that links to an Amazon page where you can buy wall chargers. (FCA)

Ford ^(history)

• Investing €42 million in the Valencia, Spain, factory to produce battery packs for hybrids and update assembly lines for hybrid and 48V variants of the Kuga, S-MAX and Galaxy. (Ford)
• Investing $82 million to increase capacity in Vietnam. (Reuters)
• Will implement V2V communication in European vehicles so that drivers are warned of obstacles ahead that other cars have already had to avoid or crashed into. The service will be free for the first year. (Ford)

Geely (includes Volvo) ^(history)

• Fengshang (formerly known as Kandi) unveiled its first vehicle, an electric SUV called the Maple 30X. (Kandi)
• Volvo is working with China Unicom to develop 5G communications and V2X. (Volvo)

General Motors ^(history)

• GM executives say GMC’s AT4 trim level is outperforming expectations and achieving pricing within $2,000 – $3,000 of the Denali top of the line models with (GM says) minimal cannibalisation. GMC “doesn’t know where the ceiling is” for price or unit sales. (CNBC)  
• Hourly workers at some US sites are complaining that since the strike they have been on mandatory seven day weeks to recover the shortfall. (Detroit Free Press)
• Engineers found themselves in hot water after police caught them racing prototype Corvettes on public roads. (CNN)
• Following the UAW agreement, GM has converted 1,350 temporary employees to permanent contracts. (GM)
• Confirmed the sale of the Talegaon, India, plant to Great Wall. (Great Wall)
• GM’s Cruise division published a blog questioning the value of disengagements as a metric for the competency of self-driving systems, accusing start-ups and media of over-hyping the significance (but without reflecting on the benefit to Cruise of its longstanding position as second only to Waymo on this basis). Cruise argues that in busy environments, it is impossible to stop safety drivers instinctively taking control. (GM)
  • Significance: GM’s argument isn’t entirely satisfactory since the firm’s much-vaunted modelling could be compared to actual disengagements to determine how necessary they were and the company could (if it wished) report this extra detail as a memo to its California DMV report if it wished (the report format is largely left up to the issuing company).

Honda ^(history)

• Announced a partnership with Isuzu to develop fuel cells for heavy vehicles. (Honda)

Hyundai / Kia ^(history)

• Kia announced an updated cycle plan, dubbed Plan S, that calls for 11 battery electric vehicles by 2025, selling a collective 500,000 units per year. In total, Kia wants 25% of vehicle sales to come from fully electric and electrified models by 2025. (Kia)
• By implementing Plan S, Kia is targeting a 6% operating profit and 10.6% return on equity in return for $25 billion of investment spending between 2020 – 2025. (Kia)
• Hyundai and Kia made a €100 million investment in UK/Russian electric vehicle firm Arrival in a deal that values the start-up at €3 billion. The intention is for Hyundai and Kia to use Arrival’s platform for electric vehicles. (Hyundai)

Nissan and Mitsubishi ^(history)

• Revealed the 10,000 hours has been spent investigating compensation and other payments stemming from Carlos Ghosn’s ouster, with several others found to have benefitted (but kept anonymous). Amongst actions Nissan is taking to improve corporate governance, the practice of retaining former senior executives as consultants will be ended, meaning that outgoing CEO Saikawa will leave the company for good when he steps down. (Bloomberg)

PSA ^(history)

• PSA sold 3.489 million units in 2019, a (6.6)% drop on a year-over-year basis. (PSA)
• Two of PSA’s senior executives — the leaders of the DS and Citroën brands — have gone on special assignments, one to look at how to improve synergies between brands and one to look at how to preserve brand integrity even as product is shared. They are both being replaced. (PSA)
• Opel announced an extension of the involuntary redundancy freeze until 2025 (from 2023) and confirmed rumours from April that the Rüsselsheim, Germany, plant will produce the Astra. In return, Opel is looking for 2,100 employees to take voluntary separation. (Opel)
• Expects to comply with EU CO₂ rules for 2020 and avoid paying fines (PSA had previously expressed confidence that this would be the case). (PSA)
• Opel’s head of sales for the German market has been moved sideways after less than a year in the job. (Handelsblatt)
• Opel will sell electric vehicles in Russia — IF the state agrees to provide subsidies — and says that 5% market share is the minimum level for viability in the market. PSA believes that some level of exports will be required for sustainable profitability, but the changing regulations mean it hasn’t decided a firm plan. (TASS)

Renault ^(history)

• Renault sold 3.75 million vehicles in 2019, down (3.4)% on a year-over-year basis, more than explained by declines in Iran, Argentina and Turkey. Renault said it was working on pricing more than chasing volume. (Renault)

Subaru

• Announced a series of longer term targets for the electrification of the portfolio: by 2030 at least 40% of sales will be BEVs or (P)HEVs; by the mid-2030s all Subaru vehicles will have an electrification option; by 2050 fleet average emissions will be 90% lower than 2010 levels. (Subaru)
• TomTom will provide all of Subaru’s mapping in the USA. (TomTom)

Tata (includes JLR) ^(history)

• Future high end JLR cars will have special seats that stimulate the bottom and thighs so drivers and passengers can stay in great shape even as they sit still. No word yet on whether there is a version that does six packs. (JLR)

Tesla ^(history)

• Suffered a dramatic drop in registrations in California during Q4 2019, prompting investor concern that the brand was going off the boil. Tesla has already released global Q4 figures. (Reuters)

Toyota ^(history)

• Recalling 696,000 cars to fix problems with fuel pumps. (Toyota)
• Will build a yet-to-be-revealed new small SUV for the European market at the Valenciennes, France, plant. (Toyota)
• Launching the Kinto brand in Europe. Car sharing and carpooling services will be offered, alongside all-inclusive leasing (in both multi-year and short term — often called subscription — variations). (Toyota)
• Invested $394 million in (existing investment) flying taxi developer Joby Aviation as part of a $590 million round. A Toyota executive will join Joby’s board and the company will lend manufacturing expertise. (Toyota)
• Reshuffling product allocation at some North American plants. Although the moves will see overall capacities remain the same, media seized on the news that the Tacoma pick-up will be made in Mexico instead of the USA (it is currently made in both countries). (Toyota)

VW Group ^(history)

• Across all brands, VW Group sold 10.974 million vehicles in 2019, up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. (VW)
• Says a sales mix of 40% electric cars (which includes plug-in hybrids) is required to meet the 2030 EU targets for fleet average CO₂. The company expects subsidies for electric cars to be phased out (the specific discussion was around Germany) and has written off hydrogen as a realistic fuel source until after 2030. (Handelsblatt)
• CEO Diess gave a speech saying he wants VW to transform from a car company to a tech firm. He thinks that in the future, people will spend more time in the car and foresees an average of two hours per day rather than about one now. He warned the Bentley brand that although he was pleased with sales of over 10,000 units, he would be more impressed with a return greater than zero and would prefer sales of 5,000 units with a return of 20% to the current state. (Handelsblatt)
• In talks with Chinese battery manufacturer Guoxuan about a strategic cooperation (something that was rumoured in August). (Handelsblatt)
• The next generation Golf can detect whether voice commands are being given by the driver or passenger and responds accordingly. (VW)
• SEAT is using trucks that tow two full size trailers to reduce logistics costs and reduce CO₂. The trailers can only be used on highways, so aren’t suitable for all supply runs. (SEAT)
• Lamborghini says all future sports cars will have hybrid variants. The brand has now produced 350 track-only Huracán, an indication of the interest level for motorsport-focused variants (with the right supporting infrastructure and events). (Lamborghini)
• Audi is spending €100 million to install 4,500 charging points at its factories. Since most of the units will be relatively bog standard 22 kW chargers, it isn’t clear how they are costing an average of €22,000 each. (Audi)
• Audi has given Cromodora a ten-year supply agreement for alloy wheels, enough to justify the latter company building an entire plant at an undisclosed Eastern European location. (Audi)
• Apparently, the version of the VW ID3 with the biggest battery (77 kWh) will only be a four seater. (Inside EVs)

Other

• Lightyear hopes to bring a second, more affordable, solar powered car to market by 2023 and sees demand of more than 100,000 units per year for the model. (Inside EVs)
• Xpeng’s co-founder says the Chinese market for electric vehicles will bounce back in 2020, partly because of excitement created by Tesla’s locally manufactured cars. (Nikkei) The company published some statistics gathered by the cars it has sold: adaptive cruise control users on average enable the feature for 1.8 km at a time and one third of voice commands were for setting up a destination in the navigation function. The data appears to include XPeng’s own test vehicles (since one car was reported to have driven over 600,000km in a single year). (XPeng)
• W Motors started construction of a new factory in Dubai. (The National)
• Roadster Salon is selling an updated 1960s Fiat 124 with all electric drive. It’s not cheap. (Roadster Salon)
• Mahindra and Mahindra are reportedly contemplating asking the South Korean authorities to stump up some financial support for Ssangyong. (Yonhap)
• Nio confirmed it was in talks with Guangzhou (GAC) about financing and collaboration. (Nio)
• Sono Motors met its fund-raising goal of €50 million to continue industrial development (the company has already said this will NOT be enough to start mass production). The money still needs to be collected. (Sono)
  • Significance: The crowdfunding model is used sure to be studied by others, although an extension to the originally planned deadline and existing investors stumping up extra cash to meet the target indicate it wasn’t plain sailing.

News about other companies and trends

Economic / Political News

• December passenger car registrations in Europe of 1.26 million rose 21.4% over prior year. Full year sales of 15.8 million cars was just 1.2% better. (ACEA)

Suppliers

• Meritor purchased electric drivetrain specialist TransPower. (Meritor)
• Magna announced its outlook for 2020 – 2022. The firm expects sales of $40.5 billion – $43.5 billion by 2022 and for EBIT margin in the range 7.6% – 8.0%. The firm is also breaking off its self-driving relationship with Lyft, saying the two will still collaborate a bit. (Magna)
• Mapping supplier HERE has a new CFO, a recruit from Daimler. (HERE)
• Lidar developer Quanergy’s CEO stepped down. (Quanergy)
• CK Birla acquired Kinex Bearings. (Deal Street Asia)

Ride-Hailing, Car Sharing & Rental ^(history)

• Ride hailing firm Bolt raised €50 million in debt. (TechCrunch)
• On demand bus app Shuttl raised $8 million. (Deal Street Asia)
• Chinese ride hailing firm Dida (not a typo), backed by Nio, reportedly hopes to raise $300 million. (Technode)
• Cargo, a company that provided in-car vending machines for ride hailing drivers, has pivoted into advertising instead. Participating drivers get a screen to put on their car roof. (Mashable)

Driverless / Autonomy ^(history)

• Comma.ai declared itself ready to develop self-driving software on an open source basis. New code will be subjected to an undefined test program. The opinion of regulators is unknown. (Comma.ai)
• Aurora says its cars can now navigate busy intersections “seamlessly”. (Aurora)
• Indoor mapping company NextNav raised $120 million. (TechCrunch)
• VW thinks that in the future, people will spend more time in the car and foresees an average of two hours per day rather than about one now. (Handelsblatt)
• GM’s Cruise division published a blog questioning the value of disengagements as a metric for the competency of self-driving systems, accusing start-ups and media of over-hyping the significance (but without reflecting on the benefit to Cruise of its longstanding position as second only to Waymo on this basis). Cruise argues that in busy environments, it is impossible to stop safety drivers instinctively taking control. (GM)
• Magna is breaking off its self-driving relationship with Lyft, saying the two will still collaborate a bit. (Magna)

Electrification ^(history)

• GKN is teaming up with Delta Electronics to offer integrated electric motors that also house the transmission and some power electronics). (GKN)
• The UK city of Nottingham is trialling taxi ranks with wireless charging. (Telegraph)
• Lightyear hopes to bring a second, more affordable, solar powered car to market by 2023 and sees demand of more than 100,000 units per year for the model. (Inside EVs)
• VW says a sales mix of 40% electric cars (which includes plug-in hybrids) is required to meet the 2030 EU targets for fleet average CO₂. The company expects subsidies for electric cars to be phased out (the specific discussion was around Germany) and has written off hydrogen as a realistic fuel source until after 2030. (Handelsblatt)
• VW is in talks with Chinese battery manufacturer Guoxuan about a strategic cooperation (something that was rumoured in August). (Handelsblatt)
• FCA and Foxconn / Hon Hai are considering developing and manufacturing all-electric vehicles in China. (FCA)
• Apparently, the version of the VW ID3 with the biggest battery (77 kWh) will only be a four seater. (Inside EVs)

Connectivity

• LG and voice recognition expert Cerence (ex Nuance) will collaborate on infotainment. (LG)
• Ford will implement V2V communication in European vehicles so that drivers are warned of obstacles ahead that other cars have already had to avoid or crashed into. The service will be free for the first year. (Ford)

Other

• Flying taxi developer Joby Aviation raised $590 million in a round led by Toyota. (Toyota)

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A car company worth its weight in gold; early days for electric cars in Europe; and a worrying sign for self-driving enthusiasts. Please enjoy our auto industry and mobility briefing for 6^th January to 12^th January 2020. A PDF version can be found here.

Before you read the detail, what were my favourite stories of the past week…?

• Rise — Tesla’s share price went up, up and away, even eclipsing the combined value of Ford and GM. Discussions about fair value aside, this seems like a good opportunity for Tesla to issue some stock and raise some cash to build its warchest. But will it and what will it do with it if it does?
• Ready For It? — Faraday Future says it will avoid the European markets at first because customers there aren’t ready for electric vehicles yet. But isn’t Europe the same place where everyone is talking about the death of internal combustion engines as we know it by 2030? Are Faraday Future correct or just trying to make a polite excuse for concentrating on the USA and China?
• A Different Point Of View — VW says the sensor set for an autonomous car costs $100,000; PSA says it costs somewhere around €20,000. These are two of the largest companies around, both spending hundreds of millions, if not billions of dollars per year on self-driving technology. If they can’t even agree on how much the bolt on bits cost, what does that say about the maturity of the discipline?

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

BMW ^(history)

• Sold 2.52 million cars in 2019, up 1.2% on 2018. (BMW)
• Rolls-Royce’s CEO peppered journalists with statistics about the brand’s customer base: 20% of them are celebrities (using a broad definition); only 25% of the cars it now sells are chauffeur driven; one third of customers visit the factory and; 80% of Cullinan sales are to customers new to the brand. (Telegraph) The CEO appears set to stay for at least another two years, following a contract extension, despite nearing the normal retirement age for BMW executives. (Telegraph)
• Invested in machine vision firm Alltheon’s $15 million funding round. (FINSMES)

Daimler ^(history)

• Sold 2.46 million Mercedes and Smart branded cars in 2019, up 0.7% on prior year. (Daimler)
• Daimler and Geely formally created the joint venture that will develop and sell cars under the Smart brand in future. Geely will take over most of the engineering responsibility. (Daimler)
• Daimler unveiled a concept car called the Vision AVTR, created in partnership with the makers of the movie Avatar. It isn’t entirely clear whether the vehicle contains any ideas that Daimler hopes will make it into production, or it is purely an artistic endeavour. (Daimler)
• CEO Källenius said Daimler now supports a universal CO₂ tax across industries. (Korea Times)

FCA ^(history)

• Idling two plants in the USA and Canada making minivans and Jeep Cherokees for two weeks because of softening demand. (Detroit News)
• Chrysler took a concept called the Airflow Vision to CES. (Top Gear)

Ford ^(history)

• Sold 2.42 million vehicles in the US during 2019, down (3)% on a year-over-year basis. Improvements in truck sales failed to offset falls in cars and SUVs. (Ford) In China Ford sold 567,854 vehicles, down (26.1)%. The company said it was all down to macroeconomic factors. (Ford)
• Garmin will provide the mapping for Ford’s next-generation infotainment. (Garmin)

Geely (includes Volvo) ^(history)

• Daimler and Geely formally created the joint venture that will develop and sell cars under the Smart brand in future. Geely will take over most of the engineering responsibility. (Daimler)
• Volvo sold 705,452 cars in 2019, up 9.8% on 2018. (Volvo)
• Taxi brand LEVC sold 2,507 cabs in 2019. (LEVC)
• Rumoured to be in talks to buy a stake in Aston Martin. (Reuters)

General Motors ^(history)

• Sold 3.09 million units in China, more than the 2.9 million in the USA, a year-over-year drop of (15)%. (GM)
• Rumours resurfaced that GM is planning to relaunch Hummer as an all-electric brand. (The Guardian)
• Will hold a capital markets day on 5^th February. (GM)

Honda ^(history)

• Honda released a video — part of its CES display — showing short snippets of different customer experiences in the year 2035. The AI in the video seems obsessed with birthday cake. (Honda)
• Honda has reportedly told the brand’s European arm to ensure that it complies with EU emissions rules and avoids paying any fines. (Clean Technica)

Hyundai / Kia ^(history)

• Hyundai showed off an air taxi called the S-A1 and says it will partner with Uber to put it into service. (Hyundai)
• Hyundai is taking air taxis so seriously that it has hired the entire team from consultancy Ascension Global to develop the strategy. (Hyundai)
• Hyundai Mobis wants to distance itself from Hyundai and Kia, targeting sales from 3^rd parties to rise to 40% of revenues by 2025 (up from 10% today). (Korea Herald)
• Hyundai has a vision of a modular vehicle architecture with omni-directional wheels (think of the Audi in I, Robot if you’ve seen it) that can be built to fulfil passenger and cargo carrying roles. (Hyundai)
  • Significance: Whilst others have shown concepts based on a flexible moving platform with interchangeable tops, Hyundai appears more convinced in the benefits of purpose-built vehicles, but with modularity that lowers costs.

Nissan and Mitsubishi ^(history)

• Nissan is reportedly making contingency plans to go it alone in engineering and manufacturing in the eventuality of a complete split with Renault. (FT)
• After Carlos Ghosn held a press conference accusing Nissan executives and unnamed Japanese government officials of orchestrating his downfall, his former Nissan colleagues said the claims were predictable. Ghosn said that the root of the issue was the need to find a scapegoat for Nissan’s performance, and moves by the French state to deny Nissan what the Japanese company saw as a fair say in Renault’s governance. Ghosn also said that he had been about to retire before the board persuaded him otherwise and now wishes he hadn’t listened. (Bloomberg) / (CNBC)

PSA ^(history)

• Using smart glasses so that plant quality inspectors can flag issues to PSA’s central staff and get quicker feedback on the correct next steps. (Autocar)
• The head of the Peugeot family’s investment vehicle confirmed the intention to increase its stake in a merged PSA and FCA and expects the French state to exit its investment in time. (Reuters)
• Opel is reportedly planning to cut up to 4,100 jobs in the coming years. (Bloomberg)
• PSA’s opinion is that the sensor set and computing kit for an autonomous car costs between €15,000 – €20,000 per vehicle. (Fleet Europe)

Renault ^(history)

• Hired Gilles Le Borgne, formerly of PSA, as the new head of engineering. (Renault)
• Carlos Ghosn said he had been in negotiations to bring FCA into the alliance before his arrest but missed the key go-no go meeting because he had been arrested. (Nasdaq)
• Nissan is reportedly making contingency plans to go it alone in engineering and manufacturing in the eventuality of a complete split with Renault. (FT)

Tata (includes JLR) ^(history)

• JLR reported 2019 retail sales of 557,706 cars, down (5.9)% versus 2018 but focused on the performance in Q4 and December 2019, both of which improved over prior year, mainly driven by China and the USA. (JLR)
• JLR’s huge new £300 million UK warehouse will be owned by a South Korean investment firm. (Telegraph)

Tesla ^(history)

• Tesla’s share price soared to a level surpassing the combined value of GM and Ford. (Reuters)
  • Significance: By rights, if Tesla is correctly valued, then a similarly large concern (for instance, VW Group’s electric vehicle unit c. 2022) will also be worth tens of billions (concerns of the cash-generating legacy side of the business notwithstanding). Tesla has already previously chosen to use increases in the stock price as opportunities to issue equity, and therefore raise cash. Will something similar happen this time?
• CEO Musk said at the official opening of the Shanghai factory that he hopes to create a Chinese-designed car for export to global markets. It was unclear how much the comments were for the benefit of the local audience, rather than a serious undertaking. (Electrek)

VW Group ^(history)

• The VW brand sold 6.278 million cars in 2019, up 0.5% on a year-over-year basis. (VW)
• Audi sold 1.85 million cars in 2019, up 1.8% versus 2018. (Audi)
• SEAT delivered 547,100 cars, up 10.9% on 2018’s level. (SEAT)
• Now collecting detailed data on real world driving habits from a stretch of German motorway, to better inform research and simulation for automated driving. (VW)
• SEAT’s CEO (a rumoured candidate for the Renault CEO job) stepped down from his role at the brand, although he remains a VW Group employee. (VW)
• Bentley sold just over 11,000 cars in 2019, saying it had returned to profitability. (Bentley)
• Bought out the remaining shareholders in software development firm diconium (VW previously held 49%), citing the opportunity to quickly beef up VW’s software organisation. (VW)
• VW’s head of autonomous mobility says a cutting-edge sensor set costs $100,000 today, but forecasts that prices will drop to only $10,000 by 2030. (SAE)
  • Significance: If the cost forecast is correct, this would put autonomy beyond the means of almost all retail consumers, whilst commercial owners who could dispense with the driver, or otherwise improve their utilisation on other duties, would find the feature affordable.

Other

• Aston Martin issued a profit warning, after selling 5,809 cars in 2019 (excluding specials) down (7)% from 2018. The company is in discussions with potential strategic investors, believed to include Geely (AML) On the bright side, the firm has 1,800 orders for DBX  — which opens up $100 million of dearly-needed funding — and announced another limited-edition supercar; 88 V12-powered speedsters are planned, with production to begin in 2021. (AML)
• Aston Martin has reportedly cancelled the all-electric RapidE. (Autocar)
• Electric car start-up E.Go reportedly needed a €100 million bailout at the end of 2019 to stay in business. So far, the company has made about 500 cars. (Manager Magazin)
• FAW’s Hongqi (Red Flag) brand is aiming for annual sales of one million units by 2030. (South China Morning Post)
• Fisker says the Ocean SUV will be built in China, the USA and Europe, but the partner(s) won’t be announced until the Geneva Motor Show. Amongst a series of announcements about the intended brand experience is that all servicing will include home collection and drop off. (Fisker)
• Neuron EV announced another new product; an all-electric mid-sized SUV called Vega. (Neuron)
• Nio delivered 8,224 cars in Q4 2019. Whilst the company was pleased with its highest ever quarterly sales, they were up only 3% on a year-over-year basis, despite the addition of a second model. (Nio)
• Faraday Future said the FF91 is production ready. The firm is aiming for an IPO in 12-15 months. (Faraday) Initially it will give the European market a miss because customers “are not really prepared for electric and connected cars”. (Autocar)
• Rinspeed’s latest people mover, the MetroSnap features extensive use of 3D printing. (3D Printing Industry)

News about other companies and trends

Economic / Political News

• The new head of the European Commission said it would be impossible to reach a full fat UK-EU trade deal covering goods and services by the expiry of the post-Brexit transition period (December 31^st) and that a bare bones deal around priorities, which could be augmented in future, was more likely than no deal at all. (BBC)
• Chinese officials said that incentives for electrified vehicles would not be cut in July, as some feared. (Reuters)
• Industry observers think that the German market showed signs of a December rush to register high emitting vehicles before they start to count for more stringent EU fleet CO₂ levels in 2020. (FT)

Suppliers

• Sony brought its own concept car to CES. Dubbed the Vision S, it appears more as a demonstrator for new technologies Sony has to offer than a intent to enter the market. (Sony)
• Lidar maker Velodyne has a new CEO. (Velodyne)
• Intel’s Mobileye will develop crowd-sourced maps with SAIC. (Mobileye)
• Lear is investing in a VC fund run by Autotech Ventures. (Lear)
• Panasonic will offer in car audio carrying the posh Klipsch brand. (Panasonic)
• Continental thinks that speakerless audio technology could reduce the weight of the system by 90%. (Continental)

Ride-Hailing, Car Sharing & Rental ^(history)

• Uber will shutter operations in Colombia after a court ruling that it was anti-competitive. (Reuters)
• Car sharing firm Getaround is shedding staff but says everything is going well. (Getaround)
• Hyundai showed off an air taxi called the S-A1 and says it will partner with Uber to put it into service. (Hyundai)

Driverless / Autonomy ^(history)

• Waymo says it has now logged 20 million miles of self-driving. (Fortune)
• Intel’s Mobileye is developing a camera-only self-driving system separately from a lidar and radar based one to build redundancy. The company shared a video of a test drive — the machine vision appears to have a range of below 50m in terms of when it identifies an object (the sensor range will be greater), making it suitable for low speed, fair weather driving at this stage (even if all the decision-making kinks were worked out). (Intel)
• Hella is using software developed by Oculii — a firm it recently invested in — to improve the performance of radar chips for automated driving. (Hella)
• Lidar developer Hesai Technology raised $173 million. (Robot Report)
• VW’s head of autonomous mobility says a cutting-edge sensor set costs $100,000 today, but forecasts that prices will drop to only $10,000 by 2030. (Electrek)
• PSA’s opinion is that the sensor set and computing kit for an autonomous car costs between €15,000 – €20,000 per vehicle. (Fleet Europe)
• VW is now collecting detailed data on real world driving habits from a stretch of German motorway, to better inform research and simulation for automated driving. (VW)

Electrification ^(history)

• Rumours resurfaced that GM is planning to relaunch Hummer as an all-electric brand. (The Guardian)

Connectivity

• Mitsubishi will use Otonomo to provide connected car services. (Otonomo)

Other

• Motorbike rental start-up Bounce raised $97 million. (Deal Street Asia)

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Plug-in hybrids with serious range; solar roofs for all; and counterfeit cars. Please enjoy our auto industry and mobility briefing for 23^rd December 2019 to 5^th January 2020. A PDF version can be found here.

Before you read the detail, what were my favourite stories of the past week…?

• Travelogue — BMW’s next generation of plug-in hybrids will have electric-only ranges of 80km – 120km, way beyond the 50km that is becoming so common. At that level, plus fleet mixes rising to 25% by 2030, according to BMW, the path to meet EU 2025 and 2030 CO₂ targets for premium OEMs looks clearer.
• Sunday — Hyundai says the latest solar roofs can save almost 15 g / km of CO2 and the production cost is somewhere below $1,000. The simple maths — and the fact that solar charging is an off-cycle test contribution muddies this somewhat — puts the cost of the CO₂ reduction at below the $75 g / km that many OEMs have been using as a rule of thumb to justify electrification changes. Will we see this technology becoming far more widespread?
• Copycat — Russian Tesla fans have made their own Cybertruck homage and say it only cost them a couple of thousand dollars, thanks to the humble Lada donor vehicle. The car isn’t quite finished to OEM standards but passes more than a passing resemblance — serious counterfeiters could do better. The upside of the vehicle’s simple styling is that it could be easily made, but also easily copied. If this becomes a trend, might manufacturers need to rethink the way that they release products?

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

BMW ^(history)

• BMW thinks it has chosen the right path by developing platforms that can accommodate conventional and electric powertrains but admits that dedicated architectures would be better if all-electric vehicles dominate. Improvements in battery energy density have wildly exceeded BMW’s expectations and the next generation of plug-in hybrids from the company will have zero emission ranges of 80 – 120 km. The firm believes that, in Europe, a decent charging network “is coming” and that this will support a plug-in hybrid sales mix of 25% by 2030. Although a current fuel cell costs ten times that of a battery electric system, BMW expects costs to converge by 2025. (Automotive News)
• Will cease production of the 1.5 I3 diesel engine and the highest power derivatives but thinks that internal combustion engines will continue for decades — at least 20 years for diesel and 30 for gasoline. (Automotive News)
• The US SEC is investigating BMW’s sales reporting practices. (NYT)
• Won an appeal against fines levied in South Korea for vehicles sold with improper emissions certification. BMW isn’t exonerated, but the penalties have been reduced. (Korea Herald)

Daimler ^(history)

• CEO Källenius says the personnel cost reduction target is €1.4 billion by 2022. (Economic Times of India)
• Rumoured to be in talks with Geely’s Volvo unit about combustion engine sharing. (Reuters)
• Investing about $19 million to expand a test track in Brazil. (Autocar)
• Recalling 744,000 cars in the USA because the sunroof glass might come away. (Reuters)

FCA ^(history)

• Sold 2.2 million vehicles in the USA during 2019, down (1)% on a year-over-year basis as improvements at Ram almost offset declines in every other brand. FCA’s press release didn’t even mention the Chrysler, Fiat and Alfa Romeo brands. (FCA)
• The Peugeot and Agnelli (Exor) families are reportedly discussing a formal pact that would control around 23% of the merged PSA-FCA’s shares (and could have double strength if maintained in the long term). (Il Sole 24)

Ford ^(history)

• Ford executives hinted that the line-up of electric vehicles intended for production from VW’s MEB platform will include a smaller sibling of the Mach-E SUV. (Auto Express)
• The next Focus RS is rumoured to have a 48V gasoline engine and a plug-in hybrid that will drive the rear wheels. Such a setup would be expected to have considerable CO₂ benefits over the current model. (CAR)
• Declared reservations for the first edition of the Mach E to be full. Despite the attention-grabbing headline, plenty of vehicles are available. (Ford)
• Ford bought a pair of humanoid robots to perform experiments with commercial vehicles. (Ford)

Geely (includes Volvo) ^(history)

• Geely sold 1.36 million vehicles in 2019 (including Lynk&Co), marginally beating the sales target but down (9)% on a year-over-year basis. In 2020 Geely aims to sell about 1.41 million units, back to 2018’s level. Lynk&Co sold 128,000 units, improved versus the 120,000 vehicles in 2018, but indicative of stalling sales growth since 2019 has been a full year with a three car portfolio, whereas until June 2018 there was only a single model on sale. (Geely)
• Kandi signed an additional cooperation agreement with Chinese group Jiangsu, selling part of the vehicle division (which in turn owns a 22% in the joint venture with Geely) and establishing a joint ride hailing firm. (Kandi)
• Volvo is rumoured to be in talks with Daimler about combustion engine sharing. (Reuters)

General Motors ^(history)

• Sold 2,887,046 vehicles in the USA during 2019, a (2.3)% drop on a year-over-year basis, explained by falling Chevrolet sales partially offset by slight improvements at GMC and Cadillac. GM blamed the UAW strike and pointed to low dealer inventories, hinting it will stuff them full of new product in 2020 rather than take the opportunity to run a leaner build to order system. (GM)

Hyundai / Kia ^(history)

• Hyundai sold 4,422,644 units in 2019, a (3.6)% drop versus 2018. The company blamed emerging markets but hopes that in 2020 it will be back at the 2018 level. (Hyundai)
• Hyundai’s CEO reiterated electrification goals of 44 models across Hyundai and Kia by 2025, and slightly revised the declared timeline for autonomous cars. Having previously talked about a solution from the JV with Aptiv being on the road by 2022, the plan is now: develop the system by 2022, rollout in company fleets in 2023, then sale to 3^rd parties in the second half of 2024. (Hyundai)
• Kia’s rule of thumb is that an electric car costs €8,000 – €9,000 more than an entry-level gasoline model. The brand’s European arm says it cannot make cars that compete with VW’s ID3 on price but that it will sell some electric cars because paying fines “is a no-go at a Korean company”. It is highly confident of selling 40,000 all-electric models in 2020, predicting that most will go to retail customers, rather than fleets. (Automotive News)
• Hyundai’s tests have shown that the charging rate from a solar roof is fairly reliable, with only (3)% – (10)% performance degradation if the panel is dirty or has debris on it and that the CO₂ benefit is approximately 9g / mile (based on tests recognised be the US regulator). (Hyundai)
  • Significance: If Hyundai’s maths are right (and European regulators agree), at $1,100, solar roofs would have a CO₂ reduction cost below $75 / g per km (unless it is lossmaking) — competitive with many electrification measures being implemented.

Mazda

• Defended the 35 kWh battery size, smaller than most peers, of the forthcoming MX-30 BEV on the basis of data suggesting it is enough for the real-world requirements of most drivers and saying that the negative emissions of manufacturing larger batteries outweigh their benefits. (Autocar)
  • Significance: It remains to be seen whether the lifetime CO₂ argument can be resurrected and win support from consumers or politicians. Since it rests on a key assumption that power grid energy generation continues to rely on fossil fuels (something which varies by country anyway), this might be difficult.

Nissan and Mitsubishi ^(history)

• Nissan’s number three executive resigned to take up a post at supplier Nidec. (Reuters)
• Mitsubishi has reportedly decided not to design any new diesel engines, although it will continue development of existing architectures. (Nikkei)
  • Significance: Existing engines can still be improved considerably, even without starting afresh. The application of 48V significantly reduces fuel consumption and emissions. So, whilst this move is a shift in emphasis, it doesn’t necessarily mean the range dropping diesel altogether anytime soon.
• Ex-CEO Ghosn fled pre-trial detention in Japan, saying things were taking too long and offering to give his side of the story. Journalists were more interested in how he escaped. (Nikkei)

PSA ^(history)

• Both PSA and Changan said they were selling their joint venture to Baoneng. (Economic Times of India)
• The Peugeot and Agnelli (Exor) families are reportedly discussing a formal pact that would control around 23% of the merged PSA-FCA’s shares (and could have double strength if maintained in the long term). (Il Sole 24)

Renault ^(history)

• Won’t launch any more diesel vehicles in India and will have an EV in the market by 2021. (Autocar)

Tata (includes JLR) ^(history)

• Deposed chairman Cyrus Mistry says that although he won a court ruling, he isn’t trying to get his old job back, but does want a seat on the board. (Economic Times of India)

Tesla ^(history)

• Tesla’s Q4 deliveries totalled 112,000 cars, up 23% on a year-over-year basis, thanks to Model 3. In the full year, 367,200 cars were delivered, up almost 50% versus 2018. (Tesla)
• Delivered the first Model 3 cars from the new Shanghai factory. (BBC) Tesla said the factory has already produced 1,000 units and has reached a run rate of 3,000 cars per week. (Tesla)
• Russian Tesla enthusiasts can already get hold of a Cybertruck replica for about $11,000, the low price is helped by the humble Lada underpinnings. (Ars Technica)
  • Significance: As we discussed at the time of the Cybertruck’s launch, the simple design is an asset in terms of the ease with which it can be built. This goes two ways however… if this becomes a styling trend it also makes the design far easier to copy and companies could be leaving themselves open to IP theft.
• Elon Musk’s mother shared the secret of her family’s success. (CNBC)

Toyota ^(history)

• Received a fine of $13 million in China for telling Lexus dealers not to discount too much. The fine was based on annual sales in the affected Chinese province (2% of 2016FY). (Nikkei)
• Building a “city of the future” powered by fuel cells in Japan. Toyota hopes it will gain insights into connected homes and cars through the project. (Toyota)

VW Group ^(history)

• German media were up in arms over VW’s decision to (modestly) compensate Austrian police for vehicles affected by the diesel scandal, whilst continuing to deny German customers similar satisfaction. VW said there was no inconsistency because it was the importer that paid up. (Handelsblatt) It then transpired that VW had begun talks with representatives of a German diesel scandal class-action lawsuit covering around 440,000 owners. (The Guardian)
• Showed a concept video for a mobile charging station based in a car park. The system is made up of two elements, a battery pack on wheels that is put next to the car to charge the car’s battery and a robot tug that tows it from the charging station to the car and back again. The use of an animated video and dimensions of the battery pack suggest this is not something VW have yet mastered. (VW)
• The VW brand is so pleased with the rollout of electric vehicles that the company upped its production forecast. It now expects to pass the one million mark by 2023 and make 1.5 million units in 2025 (memo: the VW group target is about double this). (VW)
• Bentley’s CEO repeated earlier comments that 2025 is the earliest that the brand could have a credible all-electric car and is keeping his fingers crossed that solid state batteries are ready by then so as to save weight. He implied that the car might be the next generation of an existing nameplate, rather than an all-new model (previous rumours were of an all-electric two seater). Bentley is likely to use the VW Group’s PPE electric platform as the brand is leading development of some component areas — which ones is a secret. (Automotive News)
• Porsche’s works council representatives want a ten-year hiring commitment pointing to continued hiring, even as the brand’s electric vehicle portfolio is being rolled out, as evidence of the brand’s exceptionalism. (Manager Magazin)
• Audi hinted that high performance RS-badged variants of all-electric models will begin rolling out in 2021. (Autocar)

Other

• Nio released financial results for Q3 2019. The firm sold 4,799 cars, an improvement over prior quarters, but losses continued to mount; $(337) million operational loss on $257 million of revenue. Nio unveiled the EC6, a sporty all-electric SUV and announced a minor refresh for the ES8. The cash and equivalents balance of $274 million dropped $(229) million in the quarter. (Nio)
• Although Nio is cash poor, its investment vehicle Nio Capital raised over $200 million. (Deal Street Asia)
• A Turkish consortium unveiled the TOGG brand, an attempt to create a domestic champion along the lines of Proton in Malaysia. The first vehicle will be an SUV and the government has pledged to help by buying 30,000 cars by 2035. (The National)
• Chinese all-electric brand Lixiang Automotive (also known as CHJ Automotive) hopes to raise $500 million in a forthcoming IPO. (Reuters)
• Rivian’s forthcoming pick-up truck can perform a complete turn in little more than the vehicle’s own length. The feature, dubbed tank turning, appears to work by independently controlling the electric motors on each wheel. The demonstration video is on dirt — it is unclear if the method works well on tarmac. (Rivian)
• Byton received investment from Marubeni. The Japanese trading house apparently hopes the deal will secure a supply of Byton’s used batteries that can be put into service as stationary storage. (Nikkei)
• Chinese firm Youxia Motors is reportedly in financial trouble (despite previously claiming it had raised hundreds of million of dollars) and the regional government is contemplating a takeover. (China Money Network)
• Two firms that were collaborating to produce an electric homage to the three wheeled Isetta have parted ways. Artega and Micro-Mobility will now produce their own, probably nearly identical, vehicles. (Inside EVs)
• Fisker has decided that it will sell, rather than simply lease, the Ocean SUV after all. The brand intends to produce 1 million vehicles between 2022 – 2027. (Fisker)
• Aston Martin appears set to introduce digital rear and wing mirrors after showing some prototypes developed with help from supplier Gentex. (Autocar)

News about other companies and trends

Economic / Political News

• US light vehicle SAAR in December of 16.7 million units fell (4.6)% on a year-over-year basis. (Wards)
• German passenger car registrations in December of 283,380 units rose 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. In the full year, 3.6 million cars were sold. (KBA)
• Passenger car sales in the UK of 148,997 units in December rose 3.4% versus prior year. In the full year, 2.3 million cars were sold, (2.4)% worse than 2018. (SMMT)
• Spanish passenger car registrations of 105,853 units in December, up 6.6% from a year earlier. In the full year, 1.2 million cars were sold. (ANFAC)
• Italian December passenger car registrations of 140,075 units rose 12.5% from prior year. Full year sales of 1.9 million units rose 0.3%. (UNRAE)
• French passenger car registrations in December of 211,194 units rose 27.7% versus a year earlier. In the full year, 2.2 million units were sold, up 1.9% on 2018. (CCFA)

Suppliers

• Koito acquired full control of the India Japan Lighting JV from Lucas TVS. (Deal Street Asia)
• Eaton sold off its fluid conveyance division. (Eaton)
• Veoneer said it had fewer confirmed orders than originally forecast but remains convinced that things will come good, blaming deferments by customers. (Veoneer)
• Grupo Antolin will use Eyesight’s driver monitoring system in its interior products. (Autocar)
• Bosch showed off the latest sun visor technology; a transparent digital screen that can turn dark in exactly the right place to cast a shadow on the driver’s face. Given the low cost of a conventional sun visor, it is uncertain whether the idea will ever become a production reality. (Engadget)

Dealers

• Indian car repair firm GoMechanic raised $15 million and aims to expand its network of affiliated garages from 215 to 1,000 by year-end 2021. (Deal Street Asia)

Ride-Hailing, Car Sharing & Rental ^(history)

• Uber completed the takeover of Careem, although it hasn’t yet received approval in some smaller markets so these have been packaged into a subsequent deal. Uber says the Careem brand will remain in service. (Uber)
• Uber’s co-founder and ex-CEO Travis Kalanick exited stage left and left the board. (Uber)
• A judge struck down rules in New York limiting the idling time of ride hailing drivers (caps on total fleet size and minimum wages for drivers are unaffected). (Reuters)
• The mayor of Los Angeles threatened to make ride hailing fleets go all-electric. (FT)
• HERE’s mobility arm said 2.5 million vehicles are signed up to its platform. (HERE)

Driverless / Autonomy ^(history)

• Uber is rumoured to be building a 600 acre autonomous vehicle test site near Pittsburgh, USA. (Business Insider)
• Bosch entered the lidar game, saying it had the first long-range sensor suitable for automotive applications. No other details were given, and Bosch’s claim appears based on their subjective interpretation of “long-range”, since other companies (e.g. IBEO) already supply production vehicles. (Bosch)
• Robosense is selling its entry level lidar for $1,898. The previously stated production cost target is $200. (Robosense)
• Tata Elxsi and AEye are collaborating on a robotaxi system. (Tata)
• Yandex’s fleet has logged 1.5 million miles of autonomous driving. (BBC)
• Hyundai’s CEO slightly revised the declared timeline for autonomous cars. Having previously talked about a solution from the JV with Aptiv being on the road by 2022, the plan is now: develop the system by 2022, rollout in company fleets in 2023, then sale to 3^rd parties in the second half of 2024. (Hyundai)

Electrification ^(history)

• South Korean charging network Daeyoung Chaevi received a “large” investment from Kakao. (ET News)
• Californian authorities said charging networks could no longer charge by the minute. They will still be able to charge extra fees if people remain parked in the space once the vehicle has been charged. (Electrek)
• Nemanska Lithium filed for bankruptcy protection after price falls left the business case for its new Quebecois mine in tatters. (FT)
• Battery developer ProLogium keeps saying in its marketing materials that conventional lithium ion batteries are unstable and at high risk of fires. No statistics accompany the claims. (ProLogium)
• Byton received investment from Marubeni. The Japanese trading house apparently hopes the deal will secure a supply of Byton’s used batteries that can be put into service as stationary storage. (Nikkei)
  • Significance: The deal implies that whilst automakers are fretting about how to organise second life of vehicle batteries, specialist investors are prepared to take a long term view, and could make useful partners.
• VW showed a concept video for a mobile charging station based in a car park. The system is made up of two elements, a battery pack on wheels that is put next to the car to charge the car’s battery and a robot tug that tows it from the charging station to the car and back again. The use of an animated video and dimensions of the battery pack suggest this is not something VW have yet mastered. (VW)
• Hyundai’s tests have shown that the charging rate from a solar roof is fairly reliable, with only (3)% – (10)% performance degradation if the panel is dirty or has debris on it and that the CO₂ benefit is approximately 9g / mile (based on tests recognised be the US regulator). (Hyundai)
• BMW thinks it has chosen the right path by developing platforms that can accommodate conventional and electric powertrains but admits that dedicated architectures would be better if all-electric vehicles dominate. Improvements in battery energy density have wildly exceeded BMW’s expectations and the next generation of plug-in hybrids from the company will have zero emission ranges of 80 – 120 km. The firm believes that, in Europe, a decent charging network “is coming” and that this will support a plug-in hybrid sales mix of 25% by 2030. Although a current fuel cell costs ten times that of a battery electric system, BMW expects costs to converge by 2025. (Automotive News)

Connectivity

• Software firm Pivotal, a provider of connected car infrastructure for major OEMs and in which Ford had invested, was acquired by VMware. (VMware)

Other

• Bicycle rental firm Mobike said it lost 205,600 bikes due to vandalism or theft during 2019. (Tech In Asia)

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