Monthly Archives: June 2018

Humans abusing autonomous vehicles, innovation in action and great news for electric vehicle enthusiasts. Please enjoy our auto industry and mobility briefing for 18^th June to 24^th June. A PDF version can be found here.

Favourite stories of the past week…?

• This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things — A company has been banned from selling a device that intentionally defeats built-in safety measures for Tesla’s Autopilot and the safety driver involved in Uber’s fatal AV crash might have been watching television at the time of the crash. It all points to complacency on a grand scale and raises the awful question of whether we can be trusted with cars that are far safer on average, but more dangerous in the wrong hands?
• Look What You Made Me Do — ZF unveiled a new type of transmission they are working on that combines and automated manual with an electric drive. I like it because it nicely demonstrates how technology cost comes down. Mild hybrid systems save fuel but are expensive; automated manual transmissions save money but have horribly laggy gearchanges (hence, to date, they have been banished to the least discerning emerging markets). But put the two together and torque from the electric motor can overcome the gear change lag and the overall system cost is cheaper than with a CVT or conventional manual. What’s not to like?
• End Game — VW say we’ll see solid state batteries by 2025 and Japanese automakers say solid state packs will cost $90 per kWh by 2030 (and charge in under ten minutes). Throw in vastly reduced motor costs and reduced capacity requirements (because the batteries are lighter and charge quicker) and you get an awfully compelling cost equation and product proposition. In countries with well-developed infrastructure, who will be opting for combustion engines over BEVs and how many of them will there be?
• We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together — China is planning a 900 kW charging standard. That’s so fast that we’ll need automated charging stations, otherwise getting out of the car to plug it in will become the longest part of the process. Are Europe, Japan and America lacking in vision?

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)

• Formed a JV with Critical Software to work on projects ranging from in-car infotainment to automated sales. (BMW)
• Working with TTTech Auto to improve the quality and security of software for autonomous vehicles. (TTTech)
• BMW celebrated their CEO being voted the most popular manager in Germany with a Q&A about his management style. (BMW)
• Said that clarity on post-Brexit trading conditions were required by the end of the summer, otherwise it would have to start making contingency plans. (Economic Times of India)
  • Implication: Given that BMW has already opened alternative sites for Mini production, it appears likely that any summer announcements could impact Hams Hall or Swindon Pressings.

Daimler ^(history)

• Issued a profit warning for full year 2018, blaming likely tariffs on US-built vehicles imported into China (with the expectation that both unit sales and margins would suffer). The impact of failing to certify all vehicles under WLTP before the new regulations take effect and recall costs were also factors. (Daimler)

Ford ^(history)

• Ford and VW are exploring potential collaboration on a range of topics relating to commercial vehicles but stressed that equity arrangements and cross-ownership stakes were not under discussion. (VW)
• Ford believes self-driving delivery vehicles have greater application in the suburbs than built-up areas. (PC Mag)

Geely (includes Volvo) ^(history)

• Volvo started production at its Charleston, USA, plant. The factory can produce up to 150,000 cars per year. (Volvo)
• Swedish authorities reportedly told Volvo that it cannot carry out its planned self-driving testing program with “real” families due to the risks involved. The project was already severely delayed. (Autonomes Fahren)

General Motors ^(history)

• Investing $175 million in the Lansing, USA plant to install equipment for the new sedan that replaces the ATS and CTS. (Detroit News)
• Reported that installing a $35,000 3D printer at one factory had led to cost savings of over $300,000 for new tooling, plus reductions in downtime. (3D Printing Industry)

Hyundai / Kia ^(history)

• Hyundai and Audi will jointly develop fuel cell technologies. Affiliates such as KIA and VW will have access to any benefits from the agreement. Hyundai implied that they had superior experience and technology to Audi, but that the potential business for Hyundai Mobis was a major factor in the partnership. (Hyundai)
• South Korean unions threatened to take legal action to prevent Hyundai creating a lower cost manufacturing JV with a regional government because they believe the company has sufficient capacity in its unionised plants. (Yonhap)
• Granting more autonomy to its regional offices to enable faster decision making. A recruitment drive is on for staff in finance, planning, product development and sales. (Yonhap)

Nissan (includes Mitsubishi) ^(history)

• Carlos Ghosn said that although discussions about a deeper relationship between Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi, a full takeover by Renault was not one of the options. (Reuters)

PSA (includes Opel/Vauxhall) ^(history)

• PSA believes that 120 million km of test mileage are necessary to verify self-driving on highways — with greater distances required for rural roads and cities. (PSA)
• Faurecia announced an updated credit facility, providing €1.2 billion until 2023. (Faurecia)

Renault ^(history)

• CEO Ghosn said that although discussions about a deeper relationship between Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi, a full takeover by Renault was not one of the options. (Reuters)
• Acquired a 75% stake in taxi and private hire vehicle dispatch firm iCabbi through its financing arm. (Renault)

Suzuki

• Released the first official images of the next generation Jimny. (Autocar)

Tesla ^(history)

• Said that it had been sabotaged by a disgruntled employee and shortly afterwards experienced a fire at its Freemont plant that CEO Musk said was “hard to explain”. (New York Times)
• Created a final assembly line in a temporary building to increase Model 3 production. Judging by the reported equipment, size, number of toilets and fire extinguishers, the new line is low volume. This could still have benefits for overall production if it allows models in launch or with low take rates to be assembled with less disruption to the main lines. (Wired)
• Said in an internal email that Model3 production was consistently above 500 units per day but that “radical improvements” were needed in several areas of the factory. (CNBC)
• CEO Musk said Germany was the “leading choice” for a new Tesla battery factory, probably near the border with France and the Benelux countries — should Ford employees in Saarlouis prepare their CVs? (Business Insider)
• A group of hackers published a series of images from Autopilot overlaid with system categorisation and radar data. Their analysis reveals previously unknown shadow capabilities of Autopilot (e.g. how good it is at tracking stopped vehicles) and provide information on which cameras perform which detection role. (Electrek)
• Suing a former Gigafactory worker, accusing them of stealing data and trade secrets and leaking misleading information to the media about quality standards. (Bloomberg)

Toyota ^(history)

• Dropping the Avensis nameplate in favour of Camry in Europe. (Toyota)
• Launched an all-new Century luxury limousine aimed at the Japanese market. The model has a sales target of 50 units per month. (Toyota)
• Reportedly undertaking aggressive cost cutting in the marketing function, however from the examples given it wasn’t clear whether the measures were the first signs of a major revamp or normal business. (Reuters)
• Toyota’s US financing arm will sell $3 billion in financial products to retail investors. (Toyota)

VW Group ^(history)

• Following the arrest of Audi’s CEO, VW’s board agreed to “temporarily” release him from his duties and Audi’s head of marketing and sales has taken on his responsibilities on an interim basis. (VW)
• The truck and bus division is to be renamed Traton Group, in a step VW says prepares the division for “capital market readiness”. (VW)
• Porsche purchased a 10% stake in Croatian electric sports car builder and component supplier Rimac. (VW)
• Will increase the capacity of the FAW-VW Foshan plant to 600,000 units annually. (VW)
• Announced a new regional reporting structure where different brands will take responsibility for coordinating the Group’s approach. VW will lead in the Americas and sub-Saharan Africa, SEAT will be responsible in North Africa, Audi will cover the Middle East and Asia Pacific except China, Škoda will be responsible for Russia and India. China is everyone’s responsibility and Europe wasn’t mentioned at all. (VW)
• Audi is part of a consortium intending to test air taxis in Ingolstadt, Germany (Audi’s home town). (Audi)
• Invested $100 million in solid state battery developer QuantumScape and formed a JV with the intent of mass producing solid state batteries by 2025. (VW)
• Hyundai and Audi will jointly develop fuel cell technologies. Affiliates such as KIA and VW will have access to any benefits from the agreement. Hyundai implied that they had superior experience and technology to Audi, but that the potential business for Hyundai Mobis was a major factor in the partnership. (Hyundai)
• A judge in one of the continuing cases into the Porsche acquisition of VW shares said investors could take action against VW majority shareholder Porsche SE, in addition to VW. (Reuters)
• Ford and VW are exploring potential collaboration on a range of topics relating to commercial vehicles but stressed that equity arrangements and cross-ownership stakes were not under discussion. (VW)

Other

• Aston Martin will open a new development centre at Silverstone and some posh offices in London. (AML)
• A Shanghai-based car maker, thought to be GLM, is building a factory based on additive manufacturing, rather than traditional manufacturing techniques. The production method is a sort of spaceframe. (3D Printing Industry)
• Local Motors announced a restructuring of its parent, now branded LM Industries to offer tailored design and manufacturing of vehicles based on the Olli platform. One of its projects is an autonomous battlefield vehicle for the US Marine Corps. (Local Motors)
  • Implication: Although the company’s offering is not hugely different from those of existing bodybuilders, the extent of potential modification, combined with the ability to order small batch runs from various locations (and ultimately vary in scale) might be very attractive to customers such as the military who are used to paying high prices, but demand substantial customisation.

News about other companies and trends

Economic / Political News

• US President Trump wants a 20% tariff on car imports (mainly from the EU) “soon”. The issue is wider than the automotive trade balance and it is unclear what OEMs can do to resolve the situation. (Economic Times of India)
  • Implication: Despite many European brands having US factories, economies of scale have led them to source entire vehicle lines and treat the plants as currency, rather than tariff, hedges. Recent weeks have also shown the political goodwill to be insufficient to shield the industry in the US.

Suppliers

• ZF have developed a new drivetrain that combines an automated manual transmission with an electric motor. This gives the normal benefits of light electrification and overcomes the primary downside of automated manual transmissions (the noticeable lag in changing gear). The result is a system that improves fuel economy and creates cost savings to partially offset the electrified technology. (ZF)
• Manufacturing engineering company FFT will be acquired by Chinese company Fosun. (Deal Street Asia)
• Varroc Lighting Systems acquired a smaller Turkish supplier. (Autocar)
• Continental is establishing an artificial intelligence research lab within the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI). (Continental)

Dealers

• According to a consultancy report, UK dealers are fast aligning diesel used car inventory with new car demand. In May 2017, diesel made up 57% of stock, by May 2018, it had dropped to 50%. (Motor Trader)

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

• Uber is trialling a fare discount, if the rider will agree to a longer wait for their cab. (Quartz)
• Uber’s CEO suggested a levy on ride hailing in New York to compensate taxi drivers who paid (in retrospect) high prices for their operating licences. (Business Insider)

Driverless / Autonomy ^(history)

• US crash investigators said the Uber safety driver involved in the fatal crash was not looking at the system interface, as they had claimed, instead phone records apparently show that they were streaming a talent competition on their phone. (Wired)
  • Implication: If safety drivers prove to be an unsatisfactory last resort then self-driving companies risk falling foul of a chicken and egg situation regarding road worthiness. Closed course driving. simulation and passive mode on-road testing could continue but the rate of learning would drop dramatically, and some situations would be impossible to confirm (because the effect of the vehicle’s decisions on other users is difficult to predict and therefore simulate)
• US regulators told the company behind “Autopilot buddy” to stop selling it. The $199 accessory is put onto the steering wheel to defeat Tesla’s safety measures (checking drivers are holding on to the steering wheel). (The Verge)
  • Implication: This is a further, worrying, development in autonomous driving. Customers and third parties are proving happy to perform what they see as hacks, but in reality defeat safety devices. Given the mounting evidence of people coming up with ways to force autonomous control, could this spell doom for L2 and L3 devices? The safer bet for regulators might be to ban the devices altogether rather than risk mis-use (Elon Musk and others would argue that, on average, safety is still improved even with reckless usage).
• Israeli start-up TriEye said it was developing an infra-red sensor that could be integrated into cameras, helping them to detect in objects where current performance is very poor (such as mist or dust). (Globes)
• Ford believes self-driving delivery vehicles have greater application in the suburbs than built-up areas. (PC Mag)
• PSA believes that 120 million km of test mileage are necessary to verify self-driving on highways — with greater distances required for rural roads and cities. (PSA)
• A group of hackers published a series of images from Tesla’s Autopilot overlaid with system categorisation and radar data. Their analysis reveals previously unknown shadow capabilities of Autopilot (e.g. how good it is at tracking stopped vehicles) and provide information on which cameras perform which detection role. (Electrek)

Electrification ^(history)

• Deutsche Post said it intended to continue producing Streetscooter electric vans until at least 2020 but that the company did not want to be an automaker and was looking at options including an IPO or sale. (FAZ)
• A research consortium led by the Japanese government said it is aiming for a $90 per kWh battery pack cost for solid state batteries by 2030. (Green Car Congress)
• A study by AlixPartners predicted that in 2030 battery electric vehicles will account for 20% of US sales, 30% in Europe and 35% in China. The assessment also concluded that the next wave of electric vehicles would cost OEMs $255 billion, yet many would lose money on the new models. (AlixPartners)
• China is reportedly developing a new charging standard capable of 900 kW. (Inside EVs)
• CHAdeMO’s maximum rating has been upgraded to 400 kW in a forthcoming generation of products. (Inside EVs)
• VW invested $100 million in solid state battery developer QuantumScape and formed a JV with the intent of mass producing solid state batteries by 2025. (VW)

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Toyota bets on Grab, VW’s strategy to monetise data and Proton the sequel. Please enjoy our auto industry and mobility briefing for 11^th June to 17^th June. A PDF version can be found here.

Favourite stories of the past week…?

• Billionaire –– Toyota spent $1 billion on a stake in Grab. In return they’ll get board seats and executive roles. Toyota has a cash pile unlike any other OEM and it can afford to wait and see how the mobility marketplace grows before making any bet the farm decisions. In negotiating the executive roles, it looks as though Toyota will gain the sort of insights others have promised, but struggled to deliver (ahem… GM/Lyft)
• If I Knew — VW Group gave a presentation about the business model behind autonomous vehicles. So far, so useful. But there was nothing in there about the value of data. That’s only a problem because Audi have said it will make them loads of money, so what’s going on? Is there a gap in the thinking or are VW trying to throw us off the scent of a well-worked masterplan that’s waiting to be unleashed?
• Treasure — Malaysia’s new prime minister wants a national car company. It’s a reworking of the scheme (also his brainchild) that launched Proton, now in the clutches of Geely. Potential consultancy fees abound…

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

Daimler ^(history)

• Recalled almost 775,000 vehicles across Europe to correct disputed emissions control software without admitting wrongdoing. (BBC)
• German media reporting of the diesel recall took aim at Daimler CEO Zetsche, criticising both his management approach and the way he had conducted discussions with the German government. (Handelsblatt)
• Ford and Daimler are ending their fuel cell development joint venture. (Reuters)

Ford ^(history)

• Ford and Daimler are ending their fuel cell development joint venture. (Reuters)
• Recalling around 9,000 vehicles in North America to fix fuel pump, transmission and braking problems. (Ford)
• Wants to work harder on sourcing in India; Ford says its tier 1 suppliers are 85% local but tier 2s are only 60%, meaning that import tariffs are still largely incurred — the company is aiming for 90% localisation. (Autocar)
• A profile of Argo AI said the company currently has 330 employees. (WSJ)

Geely (includes Volvo) ^(history)

• Volvo invested in lidar company Luminar. Toyota previously said they will use the company’s products. (Volvo)
• Volvo has set a goal of using recycled material for at least 25% of the plastic in its new cars from 2025. (Volvo)
• Polestar returned as a sports sub-brand on mainstream vehicles under the “Polestar Engineered” banner. (Volvo)

General Motors ^(history)

• Reportedly considering a listing of Cruise, but not until the business has developed further. (Bloomberg)
• Announced a new CFO, effective 1^st (GM)
• Released its latest sustainability report. (GM)
• GM’s CEO said the company has no projects underway with Lyft. (Reuters)

Hyundai / Kia ^(history)

• Sojitz, Hyundai’s local partner in Pakistan, said its factory would be completed in December 2019 and the brand was aiming for a market share of 6% by 2024. (Sojitz)

Nissan (includes Mitsubishi) ^(history)

• Nissan announced long term targets for its expansion plan covering Africa, the Middle East and India; there were few specifics about how Nissan intends to accomplish its goals. (Nissan)
• Said that ultrahigh tensile steel was a key element of its weight reduction strategy, with a target of 25% usage by weight (at an unspecified point in the future) — it already overachieved this figure in the new Infiniti QX50. (Nissan)
• Announced that annual synergies from the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance reached €5.7 billion in 2017, up from €5 billion in 2016 driven by new measures such as including Mitsubishi in spare parts, retail financing and benchmarking. (Renault)

PSA (includes Opel/Vauxhall) ^(history)

• Executives said that PSA wants to be a fast follower rather than first mover on electric vehicles. (Automotive News)
• Appointed a new CFO, promoting the current CFO of Opel. (PSA)
• Said that the cost of development for new Opel models had been reduced by between 20% and 50% through integration into PSA and component sharing and that by 2024 all Opel and Vauxhall passenger cars will be on PSA platforms. (Opel)
• Faurecia signed a strategic partnership with FAW Group, with a view to partnering in the development of a high quality interior for the Hongqi brand. (Faurecia)
• Introducing an upgraded four cylinder petrol engine family from 2022 onwards based on PSA’s (not GM’s) current 1.6 litre engine. (Opel)
• Workers at Peugeot Scooters (PSA owns 49%, 51% held by Mahindra) are becoming restless over the failure to provide a compelling recovery plan. If workers become disaffected, Sochaux is a likely target. (Les Echos)

Renault ^(history)

• Announced that annual synergies from the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance reached €5.7 billion in 2017, up from €5 billion in 2016 driven by new measures such as including Mitsubishi in spare parts, retail financing and benchmarking. (Renault)
• CEO Ghosn said that Nissan’s CEO had been misquoted in saying a Nissan-Renault merger had “no merit” but instead had simply pointed out that a period of consideration to assess merits was required. (Bloomberg)
• CEO Ghosn implied in an interview that he will step down before the end of his contract in 2022. (Les Echos)
• Will invest more than €1 billion in electric vehicle development and production in France, with three sites for vehicles and one for motors. Renault said production capacity of Zoe will double and the Douai factory will begin production of a second electric platform, to be shared with Nissan and Mitsubishi. (Renault)
• Said the local partner had acquired the land for the forthcoming Pakistani factory and construction will begin before the end of the year, with vehicles rolling off the line in 2020. (Renault)

Suzuki

• Announced the transfer of all equity in its Chinese JV, Changhe Suzuki, to its local partner. (Suzuki)
• Diesel decline isn’t only a European phenomenon, Maruti Suzuki ended production of diesel powered Ignis compact cars in India citing low demand. (Times of India)

Tata (includes JLR) ^(history)

• Will move production of the Discovery to Slovakia when its new plant opens there in 2019. Previously JLR indicated that some production would remain in the UK. JLR said the potential job losses which could result at the Solihull plant would come from temporary staff and was a “tough one”. Sources speculated the decision was made to free up space in Solihull for the Jaguar J-Pace. (JLR)
• Launched a new subscription service called Carpe that offers 12 month contracts without deposits. At present the scheme is UK only, and not that cheap. Range Rover Evoques start at £1,176 per month (all inclusive). (JLR)
• 33% of respondents to an online poll about the I-Pace’s artificial in-cabin sound said they hated it. (The Verge)

Tesla ^(history)

• Is cutting around 9% of its workforce, almost all of whom are salaried staff, implying a cut of towards 20% of that group. CEO Musk cited duplication of roles and the need to cut costs. Within the job cuts lies a reorganisation of some of the US retail sales channel. (Business Insider)
• Elon Musk’s management style and rhetoric were criticised by factory employees. (The Guardian)
• Tesla’s director of AI gave a presentation outlining some of the issues the company is grappling with as it improves its machine learning. He put a heavy emphasis on the importance of data labelling and drew attention to the practical challenges in undoing previous labelling decisions. (Electrek)

Toyota ^(history)

• Announced a $1 billion investment in Grab, a seat on Grab’s board and an executive rotation program. (Toyota)
  • Implication: Compared to rivals, Toyota has far more cash on hand to experiment with new mobility services so although this represents the single largest investment of any OEM the company probably feels comfortable with it. By securing the executive appointments, rather than simply board seats, Toyota is getting an opportunity to learn about the business in a way the likes of GM (Lyft) and VW (Gett) said they would but only Daimler (myTaxi) seems to actually be doing.
• Executives said company was taking a “strategic look” at the Lexus IS and GS sedans, implying there may not be a like-for-like replacement. (Autocar.)

VW Group ^(history)

• Fined €1 billion by prosecutors in Germany over its role in the diesel crisis. There were two elements: an actual fine of €5 million, and a “disgorgement of economic benefits” of €995 million. (VW)
• Held a future mobility day where a range of technologies were shown to investors and media. (VW)
• Gave a series of presentations at the CEBIT show, of potential interest are: VW’s procurement bot and the way the company is thinking about the tiers of value in autonomous vehicles. VW showed an ItalDesign-badged flexible autonomous platform with pods that could be swapped over but this appeared to be aimed at pods that could go on land or sky rather than re-using the road-going platform. (VW)
  • Implication: VW’s slides don’t mention, or build a case for, the profit potential of data, yet only recently Audi articulated a set of revenue and profit goals from data-derived services. Is the thinking joined up, or have VW Group hit on such an amazing scheme that they are trying to distract attention by talking about other things?
• Audi’s CEO was named a suspect in the German investigation into the diesel scandal and had his home raided. During the week, VW’s board debated a response but took no action. He was subsequently arrested. (Detroit News)
• Škoda is reportedly investigating the use of an outside contract manufacturer to increase capacity. (Reuters)
• Porsche’s consulting company said it would increase staff by about 20% and open two new offices. (Porsche)
• Audi will offer e-tron owners an at-home package of solar charging, battery storage and vehicle charging in partnership with two specialists. (Audi)
• Audi will continue to use Ballard to supply fuel cell stacks for development vehicles until at least August 2022. The combined development services and component contract is worth between $62 million – $100 million. (Ballard)
  • Implication: The agreement on such a large contract implies that Audi are continuing serious development on fuel cells, alongside their electrification program.

Other

• Malaysia’s new (and past) prime minister said that the country needs a new national car company now that Proton is in foreign hands and hopes to find partners in ASEAN. (Straits Times)
• Apollo said they would use HWA to assist in development of the IE supercar. (Apollo)
• BYTON confirmed it had completed a series B round, raising $500 million. (BYTON) According to their paint shop supplier, Byton’s factory will have capacity for 150,000 units annually. (Dürr)
• Subaru’s CEO announced he was demoting himself following the completion of the company’s investigation into final inspection irregularities. (Subaru)
• Solar powered vehicle marker Lightyear said their 2025 volume target is more than 50,000 units per year and more than one million units per year in the 2030 to 2035 timeframe. (Lightyear — video at 12:00)

News about other companies and trends

Economic / Political News

• European passenger car sales for May of 1,398,913 units were up 0.8% on a year-over-year basis. (ACEA)
• BAIC’s chairman believes one third of Chinese manufacturers will be forced out of business by 2022. (Just-Auto)
• US union, the UAW elected a new president. (Detroit News)

Suppliers

• Magna formed two JVs with BAIC (having earlier agreed to engineer an electric vehicle for them). The JVs will cover vehicle engineering and manufacturing and envisage an existing BAIC plant with 180,000 units per annum capacity producing units from 2020 onwards. (Magna)
• Bharat Forge took a stake in heavy vehicle electric powertrain provider Tevva Motors. (Autocar)
• ZF unveiled a new suspension product, dubbed sMOTION, that significantly reduces cabin movement. The company pointed to the rise of autonomous vehicles as a likely source of demand. (ZF)
• Adient’s CEO resigned amid rocky financial results and has been replaced on an interim basis. (Adient)
• BorgWarner said it would restate financial results for 2015 and 2016. (BorgWarner)
• Honeywell said, post-spinoff, its transportation systems business will be called Garrett. (Honeywell)
• Martinrea opened a new technical centre in Detroit, partly due to talent shortages in Canada. (org)
• Faurecia signed a strategic partnership with FAW Group, with a view to partnering in the development of a high quality interior for the Hongqi brand. (Faurecia)

Dealers

• Chinese used car platform Cheduoduo raised $17.7 million in a series A. (Deal Street Asia)

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

• Chubb and SURE launched an on-demand insurance product for ride hailing passengers, so that they are covered for death or injury costs in the event of an accident. Since the service operators already have their own insurance coverage in place, it isn’t clear what the market demand for the product will be. (Press Release)
• Didi said that its next international market will be Australia. (Economic Times of India)
• Toyota made a $1 billion investment in Grab and took a seat on Grab’s board. (Toyota)

Driverless / Autonomy ^(history)

• Magna announced a partnership with May Mobility. Magna will carry out the final assembly and fitting of shuttles to May Mobility’s specification. (Magna)
• Rental company Enterprise will run Voyage’s fleet of AVs and says it is lining up other customers. (Bloomberg)
• Volvo invested in lidar company Luminar. Toyota previously said they will use Luminar’s products. (Volvo)

Electrification ^(history)

• The Chinese city of Shenzen said that all taxis in the city must be electric. (China Daily)
• After Deutsche Post parted ways with the executive who championed StreetScooter, media reporting implied the division’s future could be affected by forthcoming restructuring. (Handelsblatt)
• Porsche launched a charging station consolidation service. For a monthly fee of €2.50, users can charge at a wide range of different providers (nearest site recommended via integration with the car’s navigation) and the app will handle payment electronically (on top of the monthly fee). Porsche says that “in principle” owners of other brands can use the same service. (Porsche)

Connectivity

• Turo said it was working with several OEMs to integrate remote access for its peer-to-peer users into factory-spec connectivity, citing Mercedes as an exemplar. (Autocar)
• Mapping start-up Mapfit announced investment of $5.5 million. (TechCrunch)
• RideOS will provide mapping services to Ford’s Autonomic division. (rideOS)

Other

• Parking provider ParkinGo announced an ICO to raise $10 million. Despite the appearance of blockchain, the scheme bears all the hallmarks of a traditional pre-payment for parking. (ParkinGo)
• Elon Musk’s Boring Company won a contract to construct Chicago’s high speed airport link. (IEEE Spectrum)
  • Implication: the plan calls for high speed electric shuttles, the source remains unspecified, but presumably a design could share much in common with the Tesla
• Bicycle rental operator Ofo held a fire sale of unused bicycles in Singapore. The sale price of S$50 was substantially less than Ofo’s reported unit cost of 335 RMB. (Technode)
• Scooter rental company Bird is reportedly on the cusp of another funding round — and a £2 billion valuation. (TechCrunch)
• 3D printing company Virtual Foundry released a new type of filament that lets desktop 3D printers create metal objects. It works by wrapping the metal inside a plastic binding until the material is deposited and then chemically finishing the process in a kiln. (3D Printing Industry)

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Volvo’s 2025 strategy, Honda and GM battery sharing, saving diesel and what people really think about their cars. Please enjoy our auto industry and mobility briefing for 4^th June to 10^th June. A PDF version can be found here.

Favourite stories of the past week…?

• Roll With It — Volvo unveiled a set of corporate targets for 2025. They are big on electrification, services and new age ownership concepts. Although it’s hard to see yet how the brand is on track to achieve goals such as 50% of sales from fully electric vehicles, it’s interesting to see OEMs facing up to what might be important. Has Volvo taken a hard look in the mirror or is it just pre-IPO positioning? What are the implications of these targets (ahem, dealers)?
• She’s Electric — Honda and GM are teaming up on battery chemistry and pack manufacturing. Good for them. How long before other OEMs see that working apart from one another isn’t working? Battery manufacturers are bringing scale at the cell level but unless EVs suddenly take off, you need to be collaborating to get scale at the pack level.
• Some Might Say — A group of researchers released a report saying real-world emissions of diesel vehicles were lousy and the European trade body rebutted them saying the testing method wasn’t up to scratch. Unfortunately, it was too late, and the awful headlines had been written. If the industry really is serious about saving diesel then it can’t just reactively send out nerdy-sounding notes, it needs to capture the imagination about why the fuel has a future.
• D’You Know What I Mean? — Ad Punctum surveyed UK car owners about their in-car interface and experience. The answers are unsettling for OEMs… too many people find the systems hard to use and the breadth of customer opinion is at odds with the narrow selection being forced upon them. Take a look here.

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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Our Latest Research

We asked car owners what they think about their vehicle’s user interface and user experience (UI / UX), the findings don’t look good for OEMs but provide plenty of food for thought on how to change things:

• Over one third of owners said their car’s UI was NOT easy to operate
• Over one third said it had the WRONG capabilities
• Over one third use SOMETHING ELSE (e.g. smartphone, navigation) to fill the capability gap
• And much more

Read it here

p.s. the presentation doesn’t have all the results, just some highlights. If you’d like to know more then please get in touch to arrange a discussion.

News about the major automakers

BMW ^(history)

• Said that Magna will produce the new Z4, starting in late 2018. (Magna)
• BMW headquarters was evacuated for a bomb alert. After a robot had carried out a controlled explosion, investigators determined that it was an alarm clock designed to look like sticks of dynamite. (SZ)

Daimler ^(history)

• Will invest €1 billion to build an additional car plant at Kecskemét in Hungary, saying the new factory will be fully flexible and have capability to produce a range of drivetrains and vehicle types on a single line. (Daimler)
• Daimler Trucks held a capital markets day where the company promised to boost profitability and create an electric truck division which will offer a range of large electric commercial vehicles, up to and including a Tesla Semi-fighter called the Freightliner eCascadia. (Daimler)

Ford ^(history)

• In line with long-running media speculation, after it said in March that it would not allocate a new product to the plant, Ford announced it was seeking a buyer for the Bordeaux, France automatic transmission factory. (Ford)
  • Implication: Ford watchers may remember the company selling the same factory in 2009, as an alternative to closure — only to take it back on when the new owners spent all the dowry Ford provided. Will the company fall into the same trap again?
• Began production of the Ecopsort in Russia. (Autocar)

Geely (includes Volvo) ^(history)

• Volvo announced a set of objectives for around 2025. It wants 50% of sales from fully electric cars, one third of sales to be autonomous, and for subscriptions to be responsible for half of retail sales. The company wants to have 5 million direct consumer relationships. (Volvo)
• Lotus have a new CEO — Geely insider Qingfeng Feng. (Autocar)

General Motors ^(history)

• GM and Honda agreed to collaborate on next generation batteries. The partners will use GM’s battery chemistry as the basis for the collaboration and the intent is for GM to supply Honda with battery packs. (Honda)
• Will offer (hands off highway driving) SuperCruise on all Cadillac products by 2020 and begin rollout to other GM vehicles after that. Cadillac also plans to have V2X capability on some vehicles by 2023. (GM)
  • Implication: This announcement shows that SuperCruise isn’t dead, despite the lack of activity or apparent enthusiasm within GM. It also shows that the technology set appears sufficiently different to that of Cruise that GM is not planning to fuse the two anytime soon.
• GM’s top powertrain executive said diesels can “still play a role for years to come”, especially in the US market where they can improve the fuel economy of pick-up trucks. (Automotive News)

Honda ^(history)

• GM and Honda agreed to collaborate on next generation batteries. The partners will use GM’s battery chemistry as the basis for the collaboration and the intent is for GM to supply Honda with battery packs. (Honda)
• Honda’s UK sales head said it would take three years to win back customers after dropping diesel from the CR-V line-up. The longer term sales objective is 50/50 petrol and hybrid. (Autocar)

Hyundai / Kia ^(history)

• KIA is recalling around 500,000 vehicles in the US to fix problems with airbag deployment. (Detroit News)

Mazda

• Said it is continuing to develop next generation diesel engines and remains sceptical on EV demand. (Detroit News)

Nissan (includes Mitsubishi) ^(history)

• Launched a new sustainability strategy with goals for the year 2022 covering the environment, society and governance. (Nissan)
• Reportedly decided to end development of diesel engines. (Nikkei)

PSA (includes Opel/Vauxhall) ^(history)

• Began suspending its activities in Iran following the US withdrawal from the nuclear weapons monitoring deal, although it hopes to win an exemption and continue operations. PSA stressed that Iran accounted for less than 1% of revenue and so its profit guidance remained unchanged. (PSA)
• Created a fourth shift at the Vigo, Spain plant, employing 900 temporary workers due to demand for Partner and Berlingo vehicles. (Europa Press)
• Executives said the first Free2Move will begin offering leasing deals outside Europe from 2019. (Europa Press)
• Launched the new-look Opel in-car entertainment system, starting with the Insignia. (Opel)

Renault ^(history)

• Created the Blue dCi sub-nameplate to differentiate diesel vehicles fitted with urea SCR systems. (Renault)

Tesla ^(history)

• Tesla’s AGM featured several interesting comments from executives. Headlines were made by suggestions the company could reach the 5,000 units per week production level for Model 3 by June; but also of interest was CEO Musk stating Tesla would reach $100 / kWh at a cell level in late 2018 and $100 / kWh at a pack level in the next two years. Tesla also plan to offer free trials of Autopilot again. (EV Obsession)
• A report claimed Tesla internal documents said 40% of Gigafactory-produced parts for Model 3 were being either scrapped or reworked, amounting to $150 million in 2018. Tesla played down the reports. (Business Insider)
• Will release version 9 of its operating system in August. CEO Musk said the new software would “begin to enable full self-driving features”. (Electrek)
• CEO Musk says the Roadster will feature an “augmented mode” that he likened to a flying metal suit, assumed to be a reference to a trademarked comic book character. (Electrek)

Toyota ^(history)

• Invested in self-driving robot delivery company Boxbot. (Toyota)

VW Group ^(history)

• Porsche announced the program previously known as Mission E will be called the Taycan. (Porsche)
• Audi unveiled the new Q8, a large three seat SUV. (Audi)
• VW will have to take production downtime in the third quarter of 2018 because it has not certified all vehicles under WLTP ahead of the cut-off date. (VW)
  • Implication: Although VW talks about the problems in terms of temporary bottlenecks, it seems up to 250,000 units could be lost. (Handelsblatt)
• Participated in the $80 million fund raising round for Gett. (FINSMES)

Other

• Aston Martin’s CEO believes “we are at the beginning of the end of the traditional automotive industry” because of the likely commoditisation of the vehicle brought about by driverless technology. (Automotive News)

News about other companies and trends

Economic / Political News

• German engineering union IG Metall released a study commissioned in partnership with OEMs and Tier 1s forecasting that, in German alone, a net 75,000 jobs will be lost because of increased use of electrification in vehicles (the scenarios used anticipate far more EVs than today, but still have 60% internal combustion mix). (IG Metall)
• German passenger car registrations in May of 305,057 vehicles were down (5.8)% on a year-over-year basis. (KBA)
• May passenger car registrations in the UK totalled 192,649 units, a 3.4% increase on a year earlier. On a year-to-date basis the market is down (6.8)% (SMMT)
• The European trade body, ACEA, issued a riposte to a study that claimed recently launched diesel vehicles all failed emissions standards. The main point of contention was the TRUE study’s reliance on short duration (one second) samples that ACEA said were unreliable. (ACEA)

Suppliers

• Battery systems supplier Akasol is expecting a valuation of around €500 million from its IPO. (Handelsblatt)
• CATL had a successful IPO, with share values rising 44% on the first day of trading. (Bloomberg)
• CATL made a “sizeable investment” in Byton. (Deal Street Asia)
• Cosworth says it is planning an IPO in 2019. (Reuters)
• Continental took the unusual step of issuing a press release to announce an internal ban on some messaging services claiming they do not properly protect privacy. (Continental)
• Prevent said it would close the Leipzig NHG foundry, blaming cancelled orders from VW. (Manager Magazin)
• Magna will produce the new BMW Z4, starting in late 2018. (Magna)

Dealers

• Chinese online used car sales platform Tiantian Paiche raised $100 million whilst rival Chezhibao received $125 million. (Deal Street Asia)
• Automotive servicing marketplace Caroobi raised $20 million, including funds from existing investor BMW. (TechCrunch)

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

• Lyft announced a major makeover for its app to put more emphasis on shared rides as it aims for 50% of trips to be shared by 2020. The app now also includes multi-modal input from a variety of public transport partners. (Lyft)
• Peer to peer ride hailing start-up HyreCar hopes to raise around $10 million in its IPO. (HyreCar)
• The mayor of Paris said she was contemplating ending the contract of Bolloré’s Autolib car sharing service in favour of one that did not require fixed stations, or such large subsidies. (Les Echos)
• Grab announced a venture fund and accelerator program called Grab Ventures. (Grab)

Driverless / Autonomy ^(history)

• Innoviz is partnering with HiRain to provide lidar-based driverless technology sets to Chinese OEMs. (Innoviz)
• Autonomous car software developer AutonomouStuff has been acquired by Hexagon. (Hexagon)
• Waymo’s CEO said that company’s brand probably wouldn’t be as strong as incumbent brands in Europe and this could lead to a service branded by a partner. (Reuters)
  • Implication: Although a truism that Waymo is less well known than incumbent brands, it is hard to see how this is a Europe-specific phenomenon, are the citizens of Nebraska any more familiar with Waymo than those of Newquay?
• According to executives, Waymo has reached 7 million miles of on-road driverless testing. (Ars Technica)
• Driverless pod maker Navya is hoping to list in Paris. (Les Echos)
• Tesla will release version 9 of its operating system in August. CEO Musk said the new software would “begin to enable full self-driving features”. (Electrek)
• Self-driving delivery robot company Starship Technologies (Daimler invested in a prior round) raised $25 million. (TechCrunch)
• Toyota participated in a $7.5 million investment in self-driving robot delivery company Boxbot. (Toyota)
• GM will offer (hands off highway driving) SuperCruise on all Cadillac products by 2020 and begin rollout to other GM vehicles after that. (GM)
• GM’s Cruise settled a legal action brought by a cyclist who collided with one of their cars but the terms were not made public. (Reuters)

Electrification ^(history)

• GM and Honda agreed to collaborate on next generation batteries. The partners will use GM’s battery chemistry as the basis for the collaboration and the intent is for GM to supply Honda with battery packs. (Honda)

Connectivity

• Apple’s CarPlay system will soon allow 3^rd party navigation apps such as Google Maps. (The Verge)
• TomTom and Toyota launched functionality that allows phones with the TomTom maps app to mirror the display in the car dashboard. (TomTom)
• GM plans to have V2X capability on some Cadillac vehicles by 2023. (GM)

Other

• Bicycle rental company Lime is raising $250 million, for a valuation of around $1 billion. (Deal Street Asia)
• Chinese start-up AlphaCar announced a blockchain-based system for tracking vehicle history. (AlphaCar)
• Hailo, a start-up developing chips for deep learning in devices such as driverless cars, raised $12.5 million. (FINSMES)

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Buying level 4 and 5 systems off the shelf, traditional OEM does an Uber and how autonomous vehicles could disrupt tyre supplies. Please enjoy our auto industry and mobility briefing for 28^th May to 3^rd June. A PDF version can be found here.

Favourite stories of the past week…?

• Let’s Push Things Forward — FCA effectively said at their capital markets day that there will be enough people selling decent autonomous kit by the early 2020s, so they needn’t bother with their own standalone effort. So why are so many others taking the time and effort? The self-driving space is full of teams demonstrating whizzy ways of doing things but there is virtually no agreement about fundamental ways of working safely and verifying performance. Perhaps technology has come far enough for OEMs to start concentrating on the type of technical standards they are good at?
• Two Can Play That Game — GM did a Tesla / Uber by turning an investment of several hundred million dollars into a valuation of several billion after agreeing to sell a stake in Cruise to SoftBank’s Vision Fund. This is the first example I can recall of OEMs really getting their head around the potential of valuation rather than short term returns; hopefully it won’t be the last because you can’t really take the likes of Uber on if you can’t recreate their business model (not saying it’s the best path, just that it should be an option). One thought though… have GM gone into the archives and looked at why EDS didn’t work out? There are some valuable lessons (hint: ego + misaligned incentives = bad stuff).
• New Rules — Michelin say that minimum tread depths are a silly way of choosing whether or not a tyre is legal because high quality worn tyres have better performance than brand new low quality ones. Subjective assessments by vested interests aside, this seems like a possible area for driverless vehicles to bring about a completely new way of doing things. If driverless cars just brake-tested themselves on a frequent basis to ensure they were still within limits, perhaps tyres could become the power-by-the-hour of the driverless world?

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

Daimler ^(history)

• Invested in ride hailing firm Taxify as part of a $175 million round. (TechCrunch)
• German ministers are said to have threatened multi-billion euro fines in face to face meetings with company executives unless Daimler can show it acted improperly. (Handelsblatt)

FCA ^(history)

• Held a capital markets day where the company outlined a series of strategic actions to 2022.
  • Jeep hope to increase global share from just under 6% to over 8% by 2022 through a rollout of connected vehicles, incremental products (including an A/B sized Jeep) and a suite of new services under the banner of Jeep Wave. (FCA)
  • Ram see themselves as having outstanding customer loyalty but low transaction fees, despite good cab mix. The brand hopes new trucks will boost transaction prices to the level of the Ford F-150 and Ford Heavy Duty trucks. FCA also forecast a continued increase in US industry volumes. (FCA)
  • Maserati showed a modular spaceframe capable of accommodating PHEV and BEV and promised Tesla-shattering acceleration times. By 2022, BEV versions of all vehicles except a forthcoming D-sized SUV will be available. (FCA)
  • Alfa Romeo will launch two new SUVs, above and below Stelvio, and a series of new sports cars that appear derived from the PHEV version of the new Maserati Alfieri. The bran hopes to reach its original 400,000 unit per annum target (set in 2014) in 2022. (FCA)
  • FCA sees 2022 sales mix of 40% 48V and 20% PHEV / BEVs in EMEA, with only slightly lower figures for NAFTA and APAC regions.
• Agreed a deal with Waymo that will see it provide “up to” 62,000 Pacifica minivans. The two companies will also discuss an arrangement for FCA to sell Waymo-supplied autonomous features in retail vehicles. (FCA)
• CEO Marchionne said “all bets are off” if the demand becomes “white box” autonomous ride hailing vehicles rather than retail customers. He said he struggles to see which US competitor brands (read: non-premium) can survive a permanent switch to commoditised designs. (FCA)
• Admitted FCA got two things wrong with the Alfa Romeo revamp as planned in 2014: they underestimated the “industrial complexity” of launching a large product portfolio and underestimated the response and execution of German premium brands, in summary, CEO Marchionne said the firm’s expectations in 2014 were “totally misjudged” and that in the new plan, even by the mid-2020s Alfa’s margins would be lower than Jeep’s. (FCA)
• A question on a point in time for cost parity between ICE and BEVs left FCA executives stumped and reaching for their “crystal ball”, they finally settled on not before 2025, “best case”. (FCA)
• Said the retail market for autonomy will not progress beyond L3 systems for a long time and that L4/L5 systems will cost $10,000 and, if on sale before 2023, would not be automotive grade. (FCA)
• Seeking to create a captive finance company in the US, either from the ground-up or via acquisition. (FCA)

Ford ^(history)

• Ford’s strategy consultants explained the structure of the company’s mobility group. (Harvard Business Review)

Geely (includes Volvo) ^(history)

• LEVC unveiled a new van derived from the recently launched PHEV black cab. (Autocar)
• Announced an electrification strategy under the banner of Geely Intelligent Power, covering 48V, PHEV, BEV, alternate fuels and fuel cells. The company will launch a fuel cell vehicle by 2025 and “several” purely electric vehicles with a 500km+ range by 2020. Geely said it was aiming for a 15% fuel economy improvement from 48V, claiming it had “dared to do the impossible” (Magna have openly said 18% should be possible). (Geely)

General Motors ^(history)

• Announced it had sold a 19.6% stake in Cruise to SoftBank for $2.25 billion (performance dependent), valuing Cruise at $11.5 billion. GM will also invest a $1.1 billion, providing Cruise with almost $3.5 billion to prepare for the deployment of vehicles. (GM)
  • Implication: Through this transaction, GM has managed to create value in a way that mimics Tesla, Uber et al and so far has been beyond the capabilities of traditional OEMs. Given the Vision Fund’s ownership of stakes in a variety of ride hailing firms (including Uber, Didi, Grab and Ola), it seems likely that Cruise vehicles will be offered across networks, regardless of Cruise’s own plans for a service. The scope of the deal wasn’t completely clear — GM did not disclose the perimeter of Cruise’s own IP (presumably at least the AI and sensor suite, including Strobe lidar technology) versus what remains wholly owned by GM. The most likely open issue is the high definition mapping data GM has already generated via its Cadillac super cruise program.
• Extended eligibility criteria for its discount program for US military personnel to three years after discharge. (GM)
  • Implication: Although billed as a patriotic move, this has the hallmarks of under-the-radar additional incentive spending in the US market.

Hyundai / Kia ^(history)

• Considering creating a joint venture with one of South Korea’s municipal governments to make Hyundai models under contract and loosen demand on its own plants (and provide a hedge to labour disputes). (Yonhap)

Nissan (includes Mitsubishi) ^(history)

• Reportedly planning to cut production of Nissan vehicles by up to 20% in North America due to falling profitability. The cuts should have been fully implemented by the end of the year, without no redundancies forecast. (Reuters)

PSA (includes Opel/Vauxhall) ^(history)

• Reached a deal with German Opel unions that will see jobs guaranteed at three sites until 2023 and the sourcing of the Grandland X to Eisenach on a two-shift pattern from 2019. Unions have agreed that 3,700 staff can leave on a voluntary redundancy program (most have already signed up) and that wages will be frozen until at least 2020. Although forced redundancies are out of the question, the unspecified measures to improve competitiveness may not preclude more voluntary redundancy. (Opel)
• Will shed 500 temporary staff in Mulhouse after consolidating all production on a single line. (Usine Nouvelle)
• Faced allegations of price fixing for spare parts in cooperation with Renault. According to the claims, the two companies used Accenture as an intermediary, with the consulting company identifying areas where both companies could raise prices. PSA and Renault both denied wrongdoing. (Manager Magazin)
• Reportedly investing to increase petrol engine machining capacity at Douvrin. (Les Echos)

Renault ^(history)

• Will eliminate the third shift at two Spanish plants, Palencia and Valladolid, due to softening sales of Megane, Captur and Kadjar. 1,400 temporary workers will lose their jobs. (Europa Press)
• Started selling the battery for the Master and Kangoo electric commercial vehicles on a standalone basis. The 33kWh pack can be obtained for €7,400 (that’s €224 per kWh for a retail customer). (Renault)
• Faced allegations of price fixing for spare parts in cooperation with PSA. According to the claims, the two companies used Accenture as an intermediary, with the consulting company identifying areas where both companies could raise prices. PSA and Renault both denied wrongdoing. (Manager Magazin)

Tesla ^(history)

• A Model 3 teardown assessed the material costs of the Model 3 at $18,000, with a further $10,000 in production costs, indicating that gross profit margins in the 20%+ range are possible with efficient production. (Golem)

Toyota ^(history)

• Announced discussions with Denso that could result in all of Toyota’s production and manufacturing engineering activities for electronics being transferred to Denso. Toyota would continue with research and development of electronic components. (Toyota)
• Restructured its sales and marketing operations in Africa. Effective 1^st January, affiliate Toyota Tsusho will take over responsibility for all African markets (but not production assets in South Africa). (Toyota)

VW Group ^(history)

• The majority shareholder in Russian JV partner GAZ may sell some of their stake. (Bloomberg)
• Confirmed the Audi eTron will have video cameras instead of wing mirrors, with the output displayed on cabins in the vehicle. Although the brand pointed to the aerodynamic advantages, owners might bear in mind criticism of the VW XL1, where a similar configuration was said to be unintuitive. Happily, on the eTron, its just an option. (Audi)
• VW’s US dealers will start assisting service technicians on tricky jobs using a pair of glasses with a camera and an earpiece. A deskbound super expert can tell the technician what to do, and even project images onto a small screen in the technician’s eyeline. For a clearer understanding, watch the movie “Spy”. (Faconauto)
• Released a £118,688 Škoda Superb estate that is blast resistant. (Autocar)

Other

• NIO has reportedly filed documents with the SEC ahead of an IPO. (Bloomberg)
• StreetScooter opened its second factory saying it now has production capacity of 20,000 units per annum. (DHL)
• Mahindra opened a pick-up assembly facility in South Africa, aiming for 40% local content. (Mahindra)

News about other companies and trends

Economic / Political News

• US light vehicle SAAR for May 2018 of 16.81 million units was an increase of 1.4% on a year earlier. (Wards)
• Spanish passenger car registrations of 135,522 vehicles in May rose 7.2% year-over-year. (ANFAC)
• The EU’s industry commissioner said diesel cars “are finished” and will “completely disappear” soon. (Bloomberg)

Suppliers

• Michelin set itself a target of creating tyres that are fully recyclable by 2050, incorporating 80% sourcing of sustainable materials. (Europa Press)
• Metair is looking to acquire Slovenian low voltage car battery producer TAB for €300 million. (Business Day)
• Prevent has reportedly increased prices of components from its recently acquired Neue Halberg Guss foundry tenfold. Unions worry that the move could backfire and result in customers withdrawing business. (Der Spiegel)
• Affiliates of Ningbo Jifeng Auto are hoping to acquire Grammer for around €750 million. (Deal Street Asia)
• Electric driver maker Protean Electric raised $40 million for international growth. (Deal Street Asia)
• CATL will reportedly seek a valuation of around $8.5 billion in its forthcoming IPO. (Bloomberg)
• Liberty House received court approval for its takeover of wheel manufacturer AR Industries. (Usine Nouvelle)
• Autoliv and Veoneer held a pre-spin-off investment day. (Autoliv)
• Michelin held demonstrations to show that tyres with legal minimum tread depth had better braking performance than brand new, inferior quality, new tyres. The company argues that current rules around replacement do not always encourage safety. (Les Echos)
  • Implication: Although it may be difficult to ever move beyond minimum tread depth as a method of gauging safety for retail vehicles, there is a possibility that autonomous vehicles could operate to a self-certified performance basis (e.g. daily or weekly heavy braking tests) and then continue to run the same tyre so long as brake performance was upheld. This might give premium manufacturers a more compelling cost of ownership argument and help them improve share.
• Toyota announced discussions with Denso that could result in all of Toyota’s production and manufacturing engineering activities for electronics being transferred to Denso. Toyota would continue with research and development of electronic components. (Toyota)

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

• Lyft is reportedly in talks to acquire Motivate, an operator of several high-profile bicycle rental schemes such as New York and San Francisco, the deal could cost $250 million. (The Information)
• Car rental firm Athlon unveiled a car sharing scheme called Car2Use and a flexible ownership scheme for employer-funded cars. (Journal Auto)
• At a rally shortly before an election, Turkey’s president declared Uber “finished” in the country after lobbying by traditional taxi drivers. (Engadget)
• Sixt’s founder said car sharing is “nothing but renting” and totally flexible rental where a car can be parked anywhere and left represents on a “very small segment”, suitable in only a few large cities. (Manager Magazin)
• The Bolloré-run Autolib car sharing scheme in Paris is reportedly forecasting losses of almost €300 million on a cumulative basis between 2018 and 2023. (Usine Nouvelle)
• Daimler and Didi Chuxing invested in ride hailing firm Taxify as part of a $175 million round. (TechCrunch)
• Car rental company DriiveMe offered a new service to ferry cars across Europe. Companies can choose from either a professional driver or a private driver (who benefits from a reduced rate car rental). (Europa Press)
• ComfortDelGro called off its acquisition of Uber’s Singaporean car rental firm. (Straits Times)

Driverless / Autonomy ^(history)

• FCA executives said the retail market for autonomy will not progress beyond L3 systems for a long time and that L4/L5 systems will cost $10,000 and, if on sale before 2023, would not be automotive grade. (FCA)

Electrification ^(history)

• Panasonic say they are working on a cobalt-free battery chemistry. (Inside EVs)
• Johnson Matthey said it would start production of a new low cobalt battery material called enhanced lithium nickel oxide from around 2021. (Reuters)
• Voltaiq, a maker of battery management software, raised $6.6. million. (Press release)
• Renault started selling the battery for the Master and Kangoo electric commercial vehicles on a standalone basis. The 33kWh pack can be obtained for €7,400 (that’s €224 per kWh for a retail customer). (Renault)
• A question on a point in time for cost parity between ICE and BEVs left FCA executives stumped and reaching for their “crystal ball”, they finally settled on not before 2025, “best case”. (FCA)

Connectivity

• MapBox and MobilEye are jointly developing a way to use the former’s location data to call off the latter’s high resolution road map as required, thus reducing data load for autonomous vehicles. (MapBox)

Other

• Electric scooter rental company Bird is reportedly raising $150 million in a round that will give the company a valuation of $1 billion. (TechCrunch)
• Bicycle sharing operator Hellobike raised $321 million, with substantial investment from Alibaba. (Deal Street Asia)
• Electric scooter rental firm Scoot is expanding to Spain and will offer electric bikes too. (Engadget)

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