Monthly Archives: February 2019

Mercedes-Benz EQC’s failure to launch; broadening the Model 3’s appeal; and is Ford’s CEO isolated? Please enjoy our auto industry and mobility briefing for 18^th February to 24^th February 2019. A PDF version can be found here.

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

• The Magic Number — The Mercedes EQC seems to be having production problems, following the lead of Tesla Model 3 and Jaguar I-Pace. Are these all isolated incidents or should we get used to underwhelming launches from battery electric vehicles?
• The Payback — Tesla might be introducing a leasing offer for the Model 3. Good. It is far from easy to sell half a million of the same car each year. It takes an all-of-the-above approach and competitive leasing is a biggie. Audi, BMW and Mercedes have a wider dealer network, and more body styles (coupe, convertible, estate, saloon) and even then A4/3 Series/C-Class struggle to match Tesla’s aspiration for Model 3. Can Tesla do better than we predicted in 2017?
• Don’t Speak — A Detroit paper confronted Ford CEO Jim Hackett with accusations that he is alienating his team. Hackett’s talk of “trolling” to enquire about the details of revenue recognition wasn’t much of a denial. Although Hackett’s underlings professed undying admiration for his management style, less forthcoming was Bill Ford — the journalist was left to recycle a 2018 quote. Is support for Hackett waning?

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 and Daimler’s mobility joint venture will be five different services, all branded as “something” NOW: Reach Now will be multimodal travel; Free Now is for ride hailing; Share, Charge and Park Now services are self-explanatory. Emails have already been sent out to service users explaining the change in branding to them. The partners plan to invest €1 billion in the joint venture. (Daimler)
• Opening a new technology office in Tel Aviv, Israel. (BMW)
• Says that in a few years 2,000 people will be employed at the Dingolfing, Germany plant making components for electric vehicles, but BMW is not clear what will be made (probably battery packs and electric motors) or in how great a volume. (BMW)

Daimler ^(history)

• Will reportedly only be able to produce EQC in large production numbers from November 2019 onwards, with some “VIP” customers getting their vehicles in June. (Golem)
• BMW and Daimler’s mobility joint venture will be five different services, all branded as “something”
• NOW: Reach Now will be multimodal travel; Free Now is for ride hailing; Share, Charge and Park Now services are self-explanatory. Emails have already been sent out to service users explaining the change in branding to them. The partners plan to invest €1 billion in the joint venture. (Daimler)
• Recruited a 200-strong team of software developers over the past 18 months to create in car experiences. (Daimler)
• Kicked off production of the second generation CLA at the Kecskemét, Hungary, plant. (Daimler)

FCA ^(history)

• Plans to pay a €1 billion dividend from 2018 results. (FCA)
• Told unions that there will be a series of down days through March at the Melfi, Italy, plant. (Adnkronos)
• Allegedly under investigation for being part of a cartel fixing prices for spare parts in Europe. (Automotive News)

Ford ^(history)

• Following what sounds like employee whistle-blowing, Ford has launched a series of investigations into whether analytical assumptions used in US vehicle emissions certification might have reduced the effect in the laboratory versus real world observations.  Ford was keen to stress that this was not a defeat device, and it wasn’t yet certain whether any meaningful difference would occur in tests where the problem was corrected. Ford has already alerted the authorities and engaged external experts, just to be on the safe side. (Ford)
• A profile of CEO Hackett’s management style suggested that employees are feeling patronised by his communication style and that he has made a series of faux pas — which Hackett explains away as trolling. (Detroit Free Press)
  • Significance: Although executives were quoted defending Hackett’s management style, Bill Ford left journalists to recycle comments made in mid-2018…
• Announced the closure of the São Bernardo do Campo factory in Brazil in addition to the withdrawal from sale of the Fiesta and heavy commercial vehicles. Ford will incur about $(100) million of accelerated D&A and $(360) million of payments to employees, supplier and (truck) dealers. (Ford)
• Recalling around 2,100 hybrid vehicles because of an electrocution risk. (Ford)
• Named a new head lobbyist, and also appeared to reduce Executive Chairman Bill Ford’s role since, after CEO Hackett’s appointment in 2017 global communications and government relations began reporting directly to Ford but the new lobbyist will report to the vice president of operations instead. (Ford)
• Executives said Ford was about halfway through the redesign of major processes that CEO Hackett and others believe will deliver a step change in performance. (Automotive News)

Geely (includes Volvo) ^(history)

• Volvo showed off a minor refresh to the XC90 large SUV. (Volvo)
• Volvo issued a $215 million bond. (Volvo)
• Volvo increased the battery size of plug-in hybrid vehicles. (Volvo)

General Motors ^(history)

• Investing $20 million to increase capacity for 10 speed transmissions at the Romulus, Michigan, plant. (GM)
• Will continue vehicle production at Detroit-Hamtramck until January 2020, rather than ceasing in mdi-2019 as previously planned. (Reuters)

Honda ^(history)

• Revising the management structure of the automotive division so that there is a lead executive for sales and one for operations, almost a mirror of Ford’s set-up. (Honda)
• Announced a series of senior management changes. (Honda)
• Launched production of the latest Civic in India. (Autocar)
• In addition to ceasing Civic production at Swindon (UK), Honda will also stop making the model at its Turkish plant, although Honda’s announcement indicated a continuing role. The firm’s European headquarters will remain in Swindon even after the plant closes. (Honda)
• UK prime minister May spoke to Honda executives to complain about the closure of Swindon, her spokesperson said it was because of the shift to electric vehicles — a rationale not publicly given by Honda themselves. (Reuters)

Hyundai / Kia ^(history)

• Kia will show an all-electric concept car at the Geneva show. (Kia)
• Hyundai will start offering a performance-oriented range of SUVs in Europe. It isn’t yet clear how much the changes will be purely to the styling and how much dynamic performance might change. (Hyundai)
• Promised Vietnam’s government that it would increase local sourcing for products assembled in the country to a minimum of 40%. (VietnamNet)

Nissan (includes Mitsubishi) ^(history)

• Allegedly under investigation for being part of a cartel fixing prices for spare parts in Europe. (Automotive News)

PSA (includes Opel/Vauxhall) ^(history)

• Citroën will show a small electric vehicle called AMI One at the Geneva Show. Although the package is different, the vehicle seems to be based on the same use case as Renault’s Twizy. (Citroën)
• Invested in Chinese B2B used car platform FengChe, having recently bought into spare parts distributor UAP. (PSA)
• (Probably) following extensive research that showed DIY was a proven counter-cyclical hedge against automotive declines in a recession, Peugeot launched a range of power tools. (PSA)
• Images of the new all-electric Peugeot e208 (conventionally powered versions will also be available) were leaked ahead of the intended Geneva reveal. (Inside EVs)
• Building a new B-sized SUV for Opel and Vauxhall at the Poissy, France, plant. Although the vehicle was not named it seems likely to be the Mokka. PSA has already confirmed a new generation for 2020 and over half the European market demand for the vehicle is currently imported from GM in South Korea. (PSA)
• Allegedly under investigation for being part of a cartel fixing prices for spare parts in Europe. (Automotive News)
• Faurecia reported full year revenue of €17.5 billion and operating income of €1.27 billion. (Faurecia)

Renault ^(history)

• Said that if labour unrest in South Korea continued, Renault-Samsung could lose export vehicle production contracts that account for about half the manufacturing volume. (Nikkei)
• Standard & Poors cut Renault’s outlook to negative. (Reuters)
• Allegedly under investigation for being part of a cartel fixing prices for spare parts in Europe. (Automotive News)

Tesla ^(history)

• Looking into a leasing product for the Model 3. (CNBC)
  • Significance: Although some observers seemed troubled by the prospect of leasing, apparently in the belief that it undermines the sales model, Ad Punctum’s 2017 analysis of Tesla sales performance suggested leasing as a key enabler to the brand’s volume aspirations.
• CEO Musk said that Tesla vehicles would have fully autonomous driving by the end of 2019 and the company might even be comfortable with owners falling asleep at the wheel by 2020. (ARK Invest)
• Tesla’s general counsel left, two months after being appointed. (Reuters)

Toyota ^(history)

• Toyota’s Australian unit said it had successfully fended off cyber-attackers seeking customer data. (The Guardian)
• The UK sales company’s social media arm said that high performance versions of all cars were being brought to market in the future. (The Drive)

VW Group ^(history)

• Reported preliminary 2018 revenue of €236 billion and an operating profit of €13.9 billion. Analysts were troubled that the firm’s cash balance had deteriorated. Despite VW’s continuing promises to overhaul efficiency, capex and R&D were both up in real terms, and as a percentage of revenue. (VW)
• Audi’s CEO believes that one in ten management positions should be eliminated. He said that eliminating 30% of powertrain combinations (the least popular ones) resulted in hardly any sales being lost. (Handelsblatt)
• Bentley’s CEO says that brand’s recovery plan is already ahead of schedule. (Autocar)
• LG Chem has reportedly threatened to supply VW Group with fewer batteries than the car maker would like if VW proceeds to build battery factories in partnership with SK Innovation. (Manager Magazin)
• Audi reportedly told unions that it wishes to cancel the night shift at Ingolstadt to save costs. (Handelsblatt)
• VW’s head of design gave an in-house interview talking about the challenges of electric vehicle design and the benefits of latest virtual reality gizmos. (VW)
• Audi trumpeted the success of early trials of an internal resource allocation system that lets employees vote on the benefit of potential new projects. (VW)
• Output at the Zwickau plant has been temporarily reduced, VW says supplier problems are to blame. (Handelsblatt)

Other

• Hispano Suiza said it will take its €2.2 million Maguari supercar to the Geneva Show, where it will compete for attention with the… Hispano Suiza Carmen all-electric car. (Auto Express)
• Piëch Automotive plans to unveil an all-electric sports car at the Geneva Show. (Piëch)

News about other companies and trends

Economic / Political News

• US president Trump announced a stay of execution for tariffs on Chinese imports to give negotiators more time to reach a conclusive deal. (Reuters)

Suppliers

• CIE Automotive’s revenue was €2.3 billion, with €190 million net profit, in the first fiscal nine months. (CIE)
• Magna announced $40.8 billion of revenue in 2018 and $2.95 billion PBT. (Magna)
• Tenneco reported full year revenue of $11.8 billion but won’t issue detailed financial results until later, citing the workload involved with getting the financial integration of Federal Mogul sorted out. (Tenneco)
• Delphi had $4.9 billion of revenue in 2018 and $434 million of operating income. (Delphi)
• Visteon announced 2018 revenue of $2.984 billion and $164 million of net income. (Visteon)
• Faurecia reported full year revenue of €17.5 billion and operating income of €1.27 billion. (Faurecia)

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

• Lyft started a service called Shared Saver where passengers walk to mutually convenient pick-up spots and are delivered to an algorithmically derived drop-off point, rather than the precise intended destination. Lyft says that only a short walk will be necessary and passengers won’t pay surge pricing (for now). (Lyft)

Driverless / Autonomy ^(history)

• Self-driving vehicle developer JIMU Intelligent raised $15 million from investors. (Deal Street Asia)
• Livox unveiled a $1,499 lidar sensor that it say has comparable performance to a Velodyne 32 line unit. There is a more advanced sensor under development that will be on sale later in the year. (Livox)
• Uber released open source visualisation software for autonomous vehicles, hoping that others will adopt the same standards. (Uber)
• CEO Musk said that Tesla vehicles would have fully autonomous driving by the end of 2019 and the company might even be comfortable with owners falling asleep at the wheel by 2020. (ARK Invest)

Connectivity

• In-car assistant firm German Autolabs raised €7 million. (EU Startups)

Other

• On-demand logistics firm Lalamove raised $300 million. (TechCrunch)
• Flying car developer Beta Technologies emerged rom stealth mode. (Clean Technica)

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Renault cut the cords of Ghosn’s parachute; using Brexit to bury bad news; and Americans who can’t afford their wheels. Please enjoy our auto industry and mobility briefing for 11^th February to 17^th February 2019. A PDF version can be found here.

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

• I’m Outta Love — Renault won’t pay Carlos Ghosn his fat severance package because he can’t fulfil his non-compete clause — something about because he is in prison Renault can’t control him. But what happens if he is found innocent? Will he go wistfully into the sunset or pop up somewhere else, perhaps replacing some lacklustre recently-appointed CEO, and start giving Renault nightmares?
• Blame It On The Boogie — Ford says it has made plans to build UK-sourced engines elsewhere and Honda is set on closing the Swindon plant. Is it to do with Brexit? Well.. yes and no. Whilst the economic impacts so far might be considered unclear (sterling depreciation aside), there is over capacity in Europe and companies are looking for headcount reductions. Brexit has provided the antidote to the sort of political intervention that car executives hate (and consider when closing plants). Compare the UK government’s response (“one of those things, probably death of diesel, I’m sure not Brexit”) with the French economy minister throwing his weight around PSA’s offices over the Hérimoncourt closure — even though all employees are being offered transfers. What will happen to other under-utilised UK plants? Will there be a stampede to get more bad news out before the Brexit chaos ends?
• Always Late — US banking regulators say seven million Americans are more than 90 days behind on their car payments. If people are struggling then several things happen: they try to stretch out the loan to reduce the monthly payment = lower new car sales; they look for cheaper options = lower mix, perhaps even (gasp!) cars; there are desperate used car sellers = lower residual values = OEM losses on vehicles coming off lease = more expensive leases on new vehicles = lower sales of new vehicles. In three years’ time, will the GM /  Ford / FCA move to increase SUV capacity look smart or like awful timing?

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)

• Expects that US industry will grow slightly in 2019, with BMW taking a larger market share than 2018. Executives did concede that the large SUV segment (e.g. BMW X7) was “crowded”. (CNBC)
• Issued a half-hearted denial in response to stories that it could source some 1 Series production to the Cowley, UK plant. Since the car is built on the same platform as the Mini, this would make sense in the event of no deal Brexit tariff barriers. (Oxford Mail)

Daimler ^(history)

• Appointed a new CFO, Harald Wilhelm, who joins from Airbus. (Daimler)
• CEO Zetsche said the EQC was sold out for 2019, and potentially all of 2020. (Welt)
• Continued to stress that the firm intends to meet EU 2020 and 2021 CO₂ emissions targets. Daimler says that in 2019, fleet average emissions won’t improve that much but in 2020 the benefit of large numbers of PHEVs and battery electric vehicles will kick in. (Daimler)

FCA ^(history)

• Blah (More…)
• Extended the large LCV joint venture with PSA for a further generation, adding Opel and Vauxhall derivatives. Currently all vehicles are produced at a jointly owned Italian plant (Sevel) but the agreement envisages PSA starting to build vans in the firm’s own plants. (FCA)

Ford ^(history)

• Talks with VW on sharing autonomous and electric vehicle technology appear to be taking longer than both parties hoped. On driverless cars, VW’s apparent $4 billion valuation of Argo AI seems far lower than Ford had hoped and Ford’s head of markets wondered aloud on a podcast whether VW’s MEB electric vehicle platform was suitable for blue oval products in markets outside Europe and China. (Reuters)
  • Significance: There is always a risk in car company collaborations that industrial logic fails to overcome corporate machismo and short term thinking. From many angles, there is much to benefit both companies but vehicle programs are complex projects, there are always plenty of excuses why going it alone would be a bad move for product X…
• Rumours of CFO Shanks’s retirement surfaced without much in the way of a rebuttal from Ford. Although some sources said an executive search firm have been appointed, an internal candidate appears the most plausible given the unusually high number of finance executives appointed to Ford’s top executive grade in recent years. (CNBC)
• Recalled around 1.5 million pick up trucks because of transmission problems that could cause the vehicle to suddenly slow and two smaller recalls for door latches and faulty instrument panels. (Ford)
• Will trial a delivery service where a full loaded van drives around main city thoroughfares, stopping to rendezvous with cycle couriers who decant the packages into smaller batches for delivery to the customer. Ford believes this may be more efficient than having a human driver sit in traffic. (Ford)
  • Significance: A van servicing several bicycle couriers would have to see a fantastic increase in utilisation to make up for the cost of the increased labour of the cycle couriers — especially if the couriers spent any length of time on empty runs back to meet it. This business model seems unlikely to bear fruit until robots can be involved.
• Reportedly told the British prime minister that it was planning to move production abroad in the case of a no-deal Brexit. (BBC)
  • Significance: As one of the largest net importers into the UK, sourcing powertrain production to alternative sites may save Ford tariffs on imports into the EU (and assist with country of origin requirements), but it does nothing to help Ford overcome massive potential tariff headwinds on all vehicles sold in the UK.

General Motors ^(history)

• Will sell electric bicycles under the Ariv brand in Europe. At around €3,000 each, it seems that GM are determined not to repeat the low pricing levels that afflicted Opel and Vauxhall. (GM)
• Rumoured to be working on an electric pick-up truck underpinned by a Tesla powertrain. (Clean Technica)
  • Significance: Given the sketchy details, at this point the most likely explanation (aside from the story being wrong) is that GM have scavenged a Tesla powertrain to cobble together an in-house evaluation prototype. Nevertheless, some onlookers will see this information, plus the reported interest in Rivian (developers of their own all-electric truck) and start putting two and two together…
• In a sarcastic-sounding review of an impromptu concert for workers by globetrotting megastar Sting, GM detailed the redundancy payments it was prepared to make for Canadian plant employees. (GM)
• Took a 35% stake in connected vehicle data analysis firm Wejo in a deal worth €60 million. (EU Startups)
• Will invest $36 million in the Lansing, Michigan, plant, but won’t say what it is for. (GM)

Honda ^(history)

• Appears to have decided to shut the Swindon, UK plant when the current generation of Civic finishes in around 2022. Despite no formal announcement, politicians said they had spoken with the company and Honda made no attempt at a denial. (Sky)
  • Significance: Already poorly utilised, the plant was a clear candidate for closure when the going got tough. Brexit seems to have given Honda political cover to make a closure announcement now. The tone of statements from the UK government indicate their acceptance. Contrast that with the response of the French economy minister who vowed to fight the closure of PSA’s Hérimoncourt site, even though the firm has said that no jobs will be lost.
• Recalling 437,000 vehicles in the US to correct problems with fuel pumps. (Detroit News)
• Released teaser images of the near-production ready Urban EV interior. The dashboard is Model 3-esque, with three horizontal displays responsible for almost all functions. (Honda)

Nissan (includes Mitsubishi) ^(history)

• Nissan reported financial results for the fiscal third quarter (Q4 2018). Revenue of 3.045 trillion yen (about $27.5 billion) was up 5.9% versus a year earlier and operating profit of 103.3 billion yen (about $930 million) was 25.4% better. Despite the improvements in the quarter, Nissan reduced full year guidance for profit and revenue, mainly due to reduced volume assumptions. (Nissan)
• Says that a new JV plant in Algeria will cost $160 million, with operations to begin by 2021. (Nissan)
• Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi’s VC unit invested in PowerShare, a Chinese company that coordinates transactions between EV owners and different charging networks. (RNM Alliance)
• Rumours continue to swirl about how Nissan will structure the role of chairman. Some of the more convoluted ideas appear to make sense only in the context of preventing Renault from controlling the role. (Reuters)

PSA (includes Opel/Vauxhall) ^(history)

• Peugeot has increased UK inventory by 25% to help smooth over a no deal Brexit. (Motor Trader)
• Extended the large LCV joint venture with FCA for a further generation, adding Opel and Vauxhall derivatives. Currently all vehicles are produced at a jointly owned Italian plant (Sevel) but the agreement envisages PSA starting to build vans in the firm’s own plants. (FCA)
• PSA’s retail division (wholly owner dealer group) is doing so well that the plan is to hire 1,600 staff in 2019. (PSA)

Renault ^(history)

• Renault reported full year 2018 financial results. Revenue of €57.4 billion fell (2.3)% versus prior year. Operating profit of €3.6 billion dropped (6.3)%, all despite a 3.2% increase in unit sales to 3,884,295. Renault blamed currency and raw materials pricing for most of the drop whilst claiming credit for pricing and cost reduction. (Renault)
• Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi’s VC unit invested in PowerShare, a Chinese company that coordinates transactions between EV owners and different charging networks. (RNM Alliance)
• Claims to be making “good money” on some battery electric vehicle lines. (Seeking Alpha)
• Won’t give Carlos Ghosn the €30 million or so in severance pay that he could have been entitled to, arguing that because he is in prison he cannot fulfil the terms of his non-compete clause (although oddly Renault retains sufficient confidence for him to remain on the board). (Reuters)

Tata (includes JLR) ^(history)

• Unveiled a new inline six cylinder engine, initially available as a high performance gasoline mild hybrid. (JLR)
  • Significance: The new I6 engine is expected to also yield a diesel version, allowing JLR to wean itself completely from Ford-built V6 versions — this is the product responsible for the recently announced Bridgend job losses.

Tesla ^(history)

• Suffered a small fire at the Fremont factory that Tesla said had no impact on production. (CNBC)

VW Group ^(history)

• Porsche is making UK customers sign up for a potential 10% surcharge in the event of a no-deal Brexit if they have a car delivered after the end of March 2019. Since a 10% import tariff would apply to the imported cost of the vehicle (i.e. less than dealer margin and national sales company profits), Porsche would effectively be over-charging for the tariff. (Car Dealer Magazine)
• Talks with VW on sharing autonomous and electric vehicle technology appear to be taking longer than both parties hoped. On driverless cars, VW’s valuation of Argo.ai seems far lower than Ford had hoped and Ford’s head of markets wondered aloud on a podcast whether VW’s MEB electric vehicle platform was suitable for blue oval products in markets outside Europe and China. (Reuters)
• Announced an new initiative to rate suppliers based on their manufacturing emissions, in part because — for battery electric vehicles — more of the supply chain is outsourced. (VW)
• VW’s Moia on-demand shuttle service plans to charge around €6 – €7 per trip. The company believes that there is a gap in the market between public transport (cheaper) and taxis (more expensive). (VW)

Other

• McLaren extended its engine supply agreement with Ricardo and confirmed that there will be significantly more hybrids in the future. (Ricardo)
• Electric vehicle start-up Rivian raised $700 million with Amazon making a large investment. (Rivian) Although GM were rumoured to be somehow involved, the company was missing from Rivian’s announcement, yet was content to let media know GM admires Rivian’s progress. (Reuters)

News about other companies and trends

Economic / Political News

• European passenger car registrations in January totalled 1,226,446 units, down (4.6)% on prior year. (ACEA), the trade body expects “at best” full year 2019 sales to be about in line with 2018’s level. (ACEA)
• The report into whether US vehicle imports constitute a national security threat (and therefore fair game for increased tariffs) landed on Donald Trump’s desk and no one was sure what it said. European politicians gave pre-emptive warnings that tariff escalation would be frowned upon. (Bloomberg)

Suppliers

• Tower reported full year financial results. Revenue was $1.6 billion and EBITDA was $178 million, after excluding the operations in Europe and Brazil that Tower will exit. (Tower)
• Tenneco announced the post spin off aftermarket and ride performance division will be called DRiV. (Tenneco)
• The EU launched an anti-dumping investigation into Chinese steel wheel suppliers. (Reuters)
• Denso is cutting senior executive ranks by almost half in a bid to increase the speed of decision making. (Denso)
• BorgWarner already has contracts signed that will provide a $2.4 billion net increase in revenue over the next three years. (BorgWarner)
• Bridgestone reported full year 2018 revenue of 3.65 trillion yen (about $33 billion) and operating income of 402 billion yen (about $3.6 billion). (Bridgestone)
• AAM reported full year sales of $7.3 billion and a net loss of $(58) million including a $(486) million impairment of powertrain and casting assets. (AAM)
• ZF opened a new plant in India making airbags and seat belts. (ZF)
• Dana reported full year 2018 revenues of $8.14 billion and net income of $440 million. (Dana)

Dealers

• TrueCar acquired a 20% stake in vehicle valuation firm Accu-Trade. (TrueCar)
• Indonesian used car marketplace BeliMobilGue.co.id raised $10 million. (Deal Street Asia)
• eBay received regulatory clearance to take over Motors.co.uk’s car sales and information websites. (Motor Trader)
• The Federal Reserve Bank of New York said that 7 million Americans were 90 days or more behind in their car loans. (CNBC)

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

• Lyft’s co-founders are reportedly planning to create a super voting class of stock so that they have near-majority control after the business IPOs in late 2019. (WSJ)
• Uber’s latest financial results showed a net loss of $768 million in Q4 2018 on net revenue of $3 billion ($14.2 billion in gross bookings). Net and Gross revenue grew at around 30% on a year-over-year basis — consistent with recent quarters. (TechCrunch)
• Car rental start-up Virtuo raised €20 million. (EU Startups)
• VW’s Moia on-demand shuttle service plans to charge around €6 – €7 per trip. The company believes that there is a gap in the market between public transport (cheaper) and taxis (more expensive). (VW)

Driverless / Autonomy ^(history)

• California released 2018 disengagement reports for driverless vehicles testing in the state. Although Cruise and Waymo were the centre of attention, perhaps the more interesting statistic was that total miles travelled in 2018 came to only just over two million — a very low level, although around four times greater than in 2017. Around half the total test miles were by Waymo. (California DMV)
  • Significance: As testing gathers path at other locations, people are increasing vary of drawing firm conclusions from the Californian numbers. Even in Waymo’s case, far more miles are covered outside of California than inside.
• Autonomous truck developer TuSimple raised $95 million. (Reuters)
• Self-driving vehicle start-up Nuro raised $940 million from SoftBank. (Nuro)

Electrification ^(history)

• The French government plans to invest €700 million into battery cell manufacturing and charging networks in the hope of encouraging a European (read Franco-German) battery champion. (Reuters)
• WiTricity took on Qualcomm’s wireless charging assets in exchange for a minority shareholding. (Inside EVs)
• Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi’s VC unit and BP invested in PowerShare, a Chinese company that coordinates transactions between EV owners and different charging networks. (RNM Alliance)

Connectivity

• NavInfo will provide maps for BMW cars in China. (Economic Times of India)
• Mapping firm Dynamic Map Platform reportedly plans to acquire smaller rival Ushr. (Reuters)
• Connected vehicle data analysis firm Wejo raised €91 million, with GM taking a 35% stake. (EU Startups)
• Vehicle cyber security firm C2A Security raised $6.5 million. (FINSMES)

Other

• A cyber security firm announced that it could remotely control the brakes and acceleration of some electric scooters, but as the hack relies on Bluetooth, it only works close to the scooter. Scooter companies said they had known about the problem for ages and replaced vulnerable hardware. (The Verge)
• Shell acquired all of Sonnen, a home energy management firm it previously invested in. (Clean Technica)
• Bicycle sharing firm Ofo lost its Singapore operating licence. (Straits Times)

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PSA’s continued efficiency drive; when Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi met Waymo; and JLR’s big write-down. Please enjoy our auto industry and mobility briefing for 4^th February to 10^th February 2019. A PDF version can be found here.

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

• Feel It Still — Without much fuss, PSA decided to close the Hérimoncourt factory. The firm says the move is painless and all workers will be offered redeployment. It signifies that PSA aren’t adverse to closing sites and that the grind of efficiency actions is never-ending. Will the approach still work if there is a recession?
• You’ve Got A Friend In Me — Waymo is rumoured to be in talks with Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi about a tie up on self-driving car technology. Might access to Waymo’s autonomous systems help the Alliance regain its mojo?
• Wasted — JLR wrote off £3.1 billion of assets after a business review concluded they won’t be fully used. Plenty of others have done the same before, but I always find it a bit strange: How can you think everything is okay, then re-crunch the numbers and decide a quarter of your asset base — several entire vehicles — is all-of-a-sudden worthless? When should the problem have been spotted?

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)

• Reported Q4 and full year 2018 financial results. Full year revenue of €167 billion rose 2% from 2017 but EBIT of €11.1 billion, down (22)%. Daimler said that profits would be under pressure in 2019 because of negative economic headwinds and the need to maintain product spending. (Daimler)
• Production problems at the plant in Mexico are rumoured to be so bad that full year A-Class production could miss targets by (20)%. (Handelsblatt)
• Outgoing CEO Zetsche said that Daimler and Geely are discussing a broader cooperation, but declined to give any specific details. (Reuters)
• Mercedes-Benz and electricity supplier TenneT declared an experimental 1MW stationary storage to be a success and will now attempt to develop a commercial proposition. (Daimler)
• Outgoing CEO Zetsche suggested that a conversion to electric cars would mean demand for labour increased rather than reduced. (Handelsblatt)
  • Significance: This conclusion is confusing given the relative labour hours in an electric drivetrain compared to an internal combustion engine and can be reconciled only by a future state in which hybrid powertrains (i.e. two engines) become the dominant powertrain choice (with very little downsizing). Zetsche’s relaxed attitude suggests Daimler might not be taking the threat as seriously as it should.

FCA ^(history)

• Sold 1.177 million units in the fourth quarter of 2018 (4.842 million in the full year). (FCA)
• Reported Q4 2018 and full year financial results. Q4 revenue of €30.6 billion rose 6% on prior year whilst adjusted EBIT of €2.0 billion was up 7%. In the full year, revenue of €115.4 billion was up 4% and adjusted EBIT of €7.3 billion was 3% better. FCA’s guidance for 2019 was for EBIT to be about the same (on a like-for-like basis after the sale of Magneti Marelli). (FCA)
• Paid $77 million in penalties for missing US fuel economuy requirements in 2016. (Reuters)
• Doesn’t believe that it needs a partner to make a cost effective European small car. (Seeking Alpha)
• Recalling about 660,000 pickup trucks to fix an issue with the steering. (FCA) and another 222,000 pickup trucks because of problems with the brake pedals. (FCA)

Ford ^(history)

• Investing over $1 billion to produce the next generation Explorer and Lincoln Aviator in Chicago, including $40 million for better canteen and break areas. (Ford)
• Recalling around 3,500 brand new Ranger pick-up trucks to fix problems with the parking brake. (Ford)
• Launched a mid-cycle update of the F-Series Super Duty pickup trucks. (Ford)

Geely (includes Volvo) ^(history)

• Outgoing Daimler CEO Zetsche said that Daimler and Geely are discussing a broader cooperation, but declined to give any specific details. (Reuters)
• Volvo reported full year 2018 revenue of 252.7 billion SEK (about $27 billion), a 12.4% increase on 2017 and operating profit of 14.2 billion SEK (about $1.5 billion), up 0.9%. Volvo is concerned about pressure on margins in 2019. (Volvo)
• Volvo will recall 167,000 XC60 vehicles to fix problems with the electric tailgate. (Reuters)
• Volvo’s CEO said there is a lot of investor interest in Polestar and funding could be obtained via a private placement rather than IPO. (Economic Times of India)

General Motors ^(history)

• Reported Q4 and full year 2018 earnings. Q4 revenue of $38.4 billion, was up 1.8% from 2017 but adjusted EBIT fell (8.3)%. On a full year basis, Revenue was $147 billion and adjusted EBIT was $11.8 billion. GM said the results already included a lot of restructuring costs that would improve profits in future years. (GM)
• Began firing 4,000 US salaried staff and walking them off company premises. Payouts are a maximum of 6 months salary for those with 12 years or more of service. (Detroit Free Press)
• Suffered production stoppages at the Oshawa, Canada plant due to strikes at a local supplier. (Reuters)

Honda ^(history)

• Agreed a supply deal with CATL for 56 GWh of electric car batteries between now and 2027. (Honda)

Mazda

• Released financial results for the nine months ending December 2018. Unit sales were slightly down but revenue of 2.622 trillion yen (about $23.75 billion) was up 3% on a year earlier. However, operating profit of 59.6 billion yen (about $540 million) fell (37)%. Mazda slightly improved the full year outlook. (Mazda)
• Will unveil a new SUV at the Geneva show. (Mazda)

Nissan (includes Mitsubishi) ^(history)

• Nominated Renault’s new chairman as a director but stopped short of recommending him as chairman. (Nissan)
• Renault Nissan Mitsubishi is rumoured to be in talks with Waymo to use the latter’s self-driving system. (Nikkei)
• Started production of the Qashqai in St Petersburg, Russia. (Nissan)

PSA (includes Opel/Vauxhall) ^(history)

• Reportedly intends to shed a net 500 jobs in France during 2019, with 1,900 existing workers to be let go and 1,400 new hires coming in. (Les Echos)
• Acquired TravelCar, a parking and rental start up that PSA had previously invested in. (PSA)
• Plans to close Hérimoncourt, offering to transfer all affected employees. Workers walked out in protest. (France Info)
• Opel is switching to an importer model in Greece (the same structure as other PSA brands in the country). (Opel)

Renault ^(history)

• Renault Nissan Mitsubishi is rumoured to be in talks with Waymo to use the latter’s self-driving system. (Nikkei)
• Reportedly criticised Nissan’s handling of the investigation into Carlos Ghosn in a letter between the two alliance partners. Renault pointed to Nissan arranging Ghosn’s arrest rather than questioning him first as an example of where it believes the probe should have been handled differently. (Economic Times of India)
• The French government has apparently signalled to its Japanese counterpart a willingness to consider reducing Renault’s stake in Nissan to create greater balance in the relationship. (Nikkei)

Suzuki

• Announced financial results for Q4 2018 (Suzuki’s fiscal third quarter). Revenue of 894 billion yen (about $8.1 billion) rose 2% on a year over year basis but operating income of 58 billion yen (about $530 million) was down (33)%. Suzuki maintained guidance for the full year. (Suzuki)

Tata (includes JLR) ^(history)

• Tata Motors reported financial results for Q4 2018 (fiscal third quarter), including JLR. Revenue of 77,001 Cr rupees (about $10.8 billion) was up 5% versus prior year. An after tax loss of (26,961) Cr rupees (about $3.8 billion) was explained by a massive (27,838) Cr rupees / £3.1 billion write down of JLR’s assets. (Tata)
  • Significance: Although JLR explained the issue as a re-evaluation of the company’s long term outlook, many will be wondering how a change in conditions significant enough to merit writing down over 25% of the property and intangible assets can have crept up so stealthily.
• JLR’s treasurer said the firm was looking for ways to access cash but that it would stay away from unsecured bonds because market conditions are “unfavourable”. (Detroit News)
• Believes that even with a no deal Brexit, a negotiated settlement will happen “sooner or later” and admitted it was “uncertain” whether the company could pass on tariffs in pricing to customers. (Seeking Alpha)

Tesla ^(history)

• Deep cuts in the team that mans Tesla’s Nevada distribution centre (150 out of 230 apparently made redundant) led to speculation that US demand in 2019 will be far lower than 2018. (Reuters)

Toyota ^(history)

• Released financial results for fiscal third quarter of 2018/19. Revenue of 7.8 trillion yen (about $70.7 billion) was slightly better than prior year, so was operating income of 676.1 billion yen (about $6 billion) Toyota reduced full year outlook for net income by 430 billion yen (about $3.9 billion) and slightly reduced sales volume guidance, although operating income forecast remains the same. (Toyota)
• Announced some details of the Kinto car subscription offering for the Japanese market. Subscription terms will be three years and customers will have a choice between driving the same Toyota the whole time or flexing between six types of Lexus. At 194,400 yen per month (~ $1,760), the Lexus scheme is more expensive than similar US offerings from the likes of Audi, despite the long lock-in period. (Toyota)

VW Group ^(history)

• VW has reportedly abandoned plans to fit the sporty GTI derivative of the next generation Golf with a 48V augmented gasoline engine. The technology will still be used on more economy-minded derivatives. (Autocar)
• As rumours swirled of a plan to sue Bosch heavily for the firm’s role in the US diesel scandal, VW refused to comment whilst Bosch said the idea was unimaginable. (Handelsblatt)
• Will launch the updated Passat at the Geneva show. VW confirmed that there is a PHEV derivative with around 55 km of WLTP range and there will be a “partially automated” driving function called IQ.Drive. VW implies that IQ.Drive, an amalgam of different systems such as adaptive cruise, lane keeping and emergency steering will capably drive on the highway so long as the driver keeps their hands on the steering wheel. (VW)
• VW overhauled its system for staff to submit improvement ideas — and upped the maximum payout to €75k. (VW)
• VW Financial Services acquired a 60% stake in Fleet Logistics, folding in the CarMobility subsidiary. (Fleet Europe)
• Seat will work overtime during March because of strong demand for the Ibiza and Arona. (Europa Press)

Other

• Lucid Motors executives said the company was in talks with other carmakers about sharing electric vehicle technology. (Bloomberg)
• Subaru reported earnings for fiscal third quarter. Revenue of 891 billion yen (about $8.1 billion) was about 7% better than a year ago and operating profit of 99 billion yen (about $900 million) was about 5% better.  Subaru revised full year figures downwards for drops in sales volume and higher raw material costs. (Subaru)
• Isuzu reported fiscal Q3 2018/19 financial results. Revenue of 553.4 billion yen (about $5 billion) rose 7% whilst operating income of 56.6 billion yen (about $510 million) improved almost 16%. (Isuzu)
• Subaru unveiled the next generation Legacy sedan. (Subaru) and announced that it will badge electrified derivatives as “e-Boxer”. (Subaru)
• Pininfarina wants between 25 to 40 dealerships to sell the Battista hypercar. (Pininfarina)
• Aston Martin will show a Lagonda-badged SUV at the Geneva show. (Aston Martin)

News about other companies and trends

Economic / Political News

• Germany’s economy minister suggested the country could create an investment fund to take strategic stakes in key sectors, including car making, to protect national champions from foreign predators. (Reuters)
• Passenger car registrations in the UK during January were 161,013 units, a fall of (1.6)% versus 2017. (SMMT)
• German passenger car registrations of 265,702 units in January were (1.4)% worse than prior year. (KBA)

Suppliers

• Adient reported quarterly financial results. Revenue was $4.2 billion and adjusted EBIT was $105 million. (Adient)
• Freudenberg acquired a 50.1% stake in battery developer XALT — up from 31.8%. (Freudenberg)
• Denso invested in chip developer quadric.io. (Autocar)
• ZF is expanding its plant in Pune, India by about 25%. (Autocar)
• Wiring harness maker Dhoot Transmission acquired San Eletromec. (Economic Times)
• Michelin plans to acquire Multistrada. (Deal Street Asia)
• Goodyear reported Q4 financial results. Revenue was $3.9 billion on 40.7 million unit sales. (Goodyear)
• Continental completed the acquisition of communications equipment maker Kathrein Automotive. (Continental)
• Bosch is planning to acquire LAWA Solutions, a developer of networking software. (Bosch)

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

• Keen to push the boundaries of on-demand transportation, Uber launched a boat hailing service in Mumbai. (CNN)
• Ride hailing firm Chauffeur Privé is changing its name to Kapten and plans to launch in London and Geneva. (FT)

Driverless / Autonomy ^(history)

• AGC and XenomatiX have teamed up to offer lidar integrated into the vehicle windshield. (Sensors Online)
• Waymo’s CTO gave an interview describing how the challenges of self-driving vehicle development have evolved over the past decade. (TechCrunch)
• Aurora raised $530 million, with Amazon amongst the investors. (CNN)
• Self-driving truck start-up Ike raised $52 million. (Redpoint)
• Renault Nissan Mitsubishi is rumoured to be in talks with Waymo to use the latter’s self-driving system. (Nikkei)

Electrification ^(history)

• A test by the AAA, a US consumer group, found that battery electric vehicles lost 41% of the stated range (on average) when operating in sub zero conditions with climate control on. Tesla disputed the report. (CNBC)
• Workhorse bagged an order from DHL for electric vans. (DHL) The COO will become the new CEO. (Workhorse)
• Honda agreed a supply deal with CATL for 56 GWh of electric car batteries between now and 2027. (Honda)

Other

• Lime raised $310 million. (TechCrunch)

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Self-driving cars we can’t understand; smart cars doing stupid things; and Koenigsegg are in the money. Please enjoy our auto industry and mobility briefing for 28^th January to 3^rd February 2019. A PDF version can be found here.

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

• We Can Work It Out — British drivers were quizzed about what an autonomous car should do in an accident scenario. As I’ve covered here before, the exercise is pointless. Doing this for one scenario might be straightforward and headline grabbing, but life is made up of thousands of examples — probably impossible for any group to agree on and properly codify. However, it is illustrative of how lay people (i.e. the type that might sit on juries) think about driverless cars. They expect fantastic object recognition; scene understanding and rules-based decisions. The AI industry’s dirty secret is that we don’t know how a deep neural network is thinking (just how it was trained), or how to impose new rules without going back to square one. What will jurors (and judges) make of that?
• Falling Into You — A NIO SUV trapped its driver and shut down in the middle of a busy street to perform a system update. Unfortunately, nearly everything about legacy vehicle electronics assumes that they will not be touched. Launching over the air updates can make cars far smarter when it all goes right but here the car was stupid enough to allow an update in an unsuitable situation. How many other car makers will suffer Nio’s fate as they iron out the creases?
• A King Is Born — A deal between Koenigsegg and NEVS aims to deliver a set of more affordable, all electric sportscars. Exactly how cheap they will be isn’t clear, and €150 million can be easily squandered. But spent wisely it might be possible to do something on a Model S scale. Fingers crossed.

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)

• Unveiled a mild facelift for the V-Class. (Daimler)

FCA ^(history)

• Cancelled shifts at two assembly plants after the gas utility reported supply shortages and requested help in prioritising homes and emergency services. (Reuters)
• It looks as though the Fiat brand will be withdrawn from the Indian market at the end of 2019. (Autocar)

Ferrari

• Reported full year 2018 financial results. Sales of 9,251 units rose 10.2% on 2017 but revenue of €3.42 billion was up only 0.1%. Adjusted EBIT of €825 million was 6% better than prior year and Ferrari believes this will grow a further 6% in 2019. (Ferrari)

Ford ^(history)

• Scheduling “massive overtime” to build the newly launch Ranger pick-up truck for North America. (Bloomberg)
• Launched a redundancy scheme at the Bridgend, UK, engine plant. Ford wants to separate around 400 members of staff by the end of 2019. (Sky News)
• French civil servants ordered Ford to give more time to the prospective bidder for the Bordeaux transmissions plant (slated for closure). Punch Powerglide will have a few weeks to improve the quality of its bid. (Les Echos)

Geely (includes Volvo) ^(history)

• Issued a statement denying that it was interested in buying FCA. (Geely)
• Lotus announced a wide-ranging collaboration with Williams. Although the press release was framed in generic terms, specialist media are convinced it is all part of the plan to deliver a much-rumoured all-electric hypercar. (Lotus)
• Opening a new Geely design office in Coventry, which could ultimately employ 100. (Geely)
• Proton released pictures of the refreshed Iriz B car. (Proton)

General Motors ^(history)

• May invest around $2.7 billion in its Brazilian operations between now and 2024, if it receives enough government support. (Reuters)
• The head of GM’s mobility business left the company. (Detroit News)
• Temporarily stopped production at several Michigan factories after the gas utility reported supply shortages and requested help in prioritising homes and emergency services. (Reuters)

Honda ^(history)

• Produced 5,357,013 vehicles in 2018, up 2.3% on 2017. (Honda)
• Reported Q4 2018 financial results (Q3 of Honda’s financial year). Revenue of 3.973 trillion yen (about $36 billion) was slightly up on a year earlier but operating profit of 170 billion yen (about $1.6 billion) was over (40)% worse. Honda maintained full year profit guidance, and slightly raised the revenue outlook despite weakness in motorcyles and power products. (Honda)

Hyundai / Kia ^(history)

• Hyundai agreed to build a new low cost factory in South Korea in a joint venture with the local government (19% Hyundai stake). Local unions are not happy but the deal has the president’s support. Wages will be almost one third of the average unionised Hyundai employee in South Korea. (Reuters)
• Hyundai’s MNSOFT subsidiary will develop next generation maps with help from Netradyne. (Vision Systems)

Mazda

• Produced 1,596,767 units in 2018, a (0.7)% drop on a year earlier. (Mazda)
• Purchased Ford’s interest in a joint venture engine plant in China. (Mazda)

Nissan (includes Mitsubishi) ^(history)

• Nissan sold 5,653,683 vehicles in 2018, a drop of (2.8)% from 2017. (Nissan)
• Reversed a plan to produce the next generation X-Trail in Sunderland, UK as a satellite plant of the main Kyushu, Japan factory. Instead, all production will be single-sourced to Kyushu. Nissan explained the decision as capital allocation in the face of high powertrain investment requirements, but said Brexit was not helping. (Nissan)
• Sources say the production rate of Infiniti Q30 and QX30 models at Sunderland has fallen to below 25 cars per day, from a high of around 450. (Sky)
• The UK government said that a grant of £60 million to Nissan would be unaffected, then changed tack and stated that almost the entire value was up for debate following the X-Trail decision. (BBC)
• Carlos Ghosn gave an interview from prison attributing his detention to a plot from Nissan executives set against his integration plans for Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi. Ghosn described a plan for an umbrella holding company that would own all three OEMs but allow them considerable arm’s length autonomy.  Nissan’s reservations appeared to stem from Ghosn guaranteeing equilibrium only if each unit displayed “solid performance”, something he implied that Nissan was failing to deliver. (Les Echos)
• Mitsubishi reported financial results for Q2 -Q4 2018 (fiscal first to third quarter). Net sales of 1.518 trillion yen (about $13.8 billion) were up 18% versus 2017 whilst operating profit of 85 billion yen (about $770 million) rose 31%. Mitsubishi reaffirmed full year outlook. (Mitsubishi)
• Mitsubishi teased an electrified SUV concept named Engelburg (after a Swiss town) it will bring to the Geneva show. The brand was silent on rumours of a sub-series named after the Yorkshire town of Hambleton. (Mitsubishi)

Renault ^(history)

• Will start a new night shift at the Palencia, Spain, plant in April 2019 thanks to demand for Kadjar. (Europa Press)
• Carlos Ghosn gave an interview from prison attributing his detention to a plot from Nissan executives set against his integration plans for Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi. Ghosn described a plan for an umbrella holding company that would own all three OEMs but allow them considerable arm’s length autonomy.  Nissan’s reservations appeared to stem from Ghosn guaranteeing equilibrium only if each unit displayed “solid performance”, something he implied that Nissan was failing to deliver. (Les Echos)

Suzuki

• Produced 3,436,589 units in 2018, a 4.1% increase on 2017. (Suzuki)

Tata (includes JLR) ^(history)

• No longer planning a limited edition, mega expensive, coupe version of the Range Rover. (Motor 1)

Tesla ^(history)

• Reported financial results for Q4 2018. Automotive revenue of $6.3 billion was up 134% on a year-over-year basis and 4% quarter-over-quarter. Income from operations was $413 million and net income was $139 million, both much improved versus losses in 2017. (Tesla)
• Tesla’s deposits continued to fall (see historical chart here), even though new products (Semi and Roadster) carry very high reservation fees and the entry of Model 3 into production must have boosted accruals. On the conference call, Tesla’s CFO batted away questions about reservation numbers saying they were “not relevant”. (Tesla)
• Expects to build the Model Y at the Gigafactory in Nevada, rather than Fremont. (Seeking Alpha)
• Is now talking about 10,000 units per week of Model 3 from Fremont and Shanghai combined, walking back from original comments about US production capacity targets. CEO Musk believes that even in a recession there is annual demand for 500,000 Model 3. (Seeking Alpha)
• Tesla’s CFO retired (again), to be replaced by 34 year old company veteran Zack Kirkhorn. (Bloomberg)
• Changed the naming convention of Model S and X vehicles so that the battery size is no longer mentioned and instead range is expressed in qualitative terms. (Clean Technica)
• Buying ultracapacitor firm Maxwell Technologies for $218 million. (CNBC)

Toyota ^(history)

• The mobility joint venture between Toyota and SoftBank has been named Monet. (Toyota)
• Produced 10,567,412 vehicles globally  in 2018, down (1)% on 2017. (Toyota)

VW Group ^(history)

• Wants the MEB electric vehicle platform to be used by other OEMs and become a standard for them. (VW)
• Plans to have a sub €20,000 all-electric car on sale in Europe by 2023 to 2024. (Autocar)
• The first 200 E-Tron SUVs have a limited edition specification and €106,000 price tag. (Handelsblatt)
• Continuing strike action at Audi’s Hungarian plant led to stoppages at German factories. (Reuters)
• Over 50% of Porsche employees were born after 1979. (Porsche)
• Will reduce the workforce in Slovakia, primarily through non-renewal of fixed term contracts and by ending the secondment of 500 Hungarian Audi staff. (Reuters)
• Porsche Taycan buyers in the USA will get three years of free charging, providing they use stations owned by parent VW’s Electrify America subsidiary and only stay for half an hour. (Porsche)
• Signed an MoU with the Ethiopian government to establish local assembly and component supply. (VW)
• Said that diesel orders in Germany have started to pick up again with new 2018 orders having a 43% diesel mix, up from 39% in 2017. (VW)
• Expanding the Audi on demand service to Spain following trials in the UK. At around £2,200 for a one month loan of an A4 saloon, the offering doesn’t differentiate on price from major daily rentals. (Audi)
• Porsche may be fined after admitting it submitted incorrect fuel economy figures during the homologation of the prior series 911. (Autocar)

Other

• Subaru produced 1,019,364 vehicles in 2018, down (5.0)% on a year earlier. (Subaru) Production at Gunma restarted after a 12 day suspension. (Subaru)
• NIO is hoping to raise $650 million through a convertible bond due in 2024 to fund expansion. (NIO)
• Koenigsegg announced a tie up with NEVS that will see NEVS buy a 20% stake in the hypercar maker for €150 million and the creation of a joint venture. NEVS will get 65% of the JV in return for $150 million in cash, Koenigsegg will get 35% by contributing technology.  The announcement implies that NEVS will produce a line of mass-market Koenigsegg-branded vehicles. (Koenigsegg)

News about other companies and trends

Economic / Political News

• Germans have started protesting plans to ban older diesel models from city centres. Protester numbers are small but growing. (Handelsblatt)
• The UK government published the 2016 letter it had given Nissan containing “assurances” around Brexit. This turned out to be confirming the “critical priority of our negotiation to support UK car manufacturers and ensure that their ability to export to and from the EU is not adversely affected” by Brexit — something at odds with the government’s refusal to rule out a no-deal Brexit less than two months before the scheduled exit date. (UK Govt)
• The German government ruled out the possibility of imposing speed limits on unrestricted parts of the autobahn as a method of reducing pollution. (Manager Magazin)
• US light vehicle SAAR of 16.6 million units was about (3)% worse than prior year. (Wards)
• French passenger car registrations of 155,080 units in January were down (1.1)% on a year earlier. (CCFA)
• Spanish passenger car registrations fell (8)% in January versus a year earlier to 93,546 units. (ANFAC)
• Italian passenger car registrations in January fell (7.6)% on a year over year basis to 164,864 units. (UNRAE)

Suppliers

• Autoliv reported quarterly revenue of $2.19 billion, up 1.6% from a year earlier. (Autoliv)
• Bosch reported full year revenue of €78 billion with a 6.9% EBIT margin. (Bosch)
• Nexteer launched two Indian sites, one for software development and a steering components factory. (Nexteer)
• Osram agreed to buy aftermarket lighting supplier Ring Automotive. (Ring Automotive)
• After receiving regulatory approval, Faurecia announced a one month tender period for Clarion shareholders to submit their stock for the offer price. If they don’t, Faurecia intends to squeeze them out anyway. (Faurecia)
• Akebono is looking for fresh capital and relief from near term debt repayments. The firm apparently hopes that shareholder Toyota will be forthcoming with some cash. (Reuters)
• Minda Industries purchased the telematics hardware business of KPIT. (Deal Street Asia)
• Meritor reported Q4 2018 revenue of $1.0 billion, up about 15% on a year earlier. (Meritor)

Dealers

• SoftBank will reportedly invest $1.5 billion in Chinese used car sales site Guazi.com. (Deal Street Asia)
• UK used car prices fell by more than the seasonal average in January, leading to concerns about weaker consumer demand. (Motor Trader)
• German used car sales site Scout24 is apparently a takeover target for used car trader Auto1. (Reuters)
• Carly will soon launch a pan-brand car subscription scheme in Australia that will package all bills into a single monthly payment with no long-term lock-in. (Auto Rental News)

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

• Uber has started trials of including public transport data inside its app. (The Verge)
• Grab is planning to add video streaming to its app – but it will only be free for the first three months. (CNBC) The firm is planning to move into a swanky new $135 million headquarters at the end of 2020. (Reuters)
• Lyft’s 2019 impact report said that about 50% of car owners using the service (and responding to Lyft’s survey) use their cars less as a result. (Lyft)
• Lyft is taking legal action against New York’s transport regulator saying proposed rules to ensure a minimum wage for ride hailing drivers are poorly constructed and hand an advantage to Uber. (Lyft)

Driverless / Autonomy ^(history)

• Embark, a developer of self-driving trucks, released a disengagement report. The data is slightly different to those from self-driving car companies in that drivers are constantly active in Embark’s trucks and so the disengagement number comes from simulations of what the AI would have chosen compared to what the driver did. (Embark)
• Didi is reportedly contemplating headquarters staff cuts of up to 20%, whilst increasing the number of people working on development and safety. (Reuters)
• Autonomous vehicle insurance specialist Avinew raised $5 million. (FINSMES)
• Magna’s CEO said the target price for lidar was now substantially below $1,000. (Automotive News)
• Daimler thinks autonomous cars should signal intent through the medium of turquoise lights. (Daimler)
• A survey of by a UK drivers’ group found that a majority thought that a self-driving car should endanger its passengers in order to avoid putting children in harm’s way. (The IET)
  • Significance: We can expect plenty more of these simplistic, worst case, trolley problems to emerge (this isn’t the first such study). Self-driving developers need to formulate a response to a public perception that: 1) places a far higher standard on the robot than another human being and 2) expects a level of situational awareness that is far more complex than the current state of the art.

Electrification ^(history)

• Shell purchased charging network Greenlots. (Green Car Reports)
• VW’s Electrify America charging subsidiary confirmed that at present the cost of a multi-charger station is between $500,000 – $1,000,000, but that part of this was future-proofing for 350 kW. (Inside EVs)
• VW wants the MEB electric vehicle platform to be used by other OEMs and become a standard for them. (VW)
• Tesla is buying ultracapacitor firm Maxwell Technologies for $218 million. (CNBC)

Connectivity

• NIO will investigate system update protocols after an SUV stopped and updated during a test drive, causing a major traffic jam on a busy street. The hapless occupants were stranded inside for an hour whilst the car updated and rebooted, unable to converse with the angry mob who surrounded the car demanding it move along. (The Verge)
• Hyundai’s MNSOFT subsidiary will develop next generation maps with help from Netradyne. (Vision Systems)

Other

• Brazilian scooter rental firms Grin and Yellow will merge and rebrand as Grow Mobility. (TechCrunch)
• Bird’s CEO said the company was focused on scooters in the short term but was interested in different forms of short range electric vehicles for the future. (TechCrunch)

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