Auto Industry Briefing — week ending 24th January 2021
VW’s electric platform short shelf life; Rivian’s mystery cash hoard; and a breakthrough for battery swapping? Please enjoy our auto industry and mobility briefing for 18th January to 24th January 2021. A PDF version can be found here.
Before you read the detail, what were my favourite stories of the past week…?
- Let Me Let Go — VW is working on a smash hit electric car, dubbed Project Trinity. In a bid to ensure that it is a great success, VW’s engineers are reportedly set to abandon the much-hallowed MEB dedicated electric platform. Why? Because they have apparently figured out a much better way to do things… the same reason they use every time they bin a mega platform. Will this next time be different?
- Give It Away — Rivian raised another $2.6 billion, taking the total to $8 billion. It normally takes around $1 billion – $1.5 billion to bring a vehicle to production at high volume, including the factory. Rivian has been developing two: a pickup and a van for Amazon. And maybe a smaller car too. It’s fair to say that extra money is needed for things like inventory, but it doesn’t really explain $5 billion or so. What are they planning to spend it all on?
- Swap it Out — SK Innovation took a stake in BAIC’s Chinese battery swapping business. It seems like the big drawback with battery swapping as it stands is that all the car makers have incompatible designs, resulting in unique swapping infrastructure. If battery suppliers like SK Innovation start getting involved, could standardisation become more likely?
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
- Ahead of the vehicle’s launch, BMW is clearly hoping to position the all-electric i4 as a superior driver’s car to the Tesla models it will compete against. (BMW)
- CFO Peter says BMW is concerned that Chinese customers place a high importance on digital experience and it risks defections to the likes of Nio, if it isn’t competitive. (Reuters)
- Unveiled the all-electric EQA (effectively a battery powered GLA with a new front grille). (Daimler)
- Mercedes is confident it will resolve semi-conductor shortages soon. (Reuters)
- Stopping production at the Saarlouis, Germany, plant for one month because of the semiconductor shortage. (CNN)
- US regulators forced Ford to recall 3 million cars to replace Takata airbag inflators on the driver side. Ford had already replaced passenger side units and wanted to avoid a second repair. (Reuters)
Geely (includes Volvo) (history)
- Geely is working with Tencent on a range of subjects including digitalisation, autonomous driving, infotainment and low carbon technologies. (Geely)
- Cruise raised an additional $2 billion from existing investors, with Microsoft joining in too. The software firm will supply cloud computing services to the autonomous vehicle unit as part of the deal. (GM)
- Warned Indian authorities that if they stymied its efforts to close a car factory in the country, it might deter others from investing in the first place. (Reuters)
- Will start tests on Japanese roads using vehicles supplied by Cruise as a precursor to the launch of a robo taxi business once the Cruise Origin is available. (Honda)
- Invested in automated inspection company UVeye. (Autocar)
Nissan and Mitsubishi (history)
- Nissan is closing its Almera, Philippines, assembly plant. (Nikkei)
- Nissan declared itself satisfied with the post-Brexit trade deal and said it will move additional battery production to the UK. (BBC)
- Renault Samsung has offered voluntary redundancy to nearly all its workers. (Chosun Ilbo)
Stellantis (formed via the merger of PSA and FCA)
- Published a post-merger overview to explain why the enlarged company will be so strong. Stellantis believes that vehicle costs will rise between 20% – 40% (based on figures from consultants) because of new regulations and technologies. (Stellantis)
- Announced the key post-merger executive positions, and their holders. The structure is a matrix of brand heads (e.g. Jeep, Peugeot), regional sales groups (e.g. North America, Europe) and global functions (e.g. manufacturing, engineering). There are several points which appear unresolved — Jeep sitting as a sole “global SUV” brand rather than within the premium group; ex-FCA CEO sitting as “Head of the Americas” — separate to the head of North and South America — without an equivalent anywhere else in the World. (Stellantis)
- CEO Tavares said that the Stellantis merger would protect jobs because the company would be so strong that it could afford to invest in great new products, even in an industry downturn. He also appeared to set aside plans for Peugeot to enter the US market, saying that it might be better to simply concentrate on existing brands and introduce European products under those marques (something that GM largely failed to do successfully). (Detroit Free Press)
- Significance: It might later transpire that Mr Tavares means jobs have been preserved versus an imaginary level of cuts both companies would have needed to make if they remained independent. Workers at Opel / Vauxhall would certainly disagree with the statement that all jobs have been preserved following their takeover by PSA.
- CEO Tavares, who until recently threatened the future of the Ellesmere Port, UK, plant if there wasn’t a post-Brexit trade agreement (which there now is), threatened the future of the Ellesmere Port, UK, plant if the government doesn’t step in with grants to bolster the business case for electric vehicles. He says the government needs to do this because it plans to end the sale of cars powered purely by internal combustion engines, which he called “brutally” changing the rules. (BBC)
- Significance: As an international player with a strong historical presence in Italy, France and the USA, CEO Tavares is likely to feel confident in leaning on governments and unions in countries which are less important strategically (think Canada, UK, Spain and Germany).
- Sued a recently hired, and then quickly fired, employee for allegedly stealing trade secrets. He claims that he simply made copies so he could work more easily from home. (CNBC)
- Toyota manufacturing plants in Japan are reportedly loaning staff from aircraft parts makers such as Mitsubishi Heavy and Kawasaki Heavy to ramp up production. Their parent companies apparently have little for them to do, owing to a downturn in the aviation market. (Nikkei)
- Announced preliminary financial results for full year 2020. Operating profit (excluding special items) was around €10 billion whilst automotive net cash flow was about €6 million. (VW)
- As anticipated, VW “narrowly” missed its European fleet CO2 target for 2020 (i.e. by about 0.5 g/km CO2 against a target of around 98.5g/km). Rather than dwell on the failure, the company heralded the performance of the VW and Audi brands in meeting their emissions targets (thus pointing the finger of blame at SEAT and Škoda), whilst promising to fix the problem for 2021. There won’t be any hit to profits from the fines because VW has been reserving for them just in case. (VW)
- Will stop selling the mainstream Golf in the USA, although sporty GTi and R models will still be available. (VW)
- Porsche increased its investment in APX, a venture capital firm it owns with media giant Axel Springer. (Porsche)
- Porsche launched a entry level version of the Taycan, in addition to a smaller battery and motor, the car has a lower maximum charging rate. With Porsche implying massive demand for the Taycan, it remains to be seen how many of this derivative will be sold. (Porsche)
- After declaring a successful launch for the ID.3 and ID.4, VW is dissolving the special executive role dedicated to looking after electric cars. The incumbent will become head of development for all the brand’s cars. (VW)
- Announced the formation of a Chinese joint venture with long-time partner FAW for all-electric premium vehicles. VW and Audi will own 60% of the company. (VW)
- Reportedly looking at charging Bosch and Continental with some of the costs it will incur to deal with the shortage of semiconductors. (Handelsblatt)
- Seeking to bury the mistakes of the past when changes to emissions rules have caught the company out, Audi said that it had already converted all engines over to the EU 6d standard. (Audi)
- Rumour has it that VW’s next generation battery electric vehicle program, supposedly dubbed Project Trinity, will have a unique platform that will unleash massive new potential for manufacturing efficiencies. (Autocar)
- Significance: If true, the move would indicate that VW is dispensing with the MEB platform after a single cycle of product, rather than the many generations executives initially promised, significantly eroding one of the key arguments in favour of dedicated mega-platforms: that they are so versatile you can use them over and over again.
Other
- Rivian raised $2.6 billion in fresh funding, taking the total to $8 billion. (Rivian)
- Aiways is reportedly looking to raise funds, whilst preparing for an old-school IPO later in 2021. (Deal Street Asia)
- BYD raised $4 billion through a rights issue. (Nikkei)
- Evergrande raised $3.4 billion through a share placement. (Economic Times of India)
News about other companies and trends
Economic / Political News
- European passenger car sales of 11.96 million units in 2020 fell (24)% on a year-over-year basis. In December they fell (4)%. (ACEA)
- German chancellor Merkel reportedly told automotive industry bosses that she might have to order them to close plants to contain coronavirus. (Handelsblatt)
Suppliers
- Semiconductor manufacturers, currently at the centre of a supply squeeze that has been leading to rolling automotive factory shutdowns, are reportedly demanding price rises of 10% – 20%. Chip making executives hinted that it was because their raw materials suppliers were too concentrated and they were trying to find out who really wants the chips badly enough. (Nikkei) The Taiwanese government said it had told local suppliers to prioritise automotive components. (Reuters)
- Grammer reported preliminary financial results for 2020. Revenye was €1.7 billion and EBIT was a €(49) million loss, wholly explained by restructuring and one time effects. (Grammar)
- Oshkosh Corporation completed its takeover of Pratt Miller. (Oshkosh)
- Motherson acquired Turkish plastics supplier Plast Met Group. (Autocar)
Dealers
- German online car seller Mobility Holding is preparing to float and might be worth €1.4 billion. (Reuters)
- Refinancing company MotoRefi raised $9 million. (TechCrunch)
Ride-Hailing, Car Sharing & Rental (history)
- Bolt Mobility acquired the assets of Last Mile. (FINSMES)
Driverless / Autonomy (history)
- Waymo’s CEO says autonomous vehicles will be cheaper to build than many expect (although perhaps not GM’s Cruise unit, who have already been saying the same thing for a while). He also said that Tesla’s sensor set is markedly inferior to Waymo’s when it comes to autonomous driving. (Manager Magazin)
- Significance: the statements may well prove to be correct, but since no one in the World has a self-driving vehicle which can be deployed at scale, let alone learn new geographies quickly, it is unclear what a good enough solution will look like. It is quite possible that all parties are underestimating the need for, and cost of, redundancy at all levels of the system.
- Denso will use lidar units from Aeva to create integrated sensing systems for advanced driver assistance. (Denso)
- GM’s Cruise raised an additional $2 billion from existing investors, with Microsoft joining in too. The software firm will supply cloud computing services to the autonomous vehicle unit as part of the deal. (GM)
- Charging network Volta raised $125 million. (Volta)
- Charging network EVGo is listing via a merger with a special purpose vehicle. Current owner LS Power will have a 74% stake in the firm once it goes public. (TechCrunch)
- Battery maker SK Innovation took a 13.3% stake in BAIC’s battery swapping business. (ET News)
- Battery developer StoreDot (Daimler is an investor) says it has proved a fast charging battery can be mass manufactured. (The Guardian)
Other
- Air taxi firm Joby Aviation is reportedly looking to list. (Reuters)
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Auto Industry Briefing — week ending 17th January 2021
GM disrupts the disruptors; Sony’s mystery car project keeps going and Renault makes a bold move step towards the future. Please enjoy our auto industry and mobility briefing for 11th January to 17th January 2021. A PDF version can be found here.
Before you read the detail, what were my favourite stories of the past week…?
- Heartbreaker — GM announced a new business line, called BrightDrop, that will create specialist electric vans and the software delivery companies need to run them efficiently. Does GM have a clever plan to boost its market capitalisation? The move seems almost deliberately aimed at firms such as Arrival and Workhorse who offer similar innovations. GM has the advance of incumbency and a product that appears closer to launch. Should they be worried?
- Dazed and Confused — Sony showed a set of videos proving that development work on the Vision S concept is continuing, ably assisted by Magna. At the unveiling last year, some observers felt the concept seemed a little too well thought through to be a mere showpiece. Latest developments indicate they were right: the whole exercise of bringing a car to life is too much pain if you simply want to test some next generation technology — better to simply butcher some Tesla Model Xs. Is Sony trying to launch a car company, is this an initiative of bluechip companies (Sony’s partners include Bosch and Continental) to prove that they can create an architecture which can be licenced for contract manufacture, or something completely different?
- Whole Lotta Love — Renault has a new strategy, within which is a plan to heavily rationalise internal combustion engines. Whilst others are contemplating the technology’s fate, Renault has laid down a marker: it thinks that one diesel and one gasoline engine will be sufficient to compete in future. To cover the breadth commonly associated with different engines, the firm will simply employ electric motors in a hybrid system to boost power levels. I love the plan. How can rivals defend their complexity?
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
- Sold 2,324,809 cars in 2020, down (8.4)% on a year-over-year basis. Within the overall drop, there were increases for higher performance “M” badged models and heavily electrified vehicles (PHEV and BEV). BMW also confirmed that it had met the fleet average CO2 target set by the EU. (BMW)
- Significance: Many had predicted that increasingly stringent CO2 rules in Europe would reduce sales of higher performance models, which generally produce more pollution (unless they have a hybrid drive, something that is coming soon). It will be interesting to see whether this was a last gasp push for sales (in 2020, manufacturers can exclude some of their worst performing vehicles from CO2 assessments), or a general trend towards sports models in spite of the overall market decline.
- BMW’s head of sales and marketing highlighted features that the company is now building into all models, regardless of whether the customer specifies them, and then enabling online purchase and activation after delivery. He says that such features will become an increasingly large part of revenue generation from options. It should also cut down on complexity. (BMW)
- Planning to roll-out online purchases for individually configured cars that would be delivered to the end customer without a showroom visit ever being necessary (often called end-to-end). BMW’s press release implies that dealers will still be involved with the service, although it may appear seamless to customers. (BMW)
- Decided to shut its trial all-in vehicle leasing scheme “Access”, but suggested that it may not be the end of the service with spokespeople saying BMW was “in the process of developing the next iteration”. (The Verge)
- Working with electric air taxi firm Archer to design, and potentially help build, the latter’s products. (FCA)
- Completed the merger with PSA to form Stellantis, which will begin trading on 18th January (depending on the stock exchange in question). (FCA)
- Following in S&P’s footsteps, Moody’s announced a credit rating upgrade for FCA. (FCA)
- Announced a sweeping restructuring of its South America operations that will see all factories in Brazil close, and the end of the little-known Troller brand. Ford said the move would result in special items of $4.1 billion. Although Ford said that the coronavirus pandemic had influenced the decision, early comments by then-CEO Hackett about unspecified future footprint changes in South America suggest it was not a kneejerk reaction. (Ford)
- Delaying shipments of early-build electric Mustang Mach E SUVs to carry out unspecified quality checks. Vehicle locations shared on social media indicated that many of the cars have left the factory (Detroit Free Press)
Geely (includes Volvo) (history)
- Volvo renewed its €1.3 billion credit revolver. (Volvo)
- Lotus will develop an all-electric sportscar with Renault’s Alpine brand. (Lotus)
- Teaming up with Chinese online search giant Baidu to develop electric cars. (Nikkei)
- Agreed a deal with Foxconn to make electric cars on a contract basis. (TechCrunch)
- Announced a new business called BrightDrop, which will have its own vehicle, the EV600 all-electric delivery van. GM is planning to offer a suite of telematics and other software that will work with the vehicle to make it progressively easier for delivery companies to use the products and the existence of a motorised pallet truck hints at an autonomous vehicle that can not only drive itself around, but unload too. A minibus is also planned. (GM)
- Significance: With BrightDrop, GM is announcing a series of hardware and software products that loosely rival offerings from the likes of Arrival and Lordstown / Workhorse. It also provides a clear template for traditional OEMs to launch start-up-like entities that may better attract investor and customer interest than using existing structures and brands.
- Cadillac has designs on electric drones that can ferry its owners to areas that autonomous cars can’t reach. The presentation didn’t explain how the owner is supposed to explain to the passengers who shared the car ride that their drone only has room for one, and everyone else will need to proceed on foot. (TechCrunch)
- GM’s head of product development says that, versus the Bolt, the next generation of products will see energy density double and battery price will fall by 60%. (Detroit Free Press)
- Building a factory for hydrogen fuel cells in China — at 6,500 systems per year, capacity isn’t significant. (Nikkei)
Nissan and Mitsubishi (history)
- Nissan’s CEO was complimentary of Renault’s turnaround strategy. (Reuters)
- Completed the merger with PSA to form Stellantis, which will begin trading on 18th January (depending on the stock exchange in question). (FCA)
- Sold 2.5 million vehicles in 2020, down (28)% on a year-over-year basis. It wasn’t all bad news though; sales increased in Eurasia, Middle East and Africa. In Quarter 4, sales of 311,176 units dropped (6)% from prior year. PSA confirmed that sales met its targets for fleet average CO2 in Europe. (PSA)
- Opel is reportedly so overwhelmed with orders for the electric Mokka that it has started cancelling hundreds of customer orders because it couldn’t commit to a build date within the next 12 months. (Handelsblatt)
- Presented a strategic update branded “Renaulution”. The intent to be disruptive was clear from page 1 as the report’s name was applied in graffiti-style text over the plainer fonts that Renault normally uses. (Renault)
- The initial pages were understandable self-criticism: the company is too reliant on Europe for profits; international markets are unprofitable and overlay complex by comparison; there are too many sub-scale products in the portfolio (selling an average of 41,000 units per year); Renault’s brand is positioned differently across markets; in Europe Dacia sales are cannibalising Renault at the bottom end of the market and the two brands sell too many similar vehicles; volumes are too reliant on B-Segment (small cars), with too few C-segment (mid-sized) sales. (Renault)
- Renault set updated financial targets: Around 3% operating margin by 2023 and around 5% by 2025. Despite targeting improved profitability, the cash target remains fairly level between 2023 and 2025. (Renault)
- Renault says it can now develop a new car in under 3 years (where it re-uses the underpinnings of an existing product), down from around 4 years “before”. (Renault)
- Believes that after 2025, European regulations will make internal combustion engines so expensive that they will cost more than fully electric or fuel cell powertrains. The plan is therefore to chop models so that there is only one diesel and one petrol engine available (down from three of each today). Diesels will become focused on commercial vehicles and the company will rely on electrification (i.e. an internal combustion engine with an electric motor fitted as well) to boost power levels. An intent to introduce even lower powered engines (down to 45 hp from 60 hp today) indicates an intent to further apply range extending engines. (Renault)
- Renault expects the profitability of electric vehicles to grow strongly. Currently the firm says it is about the same as internal combustion engines versions (although prices are higher). By 2023, Renault expects all-electric models to be most profitable, followed by hybrids and then internal combustion engine products which become increasingly burdened with expensive technology and slip to the bottom of price lists. (Renault)
- Plans to reduce manufacturing costs by 20% (from 2019 levels, so some of this includes previously stated targets). Renault already believes that it is best in class. Global capacity utilisation will be pushed to over 120% (measured against a two shift pattern), whilst volumes will drop form 3.9 million to 3.1 million units annually. There is also a target of reducing average vehicle costs by €600 per unit. (Renault)
- Renault set new expectations for electric vehicle sales in Europe. By 2025, the target is that 30% of sales will be all-electric and another 35% will be hybrids (not all plug-ins). Electric vehicles are expected to be 40% more profitable on a gross margin basis. Through the various product actions, Renault expects to boost transaction prices from around €20,000 today to over €27,000 in 2025. (Renault)
- The Dacia and Lada brands will be ruthlessly efficient; all models will be from the same Renault-Nissan component set and worse performing body styles will be dropped. The Alpine brand will be expanded, with the future range focusing on electrification and increasing to at least three vehicles, one of which will be an all-electric sportscar developed with Lotus. (Renault)
- All of Renault’s non vehicle making activities (including captive finance) will be grouped under the brand “Møbilize”, although the template is somewhat similar to a mix of PSA’s “Free2Move” and Daimler’s mobility / financial services group, there are some key differences. The main one is that there will be purpose-built vehicles for mobility services (including short term car rental, ride hailing and delivery). Renault suggested that the batteries would be recycled units, which will save over €1,000 per unit. (Renault)
- Significance: Although Renault has some smart ideas, it may continue to struggle with the same fundamental problem experienced by others — low demand for marginal ownership.
- Sold 2.95 million vehicles in 2020, a (21)% drop on prior year. Renault met its targets for fleet average CO2 in Europe, as expected. (Renault)
- Unveiled a new SUV for Dacia called the Bigster (Top Gear) and a small all-electric car badged as a Renault 5, which seems set to spawn an Alpine derivative. (Top Gear)
- Renault and Plug Power are establishing a joint venture for hydrogen distribution and fuel cells. (ET News)
- Renault’s wholly owned UK dealer group sold one of its London dealerships for £39 million. (Motor Trader)
Stellantis (formed via the merger of FCA and PSA)
- The merger of PSA and FCA was formally completed. (FCA)
- JLR sold 425,974 cars in 2020, (24)% down on a year-over-year basis. (JLR)
- Speculation swirled about whether CEO Butschek would stay in his job. (Economic Times of India)
- US authorities asked Tesla to recall about 160,000 Model S and Model X vehicles, saying that the memory on the cars has been overwhelmed and this can lead to unsafe operation. (Business Insider)
- Settled a US probe into tardy reporting of emissions problems by agreeing to a $180 million fine. (Reuters)
- VW Group delivered 2.8 million vehicles in Q4 2020, down (6)% on a year-over-year basis. Mainstream brands, and heavy trucks, lost volume but Audi and Porsche both saw increases. On a full year basis, VW Group sold 9.3 million units, down (15)%. The ID3 is already the group’s highest selling all-electric model. (VW)
- Lamborghini delivered 7,430 cars in 2020, (9)% down year-on-year. The firm now says that it has a robust order book. (Lamborghini)
- According to VW, there has been a massive surge in orders for electric vehicles from German fleets, with PHEV and BEV orders now running at 22% of sales, up from 5% in 2019. (VW)
- Former CEO Winterkorn got some good news after a court case against him on charges of withholding information about the diesel scandal from investors was dropped. The bad news is that it only happened because there is another parallel case (about fraudulent emissions) that carries a stiffer penalty. (Economic Times of India)
- VW’s Indian financial subsidiary is taking a majority stake in online lending platform KUWY. (Autocar)
Other
- Nio raised $1.3 billion in debt. (Nio) CEO Li says that the company may enter the mass market, but that the Nio brand would be reserved for higher priced products. (Economic Times of India)
- Donkervoort’s founder is retiring, to be replaced by his son. (Donkervoort)
- Xpeng agreed a $2 billion credit line with several Chinese banks. (Reuters)
- Sony showed videos at CES confirming that it has continued the development of the Vision S electric car it showed at last year’s event. (TechCrunch)
- Significance: The seriousness of the work done implies that this is about far more than simply developing future technologies for Sony — simply put, it is far easier to modify an existing vehicle to carry lots of new kit than to build a new car from scratch.
- Mahindra and Mahindra is making job cuts in North America, reportedly shedding half its 500 staff. The company said it was partly because projects had ended. (Economic Times of India)
- Sono Motors is open to licencing its solar panel technology to other firms and has concluded a deal with autonomous vehicle developer EasyMile. (TechCrunch)
- Spyker has reportedly finally shut up shop after a proposed deal fell through (RTL Nieuws)
- Lucid is rumoured to be exploring a listing via a merger with special purpose entity at a valuation of around $15 billion. (Reuters)
- Faraday Future is looking at listing too, but has set its sights lower – at around $3 billion. (Business Insider)
- McLaren has an entry slot for Formula E in 2022, if it wants it. (McLaren)
- Significance: It is unclear whether McLaren wants to participate in Formula E because of the branding benefits it perceives, or because it wants to utilise Formula 1 team employees.
- Alibaba and SAIC launched a car brand called “IM”. (Nikkei)
- Arrival thinks that factories will be designed by artificial intelligence in the future, and they will be so complicated that humans won’t be able to understand them. (Arrival)
- Significance: With breakdowns a frequent occurrence in automotive factories today, either factories will continue to need clear walkways and zoning so that repair staff can easily access them, or machines will have to become massively reliable, or fiendishly clever robots will have to do the repair work. With line stoppages resulting from problems ranging from glue dripping onto sensors, to contamination from excess greasy residue on parts stemming from machining operations, to good old-fashioned collisions between misplaced parts and assembly equipment (even when humans are in charge). This will be no mean feat.
News about other companies and trends
Suppliers
- AAM and Suzhou Inovance formed a partnership to make electric motors with integrated power electronics. (AAM)
- Cipa and OmniVision will team up to develop driver monitoring solutions. (Cipia)
- Continental demonstrated a screen developed with Leia that makes maps appear three dimensional. (Continental)
- Hanon Systems announced a new CEO, company insider Min Suk Sung. (Hanon)
- Hella reported financial results from the first six months of its fiscal year (June to November 2020). Sales were €3.2 billion and EBIT was €94 million. (Hella)
Ride-Hailing, Car Sharing & Rental (history)
- Ride hailing firm Gett raised $115 million in its latest funding round — up from a figure of $100 million that was reported last summer. (Gett)
- Grab’s financial arm raised $300 million from investors. (Grab)
Driverless / Autonomy (history)
- Autonomous street sweepers will soon go on trial in Singapore. (Bucher)
- After earlier receiving $200 million in investment from bus maker Yutong, WeRide’s latest funding round has reached $310 million. (Nikkei)
- Blickfeld unveiled a new lidar unit with a claimed range of 150m that can fit into a wing mirror. (Blickfeld)
- Intel’s Mobileye unit will use its own lidar from 2025 onwards. (Intel)
- Rinspeed unveiled the Citysnap at CES. Rather than prior concepts which focused on reusable platforms, this vehicle investigates how parts of the vehicle could make kerbside delivery, exploring ideas similar to those behind by GM’s BrightDrop hardware. (Autonomes Fahren)
- Panasonic hopes to have a cobalt free, high density, battery in production in “two or three years”. (Nikkei)
- Electric conversion company Motiv Power raised $20 million. (Motiv)
- TDK reportedly wants to muscle into the battery supply game. (Nikkei)
Other
- Electric bus company Proterra is listed through a merger with a special purpose vehicle in a deal that will value the firm at $1.6 billion. (Proterra)
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Auto Industry Briefing — week ending 10th January 2021
New logos and just about nothing else noteworthy. Please enjoy our auto industry and mobility briefing for 4th January to 10th January 2021. A PDF version can be found here.
Before you read the detail, what were my favourite stories of the past week…?
- New Look — both GM and Kia announced new logos. GM’s has a weird nod to the past; where the whole GM was underlined before, only M is underlined now. Additionally, even though GM is clearly an acronym of a name, the logo is now in lower case. Kia’s is written in an edgy logo that makes it hard to read. What’s next? Ford’s blue oval becomes a rhombus?
- Apparently Nothin’ — No, I’m serious. Practically everything written in the review this week is just about sales volumes. There is so little real news that Mercedes were able to make headlines with a massive screen that isn’t even a massive screen (although it is three screens glued into one large border so it looks as though it could be a single piece). Will next week be more interesting?
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
- Announced that the EQS (A forthcoming all-electric version of the S-Class) will boast a gigantic screen that stretches from the instrument cluster to the edge of the passenger door. Except it isn’t a single screen, it is a large piece of glass which has several different screens embedded in a way that makes it look like they could be one. (Daimler)
- Delivered 735,605 Mercedes-Benz cars and vans in Q4 2020, down (1.3)% on a year-over-year basis, all explained by lower car sales. In the full year Mercedes sold 2,528,349 vehicles, just over (10)% down on 2019. The company also confirmed that it has met its targets for European fleet CO2. (Daimler)
- Sold 1,999,388 vehicles in the US and Canada in 2020, down (18)% year-over-year. (FCA)
- Unveiled the next generation Jeep Grand Cherokee. (FCA)
- Despite its short shelf life as a company, S&P raised its credit rating for FCA. (FCA)
- Sold 542,749 vehicles in the USA during Q4, down (10)% versus 2019. In the full year, Ford’s sales of 2.044 million fell (16)%. (Ford)
Geely (includes Volvo) (history)
- Volvo sold 661,713 cars in full year 2020, down (6)% on prior year. (Volvo)
- Volvo reckons that electric cars will account for over 60% of the output at its Ghent, Belgium, plant by 2022. (Volvo)
- Geely plans to have 5,000 battery swap stations across China by 2025. (China Daily)
- GM’s US deliveries of 771,323 units rose 4.8% on a year-over-year basis (in Q4 2019 GM was affected by the UAW strike). In the full year, GM’s sales of 2,547,339 vehicles dropped (12)%. (GM)
- Sold 954,325 vehicles in China during Q4, a 14% increase over the prior year. In the full year, sales of 2.9 million units fell (6)% versus 2019. (GM)
- Unveiled a new logo. It is still a box with the letter GM written inside, but now they are lower case and only the M is underlined, which GM thinks makes it look a little bit like a plug. (GM)
- Hyundai is targeting sales of 4.2 million in 2021. (Hyundai)
- Hyundai sold 4.426 million vehicles in 2020, down (15)% versus prior year. (Hyundai)
- Not to be outdone by GM, Kia unveiled a new logo. Kia says it reflects symmetry. It looks a bit like “KV”. (KV)
- Said in a press release that it was working with Apple on an electric car, then issued a series of revisions, in the final of which Hyundai simply acknowledged that it was working with potential partners. (BBC)
- Opel’s boss warned the German workforce that progress on job cuts had been insufficient and that he wanted to reduce the company’s pension burden. (Manager Magazin)
- Renault Samsung will cut pay for managers as part of a cost recovery effort. (Economic Times of India)
Subaru
- Created a CTO position to help it makes sense of emerging technologies. (Subaru)
- CEO Diess believes that traditional automotive players, including VW, have failed to convince customers that they can survive in a new “competitive environment” and cautioned that there are some people in the company who haven’t faced up to the looming threat. (Bloomberg)
- Bentley sold 11,206 cars in 2020, slightly up on 2019. (Bentley)
Other
- Nio unveiled the ET7 saloon. When equipped with a 150 kWh battery, the car boasts a 1,000km range, according to the outdated NEDC standard. (Nio)
- Rivian is reportedly looking to raise several billion dollars in an investment round that could see the firm valued at $25 billion. (Bloomberg)
- Lucid is rumoured to be considering a factory in Saudi Arabia. (Green Car Reports)
News about other companies and trends
Economic / Political News
- US light vehicle industry in December of 16.3 million units fell about (3)% versus prior year. In the full year, sales fell about (8)%. (Wards)
- UK Passenger car sales in December of 132,682 units fell (11)% versus prior year. Full year sales of 1.63 million cars fell (29)% from 2019 levels. (SMMT)
- German passenger car sales in December of 311,394 vehicles rose 10% on a year-over-year basis. In the full year, 2.92 million customers snapped up a new motor, (19)% down on 2019. (KBA)
- Spanish sales of 105,841 passenger vehicles in December were almost identical to a year earlier. Overall 2020 sales of 851,211 units fell (32)% from 2019. (ANFAC)
- Italian passenger car sales of 119,454 units in December fell (15)% on a year-over-year basis. Full year sales of 1.38 million cars fell (28)% from 2019. (UNRAE)
- French passenger car sales of 186,323 units fell (12)% compared to prior year. Full year 2020 sales of 1.65 million cars fell (26)% versus 2019. (CCFA)
Suppliers
- MacLean-Fogg acquired smaller concern Master Automatic. (MacLean-Fogg)
- Michelin announced a turnaround plan for its French operations that will see 2,300 job losses (split about equally between offices and factories). (Michelin)
- Sensor company Tactile Mobility raised $10 million from investors including Nexteer. (FINSMES)
- Hesai Photonics is hoping to list in Shanghai. (Caixin)
Dealers
- Online car maintenance platform Tuhu raised $200 million. (Deal Street Asia)
Ride-Hailing, Car Sharing & Rental (history)
- Car rental firm Kyte raised $9 million. (Auto Rental News)
Driverless / Autonomy (history)
- Nodar says it has developed a sensor with a range of 1,000m (although it prefers to talk about how accurate the measurement is when an object is 150m away). (Nodar)
- Autonomous vehicle developer Oxbotica raised $47 million from investors including BP. (TechCrunch)
- Infra-red sensor company FLIR is being acquired by Teledyne. (FLIR)
- Waymo said it would only refer to self-driving cars as autonomous in future, suggesting a frustration that others (e.g. Tesla) has hijacked the term. (Waymo)
- Baidu is reportedly planning an EV brand, with Geely doing the manufacturing. (Economic Times of India)
Other
- CNH is reportedly still trying to see truck making arm Iveco. (Deal Street Asia)
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Auto Industry Briefing — three weeks ending 3rd January 2021
Let’s start the New Year off slowly by getting up to speed with what happened in the last few weeks. Please enjoy our auto industry and mobility briefing for 14th December 2020 to 3rd January 2021. A PDF version can be found here.
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
- Says that 20% of its cars will be electric (seemingly to include plug-in hybrids) by 2023. (Reuters)
- Announced the closure of the low volume Iracemápolis, Brazil, plant. (Daimler)
- Teamed up with Infosys to boost its IT, cloud services and software engineering expertise. (Daimler)
- Sold a one third share in the Mercedes F1 team to Ineos, and slightly boosted the holding of CEO Toto Wolff, so that all parties hold an equal stake. (Daimler)
- PSA and FCA will become one company, Stellantis, on 16th January 2021. FCA shareholders will receive a €2.9 billion special dividend when the deal closes. (FCA)
- In anticipation of the completion of the merger with PSA, the first wave of FCA executives began to depart, starting with the HR chief. (FCA) FCA’s current CEO, Mike Manley, will become head of the Americas for the enlarged corporation. (FCA)
- Extended a sponsorship deal with Juventus, Italy’s leading football club. FCA pays around €45 million per year. Although FCA’s chairman knows Juventus’s chairman well, it is unclear whether the firm benefitted from a friends and family discount. (FCA)
- Suing cylinder block supplier Martinrea, claiming that the company allocated production capacity that should have been reserved for FCA to a competitor instead, and now FCA can’t build enough engines. Martinrea blamed a ham-fisted attempt by FCA to in-source the casting work, only to abruptly reverse course. (Detroit News)
- Called off a joint venture that was designed to merge Ford’s Indian operations with Mahindra and Mahindra (announced in 2019). The companies may still work together on discrete projects. (Ford)
- Published its annual trends report, comprising attitudinal research from across the World. Ford discovered that people are more stressed than they were a year ago, that online shopping is on the increase, and that social contact has shrunk. (Ford)
- Announced a series of executive moves, including the retirement of the heads of international markets and manufacturing. Ford also signalled the diminishing importance of internal combustion engines by changing the role of the executive in charge of powertrain engineering to cover a wider range of hardware. (Ford)
- As thousands of newly-built F-150 pickup trucks reportedly appeared in and around Detroit, reporters hinted at launch problems with seat belts. Ford said it was simply carrying out enhanced quality checks. (Detroit Free Press)
- GM is cautiously rolling out the use of 3D printing for production car parts. The Cadillac Blackwing will get some 3D printed hidden brackets and ducts and — most excitingly — the badge on top of the gear shift knob. (Detroit News)
- Invested in the latest funding round for on-demand servicing firm Yoshi. (CNBC)
- Recalling 840,000 vehicles to correct two problems. The first is that seat belts may not be properly secured. The second is that suspension parts may become corroded and fail. (Detroit News)
- Ending car production at the Greater Noida, India, plant with immediate effect, shifting production to another factory in the country. (Honda)
- Recalling about 1.8 million vehicles to fix problems with faulty power window electrics; internal computers that display erroneous error messages; and drivetrain parts that corrode. (Reuters)
- Withdrawing from the Russian market in 2022 after years of slow sales. (Nikkei)
- Appears to agree with external forecasts that see BEVs taking a majority of the global market share around 2040. (Hyundai)
- Completed the purchase of GM’s former St Petersburg, Russia, plant. Executives said the firm still hasn’t worked out a definite plan to use the facility. (Economic Times of India)
- Reportedly withdrawing the all-electric Kona from sale in South Korea after a series of recalls dented the car’s reputation. (Reuters)
Nissan and Mitsubishi (history)
- Nissan is reportedly exploring a plan to sub-contract more of its European manufacturing to Renault and also let its alliance partner lead sales in smaller markets. (Reuters)
- Long-winded post-Brexit trade negotiations apparently persuaded Nissan to import the all-electric Ariya into Europe from Japan and save on investment at the cost of a (predictable and declining) level of tariffs. (Nikkei)
- PSA and FCA will become one company, Stellantis, on 16th January 2021. (FCA)
- Unveiled the Lada Largus, based on the Dacia Logan/Sandero. (Lada)
- Will present a new strategic plan on the 14th of January. (Renault)
- JLR’s in-house VC unit invested in blockchain firm Circulor. (InMotion)
- Unveiled a new sportscar, the Jaguar Vision Gran Turismo SV. The good news? You don’t need a driving licence to have one. The bad news? It only exists in a computer game. (JLR)
- Stopped production in Castle Bromwich, UK, earlier than planned before Christmas, due to shortages of parts from suppliers. (Autocar)
- Taking full ownership of the Indian bus making joint venture Tata has with Marcopolo. Over time the Marcopolo brand will be dropped from the local market. (Autocar)
- Reported Q4 deliveries of 180,570 cars, up 61% on a year-over-year basis. Tesla refuses to report model line detail, but it looks as though Model Y is now selling about as well as Model 3. (Tesla)
- Released a new environmental report with detail on its North American operations. (Toyota)
- Launched the no-frills C+Pod all-electric city car in Japan. (Toyota)
- Repurchasing and retiring 499 billion (about $4.8 billion) of preference shares issued in 2015 to finance R&D on more efficient vehicles. (Toyota)
- Increased its shareholding in Portuguese bus maker Caetano. (Toyota)
- VW’s board tried to stop the infighting by making a series of executive appointments (including Arno Antlitz, CFO of Audi, as the new VW Group CFO), seemingly matching the recommendations of CEO Diess. The board’s press release was full of praise for Diess’s contribution, but he wasn’t offered the contract extension he has been asking for (Diess is rumoured to have annoyed board members by drawing up a press release celebrating his contract extension, even though he hadn’t been granted one). The peace has seemingly been accomplished at the cost of creating a duplicate electric vehicle innovation team for the VW brand, mirroring a much heralded Audi-led effort, in return for which, unions have agreed to an as-yet undeveloped fixed cost saving plan. (VW)
- As rumoured, Bentley will be managed by Audi. VW’s board also confirmed that there is no intention to sell Ducati or Lamborghini (but stayed silent about Bugatti). (VW)
- Launched an app for prospective VW ID.4 customer that uses augmented reality to show them what the car might look like on their driveway. (VW)
- Seemingly satisfied with the sales performance of the ID3, VW is ceasing production of the all-electric Golf. (VW)
- Porsche’s experiments with metal parts made using additive manufacturing have led engineers to conclude that, providing the designs are optimised for printing, overall weight can be reduced, whilst maintaining or enhancing strength, and numerous fiddly assembly operations can be eliminated. (Porsche)
- Confirmed that ongoing shortages of semiconductors stemming from coronavirus related factory closures mean that vehicle production will be disrupted in Q1 2021. The implication of VW’s press release is that the company has prioritised supply of all-electric models over conventionally powered derivatives. (VW) Reportedly, up to 100,000 vehicles could be lost. (Handelsblatt)
- After proposing a concept for a mobile vehicle recharging robot in late 2019, VW announced that it had built some prototypes. (VW)
Other
- Nio sold 17,353 cars in Q4 2020, up 111% on a year-over-year basis. Nio says that in December 40% of buyers opted to lease the battery. (Nio)
- Nikola won’t be going into the rubbish lorry business after all. (Nikola)
- Sono Motors raised €45 million in a Series C round. (Sono)
- Alpha unveiled the ACE, an all-electric coupe with influenced by the Ford Escort Mk I and Porsche 959. (Alpha)
- Rumours of an Apple car re-surfaced. The product will reportedly launch in 2024 and the business case is apparently underpinned by a breakthrough in battery technology — reasoning shared with Dyson’s failed project. (Reuters) The former head of Canoo said that Apple has been annoying suppliers because it keeps asking for information whilst being super secretive about its plans. (Handelsblatt)
- Aston Martin’s boss says he isn’t sure whether the brand will continue to supply V12 engines under the forthcoming Eu7 emissions regime. (FT)
- Canoo unveiled the all-electric delivery vehicle it plans to start making in 2022. (Canoo)
- Byton has seemingly been rescued by Foxconn which plans to invest in, and make cars for, the ailing brand. Foxconn unveiled its own plans for an electric car in late 2020. (Bloomberg)
- Troubled electric car start-up e.Go has been rescued by Next.e.Go. The new firm intends to restart production of the e.Go Life, says that it will sell CO2 credits to an unnamed OEM, and plans to build a factory in Greece. (Next.e.Go)
- Mahindra’s Ssangyong unit filed for bankruptcy protection. The company expects to sell off most of its stake as part of a rescue deal and hopes the transaction will be complete by March. (Deal Street Asia)
News about other companies and trends
Economic / Political News
- The UK and EU negotiating teams went to the wire to finalise a trade agreement. Trade in vehicles and parts will remain tariff free – provided over 55% of the content comes from the UK or EU (page 466). (UK)
Suppliers
- Hyundai Mobis announced the acquisition of Hyundai Autron’s semiconductor business. (Mobis)
- Continental held an investor day where the firm set out targets to outgrow competitors. (Continental)
- Britishvolt’s chairman stepped down to avoid a media firestorm. (BBC)
- Arris Composites, which uses 3D printing to make small composite parts with comparable properties to metal, raised $49 million from investors including Bosch. (Bosch)
- Magna and LG announced a joint venture to make electric vehicle motors and power electronics. (Magna)
- In addition to building Fisker’s vehicle, Magna will supply the advanced driver assistance kit. (Magna)
Dealers
- On-demand servicing firm Yoshi raised $23 million from investors including GM. (CNBC)
- Online aftermarkets part supplier Casstime raised $35 million. (Tech In Asia)
Ride-Hailing, Car Sharing & Rental (history)
- Ride hailing firm Bolt raised €150 million. (TechCrunch)
Driverless / Autonomy (history)
- Aurora seemingly isn’t interested in taking on Uber’s Toronto autonomous vehicle research team, although it is absorbing the US team. (TechCrunch)
- Autonomous vehicle developer WeRide raised $200 million from Yutong, a bus maker. The two companies plan to create a self-driving minibus. (TechCrunch)
- Weltmeister contracted Enel to develop its charging infrastructure. (Economic Times of India)
Other
- Electric scooter rental firm Superpedestrian raised $60 million. (Superpedestrian)
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