Fisker’s new groove; Foxconn’s bid for greatness; and Ford’s CO2 miss. Please enjoy our auto industry and mobility briefing for 12th October to 18th October 2020. A PDF version can be found here.
Before you read the detail, what were my favourite stories of the past week…?
- We Belong Together — Fisker switched horses for the Ocean SUV’s platform, jumping from VW’s technology to Magna’s. Both companies say that the timing for production is unchanged and new cars will be on the road in two years, which seems a bit curious. How can you change the technology set and not change timing unless: (a) the vehicle hasn’t actually been engineered yet, so changing assumptions doesn’t matter, or (b) the contribution of the donor architecture is minimal, so switching it out is easy, in which case why refer to it in so many investor presentations?
- Open Arms — Foxconn showed off its new architecture for electric vehicles. The company hopes that various car makers will use it rather than creating their own underpinnings. But are Foxconn the right people to do this? And how can they convince others of the engineering merits if they aren’t making their own complete vehicle?
- Anytime You Need A Friend —Ford said that it will fail to meet its 2020 target for European CO2 emissions. To avoid fines, the company plans to agree a deal with an unnamed rival to offset the underperformance. How did Ford get here? Unfortunately, the company pursued a strategy focused on compliance rather than an optimistic view of how quickly customers would adopt to zero emission travel. There are only two plugin hybrids in the European range (and only one in some markets) and a yet-to-arrive all-electric SUV. Doing the bare minimum seemed okay until the company had to recall plugin Kugas and stop sale of new units. Is that an unforced error or a consequence of being too clever?
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
- Created a scheme for owners of plug-in hybrid vehicles to encourage charging: for each kilometre driven in all-electric mode, drivers will get a credit towards free charging. In certain areas, the award doubles. The program will initially be available in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. (BMW)
- Will not use VDL’s Nedcar plant, which builds Mini and BMW X1 on a contract basis, after 2023. (Dutch News)
- Published a series of principles for the application of artificial intelligence within BMW. Viewers of the Terminator films will be familiar with the background to many of them. (BMW)
- Daimler and BMWs mobility joint venture is reportedly looking to offload its parking unit. (Bloomberg)
- Reported preliminary financial results (because they were better than the market was expecting). Group EBIT was €3.071 billion and cars and vans EBIT was €1.782 billion. On an adjusted basis, cars and vans EBIT of €2.1 billion represented a 9.4% margin on sales. Industrial free cash flow was €5.139 billion. (Daimler)
- Launched an insurance joint venture with Swiss Re, called Movinx. (Daimler)
- Daimler and BMWs mobility joint venture is reportedly looking to offload its parking unit. (Bloomberg)
- Reached a tentative contract agreement with Canadian unions, but declined to reveal the terms. (FCA) Unions said FCA had agreed to invest up to $1.5 billion in its primary Canadian factory to build electric cars. (Reuters)
- Admitted that because of problems with the Kuga PHEV, it will have to pool emissions with a rival group to meet 2020 EU CO2 targets and avoid fines. It isn’t clear how much the pooling agreement will cost, or who Ford will pool with although Renault remains a possibility. (FT)
- Reckons that moving to an electronic manual for the F-150, stored within the infotainment system, saves 290 tons of paper each year (not to mention hundreds of thousands of dollars). (Ford)
- Sold 164,532 vehicles in China during Q3 2020, up 25.4% on a year-over-year basis. (Ford)
- Sold 299,632 vehicles in Europe during Q3 2020, a drop of (4.2)% versus prior year. (Ford)
- Recalling over 5,000 vehicles to replace faulty engine and vehicle computers that affect engine cooling, tyre pressure monitoring and control of the daytime running lights. (Ford)
- Because of continued problems with the Kuga PHEV in Europe, Ford is delaying the launch of the Escape PHEV (the same vehicle) in North America. (Europa Press)
Geely (includes Volvo) (history)
- Volvo’s self-driving unit, formed through the dissolution of the Zenuity joint venture previously owned with Veoneer, will be called Zenseact. (Volvo)
- Taking a leaf out of Tesla’s PR playbook, GM announced that the Detroit-Hamtramck, USA, factory will need a new name to signify that the future is now and everyone needs to forget about everything they ever though they knew about car building. From now on, the plant will be called Factory ZERO. (GM)
- GM’s Chinese sales of 771,440 vehicles in Q3 2020 rose 12% on a year-over-year basis. (GM)
- GM’s Cruise self-driving unit will soon start testing in San Francisco without safety drivers. (Cruise)
- Successfully completed the tender offer of portfolio companies Keihin, Nissin Kogyo and Showa, enabling a merger of the three units with Hitachi Automotive. (Honda)
- Hyundai family scion Euisun Chung became the firm’s new chairman. (Hyundai)
- Hyundai’s new Singapore plant will have a Fiat Lingotto-esque test track on the roof. (ET)
Nissan and Mitsubishi (history)
- Mitsubishi unveiled a facelift for the Eclipse Cross. (Mitsubishi)
- Nissan’s US finance company will pay $4 million in fines for improperly repossessing vehicles. (Reuters)
- Sold 588,576 vehicles in Q3 2020, down (13)% on a year-over-year basis. (PSA)
- Sold 806,700 vehicles in Q3 2020, down (6)% on a year-over-year basis. (Renault)
- Held an electric vehicle event called Renault EWays. The firm said that by 2050 all vehicles sold in Europe will be zero emission. If recent political promises are followed through, Renault may find the aspiration has to be brought forward. A “concept” battery electric Mégane was also on display. Renault says a production version will go on sale in 2021. (Renault)
- Unveiled a minor refresh of the Twingo city car, and an all-electric version. (Renault)
- Lost a legal case against Borgward. A judge ruled that Borgward’s logo was sufficiently different from Renault’s tha there was no trademark infringement. (Borgward)
- Drew some of the state backed €5 billion loan because it was due to expire at the end of the year and the CFO felt it would have been a shame not to use it. (Reuters)
- Sold off the Marcel ride hailing business. (Les Echos)
Subaru
- The head of Subaru’s US unit reckons industry volumes will take three years to return to 17 million units. (Reuters)
- Construction at the Berlin factory was halted because Tesla hasn’t paid its water bills and the utility gladly explained that it would get the same treatment as everyone else who falls into arrears. (Manager Magazin)
- CEO Musk said that there would be a “beta” release of full self-driving next week. (Twitter)
- Toyota Tsusho invested in Data Integrated (DIL) a Kenyan firm that aggregates informal bus operators. (Toyota)
- Recalling around 3,100 Highlander vehicles in the USA because incorrectly fitted seat fabric could stop airbags from working properly. (Toyota)
- Local Motors raised $15 million from the VC fund that includes Toyota as one of its main backers. (Local Motors)
- Porsche has upped its sustainability game, participating in a responsible sourcing initiative for mica, a raw materials used in some car paints. (Porsche)
- Navistar and Traton reached a tentative agreement for Traton to take over the US firm, in which it already owns a minority stake. (VW)
- VW unveiled the Tarek small crossover (to be called Taos in some markets). (VW)
Other
- Arrival received $118 million in funding (Reuters) and celebrated by announcing announced a new factory, initially for buses, in South Carolina, USA. (Autocar)
- Electric bus maker Proterra announced a $200 million investment round. (TechCrunch)
- Workhorse raised $200 million in debt. (Workhorse)
- Fisker will no long use VW’s MEB platform for the forthcoming Ocean SUV, instead it will sit on Magna’s electric vehicle architecture. The car will be built in Magna’s plant (as already announced). (Magna)
- Lucid opened its order book for the all-electric Air. (Lucid). Karma did likewise for the GSe-6. (Karma)
- Local Motors raised $15 million from the VC fund that includes Toyota as one of its main backers. (Local Motors)
- Nikola’s CEO said that if the company didn’t agree a technology sharing and manufacturing agreement with GM then it could go it alone to build the Badger pickup, or drop it altogether. (Bloomberg)
- Bollinger’s founder says lots of special purpose vehicles have been offering him deals but he hopes to wait until his company has risen in value before considering a public listing. (Bloomberg)
- Foxconn unveiled the MIH Open Platform, hoping that the technology set can underpin cars from a variety of different brands. (CNBC)
News about other companies and trends
Economic / Political News
- European passenger car registrations in September of 1,300,048 units rose 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. (ACEA)
Suppliers
- Liberty House bid for ThyssenKrupp’s steelmaking unit. (Industry Europe)
- Valmet sold off its German vehicle engineering business. (Valmet)
- Honda successfully completed the tender offer of portfolio companies Keihin, Nissin Kogyo and Showa, enabling a merger of the three units with Hitachi Automotive. (Honda)
- Magna will supply the electric vehicle architecture for Fisker to use for the forthcoming Ocean SUV, replacing VW’s MEB component set. (Magna)
- VDL’s Nedcar plant, lost the contract to build the Mini and BMW X1 after 2023. (Dutch News)
- TomTom reported Q3 revenues of $148 million and a net loss of $(67) million. (TomTom)
Ride-Hailing, Car Sharing & Rental (history)
- Car sharing firm Getaround raised $140 million. (Auto Rental News)
- Uber is investing $150 million in a South Korean ride hailing joint venture with SK Telecom. (Reuters) The firm is rumoured to be looking to offload part of its flying taxi business. (Reuters)
- Hertz raised $1.65 billion in debt to help it survive bankruptcy proceedings. (Auto Rental News)
- Toyota Tsusho invested in Data Integrated (DIL) a Kenyan firm that aggregates informal bus operators. (Toyota)
Driverless / Autonomy (history)
- Innoviz says that its next lidar sensor will cost less than $500. (Reuters)
- GM’s Cruise self-driving unit will soon start testing in San Francisco without safety drivers. (Cruise)
- Tesla CEO Musk said that there would be a “beta” release of full self-driving next week. (Twitter)
- Battery maker LG says it is in talks with several OEMs about creating joint ventures. (Reuters)
- The Indonesian government is championing a plan to create a battery champion and says that, together with foreign partners, it will invest $12 billion in new factories. (Reuters)
Connectivity
- TomTom and Uber signed a new agreement for maps, which will give Uber the ability to edit. (TomTom)
Other
- Electric motorcycle maker Ultraviolette hopes to raise $75 million. (Deal Street Asia)
- Singaporean electric motorcycle developer Ion Mobility raised $3.3 million. (Deal Street Asia)
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