Electric cars with odd names; further thinning of the self-driving herd; and auto executives need better data. Please enjoy our auto industry and mobility briefing for 9th November to 15th November 2020. A PDF version can be found here.
Before you read the detail, what were my favourite stories of the past week…?
- Strangers — BMW’s new electric SUV is called the iX, not the iNext as we were led to believe and VW promises an electric saloon called the Aero, dispensing with the “ID” label. What is going on with electric car badging? In a world where BMW has various SUVs named X1 – X7, and an iX3 electric version of the X3, what does iX mean? i10? i-forget about our other cars, they are a footnote in history now? And why are VW dropping ID, and why choose Aero, which is seems unrelated to batteries? How do they expect customers to keep track?
- I’m Outta Love — Uber is rumoured to be looking to sell its self-driving division to Aurora. It’s another nail in the coffin of the once glorious self-driving start-up scene. Let’s face it; companies have realised that this technology is fantastically expensive to develop, difficult to get right and, most importantly, that anyone who develops it will be so desperate to get their money back that they will sell to all and sundry. Without a strategic imperative to own self-driving technology, you simply don’t need as many around. Who will be next to disappear?
- The Scientist — VW executives worry that Germany isn’t building charging infrastructure fast enough to keep pace with the growth in electric vehicles. The company sees the magical ratio of one charger per ten cars being breached without a recovery plan. But isn’t it time to become a bit smarter in this debate? Raw numbers of chargers matter less than charging speeds and reliability and, given massive fleets of connected cars, surely we can be a little more accurate now than tired rules of thumb. When will OEMs be more scientific in showing where infrastructure is most valuable to customers?
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
- Unveiled the all-electric iX SUV, previously badged as the iNext. Since the car is similar in size to the X5 but is simply called iX, whilst the X3-sized model is the iX3, it isn’t clear what this means for BMW’s electric SUV naming convention. (BMW)
- CEO Zipse hopes that BMW’s collaboration will continue past 2025. (Reuters)
- Unveiled the logo for Stellantis. It is the word Stellantis with a corona behind the “a”, presumably so we never forget that is was designed in 2020. (Stellantis)
Ferrari
- Unveiled a convertible version of the SF90. (Ferrari)
- Ferrari’s CTO sees a future for V6, V8 and V12 engines and says that developing the Purosangue SUV is “another dimension” of complication because it means adopting to non-traditional customers and test procedures. (Top Gear)
- Revealed the all-electric version of the Transit van. (Ford)
- Will double capacity for the all-electric F-150 and plans to build a second product alongside the Mustang Mach E in Mexico, although Ford won’t say exactly what it will be or when it will come out. (Ford)
- CEO Farley said Ford could start making battery cells. (Reuters)
Geely (includes Volvo) (history)
- Lotus is rumoured to be working on a high-power, all-electric, SUV. (Autocar)
- Recalling 69,000 Bolt electric vehicles because their batteries are overheating, with some catching fire. (Reuters)
- Planning to hire 3,000 engineers and IT specialists between now and the early part of 2021. (GM)
- Corvette production has been hit by coronavirus-related problems with suppliers in Mexico. (Detroit News)
- Recalling 217,000 cars and SUVS because of leaking transmissions that might catch fire. (Detroit News)
- Cleared the major regulatory hurdle to be allowed to sell SAE level 3 capable vehicles in Japan. (Honda)
- Rumoured to be interested in buying the Boston Dynamics robot company. (Deal Street Asia)
Mazda
- Reported Q3 2020 financial results (Mazda’s fiscal Q2). Sales of 739 billion JPY (about $7 billion), down (16)% on a year-over-year basis. An operating loss of (7.6) billion JPY (about -$73 million) fell from a profit in the prior year. Mazda said a (12)% drop in volume was to blame. (Mazda)
Nissan and Mitsubishi (history)
- Reported financial results for Q3 2020 (Nissan’s fiscal Q2). Revenue of 1.9 trillion JPY (about $18.3 billion) fell (27)% on a year-over-year basis. An operating loss of (5) billion JPY (about -$50 million) was only a little bit worse than a modest profit in the prior year. Nissan said that massive volume drops had been almost offset by improvements in manufacturing costs and selling expense. (Nissan)
- Gave the Micra a facelift. (Nissan)
- Although PSA is reducing production at the Zaragoza, Spain, plant, the problem apparently isn’t the recently launched Opel / Vauxhall Corsa which sources say is doing very well. (Europa Press)
- Unveiled a facelift for the Kangoo small van. (Auto Express)
- Unveiled a facelift for the Discovery. (Land Rover)
- Porsche revealed a series of previously secret prototypes — seemingly to flog a book. The presence of full-size models for people-moving shuttles (building a 1:1 model is a fairly significant task) suggests the company is contemplating a future beyond sportscars. There are also several concepts aimed at creating a high performance one make racing series. (Porsche)
- Škodas will be produced outside the Czech Republic as the brand acquiesced to VW’s long-held plans to fill under-utilised factories with its products. (Škoda)
- VW Group announced its latest spending round, with a plan target of €150 billion over the next five years. VW said that half the money will be spent on electric vehicles (including hybrids) and digitalisation. Within the announcement, the company said that there will be a four door VW brand saloon called the Aero, an inexplicable departure from the ID naming convention. (VW)
- VW executives fretted that Germany’s rapidly-growing electric car fleet will soon overwhelm the available charging network. The company believes a ratio of one charger for each electric car is necessary to provide sufficient availability for customers. (Handelsblatt)
Other
- Workhorse reported Q3 2020 financial results. Sales of $564,707 led to a loss of $(10) million and a net loss of $(84) million, thanks to a whopping $(74) million interest bill. (Workhorse)
- Nikola reported Q3 2020 financial results – a $(117) million operating loss. (Nikola)
- Li Auto announced Q3 2020 sales of $363 million and an operating loss of $(27) million. (Li Auto)
- Rivian announced pricing for its all-electric truck. The near-$70,000 staring price may have many wondering how the company will be able to cheaply build electric vans for Amazon. (Rivian)
- Gordon Murray is opening a new £50 million headquarters. (Gordon Murray) The firm has apparently sold most of the 100 road-going T.50 hypercars, and about half of the track-only versions. (Autocar)
News about other companies and trends
Suppliers
- Bridgestone is selling off its US building products division. (Nikkei)
- Continental reported financial results for Q3 2020 (already pre-reported) and is now confident enough of economic recovery to issue a financial forecast. (Continental) The firm celebrated by appointing a new CEO. (Continental)
- Schaeffler reported financial results for Q3 2020. (Schaeffler)
- Meritor reported Q3 2020 (fiscal Q4) sales of $758 million and adjusted income of $11 million. (Meritor)
- Motherson reported Q3 2020 revenue of 15,012 Cr INR (about $2.0 billion) and income of 481 Cr INR (about $65 million). (Motherson)
Ride-Hailing, Car Sharing & Rental (history)
- Lyft reported Q3 2020 revenue of $500 million and an operating loss of $(453) million. The company has around $2.5 billion in cash and short term liquidity. (Lyft)
Driverless / Autonomy (history)
- Uber is rumoured to be exploring a deal to sell its self-driving vehicle unit to Aurora. (TechCrunch)
- Velodyne is aiming for a sub-$500 per unit price point for the forthcoming Velarray H800 – unit suitable for monitoring the corners of self-driving vehicles. (Velodyne)
- Autonomous delivery firm Nuro raised $500 million. (TechCrunch)
- Chinese self-driving truck company Inceptio raised $120 million. (Deal Street Asia)
Other
- Cummins and Navistar will collaborate to build hydrogen powered trucks. (Cummins)
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