Volvo’s careful switch to online sales; Stellantis is betting on a future PHEV ban in rich world markets; and VW plans to keep PHEV and BEV separate. Please enjoy our auto industry and mobility briefing for 1^st March to 7^th March 2021. A PDF version can be found here.

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

• The Long And Winding Road — Volvo has fallen for the Tesla model and will use an online-only sales process, beginning with its electric models. Since they will be the only cars left in Volvo’s portfolio by 2030, it stands to reason that the shift will be complete by then (hopefully a bit earlier). Volvo’s implied multi-year launch process is conservative, but probably correct when you consider the effort required globally. How long will it take automakers that haven’t even started yet.
• Telepathy — Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares says that all ICE-powered cars, including PHEV will soon be banned. So why hasn’t he made a longer term commitment to go electric only like many of his peers? Is it because he sees a way to maximise his sales during any transition and so wants to keep his options open, or does he just not want to say it yet?
• Find A Way — VW upped its electric sales goals in Europe, China and the USA, but stopped short of vowing to go all-electric, instead the company confirmed next generation products for Golf, Tiguan and so on. So why does it keep making these models on completely different platforms to nearly identical battery electric cars? Isn’t now the time to merge the product lines?

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)

• The fuel cell JV between Daimler Trucks and Volvo will be called cellcentric. (Daimler)

Geely (includes Volvo) ^(history)

• Volvo says that its all-electric products will only be sold online, with the company hoping that many customers sign up to the all-inclusive “Care” offering. Volvo says that dealers will still be involved, implying that they will still be able to process a customer sale, but that it will all be through the online service. (Volvo)
• Volvo unveiled the C40, an all-electric compact crossover. (Volvo)
• Volvo says that all of its cars will be fully electric by 2030. (Volvo)

Honda ^(history)

• Started selling a car with hands-off driver assistance in Japan. The system is called “Sensing Elite”. (Honda)

Hyundai / Kia ^(history)

• Unveiled the Bayon small SUV. (Autocar)
• Battery supplier LG Chem agreed to bear 70% of the recall costs for Hyundai’s electric vehicles. (Nikkei)

Stellantis (formed via the merger of PSA and FCA)

• Stellantis reported 2020 full year results (achieved as FCA and PSA separately). Revenue was €134 billion, excluding Faurecia. Adjusted operating income of €7.1 billion fell around (40)% year-over-year. On a net basis, FCA made only €24 million. PSA claims to have turned around the Opel/Vauxhall business, reporting a €527 million operating profit in 2020. (PSA)
• CEO Tavares says he is working on a plan that will take the company to 2030 and will set Stellantis on the offensive as he does not want to be “cornered as a legacy automaker”. Because FCA has faster product development processes than PSA did, he expects that the first combined products could be seen in 2 to 2.5 years. Tavares says that Alfa Romeo needs to find “a better fit” with customers. He thinks that all vehicles based on internal combustion engines, including PHEV, will be banned in key markets, although he isn’t sure of the rate of transition. (Seeking Alpha)
• The Dodge brand launched an Amazon online store, but you can only buy merchandise and accessories, no cars are on sale. (Dodge)

Tata (includes JLR) ^(history)

• JLR CEO Bollore reckons that poor quality is costing the company 100,000 sales per year. (Automotive News)

Tesla ^(history)

• After a Tesla entity in China registered for battery swapping services, speculation grew that the company was about to get into the business. However, Tesla said the technology was riddled with problems. (Electrek)

Toyota ^(history)

• Confirmed that it will be manufacturing a next generation A-segment car in Europe, taking total manufacturing capacity in the region to 500,000 small cars each year. Toyota also said that it will continue to use internal combustion engines because the entry level is so price conscious. (Toyota)
• Toyota Tsusho invested in on-demand mobility company Moja Ride. (Toyota)
• Raising 500 billion JPY (about $4.6 billion) in green bonds to pay for its investment in the Woven City mobility project. (Toyota)

VW Group ^(history)

• VW upped its aspirations for all-electric car sales, saying that the company expects 70% of all European sales to be battery electric models by 2030, and 50% will be in the USA and China. The company has now announced the name for its next generation electric platform that supersedes MEB. It will be called the Scaleable Systems Platform. VW will continue to develop internal combustion engine products separately from electric versions, confirming that the Golf, Tiguan and Passat amongst others will all get direct replacements. With a new generation of PHEV technologies, VW says its cars will be capable of up to 100km. (VW)
• VW’s new CFO will take up his role earlier than previously planned. (VW)
• VW is using a service that monitors online news reporting to check for evidence of supplier fragility. (Porsche)
• VW says its Project Trinity electric sedan will launch in 2026 with a sensor suite capable of geofenced autonomous driving and a “revolutionary” production method. (VW)
• Porsche unveiled the Cross Tursimo version of the Taycan. (Porsche)

Other

• Subaru announced a host of C-suite changes, including a new chairman. (Subaru)
• Aston Martin said it will make electric cars in its existing UK factories. (FT)
• Ssangyong’s turnaround has reportedly stalled as the brand’s new investor wrangles with the Korean state-owned development bank over their respective financial contributions. (Korea Times)
• Workhorse reported Q4 2020 sales of $652,000 and net income of $280 million, thanks to the company’s share in Lordstown Motors. (Workhorse) Workhorse is meeting with the US Postal Service ask why its vehicles didn’t get selected. (Reuters)
• Nio reported Q4 2020 revenue of $1 billion, up 133% year-over-year. The operating loss of $(143) million were much better than a year ago. (Nio) Executives says that the company has dramatically reduced the cost of the Nio House brand stores it operates, with investment down 40% for new sites. About 55% of customers are now opting for battery subscriptions. (Seeking Alpha)
• Arrival unveiled the electric van it says will be in production next year (slightly later than originally intended — now Q3 instead of Q2). (Arrival)

News about other companies and trends

Economic / Political News

• US light vehicle SAAR of 15.67 million units in February fell (7)%. (Wards)
• German passenger car registrations fell (19)% in February to 194,349 units. (KBA)
• UK car registrations in February of 51,312 units fell (36)% versus prior year. (SMMT)
• Spanish February registrations of 58,279 cars fell (38)% year over year. (ANFAC)
• Italian passenger car registrations in February of 142,998 units fell (12)% versus 2020. (UNRAE)
• French registrations in February of 132,637 cars fell (21)% year-over-year. (CCFA)

Suppliers

• Magna’s president says his firm is the “Foxconn in the automotive industry” and that, thanks to increased interest in its contract manufacturing services it plans to increase production at plants in China and Slovenia. (Nikkei)
• Schaeffler reported 2020 full year revenue of €12.6 billion and EBIT of €143 million. (Schaeffler)
• Martinrea reported full year 2020 revenue of $3.4 billion and operating income of $27 million. (Martinrea)

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

• Uber sold off its local delivery robot company Serve Robotics. (TechCrunch)
• Hertz agreed a deal to exit bankruptcy. (Auto Rental News)

Driverless / Autonomy ^(history)

• Californian politicians introduced a proposal to make all autonomous vehicles electric by 2025. (TechCrunch)

Electrification ^(history)

• ProLogium will supply VinFast with solid state batteries. (ProLogium)
• German telecoms network Deutsche Telekom has started a charging network. (Hubject)
• Charging firm WiTricity raised $ 18 million. (FINSMES)
• Battery swapping firm Ample has raised $70 million from investors including Shell and Repsol. The company says it is almost ready to start pilot operation and can change a battery in 10 minutes. (TechCrunch)

Other

• Flying taxi firm Volocopter raised €200 million with investment from Daimler, Geely and Continental amongst others. (Volocopter)

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Nudging customers towards electric vehicles; cheap and highly efficient engines; and battery swapping through trickle up economics. Please enjoy our auto industry and mobility briefing for 22^nd February to 28^th February 2021. A PDF version can be found here.

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

• You Were Meant For Me — Daimler launched an app aimed at vehicle owners who are interested in switching to electric, but aren’t sure whether it will work in real life. It tracks the user to understand their travel profile and then recommends the electric vehicle that best fits their needs. It sounds like an easy-to-do way to raise customer awareness of the practicalities of electric vehicles (and gather a little free data). How else can we help customers understand the impact, or lack thereof, on their daily needs?
• Hot Stuff — Nissan says that the next generation of engines destined for motor-as-generator use will have thermal efficiencies of above 50%. That’s engineer-speak for very efficient. It’s the sort of figure that was hitherto the domain of expensively developed Formula 1 engines (although the varying use cycle makes life harder for the racing units), yet the engines are simpler and cheaper than their forebears. As more expensive motors become increasingly electrified, is there a better entry level product?
• My Shot — Honda, Yamaha and several others formed a consortium to develop battery swapping for electric motorbikes. In emerging markets, where motorcycles are often the first rung on the ladder of vehicle ownership. Battery swapping seems a neat idea but has struggled to gain traction amongst car owners used to ownership of the complete vehicle. Might swapping-savvy ex-motorcycle owners graduating to cars be more open than people expect?

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)

• Despite an existing agreement with BMW to share electric drive technology, JLR said that their next generation motors would be “JLR designed and engineered”, implying that the relationship may have been scaled back. (JLR)

Daimler ^(history)

• Daimler trucks announced a collaboration with Cummins that will see the medium duty engine range (i.e. for buses and smaller trucks) transition over to Cummins designs from 2025 onwards. Cummins will take over one of Daimler’s German engine plants as part of the deal. (Daimler)
• Took the wraps off the redesigned C-Class. As part of the ongoing simplification of the ICE powertrain line-up, the car is now only available with an automatic transmission. A PHEV promises 100km of all-electric range. (Daimler)
• Launched a free trip recording app that lets prospective customers measure their real world use and then calculates the potential for a battery electric vehicle. The product is currently aimed at van operators. (Daimler)
• Because business results have been better than expected, Daimler is relinquishing some of the concessions wrung from workers at the depths of the coronavirus crisis and will pay workers a bonus. (Handelsblatt)
• Mercedes’s COO says the C-Class won’t get a battery electric version until mid-decade at the earliest and feels confident that the forthcoming all-electric product onslaught will give customers enough to think about in the interim. (Autocar)

Ferrari

• Ferrari will build a Le Mans hypercar. (Il Sole 24 Ore)

Ford ^(history)

• CEO Farley said that the US government should support the construction of domestic battery factories, invoking the current problem of semiconductor supply as evidence of the alternative. (Reuters)
• The US Postal Service awarded a mega order for a next generation van which used Ford’s Transit chassis in the testing phase. It isn’t yet clear to what extent Ford will benefit from the decision. (The Verge)
• Recalling over 79,000 pickup trucks because the windscreens may not be properly glued to the body and another 11,000 trucks because they have labels that incorrectly state the payload capacities. (Ford).

Geely (includes Volvo) ^(history)

• Geely and subsidiary Volvo Cars won’t merge after all. Instead the two brands issued a press release trumpeting (existing) plans to combine internal combustion engine production and share vehicle underpinnings. (Geely)
  • Significance: If Geely has failed to fully absorb Volvo, does that mean Daimler’s stakeholders can breathe a little easier knowing that the threat of a full-blown merger has perhaps receded on technical grounds (not that this rules out a takeover)?
• Lynk&Co will use Volvo’s distribution and service network, rather than building its own. It remains to be seen whether these will be supported by local brand centres. (Geely)
• Geely intends to share in forthcoming vehicle engineering, including the SPA2 platform, indicating that larger products are on the horizon. (Geely)

Honda ^(history)

• Created a battery swapping consortium for motorcycles and light vehicles with other prominent motorcycle players including Yamaha and KTM. (Honda)
  • Significance: Given the role of motorcycles as the first step on the automotive ownership ladder in many emerging markets, it seems likely that if the idea of battery swapping catches hold in that segment, customers will be more receptive when they graduate to cars, especially if it proves cheaper than owning larger batteries.

Hyundai / Kia ^(history)

• Unveiled the Hyundai Ioniq 5 hatchback. Hyundai said the car had generated plenty of interest from customers, with 236,000 enquiries received in Europe within 24 hours of the launch – about 5% of which translated into initial orders. Hyundai said it was the most successful product reveal in the brand’s history. (Hyundai)
• Kia Canada launched a self-styled virtual auto show. The offering bares a visual similarity to a configurator but includes games where the customer can pretend to drive a Kia Stinger around a race track, learning about the technological features and being steered to safety anytime they risk a crash. (KIA)
  • Significance: The current iteration is processor-hungry and not entirely smooth, but as such sites develop they could be a year-round presence with relatively low investment, and point to the kind of enhanced capabilities brands may need to add to websites if they expect customers to buy directly from them.

Mazda

• Recalling around 14,000 CX-30 in the USA because the powered liftgate might drop onto people’s heads if the car is parked on a slope in the wrong type of weather conditions for too long. (Mazda)

Nissan and Mitsubishi ^(history)

• Nissan said that the next generation of small gasoline engines that will go into series hybrid products (e-POWER in Nissanspeak) will have a thermal efficiency of over 50%. To put it in context, this is a similar level to the highly acclaimed current generation of Formula 1 engines (albeit that the task for Nissan’s engine is made simpler by not having to respond to as wide a variety of operating loads). (Nissan)
• Mitsubishi appears set to perform a u-turn on plans to withdraw from the European market, and is reportedly instead contemplating selling Renault-built cars on the continent. (FT)

Stellantis (formed via the merger of PSA and FCA)

• Unveiled a relaunch of the Peugeot brand that will see the existing full body profile dropped in favour of a headshot, with cars carrying a shield style badge that Peugeot says crowns a move upmarket. The revamp appears to herald an upgrade for dealerships; it is unclear what level of investment will be required. (Peugeot)
• Unions and government officials were in a flap over Stellantis’s threats to stop giving the Ellesmere Port, UK, plant new models, citing the policy of ending combustion engine sales by 2030 as a risk to demand. (The Guardian)
  • Significance: At first PSA, Stellantis’s predecessor said that uncertainty around a post-Brexit trade deal was threatening the factory’s future. With that sewn up, the company has now set its sights on the (not new) 2030 target. It appears unlikely that in the long term the sub-scale factory will not succumb to competition from other plants.
• By 2022, the Vauxhall brand will have delivered 3,000 all-electric Vivaro vans to a single customer, UK energy giant Centrica. (Vauxhall)
  • Significance: With start-ups attracting high valuations based on order books of a similar range, investors may soon be forced to choose between giving traditional automotive businesses higher multiples for their sales success, or becoming more bearish on startups with less demonstrable sales momentum.
• Jeep is coming under pressure to stop using the Cherokee brand. (BBC)
• CEO Tavares reportedly warned Italian unions that costs were too high compared to other countries, but said that labour costs weren’t the issue. (Automotive News)

Suzuki

• Announced a new mid-term plan that will see Suzuki concentrate on defining its response to changing environmental technologies, with a focus on CO₂ from the tailpipe and CO₂ in manufacturing, plus the impact of connectivity, autonomy and electric powertrain. The firm is now targeting carbon neutral production by 2050. By 2025, the revenue is targeted to grow over 50% from 2020 levels to 4.8 trillion JPY (about $45 billion) from sales of 3.7 million vehicles (plus 2 million motorcycle). The operating income target is 5.5%.  (Suzuki)
• Suzuki’s chairman is retiring. (Nikkei)

Tata (includes JLR) ^(history)

• JLR hosted an investor day where more details of the company’s turnaround plan were unveiled. Land Rover is targeting aggressive market share gains in China, UK and Europe. JLR expects PHEV (used only by Land Rover in the latter half of the decade) to be a marginal technology and forecasts the powertrain will take 10% of sales in 2030, down from 15% in 2026 (by 2030 ICE/48V share is forecast to be 30% — all Land Rover). Two Defender-branded SUVs are in the product plan (page 23), whilst further Range Rover derivatives, including the rumoured Road Rover, appear to have been dropped. There still seems to be a place for both Velar and Evoque. (JLR)
• On Pages 26 and 27 of the presentation, Jaguar Land Rover kindly reimagined the E-FIRST concept drawings from Evercore and Ad Punctum’s 2018 paper, showing how a single platform could be re-purposed across battery electric, hybrid and plug-in hybrid variants. The company talks of “one simplified electrified compact ICE” to power all vehicles, implying but not confirming a series hybrid approach, and at the very least, substantive use of electrification for augmentation to allow the smaller engine to run at a more steady state. (JLR)
• Despite an existing agreement with BMW to share electric drive technology, JLR said that their next generation motors would be “JLR designed and engineered”, implying that the relationship may have been scaled back. (JLR)
• Jaguar is aiming for only a small slice of JLR’s total volume, indicating a dramatically slimmer line-up from today, possibly only two to three cars. JLR’s volume projections (page 31) shows an indicative volume of only around 10% – 15% of total company sales by 2030. (JLR).
• JLR is explicitly looking to increase collaboration with companies outside Tata in products, as well as data and services, aiming to create a vehicle architecture ecosystem. By 2027, the company expects capacity utilisation to be above 100% (as measured by 2 shift operating). This will mostly be accomplished by reducing production as increased overall sales are anticipated to be relatively modest, up around 10% – 15% from current levels, some of which will be industry recovery. By the end of 2021, JLR expects its breakeven points to be between 400,000 – 450,000 units annually, a level which it expects to maintain into the future. Despite the push into electric vehicles and the creation of new platforms, JLR says it can bring investment in new products and plants down (page 51). The end result is a targeted 10% EBIT margin by 2026. (JLR)
  • Significance: Whilst 10% EBIT margin is an ambitious target compared with rivals, it is probably the minimum return necessary to justify JLR’s continued independence. The question is therefore what will happen to the company if by mid-decade it has failed to realise its objectives.

Tesla ^(history)

• CEO Musk told employees that demand for refreshed Model S and Model X was so high that the company would put on a second shift and increase production capacity. (Electrek)
• Musk said on Twitter that Tesla was changing the chemistry of the batteries used in entry level cars to use less nickel and conserve resources. (Electrek)
• Tesla apparently isn’t immune to chip shortages and has planned downtime for the Model 3. (Business Insider)

Toyota ^(history)

• Toyota has developed a near plug-and-play fuel cell system that it hopes to sell to manufacturers of low volume commercial vehicles, trains and boats. (Toyota)

VW Group ^(history)

• Reported preliminary financial results for 2020. Revenue of €223 billion fell (12)% on a year-over-year basis, less than a sales volumes drop of (16)%. Operating profit of €10.6 billion (excluding diesel costs) was (45)% lower than prior year. (VW)
• Real Madrid players posed with a fleet of new Audis that the brand was handing over as a part of a marketing exercise, presumably before handing them over to their nannies (unless you believe Zinedine Zidane drives a diesel estate car). (Audi)
• Porsche will reportedly participate in a new funding round for Rimac with Bugatti being included as a sweetener to take Porsche’s share to almost 50%. (Reuters)
• Hopes to put autonomous delivery vehicles on the road in 2025, based on the ID Buzz minibus. (VW)

Other

• Lucid announced a deal to go public in a $24 billion mega merger with a special purpose vehicle. (Lucid) CEO Rawlinson says six rival automakers have recently asked about sharing technology. (Reuters)
• Aston Martin reported 2020 financial results. Wholesale volumes of 3,394 cars dropped (42)% from 2019 (retails were down (32)%), and revenue of £612 million dropped (38)%. The operating loss was £(323) million and free cash flow was £(539) million. Executives promised that 2021 financial performance would be much improved as a turnaround plan comprising cost reductions, organisational efficiency and reductions in dealer stocks take hold. (Aston Martin) In the earnings call, CEO Moers said Aston Martin will have electrified 90% of the portfolio by 2030 and that he is working an additional, unspecified, derivative of the Valkyrie hypercar. (Seeking Alpha) Aston Martin also announced a debt issue to raise £76 million. (Aston Martin)
• Fisker reported financial results for 2020 and announced an agreement with Foxconn for its second vehicle. Unsurprisingly, the company reported a loss since it has no revenue. In 2021 Fisker says its rate of development spending will increase by around 10 times from 2020 levels (and about 3-4 times from Q4 run rates). The new product will be built in Foxconn’s facilities and Fisker thinks it can sell 250,000 per year. By confirming that this will be Fisker’s second product, the brand implied that the Emotion sports car (which had been scheduled for an earlier release date) is either deferred or cancelled. (Fisker)
  • Significance: Fisker’s sales targets are highly ambitious given the company’s currently very small distribution network. Although the plan is partly to use external providers for vehicle distribution and servicing, the objectives are likely to require a substantive retail presence across the globe. Even if Fisker were able to replicate Tesla’s class-leading sales per dealer numbers, over 300 sites would be required.
• Li Auto reported financial results for Q4 2020. Revenues were $636 million on sales of 14,464 units, and the company had an operating loss of $(12) million. Li Auto said sales continue to improve — in January 2021 5,379 units were delivered, putting the brand on track for its best ever quarter. If sales were to continue at the present level for the entire year, they will exceed 1,000 vehicles per sales outlet, a marker of strong sales performance. (Li Auto)
• Workhorse’s share price took a pummelling after it failed to win a major US postal service contract. (The Verge)
• Supercar maker Mazzanti is hoping to raise money through a cryptocurrency offering. (FinTech Magazine)
• Hydrogen truck maker Hyzon Motors agreed to list via a merger with a special purpose entity. The company is now planning a fuel cell factory with capacity for 12,000 units each year — Hyzon reckons it will be the World’s largest, which says something about how much (or how little) auto makers are betting on the technology. (Hyzon)
• Nikola Motors confirmed that the launch dates of the company’s fuel cell trucks have been pushed back. The Scania-based TRE will hopefully launch in 2023, whilst the more stylish and longer range Nikola Two won’t arrive until 2024. Battery electric products should arrive sooner. (Nikola) Nikola also reported financial results. In Q4 2020, the firm suffered a net loss of $(147) million. With about $845 million of cash in the bank and spending of around $(150) million per quarter — which seems likely to rise, Nikola will quickly become illiquid without revenue. (Nikola)
• Electric truck maker Hyliion reported a Q4 2020 loss of $(21) million. (Hyliion)

News about other companies and trends

Suppliers

• Faurecia reported full year 2020 financial revenue of €14.6 billion and €406 million of operating income. The company hosted an investor day to discuss the company’s push into hydrogen vehicles and aspirations for share and pricing increases for interiors and electronics. The overall target is to grow revenue to around €24.5 billion by 2025 (up from a near term run rate of about €18.5 billion) and maintain a 8% operating margin. (Faurecia)
• Ahead of its public listing, lidar firm AEye raised $225 million from investors including Continental, GM, Hella and Subaru. (AEye)
• Advik Hi-Tech acquired Hanon’s Bangalore water pump factory. (Autocar)
• Interiors supplier ECARX raised $200 million. (Deal Street Asia)
• Dana acquired controls software firm Pi Innovo (Dana already held a minority stake). (Dana)
• Samsung’s Harman acquired over the air software provider Savari. (Autocar)
• Samsung SDI is expanding capacity at its Hungarian factory — to 40 GWh. (ET News)
• Michelin says that by 2050 it will be able to make tyres that use completely sustainable raw materials, up from 30% today. (Michelin)

Dealers

• UK online car supermarket Cazoo acquired German all-inclusive leading firm Cluno. (Motor Trader)
• US all-inclusive leasing firm NextCar raised $30 million. (Axios)

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

• Didi’s bicycle rental unit raised $600 million. (Deal Street Asia)

Driverless / Autonomy ^(history)

• Aurora acquired lidar developer OURS Technology. (TechCrunch)
• Navya and Bolloré-owned Bluebus are collaborating on a design for an autonomous bus. (Navya)
• VW hopes to put autonomous delivery vehicles on the road in 2025, based on the ID Buzz minibus. (VW)

Electrification ^(history)

• The US Postal Service announced the winner of a competition to build a fleet of between 50,000 – 165,000 mail vans to partially replace 190,000 older vehicles, many of which have spent decades in service. News of Oshkosh’s win and was bad for Workhorse, which then saw dramatic falls in its share price. (The Verge)
• Huawei doesn’t want to brand cars, but could be heavily involved in their software. (China Money Network)
• Battery developer SVOLT raised $541 million. (Deal Street Asia)
• Battery developer NyoBolt raised $10 million. (FINSMES)
• German electric vehicle startup Next.e.Go raised €30 million. (Next.e.Go)

Other

• Air taxi firm Joby Aviation is going public in a merger with a special purpose entity. (Economic Times of India)
• Archer Aviation hopes to start commercial operations in 2024. (TechCrunch)
• Metal additive manufacturing company Mantle raised $13 million. (TechCrunch)

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Series hybrid gets its big break; battery swapping: the impossible dream; and Ford’s hidden plant closure announcement. Please enjoy our auto industry and mobility briefing for 15^th February to 21^st  February 2021. A PDF version can be found here.

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

• Copycat — Nissan launched the new Qashqai, which comes with an optional motor as generator (series) hybrid set up, “e-power” in Nissanspeak. Nissan says the engine sells well in Japan and Renault, who use a similar system, claim that around 30% of European customers are choosing it. The French firm also believes that it is the only way to go for entry level products that comply with Euro 7 rules (which are still a bit fuzzy). The Qashqai is perhaps the biggest selling model to adopt the technology. If it catches on, will others respond?
• If I Ruled The World (Imagine That) — Lotus showed off a concept all-electric racing car called the E-R9. It was mostly standard attention-grabbing fayre, but I was interested in the mention of hot-swapping battery packs, which Lotus believes could be a reality by 2030. The technology doesn’t seem to be in question. Does the industry want it badly enough to create the standards and shared infrastructure to make it a reality?
• My Sad Captains — Ford of Europe will only sell all-electric passenger cars by 2030, and forecasts that most commercial vehicles will be either battery electric or plugin hybrid by then too. The clear implication is that Ford’s European engine and (jointly owned) transmission manufacturing footprint is consigned to oblivion (which would include all UK manufacturing), yet none of the news reports I read even mentioned the possibility. Did Ford manage to bury the bad news?

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 has created a captive brand communication agency, called TheGame Group. (BMW)
• Invested in machine vision company Recogni. (FINSMES)

Daimler ^(history)

• Reported full financial results for 2020. Revenue of €154 billion fell (11)% on a year over year basis and adjusted EBIT of €8.6 billion dropped (17)%. Daimler says that it is spending less on new products (as measured by capital expenditure and research and development and thinks 2021 will be a good year financially. (Daimler)
• CEO Källenius says that his company has to plan on making both electric and internal combustion engine vehicles by 2030 because it is too early to make a definitive call on sales mix. (FT) Yet sources suggest he is pushing for an end to fossil fuel powered models as soon as possible. (Handelsblatt)
• Daimler’s Torc Robotics unit will use Amazon’s cloud computing services. (Reuters)
• Won’t launch the all-electric EQC SUV in the US market. (Green Car Reports)

Ford ^(history)

• Ford of Europe will go electric only by 2030 (for passenger cars). All cars will have either PHEV or BEV varieties by 2026. Ford’s commercial vehicle range will have either PHEV or BEV models by 2024 and by 2030, Ford believes 60% of van sales will come from zero emission capable vehicles. Although the move appears to spell doom for Ford’s European engine and (jointly owned) transmission facilities, and therefore all UK manufacturing, headlines concentrated on the headline commitments. (Ford)
  • Significance: In Europe, Ford jumps from an electrification laggard (and fleet CO₂ non-conformist) to one of the most aggressive advocates of the battery electric vehicles. The open question is whether Ford has firm plans to back up its aspirations, or the move is born more of a desire to improve the company’s image. The current cadre of executives are unlikely to be around to see whether the promise is delivered.
• Recalled 1,666 brand new Bronco Sports because the rear suspension might not be bolted on properly and 153,107 Rangers because after they had their Takata air bags repaired Ford noticed that it had lost track of some faulty parts and isn’t sure whether they were used or not. (Reuters)
• Ford has sold its stake in lidar company Velodyne. (Detroit News)
• Production of the F-150 at Kansas City was disrupted again. This time the problem was cold weather that shut down the plant for over a week. (Reuters)

Geely (includes Volvo) ^(history)

• Lotus showed off a concept all-electric racing car call E-R9. Whilst the car was primarily designed to bring attention to Lotus’s engineering arm, the company suggested that battery swapping could be a coming force by 2030. (Lotus)
• Geely apparently plans to set up a separate unit to plan and market electric vehicles, having decided that they are too different to internal combustion engine powered models to let the incumbents handle it. (Reuters)

General Motors ^(history)

• Cruise intends to build its own charging network. (GM)
  • Significance: It is unclear whether Cruise is effectively duplicating GM’s own plans to support charging networks (where it has previously partnered with EVGo), or if it will become the company’s trailblazer for charging in addition to autonomy.

Honda ^(history)

• Honda appointed a new CEO. R&D head Toshihiro Mibe takes over from CEO Hachigo in April. (Honda)
• Honda is changing its governance structure so that the board has three primary committees (nominating, audit and compensation), each with a majority of external directors. (Honda)
• Unveiled the next generation HR-V SUV. (Honda)

Hyundai / Kia ^(history)

• Appears set to recall all units of the Kona electric produced between 2017 – 2020 to replace batteries. (ET News)

Nissan and Mitsubishi ^(history)

• Unveiled the next generation Nissan Qashqai crossover. The vehicle will launch with a motor as generator system, badged “e-Power” by Nissan. Given the sales record of the outgoing model, this could become the largest application of this type of powertrain globally. If it is successful, expect others to take notice. (Nissan)
• Mitsubishi revealed the next generation Outlander. (Mitsubishi)
  • Significance: Despite the apparent sales success of the plugin hybrid model, Mitsubishi continues to market an internal combustion engine only derivative, indicating that the company does not yet feel confident in the market reaching an inflection point.

Renault ^(history)

• Reported financial results for the second half of 2020. Revenue of €25 billion fell (9)% on a year-over-year basis and operating profit of €866 million fell (14)%. Renault blamed drops in volume, including sales to Nissan, for the bad news. Renault’s overall 2020 net income was a loss of €(8) billion, more than half of which is attributable to Nissan,  the company burnt through €4.6 billion of cash. Renault thinks that up to 100,000 vehicles could be lost because of semiconductor shortages. (Renault)
• CEO de Meo says that hybrid cars are already more profitable than ICE-only models and the technology will be around for at least another ten years. (Seeking Alpha)
• CEO de Meo has challenged his team to reduce the time for build to order cars from two to three months today to less than one month in future. (Seeking Alpha)
• Renault executives believe that motor as generator hybrids (which the firm badges as E-Tech) are the most effective way to reach Euro 7 emissions legislation in entry level products. (Seeking Alpha)

Stellantis (formed via the merger of PSA and FCA)

• Peugeot unveiled the Landtrek pickup truck for emerging markets. (Peugeot)
• Maserati chose a series of poorly shot, officially endorsed, spy shots of the Greycale SUV to go viral via employee social media accounts. (Maserati)
• CEO Tavares has created a task force to understand why the various Stellantis brands have failed to gain traction in China (under both FCA and PSA ownership). He suggested all options are on the table. (Automotive News)

Tata (includes JLR) ^(history)

• JLR plans to cut 2,000 non-manufacturing jobs through its turnaround plan. (Sky News)

Toyota ^(history)

• Toyota is part of a group studying hydrogen needs in Japan which has concluded that industrial need for hydrogen is so large that the country might as well invest in enough infrastructure to provide fuel for vehicles too. (Toyota)
• Invested in machine vision company Recogni. (FINSMES)

VW Group ^(history)

• VW increased prices for its vehicles in Germany — in line with normal custom — except for all-electric models. (VW)
• Amid persistent rumours that VW plans to spin off the sportscar company, Porsche’s boss says the brand has stepped up cost saving efforts and aims to save €10 billion over the next five years, up from €6 billion. (Manager Magazin)
• Porsche’s CEO said that Rimac could “play a role” in the future of Bugatti. (Reuters)
• Bentley’s CEO says that brand’s order bank is 50% higher than at the same point in 2020, mainly thanks to demand from China. (Reuters)

Other

• McLaren unveiled the Artura, a plugin hybrid electric sportscar. The model is also the debut for a new V6 engine (hitherto, McLarens have been powered by V8s). (McLaren)
• Foxconn plans to launch three vehicles this year (one of which will be a bus) for unnamed brands. (Nikkei)
• Lucid will reportedly list via a merger with a special purpose entity at a valuation of around $12 billion. (Reuters)
• Rivian is rumoured to be contemplating a factory in Germany. (Manager Magazin)
• McLaren executives say the brand can’t make an electric car today because the technology isn’t sufficiently developed to create the product attributes the company wants. (Reuters)

News about other companies and trends

Economic / Political News

• Several Japanese auto makers had to stop production after an earthquake disrupted parts supply. (Toyota)
• Uncharacteristically cold weather in the USA stopped output at several factories. (Reuters)

Suppliers

• Allison Transmission is getting a new chairman: its CEO. (Autocar)
• BorgWarner is acquiring battery pack maker AKASOL. (BorgWarner)
• Following on from VW’s announcement last week, Bosch said it would use Microsoft’s cloud computing to develop vehicle software. (Bosch)
• Schaeffler’s CEO rejected suggestions that the firm should split. (Handelsblatt)
• Goodyear agreed terms to acquire Cooper Tire. (Reuters)
• Magna reported Q4 2020 revenue of $10.6 billion and net income of $738 million. (Magna)
• Martinrea is investing more in NanoXplore to reduce dilution from a separate rights issue. (Martinrea)
• TI Fluid Systems is getting a new CEO. (TI)
• Faurecia is selling its soft trim and acoustics business to Adler Pelzer. (Faurecia)
• Akebono admitted falsifying quality reports but said there was no practical impact of part performance and vehicles will not be recalled. (Nikkei)
• Visteon reported Q4 2020 revenue of $787 million and net income of $18 million. (Visteon)
• ZF reported preliminary full year 2020 revenue of €33 billion and adjusted EBIT margin of 3.2%. (ZF)

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

• Kakao Mobility raised $200 million at a valuation of just over $3 billion. (Deal Street Asia)
• UK Supreme Court judges ruled that Uber drivers are workers. What this means in practice will be decided in a forthcoming tribunal hearing. (Business Insider)

Driverless / Autonomy ^(history)

• Lidar developer AEye is listing via a merger with a special purpose entity. (AEye)
• Intrigue over Apple’s car plans continued with news that the company had called up lidar suppliers about possible contracts to provide components (one of the first steps, rather than one of the last). (Detroit News)
• Machine vision company Recogni raised $49 million from investors including BMW and Toyota. (FINSMES)

Electrification ^(history)

• Battery developer Enovix is listing via a merger with a special purpose entity. The company is focused on batteries for smaller devices but says it wants to create products for electric vehicles. (Enovix)
• Battery management start-up AMP raised an undisclosed amount. (AMP)
• REE announced a new engineering centre in the UK. (REE)
• The UK city of Coventry hopes to go ahead with a battery factory and has identified suitable land. It isn’t yet clear who will operate the facility. (The Guardian)
• IPT Technology acquired wireless charging technology company Primove. (IPT)
• Battery start-up TruSpin claimed a breakthrough in battery technology. It turned out to be a test that supposedly proved the firm’s technology could achieve a battery energy density of 400 Wh / kg, about in line with targets from Romeo Power, Solid Power and others. (TruSpin)
• The former founder of British battery start-up Britishvolt is starting an Italian rival called Italvolt. (Italvolt)
• Northvolt says that about one quarter of the capacity it is targeting will be used to supply stationary storage providers, rather than electric vehicles. (Bloomberg)

Other

• Indian on-demand mobility service Bounce has reportedly laid off most of its staff. (Economic Times of India)
• Didi’s bicycle rental unit Qingju raised $600 million. (Deal Street Asia)
• Ride hailing motorbike firm Vogo raised $12 million. (Deal Street Asia)

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Autonomous cars powered by fossil fuels; GM thinks about crossing the Atlantic; and Jaguar Land Rover’s new plan. Please enjoy our auto industry and mobility briefing for 8^th February to 14^th February 2021. A PDF version can be found here.

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

• Walk The Dinosaur — GM’s Cruise unit laid into competitors who are driving around in cars with internal combustion engines (plugin hybrid or otherwise). The company says it is incongruous to have a car that can drive itself but still depends on having a tank filled up with fossil fuels. Thus far, self-driving developers have argued that the power consumption of self-driving AI drains batteries too quickly. How will they react to GM’s criticism?
• Get Back — GM is thinking about heading back to Europe, attracted by the possibilities for all-electric vehicles. Competitors thought they had seen the back of GM after the sale of Opel / Vauxhall, the remnant Cadillac and Corvette dealerships barely register. Is the company serious about a return, or just playing mind games with rivals?
• Thank U, Next — Jaguar Land Rover has a new plan and its heavy on electrification. Jaguar is becoming electric-only quickly, whereas for Land Rover the transition will take more time. To cope with the transition, Land Rover will user a “pure electric biased” component set, which is another way of saying E-FIRST. Mercedes opted in, then Land Rover. Who’s next? Who will be E-LAST? (sorry)

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)

• CEO Källenius said that electric cars will be as profitable as models with internal combustion engines by the end of the decade. (FT)
• Mercedes celebrated making the 50 millionth car in its history. Tesla will soon be making that many every two and a half years, if Elon Musk is to be believed. (Daimler)
• The boss of Daimler Trucks says that infrastructure will be the constraint on the take-up of electric vehicles. The firm will offer a full range of electric products towards of the decade but thinks that there won’t be enough charging points or hydrogen stations to support them. However, he isn’t interested in stimulating competition by entering the hydrogen business, preferring to leave it to firms such as BP and Shell. (Reuters)
• Recalling 1.3 million cars which might tell emergency services the wrong location in the event of a crash. (Reuters)

Ford ^(history)

• Launched a website in the USA that sells used dealer stock online. (Ford)

General Motors ^(history)

• Reported Q4 2020 revenue of $34.1 billion, up 25% on a year-over-year basis. Adjusted EBIT of $3.7 billion, strongly improved from the prior year. GM thinks shortages of chips could cost it $2 billion in 2021. (GM)
• CEO Barra expressed little interest in an agent model replacing franchised dealers. She also believes that the company can quickly transition from ICE to electric vehicles without too much negative reaction from customers who have purchased legacy products. In response to a question from an analyst, Barra suggested that the company might return to Europe. (Seeking Alpha)
• GM’s Cruise self-driving unit castigated competitors who are developing autonomous vehicles that use internal combustion engines or plugin hybrids, rather than pure electric drive. (GM)
• Unveiled a minor refresh of the Bolt all-electric car and the Bolt EUV, a higher-riding, longer version. The Bolt EUV will be the first application of GM’s Super Cruise driver assistance feature outside the Cadillac brand. (GM)
• Agreed to pay $5.8 million to Californian authorities for not making investors aware of recall problems quickly enough. (Detroit News)

Honda ^(history)

• Announced Q4 2020 revenue of 3.8 trillion JPY (about $35.8 billion), up 0.6% versus prior year. Automotive revenue of 2.6 trillion JPY (about $24.5 billion) rose 2.5% year-over-year. Operating profit of 277.7 billion JPY (about $2.6 billion) rose 67% from prior year. (Honda)

Hyundai / Kia ^(history)

• Has started using a service robot at a dealership in South Korea. The device, which uses both voice recognition and touch screens, seems like an expensive novelty but Hyundai believes it will develop in future. (Hyundai)

Nissan and Mitsubishi ^(history)

• Nissan reported Q4 2020 revenue of 2.2 trillion JPY (about $21 billion), down (11)% versus prior year. Operating income of 27 billion JPY (about $260 million) rose 19% year-over-year. (Nissan)
• Announced that it will continue to source small commercial vehicles from Renault’s French plants. (Nissan)
• Unveiled an updated version of the NV300 van. (Nissan)

Stellantis (formed via the merger of PSA and FCA)

• Unveiled a minor refresh of the Citroën C3 Aircross. (Citroën)

Tata (includes JLR) ^(history)

• JLR announced a turnaround plan called “Reimagine” that will see Jaguar become an all-electric brand by around 2025, with Land Rover’s sales of electric vehicles rising to 60% of the total by 2030. The plan comes with its costs however: the plan to base all products off a common engineering underpinning has been abandoned, with Jaguar and Land Rover adopting separate architectures. A casualty of the move is the all-electric version of the Jaguar XJ, which was almost production ready. JLR has opted for the term “electric biased” to describe Ad Punctum’s favoured E-FIRST design philosophy, which Land Rover will now follow. (JLR)
• Appointed a new CEO of Tata Motors. Marc Llistosella arrives from Daimler after incumbent Guenther Butschek opted to leave. (Economic Times of India)

Tesla ^(history)

• Tesla set markets alight by buying up $1.5 billion in Bitcoin. (Business Insider)
• Elon Musk says the Tesla Semi will have a smaller battery pack than expected, at around 500 kWh. (Electrek)
• After previously pouring scorn on the potential for solar power in cars, Musk now believes that it could make sense on the roof of a van. (Electrek)
• Independent repair workshops in Germany are complaining that Tesla may be breaching European bloc exemption rules (which say manufacturers can’t monopolise servicing). They say that the company makes them access an online data suite which charges up to €125 per hour. (Golem)
• Chinese regulators told Tesla to sharpen up its act, citing quality problems. (Nikkei)
• Tesla’s China head says work will soon begin in earnest on the company’s much-anticipated $25,000 model which will be designed and built in China. (Business Insider)

Toyota ^(history)

• Reported Q4 2020 revenue of 8.15 trillion JPY (about $77 billion) and operating income of 988 billion JPY (about $9.4 billion. Toyota upped its guidance for the full year (which ends in March 2021). The company now expects revenue of about $252 billion and operating income of about $19 billion (a margin of 7.5%). (Toyota)
• Reckons that the environmental impact of a PHEV is about the same as a BEV because of the lower energy intensity from manufacturing, and the relatively high time spent in electric-only mode. (Toyota)
• Collaborating with Aurora to develop self-driving cars, building on the relationship Toyota had with Uber’s autonomous car unit, which Aurora recently acquired. (Aurora)

VW Group ^(history)

• Unveiled the all-electric Audi e-tron GT. The four door coupe sits in similar underpinnings to the Porsche Taycan (but is made in a different factory). (Audi)
• Porsche’s head of product development says that electric sports cars will place an emphasis on aerodynamics and a lot of work on the frontal area. (Porsche)
• Will use Microsoft’s cloud platform to develop advanced driver assistance and autonomous driving technology. VW says it needs a purpose built computing solution because of the amount of data involved. (VW)
• CEO Diess is relaxed about the threat of a car from Apple, saying that it is difficult to master carmaking and Apple won’t succeed overnight. (Reuters)

Other

• WM Motor agreed a $1.8 billion credit line. (Bloomberg)
• Aston Martin says that 60% of customers buying limited edition models (e.g. Zagato) opt into Aston Martin’s bespoke service. (Autocar)
• Several Chinese car makers including BYD, Great Wall, Dongfeng and FAW invested in self-driving start-up Horizon Robotics. (Reuters)
• Alpha Motor unveiled the Jax, a four door version of theACE revealed at the end of 2020. (Alpha)
• Fisker says it has received 11,000 pre-orders for the Ocean SUV. (Autocar)
• Aston Martin’s chairman says the company should be able to sell about 10,000 cars per year once a forthcoming mid-engined sportscar is launched, with SUVs taking about half the total. (Autocar)
• Chinese electric car firm Byton, recently helped back onto its feet by Foxconn is reportedly exploring a listing via a merger with a special purpose entity. (Economic Times of India)

News about other companies and trends

Economic / Political News

• The European car marking trade body ACEA lobbied for politicians to write into law commitments for 1 million charging points by 2024 and 3 million charging points by 2029. (ACEA)
• German car makers fear a wave of factory shutdowns because of new rules that forbid truck drivers from entering the country without a negative coronavirus test. (Manager Magazin)

Suppliers

• SK Innovation lost a US intellectual property case brought by LG Chem and will be banned from importing batteries from South Korea for 10 years, after a phase out period (Four years for Ford supplies, two for VW). Since SK Innovation is preparing a US factory, it is unclear whether automakers will be disrupted. (Bloomberg)
• CATL increased its investment in lithium extractor Neo Lithium. (Yahoo)
• Goodyear reported Q4 2020 revenue of $2.8 billion and net income of $67 million. (Goodyear)
• BorgWarner’s Q4 2020 sales were $3.9 billion and operating income was $214 million. (BorgWarner)
• AAM’s Q4 revenue was $1.44 billion and net income was $36 million. (AAM)

Dealers

• Online UK car dealer Cazoo acquired reconditioning company Smart Fleet Solutions. (Motor Trader)

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

• Uber reported Q4 revenue of $3.2 billion, down (16)% on a year over year basis. Gross bookings fell less: (5)%. The net loss was $(968) million. The company’s cash balance halved during 2020, to $5.6 billion. (Uber)
• Lyft reported Q4 revenue of $570 million, down (44)% versus 2019. Lyft reported a net loss of $(356) million and the current assets balance is $2.6 billion. (Lyft)
• Shared commuting app BusUp raised $6 million. (FINSMES)
• All-electric ride hailing service Havn (backed by Jaguar Land Rover), received funding from Blacklane (backed by Daimler). (Havn)

Driverless / Autonomy ^(history)

• California’s driving licensing agency released the latest batch of self-driving vehicle test data. The data showed that, on a raw measure of disengagements per mile driven, GM’s Cruise and Waymo had the most effective robotic driver. However the lack of mileage covered by competitors showed that many others are focusing their testing elsewhere, rather than demonstrating incompetence. (California DMV)
• Toyota and Denso are collaborating with Aurora to develop self-driving cars, building on the relationship Toyota had with Uber’s autonomous car unit, which Aurora recently acquired. (Aurora)
• GM’s Cruise self-driving unit castigated competitors who are developing autonomous vehicles that use internal combustion engines or plugin hybrids, rather than pure electric drive. (GM)

Electrification ^(history)

• Norwegian utility Statkraft is acquiring a 51% stake in charging firm Bee Charging. (Economic Times of India)

Connectivity

• Cybersecurity firm Autocrypt raised $13 million. (Autocrypt)

Other

• Caravan maker Airstream started planting trees to offset the manufacturing and first year of travel for all the units it hopes to sell in 2021. (Green Car Reports)
• Scooter rental and food delivery company Helbiz intends to go public via a merger with a special purpose entity, raising around $80 million. (TechCrunch)

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Steer clear of early Teslas says Musk; bright ideas that depend on infrastructure; and can suppliers afford to wait to become carbon neutral? Please enjoy our auto industry and mobility briefing for 1^st February to 7^th February 2021. A PDF version can be found here.

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

• I Don’t Want To Wait – Elon Musk told an interviewer that because of patchy quality during ramp-up, he advises his friends to buy the latest model either right at the beginning, so they get a car lovingly pieced together under his watchful eye, or much later when things have settled down. Sounds great in practice but if your business model is to promote long reservation lists, where customers take the production slot they are given, at what point does it become taking your patrons for granted?
• Karmacoma — Karma intends to launch a fuel cell powered vehicle. Unlike most of the models coming onto the market, Karma’s will use methanol as the input field, which is converted into hydrogen and then electricity en route. Karma reckons this is great because methanol can be created with renewable energy (so can hydrogen). It needs infrastructure though; can the idea ever take off without internal combustion engines converting to run methanol en masse too?
• Ahead By A Century — Valeo says it will be carbon neutral by 2050, Denso says it will be carbon neutral by 2035. With OEMs virtually promising that suppliers with the lowest environment footprints will be treated more favourably, can you afford to be 15 years behind your competition?

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)

• Invested in software code sharing platform Vendia. (BMW)
• Trumpeted an annual contract to purchase 43,000 tonnes of aluminium (as a raw material for use in BMW’s own foundry, rather than finished components) produced using solar power. Since the order is only around half of the foundry’s needs, BMW is on the lookout for more. (BMW)
• FAW is reportedly sniffing around China Brilliance, BMW’s joint venture partner. (Reuters)

Daimler ^(history)

• Intends to spin off the Daimler trucks business by the end of 2021 and rename the remaining company Mercedes-Benz. The finance arm will be split between the two firms and Mercedes-Benz will retain a minority shareholding in the trucks business. (Daimler) CEO Källenius says the stake will be large enough to keep a “protective hand” over the trucking business. (Reuters)

Ford ^(history)

• Reported full year 2020 revenue of $127 billion and an operating loss of $(4.4) billion. Rather than dwell on the past, the Ford management team announced increased spending on electric vehicles and autonomy. In Q4, North America and Europe were profitable on an operating EBIT basis, with the European business achieving a 5.8% margin — Ford sees this as evidence that a turnaround has taken hold. (Ford)
• Ford is feeling bullish about the prospects for F-150 and Mustang Mach-E, pointing to a high series mix of the former (20% above average) and level of conquest of the latter (70% new customers). Bronco also has very high series mix and the average Bronco Sport sells in six days. (Ford)
• Analysts asked Ford management questions about how long they think the transition to electric vehicles will be, what the portfolio will look like and how rapidly costs will fall to $55 – $80 per kWh. Executives declined to properly answer the questions but promised more specifics in a forthcoming investor event. (Ford)
• Ford has returned to monthly reporting of US sales. (Ford)
• Invested $1 billion to launch the new Ranger, and its VW sibling, at the Silverton, South Africa plant. As part of the works, the factory will reach energy self-sufficiency in 2024 (“island mode” in Fordspeak). (Ford)
• Will use Google’s Android software as the underpinning for infotainment systems from 2023 under a six year deal that will see Ford abandon its own in-house efforts (despite recently using a newly developed system upgrade as an example of Ford’s design thinking). Ford will also use Google as a provider of computing services and the two companies will form a collaborative team called Team Upshift. (Ford)
• Announced the cancellation of a deal with Chinese company Zotye to build electric cars together. The arrangement had been rumoured to be under threat for a while. (Detroit Free Press)
• Said that US regulators had closed investigations into emissions cheating. (Reuters)

Geely (includes Volvo) ^(history)

• Volvo reported 2020 revenue of 263 billion SEK (about $ 31.3 billion), down (4)% on a year-over-year basis and operating EBIT of 8.5 billion SEK (about $1 billion), down (41)% versus prior year. Volvo said that in the second half sales had risen about prior year and EBIT margin was 6.3%. (Volvo)

Hyundai / Kia ^(history)

• Said that it is not in talks with Apple about developing autonomous vehicles, but kept quiet about the potential for everything else. (Reuters)

Mazda

• Reported Q4 2020 sales of 2.0 trillion JPY (about $18.6 billion), down (23)% from prior year, with an operating loss of (32) billion JPY (about $(305) million), down from a profit of around $300 million last year. (Mazda)

Nissan and Mitsubishi ^(history)

• Mitsubishi reported Q4 2020 revenue of 953 billion JPY (about $9 billion), down (43)% from prior year. An operating loss of (87) billion JPY (about $825 million), compared to a small profit the year before. (Mitsubishi)

Subaru

• Reported financial results for the nine months ending December 2020. Revenue of 2.0 trillion JPY (about $19.5 billion) fell (17)% from prior year. PBT of 98 billion JPY (about $(940) million) fell (31)%. (Subaru)

Suzuki

• Reported financial results for the nine months ending December 2020. Sales of 2.17 trillion JPY (about $20.7 billion) fell (17)% which operating income of 139 billion JPY (about $1.3 billion) fell (20)%. (Suzuki)

Tesla ^(history)

• CEO Musk says he advises his friends not to buy a new model Tesla when the car is in launch mode — difficult advice to follow if you are in a queue of reservation holders and have to take your slot when it appears. (The Verge)
• CEO Musk says that the underbody could become a single casting in future, but that he needs to launch the other products in the pipeline first. (Jalopnik)
• Reportedly wants to begin operating in Indonesia to access the country’s substantial nickel reserves. (Nikkei)
• Agreed to recall vehicles with problematic touch screens caused by the failure of the memory card but argued that the memory was never going to last the entire lifetime of the vehicle anyway. (Business Insider)
  • Significance: Regulators may take a dim view of Tesla’s argument since it was the company’s decision to put so much safety critical hardware within the central screen.

VW Group ^(history)

• Porsche’s boss reckons that synthetic fuels could cost under $2 per litre within a decade. (Porsche) He says that by 2030, he hopes that 80% of the company’s sales mix will be electric models (PHEV and BEV). (Handelsblatt)
• Apple has reportedly tapped one of Porsche’s vehicle line directors for its car program. (Manager Magazin)
• Porsche is rumoured to be setting up a factory in Malaysia. (Reuters)

Other

• REE Automotive is listing via a merger with a special purpose vehicle in a deal that values the electric vehicle specialist at around $3.6 billion. (Reuters)
• Amazon is publicly testing its purpose-built all-electric Rivian vans. Amazon says that mass production should begin at the end of the year. (Amazon)
• FAW is reportedly sniffing around China Brilliance, BMW’s joint venture partner. (Reuters)
• Faraday Future’s CEO says he is confident that his firm can reach 100,000 units by 2025 because he under promises and over delivers. (Yahoo)
• Mahindra & Mahindra appointed a new CEO, current CFO Anish Shah. (Economic Times of India)
• French car marker Hopium raised €5 million from investors. (Hopium)
• Triton EV, an offshoot of a solar power company, is aiming to make a range of all-electric vehicles in India, in partnership with Bharat Electronics. (Economic Times of India)
• Karma appears set to launch a fuel cell vehicle, incorporating cells from Blue World. Unlike many systems that fill up with hydrogen, the Blue World system uses methanol. The claimed benefits are that the methanol can be produced with renewable energy and easily transported. (Karma)
  • Significance: The same arguments that can be made for methanol production can be made for producing hydrogen too. Some refuelling stations even have solar-powered hydrogen extraction machines (that work too slowly to refuel more than a handful of vehicles). The exception is that methanol can be used in conventional internal combustion engine powertrains — great news IF you can convince people to convert.

News about other companies and trends

Economic / Political News

• The European car manufacturers trade body ACEA expects sales in the region to increase more than 10% over 2020 levels this year. (ACEA)
• Battery electric vehicles made up 10% of European passenger car sales in Q4 2020 and plugin hybrids accounted for a further 8%. (ACEA)
• US light vehicle SAAR of 16.63 million units in January was (1)% worse than a year ago. (Wards)
• UK passenger car registrations in January of 90,249 units fell (12)% versus prior year. (SMMT)
• German passenger car registrations in January of 169,754 units fell (31)% compared to a year earlier. (KBA)
• Spanish sales of passenger cars in January of 41,966 units plummeted (52)% versus prior year. (ANFAC)
• Italian passenger car registrations of 134,001 units dropped (14)% from prior year. (UNRAE)
• French passenger car registrations in January of 126,381 cars slipped (6)% from prior year. (CCFA)

Suppliers

• Supplier Xilinx says that semiconductors aren’t the only potential bottleneck in the automotive supply chain and that raw materials will soon be under pressure. (Nikkei)
• Denso hopes to be carbon neutral by 2035. (Denso)
• Valeo aims to be carbon neutral by 2050, including “end use of its products”, suggesting that it could refuse to tender for business with polluting OEMs, or even non-electric cars. (Valeo)
• Visteon is collaborating with ECARX for next generation cabin electronics. (Visteon)
• Nidec is buying the tool making business of Mitsubishi Heavy. (Nidec)
• Renesas is in talks to buy chipmaker Dialog Semiconductor. (Reuters)
• Mando is buying out Hella’s share in their electronics joint venture. (Mando)
• TomTom reported Q4 2020 revenue of $125 million and a net loss of $(65) million. (TomTom)
• Lear reported Q4 2020 revenue of $5.2 billion and core earnings of $330 million. (Lear)
• Meritor reported Q4 revenue of $889 million and operating income of $44 million. (Meritor)
• Aptiv reported Q4 2020 revenue of $4.2 billion and operating income of $446 million. (Aptiv)
• Veoneer reported Q4 2020 sales of $455 million and an operating loss of $(77) million. (Veoneer)
• Adient reported Q4 2020 revenue of $3.8 billion and EBIT of $282 million. (Adient)
• Denso reported Q4 2020 revenue of $34 billion and operating profit of $644 million. (Denso)

Dealers

• On-demand car maintenance service Vroomly raised €5 million. (Les Echos)

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

• Multi modal operator Hip raised $12 million. (TechCrunch)
• Didi is rumoured to be looking to raise $4 billion to plough into delivery services. (Deal Street Asia)
• Grab raised $2 billion in debt. (Grab)
• Uber is buying alcohol delivery firm Drizly for $1.1 billion. (Uber)

Driverless / Autonomy ^(history)

• Pony.ai has raised $100 million in its latest round. (Deal Street Asia)

Other

• Truck startup Hyzon Motors will list through a merger with a special purpose vehicle. (Detroit News)
• Electric bike maker Rad Power Bikes raised $150 million. (TechCrunch)
• Alauda Aeronautics unveiled a high speed drone that the company hopes will become a sporting sensation when a one make racing series kicks off. (Alauda)

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Renault and Nissan’s lost ground; Tesla’s rigid manufacturing process; and Mini takes a step back on personalisation? Please enjoy our auto industry and mobility briefing for 25^th January to 31^st January 2021. A PDF version can be found here.

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

• Where’d You Go — GM is aiming for an all-electric line-up by 2035, whilst Nissan hopes to provide an electrified derivative of all models by 2030 (seemingly a less ambitious target). Despite Renault and Nissan’s head start (GM’s EV1 notwithstanding), GM and VW have become the best known advocates of electric vehicles amongst the traditional major manufacturers as the alliance partners have seemed relatively unenthusiastic in expanding their offering. Is it a strategic blunder or do they know something we don’t?
• The Man Who Can’t Be Moved — Tesla announced earnings this week, and released their standard presentation full of glossy photos of production machinery. Although the company started with a principle of everything under one roof in is Californian factory, which now makes four different models, the portfolio for the newer plants is far slimmer: Berlin will have one car; Shanghai has two; Cybertruck might get a standalone facility. All this inflexibility looks a bit like traditional automotive thinking. Why has Tesla abandoned flexibility?
• Anyway You Want It — Mini is removing the option for customers to personalise parts of the car through the magic of 3D printing. For a reasonable fee, sill plates and other garnishes could be adorned with the owner’s name and a selection of designs. It seemed like the right idea at the right time. Why didn’t it take off?

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)

• Announced preliminary full year 2020 free cash of €3.4 billion (€2.8 billion coming in Q4 2020), BMW said full year operating profits would be around 3%. (BMW)
• Invested in inventory management company Verusen. (BMW)
• Mini has ceased the “Mini Yours” customisation option which offered customers a selection of parts to have personalised. (3D Printing Industry)
• BMW’s motorbike division announced that although it will continue to attend some shows for promotion purposes, it has decided that it will no longer have a standing reservation at large shows. (BMW)
  • Significance: Whilst the decision is purely about motorbikes, it seems inconceivable that BMW is not contemplating a similar move around auto shows.

Daimler ^(history)

• Released preliminary financial results for full year 2020 as they exceeded market expectations. Group EBIT was €6.6 billion (€8.6 billion on an adjusted basis). Industrial free cash was €8.3 billion. (Daimler)

Ford ^(history)

• Confirmed that the all-electric Mustang Mach E will be locally manufactured in China. (Ford)
• Ford’s scooter rental subsidiary Spin intends to launch operations with remotely piloted scooters soon. Renters will be able to have a scooter travel to them from “several blocks” away. As the scooters will move at mph or less, customers may be better off walking. (Ford)
• Ford’s head of design is retiring. Ford will replace him with an external hire from Renault. (Ford)

Geely (includes Volvo) ^(history)

• Lotus is getting a new managing director, Matt Windle, the current head of engineering. (Lotus)
• Investing in Faraday Future’s listing and reportedly plans to contract manufacture cars for the start-up. (Nikkei)

General Motors ^(history)

• Targeting carbon neutral manufacturing by 2040, and 100% light duty sales mix of zero emissions vehicles by 2035. GM’s press released implied that this means all-electric or fuel cell powered models, but the wording appeared to give some wiggle room for highly capable plug-in hybrids. (GM)
  • Significance: If GM intends to be fully electric, or fuel cell, by 2035 without any fossil fuel content (e.g. plugin hybrids with high electric range), then the company will likely be unable to participate effectively in emerging markets.
• Will develop hydrogen powered trucks with Navistar. (Detroit Free Press)

Hyundai / Kia ^(history)

• Hyundai’s Q4 2020 revenue of 29.2 trillion KRW (about $26.1 billion) rose 5.1% versus prior year. Operating profit of 1.6 trillion KRW (about $1.5 billion) rose 41%.  In the full year, revenue came to 104 trillion (about $93 billion) and operating profit reached 2.8 trillion KRW (about $2.5 billion). (Hyundai)
• Kia’s Q4 2020 revenue of 17 trillion KRW (about $15 billion) rose 5% on a year-over-year basis. Operating profit of 1.3 trillion KRW (about $1.1 billion) was up strongly compared to 2019. Kia attributed almost the entire profit improvement to mix and net pricing (lower incentives). In the full year, revenue was 59.2 trillion KRW (about $53 billion) and operating profit was 2.1 trillion KRW (about $1.9 billion). (Kia)
• Hyundai and Kia will build customised vehicles for fleets using the recently unveiled all-electric platform. Customers will be able to choose from a range of options including body styles. It isn’t fully clear whether this truly goes beyond existing special builds manufacturers do for high volume fleet customers. (Nikkei)
• Hyundai has reportedly decided that, should a partnership with Apple proceed, the Kia brand will be the contract manufacturer, rather than Hyundai, fearing the negative association of being a contract manufacturer. (Nikkei)

Nissan and Mitsubishi ^(history)

• Nissan wants to become carbon neutral by 2050 and says that by 2030 all vehicles it launches in major markets will have an electrified option. (Nissan)
  • Significance: Compared with GM’s statement, Nissan left itself plenty of wiggle room to sell traditional internal combustion engine powered models: the 2030 goal only applies to all-new product launches; plenty of vehicles might still be sold outside “major” markets; offering an electrified version doesn’t preclude internal combustion engine powered derivatives. Despite being one of the first companies to believe in all-electric vehicles, Nissan seems strangely reluctant to embrace the technology.
• Nissan sold 4 million vehicles in 2020, (22)% lower than 2019. (Nissan)
• Says that the updated version of the Note, featuring a motor as generator hybrid (e-Power in Nissan parlance) is exceeding expectations, and selling 20,000 units per month in Japan. (Nissan)

Stellantis (formed via the merger of PSA and FCA)

• FCA in North America has been fined $30 million for its part in a kickback scheme for union officials (Stellantis)

Subaru

• Produced 885,000 cars in 2020, down (10)% versus prior year. (Subaru)

Suzuki

• Recorded sales of 2.45 million cars in 2020, down (18)% on a year-over-year basis. The worst drops were in markets outside of Japan or India. (Suzuki)

Tata (includes JLR) ^(history)

• Reported Q3 2020/2021 revenue of 75.7 Cr INR (about $10.3 billion), up 5.5% versus prior year. PBT was 4.2 Cr INR (about $570 million). (Tata) Within the overall results, JLR had PBT of £439 million and the company claimed £400 million of savings in the quarter from its turnaround program. (JLR)

Tesla ^(history)

• Unveiled a minor refresh of the Model S exterior. There were more changes on the interior with the central screen changing to look more like the Model 3’s display (although in the Model S, drivers will be treated to their own instrument cluster), and a steering wheel in the form of a yoke. Alongside the visual changes, Tesla introduced a new top-end powertrain, called Plaid which promises a 0-60 mph time of under 2 seconds and the ability to perform more demonstration runs before battery limits kick in. (Tesla) The car also apparently dispenses with the gear shift and will use context to decide whether it should be in forward, reverse or park mode. (The Verge)
• Although Tesla’s Q4 2020 revenue has grown by almost 50% on a year-over-year basis, customer deposits have remained fairly static (up less than 10%). It isn’t yet clear whether there is an optimum deposit amount which reflects a reasonable waiting time, or if indicates waning demand for Tesla’s products (given that deposits include payments for finished vehicles in transit, as well as reservations for yet-to-be-released products such as Cybertruck, and a hefty portion of advance payments for self-driving capability). (Tesla)
• Tesla’s emphasis on the product that plants will build (e.g. Shanghai Model 3 and Model Y and Berlin Model Y) raises questions about the flexibility of the facilities. Without much reflection, Tesla has moved from a philosophy of everything under one roof to a broader footprint, with less regional flexibility (and reflecting fairly mainstream automotive production thinking). (Tesla)
• Three quarters of Tesla’s operating profit of $2.0 billion came from sales of regulatory credits. Tesla’s CFO said that he wasn’t expecting it to be a material amount longer term. (Seeking Alpha)
• CEO Musk thinks that Tesla’s self-driving mode will achieve the reliability “of a human this year”. Since the comments were made on the earnings call, there were no specifics about what this means in terms of safety, duration, weather conditions or geography. Overall Musk sees a system needing to be two to three times more reliable than a human to gain acceptance. He promised that subscription for self-driving features will become available in the next month or two. He is a bit worried about interest in the full self-driving option from Chinese customers, with only 2% choosing it. (Seeking Alpha)
• CEO Musk is open to licencing self-driving software and charging to competitors and says some preliminary discussions have been held, but further advancement on the technology is necessary. He also downplayed the value of the next generation computer chip the company previously trumpeted at an investor event, saying the biggest developments in self-driving were coming from software, not hardware. (Seeking Alpha)
• Tesla has reduced the frequency of service visits by one third in the last two years and is hoping to increase mobile servicing from 40% to 50% of all cases. 50% of these mobile jobs are completed within two hours. (Seeking Alpha)
• Tesla is confident of meeting or beating the targets for reductions in battery cost published in the Battery Day presentation. (Seeking Alpha)
• Tesla hasn’t launched the Semi (even in small numbers) because of constraints on battery supply but says that, once more cells are available, the floodgates will open and an electric van could be in the works too. (Seeking Alpha)
• Musk confirmed that the Roadster has been delayed until 2022. (Electrek)

Toyota ^(history)

• Sold 9.5 million cars in 2020 across the Toyota, Lexus and Daihatsu brands, a drop of (11)% on a year-over-year basis. (Toyota)

VW Group ^(history)

• Started a battery recycling plant in Salzgitter, Germany (alongside a pilot plant for battery systems). (VW)
• Porsche invested in software firm Cresta. (Porsche)

Other

• Lordstown Motors announced plans to make an all-electric van. (Lordstown)
• Lucid reportedly plans to install a paint shop with capacity for 400,000 units annually, despite plans to start of smaller. (Green Car Reports)
• Faraday Future will list via a merger with a special purpose entity in a deal that includes participation from Geely, who look set to contract manufacture the firm’s vehicles. (Caixin)
• Isuzu will purchase diesel engines from Cummins. (Nikkei)
• Vingroup is raising around $300 million for its automotive and smartphone businesses. (Economic Times of India)
• Mahindra’s Ssangyong brand lost $155 million in Q4 2020. (Yonhap)

News about other companies and trends

Economic / Political News

• The UK is applying for membership of the CPTPP (Pacific nations) trade agreement. (BBC)
• European light commercial vehicle sales in 2020 of 1.8 million fell (18)% versus prior year. (ACEA)

Suppliers

• Renesas is reportedly making more semiconductors in-house to alleviate some of the pain caused by a shortage from suppliers. (Nikkei)
• Nidec’s chairman reckons that electric vehicles could drop in cost to $3,000. (Nikkei)
• Autoliv reported Q4 2020 revenue of $2.5 billion and adjusted operating income of $311 million. (Autoliv)
• Kongsberg reported preliminary financial results. Revenue was €299 million and EBIT was €6 million. (Kongsberg) The company also announced a new CEO. (Kongsberg)
• LG reported full year revenue of $56.5 billion) and operating profit of $2.9 billion. The automotive division had sales of $5.2 billion and a $(2) Million operating loss. (LG)
• Nidec Q4 2020 revenue was 433 billion JPY (about $4.1 billion), PBT was 43 billion JPY (about $415 million). (Nidec)
• Goodyear invested in delivery robot company Starship. (Goodyear)
• Veoneer created a new brand for driver assistance systems called Arriver. (Veoneer)
• German prosecutors are expanding a probe into Continental, raiding a further two offices. (Handelsblatt)

Dealers

• Dealer software firm Procar was acquired by larger rival Imaweb. (FINSMES)

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

• Intel’s Moovit released a report about public transport usage. (Moovit)
• Mobility software provider Vulog raised $31 million. (FINSMES)

Driverless / Autonomy ^(history)

• Chinese start-up Uisee raised $150 million. (TechCrunch)
• CEO Musk thinks that Tesla’s self-driving mode will achieve the reliability “of a human this year”. Since the comments were made on the earnings call, there were no specifics about what this means in terms of safety, duration, weather conditions or geography. Overall Musk sees a system needing to be two to three times more reliable than a human to gain acceptance. He promised that subscription for self-driving features will become available in the next month or two. He is a bit worried about interest in the full self-driving option from Chinese customers, with only 2% choosing it. CEO Musk is open to licencing self-driving software and charging to competitors and says some preliminary discussions have been held, but further advancement on the technology is necessary. He also downplayed the value of the next generation computer chip the company previously trumpeted at an investor event, saying the biggest developments in self-driving were coming from software, not hardware.  (Seeking Alpha)

Electrification ^(history)

• Shell agreed a deal to acquire charging network Ubitricity. (Ubitricity)
• Battery developer Sila Nanotechnologies raised $590 million. (TechCrunch)
• Electric charging provider FreeWire raised $50 million. (FreeWire)
• Battery firm Freyr will list via a merger with a special purpose entity. (Freyr)
• Tesla is confident of meeting or beating the targets for reductions in battery cost published in the Battery Day presentation. (Seeking Alpha)

Connectivity

• Vehicle data company Otonomo will list through a merger with a special purpose vehicle. (Otonomo)

Other

• All-electric scooter rental firm Lime will start offering mopeds. (TechCrunch)

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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 18^th January to 24^th 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.

Find our archive here.

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News about the major automakers

BMW ^(history)

• 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)

Daimler ^(history)

• 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)

Ford ^(history)

• 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)

General Motors ^(history)

• 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)

Honda ^(history)

• 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)

Hyundai / Kia ^(history)

• 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 ^(history)

• 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).

Tesla ^(history)

• 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 ^(history)

• 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)

VW Group ^(history)

• 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)

Electrification ^(history)

• 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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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 11^th January to 17^th 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.

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News about the major automakers

BMW ^(history)

• 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)

FCA ^(history)

• 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 18^th 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)

Ford ^(history)

• 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)

General Motors ^(history)

• 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)

Hyundai / Kia ^(history)

• 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)

PSA ^(history)

• Completed the merger with PSA to form Stellantis, which will begin trading on 18^th 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)

Renault ^(history)

• 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)

Tata (includes JLR) ^(history)

• 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)

Tesla ^(history)

• 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)

Toyota ^(history)

• Settled a US probe into tardy reporting of emissions problems by agreeing to a $180 million fine. (Reuters)

VW Group ^(history)

• 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)

Electrification ^(history)

• 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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New logos and just about nothing else noteworthy. Please enjoy our auto industry and mobility briefing for 4^th January to 10^th 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

Daimler ^(history)

• 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)

FCA ^(history)

• 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)

Ford ^(history)

• 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)

General Motors ^(history)

• 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 / Kia ^(history)

• 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)

PSA ^(history)

• 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 ^(history)

• 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)

VW Group ^(history)

• 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)

Electrification ^(history)

• 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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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 14^th 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

BMW ^(history)

• Says that 20% of its cars will be electric (seemingly to include plug-in hybrids) by 2023. (Reuters)

Daimler ^(history)

• 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)

FCA ^(history)

• PSA and FCA will become one company, Stellantis, on 16^th 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)

Ford ^(history)

• 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)

General Motors ^(history)

• 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)

Honda ^(history)

• 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)

Hyundai / Kia ^(history)

• 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 ^(history)

• PSA and FCA will become one company, Stellantis, on 16^th January 2021. (FCA)

Renault ^(history)

• Unveiled the Lada Largus, based on the Dacia Logan/Sandero. (Lada)
• Will present a new strategic plan on the 14^th of January. (Renault)

Tata (includes JLR) ^(history)

• 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)

Tesla ^(history)

• 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)

Toyota ^(history)

• 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 Group ^(history)

• 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)

Electrification ^(history)

• 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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