Tesla’s sales success; GM’s drop in the ocean; and ambitious profit targets. Please enjoy our auto industry and mobility briefing for 28^th June and 4^th July 2021. A PDF version can be found here.

• Wherever You Will Go — Tesla announced yet another quarterly increase in sales, to over 200,000 units in Q2 2021. With Models S and X faltering, the growth is purely explained by the Model 3 and Model Y. By my maths, if you take the two cars together, this is now the leading premium franchise — besting the might of BMW’s 3-Series / X3, Mercedes C-Class / GLC and Audi A4 / Q5. But the really interesting bit is that those models aren’t suffering too much, so where are the sales coming from? And if they are from outside traditional premium buyers, can Tesla keep them once all-electric products launch in the segments they have come from?
• Tiny Dancer — GM announced a $25 million fund to make climate change more equitable. The idea is to give money to some worthy causes that can help the transition to electric cars for either users or workers. Sounds good but if the company is taking it seriously, how can $25 million make a dent on a change that is costing GM $35 billion in the coming years?
• Wannabe — Volvo gave an update on its near term plan. It was full of talk about software and electric cars, but also featured an increasingly familiar aspiration: a 8% – 10% medium term operating margin. This seems to have become the financial target du jour for car companies, replacing the 6% – 8% of the previous economic cycle. But since many of the companies failed to consistently reach that level, will they be able to meet more stringent targets this time, whilst spending more on electrification?

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)

• Gave the BMW iVentures in-house VC team an additional $300 million to spend. (BMW)

Daimler ^(history)

• Renault and Nissan are removing the executive post that used to deal with Daimler on behalf of both companies. Instead they will move to a series of bilateral relationships. Insiders were mixed on whether the change was more practical, given the tactical nature of the shared projects between the companies, or a worrying sign. (Reuters)

Ford ^(history)

• US sales of 475,327 units in Q2 2021 rose 19% on a year-over-year basis. Increases in SUV sales more than offset the wind down of most car lines, with Bronco Sport, Mustang Mach E and Explorer going great guns. (Ford)
• Says that a shipment of semiconductors will allow it to sell thousands of semi-finished F-150 pickup trucks parked all around Detroit. However, the move doesn’t signal a resurgence of supply, instead Ford is choosing to complete existing orders ahead of building new vehicles. (Detroit Free Press)

Geely (includes Volvo) ^(history)

• Volvo’s sales of 195,059 cars in Q2 2021 rose 41% over prior year levels, with gains driven by SUVs. (Volvo)
• Volvo is aiming for a 8% – 10% operating margin by mid-decade. Volvo’s CEO believes that by moving software development in-house he will be able to speed up product development times and that by mid-decade there will be cost parity between battery electric and ICE products. (Volvo)
• Unveiled the Concept Recharge, seemingly heralding the next generation, all-electric XC90. (Volvo)
• Confirmed that even though in-house software is a major element of the company’s new product strategy, the infotainment system will still be developed with Google. (Volvo)
• Volvo thinks that by mid-decade battery energy density will reach 1,000 Wh / l and charging times will drop in half, bringing electric cars with a 1,000 km range closer to the masses. (Volvo)
• Volvo is building a “data factory” that will hold 200 PebiBytes of information from connected cars that Volvo can use to make changes to driver assistance packages, in the same way Tesla does. (Volvo)

General Motors ^(history)

• Sold 688,236 vehicles in the US during Q2 2021, up 40%  on a year-over-year basis. Although GM continues to tout its green intentions, the sales increase was mostly explained by big gas guzzlers such as the Silverado. (GM)
• Made an investment in US lithium producer Controlled Thermal Resources to try and boost the supply of the material from local sources without ethical question marks. The supply won’t start until 2024. (GM)
• CEO Barra reiterated her intention to transition to electric vehicles without employees losing their jobs – however she cautions that staff will need to understand technology better and be more flexible. (Detroit Free Press)
• Great Wall has postponed the final decision on whether or not to take over GM’s India factory by six months, to wait and see if the government improves its incentives. (Economic Times of India)
• Recalling 380,000 SUVs in the US because suspension parts are coming lose. (Detroit News)
• Announced a $25 million fund to support “equitable climate action”, GM-speak for improving access to new technologies and skills. Given the scale of the problem, it isn’t clear why GM’s contribution is so measly if it is taking the idea seriously. (GM)

Honda ^(history)

• Confirmed that Honda’s GM-sourced all-electric car will be an SUV called Prologue, and there will be an Acura version too. (Honda)

Hyundai / Kia ^(history)

• Hyundai reported Q2 2021 sales of 1,031,092 vehicles, up 46% on a year-over-year basis. (Hyundai)

Nissan and Mitsubishi ^(history)

• Nissan will build a new battery factory in the UK in partnership with Envision (Who acquired Nissan’s in-house battery unit). (BBC)

Renault ^(history)

• Renault’s CEO says he has made an offer to join the battery JV between Stellantis and Total and that the “ball is in their court” about whether to proceed. Rather than set an end date for internal combustion engine sales, he says that he hopes the brand will reach 90% all-electric mix by 2030. He wants the company to re-enter the Chinese market but isn’t yet happy to sign off on a plan to do so arguing that it must be different to previous failed attempts. (Les Echos)
• Renault gave a presentation touting its battery electric credentials. The forthcoming Renault 5 will cost 33% less than the Zoe currently on sale and thinks that it can reduce total cost of ownership by almost €1,000 through V2G charging and residual value improvements. Renault also thinks it will have better range than competitors. The company also increased its commitment to battery electric vehicles and now aims to launch 10 by 2025. (Renault)
• Reportedly interested in taking a stake in charging network Ionity. (Economic Times of India)
• Announced supply agreements for batteries with Envision and French start-up Verkor. The former will build a battery factory on the site of an existing Renault engine factory. (Renault)

Stellantis (formed via the merger of PSA and FCA)

• Will hold an electric vehicle presentation for investors on 8^th July. (Stellantis)
• The Grandland SUV received a minor refresh. (Auto Express)
• Reportedly set to award a new model, an all-electric van, to the Ellesmere Port, UK, plant after the government offered more support. (The Guardian)
• Reported Q2 2021 sales of 485,312 units, up 32% on a year-over-year basis. The improvements were led by the Jeep brand and Ram pickup truck. (Stellantis)

Tata (includes JLR) ^(history)

• Tata’s domestic sales in Q2 2021 of 107,786 units rose more than three times versus prior year. (Tata)
• Jaguar’s all-electric car range will be priced at around £100,000 as part of a move to take the brand more upmarket. It isn’t clear how the existing electric I-Pace, which will likely continue and has a far lower price, will affect efforts to change the marque’s status in the eyes of customers. (Auto Express)

Tesla ^(history)

• Tesla’s deliveries of 201,250 cars in Q2 2021 rose 121% on a year-over-year basis, thanks to growth from Model Y which more than offset continuing problems with the ramp-up of the refreshed Model X and Model S. (Tesla)
• Started deploying vision-only driver assistance to vehicles, doing away with radar sensor input. Tesla says that vehicle performance will take a step back at first. (Electrek)

VW Group ^(history)

• Lost a court case in Ohio where the state was suing for its own settlement for the diesel scandal. VW argued that it had compensated the US federal government for all violations and the matter was settled. The case may go to the US Supreme Court. (Handelsblatt)
• VW’s head of sales says that 95% of car transactions now start with a visit to the brand’s website and in Germany, he doesn’t see a noticeable bias towards electric vehicles amongst different generations, saying it is more a function of attitude than age. He claims that the Project Trinity electric car promised for 2026 will usher in a host of other changes at the company, including a “neural network above and beyond the fully connected vehicle fleet”. (VW)
• Porsche says that suppliers wanting to bid for new contracts will need to show they are using renewable energy for all projects awarded after July 2021. (Porsche)

Other

• Lordstown is reportedly under investigation by the US justice department. (Detroit News)
• Atlis says that it has $300 million of funding lined up. (Atlis)
• Fisker trumpeted the CEO’s visit to manufacturing partner Magna’s factory. In photos released to the press of his inspection, he strode around without safety shoes. (Fisker)
• Nio sold 21,896 cars in Q2 2021, up 112% vs prior year. (Nio)
• VinFast aims to sell 160,000 – 180,000 cars in the US, once it gets up to speed. (Nikkei)
• Ssangyong was granted more time by a South Korean judge to find a buyer after HAAH, who had been kicking the tyres, appeared to drop out. (Korea Herald)

News about other companies and trends

Economic / Political News

• The EU reckons that average new car emissions in 2020 fell to 107.8g CO₂ / km. The official target is 95 g CO₂ / km but compliance can be reached through super credits for emission free cars and in 2020 OEMs were able to exclude their worst performing vehicles from calculations. The EU seemed happy. (EU)
• The UK car manufacturers trade body said the country needs 60 GWh of local battery manufacturing capacity in place by 2030 and 2 GWh of fuel cells. (SMMT)
• US SAAR during June of 15.4 million units rose 18% versus prior year. (Wards)
• There were 186,128 passenger car registrations in the UK during June, up 28% on prior year. (SMMT)
• Germany saw 274,152 new car registrations in June, up 25% on June 2020. (KBA)
• Spanish registrations of 96,785 cars in June rose 17% on a year-over-year basis. (ANFAC)
• Italian sales of 149,438 cars in April 2021 were 13% above prior year levels. (UNRAE)
• June sales of 199,509 cars in France dropped (15)% versus a year ago. (CCFA)

Suppliers

• CATL signed a contract extension with Tesla to supply batteries through to 2025. (Clean Technica)
• Eberspaecher announced the acquisition of Vairex Air Systems / Victori. (Autocar)

Dealers

• Chinese salvage site Bochewang raised $96 million. (Deal Street Asia)

Driverless / Autonomy ^(history)

• Sensata Technologies will invest in Quanergy and help it bring new lidar products to market. (Quanergy)
• Driverless car start-up Ghost raised $100 million. (Ghost)

Electrification ^(history)

• BP invested $7 million in charging firm IoTecha. (IoTecha)
• Renault and Shell are reportedly interested in taking stakes in charging network Ionity. (Economic Times of India)
• Renault reckons that a car plugged in eight hours per day could yield €400 per year from V2G. (Renault)

Connectivity

• Volvo is building a “data factory” that will hold 200 PebiBytes of information from connected cars that Volvo can use to make changes to driver assistance packages, in the same way Tesla does. (Volvo)

Other

• Yamaha invested in online used motorbike dealership CredR. (Autocar)

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BMW’s global perspective; German truckers aren’t keen on autonomy; and Tesla bets it all on cameras. Please enjoy our auto industry and mobility briefing for 21^st June to 27^th June 2021. A PDF version can be found here.

• Other Side Of The World — BMW’s CEO says that he isn’t going to follow rivals in declaring an end date for internal combustion engines because other markets are unlikely to migrate to full electrification as early as Europe. VW and Audi seem to acknowledge the same thing, but have committed to full electric drive in Europe by the mid-2030s. But where does this leave VW’s global portfolio? Will they engineer ICE-powered versions of European products to sell elsewhere, or will emerging markets have to make do with aged products (which is sort of where we were a couple of decades ago)?
• Born To Be Wild — According to research by Continental, German logistics firms are keen on digitalisation but unenthusiastic about autonomy. Instead, they prefer telematics and other tools that boost a driver’s productivity. Logically, transport firms should see a massive financial benefit from replacing drivers with computers, so what explains the reluctance? Has the strength of the current drivers, who are loathe to support the technology for obvious reasons, been underestimated?
• Redundant — Tesla says that it has kicked radar out of its self-driving suite because the data conflicts too often with camera vision, which Tesla thinks is the better technology. But there is a massive flaw: redundancy. This is a safety critical system. How do Tesla expect to gain legal approval to a system that is susceptible to failure of the main sensor set without backup? I can’t see the examples in other industries where regulators wave systems through without designs that leverage, rather than reject, the data from different sensors. Am I looking in the wrong place?

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)

• CEO Zipse poured scorn on plans by rivals such as Audi to phase out internal combustion engines entirely, believing that there will still be a large market for the technology in the 2030s and by not selling them, companies will lose market share. (Handelsblatt)
• Invested in self-driving truck developer Kodiak Robotics. (BMW)
• Aiming to reduce production costs by 25% in 2025 compared to 2019 levels. (Reuters)
• Rolls-Royce wants to build a new coachbuilt car every couple of years, making somewhere between one and five of each design, depending on customer interest. Each car is a four year project. (Autocar)
• Rolls-Royce will not offer PHEVs because the company believes that customers have access to enough charging facilities at home that they won’t be troubled by an all-electric model. (Autocar)

Daimler ^(history)

• German union representatives agreed to give Daimler leeway to offer a special remuneration package for software engineers, with a higher performance related pay element, in return for the company’s commitment that programming will be led from Germany. (Daimler)
• Following a report earlier in June that US customer data was left on servers which could be externally accessed, Daimler has concluded that none of it was used. Daimler stressed that the data was old (entered between 2014 – 2017) and said all customers affected, said to monitor around 1,000, would have 24 months of credit score monitoring paid for so that misuse of their data would be noticed. (Daimler)
• Reportedly wants to manufacture battery cells in-house. (Reuters)

Ferrari

• Unveiled the 296 GTB mid-engined sportscar (formerly known as the F171). The car’s PHEV powertrain is similar to the SF90’s, but the internal combustion engine is a V6 rather than V8 and power is an almost risible 830 hp. Oddly, Ferrari’s press release highlighted the use of trim-coloured plastic speaker covers as proof of the emphasis on performance, something Ferrari calls “maximum formal purity”. (Ferrari)

Ford ^(history)

• Recruited an executive from Renault to head up Ford’s efforts on new businesses such as mobility service and autonomy. (Ford)
• Confirmed that it will supply an array of parts for the new US postal service van built by Oshkosh. (Reuters)
• Ford’s CTO is off to work for Amazon. (Detroit Free Press)
• Ford’s wholly-owned scooter unit Spin has started using its own designs. (TechCrunch)

Geely (includes Volvo) ^(history)

• Volvo is setting up a joint venture with Northvolt to produce battery cells. The plan is to have 50 Gwh of capacity by 2026. (Volvo)
• The next generation Volvo XC90 will have lidar as standard. (Volvo)
• Geely has called off plans to list on the Chinese STAR market (it is already listed in Hong Kong). (Reuters)

General Motors ^(history)

• Offering customers in Texas free overnight charging if they sign up for a service run by a Shell subsidiary. (GM)
• Said it has a prospective buyer for the former Warren Transmission plant site. (Detroit News)

Nissan and Mitsubishi ^(history)

• CEO Uchida said April and May performance was better than expected. He also pleaded with shareholders at the AGM to “give us time” to show improved results. He plans to unveil a new strategy in the autumn. (Nikkei)

Stellantis (formed via the merger of PSA and FCA)

• Will reportedly offload its stake in transport firm Gefco as part of plans to sell the entire business. (Reuters)
• A large car park for in-transit vehicles in Detroit was flooded. (Detroit Free Press)

Tata (includes JLR) ^(history)

• JLR invested in Caura, an app that integrates payments for different types of services used by drivers. (JLR)
• CEO Butschek will continue as a consultant to Tata for nine months after stepping down at the end of June. The firm has yet to announce a successor. (Tata)

Tesla ^(history)

• Will soon hold an AI day to showcase its progress in the technology. (Electrek)
• Chinese regulators told Tesla to update Autopilot so that it was harder to turn it on by mistake. (Business Insider)
• Tesla reckons it has the 5^th most powerful supercomputer in the world. (Nvidia)
• Tesla’s head of automated driving said that the firm is dropping radar from its self-driving car sensor suite because it disagrees with the camera vision too often. (Barrons)

VW Group ^(history)

• Audi will only launch all-electric models from 2026 onwards and will be all-electric only by 2033, unless customer demand for internal combustion engines continue – something Audi thinks might happen in China. (Audi)
• VW’s head of sales says the company will stop selling internal combustion engines by 2050, with sales in Europe to cease between 2033 and 2035. He explained that the company believes Africa and South America will take a “good bit longer” to make the transition. (Handelsblatt)
• CEO Diess believes that autonomy will have a bigger impact on the industry than electrification and sees his company as in “quite a good position” competitively. (Automotive News)
• Škoda launched a new brand strategy, aiming for more electric cars and a return on sales above 8%. (Škoda)
• Launching “R”, the faster versions of VW cars, as a sub brand with unique dealer displays. (VW)
• Porsche is investing a “high double-digit million” figure in a joint venture with battery developer Customcells, to be called Cellforce. Porsche will have a 83.75% stake in the business which plans to install 100 MWh of production capacity. (Porsche)
• Pursuing a majority stake in rental firm Europcar, which rebuffed VW’s initial bid. (Detroit News)

Other

• Xpeng hopes to list in an IPO that could value it at $2 billion. (CNBC)
• Aston Martin fell out with one of its dealers over missing hypercar deposits. (The Guardian)
• Lordstown Motors is examining potential strategic partners as it bids for survival. (Economic Times of India) The company invited observers to visit its factory as it sought to reassure investors that the firm wasn’t about to collapse and to build confidence after poorly timed executive share sales. (New York Times)

News about other companies and trends

Economic / Political News

• Chinese authorities will make it easier for cars to be sold across different regions in a bid to boost the used car sales market. (China Daily)

Suppliers

• HDT Automotive announced the acquisition of Veritas. (HDT Automotive)
• STMicroelectronics received a strategic cooperation designation from Renault, and will expect to win lots of contracts for power electronics semi-conductors as a result. (Renault)
• The bidding war for Hanon is reportedly led by Valeo, Mahle and venture capital firm Carlyle. (Korea Times)
• Panasonic sold its stake in Tesla, raising $3.6 billion. (Reuters)
• Eaton acquired a 50% stake in bus electrification specialist Jiangsu YiNeng Electric. (Eaton)
• Battery maker InoBat invested in charging firm AgeVolt. (Economic Times of India)
• Aluminium supplier Liberty is reportedly on the brink of financial failure. (Sky News)
• Denso invested in 3D metal printing firm Seurat. (Autocar)
• Reliance Industries intends to build a massive fuel cell factory. (Autocar)
• Minda Industries is acquiring a majority stake in lighting supplier UZ Chasys. (Autocar)
• Kongsberg appointed a new CFO. (Kongsberg)

Dealers

• Indian on-demand servicing start-up GoMechanic raised $42 million. (Tech In Asia)
• African used car listings service Cars45 was acquired by general listings firm Jiji. (TechCrunch)

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

• White label fleet management firm Joyride raised $3.7 million. (TechCrunch)
• Ride hailing firm Alto raised $45 million. (Business Insider)

Driverless / Autonomy ^(history)

• Research commissioned by Continental suggests that although German transport firms are scared of losing out to firms that better use digital tools, they are sceptical about the promise of self-driving trucks. (Continental)
• Lidar firm Quanergy is going public via a merger with a special purpose vehicle. (TechCrunch)
• Amazon has reportedly purchased 1,000 self-driving truck systems from Plus. (Business Insider)
• Amazon’s Zoox self-driving unit released a new safety report. (Zoox)
• Self-driving truck firm Embark is going public via a merger with a special purpose vehicle. (Embark)

Electrification ^(history)

• Battery management firm Electra Vehicles raised $3.6 million. (Electra)

Other

• Nikola is investing in hydrogen generation firm Wabash Valley Resources. (Nikola)

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BMW’s sustainable future; Stellantis looks to the future; and has Ford stolen Tesla’s thunder? Please enjoy our auto industry and mobility briefing for 17^th May to 23rd May 2021. A PDF version can be found here.

• Earth Song — BMW is starting to use tyres that use raw materials from a variety of sustainable sources (beyond the rubber). The company clearly believes that certified sustainability will be a differentiator in future. Will we soon be talking about the impact on the leather and plastics industries of a shift to sustainable vegetable-based interiors that rivals the ongoing worries about job losses from switching between ICE and EV?
• The Plan — Stellantis and Foxconn are forming a joint venture to create in-car technologies. Automaker with bags of scale meets contract manufacturer hungry or patrons beyond Apple. The joint venture will bid on (and presumably win) contracts for Stellantis vehicles but also look for business from other OEMs. Could this be a big step towards an industry standard part- owned by Stellantis?
• Paying The Cost To Be The Boss — Ford unveiled the all-electric F-150. Although to European eyes it might seem too big and the antithesis of environmental friendliness, this is perhaps the most significant electric vehicle launch since the Tesla Model Y. Hyperbole perhaps? Why would I say something so controversial? Simply because this is the truck, which if it delivers, will be the first serious entry to beat a Tesla product (the Cybertruck) to market. Tesla’s market value is built on pummelling traditional players into the ground. Will markets react favourably to F-150 eating Cybertruck’s lunch?

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)

• Expects to be fined a lower amount by the EU in a case related to how German OEMs shared ideas for new emission technologies. Instead of the original €1.4 billion provision, BMW expects to pay around €400 million and says, that it won’t appeal the smaller penalty, if issued as the company currently expects. (BMW)
• BMW trumpeted its decision to use Pirelli tyres made from a variety of sustainable raw materials. BMW claims to be the first manufacturer in the World to do so. (BMW)
  • Along with plans for battery raw materials and other moves, BMW signals a belief that sourcing will be a key differentiator in years to come (requiring baby steps now).

Daimler ^(history)

• Splitting its financial services, Daimler Mobility, into two units in line with the spin-off of the trucks division. It isn’t clear how the investments in mobility services and other emerging industries will be split. (Daimler)
• Developing hydrogen infrastructure for trucks in partnership with Shell. (Daimler)
• The Trucks division hosted an investor day to lay out its ambitions as a separate entity. (Daimler)

Ford ^(history)

• Announced a joint venture with SK Innovation called BlueOvalSK to build batteries. CEO Farley suggested this was the start of a far-reaching plan to “vertically integrate key capabilities”. Ford expects the battery joint venture to provide at least 25% of global needs by 2030. (Ford)
• Unveiled the all-electric version of the F-150 pickup truck. Mid-priced models will have a MSRP of $53,000. The model is clearly differentiated by an always-on light bar that runs across the front grille. Unfortunately the company hasn’t taken the opportunity to create a Knight Rider style fade — which is what Elon Musk would do. (Ford)
• CEO Farley says that solid state batteries are needed for all retail sales in richer markets to shift to electric models. He is less clear on a transition in markets such as Thailand and Australia. He says that Ford’s market research says customers are far more interested in the all-electric F-150 in the Tesla Cybertruck. The vehicle’s conservative styling is because potential buyers told Ford that they don’t want “spaceships”. He thinks that, with improvements through learning real world driving habits range can be improved by 10 miles per year. When asked about how long car companies have a duty to keep computing current, Farley said the question was “important” and then didn’t answer it. He did say that he thinks cars will become physically upgradable in future. (The Verge)
• Despite contrary findings from competitors, Ford believes that only 10% of UK buyers are interested in all-electric vehicles for their next car. (BBC)

Honda ^(history)

• Honda’s head executive in North America is also now in charge of electric vehicles. (Honda)
• Absorbing Honda Kaihatsu, which provides non production services, such as canteens, to Honda. (Honda)

Mazda

• Discontinuing the Mazda 6 (large car) and CX-3 (small SUV) in the USA, the two slowest selling models after the MX-5 sportscar. (Mazda)

Nissan and Mitsubishi ^(history)

• Former CEO Ghosn lost a legal case for wrongful dismissal and was ordered to pay €5 million to Nissan. Ghosn saus that he will appeal (The Guardian)

Stellantis (formed via the merger of PSA and FCA)

• Forming a 50/50 joint venture with Foxconn called Mobile Drive to develop infotainment systems. The new company will bid competitively for Stellantis contracts (it clearly expects to win some of them) and will also sell to other automakers. The vision is for the car to ultimately become a “third living space”. (Stellantis)

Tata (includes JLR) ^(history)

• Tata reported full year (to 31^st March) financial results. Revenue of 250 Cr INR (about $34 billion) fell (4)% year-over-year, more than explained by JLR where revenue fell (14)% to £19.7 billion. There was a loss before tax of (10,474) Cr INR (about $(1.4) billion). JLR was responsible for £(861) million of the total loss, although the brand preferred to concentrate on a profit before exceptional items figure.  JLR now says it can breakeven below 400,000 units annually and still plans to reduce capacity by 25% between 2024 and 2027. (Tata)

Tesla ^(history)

• A Norwegian court awarded damages of around $16,000 each to owners of older Model S cars after the company slowed down charging speeds via a software update. (The Verge)
• Elon Musk watchers got excited over a trip to the UK, speculating that he might be scouting for potential factory sites (surely something that Musk does himself rather than leaving it to underlings). (BBC) Musk said he was interested in building a production site in Russia. (Economic Times of India)
• Reportedly suffering a parts shortage at the Fremont, USA, factory that has seen between 10,000 and 20,000 partially completed vehicles stockpiled whilst they await delivery. (Electrek)

Toyota ^(history)

• Lexus has now sold 2 million electrified vehicles, which in the brand’s definition includes hybrids. (Lexus)
• A Toyota plant had its IT system hacked. Despite losing sensitive data, the company said that production systems weren’t affected. (Nikkei)

VW Group ^(history)

• Audi is working on a modular charging station which incorporates second-life batteries to enable charging at faster speeds than the local grid can provide, and contains a waiting area on the second level. (Audi)
• Lamborghini said it will be spending €1.5 billion over the next four years on transitioning to electric powertrains. The brand will wave goodbye to purely internal combustion engine power in 2024, cars sold in the mean time will be a “celebration” of the powertrain. (Lamborghini)  
• CEO Diess said fuel cell cars were “proven not to be” a solution to emissions free mobility, calling ongoing debate over the matter “bogus”. (Automotive News)

Other

• Canoo announced a Q1 2021 loss of $(97) million, almost four times the loss in the same period of 2020. The company is also under investigation by the US stock market regulator. It tried to pick up investors spirits by launching $100 reservations for its “Lifestyle” vehicle. (Canoo)
• Fisker is making an all-electric popemobile based on the Ocean SUV. (The Verge)
• Nio signed a supply extension with JAC that runs to 2024. As a part of the deal, annual capacity will be expanded to 240,000 units. (Nio)
• Huawei reckons it can sell 300,000 electric vehicles in 2022 from a standing start. (China Money Network)
• Changan and Huawei are set to launch a new all-electric vehicle brand but have yet to reveal the name, instead referring to it as AB Brand. (China Money Network)
• Revived brand Radford will be basing its new sports car on Lotus underpinnings. (Autocar)

News about other companies and trends

Economic / Political News

• The UK government was criticised by parliamentary politicians for failing to do enough to plan for a phase out of internal combustion engine sales by 2035. (Autocar)
• European passenger car registrations during April of 1.04 million rose 256% year-over-year. (ACEA)

Suppliers

• Eberspaceher is renaming its exhaust division “Purem”, potentially as a precursor to a spin-off. (Autocar)
• SK Innovation says it has an order book of $115 billion of batteries, amounting to 1,000 GWh (making it $115 oer kWh). (ET News)

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

• GoJek is merging with Tokopedia to create a firm spanning ride hailing to financial services. (Deal Street Asia)
• Car rental firm Virtuo raised $96 million. (TechCrunch)

Driverless / Autonomy ^(history)

• Waymo is reportedly looking to raise $4 billion. (Bloomberg)
• Machine vision develop SiLC raised $17 million. (SiLC)
• Chinese self-driving firm Maxieye raised 150 million CNY. (China Money Network)

Electrification ^(history)

• Charging firm DST raised $100 million in a round led by Ikea’s holding company. (Deal Street Asia)
• TomTom says it can use mapping to predict the range of an EV to single digit percent accuracy and is selling the technology to OEMs. (TomTom)
• Battery management software firm Twaice raised $26 million. (FINSMES)
• EV infrastructure software firm WeaveGrid raised $15 million. (WeaveGrid)
• Charging company Magenta EV raised $15 million. (Economic Times of India)
• Ford’s research suggests that only 10% of UK buyers are interested in all-electric vehicles for their next car. (BBC) Responses to a study by electricity provider Ofgem put the number at 25% of households. (The Guardian)

Other

• US workers at a Volvo Trucks plant rejected a new contract that was agreed with unions. The union promised that they wouldn’t immediately go on strike. (Volvo Trucks)
• Car insurance marketplace Jerry raised $28 million. (TechCrunch)
• UK insurance startup Wrisk raised £5 million. (FINSMES)

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Tough words from Tavares; asset light dealers making waves; and Ford gives electric cars fast names. Please enjoy our auto industry and mobility briefing for 10^th May to 16^th May 2021. A PDF version can be found here.

• Bossy — Stellantis CEO Tavares says that he is giving each brand 10 years to prove itself, after which underperforming marques could face the chop. This is coming from a man who has openly spoken about retiring before then, and where powerful shareholders whose names adorn some of those vehicles (think Peugeot) sit on the board. Is this anything more than hot air?
• A New Flame — UK used car dealer Cazoo has sold 25,000 cars in the last 18 months. The company does most of its selling via the internet, with 17 sites and a fleet of 180 delivery vehicles. On a per site basis, it is nearing Tesla for throughput, pointing to the power of online sales and slick financing deals. Can others afford to stay in business if they don’t start to shift towards this model?
• Fast Car — Ford is calling the all-electric F-150 the Lightning. This is a nameplate that was used for the fastest version of the pickup until the mid-2000s. Following on from the Mustang Mach E, it seems as though Ford is trying to use sporty sounding names for electric products, despite the vehicle designs being at the boxier end of segmentation. Is A Ford Focus Thunderbird on the horizon?

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)

• CEO Källenius says that there needs to be an “honest conversation” about the impact of a shift to electric vehicles on jobs because electric powertrains require fewer labour hours than internal combustion engines. (Reuters)
• Unveiled the Concept EQT van which previews the Citan’s replacement. (Daimler)
• Daimler Trucks and Volvo believe they can reduce fuel cell costs by a factor of five or six by 2027. (Reuters)

Ford ^(history)

• Mahindra reckons that when it was working on joint venture programs in India with Ford, the cost targets were 40% lower than Ford was achieving alone because Ford “simply cannot think or perform as frugally”. (Autocar)
• Will brand over the air updates as “Ford Power-Up” and announced a deeper integration with Amazon’s Alexa personal assistant. Ford hopes to use the artificial intelligence behind Alexa to offer customised skills for its customers, although it isn’t clear how exclusivity will be preserved. (Ford)
• The all-electric F-150 will be badged “Lightning”, last used for souped-up versions of the truck in the early 2000s. Following on from Mustang Mach E, the decision indicates Ford will be using sporty branding for all-electric models, even if the cars themselves are more towards the utilitarian end of bodystyle segmentation. (Ford)
• Despite plans to reduce the UK dealer footprint and wider concerns about the growth of online sales, Ford’s wholly-owned dealer group is still acquiring sites. (Motor Trader)

Geely (includes Volvo) ^(history)

• Volvo confirmed that it is exploring plans to list at the end of the year. (Volvo)

General Motors ^(history)

• A union at the Silao, Mexico, plant was accused of tampering with ballot papers on changes to union rules. US trade representatives believe there may be a case to be answered under USMCA (NAFTA’s replacement). (Detroit News)
• Says that “most” all-electric cars which have the battery pack replaced receive a refurbished unit, rather than all new parts. GM has will recycle in partnership with Li-Cycle from the end of 2021 onwards, using a process GM hopes will reduce greenhouse emissions by 30%. (GM)
• The UAW union is spoiling for a fight over organising rights at the new battery factories GM is building in partnership with LG. (Detroit Free Press)

Honda ^(history)

• Reported full year financial results for the year ended March 2021. Automotive revenue of 8.6 trillion JPY (about $78 billion) fell (14)% versus prior year. Automotive operating profit of 90 billion JPY (about $830 million) dropped (40)%. Honda hopes that unit sales will grow about 10% this year. (Honda)

Hyundai / Kia ^(history)

• Intends to invest $7.4 billion in the USA by 2025, a figure that appears to include the recent majority shareholding in robot firm Boston Dynamics. (Hyundai)

Nissan and Mitsubishi ^(history)

• Reported full year financial results for the year ended March 2021. Revenue of 7.9 trillion JPY (about $72 billion) fell (20)% whilst an operating loss of (151) billion JPY was almost three times higher than the prior year. Nissan said its turnaround plan was gaining traction and it will hopefully be around breakeven this year. (Nissan)

Renault ^(history)

• Renault’s CEO has asked engineers to re-investigate the potential for battery swapping. (Autocar)

Stellantis (formed via the merger of PSA and FCA)

• CEO Tavares is giving each Stellantis brand 10 years to prove its worth. (Detroit News)
  • Significance: Despite the tough talk, it appears unlikely that the Peugeot or Fiat brands would be retired, whatever their performance.
• Tavares worries that cars will only be for the rich if electric powertrain is forced upon customers whilst the technology is immature, driving prices up. (Telegraph)
• Cutting a shift at the Bellevidere, USA, plant due to slow sales of the Jeep Cherokee. (Detroit News)

Subaru

• Reported full year financial results for the year ended March 2021. Revenue of 2.8 trillion JPY (about $26 billion) dropped (15)% whilst operating profit of 102 billion JPY (about $940 million) was less than half the prior year level. Subaru expects to be back to pre-coronavirus levels this year. (Subaru)
• Detailed the progress on its turnaround plan. Subaru says it will improve profits through better plan product architecture and growing US market share to 5%. (Subaru)

Tesla ^(history)

• In an odd volte-face, Elon Musk said Tesla would no longer accept Bitcoin as payment for cars. Although it wasn’t clear if anyone has been using the facility, it was seen as a lack of confidence in the cryptocurrency which dropped in value as a result. Musk attributed the move to concerns about the environmental impact of creating the currency and running the blockchain but since this is a longstanding issue it isn’t clear why Tesla agreed in the first place. (Autocar)

Toyota ^(history)

• Reported full year financial results for the year ended March 2021. Revenue of 27.2 trillion JPY (about $250 billion) fell (9)% whilst operating income of 2.2 trillion JPY (about $20 billion) fell (8)%. (Toyota)
• Because the catalytic converter design in older Toyota models is particularly easy to steal, the company is paying for tens of thousands of UK cars to have their catalytic converters marked so that police will know if units found in suspicious circumstances have been nicked. The problem is so bad that Toyota had to restart production of obsolete parts to provide replacements. Whoever makes the second most easy to steal catalytic converters might need to step up their game. (Toyota)
• Now expects to have sold 2 million BEV and fuel cell vehicles by 2030, although Toyota thinks that they will still be outsold 3:1 by PHEV and hybrid models. (Toyota)

VW Group ^(history)

• Porsche plans to ramp up its bespoke workload by launching an extended range of options within the online configurator and resurrecting the “Sonderwunsch” program for one-off cars. (Porsche) There is also a plan to offer more extensive upgrade options for older cars. (Porsche)
• Another week, another Hermès-clad bespoke car. After Rolls-Royce, it was Bugatti’s turn to unveil an interior laden with expensive French leather. Is the brand now too commonplace? (Bugatti)
• Dissolving a legal entity structure where several German plants are separate from the rest of the company . Through the change (which will take until 2027), working agreements will be synchronised. (VW)
• Reportedly plans a 20 GWh solid state battery plant in Salzgitter, Germany. (QuantumScape)
• Porsche expects that most of its workforce will spend about half their time working remotely and plans to furnish them with large screens and other accessories to help them work comfortably from home. Accordingly, the company is planning to reduce office capacity. (Handelsblatt)

Other

• Gordon Murray announced a plan to develop a flexible electric vehicle platform for B-sized (small) vehicles that will underpin a series of designs for established brands. After earlier plans for small vehicles showed promise but didn’t reach production, the business model is being changed to reduce upfront fees. (Autocar)
• Fisker and Foxconn said that the “Project PEAR” vehicle they are jointly developing will have a price tag under $30,000. The launch date has dropped back to Q4 2023. (Autocar)
• BYD is spinning off its chips business. (Nikkei)
• Human Horizons says that its cars sits in a new category of vehicles called Techluxe. The term might not catch on though, and Human Horizons have trademarked it. (Human Horizons)

News about other companies and trends

Suppliers

• Kongsberg announced Q1 2021 revenue of €303 million and adjusted EBIT of €20 million. (Kongsberg) The firm held an investor day. (Kongsberg)
• Randon reported Q1 2021 revenue of 2.8 billion BRL (about $530 million) and net income of 134 million BRL (about $25 million). (Randon)

Dealers

• Cazoo celebrated the sale of its 25,000^th car, 18 months after launching. Working from 17 sites, supported by 180 delivery vans, the current run rate appears higher than the number of locations would explain if operating under the conventional model. (Motor Trader)
• Indian used car website CarTrade reportedly plans to raise $272 million in an IPO. (Tech In Asia)
• China Automotive Systems reported Q1 2021 revenues of $130 million and net income of $3 million. (CAAS)

Driverless / Autonomy ^(history)

• WeRide said it has raised lots more money. (Deal Street Asia)
• Lidar company Innovusion raised $64 million. (TechCrunch)
• Argo (owned by VW and Ford) says that its in-house lidar unit has a range of 400 metres. (VW)
• A Waymo customer recorded a slapstick moment where a vehicle became stuck in the face of confusing traffic cones and then drove away as operators tried to restore service, before being stuck again. (The Verge)

Connectivity

• Italian authorities fined Google €100 million for denying Enel’s charging app access to the Android Auto app store. (TechCrunch)

Other

• The former head of the UAW received 21 months of jail time for corruption. (Detroit News)
• Scooter rental firm Bird is listing through a merger with a special purpose vehicle that values it at $2.3 billion. (Bird)

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Honda walks away from ICE; Renault takes it slow; and EV start-ups shredding management. Please enjoy our auto industry and mobility briefing for 19^th April to 25^th April 2021. A PDF version can be found here.

• This Is Me — Honda says that it will be all-electric by 2040. If a company so steeped in the mystery of the internal combustion engine that it once advertised cars using a perfume bottle full of motor oil can convince itself that the time has come to make a commitment to the future, what excuse does everyone else have?
• From Now On — Renault is following Volvo’s lead in restricting the top speed of vehicles to 180 km/h (just over 110 mph). The benefits are clear: companies can burnish their safety reputation by saying low speeds are safer, and cut costs because they no longer need to engineer cars, engines and transmissions that can travel as fast, and can optimise powertrain parts for fuel economy at real-world speeds. Will competitors follow? What does this mean for sportscars?
• Rewrite The Stars — Canoo confirmed that its CEO has been displaced by the chairman. It seems unlikely that this will be the last SPAC-funded electric vehicle start-up to boot out the incumbent management. Thoughts therefore turn to how these investor led companies will act. They are all sub-scale, many have promise, but their success rests on beating the others to market. Might they be stronger together?

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)

• Released initial Q1 2021 financial results because they are better than expected, Group EBIT is €3.8 billion, of which automotive EBIT is €2.2 billion. (BMW)
• Says it is on track to meet EU CO2 targets for 2025 and 2030 because more than 50% of sales will be all-electric by 2030 (previously the commitment was for more than 50% to be BEV and PHEV combined). BMW appears more bullish on the prospects for solid state batteries than VW. Whereas VW intends to use them in niche applications and believes that they will be too expensive for the mainstream (for at least a generation or two), BMW thinks that the technology will be a “game changer”. (BMW)
• Claimed the world premiere of the BMW iX in Shanghai, despite having revealed the model in November 2020. It turned out that BMW meant this was the first time people could see the vehicle in the flesh. (BMW)

Daimler ^(history)

• Released full financial results for Q1 2021. Revenue of €41 billion rose 10% on a year-over-year basis whilst adjusted EBIT of €4.97 billion was almost seven times higher than prior year. Daimler upped its full year guidance and now expects the vans and cars division to have an adjusted return on sales of 10% – 12%. (Daimler)
• Extended the contract of the CEO of the truck division to 2025. The CFO’s new deal runs to 2027. (Daimler)
• Says there are more than 20,000 orders for the EQA. (Daimler)
• Credit losses at Daimler’s captive finance arm are falling, after rises in the last couple of years, and now sit at around 2018 levels. (Daimler)
• When asked about margin parity between ICE and BEV, Daimler’s CFO said that parity had not yet been reached but since the firm had achieved a 14% margin in Q1 2021 with a 10% electric vehicle mix, he was comfortable that electric vehicle sales could grow without “too strong margin dilution” and that margin parity would be before the end of the decade. (Seeking Alpha)

Ferrari

• Ferrari have recruited an editor from BBC’s TopGear to produce in-house content. (Ferrari)
• Released photographs of an unnamed variant of the 812 SuperFast (long rumoured to be the GTO). Ferrari (hyperbolically) suggests the car’s performance is so extreme that it can’t have a conventional rear windscreen and the company has fitted an aluminium panel instead. (Ferrari)

Ford ^(history)

• Using 3D printing to create a keepsake for launch customers of the Mustang Mach E. They will each get a wireframe sculpture of the car’s emblem, dyed to match the colour of their car. (Ford)
• Unveiled the Lincoln Zephyr Reflection, previewing a China-only large car. (Ford)

Geely (includes Volvo) ^(history)

• Volvo reckons it can save 1 billion SEK per year (about $120 million) by recycling more and saving energy. (Volvo)
• Geely unveiled the Xingyue L SUV at Shanghai. (Geely)
• Geely and Baidu’s electric car joint venture will reportedly invest almost $8 billion in new products over the next five years. (Reuters)

General Motors ^(history)

• The Cadillac brand will only launch all-electric products from now on. (Electrek)
• GM’s Cruise self-driving unit says that 1% of the fleet will be dedicated to social causes. (GM)

Honda ^(history)

• Says that by 2040, the company will sell only all-electric or fuel cell vehicles, with a target of 80% of global sales being from these vehicle types by 2035. (Honda)

Hyundai / Kia ^(history)

• Hyundai reported Q1 2021 revenue of 27.4 trillion KRW (about $24.7 billion), up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. Operating profit was 1.66 trillion KRW (about $1.4 billion), up 92% year-over-year. (Hyundai)
• Kia reported Q1 2021 revenue of 16.6 trillion KRW (about $14.9 billion), up 14% versus prior year. Operating profit of 1.1 trillion KRW (about $1 billion) rose 142% year-over-year. (Kia)
• Says that solid state batteries will be production ready in 2027. The company recognises that it has more to do to stimulate demand in emerging markets. (Hyundai)
• Invested in Ottopia, a company that can drive vehicles through remote control. (TechCrunch)

Renault ^(history)

• Reported Q1 2021 revenue of €10 billion, down (1)% versus prior year. Group sales of 665,038 vehicles rose 1%. In Europe, 23% of Renault’s mix was electric (including PHEV and HEV), although at a group level, including Lada and Dacia, there was a quarter over quarter drop. (Renault)
• Has a new mission statement “our spirit of innovation takes mobility further to bring people closer”. (Renault)
• Renault and Dacia cars will have their top speed restricted to 180 kmh (112 mph) from 2022 onwards. (Les Echos)

Stellantis (formed via the merger of PSA and FCA)

• Fitting Peugeot 308 cars with analogue dials, rather than digital displays, to reduce the impact of semiconductor shortages. (Reuters)

Tesla ^(history)

• Chinese regulators called on Tesla (again) to improve quality after a public complaint at the Shanghai show. (Reuters)

Toyota ^(history)

• Wants to be carbon neutral by 2050. (Toyota)
• Toyota will launch a series of all-electric vehicles branded “Beyond Zero”, with seven on sale by 2025. (Toyota)
• Invested in hydrogen transport company Universal Hydrogen. (Toyota)
• Revealed a minor refresh to the Lexus ES. (Lexus)

VW Group ^(history)

• Unveiled the Audi A6 e-tron concept, an all-electric saloon. (Audi)
• VW’s research says that North American customers are more open to electric vehicles with 60% ready to consider the technology and 80% believing that there are environmental benefits. Oddly, despite long-standing concerns over range anxiety, VW finds that customer driving 100 miles or less per week are less interesting in all-electric cars than those driving more than 200 miles per week. (VW)
• Appointed the head of the VW workers council to head of HR for the Traton truck division. (VW) His replacement will be his deputy. (Manager Magazin)
• Porsche’s CEO wants the brand to have its own battery cell factory, arguing that his cars will need a different type of cell to the majority of the group’s vehicles. (Handelsblatt)

Other

• The marketing team at Great Wall might want to brush up on industry slang. Their new vehicles are based on a technology named “L.E.M.O.N.”. (Great Wall)
• Rimac is investing €200 million in a new headquarters. (Rimac)
• Canoo announced that its executive chairman would assume the responsibilities of CEO. (Canoo)
  • Significance: Alongside Nikola, Canoo now becomes the second SPAC-funded EV company to boot out its incumbent management.

News about other companies and trends

Economic / Political News

• The UK department of transport has decided that “myth-busting” is needed to convince customers that they should switch to electric cars ahead of a planned 2030 ban on new sales. Reflecting the improved confidence in electric vehicles, although over 80% of consumers worry they are too expensive, under 60% have reliability concerns. (AA)

Suppliers

• Veoneer is developing a passive safety (airbag) adjustment system based on camera monitoring of occupants using equipment from emotion3D so that the system can take more parameters than weight into account. (Veoneer)
• Michelin says that it is working with Carbios, a company that creates specialist enzymes which can break down unwanted plastics, and that together they have created fibres suitable for tyres. (Michelin)
• Autoliv reported Q1 2021 revenue of $2.2 billion and operating income of $237 million. (Autoliv)
• Continental reported Q1 2021 revenue of €10.3 billion and an adjusted EBIT margin of 8.1%. (Continental)
• Schaeffler reported better than expected Q1 2021 revenue of €3.6 billion and EBIT margin go 11.3%. (Schaeffler)
• Nidec announced Q1 2021 revenue of 433 billion JPY (about $4 billion) and PBT of 43.6 billion JPY (about $400 million). (Nidec)
• Magna wants to be carbon neutral by 2030. (Magna)
• Bosch criticised the EU’s approach to CO₂ reduction, saying that it needed to do more on synthetic fuels and hydrogen to achieve carbon neutrality. (TechCrunch)

Dealers

• Dealer software companies Autofutura and GForces agreed to merge. (Autofutura)
• German used car website Driverama says it will cost €400 million to launch its business across Europe. (Faconauto)

Driverless / Autonomy ^(history)

• Autonomous software specialist Black Sesame is reportedly seeking $231 million in funding ahead of an IPO, with Xiaomi said to be interested. (Deal Street Asia)
• GM’s Cruise self-driving unit says that 1% of the fleet will be dedicated to social causes. (GM)

Electrification ^(history)

• BMW appears more bullish on the prospects for solid state batteries than VW. Whereas VW intends to use them in niche applications and believes that they will be too expensive for the mainstream (for at least a generation or two), BMW thinks that the technology will be a “game changer”. (BMW)
• Daimler’s CFO said that ICE to BEV margin parity had not yet been reached yet, but he expects it will be before the end of the decade. (Seeking Alpha)

Other

• Truckmaker Volvo reported Q1 2021 sales of 94 billion SEK (about $11.2 billion) and adjusted operating income of 11.8 billion SEK (about $1.4 billion). (Volvo) Volvo is taking a majority stake in Designwerk Technologies, a company that develops batteries and electric powertrain for heavy vehicles. (Volvo)
• Electric scooter rental firm Dott raised $85 million. (TechCrunch)
• French driving school firm Ornikar, which helps drivers through the process of learning to drive, but also getting started on the road once they pass their test (e.g setting up insurance) raised €100 million. (TechCrunch)

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Geely selling small stakes in everything; VW choosing one meaningless name over another; and workers and managers need to unite. Please enjoy our auto industry and mobility briefing for 12^th April to 18^th April 2021. A PDF version can be found here.

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

• Money, Money, Money — Geely sold a stake in Polestar and reportedly is thinking about doing something similar to raise money for Lotus. This follows hot on the heels of calling off the merger between Geely and Volvo. Is Geely a bit short of cash, or is a web of interlinked car companies with majority, but not complete, control the way of the future?
• Scream If You Want To Go Faster — VW says faster versions of all-electric cars will be called GTX. For the last few decades, we’ve known them as GTIs. I know that in theory, the “I” is injection and indicates the role of an internal combustion engine, but the “GT” stands for grand tourer — hardly the description most would use for a Golf. Why not go the whole way and rename it to something that makes sense?
• Lean On Me — German unions are demanding that Continental offer payoffs of €250,000 per person to workers being made redundant after the company decided to close a plant making combustion engine parts. Unless Continental ups the offer, unions threaten to strike indefinitely. At face value, nothing has changed versus the 1970s, except that it has: the entire powertrain is changing in around a decade. Tens of thousands of workers will be made redundant and companies saddled with huge closure costs won’t make it to the end. How can companies and workers be realistic about the future but fair and respectful at the same time?    

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)

• Reported preliminary Q1 2021 financial results because they were better than the market expected. Daimler expects EBIT of €5.7 billion, €4.1 billion of which comes from cars and light vans. (Daimler)
• Unveiled the EQB, a mid-size, all-electric, SUV. With an optional seven seat package, the car seems squarely aimed at the Tesla Model Y. (Daimler)
• CEO Källenius says the all-electric EQS will achieve “reasonable” returns. (Automotive News)

Ferrari

• Released its 2020 sustainability report. (Ferrari)
• Ferrari will launch its first all-electric model in 2025. (Engadget)

Ford ^(history)

• Longtime board member Jon Huntsman is joining the company as vice chairman with a responsibility for policy. He will remain on the board. (Ford)
• Ford’s advanced driver assistance will be called BlueCruise. Owners will need to pay upfront for the hardware and then be subject to a $600 subscription every three years. (TechCrunch)
• Will operate a direct sales model for electric cars in China, alongside franchised dealerships. (Detroit News)

Geely (includes Volvo) ^(history)

• Polestar raised $550 million in external funding. (Deal Street Asia)
• Reportedly contemplating raising $1 billion for Lotus to support the brand’s electrification plan. (Automotive News)

General Motors ^(history)

• Thanks to new investment from Walmart, Cruise has raised $2.75 billion in its most recent round. (TechCrunch)
• Battery developer SES (formerly Solid Energy Systems) raised $139 million in a round led by GM. (SES)

Honda ^(history)

• Launched the e:progress home charging service in Europe. Customers get reduced energy bills in return for letting an algorithm decide when their car gets to charge up. It isn’t V2G, the system simply chooses to charge during times of low demand. (Honda)
• Unveiled the production version of the all-electric Honda SUV e. The front end is similar to the concept shown at the end of 2020, but the car is now a four door. (Honda)

Hyundai / Kia ^(history)

• Announced a deal to sell all-electric cars to Uber at a reduced price. (Hyundai)
• Regulators are reportedly scrutinising insider trading around the time of news confirming talks with Apple about new cars had been taking place. (FT)
• Reportedly working on a closer tie up with Samsung SDI to develop new batteries. (ET News)

Nissan and Mitsubishi ^(history)

• Nissan’s CEO says sustainability is a priority for the car industry and good environmental custodianship reflects good corporate governance. (CNBC)

Stellantis (formed via the merger of PSA and FCA)

• Unveiled the Citroën C5 X large car. (Stellantis)
• Opel’s head said that it is important for the brand to have a flagship model but refused to be drawn on what type of car might replace the Insignia large car and says he hasn’t yet set a firm date to stop diesel sales. (Automotive News)
• Reportedly looking at restructuring its financial services arm. (Il Sole 24 Ore)
• CEO Tavares set announced updated electrification aspirations, and is now aiming for 70% of the company’s sales in Europe to be low emission vehicles by 2030, although in the USA it would only be 35%. (Detroit Free Press)

Tata (includes JLR) ^(history)

• JLR’s in-house VC firm InMotion invested in battery recycling firm Battery Resourcers. (JLR)

Toyota ^(history)

• Unveiled the BZ4X Concept car, a mid-size SUV that will share its underpinnings with Subaru. (Toyota)
• Recalling 279,000 cars because faulty sensors could stop airbags from deploying. (Toyota)

VW Group ^(history)

• Lamborghini says that it offers 348 colours to customers of its bespoke program, which the brand reckons makes it a world leader. Despite all the choice, Lamborghini says customers have a habit of going for the same thing: red in Asia, green in EMEA and blue in America. The brand uses archetypes Lamborghini calls “personalities” to drive customers towards consistent choices of colours and materials. (Lamborghini)
• Lamborghini had its best ever quarter, with deliveries of 2,422 cars in Q1 2021. (Lamborghini)
• Unveiled the Škoda Kodiaq SUV. (Škoda)
• Took the wraps off the VW ID6 all-electric SUV. (VW)
• Unveiled the production version of the Auto Q4 e-tron SUV, plus a sportback version. (Audi)
• Porsche’s HR chief says headcount reduction is not in the company’s vocabulary. (Porsche)
• Souped up versions of all-electric ID models will be called GTX. (VW)
• Porsche sold 71,986 cars in Q1 2021, up 36% on a year-over-year basis. (Porsche)
• Agreed a 2.3% pay increase for German workers, plus a one-off bonus. (Reuters)
• A German court ruled that VW must refund finance payments made on cars that had test-defeating emissions equipment. (Reuters)

Other

• Faraday Future announced a new head of sales and confirmed that it will use a combination of wholly-owned dealers and third party owned sites. It is implied, but not confirmed, that all sales will take place on a single online platform run by Faraday Future. (FF)
• Sono Motors says it has 13,000 reservations for the Sion solar augmented electric car. (Sono)
• Apple is rumoured to be about to announce a production partnership with LG and Magna. (Autocar)
• BAIC and Huawei announced the Arcfox Alpha S, an all-electric vehicle they have developed together. (Nikkei)

News about other companies and trends

Economic / Political News

• European passenger car sales during March of 3.08 million units rose 0.9% versus prior year. (ACEA)

Suppliers

• Aludyne purchased casting assets from Shiloh Industries. (Aludyne)
• Drone company DJI intends to launch a line of autonomous vehicle sensors. (China Money Network)
• Bosch is creating a joint venture for fuel cells with Chinese truck maker Qingling. (Bosch)
• German unions decided began a series of strikes at Continental’s Karben, Germany factory because the company won’t reconsider plans to close the site or commit to redundancy payments of €250,000 for workers with the long service. (Handelsblatt)
• Grammer announced a new joint venture for seating in China with FAW Group. (Grammer)
• Magna held an investor day. (Magna)
• Magna is collaborating with REE to develop modular electric vehicles. (REE)
• Marelli and Chinese firm WHST are teaming up for radars. (Autocar)
• Martinrea is forming a joint venture with NanoXplore (in which it owns a significant stake) to develop advanced electric car batteries. (Martinrea)
• TI Fluid Systems held an investor day. (TI Fluid Systems)

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

• Grab agreed to merge with a special purpose vehicle in a deal that values the firm at $40 billion. (TechCrunch)
• Chinese ride hailing service Senmiao is expanding through a partnership with Heifei Cheyun. (Senmiao)

Driverless / Autonomy ^(history)

• Oxbotica raised an additional £10 million for food warehouse firm Ocado. (TechCrunch)
• Autonomous delivery vehicle maker Udelv plans to make 35,000 driverless vans. (Intel)

Electrification ^(history)

• Battery recycling firm Battery Resourcers raised $20 million from JLR and others. (FINSMES)
• Battery developer SES (formerly Solid Energy Systems) raised $139 million in a round led by GM. (SES)

Other

• Vietnamese electric motorcycle maker Dat Bike raised $2.6 million. (Deal Street Asia)

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Keeping strong residuals after an EV transition; Ssangyong’s collapse; and lessons learned the hard way. Please enjoy our auto industry and mobility briefing for 29^th March to 11^th April 2021. A PDF version can be found here.

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

• Shiny — Bentley’s boss said it would be “crazy” for the EU to stop classifying plugin hybrids as sustainable (and therefore able to qualify for certain favourable investment treatment). As the head of a brand that plans to go all-electric by 2030, the complaint could at first sight appear confusing; why does Bentley even care? The brand still wants residual values of cars built in the years leading up to 2030 will remain strong after the brand goes all electric. Will owners revel in driving a last of the line fossil-fuel powered car, or feel embarrassed to be in something so olde worlde?
• Let It Go — Ssangyong’s rescue talks have apparently failed at the brand could end up being liquidated. The reason it failed seems clear: it was sub-scale with low brand equity. Paying back new product investment was hard because too few cars sold for too little return. Yet, Ssangyong achieved volumes many startups can only dream about (~150,000 per year). How do they plan on escaping a similar fate?
• A Whole New World — Sony is making good progress on its Vision series of all-electric cars. But development engineers shared an interesting insight… although they have benefited from some fresh thinking by importing “agile development” methods from software and smartphones, they have discovered that old ways work best for safety critical systems, because there is no “good enough” result to be found through trial and error, only success or dramatic failure. I just can’t help looking at the delayed launches of many high profile startups and wondering if they have found the same thing (albeit later than Sony)?

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)

• Sold 636,606 cars in Q1 2021, an increase of 33.5% on a year-over-year basis with higher sales across brands and luxury marque Rolls-Royce up a stonking 62% (Rolls says demand is very strong in China, the US and Asia Pacific with Cullinan and Wraith selling well). BMW says it will sell over 100,000 all-electric cars this year. (BMW)
• Daimler and BMW sold a 33.3% stake in their charging joint venture to BP. (BMW)
• BMW’s head of autonomous driving said that the company is working hard on SAE level 3 driver assistance and that automatic parking in a car park is “within reach”. (BMW)
• CEO Zipse called on European regulators to ensure that the internal combustion engine has a life in the market beyond 2030. (Reuters)

Daimler ^(history)

• Mercedes-Benz sold 667,327 cars and vans in Q1 2021, up 22% on a year-over-year basis. Sales were up in most major markets, although passenger cars suffered a (15)% fall in Germany. (Daimler)
• Formalised the appointment of ex-BMW and VW CEO Bernd Pischetsrieder as chairman. (Daimler)
• Daimler and BMW sold a 33.3% stake in their charging joint venture to BP. (BMW)

Ford ^(history)

• Sold 521,334 vehicles in the USA during Q1 2021, a rise of 1% on a year-over-year basis. (Ford)
• Sold 153,822 vehicles in China during Q1 2021, 73% up on prior year. (Ford)
• A US Ford dealer said that demand for new cars was so high, they can be considered “2021’s version of toilet paper”. Although overall sales are only slightly up, there is a big swing towards retail customers. (Detroit Free Press)
• The CEO of Argo made comments at an internal meeting that led to speculation that the self-driving vehicle developer could have an IPO in the near future. (Detroit News)
• After several owners of Mustang Mach-E electric cars complained that their batteries were dead, Ford said that software was to blame and the problem was with the old-fashioned 12 volt battery. (Reuters)
• Ford paused selling at-home charging equipment meant to accompany the Mustang Mach E, saying that faulty devices were cutting off power without warning. (Automotive News)
• Recalling around 35,000 cars in the USA because the rear view cameras don’t always work. (Ford)
• By 2027, Ford says it will have enough all-electric vehicles on sale to cover 70% of US market demand, and that by 2028 it will boast 32 million connected vehicles capable of over the air upgrades. (Ford)
• Released a new sustainability report. (Ford)
• CEO Farley is joining Harley-Davidson’s board. (Detroit Free Press)
• Dropping the Vignale trim level from the Focus model due to slow sales, indicating that the brand is unable to justify the additional price tag. (Autocar)

Geely (includes Volvo) ^(history)

• Geely sold 333,576 units in Q1 2021, an increase of 62% versus prior year. (Geely)
• Volvo sold 185,698 cars in Q1 2021, up 41% on a year-over-year basis with increases across markets and sales in China more than doubling. (Volvo)
• An IPO for Volvo is under consideration, with a targeted value of around $20 billion. (Reuters)
• Volvo has a new CFO. (Volvo Cars)
• Volvo says 90% of customers signing up for the Care all-inclusive leasing offering in the UK are new to the brand. Rather than alienate dealers, Volvo says that they have recognised its abilities in online retail and are asking for help in creating their own services. (Autocar)

General Motors ^(history)

• Sold 642,250 vehicles in the USA during Q1 2021, an increase of 4% on a year-over-year basis. (GM)
• Delivered 780,000 vehicles in China during Q1 2021 (including China-only brands operated through JVs), an increase of 69% from a year earlier. (GM)
• When asked about the risk of job losses from a move to electric vehicles that will see the end of internal combustion engine and transmission manufacturing, plus less work in the assembly of a vehicle, GM said there would be “opportunities for everyone”. (Detroit Free Press)
  • Significance: Given the lower labour hours in an electric car, GM’s comments can only be interpreted as: (1) an unshakeable belief that overall sales will grow enough to make up for the reduced per unit workload and that all powertrain workers will be offered transfers to vehicle making factories (that could be long distances away); (2) that attrition will be successfully managed so that net workforce numbers decline, but no one is pushed out of a job; or (3) that jobs will be lost, but workers will have the opportunity to offer sufficient concessions and productivity improvements that it isn’t their factory that gets closed, or unallocated in GM-speak.
• GM received heavy criticism in the USA over a perceived failure to allocate a fair share of advertising spending to black-owned media businesses. Whilst the criticism appeared not to be unique to GM, it was held up as an exemplar and found initial efforts to get offstage were ineffective after promised spending hikes were revealed to be miniscule in the gran scheme of things. (Detroit Free Press)
• Confirmed that there will be an all-electric version of the Silverado pick-up truck. (GM)
• Unveiled the SUV variant of the Hummer all-electric truck, a few months after “mistakenly” showing it off during a webcast. Compared to the pick-up, the SUV will have a smaller battery and less powerful motors. (Engadget)

Hyundai / Kia ^(history)

• Hyundai sold 997,882 cars in Q1 2021, up 10.5% on a year earlier. (Hyundai)
• Kia sold 688,409 cars in Q1 2021, up 6% versus prior year. (Kia)
• Unveiled the Genesis X concept, a large all-electric coupe. (Hyundai)
• Canoo says it has ended its technical partnership with Hyundai. (The Verge)
• Unveiled the Hyundai Alcazar, a six and seven seat MPV, in India. (Autocar)
• Merged three subsidiary software companies. Hyundai Autron (automotive software), Hyundai MnSOFT (mapping and navigation) and Hyindai AutoEver (corporate IT) will have a 4,000 strong engineering team. (ET News)

Nissan and Mitsubishi ^(history)

• Nissan says 70% of European drivers are ready to seriously consider an electric car for their next purchase. (Nissan)
• Nissan is dropping its dealer sales target setting process in the USA after the company discovered that dealers sold more cars than expected during lockdown when the targets were temporarily suspended. (Automotive News)

Stellantis (formed via the merger of PSA and FCA)

• Sold 469,651 vehicles in North America over Q1 2021, an increase of 5% on 2020 levels. (Stellantis)
• Stellantis says that fuel cells will have a role in powering fuel cell vehicles, believing that a 3 minute refuelling time to be critical for business users. Stellantis thinks that a smallish battery will still be used, so that there is some degree of plugin range. (Stellantis)

Tata (includes JLR) ^(history)

• Tata Motors sold 182,824 vehicles (excluding JLR) in India during Q1 2021, up 94% versus prior year. (Tata)

Tesla ^(history)

• Reported Q1 sales of 184,800 units, marginally up from Q4 2020. Whilst the Model 3 and Model Y deliveries continued to grow, Tesla didn’t make a single Model S or Model X in the quarter, impacting deliveries heavily. (Tesla)
  • Significance: Since the Model S and Model X are not all-new, the complete manufacturing hiatus appears puzzling (model refreshes are normally accomplished in a matter of weeks), although Tesla calmly said everything was fine.
• Complained to German courts that it was taking too long to get necessary regulatory approvals for its new factory in Berlin, threatening production plans. (Reuters)
• Tried to settle unease over the in-car footage Tesla appears to be collecting by saying it only downloaded data from cars in North America. (Reuters)
• Started offering a Model 3 with a 93 mile range in Canada. The product seems to be a wheeze to create a car with a low enough list price to benefit from government purchase incentives. Owners can then upgrade the range via a paid for update that unlocks additional capacity through a software update. (Electrek)

Toyota ^(history)

• Lexus unveiled the LF-Z all-electric concept, which Toyota says will be put into production around 2025. Lexus also announced a new technical campus, due to open in 2024. (Lexus)
• Unveiled the next generation GR 86 sportscar. (Toyota)
• Investing in French startup EODev, a company that develops generators from Toyota’s fuel cell technology. (Toyota)

VW Group ^(history)

• VW’s April Fool’s stunt backfired after a joking promise to rebrand as Voltswagen (because of all the electric vehicles, geddit?) was released early and sent the share price racing upwards as EV-hungry investors jumped on the news. VW found itself accused of lying and had to apologise. (Detroit News)
• The CEO of Argo made comments at an internal meeting that led to speculation that the self-driving vehicle developer could have an IPO in the near future. (Detroit News)
• Lamborghini is retrofitting recently built models with connectivity kit. (Lamborghini)
• Bentley’s boss said European policy makers would be “crazy” to stop labelling PHEVs as sustainable vehicles from 2025 onwards (currently a draft proposal), arguing that it would prematurely end consumer interest (which he is banking on to bridge the gap to 2030, when his brand intends to phase out the technology altogether). (Reuters)
• Lamborghini’s CEO suggested that the brand is still undecided on how to approach electrification, beyond the bear-term replacement of the Aventador. (Autocar)
• Porsche will use synthetic fuels in its one make racing series to test their performance. (Autocar)

Other

• Canoo reported full year 2020 earnings — a net loss of $(90) million. (Canoo) On the earnings call, the CEO was absent and the newly-appointed executive chairman fielded questions, including whether the CEO is still in role — he is, but the CFO has left. Canoo confirmed the end of its technical partnership with Hyundai. (The Verge)
• Faraday Future says it is the only maker of “next-gen intelligent internet EV product”. (Faraday)
• Nio reported Q1 2021 sales of 20,060 cars, more than five times the prior year value. (Nio)
• BYD wants to sell batteries to rivals, and could seek a listing for its battery unit. (Nikkei)
• Caterham Cars has been sold: its new owner is Japanese firm VT Holdings. (Motor Trader)
• Xiaomi says it will invest up to $10 billion developing electric cars. (Economic Times of India)
• XPeng announced the go-ahead of a 100,000 unit capacity plant in Wuhan. (XPeng) In Q1 2021, XPeng sold 13,340 cars, and has now delivered more than 50,000 in its lifetime. (XPeng)
• Mahindra’s new CEO says the company has learned it “doesn’t make sense to venture out of our core” and will mainly stick to SUVs in future. (Economic Times of India) Mahindra’s outgoing boss says that Indian consumers don’t need electric vehicles with 600kms of range and thinks that “no one can compete with Mahindra and Tata” at offering the type of value products the local market wants. He says that the proposed JV with Ford would have gone ahead if coronavirus hadn’t hit industry volume as hard. (Economic Times of India) The failure of talks with a proposed new investor means that the South Korean Ssangyong brand is rumoured to be entering receivership in the coming days. The plant has reportedly shut and liquidation is a serious option. (Economic Times of India)
• SAIC’s MG brand revealed the Cyberster concept, seemingly the company’s answer to the Tesla Roadster. With wheels so big they barely fit in the wheel arches, and a best of the best spec sheet, the car may not be a signal of production intent. Taillights that echo Mini’s play on the Union flag suggests MG may make a renewed effort to leverage its British heritage. (Top Gear)
• VinFast’s owners are reportedly hoping the unit could be valued at $60 billion. (Reuters)
• A delay in Evergrande’s trial production build schedule led to increased speculation about the company’s ability to deliver on its plans for the future. (Bloomberg)

News about other companies and trends

Economic / Political News

• US light vehicle SAAR in March of 17.75 million units rose 56% versus prior year. (Wards)
• German registrations in March of 292,349 passenger cars, up 36% on a year-over-year basis. (KBA)
• UK passenger car registrations in March of 283,964 units rose 11.5% versus prior year. (SMMT)
• Spanish registrations in March of 85,819 cars, up 128% on a year earlier. (ANFAC)
• Italian registrations of 169,684 cars in March rose 497% from prior year. (UNRAE)
• French passenger car registrations in March of 182,774 units rose 192% on a year-over-year basis. (CCFA)
• The European car makers trade body said it would support harsher CO₂ reduction targets from 2030 onwards, if member states committed to spend heavily on charging infrastructure. (ACEA)
  • Significance: The last time ACEA tried to link target setting to the development on infrastructure was when the EU set targets for CO2 reduction between 2025 and 2030. The group was ignored. With several members having broken ranks and committed to sell only electric vehicles by 2030, ACEA’s hand looks weak.

Suppliers

• Grammer reported 2020 financial results and said that for Q1 2021, the company expects €490 million of revenue and €22 million of EBIT. (Grammer)
• Liberty Steel’s boss pleaded with creditors to give him time to rescue the firm after its main backer collapsed and pledged to keep plants open. (Reuters)
• LG Chem and SK Innovation resolved a legal dispute that had seen courts order SK Innovation to stop US imports. Following a hefty cash payment to LG Chem, the two said there was enough space in the global market for them to compete fairly. (Reuters)
• Hyundai Mobis unveiled two concept cars: a 4-seater autonomous shuttle and a two seat city car. An accompanying press release drew parallels between the 4-seater and a robotaxi being developed with Yandex. (Mobis)
• China Automotive Systems reported 2020 revenue of $418 million and operating loss of $(8) million. (CAAS)
• Michelin held an investor day. Michelin believes that it will win a bigger market share of BEV tyres than for conventional models (possibly because they mainly appear in less price conscious segments) and hopes to grow in non-tyre businesses of fleet management, 3D metal printing and hydrogen fuel cells. (Michelin)
• Sony’s development team working on the Vision S electric car say they discovered that it was difficult to apply agile development tools derived from software and smartphones when engineering safety critical systems because the techniques rely on an unacceptable degree of trial and error. (Nikkei)
• Romeo Power reported 2020 full year revenue of $9 million and said that 2021 would be worse than hoped because there is a constraint on battery cells. (Romeo Power)
• Renesas Electronics is moving production of automotive components to other plants in Japan as it takes longer than expected to fully recover output following a fire. (Nikkei)
• LG is closing its smartphone business, saying that it thinks other sectors such as electric vehicle batteries are a better bet. (LG)

Dealers

• Dealer loan approval company CarCapital raised $9 million. (CarCapital)
• On-demand servicing firm Pitstop raised $3.5 million. (Tech In Asia)
• Used car website Spinny raised $65 million. (Deal Street Asia)

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

• Crypto-currency financed mobility firm AYLI says it has raised an undisclosed amount from an undisclosed source. The firm promises to reveal all in its full year financial report (which is delayed). (AYLI)
• Ride hailing firm MVL raised $15 million. (Tech In Asia)
• Didi Chuxing reportedly agreed a $1 billion deal to acquire Aurora, but abandoned the idea after US officials indicated that they were against the idea. (The Information)
• AirAsia is reportedly looking to enter the ride hailing business. (Tech In Asia)

Driverless / Autonomy ^(history)

• Waymo’s CEO is stepping down and will be replaced by co-CEOs who will cover technical and business operations between them. (Detroit News)
• Didi Chuxing is reportedly looking for $500 million of investment for its self-driving unit. (China Money Network)
• Self-driving truck company Plus raised $200 million. (China Daily)
• Volvo trucks is partnering with Aurora to develop self-driving trucks. (Volvo)
• Optimus Ride will create self-driving vehicles with slow-moving light vehicles from Polaris. (TechCrunch)
• The CEO of Ford and VW owned Argo made comments at an internal meeting that led to speculation that the self-driving vehicle developer could have an IPO in the near future. (Detroit News)

Electrification ^(history)

• A variety of Japanese car makers including Toyota, Nissan, Honda and Mitsubishi have invested in a nationwide charging service called e-Mobility Power. (Toyota)
• Charging station repair service ChargerHelp raised $3 million. (TechCrunch)
• Battery swapping firm Oyika is reportedly set to raise $100 million. (Tech In Asia)
• Rickshaw battery swapping business Oye Rickshaw raised 240 crore INR (about $3 million). (Economic Times of India)
• Daimler and BMW sold a 33.3% stake in their charging joint venture to BP. (BMW)

Other

• Air taxis firm Lilium is going public in a $3.3 billion merger with a special purpose entity. (Reuters)
• Volvo trucks hopes to develop fossil-free steel to use in new models. (Volvo)

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Volvo wants to sell its technology; Toyota buys into Isuzu (again); and no substitution at Porsche. Please enjoy our auto industry and mobility briefing for 22^nd March to 28^th March 2021. A PDF version can be found here.

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

• Hand Me Down — Volvo and fellow Geely subsidiary Ecarx will jointly develop infotainment systems. After they’ve fitted them into Volvos, they are hoping to sell the technology to competitors. First, autonomous drive, now infotainment, is Volvo hoping to become a white label supplier to rivals?
• Own It — Toyota announced a deal with Isuzu and Hino to share autonomous technologies. As a part of the agreement, Toyota will take a 4.6% stake in Isuzu (and Isuzu will reciprocate). It was only a couple off years ago that the same two companies undid a previous cross-shareholding. Will it be for keeps this time?
• Side By Side — Porsche’s CEO says that he thinks the company can sell the all-electric Taycan and Panamera alongside one another because the Panamera is positioned above the Taycan, so in his mind they appeal to different segments. So why are Taycan sales going up whilst Panamera goes down? (by the way, here are the figures from the US)

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)

• The Mercedes-Benz EQS will be able to arrange all billing for charging via communication links in the charging cable, removing the need for the customer to press any new buttons. However, Mercedes didn’t put a timeframe on when the service will become widespread, saying only that it will start with the Ionity network in Europe. (Daimler)
• Daimler revealed the interior of the EQS. The instrument panel is dominated by the (three-in-one) hyperscreen – at least for many of the cars. Mercedes also showed images of the interior with a cheaper set up (the very last image). It will be interesting to see the hyperscreen’s take rate. (Daimler)
• CEO Källenius says there will be a “fundamental change” in the powertrain footprint. (Automotive News)

Ford ^(history)

• Ford has started using plastic clips made from surplus 3D printer materials. Using its own scrap and that of a company that custom makes braces, Ford has enough to make clips for F-250 pickup trucks, and says that there is a 10% overall cost saving. (Ford)
• After earlier binning a proposed joint venture with Mahindra, Ford decided not to share any engines or vehicle technologies either. (Autocar)

Geely (includes Volvo) ^(history)

• Volvo is teaming up with fellow Geely subsidiary Ecarx to develop infotainment systems, with a plan to sell them to third parties. (Volvo)
• Geely confirmed that it will launch an all-electric brand called Zeekr (Ji Ke in Chinese). There is a planned five car line-up, with one to be launched each year until mid-decade. (Geely)
• Geely reported full year 2020 revenue of 92.1 billion RMB (about $14 billion) and net profit of 5.6 billion RMB (about $850 million) on sales of 1.3 million units (including Lynk&Co). (Geely)

Honda ^(history)

• Announced the sale of the Swindon, UK, site to a warehouse developer. (Honda)

Hyundai / Kia ^(history)

• Will build a charging network in South Korea called “E-pit”. (Yonhap)

Renault ^(history)

• Avtovaz is opening a CKD factory in Kazakhstan to make Ladas. (Avtovaz)

Stellantis (formed via the merger of PSA and FCA)

• Jeep is creating its own charging network at popular off-roading destinations in the USA, in a direct challenge to Rivian. The plan seems somewhat reactive since there are only firm details on a handful of sites – which will be an extension of Electrify America’s network. (Jeep)
• Signed an agreement for the Lucky Motor Corporation to make vehicles in Pakistan. (Dawn)

Tata (includes JLR) ^(history)

• The Indian supreme court ruled in favour of Tata in its court case with former chairman Mistry, who was suing for his reinstatement. (Economic Times of India)

Tesla ^(history)

• Elon Musk said that the company will now be accepting bitcoin as payment and won’t be converting the cyber currency to fiat currency. (Business Insider)
• A Pepsi announcement about forthcoming new electric trucks led to rumours that the Tesla Semi will finally be launched this year. (Clean Technica)
• The US labour regulator ruled that CEO Musk needed to delete old tweets that threatened workers who wanted to join a union. (Reuters)

Toyota ^(history)

• Toyota will share its CASE (connected, autonomous, shared, electric) technology set with Hino and Isuzu. As part of the deal, Toyota and Isuzu will re-establish a capital alliance dissolved in 2018. (Toyota)
• Toyota’s Woven VC fund invested in autonomous robotics firm Woven. (Toyota)

VW Group ^(history)

• Signed a 50/50 joint venture with Brose for the Sitech seating subsidiary. Critically, Brose will consolidate the joint venture. (VW)
• Will pursue former executives Martin Winterkorn (ex-group CEO) and Rupert Stadler (ex-Audi CEO) for damages resulting from the diesel scandal. The company accuses them of foot dragging and concealing the truth. (VW)
• CEO Diess said that an IPO for Porsche was not a high priority. (Handelsblatt)
• Porsche continued the expansion of its US all-inclusive leasing program. (TechCrunch)
• Porsche’s CEO suggested that there could be a place for a next generation Panamera against the Taycan because the Panamera is “one step higher”. (Autocar)

Other

• Fisker made a big announcement about a non-exclusive fleet deal it has signed with an arm of Crédit Agricole that might see the finance company lease cars for its customers. It is unclear how the deal is different to the hundreds of fleet deals major manufacturers agree each year. (Fisker)
• Humble unveiled the Humble One, a battery electric SUV powered by solar panels. (Humble)
• Nio’s CEO said he sold a stamping line to Tesla in 2019 at the height of his company’s cash troubles, a move he reckons saved Tesla six or so months. (CNEVPost)
• Chinese phone maker Xiaomi is reportedly set to make electric cars. (Economic Times of India)

News about other companies and trends

Suppliers

• BorgWarner held an investor day to talk about its plans for electrification. (BorgWarner)
• Cognizant acquired software engineering consultancy ESG Mobility. (Congnizant)
• Eaton acquired charging supplier Green Motion. (Eaton)
• Eaton and Tenneco will collaborate to develop exhaust systems. (Eaton)
• Lear acquired M&N Plastics. (Lear)

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

• Posh ride hailing firm Blacklane raised $26 million. (TechCrunch)

Driverless / Autonomy ^(history)

• Lidar maker Baraja raised £31 million. (TechCrunch)
• Autonomous trucking company TuSimple filed for an IPO. (TechCrunch)
• Autonomous robot company Nuro raised $500 million from Toyota and others. (FINSMES)

Electrification ^(history)

• Samsung is investing to expand capacity in Hungary to a reported 50 GWh. (ET News)

Connectivity

• Arity says it will sell companies data on whether people are good or bad drivers so that they can be sent appropriate advertisements. (Arity)

Other

• Ex-JLR CEO Ralph Speth will become chairman of motorbike maker TVS Motor. (Autocar)

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Geely’s unnecessary extra brand; boosting Tesla’s lobbying power; and Porsche’s enormous digital services target. Please enjoy our auto industry and mobility briefing for 15^th March to 21^st March 2021. A PDF version can be found here.

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

• Great Expectations — Geely reportedly plans to launch an all-electric premium brand called Zeekr. It isn’t exactly clear why. The company already owns Polestar (all-electric now, if you exclude the line of Volvo performance upgrades), Volvo (going all-electric) and Lynk&Co (sort of electric). On top of that, it now controls the (all-electric) Smart brand and the Geometry line of (all-electric) cars is still relatively young. Does brand equity mean nothing these days? Why do we need yet another new name?
• The Influence — Tesla has been lobbying the UK government to increase the price of fossil fuels. Shock horror. Doesn’t it make sense for the company to try to leverage its supposed virtue? Although politicians seem unmoved for now, will they find themselves more convinced when — like the Sand People — Tesla and its new-found all-electric buddies (GM, Volvo, JLR) return in greater numbers?
• Without A Doubt — Porsche is aiming for a double digit percentage of revenue to come from digital services in 2025. With revenue of around €30 billion and growing, getting the nascent business line to more than €3 billion annually in a few years is a significant task. It would be something along the lines of creating a new vehicle line of Panamera type proportions. Do Porsche have a plan for something ground-breaking, or is this apparent ambition simply covering more pedestrian initiatives such as online retail and white label charging?

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)

• BMW published its annual report of 2020 performance. (BMW)
• Unveiled the all-electric i4. (BMW)
• Mini will become an all-electric brand by the early 2030s, about in line with the timing executives had suggested in earlier interviews. (BMW)
• From 2025, BMW will start producing vehicles with next generation software and electric drivetrain that the company calls “neue klasse”. Although the cars will offer both fully electric and internal combustion engine alternatives, BMW says they will be “electric first”. (BMW)

Ford ^(history)

• Raised $2 billion in convertible debt that will mature in 2026. The money will probably be used to repay more expensive debt Ford already has. (Ford)
• UAW union officials gave Ford a public dressing down following a decision to allocate a new product to a plant in Mexico rather than one in Ohio, USA, and threatened “action” if things didn’t change. (Detroit Free Press)
• Will probably sell some office buildings after the company has decisively shifted to at home working for office staff in the wake of coronavirus. (Detroit Free Press)

Geely (includes Volvo) ^(history)

• Kandi has sold its shareholding in Fengsheng Automotive to Geely due to continued heavy losses and the companies are ending their affiliation. Kandi said it will be freed from non-compete clauses. (Kandi)
• Geely is reportedly set to launch an EV-only premium brand called Zeekr. (Reuters)

General Motors ^(history)

• Australian politicians criticised the manner of GM’s closure of the Holden brand. (The Guardian)
• Although GM has kept pickup truck production going through chip shortages, the company has had to forfeit cylinder deactivation devices, which are reducing the fuel economy of the trucks it can make.  (Detroit Free Press)

Hyundai / Kia ^(history)

• Hyundai showed some teaser images of the Staria MPV, which appears positioned to compete against the Mercedes V-Class. (Hyundai)

Nissan and Mitsubishi ^(history)

• Nissan is rolling out a new online sales system that will be dealer led. (Nikkei)

Stellantis (formed via the merger of PSA and FCA)

• Unveiled a new Peugeot 308. (Peugeot)
• Opel teased an all-electric coupe called the Manta ElektroMOD inspired by the 1970s vintage competitor to the Ford Capri. It isn’t clear whether the car is scheduled for production. (Opel)

Tata (includes JLR) ^(history)

• Tata Motor’s new CEO won’t be joining the company as planned. (Autocar)
• Invested in a new round for online automotive sales start-up Digital Motors. (JLR)

Tesla ^(history)

• Chinese authorities have banned Teslas from sensitive locations because the cars have onboard cameras which can beam images back to the company. (Reuters)
• Tesla stated in a regulatory filing that, alongside their existing roles as CEO and CFO, Tesla’s two top officers will become “Technoking” and “master of coin” respectively. There was no apparent explanation, other than it being a slow news day. (Reuters)
• Memos revealed what many had suspected: Tesla has lobbied governments to make fossil fuels more expensive and improve the whole life cost of its cars. (The Guardian)
• Tesla is rumoured to be looking to shut down its assembly facility in Tilburg, Netherlands, although work will continue at the site. (Electrek)

Toyota ^(history)

• Unveiled the Aygo X, a concept which presumably presages the launch of Toyota’s next generation city car. The concept suggests that Toyota will create a crossover, although it isn’t clear how the model will be consistent with the low prices of the current model, given the normal price list difference between cars and crossovers. (Toyota)
• Reported itself to US authorities for possible violation of anti-bribery rules by its Thai subsidiary. (Reuters)
• Invested in the $500 million round of Momenta. (Nikkei)

VW Group ^(history)

• VW Group reported full year 2020 results, with the VW brand and key subsidiaries (e.g. Porsche, Audi, Ducati, Lamborghini) all reporting separate financial results. (VW)
• The VW brand aims to sell 450,000 electric cars in 2021, double to 2020 figure. (VW)
• Porsche is planning its own network of filling station-style high power chargers with lounges to run alongside the Ionity charging network. (Porsche)
• Bentley reckons that it is on course to be the World’s most sustainable car maker. (Bentley)
• VW Group hailed its approach to cars of the future saying that they would succeed through application of mega platforms. There are four key elements in VW’s view: hardware (the platform), connectivity and software, batteries and charging and mobility services. There was no mention of internal combustion engine vehicles, except that even in Europe they will likely feature in around 40% of VW’s sales in 2030 and the company “refused to commit to a fixed end date”. (VW)
• CEO Diess expects that the transition from internal combustion engines to battery electric vehicles will take two product cycles. In 2035, he thinks the majority of cars will be electric and 40% will be autonomous. (VW p. 14)
• Škoda unveiled the new Kushaq, a small SUV bound for the Indian market. (Škoda)
• VW bought Northvolt’s share in the Salzgitter battery factory hitherto named “Northvolt Zwei” and raised its ownership stake in Northvolt. (Reuters)
• Audi has stopped developing internal combustion engines. (Golem)
• Porsche aims for a double digit percentage of sales to come from digital services by 2025. (Porsche CFO p. 14)
• Several of VW’s battery suppliers reportedly expressed surprise that the company’s announcements about its future state battery strategy (which may exclude some of them because of the design required) had come out of the blue, rather than being shared with them first. (Economic Times of India)
• VW’s rapidly rising share price, following the firm’s battery day and annual report, piqued the interest of market regulators. (Handelsblatt)

Other

• Mullen is building a new factory in Memphis, Tennessee, USA. (Mullen)
• Lordstown intends to sell pickup trucks directly to consumers. (CNBC) The firm is facing regulatory scrutiny over a report issued by a short seller. (Reuters)
• Arrival is setting up another micro factory in the USA, this time for vans. (TechCrunch)
• Foxconn and VinFast are reportedly in talks, with the Chinese company apparently keen to buy VinFast’s factories, but the Vietnamese company prefers a partnership. (Reuters)
• Foxconn says it is trying to decide whether its North American electric vehicle factory should be in Wisconsin, USA, or Mexico. (The Verge)
• Solar powered car maker Sono Motors is reportedly in talks for a US listing that would see the firm valued at more than $1 billion. (Reuters)
• Kincsem is launching a hypercar as a route into an all-electric SUV brand. (Autocar)

News about other companies and trends

Economic / Political News

• European passenger car registrations of 850,170 units in February fell (20)% versus prior year. (ACEA)

Suppliers

• ZF announced final 2020 financial results (after announcing provisional figures). Although 2020 sales fell to €33 billion, ZF said it had a far order book for electric drives worth over €14 billion  and that this gave the company confidence that it will bounce back in 2021. ZF sees 2030 as a crossover point for electric vehicles, with the powertrain topping 50% of the mix. By 2040, ZF thinks internal combustion engines will take only 7% of sales, and will be 1% in 2050. (ZF)
• Shortages of chips weren’t helped by news that Renesas had suffered a fire at a Japanese factory that could take up to one month to repair. (Nikkei)
• Panasonic’s outgoing CEO says the company needs to reduce its reliance on Tesla. (Reuters)

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

• Uber drivers in the UK will now be workers after the company lose a supreme court region. (TechCrunch)

Driverless / Autonomy ^(history)

• Momenta raised $500 million from investors including Bosch and Toyota. (Nikkei)

Other

• Scooter rental firm Bird is spending $150 million to expand in Europe. (TechCrunch)
• Scooter rental firm Unagi raised $10.5 million. (TechCrunch)

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Ford plumps for young talent; Volvo’s clever plan to capture more aftersales market share; and flex-e-bility reigns supreme. Please enjoy our auto industry and mobility briefing for 8^th March to 14^th March 2021. A PDF version can be found here.

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

• Family Affair — Two Ford family members are getting added to the Board, which will boast its strongest family contingent for decades with three of them present. Chairman Bill Ford says that they have been subjected to a rigorous assessment that proves they got their place on merit. So why are they several decades younger than all Ford’s other board members?
• I’m So Tired — Volvo has begun fitting a new type of tyre to electric vehicles that it says negates the need for different summer and winter tyres sets. Volvo says it will stop owners from needing two sets of wheels and tyres, reducing environmental damage. Customers normally defect from OEMs for their tyres as they can find them cheaper elsewhere. Will Volvo capture a bigger share of aftersales revenues by having its own tyre?
• Read All About It — Last week Bernstein published a report that we helped with about the rise of electric vehicles called “flex-e-bility”. The overall summary is that we think too many heads have been turned by electric vehicles with massive batteries that don’t reflect what the mainstream needs. A 250 mile range is good for 99% of daily use (if charged overnight). Going to 330 miles only gets you to 99.5% — is it worth the extra cost for the insurance? Some OEMs (e.g. Volvo and GM) say they will go all-electric asap and they may well lose share in the process. For those that want to sell through the transition, we argue that they would be better making cars that leverage scale between ICE (through very long range PHEV) and BEV, rather than focusing on these long-range top end models. Will we be proved right or wrong?

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)

• Reported 2020 full year automotive revenue of €80.9 billion down (12)% on a year-over-year basis and automotive profit of €2.2 billion, down (52)%. Group EBIT of €4.8 billion fell (35)%. (BMW)
• BMW and Daimler’s mobility services group is selling its “PARK NOW” parking services division to EasyPark for an undisclosed amount. (Daimler)
• Invested in Boston Metal, a company that promises to develop steel production without CO₂. (BMW)

Daimler ^(history)

• 75% of Mercedes-Benz’s suppliers (by value) have committed to sell the company parts produced in CO₂ neutral factories by or before 2039. (Daimler)
• BMW and Daimler’s mobility services group is selling its “PARK NOW” parking services division to EasyPark for an undisclosed amount. (Daimler)
• Renault sold its entire shareholding in Daimler. (Renault)
• Daimler is preparing for the industry to shift to all-electric even more quickly than anticipated. (Handelsblatt)

Ferrari

• Ferrari has restarted it share repurchase scheme. (Ferrari)

Ford ^(history)

• Family scions Henry Ford III and Alexandra Ford English are being nominated to Ford’s board. Both currently have roles within the business and are in their 30s. Together with chairman Bill Ford, the Ford family will now have three board seats — the strongest representation for over 20 years. (Ford) Despite being several decades younger than the other board members, chairman Ford insisted that there had been a rigorous vetting process. (Detroit News)

Geely (includes Volvo) ^(history)

• Volvo is trying to convince customers to use its proprietary “recharge” tyres rather than swapping between summer and winter sets, as is common in some parts of North America and Europe. If successful, Volvo may be able to capture a greater percentage of aftermarket tyre replacement (commonly a business line with very low customer loyalty). (Volvo)
• Unveiled a minor refresh of the Volvo XC60. (Volvo)

General Motors ^(history)

• Announced a partnership with SolidEnergy to improve the energy density of batteries. (The Verge)
• Cruise acquired Voyage. (Voyage)

Hyundai / Kia ^(history)

• Kia unveiled the all-electric EV6. By channelling its inner Tesla, Kia is making strides on the interior. (Kia)
• Hyundai insists that it gains a benefit from motorsports through an ability to test new technologies — especially those with a sustainability benefit. (Hyundai)
• Kia is recalling 380,000 cars in North America because faulty electrics could cause engine fires. (Reuters)

Nissan and Mitsubishi ^(history)

• Mitsubishi says it will sell two cars sourced from Renault in Europe and go ahead with a partial withdrawal from the region — staying in some markets. The two models are supposedly undecided but all-electric small cars and SUVs would appear to make the most sense. Mitsubishi will continue selling its own Eclipse Cross. (Mitsubishi)

Renault ^(history)

• Sold its entire shareholding in Daimler for about €1.1 billion. Renault will use the money to pay off debt. (Renault)
• Will build two models for Mitsubishi to sell in Europe. The line-up apparently is still under discussion. (Mitsubishi)
• Renault’s wholly owned dealership group continued to slim down in France, selling eight dealerships. (Renault)

Stellantis (formed via the merger of PSA and FCA)

• Called off plans to launch the Peugeot brand in North America and will concentrate on making the most of Alfa Romeo’s faltering return. (Fox)
• Launched the production versions of the Jeep Wagoneer and Grand Wagonner, large SUVs (the Grand Wagoneer can fit eight) that are intended to represent the pinnacle of the Jeep brand. The car will only be sold in dealers with the best satisfaction scores — a common starting position for new prestige products but one that rivals have often failed to maintain as they seek to chase volumes. (Jeep)
• Despite failures by various brands, notably BMW, to popularise the expression, Peugeot hopes that customers will flock to its “power of choice” strategy. The obvious problem with the current portfolio is that customers do not have a choice – if they want an all-electric car, there are only a few to choose from so they must compromise. (Stellantis)
• Chairman Elkann hopes that Stellantis will be able to invest more in Lancia and Alfa Romeo than FCA did. (Reuters)

Tesla ^(history)

• There was a small fire at Tesla’s Fremont factory. (Business Insider)
• Tesla appears to have pushed back the delivery target for the ultra-fast “Plaid Plus” version of the Model S until at least mid-2022. (Electrek)
• CEO Musk said that Tesla had removed some testers from the beta program of the latest iteration of its advanced driver assistance system because they weren’t paying proper attention. (Business Insider)
  • Significance: The move implies that Tesla has been tracking driver behaviour and is prepared to act — which presumably would be repeated as and when the system is ready for general release. But will it give refunds to the people that have paid for self-driving yet been denied it?

VW Group ^(history)

• Porsche now holds a 24% stake in Rimac. (Porsche)
• VW announced an early retirement scheme for German employees, hoping that it will be attractive to any employees born between 1956 and 1964. A 2020 “level freeze” will also be extended. (VW) Reportedly, the move may see 5,000 jobs go. (Handelsblatt)
• Porsche still plans to be making internal combustion engines in 2050 and that the 911 won’t be available with all-electric drive. (Porsche)
• VW held a “Power Day”, announcing plans for 240 GWh of battery capacity in Europe by 2030 (through six factories of 40 GWh capacity), 80 GWh of which will come from factories jointly owned with Northvolt. Through the capacity expansion and a new “unified cell” design that launches in 2023 and which 80% of its cars will use by 2030, VW hopes to significantly reduce the cost of batteries to well below €100 per kWh. Intriguingly, 20% of products will still need “specific solutions”, such as solid state, to achieve high performance. (VW)
• VW says 80% of the battery cost comes from the raw materials and 20% from the factory. A planned 5-% reduction in costs for entry level vehicles comes from: cell design (15%); production process (10%); cathode and anode material (20%); and the battery concept (5%). (VW)
• VW will also partner with several oil companies to create thousands of fast chargers across Europe and China. By 2025, VW says there will be 18,000 charging points — 1/3 of the number the company says are required. The plan is for the chargers to use batteries to become independent of local grid constraints. (VW)
• VW hopes that a new process it is developing will be able to recover 95% of the materials within a battery, up from around 60% today. (VW)
  • Significance: The relatively poor return from recycling — recovering 95% of the raw materials after expending significant cost – shows the importance of a battery life ecosystem to avoid throwing away value when a battery considered sub-par for a car might still have 80%+ of its usable capacity.

Other

• Alpha Motor Corporation showed off the Wolf all-electric pickup truck. (Alpha)
• Aston Martin’s CEO says the company is the most efficient at producing new vehicles that he has ever seen and that 2023 will be a “firework year” for product launches. (Automotive News)
• Lordstown Motors came under fire from the same firm that went after Nikola. (Detroit News)
• Great Wall invested in chip developer Horizon Robotics. (Reuters)
• Xpeng reported 2020 full year revenue of $896 million and a net loss of $(419) million. In Q1 2021 the company expects to sell 12,500 cars, about the same as Q4 2020. (Xpeng) Xpeng received 500 million RMB (about $77 million) from the Guangdong’s provincial government’s investment vehicle. (Xpeng)
• Canoo unveiled an electric pickup truck. (Canoo)

News about other companies and trends

Suppliers

• After selling out of an interior trim joint venture held with Yanfeng, Adient is now offloading most of its seating joint venture to its Chinese partner. Adient will get $1.5 billion and two factories. (Adient)
• Linamar reported 2020 revenue of $5.8 billion and net income of $279 million. (Linamar)
• Haldex is getting a new CEO. (Haldex)
• Continental reported 2020 revenue of €38 billion and net income of €(962) million. In 2021, the company expects sales to have almost recovered to 2019 levels. (Continental)

Dealers

• South African all-inclusive car leasing firm FlexClub raised $5 million. (TechCrunch)

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

• Grab may reportedly go public in a $40 billion deal to merge with a special purpose entity. (Business Insider)
• Uber and Lyft are collaborating to create a database of dodgy drivers. (Uber)
• Via acquired transport route planning start-up Remix. (Via)
• Mobility usage tracking software firm Populus AI raised $5 million. (TechCrunch)
• Bolt raised $20 million. (Bloomberg)

Driverless / Autonomy ^(history)

• Luminar and Volvo subsidiary Zenseact say that they will sell the driver assistance technology they are developing, called Sentinel, together to other firms. (TechCrunch)
• Waymo published more data and announced a new series of prizes for teams to compete for — aimed at predicting future movement based on a the previous second of data. (Waymo)
• AEye said an independent firm had proven the long range capability of its lidar sensors by testing recognition of vehicles at the end of a runway 1 km away from the lidar unit. (AEye)
  • Significance: Whilst the headline claims sound impressive, the number of points covered at the 1km range — around 50 for a van and 35 for a car — might be sufficient to identify as a vehicle when there is nothing else around, but are likely to be far less useful when assessing a crowded field of different object types. The video shows the point cloud at 00:45.

Electrification ^(history)

• Mullen Technologies says that by using batteries from NexTech, it hopes to reduce battery pack costs to below $90 per kWh. (Mullen)
• Charging network Ionity (owned by a consortium of car companies) is reportedly looking to sell a 20% – 25% stake to an investment firm. (Reuters)
• Northvolt acquired battery technology developer Cuberg. (Northvolt)

Other

• Delivery robot company Refraction AI raised $4 million. (TechCrunch)

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