Ford Motor Co has dissolved its stake in Velodyne Lidar Inc, a maker of sensors used in self-driving cars, according to a regulatory filing on Monday.
As of Sept. 30, Ford had a passive stake of 7.6% or 13.07 million shares in Velodyne.
Velodyne is one of several companies vying to supply automakers with lidar, a sensor that generates a three-dimensional map of the road ahead.
Like many others in his industry, Geely Chairman Li Shufu has been irked by skyrocketing valuations for electric car manufacturers such as Tesla Inc and Nio Inc, sources at the Chinese automaker say.
Getting Geely, which owns Volvo Cars and 9.7% of Daimler AG, to a place where it too may claim a sizeable chunk of China’s burgeoning electric car market and burnish its share price at the same time, has preoccupied Li for much of the past year, they added.
The result: a flurry of tie-ups unveiled last month that lay bare Geely’s intention to position itself as the go-to contract manufacturer for electric vehicles in China and beyond – assembly services that will also offer up its engineering and development expertise.
“The chairman’s attitude towards contract manufacturing is clear: he is embracing it and actively pursuing it,” a Geely executive told Reuters.
Outsourcing production of some models through original equipment manufacturing (OEM) deals is common in the auto industry, but Geely’s plans represent the most aggressive attempt yet by an automaker to build up a contract manufacturing business.
Of the four deals announced, a venture with Taiwan’s Foxconn to provide electric vehicle (EV) contract manufacturing, is the most important, said the sources, who were not authorized to speak to media and declined to be identified.
A subsequent agreement to build mass-market electric vehicles for embattled Los Angeles-based startup Faraday Future would be handled by the venture with Foxconn.
Geely, which is China’s largest privately-owned automaker, has also made a separate pact to make smart electric cars for internet giant Baidu Inc, with the first model due to be launched next year. In addition, it is joining hands with Tencent Holdings Ltd on smart car control and autonomous driving technology.
Geely declined to comment for this article or make Li available for comment.
Geely has several electric car models on the market and in September launched a brand new EV-focused platform, developed at a cost of 18 billion yuan ($2.8 billion).
But amid a two-year slump in sales, Li became convinced Geely was being too conventional in its approach and began pushing for an aggressive adoption of “Big Tech” partnerships, sources said. In doing so, Li returned to a more active running of the group after stepping back somewhat in 2017 and 2018.
The shift did not come without some opposition. At management meetings, some people raised concerns that any big shift to contract manufacturing could make Geely a lesser partner in its relationships with tech firms and cause it to lose its edge as an independent automaker, senior sources said.
Caution was also expressed about picking Faraday Future as the first client for the venture with Foxconn, as the startup has a track record of over-promising and slow progress in development.
Li dismissed those concerns, they added.
The deal with Faraday was not well received by the market with shares in its main unit, Geely Automobile, sliding some 16% over four days in the wake of the news.
On the plus side, however, the deals could address chronic under-utilisation at Geely plants. For example, Geely Automobile, which houses its Geely brand cars, is capable of building more than 2 million vehicles a year but sold only some 1.3 million in 2020.
The deals could also help Geely get the most out of the EV-focused platform, which is now open-sourced and can be used for small to large cars and even light commercial vehicles.
That said, just how big contract manufacturing will become for Geely is uncertain and the company has no internal numerical targets to meet at the moment, the sources said.
“Basically, it’s unclear now how many clients we will have in the coming years,” said one source.
Li is also planning to shore up Geely’s financial base with a secondary listing for Geely Automobile on the mainland’s STAR board this year. Its Hong Kong listing values the unit at $37 billion, with shares having risen over 12% so far this year.
That, sources say, has been a deeply unsatisfactory state of affairs for Li who compares it to the $800 billion-plus valuation for Tesla and the $98 billion valuation for Nio, which sold less than 44,000 cars last year.
Geely had looked at investing in Nio previously, sources have said.
Analysts describe the rush of new deals as bold, potentially allowing Geely to save much time and money in developing and launching electric cars. At the same time, there are risks.
“Integrating one major partner is challenging enough for any company’s management regardless of the sector, so asking the management team to successfully launch all of them seemingly all at once is a pretty big ask,” said Tu Le, analyst at Sino Auto Insights.
It was just yesterday that we told you about Renault India commencing the production of the Kiger at its Chennai facility and now the company is all set to launch the car in the country. Renault announced that it will launch its first subcompact SUV – the Kiger- in India on February 15. Renault has already despatched the cars to its 500 dealerships across the country so that consumers can take a look at the car. The company has said that deliveries of the car will begin from March.
India is the first market to get the Kiger and will also be the base for the production of the car. Renault India is looking to export the car as well from India just like the Kwid and Triber. The Kiger is based on the CMF-A+ platform that has been co-developed by Renault and Nissan. The new Renault Kiger builds on the concept version that was showcased last year and nearly 80 percent of the design theme has made it to production as the automaker promised.
The subcompact SUV sports a more dynamic design language right from the split LED headlamps to the bold grille with the LED DRLs covering the front face. The model continues to sport pronounced wheel arches that accommodate 16-inch steel and diamond-cut alloy wheels, depending on the variant. The arches at the rear are particularly flared and also incorporate the C-shaped LED taillights with the signature pattern.
Under the bonnet, the new Renault Kiger will use the same engines like the Nissan Magnite. Renault has confirmed 1.0-litre turbocharged petrol with 98 bhp and 160 Nm of peak torque. There will also be the 1.0-litre three-cylinder, naturally aspirated petrol available with 71 bhp and 96 Nm of peak torque. The engines will be paired with a 5-speed gearbox, while the automatic options will include an AMT as well as a CVT.
Last year, Waze added Amazon Music integration and Google Assistant support to its navigation app. Starting this week, yet another major streaming service makes its way to Waze’s Audio Player, Audible.
Today, Waze announced that Audible has joined its Audio Player Program, thus allowing drivers to listen to their favorite audiobooks, podcasts, as well as more than 600,000 Audible Originals. Audible members can start listening on Waze by opening the app and tapping the music note icon to select Audible as their audio player.
Naturally, Audible members will also receive next turn directions from Waze inside the Audible app, a nifty feature to have while driving. According to Waze, the new Audible integration will begin rolling out from today, so Android and iOS users should check for a new update to get the new features on their phones.
Currently, Waze offers integration with multiple streaming services, including Spotify, YouTube Music, iHeartRadio, and Amazon Music. You’ll just have to select whichever audio player you prefer if you’re subscribed to more than one strea
Chinese government officials have met representatives from U.S. electric carmaker Tesla Inc over reports from consumers about battery fires, unexpected acceleration, and failures in over-the-air software updates, a regulator said on Monday. China’s State Administration for Market Regulation said in a social media post its officials, along with those from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Ministry of Emergency Management, Cyberspace Administration and Ministry of Transportation had met Tesla “recently”, without giving a date.
The officials urged Tesla to operate according to China’s laws and protect customer rights, the regulator said. In response, Tesla said it would thoroughly investigate the problems reported by consumers and step up inspections.
“We will strictly abide by Chinese laws and regulations and always respect consumer rights,” a company representative said in a text message, adding that Tesla accepted the guidance of the Chinese government departments.
China is pushing the industry to make more electric vehicles as it tries to reduce air pollution.
Tesla is building Model 3 electric sedans and Model Y sport-utility vehicles at its Shanghai factory. It sold 15,484 China-made vehicles in January.
The industry ministry in May urged Tesla to ensure consistency in its China-made vehicles after some Chinese customers complained about less advanced computer chips in their cars.
China, the world’s biggest auto market, is pushing the industry to make more electric vehicles as it tries to reduce air pollution.
Sales of electric, plug-in hybrid and hydrogen-powered vehicles in China are forecast to rise to 20% of all new car sales by 2025 from just 5% now, the State Council said last year.
Auto imports in January rose to 8,343 completely built units worth $212.5 million, up 84.7 percent and 76.2 percent year-on-year, respectively.
Most of car imports are from Thailand and Indonesia, at an average price range of VND350 million ($15,000) to VND 1.2 billion.
Experts have said that the scale of manufacturing, tax exemptions and affordable auto models are elements that have allowed these nations to acquire large market shares in Vietnam.
A Vietnam Customs report notes that auto imports had fallen 24.5 percent to 105,200 units last year as the Covid-19 pandemic slashed demand and forced dealers to stop working for weeks in April.
Industry insiders say it is still early to forecast this year’s performance by Vietnam’s auto industry because the Covid-19 situation has become increasingly unpredictable.
Ford announced Thursday it is accelerating its investment in electric cars, but cautioned that the industry-wide shortage of semiconductors would pinch profits in 2021. The US auto giant, released fourth-quarter and annual results and said it plans $22 billion in electric car investment through 2025, nearly twice the earlier plan. The announcement is the latest big bet on electric autos by a legacy automaker in the wake of upstart Tesla’s growth and in anticipation of Biden administration initiatives to encourage emission-free vehicles.
Last week, Ford’s rival General Motors set a target of having most of its fleet emissions-free by 2035. But Ford said annual operating profits could be dented by $1 to $2.5 billion due to lost auto sales connected to the semiconductor shortage.
Earlier Thursday, Ford said it was trimming output of its F-150 because of the supply issue, following on the heels of other automakers, including GM that announced Tuesday it was shutting productions at three plants, and slashing output in half at another due to chip supply.
Ford said it was trimming the output of its F-150 because of the supply issue, following on the heels of other automakers.
“The semiconductor situation is changing constantly, so it’s premature to try to size what availability will mean for our full-year performance,” said Chief Financial Officer John Lawler.
“Right now, estimates from suppliers could suggest losing 10 to 20 percent of our planned first-quarter production.”
Ford reported a fourth-quarter loss of $2.8 billion, compared with a loss of $1.7 billion in the year-ago period.
Revenues fell 9.3 percent to $36 billion.
McLaren Automotive will bring the full force of its expertise in hybrid powertrain engineering with the introduction of the new Artura. The company revealed its plans to bring the new high-performance hybrid car last year and now it’s closing in on its world debut. The company has revealed that the Artura hybrid supercar will make its world debut on February 16.
The Artura marks the beginning of a new era for the pioneering British company. Building on the expertise in electrification first showcased in the McLaren P1 hybrid hypercar unveiled in 2012 and more recently the Speedtail Hyper-GT, which entered production this year as McLaren’s fastest ever car with a top speed of 403 kmph, the Artura is McLaren’s first High-Performance Hybrid series-production supercar.
The new Artura marks the debut of an all-new compact twin-turbocharged V6 petrol engine, designed to combine with an electric motor in a new lightweight hybrid powertrain that retains the performance benefits of McLaren’s larger capacity V8 engines and has the additional attraction of improved torque response at low engine speeds to deliver scintillating acceleration. The Artura can also run on electric power alone for everyday emission-free urban journeys.
The first car to be built on an all-new, platform architecture optimized for electrification and designed and manufactured in the UK at the McLaren Composites Technology Centre, the Artura furthers McLaren’s commitment to super-lightweight engineering principles that have their roots in motorsport. The additional mass of the High-Performance Hybrid system, for example, has been largely offset by the application of weight-saving technologies throughout the chassis, body and powertrain.
Additionally, the McLaren Carbon Lightweight Architecture (MCLA) at the heart of the Artura not only enables the car’s class-leading weight advantage, it is also the base for the dynamic excellence inherent in every McLaren.
Tesla Inc has agreed to recall 134,951 Model S and Model X vehicles with touchscreen displays that could fail and raise the risk of a crash after U.S. auto safety regulators sought the recall last month, according to a recall posted on a government website Tuesday.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) made the unusual recall request in a formal Jan. 13 letter to Tesla, saying it had tentatively concluded the 2012-2018 Model S and 2016-2018 Model X vehicles pose a safety issue. Automakers usually agree to voluntary fixes before the auto safety agency formally seeks a recall.
The agency said touchscreen failures posed significant safety issues, including the loss of rearview or backup camera images, exterior turn-signal lighting, and windshield defogging and defrosting systems that “may decrease the driver’s visibility in inclement weather.”
Tesla said in its filing with NHTSA that “in the interest of bringing administrative closure to the investigation and to ensure the best ownership experience for our customers” it agreed to a voluntary recall.
NHTSA opened a probe in June 2020 into complaints that media control unit (MCU) failures led to touchscreen displays not working.
The agency said other automakers issued numerous recalls for similar safety issues stemming from the touchscreen failure.
NHTSA said in November when it upgraded its probe that it reviewed 12,523 claims and complaints about the issue.
NHTSA said last month that “during our review of the data, Tesla provided confirmation that all units will inevitably fail given the memory device’s finite storage capacity.”
Automobiles and smartphones accounted for 19 percent of private conglomerate Vingroup’s revenues in the last quarter of 2020.
This marked a 40 percent year-on-year increase to VND6.9 trillion ($299.45 million).
The largest private conglomerate in Vietnam sold 31,500 cars last year, with its VinFast sedan and SUV models among the bestsellers in their respective segments.
The group’s VinSmart phones were also among the bestsellers in Q4, 2020.
The company saw revenues from real estate in the quarter rising 47 percent year-on-year to over VND22.2 trillion after handing over three major Vinhomes projects.
Revenue from tourism and entertainment, however, fell 40 percent to VND1 trillion because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
For the whole year, Vingroup’s pre-tax profit fell 11 percent to VND13.96 trillion, while revenue fell 15 percent to VND110.46 trillion.
A new series of sports cars is confirmed, with prototype production of the Lotus Type 131 to commence this year from the manufacturing facility in Hethel, Norfolk. The new manufacturing investment is part of Lotus’ Vision80 strategy, which will also see the relocation of two Lotus sub-assembly facilities into one efficient central operation in Norwich city to support higher volumes.
To accompany the Euros 100-million-plus investment into Hethel’s facilities, Lotus will be recruiting some 250 new employees. This is in addition to the 670 to have joined Lotus since September 2017, when shareholders Geely and Etika took ownership of the company.
Lotus has released an image that hints at the new generation of products that will follow Elise, Exige and Evora, which have entered their final year of production in 2021. A full program of activities is planned to celebrate the current range of three sports cars, starting with the elder, the iconic Lotus Elise.
The Elise, Exige and Evora have contributed greatly to the Lotus business over the years.
Phil Popham, CEO, Lotus Cars, said, “This year will be hugely significant for Lotus with new facilities coming on stream, a new sports car entering production and new levels of efficiency and quality that only a new car design and the factory can deliver. Despite the continuing global challenges, Lotus has emerged from 2020 strong and on track in the delivery of our Vision80 business plan.”
The Elise, Exige and Evora have contributed greatly to the Lotus business over the years, and by the time the last of these models leaves the assembly line, they will have sold a combined circa 55,000 units.
Netflix has gone all-in on F1. Apart from it being the progeny behind the “drive to survive” F1 documentary series that has been airing for the last two years, it has also promised a biopic series on the legendary Ayrton Senna. More recently, it even had a documentary on the life of 5-time world champion Juan Manuel Fangio. Now, it has roped in legendary actor Robert De Niro and John Boyega of Star Wars fame to develop a fictional thriller based on F1 called the Formula.
The story of the Formula revolves around an American F1 driver who gets involved with the mafia and is forced to serve as a getaway driver to save his family. Interestingly, the original will be written, directed, and produced by Gerard McMurray who has also worked on Burning Sands which won the grand jury prize at the 2018 Sundance Festival.
Netflix has roped in the legendary Robert De Niro for one of the lead roles
McMurray recently also formed Buppie productions with the intent of “developing and producing stories featuring black characters for a mainstream film and television audience.”
“Our company is constantly reinventing itself while charting a path to influence popular culture. We are the heroes and the villains, the good guys, bad guys, femme Fatales and girls next door,” he said.
“Feels amazing to see this idea in my head finally come to life that I’m writing, directing, and producing,” he wrote. “My new production company Buppie Productions is teaming up with Tribeca Films and Netflix to bring to you a dope original film coming soon called THE FORMULA starring two of my favorite actors, John Boyega and Robert De Niro,” added McMurray.
“It’s the story of a young man from Detroit who becomes an international racing star in the world of Formula 1 under the tutelage of his mentor with old mob ties,” he revealed.
Netflix is home to the new Juan Manuel Fangio documentary apart from it developing a biopic on Senna.
Of course, the CV of Robert De Niro is unprecedented who is best known for his work in the Godfather trilogy and also movies like Taxi Driver, Casino, Heat, and more recently the Netflix original the Irishman.
John Boyega rose to fame only five years ago thanks to his central role in the Star Wars sequel trilogy with Disney.
In the last decade with the advent of the Senna documentary, movies about motorsports have become popular with Rush based on the Nikki Lauda and James Hunt rivalry gaining popularity in the last decade alongside Ford vs Ferrari more recently from 2019.
Vietnamese automaker VinFast introduced Friday three new electric self-driving car models that will hit the market this year.
The rollout of the new models is part of its plan to become a global major in electric car manufacturing.
Two of the three models, all SUVs, also have a fuel version, the company said in a release.
The cars, named VF31, VF32, and VF33, have several self-driving systems including steering assistance, adaptive lane control, and automatic parking.
Depending on the model, the electric cars can go 300-500 kilometers per full charge.
The premium versions of these cars have 14 cameras capable of detecting objects nearly 690 meters away, and the company claims its self-driving system is eight times faster than that of existing self-driving car models.
The cars can find their own parking spots and can be summoned by drivers when needed.
VinFast said the cars meet the highest safety standards in the world including a five-star rating of the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and a five-star rating of the European New Car Assessment Programme.
The standard version of the VF31 can be ordered in Vietnam starting this May and will be delivered in November.
For the VF32 and VF33 models, customers can order starting September and delivery will begin in February 2022.
The company will also sell these cars in the U.S., Canada, and the E.U. with orders opening in November and delivery in June next year.
VinFast, a unit of Vietnam’s biggest private conglomerate Vingroup, entered the auto industry three years ago. It has an auto plant in the northern province of Hai Phong and research and development centers in Australia, Germany, and the U.S.
The company said the manufacturing of electric bikes, buses, and cars is part of its strategy to become a favorable hi-tech auto manufacturer in the global market and to help develop green transportation by reducing emissions.
Citroen is all set to begin sales operations in India next month which is when it will take the wrap off its first model- the Citroen C5 Aircross and it’s just the beginning of the Journey for the French carmaker in India. Citroen has inaugurated it ‘La Maison’ showroom in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, and is promising that it will keep introducing at least one new model every year, in a bid to gradually build up its product line-up in our market.
Now a couple of models other than the Citroen C5 Aircross which will be a Jeep Compass and Tata Harrier rival, have been spotted doing rounds in India last year. The next model which most likely will hit our market by the end of 2021 or early next year will be the C3 Aircross which is a smaller subcompact SUV, taking on the likes of the Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza and Hyundai Venue among others. Then, the Citroen Berlingo MPV was also spotted testing in India last month, and if on its arrival, it will enter a segment where Renault had launched the Lodgy five years ago. However, we don’t have any final word from the company on its launch yet.
Roland Bouchara, Vice President – Sales & Marketing, Citroen India, “We have a clear intention which not many manufacturers had when they entered the country. We have created an ecosystem in India. We have engineering, R&D facilities already here and we are already manufacturing the diesel engine at the Hosur plant. We are looking at localization levels of 90 percent -100 percent in our cars for India.”
The company has also confirmed that all upcoming models will be underpinned by the C-Cubed platform and will have both petrol and diesel engine options. The Citroen C5 Aircross will also be powered by a 2.0-liter, four-cylinder diesel engine that puts out 177 bhp and 400 Nm of peak torque and will be mated to an eight-speed torque-converter automatic unit. The petrol version will be added later to the line-up. Citroen will open 10 dealerships in different cities before the launch of the C5 Aircross.
The technical department of Skoda Auto recently opened a new facility to manufacture test vehicles and prototypes at its Mlada Boleslav site. This new facility will ensure the development of these vehicles under one roof. The carmaker uses state-of-the-art technologies, such as robot stations and virtual reality solutions, throughout the entire production process. The Czech automaker produced some of the test vehicles for the all-electric ENYAQ iV at the new facility. The entire warehousing is incorporated into vehicle manufacture results in further savings, reducing logistics costs by more than 150,000 euros annually.
Johannes Neft, Skoda Auto Board Member for Technical Development said, “The use of test cars allows us to draw conclusions about numerous technical parameters at an early stage of development and make the necessary adjustments long before serial production of a new model commences. We are now taking the next step. In the future, we will build 300 test vehicles and 120 prototypes per year with maximum efficiency under one roof in our new, state-of-the-art facility at the Mlada Boleslav site. We have created the ideal conditions here to develop vehicles at the highest level and that will shape the future of our brand.”
David Vanek, Head of Model and Prototype Manufacture said, “Our new facility has three floors and houses the parts warehouse, body shop, final assembly, and paint shop, all within the smallest of footprints ensuring short distances. At the same time, the facility’s high degree of automation allows for more agile processes and a significant increase in production capacity for test vehicles and prototypes. Furthermore, the building features state-of-the-art virtual reality technologies as well as 168 workplaces in open-space offices and 13 meeting rooms. A large part of the complex 14,000 square meter is used for vehicle manufacture.”
The ground floor at the center accommodates parts warehouse that includes a covered yard for unloading trucks. While car bodies are manufactured on the second floor, the third floor contains a paint shop and final assembly. The material is transported between floors through a freight elevator. Moreover, the proportion of automation in the body shop has increased to 45 percent from 15 percent because of two robot stations. The production capacity is now doubled to ten car bodies per week while requiring 20 percent less space.
Additionally, weight-saving designs can be developed at the center as the carmaker has expanded its body shop to include an innovation center for testing joining techniques. It includes clinching, riveting, flow drill screw (FDS) fastening, laser welding, and composite construction.
Workstations at the facility can be preconfigured and customized with the help of virtual reality technologies, and state-of-the-art IT systems are used in logistics. Quality control will be integrated into the production process and run parallel to the respective manufacturing steps. From an ecological point-of-view, the production facility for the new model and prototype models is very advanced. The short distances save around 1,800-litre of fuel per year, enabling a decrease in CO2 emissions of roughly five tonnes.