All-New Volvo S60 picks up Lifestyle Product of the Year award
Aug 28. 2020
By THE NATION
The All-New Volvo S60 was awarded the Innovative Lifestyle Product of the Year Award in the medium-sized car segment at the “Product Innovation Awards 2020”, organised by Business+ magazine in collaboration with the College of Management Mahidol University (CMMU).
The event was held on August 25, on the 10th floor of the C Asian Auditorium, Cyber World Building.
The winners were decided by a nationwide consumer vote with the All-New Volvo S60 receiving the highest number of votes in recognition of its three distinct qualities: innovative driving lifestyle, advanced safety technology, and an affordable price tag.
Pattarapong Achapalasiri, head of commercial operations Thailand, Volvo Cars (Thailand), said, “Volvo is extremely proud that The All-New Volvo S60 received the Innovative Lifestyle Product of the Year Award in the medium-sized car segment thanks to consumers in target groups nationwide giving it the highest number of votes.”
The All-New Volvo S60, a premium sports sedan from Sweden, delivers the ultimate in balance with a luxurious driving experience and fully integrated online technology, he said.
The T8 twin engine plug-in hybrid drive system works in conjunction with an electric motor that produces a total of 407 horsepower with advanced technology and ABL system for a safer ride.
An active bending LED headlight system provides maximum brightness when encountering curves and its design is based on Thor’s signature hammer.
There’s also the head-up display, a 360-degree camera system, a park assist pilot, as well as an electronically unlocked trunk lid. Other innovations include a state of the art navigation system, an Apple Car Play and Android Auto Support, and premium audio quality delivered by “Harman Kardon” to provide outstanding sound onboard.
The price of an All-New Volvo S60 starts at Bt2.19 million for the Momentum, while the R-Design starts at Bt2.59 million.
The Cabinet will today (August 25) consider a proposal to cut tax on purchases of new cars as it discusses measures to boost the auto industry amid the Covid-19 crisis.
The tax cut will be proposed by Industry Ministry Suriya Juangroongruangkit following his meeting on Monday with Mitsubishi Motors executives at the Mitsubishi factory in Laem Chabang, Rayong province.
Mitsubishi has said it accelerate its planned Bt20-billion investment in Thailand. The company will launch its first plug-in electric car – the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV – in late 2020 or early 2021 in Thailand. The model will be the first Mitsubishi e-vehicle produced outside Japan, Suriya said after the meeting.
The Laem Chabang plant is the largest Mitsubishi factory outside Japan, exporting autos to 120 countries.
Suriya said Mitsubishi has recently expanded its Thailand-based production along with fellow Japanese manufacturer Nissan, which has cut production in other countries.
Meanwhile, China’s leading automaker Great Wall Motors in February bought the Thai factory of General Motors, which had earlier pulled out Thailand. The Chinese company will start renovating the production line in October for the launch of auto production early next year, according to Suriya.
Carmakers have suffered plummeting sales this year, but are optimistic demand will rebound next year.
The Industry Ministry plans to boost production of electric vehicles to 30 per cent of total auto produced in 2030. The target for electric cars, motorcycles and buses is part of the strategy to cut levels of hazardous PM2.5 air pollution that have plagued Thailand. Vehicle engines run on fossil fuels have been blamed for the high levels of PM2.5.
GM electrifies China lineup to challenge Tesla’s early lead
Aug 19. 2020General Motors electric vehicles in Shanghai on July 18, 2019. CREDIT: Bloomberg photo by Gilles Sabrie.
By Syndication Washington Post, Bloomberg · No Author · BUSINESS, WORLD, US-GLOBAL-MARKETS, ASIA-PACIFIC General Motors made a case that it has a strategy to reverse its decline in China and chase after Tesla’s lead in selling electric vehicles in the world’s largest market.
The Detroit-based carmaker outlined its plan to roll out new EVs, gas-burning sport-utility vehicles and intelligent driving and connectivity in China on Wednesday, in virtual presentations from executives including Chief Executive Officer Mary Barra and President of GM China Julian Blissett.
GM is making the pitch to convince investors that its strategy of bringing electric models to market globally will make it a credible competitor to Tesla. GM also is facing some pressure to spin off its plug-in unit as a separate business after Wall Street lavished billions on EV startups in recent months.
“We are investing heavily in the technology and innovation that will help us realize our vision,” Barra said in a video on the company’s investor web page. “From 2020 to 2025, we will allocate more than $20 billion in capital and engineering resources to our EV and AV programs.”
Barra’s presentation follows the reveal of the Cadillac Lyriq electric SUV earlier this month and the unveiling of its Ultium electric-vehicle battery in March.
While GM’s sales have showed resilience in China amid the coronavirus pandemic, long-term growth prospects depend on its new models — including electric cars — attracting buyers. Demand for EVs is accelerating, and Tesla has grabbed an early lead in Asia’s biggest economy after starting output from its new multibillion-dollar Shanghai plant.
China’s car market is recovering from a two-year slump, helped by the reopening of showrooms, the receding of covid-19 and an improving economy. Electric-vehicle sales growth eclipsed gas guzzlers last month following a yearlong lull kicked off by the government scaling back EV subsidies.
GM has said it plans to sell more than 20 EV models by around 2023. The company’s battery pack can host compact cars, large pickup trucks and everything in between, said GM President Mark Reuss in the video.
“This is a huge opportunity for us, the biggest opportunity any of us have ever seen for this company,” Reuss said. “It represents a chance to reinvent the company and reset our brands. It will change this company and people’s perceptions of it forever.”
On Wednesday in Shanghai, GM gave more information about its new global EV platform, its Ultium battery system and its next-generation EVs for China.
Highlights include:
– More than 40% of GM’s new launches in China in the next five years will be electrified models. They’ll be made in China, with almost all parts coming from local suppliers.
– GM will continue to roll out and upgrade its Super Cruise driver-assistance system, to be featured on Cadillac’s lineup by mid-decade and expanded to Buick and Chevrolet models.
– The Cadillac Lyriq luxury all electric SUV will be available in China, aimed at wealthy customers. It will feature a glass roof and more-spacious interior because of a new battery architecture.
– For 2021, an enhanced version of Super Cruise will be available in China and the U.S. with features including lane change on demand, as well as richer map data. GM will offer Super Cruise on 20 vehicles globally by 2023.
– GM also will accelerate the development of China-specific solutions for intelligent connected vehicles, with its first global vehicle-to-everything (V2X) program set for launch this year on the Buick GL8 van.
– Almost all GM vehicles in China will be connected via flexible platforms; in 2022, 5G will be available on all new Cadillac models and most Chevrolet and Buick vehicles.
– The Ultium battery can go as far as 400 miles on a charge with battery sizes between 50 and 200 kilowatt hours. The Tesla Model 3 has a long-range battery with 72.5 kWh of usable battery power.
“GM has unmatched scale in leveraging big data and using our insights to deliver higher quality, more innovative and data-informed services to our customers,” Blissett said. “In the near future, we will make connectivity a standard feature in nearly all our global brand vehicles launched in China.”
GM’s core business — selling gasoline-powered sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks — is generating cash but is viewed as being in long-term decline and is less exciting to investors than the company’s electric-car plans, Deutsche Bank AG analyst Emmanuel Rosner said in a note this week.
While GM shares are down about 18% this year, makers of battery-powered vehicles have hit new heights. Shares of Tesla have soared to record levels, making the company the world’s most-valuable carmaker. Startups Nikola Corp. and Workhorse Group Inc. also have seen gains.
Meanwhile, Chinese EV contenders are accelerating their fundraising plans. Li Auto Inc. raised $1.1 billion in late July, and Xpeng Motors has plans for a $1 billion IPO. WM Motor Technology Co., meanwhile, is weighing an initial stock sale in Shanghai as soon as this year, people familiar with the matter said, and Hozon New Energy Automobile Co. is targeting a listing in the same city possibly next year.
Tesla extends rally with market value nearing consumer giant P&G
Aug 18. 2020
By Syndication Washington Post, Bloomberg · Esha Dey · BUSINESS, US-GLOBAL-MARKETS The relentless rally in Tesla shares has driven its valuation close to the consumer product behemoth Procter & Gamble Co. as investors bet on the electric vehicle maker’s ability to dominate the automotive market of the future.
The stock jumped as much as 8.9% to a record intraday high of $1,796.98 in New York on Monday, despite reports of a drop in the registrations of Chinese-made Tesla cars in July. China is a key market for Tesla, and the company is ramping up production there after starting deliveries from its massive Shanghai plant around the beginning of the year.
Tesla shares are now up 327% this year, fueled by growing anticipation that the company will be included in the S&P 500 Index. The carmaker’s plan to split its stock into a 5-for-1 exchange to make shares more accessible for individual investors is also expected to drive up demand. Tesla was the eighth most popular stock on the Robinhood app on Monday, according to data from Robintrack.net.
Meanwhile, Wall Street has warmed to the stock, as evidenced by a steady stream of upgrades and price target boosts. The latest came from Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives, who raised his target to $1,900 from $1,800, saying Tesla has seen strong demand in Europe and China so far in the third quarter, with the U.S. market remaining softer.
“The China growth story is worth at least $400 per share in a bull case to Tesla as this electric vehicle penetration is set to ramp significantly over the next 12 to 18 months,” Ives wrote. He kept his bull-case target at $2,500.
Tesla’s market value is hovering around $333.7 billion, just shy of P&G’s $336.6 billion, which places the maker of Pampers and Crest as the 11th biggest stock on the S&P 500, according to Bloomberg data. Retail giant Walmart has the 10th biggest valuation on the index, at $384.3 billion.
Uber and Lyft must make their drivers in California full employees, judge rules
Aug 11. 2020A Lyft light sits on the dashboard of a vehicle. CREDIT: Bloomberg photo by Jeenah Moon
By The Washington Post · Faiz Siddiqui · NATIONAL, BUSINESS, COURTSLAW
SAN FRANCISCO – Uber and Lyft must make their drivers in California full employees, a California judge ruled on Monday, a key blow to the companies’ efforts to continue to classify their gig workers as independent contractors.
California Superior Court Judge Ethan Schulman said the companies had failed to comply with the state’s landmark Assembly Bill 5, which was signed into law last year and classified certain categories of gig workers as employees. Schulman ordered the companies to stop referring to drivers as independent contractors and comply with unemployment and wage floor provisions for the workers.
The companies argue they are technology platforms rather than transportation services and that drivers aren’t core to their platforms.
Schulman laid into Uber and Lyft’s arguments, issuing an injunction to enforce the law on grounds that “none” of their pleas for delay were “persuasive” and they weren’t likely to prevail at trial. The state’s lawsuit had sought the injunction to allow for enforcement of AB5 against Uber and Lyft, which argued the employment provision did not apply to their companies. Uber and Lyft, he said, “cannot possibly” succeed in arguing drivers aren’t core to their business.
“It’s this simple: Defendants’ drivers do not perform work that is ‘outside the usual course’ of their business,” Schulman wrote.
The ruling does not automatically convert the state’s ride-hailing drivers into employees and instead kicks off what is expected to be a lengthy appeal process. The ruling was stayed for 10 days to allow for an appeal. Uber and Lyft said Monday they plan to appeal.
By considering their millions of drivers as contractors, not full employees, Uber and Lyft are able to offer quick and low-cost rides by maximizing the number of drivers on their platforms, emphasizing the ease of signing up and refraining from providing them benefits such as health insurance as they champion so-called flexible work models.
“The vast majority of drivers want to work independently, and we’ve already made significant changes to our app to ensure that remains the case under California law,” Uber spokesperson Noah Edwardsen said. “When over 3 million Californians are without a job, our elected leaders should be focused on creating work, not trying to shut down an entire industry during an economic depression.”
“Drivers do not want to be employees, full stop,” Lyft spokesperson Julie Wood said.
Both companies cited an independent but unscientific driver survey that found more than 70% of 734 respondents identifying themselves as drivers said they did not want to be classified as employees. The company argued that many turn to gig work as a temporary outlet when they lose their jobs or find themselves in adverse economic circumstances, and said 86% of its drivers in California work less than 20 hours per week. Those drivers champion the flexibility of contract work, Lyft argues.
Uber and Lyft have suffered substantial losses during the pandemic as rides have nearly evaporated, with Uber’s bookings declining 75% in the period from April through June. Lyft, which said rides were down 75% in April, reports on its quarterly earnings this week.
The companies argue that reclassifying drivers as employees would be a costly endeavor that would practically redefine their business model, forcing them to establish schedules in what has traditionally been a flexible work arrangement and changing the passenger experience, leaving a costlier and less convenient app in its wake.
Schulman noted the adverse economic impact the pandemic has had on the companies, but noted the historic ridership lows presented an opportunity to rebuild their services around adhering to the law.
The order could have broad implications not only for ride-hailing but the tech industry which relies on gig work to stand up massive labor forces without providing them the traditional benefits of employment. Under AB5, companies are required to prove that independent contractors are performing work outside the business’s core function, are free from the entity’s control and traditionally perform such work independently of the company.
“Uber’s argument is a classic example of circular reasoning: because it regards itself as a technology company and considers only tech workers to be its ’employees,’ anybody else is outside the ordinary course of its business,” Schulman wrote. “Were this reasoning to be accepted, the rapidly expanding majority of industries that rely heavily on technology could with impunity deprive legions of workers of the basic protections afforded to employees by state labor and employment laws.”
The lawsuit leading to Monday’s injunction was filed in May by California Attorney General Xavier Becerra along with the city attorneys of San Francisco, San Diego and Los Angeles.
“The court has weighed in and agreed: Uber and Lyft need to put a stop to unlawful misclassification of their drivers while our litigation continues,” Becerra said in a statement. “Our state and workers shouldn’t have to foot the bill when big businesses try to skip out on their responsibilities. We’re going to keep working to make sure Uber and Lyft play by the rules.”
Uber, Lyft and other gig work companies in the food delivery sector are backing a ballot initiative aimed at establishing their drivers and couriers as a separate class of worker with benefits, exempting them from the employment requirement of AB5. They’ve poured $110 million into the effort, which is expected to be on the November general election ballot.
Cadillac unveils first electric SUV years before sales start
Aug 08. 2020The Cadillac logo is displayed on the front grille of a CT5 sedan during an event in New York City on April 16, 2019. MUST CREDIT: Bloomberg photo by Jeenah Moon. Location: New York, United States
By Syndication The Washington Post, Bloomberg · David Welch
General Motors unveiled a long-awaited Cadillac electric vehicle that will offer Tesla-like range, though prospective buyers will need to be patient.
The Cadillac Lyriq is debuting about four months later than planned, with GM having postponed the reveal because of the coronavirus. But that interval pales in comparison with the two years it will take for the plug-in crossover to go on sale.
GM’s plan to bring Lyriq to market in late 2022 risks being a bit of a letdown for investors who heard CEO Mary Barra’s EV pitch and were enthused about its prospects. The more than 300 miles of range Cadillac is planning for its first all-electric vehicle would beat Audi’s e-tron and Jaguar’s I-Pace, but Tesla’s Model Y and X crossovers already boast that ability.
The Lyriq will launch after a crossover-utility version of the Chevrolet Bolt and an all-new GMC Hummer pickup planned for next year. And Barra, 58, has more up her sleeve, having vowed to bring 20 electric vehicles to market globally by 2023.
“Led by Lyriq, Cadillac will redefine American luxury over the next decade with a new portfolio of transformative EVs,” Steve Carlisle, president of GM North America, said in a statement.
The slate of plug-in models and the Ultium battery system that Barra touted in March have spurred analysts to call for GM to consider spinning off its electric-vehicle operations. It’s an idea that was floated internally back in 2018, Bloomberg News reported earlier. The company is war-gaming the concept as it ponders ways to get credit for its EV plans, though a spinoff isn’t actively being prepared.
Cadillac will offer the Lyriq in rear-wheel and all-wheel drive configurations, as well as an enhanced version of Super Cruise, its hands-free driver-assistance system. The feature will be usable on more than 200,000 miles of highway and offer automatic lane-changing capability. The Lyriq also will be able to park itself.
Its touch screen is a 33-inch panel that stretches across the cockpit and boasts twice the resolution of a 4K television, similar to what Cadillac will offer in its new Escalade SUV going on sale later this year.
Other luxury brands have had trouble getting much sales volume out of their electric SUVs. Volkswagen-owned Audi delivered less than 17,000 e-trons in the first half of this year, a little more than 2% of its worldwide total. Tata Motors’s Jaguar retailed just over 5,400 I-Pace SUVs.
“We continue to believe that GM is proving itself as one of the most ambitious legacy OEMs globally in EV, with a holistic strategy,” Dan Levy, a Credit Suisse analyst who rates GM shares the equivalent of a buy, wrote in a report Friday. “Yet it’s possible investors may not give GM credit on EV until we see real volumes materialize.”
Mitsubishi Motors Chairman Masuko resigns, citing his health
Aug 07. 2020Osamu Masuko, who stepped down Friday as chairman of Mitsubishi Motors Corp., speaks during a news conference in Yokohama, Japan, on Jan. 30, 2020. MUST CREDIT: Bloomberg photo by Noriko Hayashi. Location: Yokohama, Japan
By Syndication The Washington Post, Bloomberg · Shiho Takezawa
Mitsubishi Motors Corp. Chairman Osamu Masuko is stepping down after 15 years due to health reasons, just as the Japanese automaker’s alliance with Nissan and Renault is being shaken by deteriorating profits.
Chief Executive Officer Takao Kato will temporarily assume the role of chairman from Friday, Mitsubishi Motors said in a statement. Masuko will remain as a special adviser to the company, which didn’t elaborate on his condition.
Masuko was the last top-level leader remaining from when Carlos Ghosn, the former chairman of the three automakers in the alliance, was arrested in November 2018 on charges of underreporting income. Masuko had negotiated with Ghosn to sell a third of the company after its stock had declined following a car-inspection scandal. Although the alliance unveiled a new strategy in May, all three automakers are on track to lose billions this year as they struggle to cope with the coronavirus pandemic. That has raised concerns over the viability of their partnership.
“Under new management, it’ll become clearer that Mitsubishi will prioritize its own revival,” said Seiji Sugiura, an analyst at Tokyo Tokai Research.
Shares of Mitsubishi were little changed at 225 yen in late afternoon trading in Tokyo. The stock is down by about a half this year.
The global car alliance, which was created to compete against other auto giants, is under increasing strain since Ghosn’s arrest. Apart from Ghosn, former Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa and former Renault CEO Thierry Bollore left their positions last year. Last week, Mitsubishi Motors forecast an operating loss of 140 billion yen ($1.3 billion) for the fiscal year through March, and said it would close a plant in Japan assembling Pajero SUVs in a bid to cut costs.
Masuko negotiated with Ghosn when Mitsubishi Motors was embroiled in a car-inspection scandal in 2016 for falsifying fuel-economy data. Nissan bought about a third of Mitsubishi. Masuko stepped down as CEO in June 2019, and Kato took on the role.
Jim Hackett is stepping down as chief executive of Ford Motor Co., turning the reins over to his deputy in the midst of a pandemic and while the industry grapples with new rivals and technologies.
Hackett, 65, elected to retire, the company said in a news release Tuesday, and will be succeeded by Chief Operating Officer Jim Farley, 58, effective Oct. 1. Farley was also elected to the board of directors.
The leadership shake-up comes at a critical time for Ford, one that both executives and analysts say was a long time coming. The 117-year-old auto giant was looking for a reboot when Hackett took the helm in 2017. He has been credited with streamlining operations while balancing an $11 billion restructuring program and several crucial product launches against growing competition from such companies as Tesla, Apple, Baidu and smaller start-ups. The pandemic and ensuing recession have slashed revenue and its stock price; Ford shares have lost more than a fourth of its value since the start of the year.
In Farley, Ford gets a 30-year industry veteran who left Toyota in 2007 – during the Great Recession – to head up global marketing and sales. He went on to lead Lincoln, Ford South America, Ford of Europe before taking on all of Ford’s global markets. On Tuesday’s conference call, he referenced his grandfather, who began his career at Ford’s Highland Park, Ill., plant in 1913 – the same year the automaker launched the world’s first moving assembly line – as part of his heritage.
“My unbridled enthusiasm and humility in being asked to lead Ford at this time is rooted in the desire to serve our customers, our team and most of all, these values,” Farley said during a Tuesday conference call. “Yes, I’m my own man, but we have a tremendous team at Ford and I’m really optimistic.”
Hackett and Farley partnered on Ford’s Creating Tomorrow Together, the company’s growth initiative, which overhauled product strategy and moved the company away from sedans. In April 2019, Farley took over the new businesses, technology and strategy team, overseeing software platforms, AI, automation and new methods to integrate technology within the company. He was named chief operating officer in February.
“Jim [Farley] is a car guy through and through,” Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford said during the call. “He can be found on weekends, often at racetracks, racing his vintage cars, and it’s his joy.”
David Whiston, a Morningstar equity strategist who covers the U.S. auto industry wasn’t surprised by the succession – he expected it after Farley was named COO. When clients came to him in the past asking when Ford’s stock would move up, he advised them to wait for a new CEO.
“A lot of the difference may just be more in communication style,” Whiston said. “It’s not a secret if you listen to earnings call. There are people out there who are frustrated with Jim Hackett.”
When Hackett took over as chief executive in May 2017, Ford stock was trading shy of $11 a share, Whiston said. It closed Monday at $6.69, a roughly 40% decline. Whiston said it will take time for the stock to bounce back – it jumped 2.5% after Tuesday’s announcement to close at $6.86 – but he said he’s hopeful Farley can do what his predecessors couldn’t.
Hackett, who said he’s been thinking about retirement since the spring, will stay on in an advisory role through March 2021.
“It will be seamless because these guys have worked together so closely for these last three years,” Bill Ford said during the call. “We have lots of work ahead of us to really complete our mission, but thanks to Jim we are a really different company than we were three years ago.”
Last week, the automaker delivered better-than-expected second-quarter results in the face of rolling shutdowns of its plants around the globe. It posted $19.3 billion in revenue, according to an earnings release. That’s a nearly 50% drop from the nearly $39 billion recorded in the year-ago period.
During Hackett’s three-year stint as chief executive, he focused on modernizing the 170-year-old company and revamped its product vision, notably with the Mustang Mach-E, new F-150 and Bronco line. Hackett said he takes pride in what he’s accomplished at Ford.
“How to get [Ford] to recognize what is really powerful about who they’ve been but more promising about who they can become . . . that takes time,” he said during the call. “It’s about transformation, it’s about working on the bureaucracy, how decisions are made, how reasoning is done.”
Bill Ford expressed gratitude for Hackett’s leadership during the coronavirus crisis. “He moved us very quickly to protect our business, and then he stepped up to help our country in a time of need,” he said.
Ford halted most of its global production in late March and started a phased-in reopening in May. During its second quarter posted almost $46 billion in debt, according to the company’s earnings report.
Farley said Ford will continue to focus on its growth initiatives, such as self-driving cars, the software business and underperforming global markets, as well as its commitment to its customers.
“I’m feeling fantastic about our ability to compete with new competitors,” like Tesla and Baidu, he said during the call. “Look, I took almost a year out of the core business to really learn about this technology and these new competitors, so I’m saying that from a perspective of learning and listening to these new competitors themselves.”
Whiston said he expects Farley to continue the company’s restructuring but hopefully will focus more on competitors like Tesla by accelerating its plans for Lincoln electric cars.
“I don’t think he’s going to radically blow up anything already in place,” Whiston said. “Hopefully over time they’ll be more specific [with plans for electrification]. Otherwise, it’ll just be the same old Ford.”
BMW 5 series to go electric as CEO pledges bolder climate push
Jul 27. 2020
By Syndication Washington Post, Bloomberg · Christoph Rauwald, Oliver Sachgau · BUSINESS
BMW will make electric versions of its popular 5 Series mid-sized sedan and X1 compact SUV, part of a widened push to slash carbon emissions while wrestling with the fallout from the covid-19 pandemic.
The German automaker said Monday it is seeking to reduce CO2 output per car by at least a third by 2030, and track progress via raw material sourcing, production and road emissions.
“We will report on our progress every year and measure ourselves against these targets,” Chief Executive Officer Oliver Zipse said. Achieving them will “tangibly” affect the flexible component of executive pay, he said.
Automakers have been under heightened scrutiny after regulators in key markets including Europe and China tightened emissions rules, forcing manufacturers to strike a balance in their fleets between combustion-engine cars that generate most profits and a greater share of battery-powered models.
Sustainability efforts have been gaining importance as projects related to environmental social governance, or ESG, increasingly influence investment decisions. This poses a challenge to technology giants and industrial manufacturers that consume enormous amounts of energy to power everything from computing centers to vehicle factories.
BMW declined to specify when the electric 5 Series and X1 will be available. They would join a lineup of two existing and three upcoming battery-powered cars by the end of next year.
BMW intends to offer 25 electric and hybrid models by 2023, half of which will be fully electric, as part of an accelerated push into the technology to catch up with Tesla.
Zipse said BMW will “overachieve” meeting stricter emissions limits that are taking effect in Europe this year, offering a more optimistic outlook than Daimler’s Mercedes-Benz, which has warned that reaching the goals will be challenging this year and next.
BMW wants a third of its cars sold in Europe to be electric by 2025, and earlier this month signed a $2.3 billion order for battery cells made by Sweden’s Northvolt.
BMW said its battery suppliers have agreed to only use renewable electricity to produce the cells, saving about as much CO2 this decade as the city of Munich emits in a year.
Without switching to renewables, the growing number of electric cars would push the industry’s CO2 output higher because of the vast energy needed to make battery cells, Zipse said.
BMW will also bolster its recycling efforts and source minerals like cobalt and lithium directly to make its supply chain more ethical, the company said.
Tesla reports $100 million quarterly profit despite Musk calling quarantine ‘fascist’
Jul 23. 2020
By The Washington Post · Faiz Siddiqui · BUSINESS, US-GLOBAL-MARKETS
SAN FRANCISCO – Elon Musk once dismissed the coronavirus panic as “dumb.” He called quarantine measures “fascist.”
He even speculated that there would be “probably close to zero new cases” in the United States by the end of April.
On Wednesday, the CEO who has taken on the mantle as perhaps the business world’s highest profile coronavirus skeptic, weighed in on the company’s latest financial update for a quarter where it turned a profit despite its main manufacturing facility’s closure for weeks. He chose not to discuss the issues in detail Wednesday, despite breaking into a profanity-laced rant during about the country’s ongoing quarantine orders on the same type call in April.
Tesla reported a $104 million second-quarter profit Wednesday, attributing the gains to “operational improvements” to reduce expenses in a quarter where production was disrupted.
“Our business has shown strong resilience during these unprecedented times,” Tesla said in its earnings news release. “Despite the closure of our main factory in Fremont for nearly half the quarter, we posted our fourth sequential” profit, the company said. The company reported revenue of more than $6 billion.
Because Tesla exclusively sells electric vehicles, other automakers can buy credits from them to help offset sales of their gas guzzling vehicles in order to comply with emissions regulations that require a certain percentage of vehicle fleets to be zero emissions. Tesla sold $428 million worth of credits in the second quarter, up from $111 million in the same quarter a year ago, boosting profitability.
During a conference call with analysts, Musk announced Tesla would be building its next “Gigafactory” plant in the Austin area. Tesla is expected to build its Cybertruck electric pickup at the plant, along with vehicles including its upcoming Semi truck.
Tesla will keep production of its Models 3 and Y, S and X in California, focusing the sedan and crossover production at that facility on the western half of the United States while using the Texas facility to serve the Eastern half.
“We’ll continue to grow in California,” Musk said on the call. “This is a nice split between Texas and California.”
The move comes after Musk threatened earlier this year to move Tesla’s headquarters from California to Texas or Nevada, as he sparred with local officials over Tesla’s inability to resume production in Fremont, Calif.
During last quarter’s call, Musk expressed fears of the financial risk posed to the company’s production by the ongoing public health restrictions. Then he blasted the stay-at-home orders as “fascist,” urging government officials to give people back their “freedom.”
The comments were an abrupt departure from an otherwise standard corporate earnings update. The call briefly went quiet after Musk launched into his tirade.
Since then, Tesla restarted its production lines in Fremont, in defiance of Alameda County orders, even garnering support from President Trump as it sought to resume building cars. The company was allowed to fully reopen by mid-May and has been pumping out thousands of cars per week since then.
Tesla said this month it delivered 90,650 vehicles in the quarter from April through June, producing 82,272 vehicles during the period. That included 80,050 deliveries of the mass-market Model 3 sedan and newly introduced Model Y crossover, which is expected to be among the company’s most popular offerings. (Tesla recently cut the price of the long-range dual-motor variant of the car by $3,000 to about $50,000 and axed a planned more-affordable standard-range model, highlighting what some analysts see as demand concerns.)
Meanwhile, Tesla has informed employees of some cases of the novel coronavirus inside the Fremont facilities. But the company and Alameda County officials have yet to disclose the full number of cases there. Employees have expressed concern over what they’ve said is a lack of proper social distancing in the plant.
Musk’s April rant followed weeks of playing down the seriousness of the virus and pushing back on public health efforts to limit the spread of the virus.
Musk initially sparred with county officials in March, keeping the plant open despite local orders for businesses to close. After initial uncertainty over whether Tesla could operate, local officials declared Tesla was not essential, and the company agreed to wind down to “minimum basic operations.”
Tesla ultimately reopened its factory in early May, before county officials gave the company the green light to do so.
And Musk has continued to tweet his opinions, too. “Tesla stock price is too high imo,” he said, using shorthand for “in my opinion,” to the confusion of analysts and investors.
On Monday, he tweeted a photo holding his baby son, who he originally posted was named X Æ A-12, with a German caption. It translates roughly to mean the infant could not use a spoon yet.
General Motors electric vehicles in Shanghai on July 18, 2019. CREDIT: Bloomberg photo by Gilles Sabrie.
A Lyft light sits on the dashboard of a vehicle. CREDIT: Bloomberg photo by Jeenah Moon
The Cadillac logo is displayed on the front grille of a CT5 sedan during an event in New York City on April 16, 2019. MUST CREDIT: Bloomberg photo by Jeenah Moon. Location: New York, United States
Osamu Masuko, who stepped down Friday as chairman of Mitsubishi Motors Corp., speaks during a news conference in Yokohama, Japan, on Jan. 30, 2020. MUST CREDIT: Bloomberg photo by Noriko Hayashi. Location: Yokohama, Japan
SootinClaimon.Com 