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US Light Vehicle sales totaled 1.14 million units in February, according to an analysis just released by LMC Automotive.* This converts to a Year-over-Year rise of 9.5%, with the same number of selling days as February 2022. The month’s results were “flattered by the depressed state of the market a year ago.” Compared to February 2021’s total, sales were down by 3.8%.
“The declines would be larger if we used the pre-pandemic period as a baseline. Still, given the headwinds of sky-high average transaction prices, lingering inventory shortages for some OEMs, and economic uncertainty, February’s results surpassed expectations and can be considered an encouraging outcome,” LMC said. Continue reading
Ford Motor Establishes Latitude AI for Autonomous Driving
Vapor ware until a production application?
Ford Motor Company said today that it has established Latitude AI, a wholly owned subsidiary, develop “a hands-free, eyes-off-the-road automated driving system.” The move follows in the wake of a $2 billion loss posted for 2022, partially the result of a Q3 2022 decision that saw Ford shift its capital spending from the L4 advanced driver assistance systems being developed by Argo AI to internally developed L2+/L3 technology. That move was forced on Ford when Argo AI failed to attract new investors needed for ongoing development. Ford recorded a $2.7 billion non-cash, pretax impairment on its investment in Argo AI, resulting in an $827 million net loss for Q3. (Click here for SAE Autonomous Driving Levels)
With the formation of Latitude, Ford adds a 550-member team of machine learning, robotics, software, sensors, systems engineering and operations employees as the automaker expands its development efforts in automated driving technology, including improvements in Ford BlueCruise, which has accumulated more than 50 million miles of hands-free driving. Continue reading →