Nissan Motor Posts ¥75.7B Operating Profit for Q1 FY

Posted on 5 August 2021 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of Auto Informed.com on Nissan Motor Posts ¥75.7B Operating Profit

Click to Enlarge.

Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. has announced decent financial results for the three months ended June 30, 2021. In a filing with the Tokyo Stock exchange it also increased its full-year profit outlook for fiscal year 2021.

For the first quarter of the Japanese fiscal year, consolidated net revenue was ¥2.008 trillion, consolidated operating profit was ¥75.7 billion, and the operating profit margin was 3.8%. The net income1 in the first quarter was ¥114.5 billion.

During the first three months of the fiscal year, Nissan unit sales increased sharply as the industry rebounded from the pandemic disruption of 2020. Both total industry volumes and global Nissan retail sales increased by more than 60% with keeping pace with the industry volumes. Nissan’s digitally influenced sales have further increased in quarter one. Continue reading →

Tweet
Posted in economy, financial results | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

GM Posts Record Q2 Earnings of $4.1B Amid Delta Doubts

Posted on 4 August 2021 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of Auto Informed.com on GM Posts Record Q2 Earnings of $4.1B amid Delta Doubts

Click to Enlarge.

General Motors extended its winning record today by posting strong earnings again, including a record earnings (EBIT-adjusted) of $4.1 billion in the second quarter, and $8.5 billion in the first half. Chair and CEO Mary Barra said that it is also “accelerating our engineering and capital investments in electric vehicles (EVs) and self-driving technology (AVs) by $8 billion to $35 billion from 2020-2025.” (AutoInformed.com on GM Posts Formidable First-Quarter 2021 Results; GM Ups Bet by $35B in Autonomous, Electric Vehicle Games)

With GM’s evolving view on Automobility it is placing itself squarely in the middle of a global battle royal among other automotive giants such as Honda,Toyota, Stellantis and Volkswagen Group, by developing a full EV portfolio that doesn’t depend on “partial solutions” like hybrids and “electrified” ICE vehicles. It is also a warning about an emerging industry problem – battery fires. Barra said on the earnings call that this is rare but recalled about 69,000 Bolt vehicles to ensure customer safety. Continue reading →

Tweet
Posted in economy, electric vehicles, financial results, global warming, mobility company, news analysis | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Stellantis Posts Record H1 Results. Full-Year Guidance Upped

Posted on 3 August 2021 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Stellantis Posts Record H1 Results.

Click to Enlarge.

Stellantis today posted record H1 Pro Forma(1) Results with an 11.4% Margin. The conglomerate created in January by the merger of Fiat-Chrysler and Peugeot Group showed that all segments were making money. All segments were also profitable so full-year guidance was raised to ~10% of adjusted operating income(2) margin.

“While delivering this strong operational performance the Company also made significant progress on strategic matters related to electrification acceleration and software, which are fundamental pillars of our strategy,” claimed Carlos Tavares, CEO. Continue reading →

Tweet
Posted in autonomous vehicles, economy, electric vehicles | 1 Comment

Super Car First Look – Honda NSX Type S

Posted on 3 August 2021 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of Auto Informed.com on Honda NSX Type S

The first-generation NSX in 1990 was a new-generation mid-engine sports car it brought together state-of-the-art technologies of the time and achieved both excellent dynamic performance and ease of driving at a high level. I was at Road&Track at the time, and the staff was blown away by how good the sports car was. It was in essence a Japanese Ferrari with Japanese quality and pricing unheard of in the sports cars of the era.

Honda Motor today released early information on a new limited production NSX Type S, which is scheduled to be officially introduced before the end of August 2021. The new NSX Type S will be the final model of the second-generation NSX. Marketing and the development team are attempting to wring the last possible enhancements to performance and design (marketing babble alert> “with the goal to create a model that goes beyond all NSX models that came before.”

The second-generation NSX proposes a “New Sports eXperience,” made possible by a three-motor Sport Hybrid SH-AWD, an original Honda electrification technology. It’s claimed that it has a high-level responsiveness and handling performance, not possible with an engine alone.  Continue reading →

Tweet
Posted in marketing, milestones, news analysis | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Bentley Cautiously Posts Record 2021 Half-Year

Posted on 2 August 2021 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of Auto Informed.com on Bentley Cautiously Posts Record 2021 Half-Year

“While we celebrate these results, we are not taking the full year outlook for granted as we know there are still sizable risks to the year-end…

Bentley Motors has posted the company’s 2021 half-year performance with sales and profits unmatched in its 102-year history. This includes an operating profit of €178 million, greater than any profit posted for a full-year by the firm with a deep background in racing. Retail sales increased by 50% from a pre-COVID 2019 figure of 4,785 to 7,199 in 2021. On the financial side of the ledger, Bentley’s revenue for the first six months of 2021 was €1.32 billion, up from a pre-COVID figure of €834.8 million in 2019. The operating result was €178 million and a subsequent return on sales of 13%, a record high return.

These figures in context are significant: Bentley’s previous record half-year performance was in 2014, with a revenue of €887 million and an operating result of €95.2 million. That year closed as Bentley’s most successful year with a profit of €170 million. This is now surpassed at the half-year point 2021. Continue reading →

Tweet
Posted in financial results, milestones | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Volker Holzmeyer New Head of Porsche Motorsport NA

Posted on 2 August 2021 by Ken Zino

Ken Zino of Auto Informed.com on Holzmeyer joins Porsche Motorsport North America as CEOVolker Holzmeyer (41) is joining Porsche Motorsport North America as the new President and CEO as of January 2022. He succeeds the previous incumbent Daniel Armbruster (53) whose new role will be announced soon. The two managers will work together in the coming months to take a look at the specific features of the market, the customers and processes involved in the central sales and marketing of Porsche race cars and spare parts in the USA and Canada.

Porsche Carrera Cup North America is the most recent Porsche racing program here, starting in 2021, reflecting 30 years of Porsche racing. The one-make race series in the United States and Canada (eventually now that baseball has just returned to Toronto) uses the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup race car and Michelin Pilot Sport Cup N3 racing slick on the road and street race courses on the continent. As with all national Carrera Cups worldwide, Porsche, through Porsche Motorsport North America (PMNA), will manage the single-driver per-entry series. Porsche has 21 one-make championships competing in 31 countries on five continents. Continue reading →

Tweet
Posted in people, racing | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Renault Group Boasts €2B Fixed-Cost Cuts Ahead of Plan

Posted on 30 July 2021 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of Auto Informed.com on Renault Group should achieve its target of €2 billion cash fixed cost reductions one year ahead of schedule

Click to Enlarge.

Renault Group said today that revenues reached €23,357 million, up 26.8% compared to the first half of 2020. At constant exchange rates and perimeter1, Group revenues would have increased by 31.8%. AUTOVAZ revenues amounted to €20,339 million, up 29.3% compared to the first half of 2020. The recovery of the automotive market is contributing +23.7 points. The implementation of the new commercial policy, focusing on profitable volumes, led to a positive net price effect of 8.7 points and a negative volume of -8.7 points. The currency effect was negative -3.9 points, mainly linked to the devaluation of the Argentinian peso, the Russian Ruble, the Turkish lira and the Brazilian real.

“These results are the fruits of our strategic Renaulution plan, focused on profitability. They mark only the first step in our turnaround, which should accelerate with the arrival of the new vehicles in preparation. I would like to thank all our employees for their commitment in achieving these results,” declared Luca de Meo, CEO of Renault Group. To AutoInformed, it seems premature to have a French victory toast at this point in the ongoing covid and automotive wars. C’est fous. Continue reading →

Tweet
Posted in financial results, mobility company, news analysis | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Daimler Boards Approve Spin Off of Mercedes-Benz Cars and Daimler Truck as Two companies. Shareholder Vote in October

Posted on 30 July 2021 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Daimler AG posts strong results for Q1 2021

Different roads with similar hazards for cars and trucks?

In a high stakes move by the Daimler AG Board of Management and Supervisory Board (ticker symbol DAI) to separate two very different businesses and insulate the parent company from financial threats that Global Warming, connected and autonomous vehicles and automaker upheavals are causing, approved making Mercedes-Benz Cars and Daimler Truck independent companies.

Daimler shareholders will decide on this realignment of their company at an extraordinary general meeting on 1 October this year. A decision is also to be made on renaming Daimler AG as Mercedes-Benz Group AG as of 1 February 2022. This step is intended to emphasize the future focus of the company on the car and van business with the Mercedes-Benz brand as well as the sub-brands Mercedes-AMG, Mercedes-Maybach and Mercedes-EQ. Continue reading →

Tweet
Posted in autonomous vehicles, global warming, mobility company, news analysis | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Tesla Model 3 – Europe’s Second Best-Selling Car in June 21. Low Emission Cars at Record Share. Makers Lagging Buyers

Posted on 29 July 2021 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of Auto Informed.com on Low Emission Cars Set New EU Record Share

Click to Enlarge.

Total European new car registrations continued to increase in June, but remain paltry compared to pre-pandemic levels. There were 1,268,683 new passenger cars registered last month – an increase of 13% when compared with June 2020. Despite this increase, the market’s rate of recovery has slowed substantially relative to the growth recorded between March and May of this year as the botched EU rollout of covid vaccines continue to result in a very sick economy.

Notably, low emissions cars (BEV and PHEV) continued to perform well, recording a new record total market share of 18.5% – up from 8.2% in June 2020. Registrations of BEVs totaled 126,000 units during the month, ahead of the 104,000 registered PHEV units. Yes that’s right pure EVs out sold hybrids, which were at the center automakers plans to fight emissions and global warming. Fiat, Tesla, Skoda, Volkswagen and Ford gained the largest market share in the BEV market while Cupra, Jeep, Volkswagen, Renault and Seat posted the highest market share gains in the PHEV market. Continue reading →

Tweet
Posted in environment, global warming, news analysis, sales | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Ford Motor Posts Q2 Revenue $26.8B, Net Income $56M, Earnings $1.1B as Market Share Drops

Posted on 29 July 2021 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of Auto Informed.com on Ford Motor Q2 2021 Results

Click to Enlarge.

Ford posted acceptable operating results in Q2 of 2021 – selling 764,00 vehicles – while further rolling out its reorganization plan dubbed Ford+. It earned 14-cents/share. Ford also to some degree limited the ongoing damages from semiconductor supply shortages. As a result, it raised projected full-year 2021 adjusted EBIT and adjusted free cash flow, respectively, to between $9 billion and $10 billion and between $4 billion and $5 billion.

During April with the semiconductor situation worsening, Ford said it expected to lose about 50% of its planned second-quarter production, which would have resulted in a loss in the period. Ford did better than that using the strong demand from the Biden Administration economic boom to improve revenue and profits through lower incentives and a more expensive and profitable mix of vehicles. These generated company-wide adjusted earnings of $1.1 billion before interest and taxes. (AutoInformed.com on Ford Leads NA Production Cuts from Semiconductor Shortage; Ford Posts Q1 Income of $3.3B. Semiconductors Still Difficult; Ford Follows GM: Q2 2021 Earnings to Exceed Its Expectations; Billion Dollar Oops – Ford F-150s, Edges Without Electronics) Continue reading →

Tweet
Posted in financial results, news analysis | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

SEC Charges Nikola Founder Trevor Milton With Fraud

Posted on 29 July 2021 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Nikola Badger Pickup Truck - GM Production Late 2022

The complaint further alleges that Milton ultimately reaped tens of millions of dollars in personal benefits as a result of his misconduct.

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced charges against Trevor R. Milton, the founder, former CEO and former executive chairman of Nikola Corporation, “for repeatedly disseminating false and misleading information – typically by speaking directly to investors through social media – about Nikola’s products and technological accomplishments.”

The SEC’s complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleges that Milton founded Nikola in 2015 with the primary goal of manufacturing trucks that run on alternative fuels with low or zero emissions, and building an alternative fuel station infrastructure to support those vehicles. Milton allegedly helped Nikola raise more than $1 billion in private offerings and go public through a business combination conducted by a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). (GM Signs MoU with Nikola to Supply Hydrotec Fuel Cells; Nikola and General Motors Partner! Nikola Badger Truck to be Engineered and Manufactured by GM) Continue reading →

Tweet
Posted in electric vehicles, fools 'n frauds, litigation | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Penske Automotive Posts Record Q2 Results

Posted on 28 July 2021 by Ken Zino

Penske Automotive Group (NYSE:PAG), today announced second quarter and six months 2021 results. For the three months ended June 30, 2021, the company reported a 652.9% increase in income from continuing operations attributable to common shareholders to $338.8 million and a 650.0% increase in related earnings per share to $4.20. This compares to income from continuing operations attributable to common shareholders of $45.0 million, or $0.56 per share, in the prior year.

Q2 income from continuing operations and related earnings per share include charges of $21.4 million, consisting of $12.6 million of debt redemption costs ($0.16 per share) and $8.8 million of charges relating to the increase in U.K. corporate taxes in 2023 ($0.11 per share). Excluding these items, adjusted income from continuing operations increased 700.4% to $360.2 million, and related earnings per share increased 698.2% to $4.47. Foreign exchange positively impacted earnings per share by $0.11. Continue reading →

Tweet
Posted in economy, financial results, news analysis | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

California Greenhouse Gases – Emissions Drop Continues

Posted on 28 July 2021 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of Auto Informed.com on Latest California Greenhouse Gas Inventory

Click to Enlarge.

The California Air Resources Board today released greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory data for 2019, showing further reductions below the AB 32 emissions reduction target. That target, a return to 1990 GHG levels, was achieved by the state four years ahead of schedule in 2016. The numbers in the new inventory show that emissions continue to fall, from 425 million metric tons in 2018 to 418 million metric tons in 2019. While progress around deployment of cleaner vehicle technology and fuels was significant, increases in per capita vehicle miles traveled (VMT) in passenger cars continued to rise slightly.

“This inventory is good news, but much larger reductions are needed to reach the ambitious 2030 target — an additional 40% reduction below the original 2020 limit,” said CARB Chair Liane M. Randolph. “We are now once again witnessing massive wildfires and recurring heat waves while large parts of our state are suffering from extreme drought. This is a clear call to redouble our efforts to protect those communities already hard hit by pollution and climate change, and to move with all possible speed to achieve carbon neutrality by mid-century as quickly as possible.” Continue reading →

Tweet
Posted in alternative fuels, economy, electric vehicles, environment, global warming, news analysis | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Ford Ion Park in Southeastern MI is New Global Battery Center

Posted on 28 July 2021 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on New Global Ford Battery R&D Site in Michigan

Engineers measure the voltage of a battery at what was Ford’s Battery Benchmarking and Test Laboratory in Allen Park MI.

Ford said Romulus will be the home to its new global battery center based in southeast Michigan. So-called Ion Park is working on the research and development of battery and battery cell technology, including future battery manufacturing. This is a $100 million part of a small $185 million investment in developing, testing, and building vehicle battery cells and cell arrays. There are taxpayer subsidies here through the  Michigan Economic Development Corporation and the Michigan Strategic Fund.

Ion Park will explore both lithium ion and solid-state battery cells and arrays. Ford will refurbish an existing 270,000 sq.-ft. facility. It will have a cross-functional team of up to 200 engineers, researchers, purchasing and finance staff. Ford Ion Park is critical in wisely spending the stockholder’s $30 billion investment in electrification by 2025. Politically it is part of a renewed commitment to making Michigan a centerpiece of its focus on electric vehicles. Continue reading →

Tweet
Posted in electric vehicles, electronics, engineering, fuel economy or emissions | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

EU – Rideable Bench Wins Ford Fund Smart Mobility Challenge

Posted on 27 July 2021 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of Auto Informed.com on Rideable Bench Wins Ford Fund Smart Mobility Challenge

In mobile mode, the sit-on scooter is for up to two people, with a maximum speed of 20 km/h.

Design students Corentin Janel and Guillaume Innocenti have come up with a rideable bench called “TOD”, short for “talk or drive”. This concept won the Ford Fund Smart Mobility Challenge and £12,500 (€14,600) for its creators that will go towards turning the project into reality. Organized by Ford Fund, the company’s corporate foundation and philanthropic arm, and the Royal College of Art in the UK, students participating in the challenge offered ideas for a sustainable urban mobility answer to benefit the community. Continue reading →

Tweet
Posted in concept, mobility company | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment