GM, Cruise, Microsoft to Commercialize Self-Driving Vehicles

Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on GM and Cruise

Cruise Automation COO Dan Kan, Cruise CEO Kyle Vogt, then GM President Dan Ammann – Cruise offices in San Francisco – June 2018. (l to r)

Cruise and General Motors today announced they have entered a long-term strategic relationship with Microsoft to “accelerate the commercialization of self-driving vehicles.” The companies claimed they will bring together their software and hardware engineering, cloud computing capabilities, manufacturing ability, and partners to “create a safer, cleaner and more accessible world for everyone.” AutoInformed thinks that making money on autonomous vehicles remains a distant promise.*

Microsoft will join General Motors, Honda and institutional investors in a combined new equity investment of more than $2 billion in Cruise, bringing the post-money valuation of Cruise to $30 billion. Founded and headquartered in San Francisco, Cruise’s stated goal is to build the world’s most advanced self-driving, all-electric, shared vehicles. GM will launch 30 new electric vehicles globally by 2025. Volkswagen and Ford havelinked with Pittsburgh autonomous vehicle company Argo AI, already.  Hyundai in with Fiat Chrysler since the summer of 2020  to use Waymo’s driverless car technology.  Continue reading

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GM to Make CAMI a Commercial Electric Vehicle Plant

Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on CAMI and Electric Commercial Vehicles

Out with the old, in with the new…

General Motors plans to bring production of its recently announced BrightDrop electric light commercial vehicle, the EV600, to its CAMI manufacturing plant in Ingersoll, Ontario. This is contingent on the almost certain ratification of a tentative 2021 agreement reached with Unifor (agreed on 18 January in the morning -editor) and confirmation of less certain government support. (See AutoInformed BrightDrop? General Motors New Business Claims It Will Electrify, Improve Goods and Services Delivery) The C$1 billion investment will support GM’s plan to deliver BrightDrop EV600s in late 2021. The World Economic Forum estimates so-called urban last-mile delivery emissions are on track to increase by more than 30% by 2030 in the top 100 cities globally

This investment and Canadian workforce will make CAMI into Canada’s first large-scale auto plant converted to produce electric delivery vehicles. GM says work begins immediately to transform the CAMI over the next two years from Chevrolet Equinox production to the production of EV600s, to serve the growing North American market for electric delivery solutions. Continue reading

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Union Strike Saves Rolls-Royce Jobs in Barnoldswick

Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on saving the Rolls-Royce Jet Engine Factory in BarnoldswickThe Rolls-Royce jet engine factory in Barnoldswick in the United Kingdom has been saved after a nine-week strike by members the organized labor Unite group. The future of the factory was closure when Rolls-Royce last summer announced that it was transferring the production of its Trent jet engine blade work to Singapore. The workforce voted for industrial action and began targeted strike action on 6 November last year which ran until Christmas Eve. Workers returned to the picket lines at the start of 2021.

The hamlet of Barnoldswick, home to 11,000 people, rallied in defense of their community. The Rolls-Royce factory, in operation since 1943, is the birthplace of the jet engine and the main employer there. The shuttering would have had devastating consequences for the prosperity of the local community. Continue reading

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Alpine and Lotus to Study Joint Development of an Electric Sports Car as Groupe Renault Restructures

Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Lotus and Alpine JV

Voila’.

Groupe Renault and Group Lotus have signed a memorandum of understanding to study the joint development of an electric sports car. A feasibility study for the joint engineering, design and development of an EV sports car will also explore the development of a joint services offer combining their engineering expertise to use Alpine’s motorsport platform covering Formula One to Formula E and Endurance racing is also under study.

It’s a strange twist when French and English performance car purveyors with winning race teams find themselves cooperating. This also comes as the so-called *Renaulution plan that aims to restore Groupe Renault’s competitiveness based on return, not sales or market share was approved in Boulogne-Billancourt by the Board of Directors this morning, Continue reading

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Trump Legacy – FAA Adopts Stricter Unruly Passenger Policy

Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Sedition and Trump's legacy.com

The FAA will pursue legal enforcement action.

FAA Administrator Steve Dickson today signed an order for a stricter legal enforcement policy against unruly airline passengers in the wake of recent, troubling incidents. “The FAA has seen a disturbing increase in incidents where airline passengers have disrupted flights with threatening or violent behavior. These incidents have stemmed both from passengers’ refusals to wear masks and from recent violence at the U.S. Capitol,” the FAA said.

The FAA omitted the fact that Trump incited the violence and sedition against the US government in the waning days of his reign as the despot who would be king. Passengers who interfere with, physically assault, or threaten to physically assault aircraft crew or anyone else on an aircraft face legal penalties, including fines of up to $35,000 and imprisonment. “This dangerous behavior can distract, disrupt, and threaten crewmembers’ safety functions,” the FAA said. And the functions of democracy. Continue reading

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Latest Ford Restructuring – Brazil Manufacturing to Cease

Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Ford Leaving Brazil and Ford South America

Another Ford retreat.

Ford Brazil will end production at its Camaçari, Taubaté and Troller plants during 2021 as weak sales have resulted in years of significant losses. Ford has been in Brazil for more than a century. However, Ford maintains at the moment it will keep South America headquarters, a product development center and proving grounds in Brazil. Last March Ford  “temporarily” stopped South American Production at its manufacturing sites in Brazil and at the Pacheco plant in Argentina, in response to the growing impact of the coronavirus in South America and Ford’s profitability. (See AutoInformed – Ford Motor Maxes Out Lines of Credit , Ford Q3 Net Income at $2.4B Treads Water. Q4 $500M Loss?)

Production will cease immediately at Camaçari and Taubaté in Brazil, with some parts production continuing for a few months to support inventories for aftermarket sales. The Troller plant in Horizonte, Brazil, will continue to operate until the fourth quarter of 2021. As a result, the company will end sales of EcoSport, Ka and T4 once inventories are sold. Manufacturing operations in Argentina and Uruguay and the sales companies in other South America markets are not affected. Continue reading

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A Decade of Chinese Ownership – Volvo Cars Posts Strongest Second-Half Sales in Its 93-Year History

Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Volvo Car 2020 Global Sales Results

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The Volvo* Brand of Zhejiang Geely Holding has posted the strongest second-half sales in the company’s history. Demand for its electrified cars led the way. The share of so-called Recharge models, with a fully electric or plug-in hybrid powertrain, more than doubled in 2020 compared with 2019. In Europe, the share of Recharge cars of overall sales was 29%, making Volvo the leading brand in the region for chargeable cars. It was also a leading plug-in hybrid brand in the US. In China and the United States, Volvo’s two largest markets, it reported growing sales for the full year as it managed to recover from  a Covid pandemic-related sales drop in the first half during the second half of the year.

“We had a great second half of the year after a tough start, gaining market share in all our main sales regions,” said Lex Kerssemakers, Head of Global Commercial Operations. “We aim to build on this positive trend in 2021 as we continue to roll out new electrified Volvos and expand our online business.” Continue reading

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BrightDrop? New GM Business Will Electrify, Improve Goods and Services Delivery

Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on GM BrightDrop

 BrightDrop uses GM’s Ultium EV platform in commercial vehicles.

General Motors announced today a new business, BrightDrop, which it claims will offer electric first-to-last-mile products, software and services to allow delivery and logistics companies to move goods more efficiently. BrightDrop’s electric pallet, EP1, will be available in early 2021, and its electric light commercial vehicle, the EV600, will be on roads in late 2021 – it’s promised. GM estimates that by 2025, the combined market opportunity for parcel, food delivery and reverse logistics in the U.S. will be over $850 billion. BrightDrop will initially serve customers in the U.S. and Canada.

This is roughly consistent with analysis released at the beginning of the week by the World Economic Forum that estimates so-called urban last-mile delivery emissions are on track to increase by more than 30% by 2030 in the top 100 cities globally. Continue reading

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We the People Say Again Farewell to Despots and Treason

Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Trump DespotismGeneral Washington himself in December of 1777 reveled on a day of “Thanksgiving” after the defeat of the British at Saratoga during what is known as our War of Independence. That war was conducted when we were still a loose confederation of colonies who rebelled, in part, because we were resisting the taxation needed to pay for the ongoing folly of foreign wars and entanglements of our government run by the rich, privileged British Monarchy. We the People wanted to govern ourselves.

In these times that once again trouble men’s and women’s souls, we the people would do well to remember that We Are What We Were. Our revolutionary war was won – against all odds by citizen soldiers or irregulars who forced a standing British Army to surrender in the field for the first time since the tyrant Napoleon. This happened with some help from the French because the Crown and its privileged generals were fighting an idea first put forth in our Declaration of Independence, then codified in our Constitution that “We the People” would govern ourselves and elect our leaders and smoothly transfer power to successive administrations. The idea was bigger and more powerful than the British Army and Navy. It remains a bigger and better idea when used against other forces of oppression.

Now, once again, the courtiers of privilege and wealth are presiding over our fate and using hatred, false patriotism and militias of fascists to enrich themselves, expand their unearned privileges and oppress our Citizen Patriots who voted some of the haters out of office. The rest need to go too, especially all the Republicans who wanted to and continue to try to overthrow our votes and cancel our elections. Our new battles of Lexington and Concord will now take place in voter registration procedures and polling places, and our courts. This is our birthright – we will govern ourselves according to our Constitution. Continue reading

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Boeing to Pay More Than $2.5 Billion for 737 Max Fraud

The Boeing Company has a “deferred prosecution agreement” with the Department of Justice to resolve a criminal charge related to a conspiracy to defraud the Federal Aviation Administration’s Aircraft Evaluation Group (FAA AEG) in connection with the FAA AEG’s evaluation of Boeing’s 737 MAX airplane. The deal was announced yesterday as the U.S. Capital was under siege by Trump supporters or treasoners who were sent there by Trump and the Republican party to overturn the election that Trump lost.

Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Boeing 737 Max Plea Deal

William Barr when he headed his injustice department under Trump.

The Justice Departments reputation and adherence to the law is subject to considerable debate under the pardoner in Chief – soon to be ex-president Trump and the former Attorney General (resume laundering by resigning 23 Dec 2020) and Republican lawyer William P. Barr. He is also known here as no-holds Barr for his relentless interference in Justice Department principles and law enforcement procedures to protect Trump, aka the Man Who would be King. Boeing, debatably, profited from such interference when the Trump Administration refused to ground the 737 Max despite growing incidents and fatalities. It’s a reasonable bet that Boeing  and Barr wanted to cut its ties with Trump after he lost the presidential election last November. Continue reading

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CARB Settles AltAir Paramount Abuses of Low Carbon Fuel

This legal tangle goes back to November 2020, when the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and AltAir Paramount LLC reached a settlement where AltAir agreed to pay $132,500 in penalties for violations of the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) regulation. CARB adopted the Low Carbon Fuel Standard  to incentivize innovative fuels that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The LCFS requires quarterly and annual reports to be submitted completely and accurately. CARB alleged that AltAir for the 2017 Reporting Period, and sold, supplied, offered for sale, and transported fuel into the State of California, but failed to report and submitted a report containing inaccuracies, misreported, or entered false quarterly and annual report information, which led to a failure to eliminate annual deficits. These are violations of the LCFS regulation. Continue reading

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IndustriALL Global Union – Labor Will Defend US Democracy

Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Trumps Coup Attempt and Labor's Defense of US Democracy

“Attempting to overthrow a democratic election through violence is fascism. The labor movement has always been and remains an implacable opponent of fascism and defender of democracy.”

IndustriALL this morning said: “On 6 January, supporters of Donald Trump stormed the Capitol building and entered the Senate chamber to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden as the next President of the United States. Trump’s supporters attempted to overturn the result of a democratic election, unfavorable to them, with a spectacle of violence and intimidation. This is both a predictable escalation of the violent rhetoric that has flourished under Trump, and a shocking attack on democracy.

“IndustriALL Global Union stands in solidarity with all those fighting to defend democracy in the US, and in particular with the US labor movement. Continue reading

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Volkswagen of America Q4 Sales up 11%, 2020 Sales Down 10%

Volkswagen of America’s Q4 2020 sales increased 11% to 94,330 in its best Q4 since 2014. This was largely because it had the best quarter ever for SUV sales, which increased 22%. Continue reading

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Toyota Motor North America Reports December 2020 Sales Increase 22.9%. Yearly Sales Drop -11.3%

Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on 2020 Toyota Motor US Sales

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Toyota Motor North America (TMNA) posted December 2020 sales of 249,601 vehicles, an increase of 20.4% on a volume basis and up 7.5% on a daily selling rate (DSR) basis compared to December 2019. For calendar year 2020, TMNA reported sales of 2,112,941 vehicles, a decrease of 11.3% on a volume and a decrease of 11.9% on a DSR basis.

Toyota division posted December sales of 211,378 vehicles, up 22.9% on a volume basis and up 9.7% on a DSR basis.  For the year, Toyota reported sales of 1,837,900 vehicles, down 11.9% on a volume basis and down 12.4% on a DSR basis. Continue reading

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Ford Motor 2020 US Sales Plunge -16%

ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Ford Motor 2020 US Sales

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Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) today reported its fourth quarter and full-year 2020 U.S. sales results. Ford says Q4 total industry sales totaled approximately 4.3 million vehicles – a decline of 2.8 percent over a year ago. In Q4 Ford Motor sales dropped 9.8%, a disastrous result for management.

For the year Ford sales dropped -15.6%. Ford sales were hurt by lower F-150 inventories from the ongoing consequences of the Q2 coronavirus production stoppage, which resulted in an awful F-150 transition to a revised pickup. Super Duty sales maintained pace and were up 14.1% while F-150 sales were off, gulp, -32.7%, which will make for a grim Q4 2020 financial loss. At the moment Ford executives appear to be in the automotive industry equivalent of  an FBI witness protection program – no more sales results press conferences.
Continue reading

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