- Tesla: What Do a Failed Touch Screen and Misaligned Panels Add Up? – Barrons: John Voelcker of Green Car Reports late yesterday wrote about a new owner of a Tesla Motors (TSLA) “Model 3” car who let him go for a spin, and how the experience brought evidence of some “build quality” issues with the car that echo those related by…
- Mercedes-AMG Project One chases outright Nurburgring lap record – Autocar: The Project One will generate around 675kg of downforce AMG boss Moers says it’s ‘reasonable to speculate’ a ‘Ring time of 6min 25.9sec or faster – besting Stefan Ballof’s historic record lap in the Porsche 956
- Audi, BMW forecast to give key SUV sector a lift with new flagships – Automotive News: A two-year slump in the demand for premium large SUVs in Europe is expected to end in 2019 as BMW and Audi launch new flagships and Mercedes-Benz replaces key models. Sales in the segment fell 8.8 percent last year to 246,573 units, according to data…
- Audi E-tron: deposits being taken for Jaguar I-Pace rival – Autocar: Audi unveiled four E-tron prototypes at the Geneva motor show Marketing boss says Audi’s first EV will be a “game-changer” for the brand; it’s due to be revealed later this year with a 310-mile range
- Toyota affiliate Denso buying $800 million stake in chipmaker Renesas – Automotive News: Japanese supplier Denso is buying an additional 4.5 percent stake in chipmaker Renesas Electronics in a deal worth $800 million based on market prices, as automakers accelerate the adoption of self-driving and other technologies. Denso is an affiliate…
- New Volvo S60 leaked ahead of summer reveal – Autocar: Russian doll styling means the Volvo S60 looks like a downsized S90; the V60 estate has already been shown
- Auto Sales Grow in China, But Not for Ford – WSJ: He cited Geely Auto as an example of one of the Chinese brands eating into the sales of relatively slow-moving foreign rivals like Ford. Geely, whose Chairman Li Shufu stunned the auto world last month by acquiring a 9.7% stake in Germany’s Daimler AG…
- China vehicle sales tumble in Feb, snap 8-month rising streak – Reuters: China’s vehicles sales in February fell 11.1 percent from a year earlier to 1.72 million vehicles, an industry body said on Friday, as growth in the world’s largest auto market reversed after a rapid start to the year. The steep drop, impacted by the…
- Toyota Aims to Offer Uber-Like Services for Tokyo Taxis Using AI – Bloomberg: While Toyota has backed San Francisco-based Uber as an investor and partner, the automaker has also made investments in Japan Taxi, an Uber rival run by the chairman of Tokyo’s biggest taxi operator. Akio Toyoda, Toyota’s president, is betting that…
- China Feb vehicle sales fall 11.1 pct y/y – industry association – Reuters: China’s vehicles sales in February fell 11.1 percent from a year earlier to 1.7 million vehicles, an industry body said on Friday, as growth in the world’s largest auto market reversed after a rapid start to the year. The steep drop comes after vehicle…
- Ford’s China vehicle sales in February fall 30 percent – Reuters: Ford Motor Co said on Friday its vehicle sales in China fell 30 percent in February from a year earlier, as it continued to struggle in the …
- Tesla: will the fairytale end this year? – Autocar: For the first time, it looks possible that Tesla could stumble and even begin to wither Although it is burning cash and can”t build Model 3s quickly enough, Elon Musk”s car firm continues to attract investors. So what gives?
- Toyota affiliate Denso buying stake worth $800 million in chipmaker Renesas – Reuters: Denso is an affiliate of and supplier to Japan’s biggest automaker Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T). It has been ramping up spending on research and development of new technologies including connected cars. In February, Denso announced an investment in…
- Uber Calls Lenders for $1.25 Billion in Wall Street Shortcut – Bloomberg: Take Tesla Inc., whose CEO Elon Musk’s campaign helped the electric-car maker sell $1.8 billion of bonds in an oversubscribed deal. Netflix Inc., which like Tesla is also free cash-flow negative, undertook a debt sale in October. Helping all three is a…
- For Daimler, Geely Chairman Li Extends His Unconditional Love – Bloomberg: What’s special about the automotive industry is that it must stand up to global competition. Cross-boarder M&As offer the most efficient way to help Chinese companies transform and upgrade themselves to become global enterprises. Geely’s growth and…
- Trump tariffs to raise Hyundai Motor’s raw material cost: South Korea government official – Reuters: South Korea’s Hyundai Motor (005380.KS) will pay higher raw material costs due to U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminum, a senior South Korean government official said on Friday. The logo of Hyundai Motor is seen during the 2017…
- Insight: Ola’s sputtering India electric vehicle trial a red flag for Modi plan – Reuters: Indian ride-hailing firm Ola’s pilot project to test a fleet of electric vehicles in Nagpur was expected to herald a coming revolution in the Indian autos industry. So far, though, it has only exposed fractures in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s…
- Tesla subsidiary SolarCity defeats securities-fraud appeal in 9th Circuit – Reuters: A federal appeals court has affirmed the dismissal of a securities-fraud class action by former shareholders of SolarCity Corp, saying the plaintiffs’ factual allegations were insufficient to support their claims that an accounting error in the…
- With Tariffs Official, Corporate America Argues They Don’t Apply – Bloomberg: The trade group that represents General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV hinted that automakers — which purchase about 15 percent of the steel and almost 40 percent of aluminum consumed in the U.S. — will press the Trump…