Archives for September 2018

All the auto industry news, none of the B.S.

• Report: GM fulfills ignition scandal terms, feds dismiss case – Freep: A federal judge in New York approved a motion filed by prosecutors to dismiss a four-year-old case against GM on Wednesday, Reuters is reporting.
• Mike Jackson’s I told you so moment on Tesla’s ‘logistics hell’ – Automotive News: Tesla could have avoided its recent struggle delivering cars to customers quickly if it hadn’t insisted on handling its own retailing, AutoNation CEO Mike Jackson said.
• The Finance 202: GOP lawmakers against Trump’s tariffs aren’t ready to act – Washington Post: And neither measure touches Trump’s tariffs on Chinese imports, which rely on a … support both the GOP tax overhaul and the administration’s tariffs, making it … “‘It’s not a trade war, I call it a trade skirmish,’ he told CNBC. … More than 1,000…
• How Volvo’s Polestar plans to sell its electric vehicles in North America – Automotive News: Volvo’s Polestar brand announced details of the framework it will use to promote sales for its new electric cars, the Polestar 1 and Polestar 2.

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All the auto news, less filling

• Parts Supplier to Challenge VW, Ford With $14 Billion Push Into Self-Driving Cars – Bloomberg: Volkswagen AG and Ford Motor Co. are set for more competition in the race to role out self-driving vehicles as parts supplier ZF Friedrichshafen AG develops its own offering in the latest sign of how technology shifts are upending traditional roles in …
• German regional government to appeal Frankfurt ban on older diesels – Reuters: A looming ban on older diesel vehicles from Germany’s financial capital faces a legal challenge from the state government, deepening controversy over how to handle the fallout from an emissions cheating scandal that has rocked the car industry.
• Abarth 124 GT: hard top sports car costs £33,625 – Autocar: A coupe Abarth 124 isn’t happening, but the 124 gets a carbonfibre removable hard top and exclusive parts Abarth has announced that the 124 GT will be priced from £33,625, with only 50 units heading for UK roads. The brand revealed its lightened…
• Why automotive employment continues to grow globally – Automotive News: Of the 13 publicly traded automakers with at least 100,000 workers at the end of their most-recent fiscal year, 11 had more staff compared with 2013, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

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All you need to know about what’s happening in the auto biz, without further comment ….

• BMW, Daimler and Volkswagen Face Collusion Investigation in Europe – New York Times: The European Commission opened an inquiry on Tuesday into possible collusion among BMW, Daimler and Volkswagen to prevent the development of clean emissions technology. The investigation adds to a series of problems for the German auto industry, …
• Tata Motors’ Jaguar Land Rover to cut output in UK plant – Nikkei: MUMBAI (NewsRise) — Tata Motors’ luxury unit Jaguar Land Rover is cutting its production schedule at a plant in the U.K. starting next month, citing the uncertainties triggered by Britain’s exit from the European Union. “In light of the continuing …
• Saudi’s PIF invests more than $1 billion in electric carmaker Lucid Motors – Yahoo: By Tom Arnold. DUBAI (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) has agreed to invest more than $1 billion in Lucid Motors, adding to the emerging competition facing U.S. electric vehicle maker Tesla. The funding will enable Silicon …
• UK Mini plant maintenance shutdown moved to just after Brexit in case of no deal – Reuters: German carmaker BMW said it will move the annual maintenance shutdown period for its British Mini plant to just after Britain is due to leave the European Union in April, in case there is no Brexit deal.

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• Anger in California’s carpool lanes as up to 200000 drivers set to lose clean-air decals – Latimes: Clean-air advocates say that the new policy unfairly punishes early adopters of electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids, and will discourage drivers who can’t afford to buy a new zero-emission vehicle – but may have purchased a used one to secure the …
• Aston Martin’s New Plant to Focus on Electric Vehicle – Yahoo: Aston Martin is going all out when it comes to electric vehicle (EV) development. The British automaker has opened a new manufacturing facility in …
• Audi tests $1,395-a-month subscription service linked to Silvercar – Automotive News: Subscribers can change vehicles up to twice a month and hold any vehicle for up to six months.
• Betting Against Tesla: Skeptics Make Their Case – New York Times: For the past year, Elon Musk has waged a bitter war of words with short-sellers, the investors who are betting billions of dollars that Tesla will fail.

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• SpaceX Says It Signed Up Its First Moon Tourist – WSJ: Elon Musk”s SpaceX announced that it had signed up the first private passenger seeking to fly around the moon. It didn”t provide a timetable or other details about the plan.
• VW Board Is Preparing Next Steps for Truck Unit Listing – Bloomberg: Compared to Daimler, which owns the Freightliner truck brand, or Volvo, which builds Mack models, the VW division has only recently gained a foothold in North America, with the purchase two years ago of a stake in U.S. peer Navistar International Corp.
• As Tesla struggles to exit ‘production hell,’ buyers complain of delivery limbo – Latimes: Complaints about Tesla taking people’s money while they wait weeks for the cars, often with no firm delivery dates, are all over Twitter, Facebook and the Tesla Motors Club user forum. Owners who try to contact delivery representatives say voicemail …
• Land Rover near-future concept to appear in ‘The First’ – Yahoo: Jaguar Land Rover has teamed up with Hulu to create a special one-off car for one of the streaming service’s shows. The customer-built Range Rover Sport will appear in new original series ‘The First’, a drama set in the near future which follows a …

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• Naomi Osaka strikes it rich with Nissan deal after her controversial US Open win – Washington Post: Osaka, the 20-year-old who beat Williams in straight sets Saturday evening, has signed on as a brand ambassador for Nissan, a move that shows both her international appeal to fans and her value to advertisers. “Growing up, my dad drove a Nissan, so …
• Volkswagen AG’s Legal Woes Continue to Expand – Detroit Bureau: Volkswagen AG’s legal woes from the fallout from rigging of diesel emissions tests continue to expand as it faces a class action lawsuit courtesy of a new law in Germany designed to protect the interests of consumers. The Federation of German Consumer …
• Why Toyota could license its hybrid technology to Geely – Automotive News: Toyota has engaged in advanced talks to license its hybrid system to Chinese carmaker Geely Automobile Holdings, two people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.
• Geely poaches former Jaguar executive to manage Lotus – FT: Geely has poached a former Jaguar Land Rover executive to manage Lotus, with the aim of rejuvenating the sports car brand, luring back buyers, engineers – and potentially James Bond – to the historic nameplate. Phil Popham, a former senior director …

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