Note: due to travels to areas with patchy connectivity, there may only be spurious news, or news at odd times, or no news at all until order is restored after February 28, 2020.
- French finance minister warns Renault against job cuts, factory closures – Reuters: French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire warned Renault on Tuesday against shutting factories in France and cutting jobs there after the carmaker announced “no taboos” cost cuts last week.
- Exclusive: Tesla in talks to use CATL’s cobalt-free batteries in China-made ca – Reuters: Tesla is in advanced stages of talks to use batteries from CATL that contain no cobalt – one of the most expensive metals in electric vehicle (EV) batteries – in cars made at its China plant, people familiar with the matter said.
- Nissan shareholders give management an earful – Nikkei:
- Nissan’s new CEO says willing to be fired if no turnaround – Reuters: Nissan’s new chief executive said on Tuesday he would accept being fired if he fails to turn around Japan’s second biggest automaker which is grappling with plunging sales in the aftermath of the scandal surrounding ex-chairman Carlos Ghosn.
- Tesla Bear Morgan Stanley Raises Its Bull Case to $1200 a Share – Bloomberg: That’s about 50% above the U.S. company’s $800.03 closing price Friday and would give Tesla a market capitalization of $220 billion. Jonas raised …
- Daimler Trucks Intensifies Cost Cuts as Market Downturn Deepens – Bloomberg: … cost cuts to counter weakening global demand and the financial burden of investments in new technologies like electric and self-driving vehicles.
- New 2020 Hyundai i20 leaked ahead of official debut – Autocar: Hyundai’s supermini will take on the Ford Fiesta and Mini hatch with a sporty stance and angular …
- Once Criticized by Musk, Singapore Is Finally Welcoming Electric Cars – Bloomberg: Follow Bloomberg on LINE messenger for all the business news … Singapore, once criticized by Elon Musk for not supporting electric vehicles, … of shorter driving distances and strict state controls on car ownership.
- New Toyota small SUV gets all-wheel drive and hybrid powertrain – Autocar: Toyota first confirmed the model with this sketch in January Yaris-based model is set to riva…
- New Nissan boss pledges pay cuts and deeper restructuring – FT: … in vehicle sales, dividends and Nissan’s share price in a turbulent year that followed the ousting of its former chairman Carlos Ghosn in late 2018.
- Musk Calls Gates Underwhelming After Billionaire Buys a Porsche – Bloomberg: Bill Gates paid Tesla Inc. a compliment for coaxing the car industry to go electric. If he was expecting kind words in return from Elon Musk, …
- Nissan seeks shareholder approval on new board to revitalize alliance – Mainichi: Nissan seeks shareholder approval on new board to revitalize alliance The Mainichi
- Nissan CEO sees earnings, cashflow under pressure for current financial year – Reuters: Nissan CEO sees earnings, cashflow under pressure for current financial year
- FAW resumes production in Changchun – Xinhuanet: A staff member disinfects the assemble plant of FAW Jiefang truck in Changchun, northeast China’s Jilin Province, Feb. 17, 2020. Companies resumed …
- BRIEF-Tesla CEO Elon Musk Says All Organisations Developing Advanced AI Should Be Regulated, Including Tesla – Tweet – Reuters: BRIEF-Tesla CEO Elon Musk Says All Organisations Developing Advanced AI Should Be Regulated, Including Tesla – Tweet
- Bezos pledges $10bn as Amazon faces climate critics – FT: … Bezos have been used to fund Blue Origin, his space exploration company, which is competing with Tesla chief executive Elon Musk’s ambitions to …
- SpaceX botches 50th Falcon rocket booster landing – Axios: What would have been SpaceX’s 50th successful Falcon booster landing was foiled on Monday, after the booster missed its touchdown point in the …