Giulio Piovaccari

Reuters 5 min read

Ferrari (RACE.MI) has turned to technology industry veteran Benedetto Vigna to drive the luxury sports car maker known for its roaring, high-octane engines into a new era of silent, electric powertrains.

Vigna, a 52-year-old Italian and physics graduate, currently runs the biggest division of chip maker STMicroelectronics (ST) (STM.BN), where he has worked since 1995 and helped pioneer screen technology used in early Apple (AAPL.O) iPhones. read more

Continue reading “Ferrari turns to tech for an electric era chief”

Trevor Hunnicutt, Ernest Scheyder

3 min read

The United States must work with allies to secure the minerals needed for electric vehicle batteries and process them domestically in light of environmental and other competing interests, the White House said on Tuesday.

The strategy, first reported by Reuters in late May, will include new funding to expand international investments in electric vehicles (EV) metal projects through the U.S. Development Finance Corporation, as well as new efforts to boost supply from recycling batteries.

Continue reading “U.S. must work with allies to secure electric vehicle metals -White House”

Reuters

1 min read

The Biden administration is creating a new federal task force to address near-term supply chain issues plaguing a host of industries, the U.S. Commerce Department said, adding it will release the findings of its 100-day review later on Tuesday at the White House.

The administration is also creating a new data hub to monitor near-term supply chain vulnerabilities, track supply and demand disruptions, and better share information with private sector, the department said.

Continue reading “Biden administration creates task force to supply chain shortages”

Aditi Shah, Sudarshan Varadhan

3 min read

An Indian court tasked industrial safety officials on Tuesday with visiting carmakers in the southern state of Tamil Nadu to draw up uniform safety guidelines for workers during a second devastating wave of COVID-19 infections amid the pandemic.

Workers at the Indian unit of Renault-Nissan had asked the Madras High Court for operations to be halted, saying social distancing norms were being flouted and the risk to their lives outweighed the health benefits provided by the company.

Continue reading “Indian court orders state to set uniform COVID-19 rules for carmakers”

Reuters

3 min read

Apple Inc (AAPL.O) is in early-stage talks with China’s CATL (300750.SZ) and BYD (002594.SZ), about the supply of batteries for its planned electric vehicle, four people with knowledge of the matter said.

The discussions are subject to change and it is not clear if agreements with either CATL or BYD will be reached, said the people who declined to be named as the discussions are private.

Continue reading “EXCLUSIVE Apple in talks with CATL, BYD over battery supplies for its electric car”

2 min read

Toyota overtakes Mercedes-Benz claiming the Numero Uno position as the world’s most valuable automobile brand with a brand value of US$59.5 billion.

Toyota has dethroned Mercedes to claim the number 1 position as the world’s most valuable automobile brand. The obvious reasons for this achievement are the fact that Toyota handled the Pandemic situation much better. The volume impact was relatively lesser. Toyota had almost 2% growth in their brand value at reached 59.5 Billion USD.

Continue reading “World’s Top 10 Most Valuable Automobile Brands of 2021!”

Mathieu Rosemain

Reuters 3 min read

Google (GOOGL.O) said it would make changes to its global advertising business to ensure it did not abuse its dominance, bowing to antitrust pressure for the first time in a landmark settlement with French authorities.

The deal with the French competition watchdog could help rebalance the power over advertising in favour of publishers, which held sway over the business in the pre-internet era but lost control with the rapid rise of Google and Facebook (FB.O).

Continue reading “Google to change global advertising practices in landmark antitrust deal”

Reuters

2 min read

Amazon’s billionaire founder Jeff Bezos said on Monday he and his brother Mark will fly on the first crewed space flight from his rocket company Blue Origin next month.

“Ever since I was five years old, I’ve dreamed of traveling to space. On July 20th, I will take that journey with my brother,” Bezos, who is one of the richest people in the world, said in an Instagram post.

Continue reading “Amazon’s billionaire founder Jeff Bezos to fly to space next month”

Reuters

1 min read

Production for Tesla Inc’s (TSLA.O) longest-range Model S Plaid+ is canceled, CEO Elon Musk said in a tweet on Sunday.

“Plaid+ is canceled. No need, as Plaid is just so good.” Musk tweeted.

Continue reading “Musk says Tesla cancels the longest-range Model S Plaid+”

Reuters

3 min read

Daimler AG’s (DAIGn.DE) main China joint venture with BAIC Motor (1958.HK) plans to add a shift and working days at two Beijing plants that will boost nominal capacity to make Mercedes-Benz cars by 45%, a document on the venture’s Chinese website showed.

The projected upgrade at Beijing Benz Automotive Co (BBAC), 49%-owned by Stuttgart-based Daimler and the latter’s main business in China, was set out in a document posted on the BBAC website last month to seek public opinion on the expansion.

Continue reading “Daimler’s China venture aims to raise capacity 45% at Mercedes-Benz plants -document”

by WAF Team 

“No slowdown, economic or otherwise, should stop you from chasing your dream.” – Dr. Ankur Bhatia

India has lost a youth icon ; A poster boy of entrepreneurship & business success, Dr Ankur Bhatia, Executive Director, Bird Group.

He was born in 1973 to Mr. Vijay Bhatia & Mrs Radha Bhatia. In 1994, at a young age of 21, he steered a JV with Spanish Travel Software Amadeus and launched their software which is till date used by travel agents and Airlines and is a clear market leader.

Continue reading “A Tribute to Dr. Ankur Bhatia, Executive Director, Bird Group”

Reuters

1 min read

White House national economic director Brian Deese said on Friday the administration will discuss its review on supply chain problems next week.

Deese told reporters at the daily White House briefing the White House review will address short-term bottlenecks seen this year including housing, construction materials, transportation and logistics. He said the administration has identified concrete solutions on semiconductor supply chains.

Continue reading “White House plans to discuss its supply chain review next week”

Reuters

1 min read

Nissan Motor Co Ltd (7201.T) and Honda Motor Co Ltd (7267.T) saw lower sales in May in China, the world’s biggest vehicle market, while Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) reported higher sales.

Nissan said in a statement on Friday that it sold 111,096 vehicles, down 14.6% from a year earlier, while Honda’s sales fell 4.1% to 128,713 cars.

Continue reading “Nissan, Honda report lower China sales in May, Toyota up”

Trevor Hunnicutt, Ernest Scheyder

5 min read

President Joe Biden’s strategy to make the United States a powerhouse in electric vehicles will include boosting domestic recycling of batteries to reuse lithium and other metals, according to government officials.

As Biden makes fighting climate change and competing with China centerpieces of his agenda, the administration is set to wrap up a 100-day review on Friday of gaps in supply chains in key areas, including electric vehicles (EV).

Continue reading “EXCLUSIVE Biden’s electric vehicle plan includes battery recycling push”

Nivedita Balu, Joseph White

4 min read

General Motors Co(GM.N) said Wednesday it expects first half profits will be “significantly better” than previously forecast, in part because of success shifting scarce semiconductors to boost production of highly profitable trucks in North America.

The Detroit automaker told investors in early May it expected first half earnings before interest and taxes would be “around $5.5 billion,” factoring out one-time gains and charges. For the full year, GM said it expected pretax profits “at the higher end” of a $10 billion to $11 billion range. Continue reading “GM raises profit outlook as it shifts chips to trucks”

Tom Westbrook

3 min read

Bitcoin slipped 4% on Friday after Tesla boss Elon Musk was at it again – this time firing off a few tweets that appeared to lament a breakup with the cryptocurrency.

Tesla’s big position in bitcoin and Musk’s large personal following often set crypto markets on edge whenever he tweets, and the price fell after he posted “#Bitcoin”, a broken-heart emoji and a picture of a couple discussing a breakup.

Continue reading “Musk ‘trolling’ puts brakes on bitcoin’s rebound”

David Shepardson

2 min read

Ford Motor Co (F.N) said Thursday it could face up to $1.3 billion in penalties in a long-running dispute over import duties paid on Ford Transit Connect vehicles.

The No. 2 U.S. automaker said after the Supreme Court declined to hear its appeal in 2020 that it paid increased duties for some prior imports, plus interest. U.S Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is now seeking additional duties of $181 million and is considering seeking a monetary penalty of “as much as $652 million to $1.3 billion,” Ford said. The automaker added that it would vigorously defend its actions and noted any penalty “would be based on our level of culpability as determined by the courts.”

Continue reading “Ford says it could face $1.3 billion in new penalties in Transit imports”

Renju Jose

3 min read

Australia’s Victoria state authorities said on Friday they had detected the highly infectious Delta COVID-19 virus variantfor the first time in the latest outbreak in Melbourne, stoking concerns of a major spike in cases.

The Delta variant, which has been classified by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as among the four COVID-19 variants of concern due to evidence that they spread more easily, likely caused the latest devastating outbreak in India.

Continue reading “Australia finds highly infectious Delta variant in Melbourne virus outbreak”

Reuters

1 min read

German luxury automaker BMW (BMWG.DE) said on Thursday its factories in China plan to reach carbon emissions neutrality by the end of this year, while its total carbon emissions in its Chinese production chain will fall 80% by 2030.

In China, the world’s biggest car market, BMW is making vehicles with Brilliance China Automotive (1114.HK) in the northeastern city of Shenyang. It is aiming for a quarter of its sales in China to be battery electric vehicles by 2025.

Continue reading “BMW says China car factories to reach carbon neutrality this year”

Reuters

1 min read

David Beckham has taken a 10% stake in Lunaz, a UK-based car restoration and electrification firm, as the former England soccer captain builds on diverse investments in companies related to e-sports, cannabis and now automobiles.

Beckham had invested in Lunaz through his investment vehicle, DB Ventures, the company said on Thursday, but did not disclose the value of the deal.

Continue reading “Spend it like Beckham: Soccer star buys stake in electric-car firm Lunaz”

Reuters

1 min read

Celonis, a German process mining software startup, raised $1 billion in its Series D funding round, taking its post-money valuation to more than $11 billion, the company said on Wednesday.

Celonis also appointed former Wall Street analyst and Google (GOOGL.O) executive Carlos Kirjner as its chief financial officer.

Continue reading “Celonis raises $1 billion, taps Google exec as CFO”

Joyce Lee, Hyonhee Shin

4 min read

Leaders of South Korea’s largest conglomerates urged President Moon Jae-in on Wednesday to pardon Jay Y. Lee, the jailed vice chairman of Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (005930.KS), to maintain the country’s edge in the chip industry.

The plea was made during a luncheon between Moon and chiefs of four major business empires – Samsung, Hyundai, LG and SK – designed to boost economic cooperation after Moon and U.S. President Joe Biden agreed to bolster the global supply chain for high-tech manufacturing. read more

Continue reading “Korea’s business leaders call on Moon to free jailed Samsung boss Lee”

Reuters

2 min read

Creating a digital euro could boost the single currency’s international status by making it easier to use for paying or saving, the European Central Bank said on Wednesday.

The European Commission has made it a goal to boost the euro’s use outside the euro area, which has stagnated for years and declined slightly in 2020 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

Continue reading “Digital euro could boost single currency’s international use, ECB says”

Hyunjoo Jin

5 min read

Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) has dropped radar sensors from its semi-autonomous driving system, Autopilot, raising concerns over the safety of the camera-only version, Tesla Vision.

Tesla aims to make the driver-assist system fully self-driving, and many in that young industry are skeptical that a vision-only system will work, saying such systems face challenges in darkness, sunny glare and poor weather conditions.

Continue reading “Explainer: Tesla drops radar; is Autopilot system safe?”

Melanie Burton

3 min read

Tesla (TSLA.O) said it expects to spend more than $1 billion a year on battery raw materials from Australia given the country’s reliable mining industry and responsible production practices.

Robyn Denholm, chair of the U.S. carmaker, said on Wednesday that Australia, which is rich in minerals used for batteries like lithium and nickel, is poised to benefit as developing supply chains for electric vehicle batteries and the green energy age focus on environmental, social and governance (ESG).

Continue reading “Tesla to buy more than $1 bln of Australian battery minerals a year”

Reuters

2 min read

London’s transport operator will receive a funding deal worth 1.1 billion pounds ($1.53 billion) from the government, the third emergency support package since the pandemic hit as it scrambles to find more savings amid a drop in income.

Ridership is at nearly 60 percent of pre-pandemic levels, according to Transport for London which will need to make savings, raise income from new sources and review its pensions scheme as part of the agreement.

Continue reading “London transport operator in third emergency financing deal since COVID”

Reuters

3 min read

Stellantis (STLA.MI), might pick Italy to build a new gigafactory in Europe, to support its expansion into electric mobility, as the carmaker is discussing conditions of the project with Rome, a source close to the matter said on Tuesday.

In April Stellantis, which was formed at the beginning of this year through the merger of Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot maker PSA, said additional gigafactories in Europe and in the United States would be decided this year.

Continue reading “Stellantis discussing conditions with Rome to build gigafactory in Italy – source”

Foo Yun Chee

4 min read

Daimler (DAIGn.DE) has agreed to pay Nokia (NOKIA.HE) for using its patents, ending a row that highlighted a battle between tech and car companies over royalties for key technologies.

Nokia, which makes 1.4 billion euros ($1.7 billion) in licensing revenues every year, and carmaker Daimler had sued each other in German courts in recent years, with mixed results.

Continue reading “Daimler to pay Nokia patent fees, ending German legal spat”

Reuters

2 min read

Electric-truck startup Rivian Automotive Inc could target a valuation of about $70 billion in its potential public listing later this year, Bloomberg news reported on Friday.

Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) and Ford Motor Co (F.N)-backed Rivian had a valuation of $27.6 billion, Reuters reported in January, after a $2.65-billion investment round led by T. Rowe Price.

Continue reading “Electric-vehicle firm Rivian could seek $70 bln valuation in IPO- Bloomberg News”

Aditi Shah, Sudarshan Varadhan

5 min read

An Indian court on Monday ordered officials to inspect coronavirus-related safety protocols at Renault-Nissan’s Tamil Nadu car plant, where workers are on strike over allegations that social distancing rules are not being followed.

Workers at the southern Indian factory, jointly owned by Renault (RENA.PA) and alliance partner Nissan Motor (7201.T), did not report for duty on Monday over COVID-related safety concerns, the workers’ union said.

Continue reading “Indian court orders COVID-related audit of Renault-Nissan plant”

Reuters

2 min read

U.S. consumers borrowed more for longer in the first quarter of 2021 so they could drive more expensive trucks and sport utility vehicles, according to a new Experian study of auto credit market trends.

At the same time, average credit scores for consumers who financed new and used vehicles are higher, and delinquency rates are lower, indicating a healthy auto credit market overall, the study found. Experian, an information services company, gathers data on consumer and business credit and generates credit scores, among other services.

Continue reading “U.S. consumers borrow more for longer to drive trucks and SUVs”

Sudarshan Varadhan

Reuters 3 min read

Ford Motor Co (F.N) said it will halt production at its car plant in India’s southern state of Tamil Nadu after workers staged a lunchtime sit-in protest on Thursday, demanding leave and health benefits, as the country battles the coronavirus.

The automaker will stop work at its Chennai plant on Friday and Saturday as it continues to engage with the union on other health and safety demands, Ford said in a statement.

Continue reading “Ford halts southern India plant production as pandemic surges”

John O’donnell, Brenna Neghaiwi

Reuters 4 min read

Exasperation with Credit Suisse following a string of scandals is prompting Switzerland to rethink a system in which top bankers have been largely untouchable.

Credit Suisse’s heavy losses from the collapse of family office Archegos and the decimation of billions of client investments backed by insolvent British financier Greensill have angered regulators and triggered a rare discussion among lawmakers about fining bankers.

Continue reading “Credit Suisse scandals prompt Switzerland to think unthinkable: punish bankers”

Reuters

2 min read

Nissan Motor Co (7201.T) will partner with China-based battery maker Envision AESC group to build new battery plants for electric vehicles in Japan and United Kingdom and will invest over 200 billion yen ($1.82 billion), Nikkei reported on Friday.

The Japanese automaker will start turning out batteries in two new plants as early as 2024, aiming for total capacity sufficient to power 700,000 EVs per year, the report said.

Continue reading “Nissan to set up EV battery plants in Japan, Britain – Nikkei”

Svea Herbst-bayliss, Jennifer Hiller

Reuters 6 min read

Last December, when a week-old hedge fund named Engine No. 1 challenged Exxon Mobil to change its ways, laughter echoed through Wall Street circles, from the fund’s name that recalled a famous children’s book to its tiny, then-$40 million stake in what was once the world’s largest publicly traded company.

Just six months later, the fund delivered a massive blow that rippled throughout the oil-and-gas industry. Engine No. 1′s campaign forced Exxon to accept new board members who could bring about a reckoning over its business strategy and confront the risk of global climate change that many investors say Exxon has long been reluctant to address.

Continue reading “The little engine that could, and the oil giant that couldn’t”

Reuters

4 min read

German police are investigating whether a fire that broke out overnight at the construction site of Tesla’s first European gigafactory had a political motive, after far-left activists claimed responsibility.

The fire at Gruenheide in the eastern state of Brandenburg early on Wednesday morning damaged several power cables leading to the Tesla site and an area of around 3 square metres, said a spokesman for the LKA state criminal investigation office.

Continue reading “German police investigate possible arson at Tesla site”

David Shepardson

Reuters 4 min read

The U.S. Senate Finance Committee advanced legislation on Wednesday that would boost electric vehicle tax credits to as much as $12,500 for EVs that are assembled by union workers in the United States.

The bill would limit tax credits to vehicles with a retail price below $80,000 to qualify for the tax credits. The current maximum tax credit is $7,500 with no maximum price and currently phases out for individual automakers once they hit 200,000 total EVs sold.

Continue reading “U.S. Senate panel advances EV tax credit of up to $12,500”

Gilles Guillaume, Heekyong Yang

Reuters 3 min read

Hyundai Motor Group will slash the number of combustion engine models in its line-up to free up resources to invest in electric vehicles (EVs), two people close to the South Korean automaker told Reuters.

The move will result in a 50% reduction in models powered by fossil fuels, one of the people said, adding the strategy was approved by top management in March.

Continue reading “EXCLUSIVE Hyundai to slash combustion engine line-up, invest in EVs – sources”

Reuters

2 min read

China’s electric vehicle maker Li Auto expects sales to reach 10,000 cars a month from September and will expand its sales network, executives said on Wednesday.

Li Auto President Shen Yanan said Li Auto, which has only one model, expects monthly sales of its facelifted Li ONE extended-range electric sport-utility vehicle model to nearly double by September. It sold 5,539 cars in April.

Continue reading “China’s EV maker Li Auto expects monthly sales to reach 10,000 cars in Sept”

Reuters

3 min read

General Motors Co (GM.N) said on Tuesday the United Auto Workers union is “well positioned” to represent more than 2,300 workers at new U.S. joint venture battery plants with Korea’s LG Chem (051910.KS).

The UAW said it looks forward to starting discussions with GM on the “joint venture to produce batteries in Ohio and Tennessee so workers will have a voice at the table in order to create good paying union jobs and benefits.”

Continue reading “GM says UAW ‘well positioned’ to represent workers at battery JV”