News
Earnings
Stellantis beat its target profit around 10% in the 1st year of merger
[2021] €152 net revenue (YoY 14% increase); €18B adjusted operating income (YoY 95% increase); 11.8% margin; €6B free cash flows
2022 guidance: double-digit adjusted operating income margin, positive free cash flows, unchanged economic & COVID conditions
Automotive
Volkswagen to spin off Porsche for IPO at value around €90B
Ford CEO confirmed no spin-off of EV or combustion engine business; to investment more in EV
GM to halt in-vehicle Marketplace service in mid-March; nothing announced for replacement
Tesla to run a new Gigafactory Shanghai for up to 2M car production capacity per year
US SEC investigates whether Elon and Kimbal Musk violated insider trading rules
Tesla to pay $275K fine due to air pollutant emissions from CA factory
Tesla seems to expand in-vehicle video games more via Tesla Arcade
Waymo won a lawsuit against CA DMV; can keep secrete certain self-driving tech details
Lucid to recall 200+ sedans due to potential safety issue on suspension
Einride, a Swedish freight tech company, purchased 200 e-trucks from BYD
A joint venture between Magna & LAN Manufacturing to open a new seating plant in Detroit
US cars will lose some in-vehicle connections due to the end of 3G network this year
Audi partners with Verizon to embed 5G to selected 2024 models in America
Nikola to deliver 300 to 500 EV semi-trucks in 2022 with up to $150M revenue expectation
Virgin Hyperloop laid off 110+ employees and will change its business direction
Hong Jing, a Chinese self-driving solution provider, raised $15M funding
Mini Oxford plant stops production for 5 days due to chip shortage
Toyota to provide free 1 year EV charging for bZ4X customers via a partnership with EVgo
Carvana, an online used car marketplace, acquired Adesa US Action at $2.2B value
Polestar announced Project 0, a commitment for climate neutral production by 2030
Nio seems to enter smartphone business; no official announcement yet
XPeng established robotaxi subsidiary, Guangzhou Pengxu Autonomous Driving
Volkswagen to have world premiere on March 9 for ID.Buzz EV; for launching in EU and US
Lastmile_Micromobility_Logistics
Motional and Via launched robo-taxi in Las Vegas; expect fully driverless rides in next year
Zoomo, an Australian startup providing e-bike for delivery workers, raised $20M funding
Beam, a Singaporean shared-micromobility company, riased $93M series B funding
Revel, a US-based shared-mobility startup, raised $126M funding for EVC network
Tier Mobility partners Vertical Values to repair and reuse lithium batteries
Urent, a Russian e-scooter sharing startup, raised $28M funding
Leasy, a Peruvian financing start up for ride-hailing drivers, secured $17M equity and debt
US Postal Service to keep 90% fleet with gasoline as planned despite gov't favor in EV
Grab launched home cleaning services in Singapore
Location_Technology
Spotify started to sell Car Thing, an in-car audio hardware device, in the US
DPD UK partners with What3Words to enhance precision of delivery locations
Robosense, a Chinese Lidar developer, raised $379M funding
Fast-delivery services may encounter regulations by New York City
And More...
Paris to ban private vehicles from city center by 2024 and expects 100K cars off from roads
Brussels to reshape city center to reduce traffic and have more green and public spaces
EHang was accepted by Chinese gov't for EH216-S AAV special condition certification
SpaceX launched 46 Starlinks and landed 100th Falcon 9 to the earth
Bosch to invest additional $296M to build more semiconductor production facilities
US gov't halts new leases for federal oil and gas drilling considering social cost of carbon
Reports & Articles
Russian invasion of Ukraine may cause further chip and battery shortage. More than 90% of US semiconductor-grade neon comes from Ukraine while nickel and 35% of palladium is sourced from Russia. Chipmakers say they have limited supply chain impact for raw material for now. Both Russian OEMs importing auto parts and European OEMs running plants in Russia may be impacted by sanctions.
Travel vs. Virtual tech. In Oct 2022, Zoom showed higher value than 15 biggest airlines in the world. Things changed. In recent weeks, stock prices of travel industry such as online travel agency, hotels and airlines showed positive while virtual techs like virtual meeting, home entertainment and delivery went down - Read full report
Bolt, a shared-mobility platform, is nudging users to select e-scooter instead of ride cars with simple changes in its app function. Also encouraged drivers to choose EVs with reducing commission fees for service - Read full article
More readings:
The role of mapping in shaping a new wave of tech innovations (Forbes)
Four top EV charging companies on their plans to win federal funds (Morning Brew)
At last, a self-driving car that can explain itself (IEEE Spectrum)
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