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Apple in talks for sensors that could hint it’s building a self-driving car

David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Tim Cook, chief executive officer of Apple Inc.

Apple has held talks with at least four companies as possible suppliers for next-generation lidar sensors in self-driving cars, evaluating the companies' technology while also still working on its own lidar unit, three people familiar with the discussions said.

The moves provide fresh evidence of Apple's renewed ambitions to enter the autonomous vehicle derby, an effort it calls Project Titan. The talks are focused on next-generation lidar, a sensor that provides a three-dimensional look at the road.

Apple is seeking lidar units that would be smaller, cheaper and more easily mass produced than current technology, the three people said. The iPhone maker is setting a high bar with demands for a “revolutionary design,” one of the people familiar with the talks said. The people declined to name the companies Apple has approached.

The sensor effort means Apple wants to develop the entire chain of hardware to guide autonomous vehicles and has joined automakers and investors in the race to find winning technologies.

Current lidar systems, including units from Velodyne mounted on Apple's fleet of self-driving test vehicles, use laser light pulses to render precise images of the environment around the car. But the systems can cost $100,000 and use mechanical parts to sweep the laser scanners across the road.

That makes them too bulky and prone to failure for use in mass-produced vehicles. The shortcomings have spurred $1 billion in investment at dozens of startups and mature companies alike to make lidar smaller, cheaper and more robust.

Apple's interest in next-generation lidar sensors comes as it has sharply increased its road testing while bringing on key hires from Tesla and Alphabet's Google.

It remains unclear whether the goal of Apple's Project Titan is to build its own vehicle or supply the hardware and software elements of self-driving car while pairing with a partner for the entire vehicle.

But what is clear from Apple's interest in cheaper lidar systems is that it wants to control the “perception stack” of sensors, computers and software to drive an autonomous vehicle, regardless of who makes the vehicle, another person familiar with the talks said. The three people familiar with the talks declined to be identified because the discussions are not public.

In addition to evaluating potential outside suppliers, Apple is believed to have its own internal lidar sensor under development, two of the people said.

Alphabet-owned Waymo has taken a similar path, assembling a sensor and computer system while inking deals to buy vehicles from Fiat Chrysler.

Apple gets “a lot of optionality by working on the perception stack,” said the second person familiar with the talks. “Bringing a passenger car to the market is really, really hard, and there's no reason right now they need to jump into it.”

Reducing costs

The designs Apple is seeking could potentially be made with conventional semiconductor manufacturing techniques, all four people familiar with the talks said.

That has the potential to lower prices from the many thousands to the hundreds of dollars as the sensors are produced in larger numbers, similar to chips in phones and other devices. Apple also wants sensors that can see several hundred yards down the road.

The long-distance requirement shows Apple is interested in fully self-driving vehicles, versus the more limited features such as adaptive cruise control used today, two people familiar with the matter said.

“They're not happy with most of what they see,” the first person familiar with the matter said. “They're looking for a revolutionary design.”

A third person familiar with the matter said Apple is seeking a “design-oriented” sensor that would be sleek and unobtrusive enough to fit into the overall lines of a vehicle.

Apple declined to comment.

Apple once investigated building its own vehicle. The company had a team of more than a dozen engineers dedicated to detailed work such as ensuring doors closed quietly instead of slamming shut, a fourth person briefed on the matter said.

Apple last year re-hired Doug Field, an Apple veteran who was serving as Tesla's engineering chief, to work on Project Titan. The project has about 1,200 people, according to a count in court documents.

Field has been putting his stamp on the effort, laying off about 190 workers but also bringing on key hires such as Michael Schwekutsch, who oversaw electric drive train technology at Telsa. Apple also ramped up its testing miles in California, driving nearly 80,000 last year compared to 800 the year before.

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Ford shakes up management in a move to retool business model to high-tech auto market

Bill Pugliano | Getty Images
Jim Farley, Ford Motor Company Executive Vice President and President of Global Markets, reveals the 2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT 500 at the 2019 North American International Auto Show during Media preview days on January 14, 2019 in Detroit, Michigan.

Ford announced a big management shakeup Wednesday, shifting around key executives to retool its business model toward the future car market, including moving Joe Hinrichs from executive vice president of Global Operations to president of Automotive.

In this role, he will oversee product development, purchasing, manufacturing, marketing and sales, as well as be responsible for the company's global business units around the world, the company said.

Executive Vice President of Global Markets Jim Farley will become president of New Businesses, Technology & Strategy. He and Hinrichs will assume their new roles May 1.

America is falling back in love with trucks and SUVs, and that's causing big changes at big car companies
10:38 AM ET Tue, 5 Feb 2019 | 04:45

Ford Mobility group's president, Marcy Klevorn, will retire in October. Klevorn has overseen Ford's investments in new businesses outside selling cars, such as shuttle services, scooters and self-driving cars. Until she leaves, she will act as chief transformation officer, the company said.

The second-largest U.S. automaker has been undertaking a massive restructuring of its businesses that top executives previously said will cost at least $11 billion and take several years. Since Ford CEO Jim Hackett took the job in May 2017, the automaker has said it will phase out the production of almost all of its traditional passenger cars, invest in new businesses and cut jobs around the world.

Ford shares were up 1 percent Wednesday afternoon. The second-largest automaker's stock has risen 20 percent since the beginning of the year.

“In the past two years, we have made tangible progress in improving the fitness of our business, overhauled our regional strategies, created a winning product portfolio and are working to transform Ford to succeed in an era of profound change and disruption,” Hackett said. “With this strong foundation in place for our auto and mobility businesses, we can now accelerate our transformation.”

Here’s what keeps Ford’s new No. 2 executive, Joe Hinrichs, up at night

David Orrell | CNBC
Joe Hinrichs

Ford Motor is investing $900 million to set up both a battery-car plant — its second — and an autonomous vehicle center in southeast Michigan, not far from its headquarters in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn.

It's part of the automaker's push to lead in autonomous vehicles while also trying to catch up to rival Tesla in the emerging electric vehicle market.

CNBC sat down with Ford's newly appointed president of its global automotive division, Joe Hinrichs, in recent weeks. The company just announced his promotion in a management shake-up Wednesday along with Jim Farley, who will run the company's autonomous vehicle and “smart mobility” efforts, among other things. Although both men will have the title of president starting May 1, Hinrichs' job is bigger and makes him the heir apparent to CEO Jim Hackett.

“Uncertainty” is one of the things that keeps Hinrichs up at night. And he's facing a lot of it these days. In his newly expanded role, Hinrichs will oversee product development, as well as global automotive operations — core units in the midst of radical change. Ford is pulling out of the sedan and coupe market, even as it invests billions to develop battery cars that have yet to catch on with consumers.

Like its rivals, the second-largest Motor City automaker is facing a variety of challenges. Sales have been sliding in the U.S., European operations are losing money and Ford is reportedly considering a major shake-up of its Indian operations, to name just a few challenges Hinrichs has to handle. Now, add the threats posed by the Trump administration's trade wars — tariffs on aluminum and steel last year alone adding $1 billion in costs.

Here are some excerpts from CNBC's interviews with Hinrichs:

CNBC: A year ago, Ford announced plans to increase its investment in electric and hybrid vehicles to $11.1 billion and a company statement says a “fresh look” at the potential market says it's likely to be bigger than initially expected.

Hinrichs: We were always confident there would be growth in demand for electric vehicles. As we take a closer look, we're seeing more acceptance. That's especially true among millennials [who], over the next five to 10 years, will be the biggest buying group in the market. The multibillion-dollar question is getting your timing right. We're still trying to find that. We believe electrification is a really important part of our future.

CNBC: On the same day Tesla revealed its Model Y electric SUV, Ford teased its own “Mustang-inspired” battery-electric crossover on Twitter. It's supposed to be your first long-range model, but when is it coming to market?

Hinrichs: We haven't given a timeline, but it's next year, 2020, and we're very excited about it. One of the things that often gets lost in the conversation about electric vehicles, because of the cost, is that there are attributes of a vehicle you can make better with electrification.

Along with instant torque, there's the smoothness and quietness of the ride, the low center of gravity. There are fewer moving parts, so reliability [should be better]. And the way you can use the package gets more efficient because you don't have all that stuff in the engine compartment up front.

CNBC: The $900 milliion investment also includes money for autonomous vehicles. What are you planning?

Hinrichs: We found a more capital-intensive way of building [autonomous vehicles]. So, we're going to build them in a special manufacturing center the same way we produce our police interceptor in Chicago. [Ford takes a regular vehicle off the line and sends it to a special conversion center.] That allows us to produce the same number of vehicles but frees up capital for the second battery plant.

CNBC: In January, you announced what was said to be the first of several possible deals with Volkswagen, including one that could pair up your EV programs. Where do things stand now?

Hinrichs: We made the announcement on partnering on vans and trucks outside North America. Those conversations, I would say, went very well. There's a good matching up of needs and strengths. We're very excited about that alliance. We signed an MoU about continuing to have discussions on other topics, and those conversations are going well. There's a good alignment and the talks are going well, which is as far as I can go.

CNBC: But Farley, who is currently president of the Americas, seemed to recently dash expectations, saying it will be hard to come together on electric vehicles because the timing of your programs is different.

Hinrichs: Timing is always a challenge when you're talking to a partner about how your needs and programs line up. But those conversations continue to go well.

CNBC: Speaking of a changing market, the industry is in the midst of a dramatic shift from cars to trucks which now account for 70% of the U.S. market. Is there much room for more growth?

Hinrichs: I would say that it's gone further than I estimated it would and it is still going. There are a few key contributors. The [light trucks] we offer today don't have the compromises they did in the 1990s. Now, you don't have to give up the ride comfort and the relative difference in fuel economy has diminished significantly.

The cost of gas has certainly had an influence. I also think our society has gotten used to the idea that devices can do all sorts of things. Your smartphone is your rolodex, your phone, your camera. Society now expects vehicles to be multi-functional, too. So, I don't think it will stop.

CNBC: Since a management shake-up nearly two years ago, Ford has been going through a lot of changes. What can you tell us about the planned Ford reorganization?

Hinrichs: You mean the “smart redesign” we started last fall which is really about flattening the organization and removing some of the bureaucracy. We want to let the people running each layer of the organization handle that redesign, rather than from the top down. We think we'll get bigger insight and a bigger buy-in.

CNBC: How is that different from your broader global restructuring?

Hinrichs: We've already announced plans for our Brazilian [truck plant] in Sao Bernardo to close, and that's our first big step there. In Europe, we don't have a lot to announce because we're in discussions with our partners, but we're having very constructive and engaging discussions. We've set up our China operations as a standalone business under Jim Farley and we're looking at everything in our China business.

CNBC: What about North America?

Hinrichs: We don't have as deep a restructuring as in those other markets, but we're looking at the cost structure and execution of the launch of some very important products over the next few years that will have a big impact on our business — the new Ranger [pickup], the Explorer and Aviator and Escape [SUVs] this year and then a number of incremental nameplates the next year, including the Bronco and the 300-mile all-electric SUV. And we're keeping our trucks super fresh. In North America, we think we're going into a really sweet spot over the next 18 months.

CNBC: We've heard about job cuts in Latin America and Europe, as well as white-collar cuts in North America. What about blue-collar cuts in the home market where General Motors has eliminated five plants and thousands of hourly jobs?

Hinrichs: In December we announced that both Louisville and Flat Rock will remove a shift but we plan to move those people to where we need more capacity like the Livonia transmission and Kentucky Truck Plant. So, in North America, with all the product launches coming, we don't see substantial assembly plant changes coming in the near future.

CNBC: So, hourly workers don't need to worry?

Hinrichs: If the U.S. economy stays strong and the industry stays where it is, I don't see dramatic changes to our manufacturing plans for this year in North America.

CNBC: But how concerned are you about the U.S. economy?

Hinrichs: This “peak auto” story has been around for several years. It wouldn't surprise me, given where we are in the U.S. economic and automotive cycle that people are being cautious about hiring. January and February sales were down but they were impacted by severe weather. We'll see what the spring selling season brings. It usually tells a better tale of what the year will hold. But there's clearly a lot of uncertainty out there.

CNBC: “Uncertainty” i..

Volkswagen hints it could jump back into the steaming hot US pickup market

Handout/Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.
Vokswagen Tarok concept pickup

Among an assortment of new cars, crossovers and concepts that will fill up the Volkswagen stand at this week's New York International Auto Show, plenty of attention will likely be focused on one dubbed the Tarok.

In recent years, the German automaker has made a big push into the light truck market, models like the big Atlas crossover helping it reverse years of declining sales. But the Tarok concept vehicle could see Volkswagen make its return into a segment it abandoned decades ago: the compact pickup truck.

“Although there are no plans to produce the vehicle for the U.S. market, the Tarok concept is being shown to gauge market reaction for a truly versatile and compact entry-level pickup,” the automaker said in a statement released ahead of the prototype's unveiling on Wednesday during a NY International Auto Show media preview.

Handout/Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.
Vokswagen Tarok concept pickup

VW currently offers pickups in a number of global markets, but it hasn't played in the segment in the U.S. since dropping a truck based on its old Rabbit hatchback in 1984. But company officials have clearly been reading the tea leaves, especially as the American market for midsize trucks has staged a rapid turnaround since mid-decade.

America is falling back in love with trucks and SUVs, and that's causing big changes at big car companies
10:38 AM ET Tue, 5 Feb 2019 | 04:45

Coming out of the Great Recession, all three of the Detroit-based automakers abandoned midsize trucks, as did Honda, many industry executives, including former Ford CEO Mark Fields, predicting the segment would all but dry up. But since General Motors made its return in 2014 with the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon models, sales have rebounded.

In 2016, Americans purchased 448,398 midsize pickup trucks, a figure that jumped to 524,231 last year, according to industry data. “And there is plenty of room to grow,” said Joe Hinrichs, president of automotive operations for Ford, which brought its own midsize model, the Ranger, back into production late in 2018.

Handout/Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.
Vokswagen Tarok concept pickup

Volkswagen first teased the possibility of reentering the U.S. pickup market at the 2018 New York auto show unveiling the Tanoak concept based on its three-row Atlas sport utility vehicle.

The Tarok concept that will be introduced at New York's Jacob Javits Convention Center this week was previously revealed at the Sao Paulo International Motor Show in Brazil late in 2018 but is being shown in the U.S. for the first time.

It measures 193.5 inches, bumper to bumper, or about 21 inches shorter than the Tanoak concept. The Toyota Tacoma, the segment leader with 245,659 sales in the U.S. last year, measures anywhere from 212.3 to 225.3 inches, depending upon the body and bed configuration.

Despite its diminutive size, the Tarok is designed to handle a payload of up to 73.2 inches, however, slightly longer than what many of the current crop of midsize trucks can fit in their bed. To pull that off, VW explained, the rear seats, along with the panel that normally separates the passenger compartment from the cargo bed, fold away, extending the cargo space.

Handout/Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.
Vokswagen Tarok concept pickup

The Tarok would be one of only two pickups based on a passenger car platform, rather than a classic, truck-like body-on-frame chassis. The other is the slow-selling Honda Ridgeline.

VW has taken pains to show that Tarok would be able to handle serious workloads, among other things fitting it with an underbody skidplate and an all-wheel-drive system that, with the turn of a rotary dial would be tuned to off-road conditions.

How serious the automaker is about getting back in the pickup segment is uncertain, though Scott Keogh, CEO of Volkswagen of America, told CNET's Roadshow last month that “Without a doubt, the biggest open space [in the VW lineup] is pickup. Without a doubt.”

Handout/Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.
Vokswagen Tarok concept pickup

Keogh told the website VW has “opportunities to do it ourselves,” should it choose to get back into the pickup market. But the German automaker in January signed a joint venture with Ford that will see them collaborate on the development of future commercial vehicles. Hinrichs has confirmed that the two companies are exploring other possible partnerships, including electric vehicles. And pickups are also reportedly under discussion.

For its part, Ford has confirmed it is also looking at opportunities for a pickup smaller than its new Ranger. Officials have declined to confirm whether they might work with VW on such a project.

The sales surge in the midsize truck segment has other manufacturers looking at their options, according to industry analysts. Hyundai, for one, has confirmed it is moving ahead on the development of the Santa Cruz, a model that would be based on a well-received concept vehicle of a few years back. Like the Tanoak concept, the Cruz prototype also used creative engineering to carry a large load, in this case, a pullout bed extender. Hyundai officials have said they hope to have the Santa Cruz in production by late 2020 or early 2021.

Handout/Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.
Vokswagen Tarok concept pickup

US lawmakers begin push to expand federal electric vehicle tax credits

How taxpayers have boosted Elon Musk and Tesla
10:06 AM ET Mon, 22 Oct 2018 | 07:43

A bipartisan group of lawmakers plans to introduce a bill to expand federal tax credits for buyers of electric vehicles, in what could be a boon for the growing EV market.

The existing $7,500 tax credit for buyers of EVs phases out over 15 months once an automaker sells 200,000 electric cars. The tax credit for Tesla buyers was halved to $3,750 on Jan. 1; General Motor's tax credit was likewise cut in half starting April 1.

The bill, dubbed the Driving America Forward Act, would grant each automaker a $7,000 tax credit for an additional 400,000 vehicles after it exhausts the first 200,000 vehicles eligible for tax credits. It would shorten the phase-out schedule to nine months. The credits are paid directly to consumers, who can write them off on their tax returns.

“At a time when climate change is having a real effect on Michigan, today's legislation is something we can do now to reduce emissions and combat carbon pollution,” Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., one of the sponsors of the legislation, said in a statement. “Our bill will help create American jobs and cement Michigan's status as an advanced manufacturing hub.”

Tesla shares rose 1.6 percent in morning trading Wednesday on the news.

Sens. Gary Peters, D-Mich., Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Mich., signed on to the bill.

Tesla dismisses sales employees as part of earlier-announced cuts
4:18 PM ET Mon, 8 April 2019 | 01:07

Electric vehicles comprise a tiny, but growing, share of the U.S. vehicle market. Support for low- and no-emissions vehicles has grown both in the U.S. and in other major automotive markets, such as China. Though Tesla has been a market leader in EVs, several automakers are planning to release fully electric cars, trucks and SUVs over the next few years.

“This would be a major shot in the arm for Tesla as this could be a much needed potential catalyst for demand in the U.S.” said Wedbush analyst Dan Ives. “Ultimately, while there are still hurdles to get this legislation passed, it would result in an additional 40,000 Tesla vehicles sold domestically in 2019 based on our estimates. After a tornado of bad news the last few months this would finally be a positive data point for Musk & Co.”

— CNBC's
Phil LeBeau
and Meghan Reeder contributed to this article. Reuters also contributed to this report.

Lyft shares should only be worth $59 according to valuation guru

Mario Tama | Getty Images
Confetti falls as Lyft CEO Logan Green (C) rings the Nasdaq opening bell celebrating the company's initial public offering (IPO) on March 29, 2019 in Los Angeles, California.

When Lyft went public on March 29, it was valued at more than $20 billion, with shares priced at $72. Lyft shares have since declined and closed below the IPO price at $70.23 today, in part because of investors' worries over its nearly $1 billion in losses last year, and its high valuation.

The ride-hailing company should be trading closer to $59 per share, and valued closer to $15 billion, according to Aswath Damodaran, who teaches corporate finance and valuation at the Stern School of Business at New York University. That would imply about a 16% drop from today.

On CNBC's Fast Money, Damodaran explained there's fundamental problem with Lyft's business model that may have helped the company grow fast, but makes it hard for the company to make money:

“The driver is a free agent. The customer is a free agent. There is absolutely no stickiness in the business, and they know it. That's the basic problem I have with the ride-sharing business not just Lyft. What they have succeeded at is changing the way we use car service. I have Uber and Lyft on my phone and I never take a cab. What they haven't figured out is how to make me stay with them. I'm completely disloyal here. Same thing with drivers.”

At least Lyft is focused, and not committed to expensive, risky side projects like Uber, Damodaran noted.

Uber recently spent $3.1 billion to acquire Careem, a ride hailing business that serves passengers in the Middle East. Uber also spent money to set up a research and development division, Uber ATG, that is working on everything from self-driving car technology to air taxis.

By contrast, Lyft is primarily focused on maintaining and growing its marketshare in North America.

Damodaran said: “I'd take Lyft over Uber because Uber wants to be all things to all people. You'd think they'd learn from their mistakes. They tried in China and had to back out of China. I think being less ambitious in this business, until you figured out a business model, is better.”

Lyft's IPO kicked off a so-called “unicorn stampede,” or string of public market debuts expected this year from tech companies that have raised copious amounts of venture capital and are privately valued over $1 billion. Among those expected to go public later this year are Uber, which was privately valued at $72 billion last year; Pinterest, which is aiming to go public at a valuation of up to $9 billion; and Slack privately valued at $6.7 billion.

They should learn from Lyft's experience, and from predecessors like Snap, the business school professor suggested.

“You don't want to go up against Facebook and Google. Create a niche and be in it,” Damodaran said. “The mistake that Snap made, which Pinterest should not, is they thought they could be bigger than Facebook.”

Nissan’s Ghosn says in a video that he’s innocent and a victim of a conspiracy

Issei Kato | Reuters
A video statement made by the former Nissan Motor chairman Carlos Ghosn is shown on a screen during a news conference by his lawyers at Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo, Japan April 9, 2019.

Ousted Nissan Motor boss Carlos Ghosn said he was innocent of all the charges against him and was the victim of a conspiracy, according to a video recorded before his arrest last week and broadcast by his lawyers on Tuesday.

Prosecutors took the highly unusual step of re-arresting Ghosn last week on fresh allegations that he used company funds to enrich himself to the tune of $5 million. The once-feted executive had been out on $9 million bail for 30 days, during which he recorded the video screened by his lawyers on Tuesday.

In the video, shown to reporters in Tokyo, the former Nissan Motor Co chairman said he was the victim of selfish rivals bent on derailing a closer alliance between the Japanese automaker and French partner Renault SA.

Ghosn called out some individuals by name in the video but those references were removed due to legal concerns, his lead lawyer Junichiro Hironaka told reporters.

The video – together with Hironaka's comments alleging harsh treatment by Tokyo prosecutors against Ghosn and his wife, Carole – cast Ghosn as the victim of both internal rivals and the Japanese judicial system.

“This is a conspiracy … this is not about greed or dictatorship, this is about a plot, this about a conspiracy, this is about a backstabbing,” Ghosn said in the video.

He was wearing a dark jacket and a white shirt. His hands were folded in front of him as he looked into the camera and spoke in a clipped, matter-of-fact manner. His hair appeared to be greyer and his face thinner than before last year's arrest.

The conspiracy, he said, was borne out of fear that he would bring Nissan closer to its partner and top shareholder, Renault.

“There was fear that the next step of the alliance in terms of convergence and in terms of moving towards a merger, would in a certain way threaten some people or eventually threaten the autonomy of Nissan,” he said.

Physical, mental pressure

Hironaka told the briefing that prosecutors were acting in a “cruel way” and putting him under intense physical and mental pressure to get a confession.

Prosecutors were not immediately available for comment.

Hironaka has previously criticised the move by prosecutors to confiscate Ghosn's belongings, including his mobile phone and trial documents, along with the mobile phones and Lebanese passport of his wife, Carole, who was present when prosecutors entered their home early in the morning last Thursday.

The lawyer said on Tuesday that Ghosn's wife, who left Japan last week, did so out of concern for her own safety, adding she intended to protest the case to the French government.

However, France's finance minister said on Tuesday that political interventions might not be the best way to help Ghosn, raising some questions about how much pressure Paris was willing to put on Tokyo over the issue.

The case has rocked the global auto industry and also shone a harsh light on Japan's judicial system.

Under Japanese law, prosecutors are able to hold suspects for up to 22 days without charge and interrogate them without their lawyers present.

Such procedures have focused much attention in the West on Japan's judicial system, which critics sometimes refer to as “hostage justice”, because defendants who deny their charges are often not granted bail.

Ghosn has been charged with under-reporting his Nissan salary for a decade, and of temporarily transferring personal financial losses to Nissan's books. However, the new, $5 million allegation is potentially more serious, as it could show he used company funds for his own purposes.

On Monday, Nissan shareholders ousted him as a director, severing his last tie with the automaker he rescued from near-bankruptcy two decades ago.

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Ford, GM and Toyota set up a safety group for self-driving cars

Malorny | Moment | Getty Images
Aerial view, view from above, drone view, or birds eye view of a highway at night.

Ford, General Motors (GM) and Toyota, together with SAE International, have established a new consortium that will focus on the safety of autonomous vehicles.

In a statement Wednesday, SAE International, a global association of engineers, said the Automated Vehicle Safety Consortium (AVSC) would work “to safely advance testing, pre-competitive development and deployment of SAE Level 4 and 5 automated vehicles.”
SAE International has defined five “levels” of driving automation, with the highest being where a vehicle's automated features can drive itself under all conditions.
“We understand that autonomous vehicles need to operate safely and reliably in concert with infrastructure and other road users to earn the trust of the communities in which they are deployed,” Randy Visintainer, chief technology officer at Ford Autonomous Vehicles, said in a statement.
“Our goal with the consortium is to work with industry and government partners to expedite development of standards that can lead to rule making,” Visintainer added.

The executive director of the newly formed AVSC, Edward Straub, said that being able to advance the safe deployment of level four and level five vehicles represented “another exciting chapter in the realization of autonomous mobility and the benefits this will bring to people around the world.”
“To achieve these benefits, industry collaboration, cohesion and flexibility to merge new ideas with proven safety processes are critical,” Straub added.

While there is excitement surrounding the potential of autonomous vehicles, concerns have been raised with regards to safety. In March 2018, for example, one of ride-hailing powerhouse Uber's autonomous vehicles killed a pedestrian in Tempe, Arizona.

When it comes to regulation, there are also a host of questions to be answered. “There are no rules right now, international rules, on how to regulate automated vehicles,” Philippe Crist, from the International Transport Forum, told CNBC in January 2018.

“The safety regulation of automated vehicles will have to be the same as for regular vehicles, using the same principles,” Crist added.

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Ford sales fall 1.6% due to unpopular cars, but truck, vans and SUVs gain

Tim Boyle | Getty Images
Shoppers at a Ford dealership in Schaumburg, Illinois.

Ford's first-quarter sales fell 1.6% from a year earlier, but sales of trucks, vans and sport utility vehicles grew, the company said Thursday.

A 24.1% decline in sales of ever less-popular passenger cars dragged down what was otherwise a positive quarter for the nation's second-largest automaker.

Ford's premium Lincoln brand grew sales 11.2%, making it Lincoln's best first quarter in ten years. Ford brand SUV sales set a first-quarter record.

It's more evidence that vehicle sales in the world's second-largest auto market are sliding from the record levels they had achieved in the years following the financial crisis.

U.S. retail auto sales, which exclude sales to rental car companies and other commercial businesses, are expected to drop by about 5%during the first quarter, according to J.D. Power and LMC Automotive.

While sales volumes are softening, especially for cheaper cars, customers are still paying remarkably high prices for cars, said Thomas King, senior vice president of J.D. Power's data and analytics division. Prices are hitting monthly records while overall retail sales of vehicles that cost under $25,000 are expected to fall 12% in the U.S. in the quarter, more than double the overall decline.

That rang true for Ford, which saw demand for its more expensive trucks and SUVs tick up during the quarter. Sales of Ford's pickup trucks, vans and SUVs, including Lincoln SUVs, made up 83% of the company's total vehicle sales during the quarter.

Pickups alone, led by its popular F-150 line, accounted for almost half of Ford's total volume with the average sales price of $47,454, the company said.

“Customers continue to choose high series and the latest technologies,” Ford said.

Ford truck and SUV sales rose 4% and 3.5%, respectively, while Lincoln SUV sales jumped by 23.2%.

US judge gives Tesla CEO Elon Musk, SEC two weeks to work out their issues

Tesla CEO Elon Musk just squared off with the SEC in court
12:33 PM ET Fri, 5 April 2019 | 01:49

A federal judge gave Tesla CEO Elon Musk and the Securities and Exchange Commission two weeks to work out their differences, punting a request from the agency to hold him in contempt of court for allegedly violating an October securities fraud settlement.

Musk told reporters he was “happy” and “impressed with the judge's analysis” as he left the hearing room in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on Thursday.

U.S Judge Alison Nathan said she had “serious concerns that no matter what I decide here, this issue won't be resolved.” Nathan ordered both parties to “take a deep breath, put on your reasonableness pants” and work out a solution.

Musk was at the hearing on contempt charges requested by the SEC after he tweeted about the company's production forecasts on Feb 19. His settlement agreement prohibits him from using Twitter to make statements about Tesla's operations or financial position without company review and approval.

Nathan told Musk and the SEC that contempt charges are serious business. Everyone must follow the law, she said, whether you are a “small potato” or a “big fish.”

Musk told reporters outside the courthouse that he would “most likely” be able to work out an agreement with the SEC over the next two weeks.

Natan Dvir | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Elon Musk, chief executive officer of Tesla Inc., smiles while speaking to members of the media outside federal court in New York, U.S., on Thursday, April 4, 2019.

“I have great respect for the justice system and I think the judges in the American system are outstanding,” Musk said before entering the courthouse in lower Manhattan.

When CNBC's Phil LeBeau asked Musk if he felt the same about the SEC, the CEO laughed and walked away.

SEC lawyers argued that Musk and his legal team offered a “series of shifting justifications” for his behavior on Twitter, citing 15 separate tweets they believe violated his settlement. They also accused Musk of “recklessly tweeting out material information that had no basis in fact” and caused confusion in the markets.

“We don't think every tweet needs to be approved,” SEC attorney Cheryl Crumpton told the court, citing conversations on social media with Tesla customers as OK.

Statements much beyond that need to be cleared, she said.

Reaffirming guidance could be material and needs approval, she said, adding that Tesla still “appears to be unwilling” to exercise control over Musk.

Musk's lawyers said the judge's order was a gateway to a negotiation with the SEC.

“He actually does what he is told,” Musk's lead attorney John Hueston told the court.

Musk sat in the center of the courtroom, flanked by three members of his legal team, periodically nodding in agreement with their arguments.

Securities lawyers and other industry executives have said that Musk, who has already been removed as chairman, could also lose his post as CEO if he keeps pushing the SEC.

Jeenah Moon | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Elon Musk, chief executive officer of Tesla Inc., center, arrives at federal court in New York, on Thursday, April 4, 2019.

“The court and SEC are in a bit of a bind here because capital punishment, if you will, would be … throwing him out of company or banning him from running any public company from now on for violating this agreement with the SEC,” Paul Ingrassia, Revs Institute for Automotive Research editor, said Thursday on CNBC's “The Exchange.” “He is viewed as being the essence of Tesla. It's his brainchild. He's not only the public figure but also the creative genius behind it.”

Tesla's shares plunged by more than 10% Thursday before recovering slightly to close down 8.2% after the company released its production and delivery data for the first quarter that missed Wall Street estimates and disappointed investors.

“At some point I think people have to start wondering would this company be better off with a calmer managerial presence in charge as opposed to a genius leader but a mercurial leader,” Ingrassia said. “Is the company now at that stage of its development? But Musk has so much of the shares himself that that's probably not going to happen without an SEC or court order, which I doubt they'll be willing to do.”

— CNBC's
Michelle Fox
contributed to this article.

Tesla's Elon Musk: 'I have great respect for the justice system'
1:45 PM ET Thu, 4 April 2019 | 00:52