Andrzej Wojcicki | Science Photo Library | Getty ImagesBMW and Mercedes-manufacturer Daimler announced a new partnership on Thursday to develop autonomous driving.
Some 1,200 technicians from the two German auto giants will team up in a bid to develop self-driving technology. The engineers will work toward driver-assistance systems, automated driving on highways as well as parking. The firms say the technology will be specified to what industry insiders call SAE level 4.
“Further talks are planned to extend the cooperation to higher levels of automation in urban areas and city centers,” BMW said in a joint statement.
SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) levels determine the automation capabilities of vehicles, ranking from zero to five.
Level 4 vehicles can intervene if things go wrong or if there is a system failure. The car can perform all functions itself, although a manual override is available to a driver.
Daimler and BMW said they are targeting 2024 as a key date for installing the technology in cars available to the general public.
The automakers said the cooperation is “non-exclusive” and partner manufacturers and technology firms will take part in the work.
They added that the results won't be kept secret and other firms can see the conclusions “under license.”
Safer than a human?On Tuesday, the two German companies joined with nine other firms to publish a white paper on driverless technology, entitled “Safety First for Automated Driving.”
The report aims to draft worldwide industry standards for tackling the risks of self-driving cars and trucks.
Authors and experts from the firms involved say they aim to present the paper's principles and findings at auto industry and technology conferences over the next few months.
BMW said the main goal of the paper is to create a situation where an autonomously-driven vehicle is proven to be safer than one involving full human control.
Other participants in the document included Audi, Baidu, Continental, Fiat Chrysler, Here Technologies, Infineon, Intel, Volkswagen and Aptiv.
Now watch: Uber unveils its autonomous carVIDEO2:3902:39Uber looks to reduce costs with autonomous vehiclesSquawk Box
Author: CNBC Online news
Lee Iacocca, auto industry icon, dead at 94
Lee Iacocca, former Chrysler chairman, in 2005. (Photo by Matthew Simmons/Getty Images)Matthew Simmons | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty ImagesLido Anthony Iacocca, the automobile industry legend best known as “Lee,” died at the age of 94 on Tuesday morning, his family confirmed.
A child of Italian immigrants who grow up in humble conditions, Iacocca became one of the most powerful — and best known — executives in Detroit.
Iacocca rose to become president of Ford Motor in December 1970.
After being fired in a dispute with company heir Henry Ford II, Iacocca joined the then-struggling Chrysler. Using both his business skills and ability to turn a phrase, he won federal loan guarantees that helped the automaker avoid a potential 1980 bankruptcy.
If you can find a better car, buy it.Lee IacoccaTV tagline when he was chairman of ChryslerDuring his career, Iacocca become closely associated with at least three iconic vehicles. He has been widely credited as the father of the Ford Mustang, as well as the K-Car that helped Chrysler pull out of its financial slump. Working with former Ford colleague Hal Sperlich who joined him at Chrysler, Iacocca also gave the go-ahead to the minivans that for a number of years were the most profitable products offered by the third-largest of the Detroit automakers.
“Lee was one of few truly great leaders,” said Bob Lutz, a longtime executive at Ford and Chrysler who worked closely with Iacocca. “He was my mentor, my teacher and role model. When he was on, he was fabulous. I will miss him.”
“I owe the second half of my career to Lee Iacocca,” Lutz said. “All in all, we had a relationship like a father and son.”
Charitable work In his latter years with Chrysler, Iacocca spent an increasing share of his time doing charitable work, among other things spearheading efforts to restore both the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, the immigration port in New York Harbor where his own parents came into the United States.
Iacocca became famous not only as Chrysler's chairman and CEO but its TV pitchman, where he made famous the tag line, “If you can find a better car, buy it.”
But after being nudged out by the Chrysler board, Iacocca unexpectedly teamed with billionaire Kirk Kerkorian in a failed 1995 hostile takeover attempt.
The company and its former chairman patched things up a decade later, with Iacocca again serving as a Chrysler pitchman, in one TV commercial appearing with rapper Snoop Dogg.
Iacocca attempted to form an electric vehicle company, EV Global Motors, in 1999, but he largely focused on writing and charitable work over recent years.
Iacocca was married three times. His last marriage, to Darrien Earle, ended in 1994.
Iacocca lived in the Bel Air section of Los Angeles in his final years.
His daughter Lia Iacocca Assad said Lee Iacocca died of natural causes, but that he suffered from complications from Parkinson's Disease. He is survived by two daughters and eight grandchildren.
—CNBC's Phil LeBeau contributed to this report.
Waymo makes autonomous vehicles available to Lyft riders
VIDEO5:2505:25Self-driving Waymo minivans are now available on Lyft in ArizonaSquawk BoxWaymo, a subsidiary of Google-parent Alphabet which is developing autonomous vehicles and related services, has officially expanded its reach and is now making some of its self-driving minivans available for customers of ride-share firm Lyft.
The rides are restricted to a small area just outside of Phoenix, Arizona, where Waymo has been testing self-driving vehicles and has started its own autonomous ride-share service called Waymo One.
Waymo's limited partnership with Lyft is the latest example of the company branching out to work with more companies as it develops autonomous vehicles and services. Earlier this month, Waymo struck a deal with Nissan and Renault to build self-driving vehicles for those automakers.
By partnering with Lyft, Waymo CEO John Krafcik believes the relationship gives both companies “the opportunity to collect valuable feedback.” For Waymo it will be able to better gauge how the public interacts with a self-driving vehicle. Until now, those getting rides in Waymo vehicles in the Phoenix area have been pre-screened and accepted into the Waymo early rider program.
Waymo's steady expansion comes as competitors are making their own plans to roll autonomous ride-share services. Later this year, General Motors subsidiary Cruise, is expected to unveil an autonomous ride-share service in a small area in or near San Francisco.
Uber, which dominates the ride-share industry in the U.S., is also working on its own fleet of self-driving vehicles. Earlier this month, Eric Meyhofer, the head of Uber's Advanced Technologies Group, told CNBC his company is working to deploy self-driving cars without safety drivers in limited areas. But he said Uber wants to be in “the good graces of public trust and regulatory trust” before deciding when to roll out Uber vehicles without someone behind the wheel.
Michelle Krebs, an analyst for Autotrader, believes widespread deployment of self-driving vehicles, whether in a ride-share program or elsewhere, is still years from happening.
VIDEO6:1806:18Tesla could surprise to the upside with autonomous driving: AnalystTrading Nation “Nobody knows the right answers technically, and certainly, nobody knows the right answer for building a business model,” she said. “So I think there is going to be a lot of partnering up, changing partners, and figuring out strategies before this settles out, and I think that's a way down the road.”
For now, Waymo is making just a handful of its vehicles available in the Phoenix area and eventually, up to 10 Waymo self-driving minivans will be eligible for Lyft rides. The service will be limited to those Lyft customers planning to start and complete a ride within the geofenced area where Waymo vehicles have been operating.
When Lyft customers in certain suburbs of Phoenix call up the app on the phone and look for a ride, they will be offered the chance to be shuttled in a Waymo autonomous-drive minivan or a traditional Lyft vehicle with a human driver. The Waymo minivans in the Lyft program will all have a safety driver behind the wheel.
Porsche: Expect sports cars to change more in the next seven years than they did in the last 70
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BMW set to double electric vehicle sales by 2021
BMW's Vision M Next concept carBMWBMW is on track to double its electric and hybrid vehicle sales by 2021, the company said Tuesday as it unveiled its newest electric car.
The German automaker announced that it will meet its target of marketing 25 electrified vehicle models by 2023 — two years earlier than expected. More than half of those models will be fully electric.
Sales of BMW's electric models are expected to increase by 30% every year between now and 2025, the carmaker also added.
BMW also revealed the Vision M Next, an electrified concept car, which was complete with a prototype of “intelligent technology to transform (owners) into the ultimate driver.”
Unveiling the sportscar at its #NEXTGen show in Munich, BMW said the car gave a glimpse of how driving may look in the future — offering people the choice between being driven by technology or doing the driving themselves.
The Vision M Next was complete with prototypes of BMW's “ease” and “boost” features, which will be incorporated into its autonomous vehicles. The “ease” function is selected when the vehicle assumes driving duties, allowing passengers to relax, talk or even watch a movie. Meanwhile, “boost” allows drivers to control the car themselves.
By the end of 2019, BMW is aiming to have more than half a million hybrid or fully-electric vehicles on the road. This year will see the company start production of the fully-electric Mini and BMW iX3.
From 2020, BMW plug-in hybrids will also feature a new eDrive zones function — smart tech that recognizes green zones in cities that are reserved for emission-free driving. Cars fitted with the function will automatically behave as a fully-electric vehicle when driving within those areas.
“We are firmly committed to emission-free driving,” said Harald Kruger, chairman of BMW's board, in a press release Tuesday.
“Our vision is clear: sustainable mobility, produced in a sustainable manner. We have set ourselves the goal of only buying electricity from renewable energy sources for all our locations worldwide from 2020,” he added.
French automaker Renault is ‘confident’ about the China market despite falling car sales
VIDEO3:0603:06Electric vehicles are a priority for us in China: RenaultStreet Signs AsiaChina's auto industry is struggling to sell new cars but French automaker Renault is confident about the market's long-term prospects, according to a senior executive.
The market downtrend started in the middle of last year and Renault expects a full-year decline of about 5% in sales, according to Francois Provost, senior vice president, chairman of China region at the company.
“We remain confident about the long-term trend for the Chinese market,” he told CNBC's Geoff Cutmore and Arjun Kharpal at the World Economic Forum in Dalian, China.
Provost explained it was hard to determine the key reason for the sales decline but conversations with Renault dealers and salesmen indicated that customers were hesitating to buy new cars.
“I cannot explain in details the root cause but, for sure, our customers are hesitating to buy, and this explains most of the volume decrease,” he said, adding that it is likely that much of the uncertainty comes from the ongoing trade tensions between the United States and China.
Last month, China reported the worst-ever monthly sales drop that deepened worries over the economic slowdown in the world's second largest economy and the impact of the trade war with Washington.
Auto sales declined 16.4% in May from the same month a year earlier, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, Reuters reported. That was the 11th consecutive month of decline, according to the news wire.
U.S. President Donald Trump met his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Saturday during the Group of 20 summit in Japan, where the two leaders agreed to halt further tariffs on each other's goods, and return to the negotiating table.
Provost said he hoped that move would boost consumer confidence in the Chinese auto market.
Still, Renault, which has three joint ventures in China, plans to sell 550,000 vehicles in China in 2022. Last year, the company said it sold more than 216,000 vehicles in the country — about three times more than its 2017 sales.
A big priority for the French automaker in China is the electric vehicles market.
Favorable government policies have given pure battery-powered vehicles as well as hybrid cars an advantage despite an overall slowdown in auto sales. Last year, electric car sales in China jumped almost 62% to 1.3 million vehicles. For 2019, it is predicted that electric vehicle sales could hit 1.6 million.
Provost said that the electric vehicle market will “grow a lot in the coming years” due to a combination of strong government support as well as growing confidence among customers toward those types of cars.
Ford cutting another 12,000 European jobs as restructuring continues
An employee works on an engine production line at a Ford factory on January 13, 2015Carl Court | Getty Images News | Getty ImagesFord is cutting 12,000 jobs at its operations across Europe by the end of 2020, the automaker said Thursday, continuing a broad, global restructuring program that already has cost about 2,300 jobs in the U.S.
The latest move comes as Ford prepares to close or sell off six of its 24 European plants, including an engine plant in Wales, a transmission factory in France and three facilities in Russia. It also plans to cut production and drop shifts at assembly plants in Germany and Spain.
Its stock rose more than 2% in morning trading.
The company's global workforce of 199,000 employees as of Dec. 31, 53,000 of them in Europe, will be notably smaller next year. The European cutbacks were widely expected and follow on other layoffs announced earlier this year. They come as the Detroit-based automaker struggles to reverse years of losses in the U.S. Since Jim Hackett was named CEO two years ago, Ford has launched a number of worldwide cost-savings measures, but company officials say the cuts announced Thursday also reflect a planned shift from conventional, gas and diesel-powered vehicles to electric and other battery-powered cars.
“Ford will be a more targeted business in Europe, consistent with the company's global redesign, generating higher returns through our focus on customer needs and a lean structure,” Stuart Rowley, president of Ford of Europe, said in a statement. “Implementing our new strategy quickly enables us to invest and grow our leading commercial vehicle business and provide customers with more electrified vehicles, SUVs, exciting performance derivatives and iconic imported models.”
While a large share of the new European job cuts will target hourly employees, Ford last month said it was eliminating 7,000 white-collar jobs, including 2,300 in the United States. At that time, CEO Hackett hinted there would likely be more to follow, noting, “We still have a lot of work to do in the coming months.”
That includes more than just job cuts, however. Since being named CEO following a management shake-up in May 2017, Hackett has ordered a number of major changes, among other things dropping all U.S. passenger car models — but for the Mustang. The shift to sport and crossover-utility vehicles has extended to other markets, including Europe and China, though not to quite the same degree.
Jim Hackett, FordSource: Ford Motor Company Ford has been trying to right-size operations around the world, especially in weak markets like Europe and Latin America, Joe Hinrichs, the president of the company's automotive operations, told CNBC earlier this year.
But it is not going as far as its Detroit rival, General Motors, which shut down operations in Russia, India and several other markets, while selling off its European Opel subsidiary to France's PSA Group.
Investors seem to like Hackett's changes so far. While the company's stock is still down 11% over the last 12 months, its gained almost 33% since Jan. 1.
According to Ford's statement, it will reorganize European operations into three “customer-focused” groups that will focus on passenger vehicles, imports — such as the American-made Mustang — and commercial vehicles. The latter unit will play a central role in the new joint venture Ford announced with German automaker Volkswagen in January.
Ford also is negotiating other possible alliances on autonomous and electric vehicles with VW that could be announced in a matter of weeks, according to several company executives.
Ford was an early entrant into the battery-car field but has since fallen behind competitors like Tesla, GM and VW, the latter company planning to unleash as many as 50 all-electric models by the middle of the coming decade.
Automakers face increasing pressure from regulators around the world to shift to battery-based vehicles, and Ford plans to unveil its first long-range all-electric model, a crossover influenced by the Mustang, later this year.
“Our future is rooted in electrification,” said Ford's Rowley. “We are electrifying across our portfolio, providing all of our customers with more accessible vehicle options that are fun to drive, have improved fuel economy and are better for our environment.”
Ford is just one of a number of automakers who have announced major cutbacks in recent months. GM announced in November plans to close three assembly plants and two parts factories in North America, eliminating 14,000 jobs. In March, VW said it would cut 7,000 jobs on top of previously announced reductions.
The moves come at a critical time for the industry, according to a new study by the Detroit-based consultancy, AlixPartners. Sales in the U.S. and China are in a slump and European demand is stagnant, at best, it noted.
At the same time, manufacturers are being forced to invest heavily in the development of autonomous and electrified vehicles. They face a “profit desert,” warned Mark Wakefield, head of the firm's automotive practice, and must take steps to cut costs.
Tesla has a secret lab trying to build its own battery cells to reduce dependence on Panasonic
SpaceX owner and Tesla CEO Elon Musk gestures during a conversation at the E3 gaming convention in Los Angeles, June 13, 2019.Mike Blake | ReutersTesla is developing the means to manufacture its own battery cells, according to five current and recent employees, something that the electric vehicle maker has relied on Panasonic to do since the companies signed an extensive partnership deal in 2014.
The move could help Tesla offer cheaper, higher performance electric-vehicles than it does today, without having to pay or share data and resources with outside vendors or partners. The battery pack and battery cells are the main cost component in an electric vehicle, according to research by IHS Markit.
The company has been “battery-constrained” in the past, CEO Elon Musk acknowledged at the company's annual shareholders meeting earlier in June. That means a lack of batteries limited Tesla's production and sales of electric vehicles and energy storage systems (Powerwalls and Powerpacks).
Making its own battery cells would also fit with Musk's general ambition to make Tesla as “vertically integrated” as possible, which means developing, manufacturing and selling everything it can — even its own enterprise software.
But manufacturing cells at high volume would be another challenge for a company that recently implemented cost-cutting measures and is still struggling to perfect its high-volume vehicle production.
Tesla and Panasonic did not respond to requests for comment.
Skunkworks lab on Kato roadTesla employees conduct some of their battery cell manufacturing research at a “skunkworks lab” at the company's Kato Road facility, a few minutes from its car plant in Fremont, California.
That plant is where Tesla makes its Model 3, Model S and Model X vehicles today, while its batteries are made at the Gigafactory in Sparks, Nevada, a factory jointly owned and operated with Panasonic.
Employees in Tesla's battery R&D teams are now focused on designing and prototyping advanced lithium ion battery cells, as well as new equipment and processes that could allow Tesla to produce cells in high volumes, employees and former employees said.
Tesla has posted job listings in the last month for various engineers involved in battery cell design, equipment for producing battery cells and manufacturing processes to make batteries.
Even if Tesla's effort to start making battery cells is successful, the company is not likely to cut ties with Panasonic and other battery suppliers any time soon.
Tesla employees familiar with cell supplier negotiations said the company is most likely to work with Panasonic and LG to provide the cells that go into the initial Model 3 vehicles produced in its Shanghai factory. That factory could start production by the end of 2019, with mass production beginning in 2020.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk speaks at the ground breaking for the automaker's new factory in Shanghai.Eunice Yoon | CNBCThe ambition to bring at least some battery cell manufacturing in house has been broadly discussed within Tesla and among its followers.
At the company's annual shareholder meeting in June, Musk invited CTO JB Straubel and Vice President of Technology Drew Baglino on-stage to tell shareholders about battery-related initiatives at Tesla.
Musk encouraged outside investors to focus on two strategic matters at Tesla: How quickly the company can offer completely self-driving vehicles, and its plan to “scale battery production and get the cost per kilowatt hour lower.” He said Tesla wasn't ready to let the “cat out of the bag” yet, and would reveal further details — including about the company's acquisition of Maxwell Technologies, completed in May this year — at an investor battery and power train day before the end of 2019.
JB Straubel, Tesla Motors chief technical officer.Getty ImagesCTO JB Straubel said: “It's more obvious now than I think it ever was, we need a large-scale solution to cell production.”
Baglino added, “We're not sitting idly by. We're taking all the moves required to be masters of our own destiny here, technologically and otherwise. I think through all the experience we've developed with partners and otherwise, we will have solutions for this.”
Executives' comments on Tesla battery tech follow reports bout tension between the two companies.
In January, Panasonic struck a deal with Toyota to build car batteries together through a joint venture that's majority owned by Toyota. In early April, Panasonic said it would temporarily freeze its investments in Tesla Gigafactories.
A few days later, Musk blamed Panasonic for dragging down the pace of Model 3 production, saying its cell lines were operating at only two-thirds of their capacity, or 24 GWh, at their shared Gigafactory. “Tesla won't spend money on more capacity until existing lines get closer to 35GWh theoretical,” Musk tweeted.
In recent weeks, following layoffs and other cost-cutting efforts by Tesla, Panasonic has hired a number of former Tesla employees at the Gigafactory in Nevada, including technicians, supervisors, process and systems engineers, according to LinkedIn profiles and current and recent Tesla employees.
Hopping from Tesla to Panasonic at the Gigafactory wasn't as common just a couple of years ago, according to a former Tesla human resources employee who asked to remain unnamed. Compensation, training and a clearer policy around schedules, especially how to earn and get time off, help draw Tesla employees over to their Japanese partner, this person said.
WATCH: Inside Tesla's Nevada Gigafactory
VIDEO8:5008:50We went inside Tesla's first GigafactoryCNBC ReportsFollow @CNBCTech on Twitter for the latest tech industry news.
Read the email from Elon Musk to Tesla employees, pushing them to hit aggressive goals
Elon Musk, co-founder and chief executive officer of Tesla Motors.Yuriko Nakao | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesElon Musk sent out one of his signature “everybody” emails on Tuesday, which are circulated to tens of thousands of Tesla employees.
In it, the CEO rallied employees to work hard to hit the company's aggressive vehicle production and delivery goals for the second quarter.
It is typical for Tesla execs, and Musk, to push employees to work long hours to hit quarterly goals, with extra production and delivery work piling up toward the end of a quarter.
In its first-quarter 2019 update to shareholders, Tesla said:
“We believe we will deliver between 90,000 and 100,000 vehicles in Q2. Although it is possible to deliver a higher number of vehicles, we believe it is important to begin unwinding the 'wave' approach to vehicle deliveries, where overseas cars have been made in the first half of the quarter and North American cars have been made in the second half. This puts extreme stress on Tesla, negatively affects our working capital needs and adds to our cost structure.”
Earlier this month, Musk was prompting people to buy Tesla vehicles, with a Twitter post reminding them that “US federal tax drops by $1875 for any Tesla delivered after June 30.”
Here's what Musk wrote in the email sent Tuesday, obtained and transcribed by CNBC. Bloomberg first reported on the email.
From: Elon Musk
To: Everybody
Date: June 25, 2019
As you may have noticed, there is a lot of speculation regarding the vehicle deliveries this quarter. The reality is that we are on track to set an all-time record, but it will be very close. However, if we go all out, we can definitely do it!
We already have enough vehicle orders to set a record, but the right cars are not yet all in the right locations. Logistics and final delivery are extremely important, as well as finding demand for vehicle variants that are available locally, but can't reach people who ordered that variant before end of quarter.
I have great faith in you. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help.
Thanks,
Elon
Follow @CNBCTech on Twitter for the latest tech industry news.
Tesla shares drop despite Musk’s prediction of ‘a record quarter on every level’
VIDEO2:1602:16Watch the highlights from Elon Musk speaking at Tesla shareholder meetingAutosTesla shares turned negative Wednesday morning, a day after CEO Elon Musk said the electric auto maker has a “decent shot at a record quarter on every level.”
“I want to be clear: There is not a demand problem,” Musk said at the company's annual meeting with shareholders on Tuesday evening. “Sales have far exceeded production and production has been pretty good so we're actually doing well.”
Tesla shares had jumped 4% in premarket trading Wednesday, before turning negative. By Wednesday's close, the stock was down 3.6%
Musk also said “it won't be long” before the company has an electric car with a range of 400 miles.
In a note to investors after the meeting, Cowen questioned Musk's confidence, saying “basic microeconomic theory would suggest that goods or services that don't have a demand problem don't see their prices lowered by half a dozen times in 4-5 months.” Cowen has an underperform rating and a $140 price target on Tesla shares.
VIDEO3:0003:00Here's why Tesla shares rose following Musk's optimism about demandSquawk BoxBaird, on the other hand, said “the narrative is overly negative,” adding that “bear arguments will be disproven in the coming weeks and months.” Baird has a $340 price target and an outpeform rating on the stock. The firm said there have been “several signs of steady demand over the past few weeks,” a point Musk emphasized during the presentation. Musk said 90% of Tesla's orders are coming “from non-reservation holders, so these are new customers,” he said.
Tesla's stock is down nearly 35% for the year as of Tuesday's close of $217.10 a share but the stock has slowly come back after hitting a low of $179 a share last week.
A key metric for Tesla sales bounced back last month, as the company's Model 3 vehicle saw deliveries higher than expected in May. Overall, Tesla increased total U.S. sales in the month of May by 73% from a year earlier, according to data from Motor Intelligence.
“We continue to see the shares in a tug of war between skeptics and extreme believers, where we have fallen into the skeptical camp for several years,” Cowen said.