BMW fined $10M, faces criminal probe for engine firesBMW AG is facing a criminal probe in South Korea after investigators concluded the manufacturer concealed fire hazards and delayed recalls for a problem that has dented sales and its reputation in the Asian country.
South Korea’s transport ministry plans to ask prosecutors to investigate the German carmaker, the ministry said in a statement on Monday. Korea also fined BMW 11.2 billion won ($10 million) for belatedly recalling 22,670 vehicles. The team that’s been investigating BMW since August found defects that could cause coolant to leak and set the engine on fire.
The move threatens to prolong the Munich-based company’s woes in a country where there have been nearly 40 cases of BMW fires reported this year. The carmaker, which has recalled 1.6 million vehicles worldwide over the issue, has seen its sales in Korea fall about 10 percent during the first 11 months of the year as videos went viral of the luxury cars being engulfed in flames.
BMW’s Korea branch apologized in a statement released after the announcement and said it will cooperate with ongoing investigations.
The Korean probe adds to the challenges at BMW as it prepares to begin a new year fraught with potential hazards from a trade war between the U.S. and China, and a drop in car sales in China, the world’s biggest car market. BMW is also raising spending to develop new electric and self-driving vehicles. The strains have been evident, with the Stoxx Europe 600 Automobiles & Parts Index having declined about 27 percent this year and both BMW and rival Daimler AG lowering 2018 profit targets.
The BMW defect also prompted the carmaker to do a voluntary recall of 323,700 vehicles in Europe, with about 96,000 of those in Germany. BMW had said it would begin replacing starting Aug. 20 the EGR coolers and modules in the recalled cars covering 42 models, including the popular 520d and 320d produced between 2011 and 2016.
BMW shares closed 0.1 percent higher on Friday in Frankfurt, the last trading day before the Christmas holiday, trimming losses to 17 percent for the year.
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Tesla Seeking To Construct Factory In China To Build Global Presence, Avoid Tariffs
Tesla Inc. is reportedly carrying out preparations for the construction of their first Chinese factory in Shanghai, reported Business Insider. According to sources and documents divulged by Reuters, bidding has already begun on the Shanghai Gigafactory and preparations are nearly complete.
The company made the decision to open a factory in China after foreign sales took a hit when China imposed U.S.-built car tariffs during President Donald Trump’s ongoing trade war. No longer one of the few companies manufacturing electric vehicles, Tesla began facing rising competition in China and was forced to search for alternative options in order to increase their presence in the world’s biggest auto market.
The company already has plans to begin producing the Model 3 mass-market car as soon as the second half of 2019.
Tesla, headed by Chief Executive Elon Musk, has been searching for construction bidders to build the plant and has reportedly already received a bid from state-owned Shanghai Construction Group Co. Ltd. The names of several other firms involved in the bidding were not released.
Shanghai Baoye Group Co. Ltd., a China Minmetals subsidiary, has also confirmed involvement in the project and is preparing for a shipment of concrete pipe piles and steel pile tips before the end of the year. The plant’s 860,000-square-meter site already has the external fence and groundwork nearly completed.
The Gigafactory would be the first car plant in China to be owned by a foreign company. The move is seen as progress in terms of U.S.-Sino relations and China’s willingness to expand their markets.
In an official statement, Shanghai’s Mayor Ying Yong commented that construction work on the factory would start soon and encouraged the builders to work quickly in order to begin production by the end of 2019.
He added that “it is necessary to further promote the ‘four new economy,’ intelligent manufacturing, industrial innovation, industrial strength, quality improvement and other series of projects to accelerate the development of Shanghai’s real economy.”
“It is [also] necessary to focus on the country’s major development strategy, fully support the construction of major projects in the strategic emerging industries, and strive to achieve early results. The industrial park should do a good job in regional overall planning, ensure good project access, and improve land use efficiency.”
The Chinese market is crucial for the electric vehicle industry, making Tesla’s decision to open a plant in China incredibly promising.
China says it will suspend additional tariffs on US autos
China to suspend tariffs on US automobiles and auto parts
6:46 AM ET Fri, 14 Dec 2018 | 03:49
China has said it will temporarily halt its additional 25 percent tariff on vehicles made in the United States.
The relief will last for three months staring from January 1, as part of an agreed truce between Beijing and Washington.
The Chinese finance ministry said on its website that China will suspend 25 percent tariffs on 144 vehicles and auto parts originating from the U.S. and 5 percent tariffs on an additional 67 auto items.
U.S. President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping agreed to lessen the impact of trade tariffs for the first 90 days of 2019, following a dinner in Argentina on December 1.
The U.S. has slapped a 25 percent tariff on finished vehicles built in China and 10 percent on most auto parts. China's 40 percent tariff on U.S. car imports will now reduce to 15 percent for 90 days.
That brings the auto tariffs in China back down to the same level as before the point that the two countries began imposing tit-for-tat levies.
Tariffs help the big three?
Ina note released Thursday, auto analysts at the Swiss bank UBS said trade risks continue to linger and that under their worst scenario, U.S. sales could slump by as much as 12 percent.
But UBS highlighted Ford, General Motors and Fiat Chrysler as potential winners should tariffs prohibit imports, as all three have capacity to boost domestic production.
Meanwhile, auto sales in China fell 14 percent in November over the same month in 2017, the Chinese Association of Automobile Manufacturers said Tuesday.
That slowdown, while part blamed on the trade war, is also reflective of Chinese domestic demand losing steam.
And Anna-Marie Baisden, head of autos research at Fitch Solutions told CNBC on Friday that getting a tariff deal in place may not spark fresh demand.
“Lowering tariffs might not actually make a big difference because the Chinese market is slowing anyway so even domestic brands are suffering,” she said via email.
European auto stocks hit hard
Auto stocks in Europe were among the leading losers on Friday following a steep drop in the number of new car registrations.
European car sales dropped 8.1 percent in November, falling for the third straight month after the introduction of a new emissions-testing regime in September.
The Stoxx 600 Autos sector dipped 2.2 percent following the data but has since pared losses. At 6:02 a.m. Eastern Time, the index of major European auto and auto-supplier stocks was lower by 1.4 percent.
China Daily | Reuters
Employees assemble vehicles at a plant of SAIC Volkswagen in Urumqi, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China September 4, 2018.
For new car registrations, Renault led the declines with sales falling by 16 percent, while Volkswagen and Fiat Chrysler also posted disappointing numbers.
Over the summer, auto dealers had offered incentives to empty stock before new emissions rules came into effect, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA).
“Ahead of the introduction of the new WLTP test in September, car registrations jumped by 31.2 percent in August, which has led to a drop in demand in the following months,” the ACEA said in a statement Friday.
The EMEA added that car demand for November had shrunk in all of Europe's five biggest markets.
Aside from the technology hurdle that prompted a summer rush of European car registrations, one analyst at Citi told “Squawk Box Europe” on Friday that said there was also evidence of a slowdown in the consumer's desire to borrow and spend.
“It is about lending conditions. It is not only the nominal rate but what kind of coverage is the bank charging on the loan,” said Luis Costa, head of CEEMEA FX and rates strategy at Citi.
Costa cautioned however that there had been no “massive tightening of lending conditions yet.”
European stocks as a whole have performed poorly Friday morning as the drumbeat of weak data has continued from China. Overnight investors learned that November's retail sales in China grew at their weakest monthly pace since 2003, hurting autos and other stocks with exposure to the country.
Rivian fast charging, Volkswagen electrics, Trump vs GM: The Week in Reverse
2020 Mercedes-Benz EQC
Which upcoming electric car has a battery pack engineered to be upgraded to 800 volts?
What company plans to do more serious marketing of electric cars' strengths?
This is our look back at the Week In Reverse—right here at Green Car Reports—for the week ending December 21, 2018.
This week contained a mix of news about upcoming faster electric-car charging and the effects of more automakers getting more serious about selling electric cars. The green car world was not without political and business setbacks, however.
EVgo 350-kw DC fast-charge station, Baker, Calif.
Two of the biggest charging networks in the U.S. announced plans and actions to open new ultra-fast 350-kilowatt DC fast chargers. Electrify America got plans approved in California to start the second phase of building out its nationwide fast charge network, as required under the Volkswagen legal settlement.
Competitor EVgo announced that it has opened its first ultra-fast 350-kilowatt charging station between LA and Las Vegas. Such 350-kw charging stations can refill up to about 200 miles of range in a long-range electric car in 20 minutes or less.
Rivian R1T electric pickup concept
The cars capable of charging that fast aren't yet on the market, but a wide-ranging interview with the founder and CEO of Michigan-based electric-car startup Rivian revealed that the company has engineered its upcoming trucks to be upgraded to the 800-volt battery pack that 350-kw charging will require.
2019 Nio ES6
Those new electric cars are coming, though. The first 800-volt electric cars, the Porsche Taycan, Audi e-tron GT, and Aston Martin Rapide-E, are expected to arrive late next year.
Chinese electric startup Nio introduced its second, more affordable, electric SUV, the ES6 this week. It's not clear, however, whether it will have an 800-volt battery capable of charging at 350-kw.
Another Chinese automaker, Qiantu, announced plans to bring its new sports car to the U.S. through Mullen, the California company that holds the rights to sell Coda electric cars here.
2020 Volkswagen ID Neo spy shots
In all, electric-car sales have taken off, and hit a milestone, reaching 1 million sales in the U.S. in November, with half of those in California.
Nissan, the original electric-car leader, aims to get even more electric cars on the road by amping up its marketing of electric advantages: smooth, silent power and low operating costs. The company also renewed plans to introduce a new electric crossover SUV that may be more attractive to American car buyers.
Kia released prices for its upcoming Kona electric crossover vehicle. And VW released video of its upcoming ID hatchback testing in South Africa and hinted it might build a new electric beach buggy.
Donald Trump
Not all was rosy on the plug-in car sales front, though. After GM announced that it would kill the Chevy Volt, and lay off 15,000 workers, it announced 50 additional layoffs at the factory that builds battery packs for the Volt, throwing hope for a successor to the car into doubt. Still, GM maintains that it is committed to building electric cars. For that, President Trump took to Twitter to excoriate the company. “All-electric is not going to work,” he tweeted.
MWI microwave ignition module
Perhaps President Trump would be happier with a plan by former Porsche CEO to promote a new technology to make gas cars cleaner and almost as efficient as diesel, microwave ignition to replace spark plugs.
Meanwhile, German automakers are dramatically ramping up their purchases of battery supplies for electric cars.
And a new analysis of Trump's proposal to freeze fuel-economy increases by the Consumer Federation of America shows that rolling back the standards will make driving less affordable for the citizens who can least afford it and who depend on it the most.
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Musk, GM weigh fate of Ohio plant Trump wants saved
DETROIT (Reuters) – Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) Chief Executive Elon Musk raised hopes again on Thursday that he could ride to the rescue of a threatened General Motors Co (GM.N) car plant at the center of a political storm about auto jobs, and GM replied, saying the Ohio factory’s fate depends on union talks next year.… Continue reading Musk, GM weigh fate of Ohio plant Trump wants saved
Fate of Ohio car plant to be settled with union next year: GM
DETROIT (Reuters) – General Motors Co said on Thursday the fate of its Lordstown, Ohio, car assembly plant, which Tesla Inc Chief Executive Elon Musk has suggested he might buy, is a matter to be settled with the plant’s union next year. FILE PHOTO: A view of the entrance to the West Plant at the… Continue reading Fate of Ohio car plant to be settled with union next year: GM
Uber reboots its self-driving car program
Uber Advanced Technologies Group has officially resumed on-road testing of its self-driving vehicles in Pittsburgh, nine months after the company halted its entire autonomous vehicle operation after one of its vehicles struck and killed pedestrian Elaine Herzberg in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe. The relaunch follows the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation decision to authorize Uber ATG… Continue reading Uber reboots its self-driving car program
GM battery facility discharge suggests no immediate successor for Chevy Volt
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2019 Chevrolet Volt
Will the Chevrolet Volt get an immediate successor, or will any other model soon carry on with the potential of its brilliant Voltec plug-in hybrid system?
Considering what General Motors announced yesterday, both of those possibilities are now looking less likely.
GM said that it will cut 50 jobs at the Brownstown facility that assembled battery packs for the Volt, as well as a few other models, including the Buick LaCrosse and its eAssist system.
DON'T MISS: What will happen now that the Chevy Volt has been discontinued? Twitter poll results
This news comes in addition to GM’s previously announced plant closings and layoffs, which include the closure of five plants and the layoffs of 15,000 workers. One of those slated for closure is GM’s nearby Detroit-Hamtramck plant, where the Volt is assembled.
2019 Chevrolet Volt
GM had previously suggested that the Volt would be succeeded by a crossover utility vehicle, using the Volt’s Voltec plug-in hybrid system, after the current Volt finished its run around 2020. But with the Volt unceremoniously cut from the lineup as part of massive GM cuts and closings announced late last month, it’s looking a lot less likely.
It’s probably no coincidence that the Volt will go out of production on March 1, 2019, a month before GM’s per-vehicle amount for the federal EV tax credit (Volt included) drops from its present $7,500 to $3,750. With that rule sunsetting, GM no longer has the incentive to produce plug-in hybrids with rather large 16-kwh battery packs (the current version has an 18.4-kwh battery), and it’s likely that the expensive-to-assemble Volt will be eclipsed by new fully electric vehicles from GM.
CHECK OUT: Electric cars “not going to work,” Trump says of GM's plan
It’s an odd juxtaposition of funding and priorities. GM invested $449 million toward upgrading Hamtramck and Brownstown in 2014 for the current generation of the Volt, and Brownstown itself was made possible, in 2010, with American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding through the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), as a facility for the assembly of lithium-ion battery packs.
“We issued a WARN [Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act] letter for Brownstown that indicated that 37 hourly employees and 13 salaried employees would go on layoff with the end of Volt production,” confirmed Kim Carpenter, a GM spokeswoman for manufacturing and labor, to Green Car Reports. The plant will remain open and “will continue to support other business,” added Carpenter, who said that there are currently 110 GM employees at Brownstown.
READ MORE: GM to kill Chevy Volt production in 2019 (Updated)
Those businesses are likely to include GM’s joint ventures with Honda, including development of battery cells and modules, fuel-cell development, and plans to assemble next-generation fuel-cell stacks for both automakers at Brownstown.
Battery pack assembly for 2015 Chevrolet Spark EV electric car at GM's Brownstown, Michigan, plant
GM confirmed that no Honda employees work at the facility itself, so It’s likely that many of the 60 GM employees that remain stationed at Brownstown are part of those efforts.
One possible explanation for this closure is that GM simply decided to cut its losses and outsource the battery for any future iteration of the Volt and its drive system to LG Chem, which has been involved in the Volt’s battery all along and now assembles packs for the Chevy Bolt EV in a Michigan facility of its own. So it’s far too early to write an obituary for the Volt or to strike out the possibility of a Voltec crossover.
BMW Group and Daimler AG plan next steps for joint mobility company. Competition authorities approve merger of mobility services.
Munich/Stuttgart. The BMW Group and Daimler AG are planning the next steps for their joint mobility company, following approval by the responsible competition authorities. The basis for this is the approval of the US competition authorities, which was received on Tuesday, December 18, 2018. This means that all antitrust authorities involved have given the green… Continue reading BMW Group and Daimler AG plan next steps for joint mobility company. Competition authorities approve merger of mobility services.
Driverless car bill a disaster waiting to happen – Baltimore Sun
Despite almost daily reports of crashes or non-responsive technology on public roads involving driverless cars, Congress is trying to hitch a new law to Santa’s sleigh in the form of the year-end-keep-the-government-open spending bill, just ahead of a new majority come January. Today, all motor vehicle operators, particularly commercial drivers, are required to pass a… Continue reading Driverless car bill a disaster waiting to happen – Baltimore Sun