IMAGE: Insight LiDAR has launched an FMCW lidar system for the autonomous vehicle market. Shown is a lidar point map (upper) and the Insight facility (lower). (Image credit: Insight) Insight LiDAR (Lafayette, CO) announced the development of Digital Coherent LiDAR, a chip-scale, long-range lidar sensor targeted at the emerging autonomous vehicle market. Insight’s Digital Coherent… Continue reading Insight LiDAR launches FMCW chip-scale lidar for autonomous vehicles – Laser Focus World
Tag: Manufacturing
FORD MOTOR COMPANY AND MECUM AUCTIONS SETTLE LITIGATION OVER FORD GT OWNERSHIP AGREEMENT
About Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company is a global company based in Dearborn, Michigan. The company designs, manufactures, markets and services a full line of Ford cars, trucks, SUVs, electrified vehicles and Lincoln luxury vehicles, provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company and is pursuing leadership positions in electrification, autonomous vehicles and mobility solutions.… Continue reading FORD MOTOR COMPANY AND MECUM AUCTIONS SETTLE LITIGATION OVER FORD GT OWNERSHIP AGREEMENT
Bosch to assume full control of electric motor manufacturer EM-motive
Mobility Solutions is the largest Bosch Group business sector. In 2017, its sales came to 47.4 billion euros, or 61 percent of total group sales. This makes the Bosch Group one of the leading automotive suppliers. The Mobility Solutions business sector pursues a vision of mobility that is accident-free. emissions-free, and stress-free, and combines the… Continue reading Bosch to assume full control of electric motor manufacturer EM-motive
Dr. Stefan Hartung, member of the board of management of Robert Bosch GmbH and chairman of the Mobility Solutions business sector, on electromobility at Bosch
Mobility Solutions is the largest Bosch Group business sector. In 2017, its sales came to 47.4 billion euros, or 61 percent of total group sales. This makes the Bosch Group one of the leading automotive suppliers. The Mobility Solutions business sector pursues a vision of mobility that is accident-free. emissions-free, and stress-free, and combines the… Continue reading Dr. Stefan Hartung, member of the board of management of Robert Bosch GmbH and chairman of the Mobility Solutions business sector, on electromobility at Bosch
Robert Bosch Venture Capital invests in AutoAI
About RBVC GmbH Robert Bosch Venture Capital GmbH (RBVC) is the corporate venture capital company of the Bosch Group, a leading global supplier of technology and services. RBVC invests worldwide in innovative start-up companies at all stages of their development. Its investment activities focus on technology companies working in areas of business of current and… Continue reading Robert Bosch Venture Capital invests in AutoAI
Vacuum-maker Dyson hires Infiniti exec to get serious about making cars
Roland Krueger
Dyson, famous for reinventing vacuum cleaners, looks to be getting serious about building electric cars.
The company announced on Tuesday it has hired former Infiniti President Roland Krueger to head its automotive operations.
Under Krueger's tenure, Infiniti, Nissan's luxury brand, announced that it would convert most of its models to electric or hybrid power. Nissan was the first automaker to release a mass-produced fully electric car for sale to the public in the 21st century.
DON'T MISS: Dyson plans to build its electric car in Singapore
Dyson has announced plans to build three new electric cars, starting in 2021 with a low-volume, luxury-priced pilot car, similar in purpose to the first Tesla Roadster. That car is also expected to use conventional lithium-ion batteries.
Later models are expected to use solid-state batteries, although it's not entirely clear which technology it is favoring after it reportedly abandoned technology from Michigan-based Sakti3.
READ THIS: Dyson plans to build electric-car test track in Britain
The company has announced it will set up production in Singapore, where it is also shifting its headquarters. Last August, Dyson announced that it would build a test track and vehicle development center on a former military air field in Britain.
Dyson CEO Jim Rowan said on an earnings conference call Tuesday, where Krueger's appointment was announced, that hiring Krueger “proves how serious we really are about taking this project, and indeed this division and this category, to the next level,” referring to building electric cars, according to Automotive News (subscription required.)
Krueger is a former senior vice president at BMW, where he oversaw sales and product planning in Asia and elsewhere.
Company claims to harness AI for quicker electric-car DC fast charging
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2015 Nissan Leaf with CHAdeMO fast-charging cable plugged in [photo John Briggs]
At CES earlier this month, GBatteries demonstrated that it could charge a 60-kwh battery pack, made up of off-the-shelf lithium-ion automotive cells, to half capacity in just 5 minutes, or to a full charge in 10 minutes.
Further, the company is aiming, with a technology that employs AI elements, to boost charging speeds without accelerating degradation and rendering electric-vehicle battery packs useless.
Such a technology could help lessen the effects of fast-charging battery packs in vehicles. The more often you fast-charge an electric-car battery pack—and the higher the charge rate—the higher the chances are that you’ll do irreversible damage to the cells within, and decrease the cycle life of the battery and its effective capacity.
DON’T MISS: Toyota and Panasonic to jointly make electric-car batteries, explore solid-state tech (Updated)
The company’s hardware and software solution together smartly speeds up or slows down charging momentarily, depending on conditions inside the battery.
GBatteries hopes to license the technology to automakers and suppliers. Most automakers already monitor voltage at the cell level, and fast charging already uses DC fast-charging parameters communicated from the vehicle, so it may not be a complicated or expensive upgrade.
CHECK OUT: Honda presents new battery chemistry that could succeed lithium-ion
The project, according to TechCrunch, was born out of what the founders saw as a very short cycle life, and a high level of degradation, for phone batteries.
GBatteries’ funders include Airbus Ventures, Plug and Play, Initialized Capital, SV Angel, and Y Combinator. The venture is based in Ottawa, Canada, and has also received a $900,000 grant from the Canadian national government.
If this technology proves itself, it could potentially save consumers and automakers—as well as keep costly, resource-dependent energy cells in use much longer.
Carlos Ghosn, electric-car proponent and embattled executive, quit as Renault boss
Carlos Ghosn
The past two months haven't been kind to Carlos Ghosn.
The former auto executive was arrested late last year in Japan on charges that he bilked Nissan for millions in unauthorized pay and perks, including financial dealings with business partners that weren't formally disclosed.
Shortly after his arrest in November, Nissan announced that he was replaced as head of Nissan. Just a few days later, Mitsubishi announced his ouster as chief of that company, too.
Renault on Thursday announced that Ghosn resigned from his top spot as chairman and CEO of that automaker too, throwing into doubt the now-shaky alliance Ghosn helped forge between all three automakers that resulted in one of the world's largest automaking powerhouses and his own legacy as a chief proponent of mass-market electric vehicles sold around the world.
MUST READ: 300,000th Nissan Leaf electric car delivered as new version kicks off
In a statement, Nissan said it would be committed to staying part of the Renault-Mitsubishi-Nissan group—the Alliance—although it's unclear how it may change. Renault owns a 43.4 percent share of Nissan, with voting rights, but Nissan's non-voting 15 percent ownership stake in Renault has been criticized by some in Japan as unfair.
Under Ghosn, Nissan built and sold the first mass-market, fully electric vehicle sold around the world. In eight years on sale, Nissan has reportedly sold more than 386,000 Leafs according to the automaker, which makes it the world's best-selling electric car. (Tesla Model 3 reservations top that number, although that automaker hasn't yet delivered all of its reserved cars.)
Ghosn told CNBC in 2017 that the automakers he collectively ran profited on electric vehicles, which has been elusive for many automakers so far.
“We are probably the most advanced carmaker in terms of costs of electric cars and we have announced already in 2017 that we are probably the only carmaker who's starting to make money selling electric cars,” Ghosn told the news network in 2017.
In 2009, Ghosn spearheaded Nissan's efforts to produce the Leaf and sell it across the world. He committed billions of dollars to the Leaf's development, battery production, and marketing, and committed billions more to building and selling electric cars in China, the biggest opportunity market for automakers in the world.
DON'T MISS: Nissan Leaf sedan: Company builds Sylphy, first electric car for China
In recent years, the Leaf's popularity has waned as automakers such as Tesla and BYD have replaced it atop sales charts in multiple countries. Last year, Nissan sold its U.S.-based battery facility to a Chinese state-backed company for an undisclosed amount, although Nissan retained a minority ownership stake. The company will buy new batteries for the leaf from another supplier.
Still, Nissan and Ghosn pushed the Leaf and its potential to investors worldwide.
With Ghosn now gone, it's unclear if all the automakers he once ran will move away from the electric cars he once championed.
“Obviously, for those who ignore the change, or avoid the change, it's going to be terrible,” he told the BBC last year.
Ford’s 5 big fixes for its troubled international business
Hauke-Christian Dittrich | picture alliance | Getty Images
At Ford's stand at the IAA Commercial Vehicles, an off-road vehicle of the Ford Ranger type is on a Ford Transit van.
Ford reported fourth-quarter earnings that fell short of what investors expected, laying the blame for its lackluster performance on restructuring costs and troubled markets overseas.
Ford's difficulties in Europe, China and South America have been no secret, and executives devoted a fair amount of time on a their earnings call Wednesday explaining the company's weaknesses and what they're doing to address them.
“Ford entered 2019 with a very clear vision and we're building momentum to improve profitability and returns,” said CEO Jim Hackett on a conference call on Wednesday. “We're now in execution mode.”
Its shares rose by more than 3 percent in intraday trading Thursday.
Here are the top five things executives said Ford is doing to turnaround its international sales.
New products
Source: Ford
The Ford Territory, a mid-sized SUV Ford unveiled in China
Ford is revamping its lineups all over the world, focusing on selling only its most profitable models. In the United States, this mostly means pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles. In Europe, this includes pushing the Ranger, its mid-size pickup, and offering higher-performance sports packages for the Fiesta subcompact car and Focus compact car overseas.
Perhaps the biggest push is in China, which is the largest auto market in the world and a sore spot for Ford. Chinese automakers already offer consumers there a lot of options, forcing importers to constantly refresh their lineups or get left behind like Ford.
“China is the largest automotive market in the world and we think it could be twice the size of the U.S. by 2025. So getting our business back on track is essential,” Ford Executive Vice President of Global Markets Jim Farley told investors. “Last year as we discussed you with you, we identified a number of operating shortfalls,” he said, citing dealership profitability, excess inventory and a lack of a fresh lineup of new vehicles as major deficiencies in China.
Last year, the company unveiled a sport utility vehicle that is meant to kick off a slew of new products for the country. This includes a new version of the Escape compact SUV, and Focus. Both vehicles saw transaction prices double in China in 2018. Ford has ten more models on the way, Farley said.
Dealer profitability
Qilai Shen | Bloomberg | Getty Images
A Ford Escort on display at a Ford dealership in Shanghai, China, on Thursday, July 19, 2018.
Keeping dealerships profitable has been a big problem for Ford, particularly in China. The company has taken some steps to address this, and about one third of its dealers in China are now profitable. The company expects the trend to continue upward through the year, Farley said.
Local production
Meghan Reeder | CNBC
Cars roll down the assembly line at the Ford plant in Chongqing, China.
Automakers typically build where they sell, but sometimes import and export vehicles from one country to another. The ongoing trade war has not been kind to the business, primarily driving up the cost of materials. Tariffs alone cost Ford $750 million in 2018.
Ford said it can make money-losing cars more profitable just by focusing more of the supply chain and assembly near the market they're destined for sale.
“Simply by sourcing from a true local Chinese supply base, we will cut our material costs and we are targeting significant reductions in structural costs for consolidated operations,” Farley said.
Ford said Wednesday it needs to “localize” some key imports into China, specifically the Ford Explorer and some Lincoln vehicles, which tend to command high prices and yield profits for the brand.
“The effect of that is pretty amazing when you look at each of the Lincoln products and the Explorer in terms of going from what now are quite substantial losses for those imports to very attractive mostly business cases,” Farley said.
Cutting losses
Oliver Berg | picture alliance | Getty Images
Ford employees assemble the StreetScooter Work XL in North Rhine-Westphalia, Cologne. For the first time, Deutsche Post DHL is not building the street scooter itself, but in cooperation with carmaker Ford.
Unlike rival General Motors, which determined its European business wasn't worth keeping, Ford's problem is that many of its international operations are a mixture of good and bad, said Jeffries analyst Philippe Houchois. It's especially an issue in Europe where it recently announced job cuts and a new partnership with German automaker Volkswagen.
More details about how the two automakers intend to work together need to be revealed, but many industry analysts think collaborating with VW will allow Ford to keep a foothold in Europe, where it currently has successful commercial transit van and pickup truck businesses that has grown in market share for the last five years.
More restructuring
Paulo Fridman | Corbis News | Getty Images
Assembly line of engines for the Ford KA 1.0 3 cylinders at the Ford Engines plant in Camaçari, Brazil.
Ford's $11 billion restructuring plans, which Hackett had largely kept a mystery from investors, are beginning to take shape. He told investors “more details” will be coming on its plans to overhaul its business in South America, where Ford, and many automakers, have historically had uneven performance.
CORRECTED-GM to invest $22 mln in Tennessee plant
The GM logo is seen in Warren, Michigan, U.S. on October 26, 2015. REUTERS/Rebecca Cook/File Photo (Reuters) – General Motors Co said on Thursday it will invest $22 million at its Tennessee plant to build fuel-efficient engines. The U.S. automaker also said it would add more than 200 jobs at the Spring Hill plant for… Continue reading CORRECTED-GM to invest $22 mln in Tennessee plant