This duel electrified the car industry: German factories of a Bosnian entrepreneurial family stopped their deliveries to Wolfsburg in 2016 – and thus shut down two VW plants. Now the group drops the supplier. Prevent company headquarters (archive) Friday, 06.04.2018 10:51 On August 2016, the chief buyers of the Volkswagen Group remember exactly – if… Continue reading Supplier Rebel Prevent must quit workers
Tag: People
Small savers against VW – a process marathon
337,000 Germans once saved on a “KdF car” and never got the dreamed car, after the war their money was gone. When they sued Volkswagen, the group resisted with all the harassment. Getty Images / Culture Club Tuesday, 01.05.2018 09:56 clock Due to the diesel gate scandal Volkswagen AG is currently threatened with damages claims… Continue reading Small savers against VW – a process marathon
Skoda employees receive twelve percent more wages
End of a week-long dispute: Skoda increases the salary for its employees in the Czech Republic by twelve percent. The automaker is one of the largest and most important employers in the country. Skoda Vision X Friday, 06.04.2018 22:19 The employees of the Czech VW subsidiary Skoda get twelve percent more money. The Kovo union… Continue reading Skoda employees receive twelve percent more wages
“Engineered with Daimler Group” DENZA 400 EV Makes Debut in Auto Shanghai
Shanghai, April 19, 2017—The 17th Shanghai International Automobile Industry Exhibition (Auto Shanghai) will be held at the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai) on April 19-28th, 2017. At the exhibition, Shenzhen DENZA New Energy Automotive Co., Ltd. (DENZA Auto) will debut the DENZA 400 EV at the 4.1 Exhibition Hall. In sync with this debut,… Continue reading “Engineered with Daimler Group” DENZA 400 EV Makes Debut in Auto Shanghai
Lex goes USA, come meet us!
Lex Hoefsloot — Co-Founder
The dust has settled following the public launch in June, which has brought us the helping hand of many. Not only can we announce that dozens of people are interested in placing or have already placed a reservation for the Lightyear One, we have also received many applications from talent all over the world passionate about collaborating on our mission. We are expanding our team, with our most urgent vacancy being a Mechanical Architect. Although these are still humble beginnings, our movement is taking shape.
So what have I been up to? I was honoured to participate in the Global Solutions Program at Singularity University. Together with 89 people from 47 different countries chosen from thousands of applications, Lex has had a crash course in the future from the world’s best thinkers, including Peter Diamandis (“The World’s 50 Greatest Leaders” – by Fortune Magazine) and Ray Kurzweil (“the ultimate thinking machine” by Forbes and as a “restless ge..
Lightyear Investor Cafe: this is only the beginning
Martijn Lammers — Co-Founder
We have held our first Investor Cafe.
During this evening we presented our plans to a select group of people from our network. We informed them on what we are doing and what our plans are for the near future. We would like to thank all attendants, especially our ambassadors Camilla van den Boom, Maarten Steinbuch and Ton Backx.
Goals
The goal for this evening was to slowly start putting our mission out in the world and get valuable feedback on our plans & story. Mobilising our network to help us has proved a good strategy to test our plans against a larger group of interested people of various backgrounds. It is extremely motivating to see a growing group of people interested. Their feedback gives us a clear overview of what parts of our plans to focus on. We do this to continuously keep learning and improving.
First investors
Attendants of the investor cafe got the first, exclusive, opportunity to be among the first investors in Lightyear. To..
When cars and solar energy meet
Lex Hoefsloot — Co-Founder
Energy is the ability to do work. It is the reason why we have progressed into a highly prosperous society within 200 years. Energy veteran Gregg Maryniak showed me this graph that puts the whole story into perspective. Looking at this timescale, it suddenly becomes clear that fossil fuels are just a blip in history. In a very short time, fossil fuels gave us prosperity and the ability to accelerate all aspects of human development. Sadly, we all know that these energy sources came with a dark-side. We will inevitably switch to a new energy source.
Fossil fuels are just a blip in history. source
Despite the fact that this ‘blip’ is associated with massive amounts of energy, scientists are in fact quite certain that we can produce the same amount of energy using solar and wind power. Isn’t it fascinating how we are heading towards a future in which we can produce many times more energy using solar and wind power than mother nature has been ca..
Mobility is a necessity – Everyone will always travel
Lex Hoefsloot — Co-Founder
Do you remember the game-changer of mobility in the 20th century? Yes, it was Henry Ford with his car: the model T.
From this point in time urban planning was centred around the car. The streets and cities faced major transformations. Many new features came along, like parking lots, motorways, gas stations, and traffic lights. Each of these developments helped us to move around easier and more comfortable. It became easier to visit our friends and family in other towns. The time to travel reduced from days to hours, the car unlocked many opportunities. Nowadays, the car is our most expensive possession, after our house. It is a vehicle that we trust our safety to. We use the car to go on holidays and to go to-and-from work.
Mobility changed the distance travelled, not the time travelled.
Mobility is a condition for prosperity and well-being, and research points out that mobility is not only a means but also a goal in itself. Historically, people ..
We are Lightyear, we’re on a mission
Martijn Lammers — Co-Founder
We love electric cars…
But they’re only the first step, what if they could generate their own energy?
That’s a business opportunity!
Lightyear was founded by 5 Solar Team Eindhoven alumni. With Solar Team Eindhoven, we built the revolutionary solar cars Stella & Stella Lux. Both cars are 4 seaters, road legal, solar powered and built to win the World Solar Challenge cruiser class. After two world championships, we decided that it is time for the next step.
Our story started back in 2012. All we had was a blank canvas, no experience, no network and no money. We took our enthusiasm, a healthy dose of naivety and common sense to start an endeavour that still continues today. Looking back, it is easy to forget the times we worked until the sun came up or the problems that kept us from working at all. Like the time our cars’ transport to the competition in Australia was cancelled a week before we left. Or the desperate attempts removing a crucial ..
Asset finance new business down 6% in quieter September
9 November 2017
New figures released today by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show that asset finance new business (primarily leasing and hire purchase) fell by 6% in September, compared with the same month last year. In Q3 2017, new business fell by 2% compared with the same quarter in 2016.
While new finance for business equipment grew in September by 4% compared with the same month in 2016, new finance for plant and machinery fell by 8% over the same period.
Commenting on the figures, Geraldine Kilkelly, Head of Research and Chief Economist at the FLA, said:
“September was a quieter month for the business car and plant and machinery finance sectors. Nevertheless, the asset finance market has returned a strong performance so far in 2017, with new business overall 6% higher than in the previous year. Over the same period, UK business investment is forecast to have grown by only 2.3%.
“Recent data revisions by the Office for National Statistics suggest that the asset finance industry’s contribution to supporting business investment is even greater than previously thought. FLA calculations show that the industry financed more than 35% of UK investment in machinery, equipment and purchased software in the twelve months to June 2017 – an eight-year high.”
Sep 2017
% change on prev. year
3 months to Sep
2017
% change on prev. year
12 months to Sep
2017
% change on prev. year
Total FLA asset finance (£m)
2,750
-6
7,574
-2
31,611
+5
Total excluding high value (£m)
2,740
-2
7,381
+3
30,579
+6
Data Extracts:
By asset:
Plant and machinery finance (£m)
494
-8
1,537
+5
6,505
+12
Commercial vehicle finance (£m)
711
+1
1,764
-2
7,488
+2
IT equipment finance (£m)
212
-4
549
-5
2,214
-3
Business equipment finance (£m)
219
+4
632
+8
2,567
+12
Car finance (£m)
888
-8
2,396
+2
9,763
+5
Aircraft, ships and rolling stock finance (£m)
20
+24
34
-77
615
+20
By channel:
Direct finance (£m)
1,283
-5
3,711
0
15,506
+4
Broker-introduced finance (£m)
520
-4
1,423
+3
5,723
+12
Sales finance (£m)
937
+3
2,248
+6
9,350
+6
By product:
Finance leasing (£m)
344
-3
941
0
4,000
-3
Operating leasing (£m)
655
-6
1,658
0
7,063
+6
Lease/Hire purchase (£m)
1,434
-2
4,045
+3
16,589
+9
Other finance (£m)
316
-24
930
-21
3,959
-4
Note to editors:
In 2016, FLA members provided £118 billion of new finance to UK businesses and households. £30 billion of finance was provided to businesses and the public sector. FLA members financed more than a third of UK investment in machinery, equipment and purchased software in the UK in 2016.For media enquiries, please contact the FLA press office on 020 7420 9656.