Daimler – Page 1624 – I wish I had more to offer

@Daimler: Organisational unit pushes transformation: Mercedes-Benz AG creates a new unit for its drive system competences:

Stuttgart. With its broad portfolio of attractive premium vehicles, Mercedes-Benz has always also stood for innovation, especially in the field of drive systems. The research, development and production of these drive systems are core competencies of Mercedes-Benz AG. In the course of the transformation towards CO2-neutral mobility and digitalisation, the company is now taking another… Continue reading @Daimler: Organisational unit pushes transformation: Mercedes-Benz AG creates a new unit for its drive system competences:

@Daimler: COVID-19 pandemic: Accelerating digitalisation in sales and after-sales

Executive Update on ‘Best Customer Experience 4.0’ – fact sheet including quotes from Britta Seeger Key facts on Mercedes-Benz’s global sales strategy: With its global sales strategy ‘Best Customer Experience 4.0’, Mercedes-Benz consistently focuses on its customers and their needs. Digital offerings in sales and after-sales are increasingly coming into focus. Customers want to be… Continue reading @Daimler: COVID-19 pandemic: Accelerating digitalisation in sales and after-sales

Spectra Selects ParkMobile as Official Parking Reservations Partner

Committed to enhancing the customer parking experience, ParkMobile’s app and website will allow Spectra guests to find available parking spaces, book parking spots ahead of time, and filter for specifications like tailgating, oversized vehicles, and more. For guests who elect not to reserve parking in advance, venues will be able to leverage ParkMobile’s drive-up parking… Continue reading Spectra Selects ParkMobile as Official Parking Reservations Partner

German car industry warns of job losses due to ‘unprecedented slump’ in the market – Yahoo Finance UK

Workers wear face masks as they assemble cars at the Mercedes-Benz factory in Ludwigsfelde, Germany. Photo: Maja Hitij/Getty Images More The German automotive industry, one of the country’s biggest employers, is facing big job cuts, despite the government’s stimulus measures raising hopes for an economic upswing in the second half of the year. “The slump… Continue reading German car industry warns of job losses due to ‘unprecedented slump’ in the market – Yahoo Finance UK

Xpeng Raises $500 Million Even as China EV Market Sputters

1 / 2 Xpeng Raises $500 Million Even as China EV Market Sputters (Bloomberg) — Electric-vehicle maker Xpeng Motors raised about $500 million from a group of venture investors, showing Chinese startups with promising car models can attract funding even as the industry’s sales slump. Investors in the Series C+ financing round include Aspex Management,… Continue reading Xpeng Raises $500 Million Even as China EV Market Sputters

Corona crisis in the car industry: Daimler’s savings program is having an effect, Q2 loss less than expected

The car makerDaimlerhas in the second quarter Corona crisis not as badly fared as feared despite an operating loss of billions. The loss before interest and taxes was 1.68 billion euros, as the Dax company announced on Thursday evening after the market closed on the basis of preliminary figures in Stuttgart. That was only slightly… Continue reading Corona crisis in the car industry: Daimler’s savings program is having an effect, Q2 loss less than expected

An Interview With NVIDIA: “Make All Cars Autonomous”

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Published on July 19th, 2020 |

by Alex Voigt

An Interview With NVIDIA: “Make All Cars Autonomous”

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My articles about the incumbent automotive industry are usually not at all friendly, and that is not done on purpose but is a result of a never-ending series of missed opportunities, wrong decisions, and ill-advised strategies they regularly annoy me with.

A full decade has passed in which I get angry when I listen to so-called industry leaders saying what they are doing, not doing, have decided to do, or concluded. Writing is probably my way of getting rid of that anger. Writing is my Anger Therapy.

The examples I could list are almost endless, but one of my top 10 was the decision from Daimler to sell its stake in Tesla in 2014. I called it one of the dumbest moves in the history of automakers for two reasons: #1 Financials, #2 Technology.

First of all, the nearly 10% stake in Tesla that Daimler originally purchased in 2010 would be worth about $80 billion today, almost twice Daimler’s $45 billion market cap on Friday.

And secondly, by selling its stake, Daimler lost the arguably even more important seat on the Tesla Board of Directors, and with that critical access to information about batteries and autonomous technology that is essential to Daimler’s survival.

Daimler lost its ability to negotiate a potential new deal for Tesla to supply drivetrain technology to Mercedes-Benz, as it had for the B-Class. In those early days, Daimler did not believe Tesla would be able to deliver and considered the B-Class as a proof of concept. Even after Tesla provided a good electric battery and drivetrain, Daimler did not take the technology for battery electric vehicles seriously.

That lack of understanding of the future technology and demand for sustainable transportation is expressed in its first and only BEV designed in house, the EQC, a vehicle that has missed all expectations with only about 700 vehicles sold so far. To compare, the objective for 2020 is 50,000 units. “Too late, too expensive, and too boring,” a core investor said about the EQC in the last shareholder meeting, in which CEO Ola Källenius announced an employee layoff. Daimler revealed this week that it will let 20,000 employees go to save €2 billion.

My anger boiled up again when I listened to a live press event 2 weeks ago in which Källenius and NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang released news about their strategic partnership on autonomous cars. I started my therapy session and wrote an article. (See that link.)

My thoughts received a lot of support and positive comments from my audience, which was expected — although, you never know. What was not expected is that after the article was released I received a request from NVIDIA asking if I would be interested in a conversation with the company’s Senior Director of Automotive, Danny Shapiro.

Usually, what you expect as an author after you express your not-so-friendly words in an article about a partnership between two companies is to NOT get an invitation for further events or conversations. I was positively surprised, but assumed that the request was initiated as a corrective measure about what I said and wrote, but I happily accepted.

I learned later, though, that I had been wrong.

Instead of trying to correct me or expressing justifications and explanations, like Ralf Brandstätter, CEO of the Volkswagen brand, did on LinkedIn, NVIDIA was truly only interested in a conversation, and I have therefore now gained even more respect for it.

It would be useful to have a conversation with the Senior Director of Automotive for NVIDIA, but I figured it would me much more valuable if I could publish the interview for others to see, and NVIDIA agreed to it. So, here it is, my conversation with Danny Shapiro, Senior Director of Automotive at NVIDIA, about autonomous driving, software, and the future of transportation. The summary title: “Make All Cars Autonomous.”

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About the Author

Alex Voigt Alex Voigt has been a supporter of the mission to transform the world to sustainable carbon free energy for 40 years. As an engineer, he is fascinated with the ability of humankind to develop a better future via the use of technology. With 30 years of experience in the stock market, he is invested in Tesla [TSLA], as well as some other tech companies, for the long term.

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Car maker: Investors praise Daimler CEO: “Källenius ends his predecessor’s dreams”

Ola Källenius The new mantra of the Daimler CEO is “Margin comes before quantity”. (Photo: dpa) Munich The carmaker has been fighting for two and a half years Daimler with steadily falling profits. The crisis of the Dax group is far from over. As a result of the corona crisis, the Mercedes manufacturer even reported… Continue reading Car maker: Investors praise Daimler CEO: “Källenius ends his predecessor’s dreams”

Social trading model depot: Daimler is a turnaround candidate

The Social Trading Depot: Alexander Kovalenko, Bavarian Fortune Heard on Friday the Daimler share to the biggest daily winners in the Dax. The trigger for the price jump was the announcement that the group wanted to save about two billion euros in personnel costs. Such measures can be seen from two sides. The fact is,… Continue reading Social trading model depot: Daimler is a turnaround candidate

Restructuring with obstacles: Daimler wants to save two billion in personnel – How the group should get back on track

Daimler boss Ola Källenius The manager sees the future of the group in the luxury sector. (Photo: Smetek) Champagne, diamond rings and cases made of precious leather – luxury products are particularly important at Daimler. When CEO Ola Källenius speaks to top managers about the future of the car company these days, the name keeps… Continue reading Restructuring with obstacles: Daimler wants to save two billion in personnel – How the group should get back on track