SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Uber Technologies Inc had $50 billion in total bookings for its ride-service and food-delivery businesses last year, a testament to the size and global reach of the company as it prepares to woo investors in one of the biggest public stock listings to date. FILE PHOTO: Uber’s logo is displayed on… Continue reading Uber posts $50 billion in annual bookings as profit remains elusive ahead of IPO
Tag: GM
Amazon leads $700M round in electric automaker Rivian
Rivian, the electric automaker that debut its first two vehicles just three months ago, has raised $700 million in a round led by Amazon. The news follows a report earlier this week by Reuters that GM and Amazon were in talks to invest in the electric vehicle company. “We’re inspired by Rivian’s vision for the… Continue reading Amazon leads $700M round in electric automaker Rivian
Electric truck start-up Rivian announces $700 million investment round led by Amazon
Source: Rivian
Rivian R1T electric pickup truck
Electric truck start-up and potential Tesla rival Rivian announced a $700 million investment round led by Amazon on Friday.
The announcement comes just months after the Michigan-based company unveiled both an electric pickup truck and sport utility vehicle at the LA Auto Show in November.
“This investment is an important milestone for Rivian and the shift to sustainable mobility,” said RJ Scaringe, Rivian Founder and CEO. “Beyond simply eliminating compromises that exist around performance, capability and efficiency, we are working to drive innovation across the entire customer experience. Delivering on this vision requires the right partners, and we are excited to have Amazon with us on our journey to create products, technology and experiences that reset expectations of what is possible.”
The news confirms a Reuters report on Tuesday that Amazon had invested in the firm. Reuters had also reported that automaker General Motors had made an investment in Rivian, but neither GM nor Rivian has confirmed this yet.
The round included investments from Rivian's existing shareholders. It will remain an independent company. Rivian currently has more than 750 employees located in several locations, including Plymouth, Michigan; San Jose and Irvine, California; Normal, Illinois; and Surrey, England.
It plans to launch its R1T pickup truck and R1S sport utility in the U.S. in 2020, and begin introducing them overseas in 2021. The company has modeled both vehicles on what it calls a “skateboard” platform, which it says it flexible enough to accommodate several different vehicle body styles.
Some industry analysts have speculated that Amazon could be interested in Rivian's platform for developing vehicles for its massive global logistics needs.
“We're inspired by Rivian's vision for the future of electric transportation,” said Jeff Wilke, Amazon CEO Worldwide Consumer. “RJ has built an impressive organization, with a product portfolio and technology to match. We're thrilled to invest in such an innovative company.”
This is Amazon's second investment in transportation this month. The online giant recently put money into Aurora, an autonomous vehicle technology company run by Waymo and Tesla alumni.
Trucks and SUVs are also increasingly more popular with U.S. consumers than cars, and customers seem willing to pay more for them, meaning more profits for automakers. The business case for an electric pickup or SUV could be stronger than one for a sedan, given how much money companies have had to sink into electric batteries and motors and how difficult it has been for companies to make money on electric cars.
Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas said in a note this week that a successful electric pickup from an upstart such as Rivian or Tesla could pose a serious threat to Detroit automakers, who depend heavily on sales of truck-based vehicles.
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GM’s new EV only costs $3400 but there’s a small catch
The catch is it’s an electric bicycle. GM has now joined a number of other automotive companies that have jumped into the rapidly growing electric bicycle industry. GM introduces ARĪV electric bicycle GM announced a $10,000 contest last November to crowdsource a name for its upcoming electric bicycle. Today the automaker announced the winning name: ARĪV… Continue reading GM’s new EV only costs $3400 but there’s a small catch
GM’s Cruise division likely won’t IPO anytime soon – Business Insider
It wasn’t really news, but it was some hard numbers. This week, General Motors filed its annual 10-K report with the Securities and Exchange Commission and detailed a new compensation package for Dan Ammann, the automaker’s former president who last year took over as CEO of Cruise, GM’s self-driving car division. “On February 4, 2019,… Continue reading GM’s Cruise division likely won’t IPO anytime soon – Business Insider
General Motors starts taking orders for its electric bicycle
Source: General Motors
The ARĪV Meld is a compact eBike
General Motors just unveiled its electric bicycle in a bid to arm itself against an uncertain future for cars.
The largest U.S. automaker on Thursday released the name of its bike, Ariv, and said it will start taking orders in select countries in Europe.
The name is the result of a crowdsourced campaign announced in November. There are two versions: the Meld, a compact e-bike, and the Merge, a folding e-bike.
GM is launching the bikes in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands, where lithium-ion battery-powered e-bikes are popular. In Belgium and the Netherlands, the Ariv Meld starts under $3,200 and the Ariv Merge is around $3,800. Prices will be slightly lower in Germany. GM expects to begin shipping to customers in the second quarter.
It is another move by a major automaker to broaden its portfolio to protect against the uncertainties of a changing market. GM and rivals have expanded into scooters, ride-sharing and self-driving cars in an effort to stay relevant in an era where consumers' transportation choices are changing. Even motorcycle maker Harley-Davidson has unveiled lightweight electric two-wheeler concepts as fears of declining ridership grow.
“I think both GM and Ford are both exploring nontraditional transportation opportunities because their overall vehicle sales have been declining,” CFRA analyst Garrett Nelson said. “We view GM's e-bike and Ford's recent e-scooter investment [in Spin] as an attempt to appeal to a younger and more urban demographic, whose transportation needs are proving to be considerably different than prior generations.”
With ride-hailing companies and similar businesses spreading, some industry watchers wonder whether broad swaths of future generations will even consider car ownership at all.
“Carmakers are highly concerned about the implications of this ongoing shift in consumer preferences on their long-term car sales, particularly with the rise of Uber, Lyft, and various ride-sharing options which weren't available several years ago,” Nelson said. “Their fear is that this demographic may not need — or want to — purchase a vehicle at all.”
CORRECTED-GM unveils ‘Ariv’ e-bikes, plans Europe launch in second quarter
The GM logo is seen at the General Motors plant in Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil, January 22, 2019. REUTERS/Roosevelt Cassio (Reuters) – General Motors Co announced on Thursday that its brand of electric bicycles would be called “Ariv” and begin selling in Europe in the second quarter of 2019. Two such bicycles, a compact… Continue reading CORRECTED-GM unveils ‘Ariv’ e-bikes, plans Europe launch in second quarter
Morgan Stanley: An electric pickup from Tesla or Rivian is a ‘serious problem’ for Detroit
With competition heating up, is Tesla losing its dominance?
15 Hours Ago | 09:06
The auto industry's electric vehicle revolution has only just begun, Morgan Stanley told investors in a note on Thursday, and the highly profitable pickup truck market is next.
“An electric pickup truck successfully launched by a new player (i.e. Rivian or Tesla) could be a serious problem for the Detroit based [traditional automakers],” Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas said in a note to investors. Jonas is widely known on Wall Street for being one of the first to recognize the significance of Tesla and electric vehicles to the auto industry.
Jonas called reports that General Motors and Amazon are in talks to invest in Rivian, if true, “the biggest news in US autos so far this year.” Without such investments, he said, GM and Ford are losing the opportunity for a “first mover advantage” in producing all electric pickup trucks. Jonas also says Rivian has a competitive advantage from building its truck from the ground up, with little prior conception of an internal combustion engine truck to cloud its view.
“Both GM and Ford have the technical capability to develop and produce and all electric pickup … but we believe design, software, electrical architecture, and brand may be best coming from the 'outside,'” Jonas said.
Additionally, Morgan Stanley said “investors may find it surprising that nearly 9 years after Tesla's IPO there are only 2 pure play EV manufacturer stocks trading publicly in the US market.” The other electric vehicle company that Jonas is referring to is Nio, a Chinese company that listed shares on the New York Stock Exchange in September.
Tesla may unveil an electric pickup truck this summer, CEO Elon Musk said during the company's fourth-quarter conference call. In December, Musk talked extensively on Twitter about what he would like to include in a pickup truck design, including all-wheel drive with “crazy torque & a suspension that dynamically adjusts for load.”
Phillip Faraone | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images
Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe attends and speaks at Rivian unveiling of R1T All-Electric Truck.
Rivian showed off prototypes of its R1T electric truck and its seven-passenger R1S sport utility vehicle in November. Rivian CEO R.J. Scaringe said the R1T and R1S will deliver 400 miles of range, with four individual motors allowing for all-wheel-drive. The R1T will be able to hit 60 miles per hour in 3 seconds and tow up to 11,000 pounds.
Morgan Stanley had already featured Rivian twice this week: once as “the next serious competition for Tesla” and again when reports of Amazon and GM's investment surfaced. If GM does invest, Jonas said, it would be “another sign of GM's prescient strategic vision.”
“From an industrial strategy perspective, while many other [traditional automakers] are playing checkers, GM seems to be playing chess,” Jonas said.
Finally, even without the possible investment, Morgan Stanley believes Rivian represents one of the top challengers to Tesla's dominance in the global electric vehicle market.
“The increased legitimacy and capitalization of new/startup EV firms, like Rivian, pose a compounding competitive threat to Tesla. All else equal, a potential GM-Amazon-Rivian tie up could be a clear negative for Tesla in our view,” Jonas said.