CARACAS (Reuters) – Ford Motor Co (F.N) is offering buy-outs to staff at its moribund plant in Venezuela to reduce its payroll, two union leaders said, as the U.S. automaker seeks to streamline its money-losing South America operations. FILE PHOTO: The corporate logo of Ford is seen on a billboard at the facilities of the… Continue reading Ford’s Venezuela unit offers buyouts as output dwindles -sources
Tag: Autonomous
Google’s robotic spinoff launches ride-hailing service
Google’s robotic spinoff launches ride-hailing serviceSan Francisco – Google’s self-driving car spinoff is finally ready to try to profit from its nearly decade-old technology.
Waymo is introducing a small-scale ride-hailing service in the Phoenix area that will include a human behind the wheel in case the robotic vehicles malfunction.
The service debuting Wednesday marks a significant milestone for Waymo, a company that began as a secretive project within Google in 2009. Since then, its cars have robotically logged more 10 million miles on public roads in 25 cities in California, Arizona, Washington, Michigan and Georgia while getting into only a few accidents – mostly fender benders.
The company is initially operating the new service cautiously, underscoring the challenges still facing its autonomous vehicles as they navigate around vehicles with human drivers that don’t always follow the same rules as robots.
The service, dubbed Waymo One, at first will only be available to a couple hundred riders, all of whom had already been participating in a free pilot program that began in April 2017. It will be confined to a roughly 100-square-mile area in and around Phoenix, including the neighboring cities of Chandler, Tempe, Mesa, and Gilbert.
Although Waymo has been driving passengers without any humans behind the wheel in its free pilot program, it decided to be less daring with the new commercial service.
“Self-driving technology is new to many, so we’re proceeding carefully with the comfort and convenience of our riders in mind,” Waymo CEO John Krafcik wrote in Wednesday blog post heralding the arrival of the new service.
The ride-hailing service is launching in the same area where a car using robotic technology from ride-hailing service Uber hit and killed a pedestrian crossing a darkened street in Tempe, Arizona seven months ago. That fatal collision attracted worldwide attention that cast a pall over the entire self-driving car industry as more people began to publicly question the safety of the vehicles.
“I suspect the Uber fatality has caused Waymo to slow down its pace a bit” and use human safety drivers in its ride-hailing service,” said Navigant Research analyst Sam Abuelsamid. “If people keep dying, there will be a bigger backlash against these vehicles.”
The Uber robotic car had a human safety driver behind the wheel, but that wasn’t enough to prevent its lethal accident in March.
Waymo’s self-driving vehicles are still susceptible to glitches, as an Associated Press reporter experienced during a mid-October ride in an autonomous minivan alongside Krafcik near company’s Mountain View, California, headquarters.
The minivan performed smoothly, even stopping for a jaywalker, before abruptly pulling to the right side of the road. Ahead was a left-turning FedEx delivery truck. In a digital message to the two human backup drivers, the van said it “detected an issue” and it would connect to a rider support agent. Rider support didn’t respond, so they switched to manual mode and returned to Waymo headquarters.
At that time, Krafcik conceded to the AP that Waymo’s self-driving vehicles were still encountering occasional problems negotiating left-hand turns at complicated intersections.
“I think the things that humans have challenges with, we’re challenged with as well,” Krafcik said. “So sometimes unprotected lefts are super challenging for a human, sometimes they’re super challenging for us.”
Waymo eventually plans to open its new ride-hailing app to all comers in the Phoenix area, although it won’t say when. It also wants to expand its service to other cities, but isn’t saying where. When that happens, it could pose a threat to Uber and the second most popular U.S. ride-hailing service, Lyft, especially since it should be able charge lower prices without the need to share revenue with a human driver in control at all times.
General Motors also is gearing up to begin offering a ride-hailing service through its Cruise subsidiary under the management of a new CEO, Dan Ammann, who has been the Detroit automaker’s No. 2 executive. Cruise plans to start its ride-hailing service at some point next year in at least one U.S. city. Another self-driving car company, Drive.ai, has been giving short-distance rides to all comers within Frisco, Texas and Arlington, Texas since the summer.
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AP Auto Writer Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to this story.
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Waymo starts commercial ride-share service
Geoff Robins | AFP | Getty Images
John Krafcik, CEO of Waymo speaks at a press conference at the 2017 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan, January 8, 2017.
After months of testing and millions of miles developing self-driving vehicle technology, Waymo has officially launched the country's first commercial autonomous ride-share service.
The company's Waymo One program will give customers rides in self-driving vehicles 24 hours a day. Initially, the service will be limited to cities surrounding Phoenix, including Tempe, Mesa and Chandler.
While there may be many potential customers who want to ride in an autonomous vehicle, the Waymo One service will initially be offered to a limited number of people. Those customers will include hundreds of people in the Phoenix area who were test users of the Waymo self-driving vehicle fleet that has been in development since April 2017.
“Self-driving technology is new to many, so we're proceeding carefully with the comfort and convenience of our riders in mind,” said Waymo CEO John Krafcik. One example of Waymo taking a cautious approach rolling out its ride-share service is the company's use of safety drivers to supervise the rides, at least initially. In addition, the company's app and consoles in the Waymo One vehicles will allow riders to instantly connect with support agents who can assist riders with questions.
Alphabet's Waymo One marks the start of the race by automakers, tech companies and other firms to launch autonomous ride-share services. General Motors subsidiary Cruise plans to launch a similar service using self-driving vehicles next year.
What's driving the competition? The pursuit of greater profits. Studies of have shown the biggest cost for ride-share operations is the expense of paying a driver. General Motors estimates it costs ride -share companies more than $3 per mile in San Francisco. However, GM believes that cost could drop to roughly $1 per mile by 2025 with driverless vehicles in ride-share fleets.
Waymo has said it expects the cost to consumers for using Waymo One to be competitive with Uber, Lyft and other ride-hailing services.
Waymo launches self-driving car service Waymo One
Waymo, the former Google self-driving project owned by parent company Alphabet, is launching a commercial robotaxi service in the Phoenix area dubbed Waymo One. This milestone, for the company and nascent self-driving technology industry, comes with caveats. The Waymo One self-driving car service, and accompanying app, won’t be available to just anyone. And for now,… Continue reading Waymo launches self-driving car service Waymo One
Press release / December 4, 2018 LeddarTech Accelerates Momentum with $US 23.7 Million in Bridge Financing Latest financing to support LeddarTech’s accelerated growth and development efforts for its proprietary solutions based on its unique automotive LiDAR development platform, which is rapidly gaining traction with Tier-1 suppliers.
Leddartech/Press release/LeddarTech Accelerates Momentum with $US 23.7 Million in Bridge Financing
LeddarTech Accelerates Momentum with $US 23.7 Million in Bridge Financing
Latest financing to support LeddarTech’s accelerated growth and development efforts for its proprietary solutions based on its unique automotive LiDAR development platform, which is rapidly gaining traction with Tier-1 suppliers.
QUEBEC CITY, December 4, 2018 — LeddarTech, an industry leader providing the most versatile and scalable automotive LiDAR development platform, announces the successful closing of a $US 23.7 million ($CDN 31.4 million) bridge. These funds will enable the company to continue the expansion of its research and development teams to accelerate the introduction of its automotive LiDAR development platform.
The financing consists of a revolving loan from Desjardins Group, one of the leading Canadian financial cooperatives, as well as a convertible note from existing shareholders, led by Desjardins-Innovatech, S.E.C.
“This financing from both our strategic and financial investors, as well as the continuous support from our banking partners in our growth, is a testament to the continued confidence they have in LeddarTech,” stated Charles Boulanger, CEO of LeddarTech. He added, “The company is also considering additional opportunities for H1 2019 to further scale-up operations and accelerate our go-to-market strategy.”
“We are experiencing strong traction for our LiDAR development platform, with six tier-1 vendors actively developing automotive-grade LiDAR solutions based on the Leddar Engine and LeddarCore systems-on-chip, as well as strong interest from many other prospective strategic partners with whom we are currently discussing potential collaborations. This new investment will enable us to enhance the organization at all levels to meet market demand and support these new customers,” stated Frantz Saintellemy, president and COO, LeddarTech.
About LeddarTech
LeddarTech is an industry leader providing the most versatile and scalable automotive LiDAR development platform based on the unique LeddarEngine, which consists of a suite of automotive-grade, functional safety certified SoCs working in tandem with LeddarSP signal processing software. The company is responsible for several innovations in cutting-edge mobility remote-sensing applications, its patented technologies enhancing ADAS and autonomous driving capabilities for automobiles, trucks, buses, delivery vehicles, robotaxis, shuttles, and more. Additional information about LeddarTech is accessible at www.LeddarTech.com, and on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.
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Here’s the buyout GM offered before announcing 14,000 job cuts
John Gress | Reuters
Trucks come off the assembly line at GM's Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickup truck plant in Fort Wayne, Indiana, July 25, 2018.
General Motors executives painted a bleak outlook of the global economy in offering buyouts to 17,700 employees last month.
“We must take significant action and now while our company and the economy are strong,” they said in talking points given to managers in October to discuss the severance plan with staff. CNBC obtained the “leader talking points,” and GM verified their authenticity.
An “intensely competitive” industry combined with pressure from rising commodities prices, interest rates and a difficult trade environment created a sense of urgency. “We need … to make the right pre-emptive moves so that we come out of this tough time ahead,” they said in the talking points.
Larry Summers says GM shouldn't hide from cost-cutting measures
12:39 PM ET Wed, 28 Nov 2018 | 05:50
The Detroit automaker on Monday announced plans to halt production at five factories in North America and cut about 14,000 jobs in the company's most significant restructuring since its bankruptcy in 2009. The news falls on the heels of an otherwise strong quarter. Its third-quarter earnings released Oct. 31 — the same day GM started soliciting the buyouts — showed its first year-over-year earnings growth since the first quarter of 2017 and sent the stock soaring 9 percent.
'Not an option'
But executives saw stiff competition and a tough economy ahead. The cuts are designed to free up some cash and position its workforce of 180,000 for the future of autonomous vehicles and electric cars.
“We cannot afford to wait and see what happens in the industry, or with China, or in international trade or currency, to then react,” the severance document said. “Even if macro-economic factors are partially to blame, continuing to lower guidance to Wall Street is not an option.”
GM offered voluntary buyouts to roughly 17,700 eligible employees in North America with at least 12 years of service, according to the document. The company was aiming for 8,000 voluntary buyouts among its salaried workers as part of a total headcount reduction of 14,000, spokesman Pat Morrissey confirmed. He said about 2,250 workers accepted severance agreements by the Nov. 19 deadline.
The carmaker previously said that involuntary layoffs would follow if there were not enough takers. Roughly 5,750 salaried workers and 6,000 hourly employees will be laid off, he confirmed. Half of the hourly workers are in Canada with the other half in the U.S., where the company will work with union officials to try to move to other plants, Morrissey said.
Salary and benefits
GM is allowing some employees who took the buyouts to leave as early as this coming Saturday with an official last day of Jan. 31 and salary and benefits continuing for six months after that. Executives could also leave in December with an effective last day of Feb. 28 and a full year of salary and benefits, according to the severance materials.
GM CEO Mary Barra is accountable to her shareholders, not politicians, says Jeff Sonnenfeld
12:05 PM ET Wed, 28 Nov 2018 | 07:01
GM warned this summer that the trade war instigated by President Donald Trump could force job cuts in the United States. Trump was irate with GM's announcement this week, tweeting on Tuesday that he was “very disappointed” with the company and CEO Mary Barra for idling plants in Ohio, Michigan and Maryland.
“Nothing being closed in Mexico & China. The U.S. saved General Motors, and this is the THANKS we get,” Trump tweeted. He also threatened to cut all of the company's federal subsidies, following up on Wednesday with the announcement that the administration was studying all tariffs on cars imported to the U.S. because of the “G.M. event.”
GM says the move would help to save $6 billion a year. Shares of the company jumped 4.8 percent on the announcement Monday, but Trump's tweets drove the stock down Tuesday and Wednesday. Its shares have fallen by almost 20 percent during the last year.
“A strong cash position is the only way the company can deal with these factors and also continue to invest in growth opportunities and to set ourselves up for the future,” the talking points said.
“The leadership team is very focused on improving our cash generation and profit performance on each of our vehicles.”
— CNBC's
Robert Ferris
contributed to this article.