Tag: Mobility

Tariffs cost Ford $1 billion in profit and hurt sales in China

Luke Sharrett | Bloomberg | Getty Images
An employee works on a Ford Expedition sports utility vehicle on the assembly line at the Ford Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville, Kentucky.

President Donald Trump's tariffs are hitting Ford's finances hard.

The second-largest U.S. automaker has suffered $1 billion in lost profits from tariffs on metals imported to the United States, said Ford CEO Jim Hackett in an interview with Bloomberg TV on Wednesday.

The U.S. has a 25 percent tariff on steel and a 10 percent tariff on aluminum imported from several countries, an early step in an escalating trade war that threatens to raise prices on goods and deal a blow to firms in a wide range of industries, including autos.

The tariffs come at a time when Ford is trying to improve its financial health, raise its share price and sink money into developing new propulsion technologies, such as electric powertrains, autonomous driving technology, cloud computing technology for transportation and other mobility businesses.

Ford shares were down nearly one percent Wednesday morning.

“From Ford's perspective, the metals tariffs took about $1 billion profit from us,” he added. “The irony is, we source most of that in the U.S. today anyways. So we are in a good place right now, but if it goes on longer there will be more damage.”

The trade war is also creating difficulties for Ford's U.S. factories. Ford exports Lincoln vehicles from a plant in Louisville, Kentucky to China, where Hackett said the brand is popular. China's tit-for-tat 25 percent tariff hike, which raises the total duty to 40 percent on U.S. autos, has raised the price of the Lincoln MKC sport utility vehicle in China.

In July, Ford cut its full-year outlook, citing in part heavy losses in China in the second quarter.

“We have had to move people in that factory to other functions because of that trade problem,” he said.

Lyft Challenges You to #DitchYourCar

Ridesharing has already challenged the way Americans see car ownership, with 250,000 passengers in 2017 giving up their cars because of Lyft. Now, it’s time to take an even bolder step toward creating a better future for our cities, our planet and future generations. Since day one, we’ve had a vision that cities should be… Continue reading Lyft Challenges You to #DitchYourCar

Designing Lightyear One: Aerodynamics

Annemiek Koers — Exterior Architect

With aerodynamics we study how well the air flows around the car. Our job at the Aerodynamics team is to ensure that the air will move along the curves of the car as smoothly as possible. Because we stop the air from moving in swirls, into holes or into interstices, we reduce friction between the car and the air. We want the car to cut through the air just like a raindrop – the ultimate example of an aerodynamic object.

So now the question is: Why does this matter? Since we do not have an infinite surface for our solar panels there is only a certain amount of energy available to the car, especially if you want to drive on solar energy only. We want to use the energy that is available as efficiently as possible. To do so the car needs to glide through the air: we want low air resistance. We want to give you the longest possible solar range. The less energy the car wastes moving air, the further the car can get on the same energy. For this..

Velodyne LiDAR Partners with Idriverplus | Unmanned Vehicle Traverses Challenging Natural Barriers on Tianmen Mountain

September 25, 2018 In recent years, it has become increasingly difficult for people to obtain driver’s licenses in China. However, an increasing presence of unmanned vehicles on the road is bringing new hope to those who can’t get a license but still desire to drive independently in a vehicle a chance to make their dreams… Continue reading Velodyne LiDAR Partners with Idriverplus | Unmanned Vehicle Traverses Challenging Natural Barriers on Tianmen Mountain

Elon Musk said Tesla has an ‘extreme’ shortage of car carrier trailers so the company is making its own (TSLA)

Tesla is building its own car carriers, as the electric carmaker faces vehicle distribution problems. The company is upgrading its logistics system but running into an “extreme” shortage of car carrier trailers, Chief Executive Elon Musk tweeted on Monday in response to a customer, who placed order for a Model 3 All Wheel Drive (AWD)… Continue reading Elon Musk said Tesla has an ‘extreme’ shortage of car carrier trailers so the company is making its own (TSLA)

Watch a Tesla drive in Paris through the eyes of Autopilot

Tesla’s approach to autonomous driving is rather simple – albeit hard. It has some radar and ultrasonic sensor technology but the goal is to drive based on computer vision with cameras feeding into a neural net system that it is able to recognize what it sees – much like a human. We are now getting our best… Continue reading Watch a Tesla drive in Paris through the eyes of Autopilot

RoboSense launches intelligent autonomous driving LiDAR system

RoboSense announced the making of the RS-IPLS Intelligent Perception LiDAR hardware and software algorithm-based solution. According to the company, the software will enable the mass production of safer autonomous vehicles, and features real-time data pre-processing and a “gaze” function similar to human eyes. The company lists the following as benefits of the new system: MEMS… Continue reading RoboSense launches intelligent autonomous driving LiDAR system

BMW warns of lower profits on new emissions rules and an escalating trade war ‘distorting demand’

Andreas Gebert | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
A visitor of BMW World walks past a BMW car during the annual accounts press conference of German car manufacturer BMW at the BWM World in Munich, Germany.

BMW said Tuesday its 2018 sales and profits will likely fall due to the costs of implementing new emissions standards in Europe and rising uncertainty stemming from the escalating global trade war.

Automotive revenues are now expected to fall slightly from the 88.6 billion euros ($104.4 billion at the current exchange rate) it generated last year, the company said. It previously told investors sales would rise.

BMW had also previously forecast profits to be on par with last year, but now expects a “moderate decrease,” the company said. The company earned 10.7 billion euros ($12.6 billion at the current rate) in 2017.

“The continuing international trade conflicts are aggravating the market situation and feeding uncertainty,” BMW said in a statement. “These circumstances are distorting demand more than anticipated and leading to pricing pressure in several automotive markets.”

The German automaker also said the industry's shift to a new laboratory test for emissions, the Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure, has created “supply distortions in several European markets and an unexpected intense competition.”

BMW had already expected 2018 to be a challenging year, due to the more than 1 billion euros in investments it is making in mobility, along with currency headwinds.

Fellow German automaker Daimler had warned at the end of July that the heightening trade war between the U.S. and China could affect its profitability this year. Both automakers have factories in the United States, where they build vehicles for both the U.S. market and for export.

BMW Group adjusts guidance for current financial year

Munich. The BMW Group is updating its guidance for the current financial year. The company always expected 2018 to be a challenging year, due in part to additional upfront investments of around one billion euros for future mobility and currency headwinds in the mid-to-high three-digit million-euro range compared with 2017. Despite this starting position, based… Continue reading BMW Group adjusts guidance for current financial year