auto

How Tesla defined a new era for the global auto industry

By ev3v4hn 2 weeks ago

Tesla’s rapid rise to become the world’s most valuable carmaker could mark the start of a new era for the global auto industry, defined by a Silicon Valley approach to software that is overtaking old-school manufacturing know-how.

Tesla’s ascent took many investors by surprise. But executives at Daimler AG, the parent company of Mercedes-Benz, had a close-up view starting in 2009 of how Tesla and its chief executive Elon Musk were taking a new approach to building vehicles that challenged the established system.

Daimler, which bears the name of the man who invented the modern car 134 years ago, bought a nearly 10% Tesla stake in May 2009 in a deal which provided a $50 million lifeline for the struggling start-up.  

That investment gave Mercedes engineers an inside view of how Musk was willing to launch technology that wasn’t perfect, and then repeatedly upgrade it, using smartphone-style over-the-air updates,

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Full-Size Pickup Sales Help Keep U.S. Auto Industry Afloat

By ev3v4hn 1 month ago

From Road & Track

Welcome to The Grid, R&T’s quick roundup of the auto industry and motorsports news you should know this morning.

Full-Size Pickup Sales Help Keep U.S. Auto Industry Afloat

The COVID-19 pandemic had a huge negative effect on U.S. auto sales in the second quarter, but full-size pickups continue to move. Automotive Newsreports that while U.S. new vehicle sales decreased by a third last quarter, full-size pickups became the most popular segment in the country, beating out compact crossovers. “Even when the vehicle market goes completely sideways, the truck market stays straight and true,” Karl Brauer, Kelly Blue Book Executive Editor told Automotive News. Mid-size pickups are doing well, contributing to this amazing statistic—one in every four non-luxury brand U.S. auto sale in Q2 was a pickup of some sort.

Pickup sales were down in Q2, but not down as much as in other

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Foreign Auto Industry Outlook: Multiple Headwinds Prevail

By ev3v4hn 1 month ago

Companies in the Zacks Automotive – Foreign industry are involved in designing, engineering, manufacturing, distributing, and selling vehicles, components as well as production systems. Some of these companies are also engaged in research and development of electric and autonomous vehicles, fuel efficiency, along with low-emission technology.

Let’s take a look at the three major industry themes:

 

  • The foreign automotive industry, being consumer cyclical, is dependent on business cycle and economic conditions. The industry is in disarray amid weak vehicle demand and falling consumer confidence due to coronavirus woes. Sluggish demand in the world’s biggest auto market, China, has been hcarmakers in doing brisk business in the country. Indeed, auto sales in China have witnessed a rebound in April and May. However, amid the prevailing macro-economic conditions, vehicle sales in China are expected to fall 10% year over year in 2020. As it is, the nation’s EV sales have taken a
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Mexico signals auto industry return on eve of restart plan

By ev3v4hn 3 months ago

By Diego Oré and Dave Graham

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexico’s government gave the green light on Tuesday for the key automotive industry to restart production after weeks of disruption by the coronavirus pandemic, a decision that should pave the way to reopen North American supply chains.

The government’s health committee, which issues binding sanitation rules, said it agreed to add makers of transport equipment, a category that includes automotive and aerospace industries, to the list of activities considered essential.

The decision came ahead of an announcement on Wednesday by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who is expected to give more details about how suspended business operations and other activities would reopen in coming weeks.

“Tomorrow we will lay out the plan to return to the new normal,” Lopez Obrador said at a regular news briefing. “It’s not going to be a return to normal,” he added, “because there have

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