According to European Automobile News Network, Ford Motor Company is preparing to lay off 70,000 salaried employees worldwide, and the specific number is still uncertain. This heralds a further deepening of the company's business restructuring carried out by Ford CEO Jim Hackett.
In July, Hackett said that Ford plans to spend $11 billion to completely reorganize the company in the next three to five years, hoping to reverse the company's downward trend and respond more flexibly to competitive pressure. But the details of its restructuring plan have not been disclosed to Wall Street so far. But some clues can be seen from Ford's past actions: developing self-driving cars, closing underperforming factories, and eliminating traditional cars from its North American market in favor of crossovers and SUVs.
Ford has started internal notification of employees that the company is reorganizing its salaried workforce. But the company said it will disclose more details in the coming months, including job cuts and locations for layoffs. "Our structural reform of the global salaried workforce is still in its early stages, and our goal is to gradually build a wider, flatter organization that is truly designed for speed. This will inevitably lead to some layoffs, but there is no goal at the moment," said Karen Hampton, spokesman for Ford. "Ford will complete its layoffs in the second quarter of 2019. (Source: Sina Auto)
According to Reuters, four internal Toyota sources said that the company is considering producing Lexus in China to promote sales and narrow the gap with German luxury cars. Toyota has always been reluctant to produce the model in China because it is worried that it will damage the quality and profitability of the car. But now something has begun to change.
The above source said that over the past two years, Toyota has been studying how to produce Lexus in China. At present, this model relies entirely on imports from Japan to the Chinese market. Last year, Toyota also negotiated with its Chinese joint venture partners GAC and FAW on the domestic production of Lexus models. It is not clear whether Toyota is still in contact with Chinese partners on the partnership.
Stimulated by improved Sino-Japanese relations and new regulations on China's automobile investment, Lexus production in China will be a major shift for the world's largest automaker. Lexus sole proprietorship is also full of possibilities.
China has relaxed the investment and equity ratio in the automotive industry, and foreign auto companies have the possibility of sole proprietorship in China. In 2018, China lifted the restrictions on foreign equity ratio of special-purpose vehicles and new energy vehicles; in 2022, the restrictions on foreign equity ratio of passenger vehicles will be lifted, and the restrictions on no more than two joint ventures will be lifted. Through the five-year transition period, the automobile industry will completely lift restrictions on foreign investment.
A person familiar with the matter said: "We are confused about this (whether Lexus is made in China or not). Another person familiar with the matter said: "It doesn't make sense that this opportunity (domestic) slips away in vain."
Toyota's preferred plan is to produce Lexus wholly owned by China, and this can be done by launching existing models' batteries and plug-in hybrid models.
Toyota has produced many Toyota brand models in China with its partners, including Camry, Highlander , Corolla , Leyling and Crown. Last year, the company sold 1.29 million cars in China, including imported Lexus models.
The above-mentioned person familiar with the matter said that Toyota's plan to consider transferring Lexus' production to China can be traced back to 2011 to 2012. But before that, the company had been thinking that the quality of production in China could be too risky, while not wanting to sacrifice the brand's relatively high profit margins by sharing profits with local partners.
Two Toyota insiders said the company has determined the specific plan for Lexus to localize in China. “All the preparations have been completed to a greater or lesser extent. All we are waiting for is the ‘appointment’ of management."
Sources also said that there is another voice within Toyota that opposes the production of Lexus in China. Opponents pointed out that China has reduced passenger car tariffs from 25% to 15% in July, so Lexus can continue to be sold in China as imported. (Source: Sina Auto)
Volkswagen Group said that Volkswagen has terminated Audi CEO Rupert Stadt ( RupertStadler's contract was unable to perform his duties during the trial because he was under investigation of "emission cheating".
At the same time, Steed will no longer serve as a member of the Volkswagen Group's management committee. In June this year, Steed was formally arrested by Munich prosecutors for trying to conceal evidence related to the diesel emissions investigation. He is the highest-level executive of Volkswagen Group arrested for the cheating scandal so far. He has been under investigation since then.
Volkswagen said in a statement, "Mr. Stadler left because he was still detained for review and was unable to perform his duties as a member of the management committee and hopes to focus on his defense." "
Volkswagen and Audi both said that unless there is evidence to prove that Steed is guilty, he will be found innocent.
However, a person familiar with the Supervisory Board of Volkswagen Group once revealed that "Steed is probably unable to return to his original position. He now needs to focus on his legal defense and prove himself innocent." (Source: Sina Auto)
HEEF Health issued an announcement on the evening of October 7 that Faraday Future (Faraday) Future) founder and CEO Jia Yueting used his rights to manipulate the joint venture company in most of the board seats of the joint venture. Without meeting the contract payment conditions, he asked Evergrande to pay US$700 million in advance, and used this as an excuse to file an arbitration at the Hong Kong International Arbitration Center on October 3, 2018.
Announcement against Evergrande Health, Sina Auto immediately received a related response announcement from FF's Twitter. It said that in November 2017, FF welcomed Evergrande Health to become a key investor in the company. Evergrande promised to invest US$2 billion in three years, accounting for 45% of the joint venture, including paying US$800 million by the end of 2018 and paying another US$1.2 billion later. Since then, FF has made great progress towards the mass production of the first model FF91 under the leadership of Jia Yueting. On August 28, Faraday Future announced the first mass-produced model FF 91's first pre-production vehicle was launched at the Hanford factory.
FF said that after an initial investment of $800 million, Evergrande agreed in July to increase its investment of $500 million ($500 million of the subsequent US$1.2 billion) than it originally planned to in 2018. In contrast to Evergrande Health's announcement, Jia Yueting did not use his rights to manipulate most of the board seats in the joint venture to reach these agreements. In order to make FF91 mass production as soon as possible, Evergrande knew that funds were needed before signing the agreement. Reason and when funds are needed.
FF also said that although FF and Jia Yueting met the requirements of the further investment agreement signed by the two parties in July, Evergrande failed to continue to increase capital in accordance with the agreement. On the contrary, Evergrande contracted its investment and tried its best to obtain controlling and control of all intellectual property rights of FF China and FF.
FF also revealed that Evergrande is blocking FF from immediately obtaining financial support from other channels. This is a Basic, common sense fairness issues: Evergrande should not be allowed to withhold funds while preventing FF from accepting other funds or investments.
At present, FF may have encountered a "fund shortage" again. According to Sina Auto, sources close to FF said that FF was in trouble after exhausting Evergrande's $800 million investment in July. The company has defaulted on fees from some suppliers and dealers and is considering layoffs. At the same time, at the end of September, a Hanford factory occurred in the Hanford factory. A fire. This is seen as a major setback in the mass production process of FF91. (Source: Sina Auto)
Recently, Toyota said it would recall a total of 2.43 million gasoline hybrid models at home and abroad.The recall applies to some Prius and Auris hybrid models manufactured between October 2008 and November 2014.
Among the above recalled models, there are about 1.25 million vehicles in Japan, 830,000 vehicles in North America and 290,000 vehicles in Europe. In addition, the sales of the vehicle in China, Africa, Oceania and other regions have also been affected.
Toyota said in a statement that when the hybrid system of the two models fails, some vehicles may not be able to switch to "fail-safe" driving mode, thus potentially losing power and causing a fire out. While power steering and braking can still work, losing power at high speeds may also increase the risk of collision.
At the same time, the automaker said it has not found any accidents related to the problem in Japan. (Source: Sina Auto)
6, Geely Automobile indirectly acquires two engine companies, involving 1.265 billion
Geely Automobile issued an announcement that after the trading period on October 5, Zhejiang Power, which indirectly owns 99% of the equity, acquired two engine companies for a total of 1.265 billion yuan, and the two companies are owned by the parent company Zhejiang Geely.
announcement stated that Zhejiang Power entered into a Taizhou acquisition agreement with Taizhou engine, Zhejiang Power has conditionally agreed to acquire, and Taizhou Engine has conditionally agreed to sell the entire registered capital of Taizhou target company, with a cash consideration of 781 million yuan. Taizhou Engine is wholly owned by Geely Automobile's parent company Zhejiang Geely. The company mainly engages in technology research and development, technical consulting services, manufacturing and sales of automobile engines and providing after-sales services in China.
On the same day, Zhejiang Power and Guiyang Engine entered into a Guizhou acquisition agreement. Zhejiang Power has conditionally agreed to acquire it. Guiyang Engine has conditionally agreed to sell the entire registered capital of Guizhou target company with a cash consideration of 484 million yuan. Guiyang Engine is owned by Zhejiang Geely and a third party independent of Geely, respectively. The company mainly engages in technology research and development, technical consulting services, manufacturing and sales of automobile engines and providing after-sales services in China. (Source: Sohu Auto)
7, Daimler executive personnel changes are released, CFO will resign
According to foreign media reports, Daimler Group chief financial officer Bodo Uebber will leave the company. This is also the first senior personnel change that has occurred within the company since Daimler chose Ola Kallenius to become Daimler's new CEO next year.
Daimler revealed in a statement released later last Sunday (October 7 local time) that Ubo, 59, has notified Daimler's chairman of the Supervisory Board, Manfred Bischoff, "he will not seek to extend his current term." However, Daimler did not explain the reason why Ubo made the above decision.
Wubo's contract term expires in December 2019. He joined Daimler's management board in 2003 and took over Daimler's financial power a year later.
Some analysts pointed out that the personnel change in management occurred at a critical moment in the development of Daimler's enterprise. Daimler is currently the world's highest-selling luxury car manufacturer and the highest-revenue commercial vehicle manufacturer.
Some analysts pointed out that Ubo can be regarded as one of the key architects of Daimler's new group architecture, and this new architecture gives Daimler's cars, trucks and travel service units greater independence. Daimler shareholders will vote on personnel changes in Ubo at the annual general meeting held in May next year.
Daimler senior CEO Zech defended the strategic logic behind the company's largest reform move in a decade last week. He told reporters in Paris that this corporate reform will improve corporate efficiency and help ultimately reverse the decline in corporate stock prices. It is worth mentioning that Daimler's stock price has fallen since this year, and its market value has evaporated by one fifth.
Daimler investors are opposed to the new group structure and call for more deepening changes to it, including splitting up part of the trucking unit or mobility services business unit and promoting its listing.
Daimler has officially rejected the plan to completely divest any of its subsidiaries, but is not opposed to the sale of some businesses. Some people point out that the plan has been criticized for its excessive cost (about 1 billion euros, 1.6 billion US dollars) and the inability to have an immediate positive impact on the improvement of corporate market value.
Ubo was previously considered a candidate for the leader of the Daimler Group. (Source: Tencent Auto)
8, Continuously increasing battery production capacity Daimler builds a battery factory in Tuscaloosa
According to foreign media reports, on October 6 local time, Daimler said it would build a battery factory as part of its $1 billion investment plan, which aims to upgrade its factory in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The factory has begun production of a new SUV model: the GLE.
Meanwhile, Daimler is preparing to launch an electric SUV, the EQ, as part of the company's broader offensive against the current Tesla-dominated electric vehicle industry. "We are committed to playing a pioneering and exemplary role in the field of electric mobility and are fully prepared to achieve this goal."
In order to achieve the transformation from fuel vehicles to electric vehicles, Mercedes-Benz is planning to establish six factories to produce EQ series electric vehicles; with the restructuring of its domestic factories in Germany, it will own eight battery factories. Daimler has established a battery manufacturing plant in Carmentz County, Germany, and is building more plants in Beijing and Bangkok.
Daimler said its local factory in Sindefingen will become the center for mass production of self-driving cars and electric vehicles. The factory currently mainly produces Mercedes-Benz S-Class sedans. (Source: Gaustic Auto)
9, Renault invests in Akoustic Arts to develop directional sound technology to improve car audio experience
According to foreign media reports, French Renault Group (Groupe Renault) and a French venture capital company Newfund announced their investment in French startup Akoustic Arts. The startup focuses on the development of directional acoustic technology, and the investment aims to accelerate its development and help it develop products at scale. In addition to investment, Renault has reached an agreement with the company, where both parties will jointly carry out a research and development project to apply Akoustic Arts technology to Renault vehicles.
Akoustic Arts was founded in 2010 and has developed a unique patented directional sound technology. Sound is projected through the air to create sound bubbles that are only heard by the target user, so this technology can provide different immersive experiences for different people at the same time.
Through this collaboration, Renault engineers will share their automotive expertise as well as suppliers and industrial tools, while AkousticArts experts will provide directional acoustic techniques and tips. After the early stages of development, the cooperation project will focus on the development of on-board directional speakers for Renault vehicles.
Gaspar Gascon Abellan, executive vice president of engineering at the alliance, said: “For Renault, with the development of connected vehicles, autonomous vehicles and future in-car editing content, the in-car audio experience will be a differentiator that differentiates its cars from other brands of cars.”
Akoustic Arts CEO Ilan Kaddouch said: "The participation of Renault Group and Newfund will accelerate the realization of our common goal. The first goal is to completely transform the in-store experience through our A speaker; the second goal is to use the professional knowledge of the Renault team to develop products for the automotive market." (Source: Gastronics)
According to foreign media reports, Ford's intelligent mobile travel department is investing in ClimaCell, which focuses on "small weather" technology, which can track specific locations and short-term weather patterns. Recently, the company launched a Series B financing, raising $45 million, and Ford also participated in the round.
ClimaCell says it uses a larger sensor network than traditional weather forecasts, allowing it to focus more on weather conditions in a specific area (such as the location of the car) than the entire area.The company has also developed weather forecasting tools, including high-definition weather maps called HyperCast. ClimaCell said its existing customers include JetBlue and Delta Airlines. The company plans to use new funds to expand its sensor network to areas such as developing countries where there is no weather forecast infrastructure.
Ford believes that ClimaCell's weather forecasting capabilities are related to various technologies, including the development of technologies used for the development of autonomous vehicles and new services under the FordPass project. Ford is developing TransportationMobility Cloud for data sharing and can share real-time weather data.
, Ford Mobile Mobility Head, Marcy Klevorn, said: "High-precision and small weather information can support a variety of mobile travel and AV (autonomous driving vehicle) plans, including route planning, services provided by FordPass, and traffic mobile travel cloud sharing information. In the future, real-time data will allow autonomous vehicles to safely choose routes and drive in severe weather conditions."
, driving in severe weather conditions may be difficult for humans, but not for machines. However, autonomous vehicles rely on various sensors, which may fail due to weather such as rain and snow. The future of autonomous vehicles will even be affected by solar storm , which will interrupt GPS navigation, so ClimaCell's "little weather" technology may be a good solution. (Source: Gashi Auto)
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