Musk lauds Chinese carmakers as Tesla moves to repair image
Elon Musk praised Chinese automakers as “the most competitive in the world” at an online forum Friday, where the Tesla Inc. chief also touched upon data security and the nation’s “great potential” as a market for electric vehicles.
Musk was in flattery mode in his pre-recorded appearance at the World New Energy Vehicle Congress, taking place in the southern Chinese island of Hainan. China is the world’s biggest EV market and of critical importance to Tesla, particularly after a rocky few months that dented its reputation in the country.
“I have a great deal of respect for the many Chinese automakers” for driving EV technologies, Musk said during a spiel that barely lasted three minutes. He noted that the country’s carmakers are particularly strong on software. “Public sentiment and support for electric vehicles is at a never before seen inflection point because they know it is the future,” he said.
After initially enjoying a red-carpet welc…
Infineon opens Austrian chip plant ahead of schedule
VILLACH, Austria -- Infineon Technologies opened a 1.6-billion-euro ($1.9 billion) plant in Austria, boosting the German semiconductor company's ability to supply power chips for cars, datacenters and renewable power generation.
The plant in Villach, ready three months early, will make chips on 300 mm wafers thinner than a human hair, operating in tandem as a 'megafab' with an existing plant in Dresden, Germany and adding up to 2 billion euros a year in revenues, the supplier said in a statement on Friday.
The extra production of specialist power chips in Villach will serve growing demand for EVs, datacenters and wind- and solar-power facilities. But it will not immediately help ease the broader semiconductor crunch, say analysts.
Separately, Ploss said he expects silicon chip prices to rise significantly, adding that semiconductor makers needed to cover the cost of investments to meet booming demand.
"We expect significant price increases," Plos…
Motor Bella ends Detroit auto show drought
DETROIT — It's been almost 1,000 days since an auto show was held in Detroit.
In that nearly three-year stretch, Fiat Chrysler became Stellantis, Carlos Ghosn became an international fugitive and the Hummer became a crab-walking, zero-emission electric pickup.
Likewise, the long-standing North American International Auto Show has morphed — at least for one year — into Motor Bella, a scaled-down outdoor event that begins Tuesday, Sept. 21, in Pontiac, a suburb north of Detroit. While the ongoing coronavirus pandemic scuttled grander plans for a reimagined NAIAS, organizers say there's enough pent-up demand for vehicle reveals and drive opportunities to make the interim event a success.
"Everybody's hungry for socializing and to get out and see the product and see the technologies that have come around in the last two or three years," Rod Alberts, executive director of the Detroit Auto Dealers Association, told Automotive News. "Y…
Stellantis adds another week of downtime at Ontario minivan plant
Stellantis has added another week of downtime at its minivan plant in Windsor, Ontario, due to the ongoing global shortage of semiconductors.
The plant will be idled the week of Sept. 27. It was already down the week of Sept. 13 and scheduled to be idle the week of Sept. 20. It was previously idled the weeks of Aug. 30 and Sept. 6 for the same reason.
“Stellantis continues to work closely with our suppliers to mitigate the manufacturing impacts caused by the various supply chain issues facing our industry,” the automaker said in a statement to Automotive News Canada.
About 4,500 people, the majority of them Unifor members, build the Chrysler Pacifica, Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid, Chrysler Grand Caravan in Canada and Chrysler Voyager for the U.S. market.
Stellantis resumed regular output at the factory on July 5, after being idle nearly every day since March 29.
The factory resumed operation the week of May 31, but not at full …
Stark statistics bring speeding epidemic into sharper focus
Traffic deaths have surged during the pandemic. The latest numbers from federal officials show a 10.5 percent increase during the first quarter of 2021 over the previous year, a rise that comes even as the overall number of vehicle miles driven has fallen.
Speeding motorists have been identified as a prime culprit of that increase. Motorists started speeding at new levels during the pandemic, and haven't slowed down even as traffic approaches pre-pandemic levels.
New data from traffic-analytics company Arity brings that driver behavior into sharper focus: the company says that today, nearly 1 in every 20 miles driven occurs at speeds greater than 80 mph. Time spent over 80 mph remains approximately 10 percent higher than in 2019. Forty-two percent of the miles driven at speeds faster than 80 mph occur at night, according to the Arity report, entitled "Life In The Fast …
GM extends downtime at crossover plants
DETROIT — General Motors said it is extending downtime at several crossover assembly plants in North America as the global microchip shortage drags on, but production at plants that make its lucrative full-size pickups and SUVs will continue.
"These most recent scheduling adjustments are being driven by the continued parts shortages caused by semiconductor supply constraints from international markets experiencing COVID-related restrictions," the automaker said in a statement Thursday. "Although the situation remains complex and very fluid, GM continues to prioritize full-size truck production which remains in high demand."
Seven of GM's plants in North America will be running next week: its full-size pickup plants in Flint, Mich., Fort Wayne, Ind., and Silao, Mexico; its full-size SUV plant in Arlington, Texas; its Chevrolet Corvette plant in Bowling Green, Ky.; its GMC Acadia, Cadillac XT5 and XT6 plant in Spring Hill, Tenn.; and Fairfax Assembly in Kan…
Ford to spend additional $250M, add 450 jobs to boost F-150 Lightning production
DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. said Thursday that it will spend an additional $250 million and add 450 new jobs in southeast Michigan to double production of its upcoming F-150 Lightning EV pickup.
Ford said the investment and jobs will be spread across its Rouge Electric Vehicle Center, Van Dyke Electric Powertrain Center and Rawsonville Components Plant. The added investment will help Ford build 80,000 electric trucks per year, up from an original plan to build 40,000 annually.
Executives say they boosted the planned production based on strong demand. Ford has received more than 150,000 reservations for the electric pickup, in the form of refundable deposits, which is scheduled to go on sale by the middle of next year.
"We knew the F-150 Lightning was special, but the interest from the public has surpassed our highest expectations and changed the conversation around electric vehicles. So we are doubling down, adding jobs and investment to increase productio…
Why China’s auto industry won’t see serious consolidation anytime soon
SHANGHAI -- A slew of foreign automakers downsized their China operations in recent years.
More of them plan to do so: Mazda Motor Corp. will merge its two joint ventures into one while Stellantis has decided to close one of the two local plants for the Jeep brand.
And next year, international players will be allowed to operate wholly owned subsidiaries in China’s auto industry.
But let’s be clear: This does not mean the Chinese auto industry is on the verge of an imminent shakeup – even as the government this week began to signal interest in seeing consolidation, particularly in the electric vehicle market.
The primary factor that has pushed several global automakers to pare local production is competition.
The world’s largest auto market is also the world’s most crowded market, where many foreign and domestic Chinese brands have long been competing neck-and-neck for market share.
Unable to fend off the competition, several global …
Infineon plant downed by power outage in Germany could worsen chip shortage
One of German auto chipmaker Infineon Technologies' most important manufacturing sites was forced to shut down after a power outage, potentially exacerbating a global semiconductor supply crunch.
The city of Dresden suffered a large-scale power disruption for 20 minutes from around 2 p.m. on Monday, and Infineon’s factory there came to a complete halt, a spokesperson said via email. Production resumed on Tuesday evening. The company did not quantify the impact.
Carmakers are still struggling to secure supplies of components such as microcontrollers and power management chips. Infineon CEO Reinhard Ploss said last month that the worldwide chip shortage is likely to drag into 2023.
“There are big logistical challenges that we’re seeing right now -- shipping costs are getting much higher, we’re seeing port shutdowns in China and other places that are trying to control the spread of Delta,” Sanford C. Bernstein analyst Stacy Rasgon said, referring to the co…