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☆ Taiwan's Foxconn taps former Nissan and Nidec heavyweight Seki for EV business
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] Nissan Motor executive officer and vice-COO Jun Seki speaks during a news conference at Nissan Motor headquarters in Yokohama, Japan, December 2, 2019. Seki had been recruited to Nidec from Nissan by Nidec's hard-driving founder Shigenobu Nagamori in 2020 to help Nidec become a major player in components for next-generation automobiles. Seki spent three decades at Nissan, including a stint heading its China business. He was widely seen as a contender for chief executive, but was passed over for the current chief, Makoto Uchida. He left Nissan for Nidec not long after being charged with leading the automaker's turnaround plan.

☆ Earnings playbook: Apple and Google-parent Alphabet lead the busiest week of reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-29 | by ( Fred Imbert | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +14 min

Tuesday General Motors is set to report earnings before the bell, followed by a conference call at 8:30 a.m. What history shows: Data from Bespoke Investment Group shows GM beats earnings expectations 85% of the time. McDonald's is set to report earnings before the bell, with company leadership set to hold a call 8:30 a.m. What history shows: Qualcomm has either beaten or matched analysts' earnings expectations in the last 32 quarters, according to FactSet. Alphabet is set to report earnings after the close, followed by a conference call at 4:30 p.m.

☆ Carmakers face a crossroads as they work to fit auto dealers into their EV plans
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( Michael Wayland | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

"I think we're all building this airplane as we fly," Michael Alford, president of the National Auto Dealers Association, a trade association that represents more than 16,000 U.S. new franchised dealers, told CNBC. Automakers and franchised dealers have a complex relationship that is backed, in many states, by laws that make it difficult, if not illegal, to bypass franchised dealers and sell new vehicles directly to consumers. Both automakers and franchised dealers want to maximize profits, but they're separate businesses that heavily rely on one another to succeed. David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesHonda Motor has said it plans to move more sales online, including 100% online sales for its luxury Acura brand for EVs. Jay Vijayan, who assisted in building out Tesla's digital and IT systems, doesn't believe selling EVs exclusively online will pan out.

The 66-year-old Toyoda on Thursday announced he would step aside as leader of the company his grandfather founded from April 1 to take the role of chairman. He will hand over to Koji Sato, the 53-year-old head of Toyota's luxury Lexus brand. "It's likely that he'll remain active as chairman for a long time and continue to put his mark on Toyota." "Toyota is a public company that likes to pretend it's a family company," said John Shook, a former Toyota manager who now consults on the lean management techniques pioneered by the automaker. "Choosing someone who is much younger and with Sato's background indicates Akio recognised the time for change had come."

TOKYO, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) chief Akio Toyoda is set to remain a dominant force inside the world's largest automaker for years to come, and will continue to influence the agenda after stepping down in April, experts and people familiar with the firm said. The 66-year-old Toyoda on Thursday announced he would step aside as leader of the company his grandfather founded from April 1 to take the role of chairman. "It's likely that he'll remain active as chairman for a long time and continue to put his mark on Toyota." "Toyota is a public company that likes to pretend it's a family company," said John Shook, a former Toyota manager who now consults on the lean management techniques pioneered by the automaker. "Choosing someone who is much younger and with Sato's background indicates Akio recognised the time for change had come."

☆ Asia markets rise following Wall Street's gains, Tokyo inflation notches up
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Jihye Lee | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Wall Street analysts are divided on Tesla after the electric car company's latest quarterly results. While the move triggered a drop in used Tesla prices, they also supported demand for the vehicles. "Thus far in January we've seen the strongest orders year to date than ever in our history. "Importantly, Tesla commented that since it lowered prices it has seen the strongest orders year-to-date in its history, with orders running about 2X production. While the strong orders are promising, the analyst said the auto gross margins were too weak to overlook.

☆ Wall Street sees many of the big winners this week cooling off from here—with one notable exception
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Hakyung Kim | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The three major averages are heading toward a positive week during a frenzy of fourth-quarter earnings. For instance, Nvidia is on pace to rise more than 13% this week, while Seagate Technology is up more than 17%. Here are the top ten biggest gainers: Western Digital , a semiconductor producer on the list, rose 14.2% this week. It is also one of the few stocks analysts anticipate will continue its rally—it has a target upside of 11%. Out of the big winners this week, analysts are the most optimistic about Tesla.

For the last three years, the 66-year-old has built up the "Toyota Times", hiring Japanese journalists and ramping up coverage of the company to counter what he sees as persistent misinformation and unfair criticism. "What I find unfortunate is that the media often thrives on conflict, setting BEVs against hybrids, for example," Toyoda said on the Toyota Times recently. After almost an hour of scripted presentations and banter, the Toyota Times host turned to questions from reporters. Toyoda has increasingly appeared to eschew traditional media as the company fell out of favour with environmentalists who once lauded its green technology. The Toyota Times also exclusively publishes the closely watched results of the company's spring wage negotiations with its union.

TOKYO/PARIS, Jan 26 (Reuters) - French car maker Renault (RENA.PA) and its Japanese partner Nissan Motor (7201.T) aim to formally unveil a deal to reshape their alliance in London on Feb. 6, two sources close to the matter told Reuters on Thursday. Renault has consistently declined to comment publicly about the talks with its Japanese partner, while a spokesperson for Nissan declined to comment on Thursday. French newspaper Le Figaro reported late on Wednesday that the companies would announce 4 to 5 joint projects to relaunch the alliance. The future shape of the Franco-Japanese alliance has implications for both companies as well as their junior partner, Mitsubishi Motors Corp (7211.T). Renault, for instance, has said it will partner with companies from China's Geely Automobile Holdings (0175.HK) to semiconductor giant Qualcomm Inc (QCOM.O).

☆ For automakers, the EV surge is everything everywhere all at once
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Joseph White | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

He must accelerate the Japanese automaker's efforts to develop more competitive electric vehicles. But he will get little breathing room from Tesla or the Chinese EV manufacturers who are using their leads in EV technology and production costs to slash prices. THE SHIFTING GROUNDGlobal automakers are experienced with periods of feast and famine that come on roughly seven-to-ten year cycles. South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co (005380.KS) on Thursday reported better-than-expected results powered in part by strong sales of its new EV lineup. Hyundai forecast its EV sales would grow by 54% this year - a faster growth pace than Tesla has forecast.

☆ Tesla's aggressive price cuts may have angered some buyers — but they worked
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Orders for Tesla cars are at its strongest ever year-to-date, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on a Wednesday call. That's thanks to Tesla cutting prices for its electric vehicles earlier in January. I think there's just a vast number of people that want to buy a Tesla car, but can't afford it," said Tesla CEO Elon Musk at an earnings call with analysts on Wednesday, according to a transcript. In response, Tesla has raised the price of its Model Y. The Model Y now costs $500 more at $53,490 — after a price cut of $13,000 earlier this month.

☆ Nissan and Renault close in on overhaul of alliance
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

TOKYO/PARIS, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Nissan and Renault are closing in on a sweeping overhaul of their globe-spanning automaking alliance as top executives meet on Thursday for talks to reset the two-decade-old partnership and chart a course for an uncertain electric future. Leaders of Nissan Motor Co Ltd (7201.T) and Renault SA (RENA.PA) are meeting via video link for an alliance board meeting, sources previously told Reuters. The future shape of the Franco-Japanese alliance has implications for both companies as well as their junior partner, Mitsubishi Motors Corp (7211.T). Renault, for instance, has said it will partner with companies from China's Geely Automobile Holdings (0175.HK) to semiconductor giant Qualcomm Inc (QCOM.O). Nissan has been concerned that the technology it has developed while partnered with Renault could leak to the French automaker's partners as it restructures, Reuters has reported.

The future of the Saarlouis site has been unclear since last June when Ford picked a site in Spain to assemble its next-generation electric vehicle (EV) over the German plant, which will stop producing its current model, the Ford Focus, from 2025. Separately, union representatives for Ford's largest German site in Cologne will meet with Ford's management on Saturday to negotiate on planned job cuts across Europe announced by management to workers on Monday. Management figures presented a worst-case scenario to 12,000 workers in a packed assembly hall of up to 2,500 job cuts in product development and a further 700 in administration. The carmaker has committed to an all-electric lineup in Europe by 2030 and its U.S. leadership has repeatedly flagged that EVs require less labour. Reporting by Victoria Waldersee and Christina Amann; Editing by Paul Carrel, Alexander Smith and Andrea RicciOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Honda to create division to speed up electrification development
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

TOKYO, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Honda Motor Co (7267.T) said on Tuesday it would create a new division in a bid to strengthen and speed up its electrification business as part of an overhaul of its organisational structure. Japanese automakers have been at risk of falling behind their European and U.S. rivals in the EV market. In changes effective April 1, the new division would consolidate the Japanese automaker's electrification strategy and development of automobiles, motorcycles and power products such as generators, it said in a statement. Integrating to the three was to "rapidly develop the implementation of resource shifts in accordance with the future lineup strategy in line with the electrification acceleration," a spokesperson said in a briefing. Honda last year laid out a target to roll out 30 EV models globally and produce about 2 million EVs a year by 2030.

The company wants to axe up to 2,500 jobs in product development and up to 700 in administrative roles, with German locations most affected, IG Metall said. Ford last year announced a $2 billion investment to expand production at its Cologne plant to make an all-electric model for the mass market. It also has a partnership with Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) to produce 1.2 million vehicles on the German carmaker's MEB electric platform over six years. That partnership remains in place, Ford and Volkswagen representatives said, though Ford's U.S. spokesperson added that Volkswagen's role in Ford's next generation of European electric vehicles was still to be determined. "We will not hold back from measures that could seriously impact the company, not just in Germany but Europe-wide."

☆ GM to invest $918 million in new V-8 gas engines and EV components
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Michael Wayland | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The $918 million investment, which GM announced Friday, is despite the automaker's plans to exclusively offer all-electric consumer vehicles by 2035. A majority of the investment — $579 million — will go toward preparing GM's Flint Engine Operations plant in Michigan for the automaker's sixth-generation family of small-block V-8 gas engines. The engines are used in some of the automaker's most highly profitable products, such as its full-size pickup trucks and SUVs. GM said work at the Flint facility will begin immediately, signaling the next-generation V-8 engines are on the horizon. The last new family of V-8 engines came about in 2013.

☆ GM, LG end plans for fourth U.S. battery cell plant as automaker seeks new partner
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Michael Wayland | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

DETROIT – General Motors and LG Energy Solution have indefinitely shelved plans to build a fourth battery cell plant in the U.S., as talks between the two sides recently ended without an agreement, a person familiar with the plans confirmed to CNBC. The paper, citing unnamed sources familiar with the plans, said GM is in discussions with at least one other battery supplier to proceed with the fourth U.S. battery-cell factory. GM and LG initially announced the joint-venture for a $2.3 billion plant in Ohio in December 2019, followed by other plants near GM operations in Michigan and Tennessee. A spokeswoman for Ultium referred questions to GM and LG Energy, which did not immediately respond for comment. The relationship between GM and LG Energy is crucial to the automaker's future plans for EVs, including topping Tesla and others to become the U.S. leader in all-electric vehicle sales.

☆ Elon Musk made sure the jury knew that short-sellers weren't 'a seller of small stature' during the Tesla shareholder trial
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Samantha Delouya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk joked that short seller does not stand for "seller of small stature" during his testimony in a trial on Friday. The trial was due to a shareholder lawsuit that claimed Musk manipulated Tesla's stock price via a 2018 tweet. When asked by attorney Nicholas Porritt whether short sellers were an issue for Tesla as a public company, Musk replied, "I think most people don't know what short seller means. Musk has long been critical of short sellers, who are investors who bet that a company's stock will fall. In 2020, as Tesla's stock was rising, Musk sold red satin "short shorts" on the EV-maker's website, seemingly to mock the company's many short sellers.

☆ Stocks making the biggest moves midday: Norwegian Cruise Line, Allstate, Roblox and more
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Michelle Fox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

A Norwegian Gateway cruise ship leaves from the Manhattan port during sunset in New York City, United States on April 10, 2022. Vornado Realty Trust — Shares of the real estate investment trust shed 3.3% after cutting its quarterly dividend to 37.5 cents per share from 53 cents. Roblox — Roblox shares shed 6% following a downgrade to an underweight rating by analysts at Morgan Stanley. Alcoa — Shares of the aluminum company fell 4.6% on Thursday after the company announced its fourth quarter results. Alcoa's adjusted fourth quarter loss was 70 cents per share, narrower than the 81 cent loss expected, according to StreetAccount.

GM and the factory workers - who allege illegal termination after the company decided to exit - have been locked in legal battles since 2021. The latest filing signals an escalation in the dispute as workers accuse GM's India unit and its executives, including CEO Mary Barra, of failing to follow court orders. In its earlier court filings, it has said the industrial court acted beyond its power in ordering the compensation. The union disagreed, and said GM continues to "blatantly violate" the industrial court's order by not paying the workers a single cent. After that, GM ceased all operations and moved to close the plant in Maharashtra, but it has not received permission.

According to the document, Aramco's investment would be used to support development of decarbonization technologies for gasoline engines. SUBJECT TO BOARD APPROVALSThe oil company's deal with Geely and Renault still needs approval by the boards of the automakers, one of the people said. For Geely, the deal with Renault extends its pattern of building partnerships to expand beyond China. In that kind of arrangement, gasoline engines could be designed to operate in an "exceptionally efficient mode," one of the sources said. Geely has a previously announced a hybrid gasoline engine development deal with Mercedes-Benz (MBGn.DE) and holds a stake in the German automaker.

☆ What's faster than a Corvette? A 'Vette with an electric motor
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Joseph White | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/4] General Motors Co's new, hybrid electric sports car, the Corvette E-Ray, is seen in this undated handout photo obtained by Reuters January 15, 2023. General Motors/Handout via REUTERSDETROIT, Jan 17 (Reuters) - General Motors Co (GM.N) on Tuesday revealed a new, hybrid Corvette sports car that uses an electric motor and battery to amp up acceleration and go in the snow. The Corvette E-Ray - a play on the Stingray name used for gasoline-powered versions of the sports car - was revealed on the 70th anniversary of the debut of the original Corvette. The Corvette E-Ray will use a 12-volt lithium-ion battery and a 160-horsepower electric motor to drive the front wheels. A fully electric Corvette will come, but GM executives are not saying when.

☆ Jim Cramer's top 10 things to watch in the market Tuesday: Morgan Stanley beat, Goldman Sachs miss, Estee Lauder boost
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Jim Cramer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Piper Sandler raises price target on Club stock Cisco Systems (CSCO) to $49 per share from $47; keeps neutral rating. Wells Fargo has an overweight (buy) rating and a $125-per-share price target. Wells Fargo downgrades Pfizer (PFE) to equal weight from overweight (hold from buy), with a $4-per-share price target cut to $50. Bank of America lowers price target on TSLA shares to $130 each from $135. Jefferies is concerned, too; catch-up price target cut to $180 from $350.

Renault and Nissan declined to comment. The two sides have been in intensive negotiations since October when Renault CEO Luca De Meo went to Japan to meet Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida. Renault is looking for Nissan to invest in an electric-vehicle business it will carve out of its operations, while Nissan wants Renault to sell most its roughly 43% stake in Nissan to put the 23-year alliance on a more equal footing, Reuters has previously reported. The details of Renault's proposed protections for Nissan technology were not immediately known. Nissan holds 15% of Renault and does not hold voting rights.

☆ Tesla cuts prices in U.S., Germany in pivot to drive sales
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The U.S. price cuts, announced late Thursday in U.S. time on the Model 3 and Model Y, ranged between 6% and 20% compared with the prices that held before the discount, according to a Reuters calculation. In Germany, Tesla cut prices on the Model 3 sedan and the Model Y crossover - its global top-seller - by between about 1% and amost 17% depending on the configuration. For a U.S. buyer of the long-range Model Y, the new Tesla price combined with the U.S. subsidy that took effect this month amounts to a discount of 31%. Tesla cut prices in China and other Asian markets last week. Tesla has also cut prices in South Korea, Japan, Australia and Singapore.

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