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☆ Regulators Launch Probe of GM’s Cruise Autonomous-Driving System
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Ryan Felton | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

U.S. auto-safety regulators have launched an investigation into the autonomous-driving system used by General Motors Co.’s driverless-car unit. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in a filing made public Friday that it had received notices of incidents in which vehicles from GM’s Cruise LLC division might engage in inappropriately hard braking or stall while operating on public roads.

☆ UAW wins key vote to represent Ohio EV battery factory
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Chris Isidore | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

New York CNN —Workers at the Ultium Cells plant, co-owned by General Motors and Korean giant LG, voted overwhelmingly this week to join the United Auto Workers union. Like Ultium most of those battery plants are joint ventures with battery makers rather than wholly owned by the automakers themselves. That means the workers at those new plants will not be part of the UAW unless they vote to join. So it’s crucial for the UAW to be able to organize these slew of joint venture battery plants popping up nationwide. While GM (GM) is not the sole owner of the plant, its executives welcomed the union in hopes it helps to maintain labor peace with contract talks looming next fall.

☆ GM to roll put thousands of electric vehicle chargers in rural America
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Peter Valdes-Dapena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN Business —General Motors is moving ahead with plans to install as many as 40,000 electric vehicle chargers in, mostly, rural parts of America. The chargers will have industry-standard J1772 charging plugs that can be used by most electric vehicles, not just GM (GM) models. Many GM dealership owners — these are independently owned businesses — own more than one dealership. Today, most electric vehicles in America are sold in coastal areas like New York and California. GM declined to say how much it’s spending on this particular program, but it’s part of an overall $750 million the automaker plans to spend on electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

☆ GM’s Cruise Seeks Regulatory OK to Test Shuttle With No Steering Wheel
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Ryan Felton | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

General Motors Co.’s driverless-car unit has requested approval from California regulators to begin public testing of a shuttle that has no steering wheel or manual controls, showing the auto maker’s determination to make progress on autonomous vehicles as rivals step back. GM’s Cruise LLC division in August submitted an application to the California Department of Motor Vehicles, requesting permission to test its Origin driverless vehicle on San Francisco streets, according to a copy of the document obtained through a public records request.

☆ Zero-Based Budgeting, Currency Hedges Among the Tools CFOs Can Use to Weather Headwinds
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( Nina Trentmann | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +6 min

One area to which finance chiefs scouting for efficiencies have turned is zero-based budgeting, a tool that gained popularity early in the pandemic and requires finance executives to question and justify each line item in every new budget period. Reese’s peanut-butter cup maker Hershey Co., based in Pennsylvania, regularly goes through every line of its profit and loss statement, Finance Chief Steve Voskuil said. Detroit-based General Motors Co. is slowing and in some areas even freezing hiring, and homing in on other fixed costs, Chief Financial Officer Paul Jacobson has said. Facing high inflation and an uncertain outlook, finance chiefs are using zero-based budgeting to lower expenses in areas including operations, real estate, logistics, sales and marketing. Finance executives at large U.S. companies, including Coca-Cola Co. and materials-science company Dow Inc., are increasing their foreign-currency hedges and covering longer time periods.

☆ Subsidies Supercharge GM’s EV Strategy
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Stephen Wilmot | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The transition to electric vehicles might not kill traditional auto makers after all—as long as they qualify for Washington’s flagship subsidy program. At an investor day Thursday, General Motors laid bare the economics of its technological shift. The bad news: GM estimated that its operating margins on EVs would still only be in the low to mid-single digits at the end of 2025. That calculation includes sales of regulatory credits for greenhouse-gas emissions, but excludes new tax credits that President Biden signed into law in August as part of the Inflation Reduction Act.

☆ Elon Musk Tries to Convince Wary Advertisers to Stay on Twitter
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Patrick Coffee | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +6 min

That prompted Mr. Musk to say there has been a “massive drop in revenue” in a tweet last Friday. “I understand if people want to, you know, give it a minute and see how things are evolving,” Mr. Musk said. “Obviously Twitter cannot be simply some extension of me, because then anyone who doesn’t agree with me will be put off,” Mr. Musk said. Other potential new features include letting verified subscribers post high-quality videos that are up to several hours long, according to Mr. Musk. Twitter’s pivot toward subscriptions and e-commerce could also help minimize trolls and fake accounts, according to Mr. Musk.

☆ Self-driving cars were supposed to take over the road. What happened?
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( Matt Mcfarland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Caitlin O'Hara/Bloomberg/Getty ImagesGeneral Motors bought a self-driving company in 2016. Big talk, smaller resultsUrmson, while leading Google’s self-driving car project before founding Aurora, talked of his preteen son never needing to get a driver’s license. A self-driving car, without a steering wheel or pedals, would have to be able to drive itself in literally every situation possible. “It’s really, really hard,” Waymo’s then-CEO John Krafcik said in 2018 of self-driving technology. Companies developing lidar, widely seen as a key component for self-driving vehicles, as well as self-driving companies, have seen their stocks plummet recently.

New York CNN Business —General Motors is pausing its advertising on Twitter now that the social media platform is owned by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, the company said in a statement Friday. “We are engaging with Twitter to understand the direction of the platform under their new ownership. As is normal course of business with a significant change in a media platform, we have temporarily paused our paid advertising,” the company said in an emailed statement. Musk took control of Twitter Thursday evening, ending a six-month round of on-again-off-again negotiations and court wrangling about purchasing the social media platform. But he said if advertisers do continue to pull their dollars from Twitter, it won’t just be automakers.

☆ The Chevy Bolt’s huge sales prove America is craving a cheap electric car
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Peter Valdes-Dapena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

The Bolt EV and its new, more SUV-like sibling the Bolt EUV had record sales in the third quarter of the year with 14,000 being delivered to customers. Prices for the new Bolt EUV, which is taller and roomier, dropped to a base of about $28,200, $6,300 less than before. The 2023 Bolt EV now has a starting price of $25,600 and, for the Bolt EUV, $27,200. The Chevrolet Bolt EUV is a taller, roomier version of the Bolt EV electric hatchback. Like many electric cars, it can be driven “one pedal” style, with the car braking gently as the accelerator pedal is lifted.

☆ Yeezy without the Ye? Who is new ‘sole’ owner
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Jon Sarlin | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

While the Adidas statement definitively closes the door on selling Yeezy branded products, according to legal experts I talked with, it opens the door for them to rebrand the existing Yeezy designs sans Ye. Haff told me that the “sole owner” sentence in Adidas statement is a legal “warning shot” to Ye. Could Ye now build out his own Yeezy fashion brand? Adidas’ Yeezy sneakers were some of the most coveted and influential shoes, often selling for thousands of dollars on the resale market. Last month, Cowen analyst John Kernan estimated that the Yeezy brand accounts for 4 to 8% of Adidas’ overall revenues.

☆ Elon Musk said Tesla could be the biggest company in the world. He's also about to sell more shares
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Michael Ballaban | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

On Wednesday evening’s earnings call, the Tesla CEO claimed that his company, a maker of niche luxury cars, would someday be worth more than Apple and Saudi Aramco. Tesla’s market value is $650 billion – down 7% after the company walked back a projection of 50% growth this year. Musk said the Tesla Model 3 would cost a mere $35,000, and it does not. Musk later apparently came off this idea, saying “robots are very bad at picking up fluff.”The point is, Elon Musk promises a lot of stuff. That does not exactly add up to a company that beats Apple and literally Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil company.

☆ Celestiq EV is GM’s most audacious Cadillac since Great Depression
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Paul Lienert | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Oct 17 (Reuters) - General Motors Co's (GM.N) Cadillac brand on Monday pulled the wraps off the Celestiq, a $300,000-plus flagship electric vehicle that is the brand's most audacious new model since the 1930 Cadillac Sixteen. Unlike the 16-cylinder roadster that was launched just months after the 1929 crash, the 2024 Celestiq has no monster gasoline engine under its long hood. Instead, it boasts twin electric motors producing 600 horsepower and a 111-kilowatt-hour battery pack shared with GM's Hummer EV. The Sixteen could be ordered in 1930 in several body styles, including roadster, coupe, sedan and limousine. The late historian Beverly Kimes noted that the 1930 Cadillac Sixteen Town Brougham was priced at just over $9,000, or roughly $163,500 in today's money.

☆ First on CNN: GM investing in mushroom leather startup
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Peter Valdes-Dapena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN Business —General Motors’ venture capital arm has invested in a California startup that’s making imitation leather from mushrooms. It could provide an alternative to both traditional leather made from animal skins, usually cattle, and artificial leather made from plastics. The resulting material feels like leather, has similar durability and can be colored using processes that do not involve harmful substances, just as animal-based leather can. Using various processes company representatives declined to discuss, the mycelia are made to interweave as they grow, forming the leather-like material. MycoWorks and GM Ventures both declined to say how much GM Venture is investing.

☆ The 2024 Chevy Trax is GM’s new take on its cheapest SUV
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Peter Valdes-Dapena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —General Motors unveiled a new, slightly bigger redesigned version of its cheapest entry-level SUV, the Trax. The subcompact Trax SUV has a starting price of just $21,500, a couple of hundred dollars below it’s current price putting it firmly among the cheapest SUVs on the market. All versions of the Trax, including flashy-looking Trax RS models, will have starting prices under $25,000, GM executives said. The Venue, Hyundai’s cheapest SUV, is front-wheel-drive only but the slightly more expensive Kona offers all-wheel-drive as an option. Active noise cancellation will also be a standard feature on all Trax models.

☆ GM to take equity stake in Australian mining company
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

GM said the investment will help support electric-vehicle eligibility for consumer incentives under new, clean energy U.S. tax credits. GM said the nickel laterite ore is expected to be processed using a new, proprietary process that helps reduce waste. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterThe GM investment is to assist in the development of its proposed Townsville Energy Chemicals Hub (TECH) Project in Northern Australia. High-grade nickel laterite ore will be imported from nearby New Caledonia, GM said. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by David Shepardson; editing by Jonathan Oatis and David GregorioOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ The Last Word: Angela Lansbury
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( Mervyn Rothstein | Kassie Bracken | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +11 min

In between, Angela Lansbury’s career spanned seven decades and countless transformations on stage, screen and television. It was missing the night of the fire.” “Jessica Fletcher was probably about as close not to me, but to the sort of woman that I might have been had I not been an actress.” Angela Brigid Lansbury was born in London in 1925. I didn’t know anything. ‘This could be it.’ And I had a special dress made and, oh, I don’t know, It’s just — I think soon after that, I came to New York.” In the mid-’60s, Angela Lansbury returned to the theater. In 2009, she won her fifth Tony Award for playing Madame Arcati in “Blithe Spirit.” Ms. Lansbury was 83 years old.

☆ GM is starting an energy storage subsidiary to take on the Tesla Powerwall
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( Peter Valdes-Dapena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

The new business unit, called GM Energy, will consist of Ultium Home, Ultium Commercial and Ultium Charge 360 divisions. Ultium Home and Ultium Commercial will, as their names imply, supply energy storage for homes and businesses, respectively. GM Energy will also be involved with hydrogen fuel cells and solar energy products, GM said in its announcement. GM Energy will work with California’s Pacific Gas and Electric on a pilot program to test the concept using GM electric vehicles starting in 2023, GM said in the announcement. The new subsidiary is also working with solar energy provider SunPower, which will install solar panels on customers’ homes, GM said.

☆ Honda is spending $3.5 billion to build a battery factory in Ohio
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( Peter Valdes-Dapena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Honda and South Korean battery maker LG Energy Solutions are investing $3.5 billion to build a joint venture battery factory in southern Ohio, the car company said Tuesday. Construction on the battery plant is expected to begin early next year and should be completed by the end of 2024. At the Marysville plant, battery cells from the Fayette County battery factory will be installed in the battery cases made in Anna. The Marysville factory opened in 1982 and was Honda’s first auto factory in the United States. Honda now has 18 factories producing Honda and Acura vehicles in the United States.

☆ Gambler Claims Online Casino BetMGM Glitches Robbed His Winnings, Fueled Addiction
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-29 | by ( Katherine Sayre | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A New York man who said he has a gambling addiction has accused online casino operator BetMGM of plying him with free bets to keep him from reporting game glitches to regulators, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday. Sam A. Antar alleged that BetMGM’s online blackjack and other games repeatedly disconnected from BetMGM’s servers, often while he had favorable hands, which wiped out potential winnings, according to the lawsuit. His winnings at times weren’t available to him until he deposited more money into his account, further fueling his compulsive gambling that included more than $29 million in bets in nine months, the lawsuit said.

☆ GM to invest $760 million to shift Ohio plant to EV-part production
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterThe new GM logo is seen on the facade of the General Motors headquarters in Detroit, Michigan, U.S., March 16, 2021. REUTERS/Rebecca CookToledo, OHIO/WASHINGTON, Sept 23 (Reuters) - General Motors Co (GM.N) said Friday it will invest $760 million at its Toledo, Ohio factory to build drive units for electric trucks, the automaker's first U.S. powertrain facility repurposed for EV-related production. Congress in August approved significant financial incentives for automakers to convert plants producing parts for gasoline-pore vehicles to electric models. Many autoworkers have expressed concerns about the shift to EVs and if it would impact current auto employment. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by David Shepardson and Joseph White Editing by Nick ZieminskiOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Hertz to Buy Up to 175,000 EVs From GM
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-20 | by ( Mike Colias | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Hertz says it plans to offer GM’s electric models across its business lines, including leisure customers and business travelers. Hertz Global Holdings has agreed to buy up to 175,000 electric vehicles from General Motors over five years, the latest example of rental companies bulking up on EVs. The companies said Tuesday that Hertz would buy EVs from across GM’s four main brands in North America—Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac. The first orders would be for Chevy Bolt EVs starting early next year, the companies said.

☆ Tesla’s ‘full self-driving’ isn’t worth $15,000, say many who bought it
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-07 | by ( Matt Mcfarland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Washington, DC CNN —Tesla’s price for the feature it calls “full self-driving” has increased again. CNN Business spoke with 13 people who have cars with the “full self-driving” beta and the overwhelming majority, 11 people, said they felt it wasn’t worth $15,000. Moody said he expects consumers to pay for the monthly subscription of “full self-driving” rather than pay $15,000 for the promise of the feature’s future potential. Burke spoke with CNN Business during a multi-month road trip around the United States. Burke said that if he was in the market again for a Tesla, the $15,000 price for “full self-driving” would be worth it to him.

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