Automobile

Bloomberg A semiconductor shortage is pinching some of the world’s biggest auto manufacturers, costing Daimler AG, Nissan Motor Co., Honda Motor Co., Ford Motor Co. and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV production for a range of cars. Mercedes-Benz maker Daimler joined its German peer Volkswagen AG in announcing it’s affected by the industrywide supply bottleneck, without quantifying the impact. Honda said …

Bloomberg Hyundai Motor backed away from a statement confirming it is in talks with Apple Inc. on developing self-driving car that fuelled an $8 billion surge in the Korean automaker’s market value, saying instead that it received requests for potential cooperation from a number of companies. Revising its statement for the second time in a matter of hours, Hyundai said …

Bloomberg Rivian Automotive Inc., the electric-truck startup backed by Amazon.com Inc. and Ford Motor Co., is close to raising a new round of funding valuing it at about $25 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. Several existing Rivian investors are participating in the round, which will raise several billion dollars. Existing investors in company include Amazon, T. Rowe …

Bloomberg The auto industry dodged disaster when the UK and European Union (EU) sealed a post-Brexit trade accord, but not before carmakers announced factory closures and called off plans to make several new vehicles in the country. More damage may still be done even with the deal. Automakers including Nissan Motor Co. might struggle to qualify some UK-assembled models for …

Bloomberg Ford Motor Co. is reversing plans to cede most of its Indian operations to Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., deciding to pull out of a proposed joint venture and continue its standalone business in the country. The companies agreed to terminate the venture after reassessing in part due to the global coronavirus pandemic, they said. The decision ends a deal …

Bloomberg Tesla Inc. is coming to the end of its first year selling China-made cars with a commanding position in world’s biggest electric-vehicle market, but Elon Musk shouldn’t rest on his laurels. While Tesla regularly topped monthly premium EV sales tallies in 2020, helped by the sedans churned out from its multibillion-dollar plant opened to much fanfare in Shanghai last …

Bloomberg The problem with writing an annual retrospective on the luxury cars that should have been better in 2020 is that the worst of them weren’t actually bad, they were just forgettable. Or underwhelming. When you consider that the worst cars in past decades would actually break down, blow up, or impale you upon impact, complaining about being forgettable or …

Bloomberg Apple Inc. plans to build a self-driving car for consumers and is targeting 2024 to produce the vehicle, Reuters reported. The company is developing its own battery technology that could reduce the cost of power packs and extend the vehicle’s range, Reuters said Apple is tapping outside partners for elements of the system, including lidar sensors that provide autonomous …

Bloomberg Retail sales in Canada came in better than expected in October as more people bought cars, underscoring the effects of government income support and a recovering labour market. Sales climbed 0.4% from the prior month, Statistics Canada said in Ottawa, the sixth-straight monthly increase. Economists predicted no change. The September figure was revised to a gain of 1.9% from …

Bloomberg Volkswagen AG, the German automaker, is bracing for a major production disruption from a shortage of semiconductors. The world’s largest automaker will need to adjust first-quarter manufacturing plans around the globe because of the bottleneck, VW said in an emailed statement, without giving specific figures. The number of cars affected could be in the low six-digit range. The situation …