🚨EXCLUSIVE: PORSCHES, BENTLEYS & AUDIS CONTAIN BANNED CHINESE PART🚨
🚘1,000s of cars held at US ports
🚘Sub-supplier used part from "western China"
🚘US bans imports from Xinjiang/other regions over forced labour
Scoop w/
@Dimi
&
@patricianilsson
:
NEW:
Kemi Badenoch told MPs trade talks with Canada were "ongoing".
Canada says otherwise:
"There have been neither negotiations nor technical discussions with respect to any of the outstanding issues."
FT scoop from
@GeorgeWParker
,
@LOS_Fisher
& me:
A Toyota Hilux ad has been banned in the UK...because it showed the vehicles driving OFF-ROAD.
The Advertising Standards Agency warned it depicted "driving with no regard for the environmental impact".
Read the full, crazy story here:
This, from
@elonmusk
on the Tesla call last night, is a really interesting perspective on EV uptake.
He thinks people will buy EVs because they're better, *even* if they're not due to replace their old car.
A potential huge one-off disruption of current replacement cycles.
Quietly, Britain's historic motorcycle brands are becoming Indian.
First TVS and Norton, now Mahindra and BSA.
Interview with Anand Mahindra and
@reach_anupam
on their plans to make electric bikes in Coventry:
🚨FT Scoop: EU will *not* delay UK tariff rules on imported EVs🚨
⚡️Rules of Origin will apply for EVs from Jan 2024
⚡️Official says battery investment has "fallen off a cliff"
⚡️Decision costs carmakers >€4bn
Scoop by
@AndyBounds
, w/
@pmdfoster
& me:
🚨FT EXCLUSIVE: NISSAN IN TALKS TO MAKE 2 RENAULT MODELS IN SUNDERLAND🚨
- plans to move Renault Kadjar & Captur from Spain
- discussions are live
- also set to close Barcelona = more work for Renault in France
Story with
@KanaInagaki
&
@DavidKeo
:
FT EXCLUSIVE: Most major EU trade deals - including Japan, S Korea, Canada and Turkey - won't be rolled over to UK after Brexit, EVEN under May's deal, trade dept warns businesses:
🚨Labour will reinstate 2030 ban on new petrol cars if elected, shadow biz secretary
@jreynoldsMP
tells the FT🚨
"Plan for the auto sector" includes binding chargepoint targets for councils.
From
@PickardJE
,
@_MODwyer
& me:
Carlos Ghosn slaps down Tesla at Paris Motor Show opening session:
"10 years ago everyone said car makers are dinosaurs, and tech companies would eat us.
"Today, the industry makes 95m cars, and the new entrants make 100,000 cars - and don't make money."
🚨Breaking - Nissan announces £400m Sunderland investment🚨
- New £52m press line opened
- Majority of £400m already spent
- Investment despite company warning of Brexit "jeopardising" export model
- £11m government support
Full story:
Volkswagen will axe 60% of models by 2030, CFO tells
@JoeMillerJr
.
Group is now focussed on premium and margins.
First GM, now VW turns its back on race to be world number one. Does this mean Toyota wins?
NEW: I am told that Nissan is receiving ~£100m in government support (beyond the £80m spent on a new energy system by Sunderland council).
Manufacturing boss Kevin Fitzpatrick tells me the final figure still be negotiated, but says sum is "significant".
🚨NEW: Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida says "world must move on" from engines🚨
🔋Nissan will launch only EVs in Europe in future
🔋All-EV line-up in Europe by 2030
🔋"No going back," despite UK policy, he says
First details on
@FT
:
From Goldman's note on Tesla - here are all the coming electric vehicles* that we know about. And there are a LOT.
*not counting those from the bazillion EV startups
🚨NEW: Ford is prepared to restrict UK sales of petrol cars to hit EV targets, EU boss Martin Sander tells
#FTCar
🚨
🔋"Only alternative" to selling EVs at loss is to cut petrol sales.
🔋Move will likely see petrol car prices rise.
First details:
What is REALLY behind Tesla's decision to turn down €1.1bn from EU for its Berlin battery plant?
Turns out project delays mean it would have breached a key condition of the funding.
Full details in story w/
@JoeMillerJr
here:
🚘BREAKING: Honda has found a buyer for the Swindon plant🚘
🔧New owner Panattoni is a logistics site installer (basically, fits out warehouses for Amazon etc).
🔧Panattoni to invest £700m in the site, promises "thousands of new opportunities"
🔧4,500 people currently at site
🚨Big breaking investment🚨
Jaguar Land Rover to spend close to £1bn converting Castle Bromwich to build electric cars.
First new model with be electric XJ.
CEO calls on government to push for UK battery giga-factory.
Full story:
BREAKING - Dyson to make first electric car in Singapore.
- construction on plant begins this year
- UK, China and Malaysia were shortlisted
- more plants to follow in future
- confirms "all options" open on battery tech, including buying it in
🚨BREAKING: Nissan announces £2bn Sunderland factory investment🚨
🔋2 new EVs; plant to be EV-only this decade
🔋Nissan will put in £1.12bn (rest expected from Chinese battery supplier Envision's AESC)
🔋3rd UK battery plant to be built
Full
@FT
story:
This doesn't add up.
BMW iX doesn't have self driving tech. It has "level 2" lane-assist that requires the driver to keep control.
If BMW *does* have autonomous test cars in Reutlingen (and there's no record it does), then why are there 5 people including a child(!) in the car?
"Companies that cannot respond will be wiped out," says Honda's CEO.
Epochal moment to see arch-rivals Honda & Nissan team up on EVs.
Follows VW/Renault talks in Europe.
The legacy industry is fighting to survive the Chinese wave.
From
@KanaInagaki
:
🚘 Sale of new petrol/diesel cars to be banned by 2030 in UK 🚘
⚡ plug in hybrids allowed until 2035
⚡ car makers this morning call the measures "too narrow"
⚡ announcement expected this week
Full story with
@PickardJE
:
The one chart that explains why carmakers are trying to secure direct lithium supplies.
From today's deep dive into auto-mining deals, by
@harrydemps
& me:
🚨🚨FT EXCLUSIVE🚨🚨
Nissan will reconsider building Qashqai in Sunderland in a no-deal Brexit.
The decision could spell the eventual closure of the site.
Story with
@KanaInagaki
:
🔋Scoop: BYD rules out UK plant🔋
🔧Shortlist of 5 for 1st European plant
🔧UK "didn't even make top ten"
🔧In talks for Ford plant in Saarlouis
"As an investor we want a country to be stable," says European president Michael Shu.
Full interview:
Pretty staggering.
Chancellor Javid says the chief concern of businesses is NOT Brexit, but a potential Labour government.
Has he...actually spoken to any?
UK car plants are more concerned about Brexit than literally anything else.
"In February, Lucid said that it expected to build between 12,000 and 14,000 vehicles in 2022, down from an original forecast of 20,000...it now expects to deliver just 6,000 to 7,000 vehicles in 2022."
Who can catch Tesla? On current projections, only VW.
(One caveat: our data was crunched before Ford this week doubled its ambition.
@jimfarley98
said he wants Ford to be
#1
in US)
Deep dive into the numbers from
@PatrickMcGee_
&
@JoeMillerJr
:
🚨UK transport green plan leaked🚨
⚡ Diesel truck sales banned from 2040
⚡Gov fleet to go electric by 2027
⚡ Consultation on China-style ZEV credit system
⚡Road pricing mooted
FT team exclusive from
@PickardJE
,
@NathalieThomas3
,
@pmdfoster
& me:
Ford CEO Jim Farley on Ford's decision to focus on specific vehicles in future lineup:
"If your strategy is two-row crossovers, you better have the cost structure of BYD."
🚨Exclusive: Trouble at Arrival🚨
🚚US van will take years
🚚1st "microfactory" van largely hand built
🚚looting as morale hits "rock bottom"
🚚turned down Amazon deal
🚚working on secret jet
🚚van fire during UPS demo
Full story:
🚨SCOOP: Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer is going🚨
🏎️Mercedes-AMG boss Tobias Moers to replace Palmer
🏎️Announcement planned for Tuesday
🏎️More executive changes expected under new Aston chairman Lawrence Stroll (CFO & chair left in April)
Full story:
⚡NEW - UK cuts plug-in car grant from £3,000 to £2,500.⚡
Vehicle price cap also cut from £50k to £35k.
Effective immediately.
Industry only told this morning.
Exclusive: 6 companies - including Jaguar Land Rover - are in talks with UK gov over "Project Birch" support that may lead to gov owning equity stakes.
Aston Martin and McLaren, despite earlier speculation, are not involved.
Scoop from
@PickardJE
& me:
@AndyatAston
asked if Aston Martin is less exposed to hard Brexit than others because of its luxury status.
"We're less exposed but equally pissed off".
If the E.U. wants to further increase their already massive tariffs and barriers on U.S. companies doing business there, we will simply apply a Tax on their Cars which freely pour into the U.S. They make it impossible for our cars (and more) to sell there. Big trade imbalance!
🚨🚨🚨BREAKING: Nissan announces £1bn gigafactory plan🚨🚨🚨
⚡New battery plant to supply 100,000 cars
⚡New EV model for Sunderland
⚡Option to expand battery plant from 9GWh to 25GWh by 2030
🚨EXCLUSIVE: Nissan in talks to build UK gigafactory🚨
⚡️Sunderland to be "global EV hub" outside Japan
⚡️Talks with gov began after Brexit deal, still ongoing
⚡️Announcement due this summer
⚡️20gWh planned size, 1st part online late 2024
Full story:
Fascinating tale from
@EleanorOlcott
&
@edwardwhitenz
about how China (which is Tesla's growth engine) is becoming worried about Elon Musk's Starlink programme:
🚨BREAKING: VW faces fine of over €100m after missing European CO2 targets in 2020.🚨
CEO
@Herbert_Diess
says company was "thwarted by the pandemic".
More details on FT liveblog:
This is the picture everyone in the industry has wanted to see - the Dyson car.
But at £150,000 (!!) it was never commercially viable.
(Photo from his interview with the Sunday Times Rich List:
)
I've been pondering this question for a while: Why aren't electric cars cheaper to lease?
With much better understanding of battery health & very few moving parts, EVs *should* hold value well.
Here's my deep dive into the EV residual value debate:
🚨Breaking: Ford all-electric in Europe by 2035🚨
⚡️Turkey gigafactory for Transit EVs
⚡️All vans🔋by 2035 (prev target 2/3 by 2030)
⚡️7 new BEV models announced
Full details:
🚨NEW: Mercedes CEO says EU should *CUT* tariffs on Chinese EVs🚨
🔋"Let competition play out", Ola Kallenius tells me
🔋Carmakers "did not ask for" EU probe
🔋Must fight back with "better product, better tech, more agility"
W/
@patricianilsson
: