Tag Archives: Industry News

It Looks Like BMW Is Developing A Special M Car That Will Debut In 2022

December 22, 2021 admin

Could It Be A Special Edition M4?

It Looks Like BMW Is Developing A Special M Car That Will Debut In 2022 Exterior Spyshots
- image 1016902 — The report comes from g80.bimmerpost. A user on the forum stated that a “very special limited edition M4 will be produced for just a few months. starting November 2022.”

The report comes from BMW Blog and g80.bimmerpost. The former caught a post on the forum wherein the user stated that a “very special limited edition M4 will be produced for just a few months. starting November 2022.” BMW Blog noted that this user has a good track record with such things, so it can’t be passed off as a baseless rumor. However, there is still no confirmation surrounding it, so we suggest you take it with a pinch of salt.

The post also mentioned that the car “mostly configured like the CSL but with manual transmission, several options (comfort access, parking sensors, electric seats) deleted, and the forged wheels off G81.”

It’s A Big Milestone And An M4 Special Edition Won’t Do It

It Looks Like BMW Is Developing A Special M Car That Will Debut In 2022 Exterior Spyshots
- image 930420

All said and done, it may not be just an M4 edition. There are posts on the forum that talk about 50 Jahre models, but again, that’s something we might see during the year and it won’t be the special model. Motor1 has speculated that an 8 Series coupe that was spotted this year at the Nürburgring could be the one. But, you never know. If you were to ask us, we would speculate it to be an electric successor to the M1. However, take this with a pinch of salt, too. We would’ve guessed the M8 CSL to be the one, but this is already ruled out by BMW.

There’s One Thing That We’re Sure Of

It Looks Like BMW Is Developing A Special M Car That Will Debut In 2022
- image 1035485

BMW recently revealed that every M high-performance car that will be produced from March 2022 will feature a special logo that’s inspired by the classic ‘BMW Motorsport Logo’. The classic logo is a series of semicircles in blue, red, and violet shades. Each color has a meaning. Blue stands for BMW, red for motorsport, and violet is the unique combination of the two. The logo will be slapped on the front, rear, and wheel hubs. The classic logo has a rich history. It was first used in 1973. What we also know is that the company will come up with historically accurate M paint finishes, like the Dakar Yellow, Fire Orange, Daytona Violet, Macao Blue, Imola Red, or the Frozen Marina Bay Blue.

Final Thoughts

Now, all we can do is be on the lookout for the slightest of hints and try to connect the dots. At the moment all we know is that a special model is being planned, but have close to no idea what it could be. It will be quite a bummer if it turns out to be a special edition based on the M4. What we can vouch for is that it will be a limited-production model with an exorbitant price tag.

What do you think this could be? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section.

Source: g80.bimmerpost

Its official; Tesla HQ to move to Texas, Musk confirms. Find out why

October 9, 2021 admin

So, after spending nearly two decades in Los Angeles, Tesla’s CEO himself relocated to Austin last year. The billionaire entrepreneur had justified his personal move with the need to be closer to the two projects that were then occupying most of his time; the development of rockets by SpaceX, and the construction of Tesla’s new facility near Austin.

Addressing a gathering in front of the factory on the outskirts of the city, Musk said “We are pleased to announce that we are moving our headquarters to Austin,”

This is a symbolic move, however, it doesn’t mean that Tesla is leaving the West Coast altogether. “To be clear, we will continue to expand our operations in California,” said Musk.

Its official; Tesla HQ to move to Texas, Musk confirms. Find out why
- image 1023809

Some of the primary reasons for moving to Texas according to Musk include, the cost of living in Texas is lower for employees. According to experts, tax levies in Texas are projected to be far lower than in the golden state.

But, the entrepreneur noted, “you can’t expand forever in the San Francisco Bay Area, where density is high, the cost of living is high and traffic is often difficult. Whereas in Austin, the factory is located five minutes from the airport and fifteen minutes from downtown”.

But it’s not just Tesla that is making the move to Texas, other tech giants like HP & Oracle have also followed suit. Texas has been working hard in recent years to attract businesses with several tax incentives. With its highly rated universities and rich cultural life, Austin is certainly attracting a lot of attention. Here’s CNBC on why has Texas now become an attractive place for tech companies.

Its official; Tesla HQ to move to Texas, Musk confirms. Find out why
- image 1023814 — After this announcement, Musk later turned his attention to Business which according to the Billionaire CEO, is doing rather well

Musk later turned his attention to business, which he said was good for the company. Tesla announced in early October that it had delivered a record number of vehicles in the third quarter, against the backdrop of a market plagued by a shortage of semiconductors. The automaker is known for delivering a considerable number of vehicles, come the end of the quarter in order to impress investors with strong three-month figures.

Its official; Tesla HQ to move to Texas, Musk confirms. Find out why
- image 1023812 — Apart from the Austin factory, Europe’s very first Tesla plant, Giga Berlin in Germany. While Tesla HQ will move to Austin, the company will continue to have a strong presence in California. Swipe Up to Read More

In addition to the Texas factory, Tesla is constructing the first-ever European plant in Grünheide, near Berlin in Germany. It is projected that up to 12,000 people would work there and will produce up to 500,000 electric vehicles each year.

You can watch the entire presentation by Tesla below

Source: Youtube

Lordstown Motors Sells Home to Foxconn

October 1, 2021 admin

<img data-attachment-id="1766260" data-permalink="https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2021/06/lordstown-deathwatch-another-unflattering-sec-filing-emerges/lordstown-factory-solar-array/" data-orig-file="http://lntransportation.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/lordstown-motors-sells-home-to-foxconn-6.jpg" data-orig-size="1024,512" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="Lordstown factory solar array" data-image-description="

Lordstown Motors

The troubled Lordstown Motors has announced it will be selling its Ohio production facility to the Taiwanese Hon Hai Precision Industry, better known as Foxconn. But this is not a case of the prospective automaker offloading its assets so it can pay off its debts in full retreat. Instead, Lordstown has asserted this is a necessary partnership that will help guarantee it can still deliver the all-electric Endurance pickup truck.

Terms stipulate that Lordstown Motors will sell the sprawling factory to Foxconn for about $230 million. Two years ago, the site was purchased from General Motors for a very breezy $20 million after the Detroit-based manufacturer decided to abandon the Chevrolet Cruze. Foxconn will also be buying up $50 million worth of common stock and effectively take responsibility for production at Lordstown Assembly. However there is a laundry list of things that need to be done before pickup assembly is even an option.

The duo have yet to formalize their agreement as to how the Endurance will be assembled (with Foxconn presumed to take the lead) or collaborate with the relevant suppliers so that production can be maintained. They will also need to assemble the vehicles that will be used for the testing, validation, and verification, in order they can get the necessary regulatory approvals for moving forward.

Foxconn is assumed to be jumping in because it’s a multinational entity with trillions in revenue and ties dispersed across the technology sector and eager to expand into vehicle production. Some of its biggest clients have included Amazon, Apple, BlackBerry, Cisco, Dell, Fisker, Google, Hewlett-Packard, Huawei, Intel, Microsoft, Motorola, Nintendo, Sega, Sony, Toshiba, Vizio, and Xiaomi. Globally, Foxconn has more than a million employees and it remains the largest employer in mainland China by far.

Despite the prospective automaker having gotten itself into trouble of late (not that Foxconn is lacking in terms of scandal), news of the deal caused Lordstown shares to increase by as much as 12 percent on Thursday evening. Bloomberg reported that the stock climbed by 8.4 percent during regular hours, closing at $7.98.

From Bloomberg:

The accord gives both companies something they badly need. Lordstown Motors gets a partner that will hasten the startup’s move into large-scale production, which will help lower the high costs required to make EVs. Foxconn gets a plant in North America where it can build its open-source electric vehicle platform and do contract manufacturing for partners like Fisker Inc.

“It’s less about a facility sale than a strategic partnership,” Lordstown Motors Chief Executive Officer Dan Ninivaggi said in an interview. “You have to find a way to get scale in the auto industry. Foxconn has a vision. They’ve got enormous capabilities in manufacturing and they will be able to fill that plant faster than we could.”

Foxconn’s manufacturing prowess is irrefutable and it’s likely the firm was responsible for manufacturing at least one gaming console, computer, or cell phone you’ve previously owned. It also appears to be getting the better deal here since Lordstown had grown vocally desperate over the summer. Finances had reached a point where the company no longer knew if it would be able to reach the production phase and it is currently under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission and Department of Justice over its deal to go public — in addition to some allegedly false or misleading statements made by former management, including company founder and ex-CEO Steve Burns.

While the partnership does provide the cash-strapped EV startup with more funding, Foxconn now owns its only manufacturing facility and has the ability to jumpstart vehicle production ahead of plans to assist Fisker (likely using the same facility).

On a longer timeline, this could bode similarly well for Apple’s sporadic interest in building an automobile. But it’s a little early to presume anything right now. We’ll be impressed if Lordstown Motors manages to adhere to its promise of delivering its pickup within the first half of 2022.

<img data-attachment-id="1766264" data-permalink="https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2021/06/lordstown-deathwatch-another-unflattering-sec-filing-emerges/lordstown-motors-endurance-prototype/" data-orig-file="https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Lordstown-Motors-Endurance-prototype.jpg" data-orig-size="2000,1333" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="Lordstown Motors Endurance prototype" data-image-description="

Lordstown Motors

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[Image: Lordstown Motors]

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Volkswagen Group: Audi Employs Ken Block, Porsche Making 718 Electric

September 22, 2021 admin

<img data-attachment-id="1774616" data-permalink="https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2021/09/volkswagen-group-audi-employs-ken-block-porsche-making-718-electric/audi-block/" data-orig-file="https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Audi-Block-e1632344516704.png" data-orig-size="2867,1674" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="Audi Block" data-image-description="

Audi

Despite being the target of a German lawsuit accusing the manufacturer of not being green enough, Volkswagen Group is probably the legacy automaker touting the merits of electrification with the most enthusiasm. While undoubtedly influenced by the diesel emissions catastrophe that cheesed off every regulator in the Western world, its brand has actively been delivering EVs and praising alternative energy automobiles whenever possible.

There was more of that this week. Porsche has reportedly decided to make the 718 to be an all-electric model by 2025 and Audi recently announced that it’s employing rally icon and Hoonigan founder Ken Block (who broke with the Ford Motor Co. earlier this year) to develop EVs.

Audi announced Block’s involvement on Tuesday by simultaneously releasing a video and interview. The video is about what you’d expect and the interview feels about as organic as a cube of polyethylene. Block is supposed to be joining the company to help develop electric cars but there isn’t much in the way of details in the interview. Instead, it served as a vehicle for the professional driver to praise Audi products (perhaps genuinely) and discuss how it shouldn’t matter what’s beneath the hood so long as the car goes fast.

In case you’ve never seen one of his videos, Ken Block likes to go fast and he mentions it with the frequency and subtlety of Sonic the Hedgehog throughout the release. As I’ve never witnessed him being verbose, this was likely the most authentic aspect of the interview. But the rest was sprinkled with enough corporate buzz terms to make it feel like he may have been coached by his new employer.

“By testing electric cars in different contexts, we want to showcase mobility and electrification in new and entertaining ways. Audi has done an incredible job of driving their vehicles into the future,” Block stated. “Hopefully, I can pick up on that and have a lot of fun with it at the same time. Audi technology has always had a huge impact on me. In the 1980s, the brand used to dominate one of my all-time favorite sports events — the World Rally Championship — in a way that truly inspired me. Over the years, I’ve always had a real fan’s appreciation for what Audi achieved in racing way back when, right up to modern-day motorsport. I have always been very impressed with their progressiveness and the fact that they are constantly looking ahead.”

This led to a statement on humanity and the ways we all need to live to create a progressive, pro-mobility future. But the overall gist from Ken’s discussion is that electric vehicles are part of that and everyone needs to get on board.

<img data-attachment-id="1774614" data-permalink="https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2021/09/volkswagen-group-audi-employs-ken-block-porsche-making-718-electric/block-audi-2/" data-orig-file="http://lntransportation.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/volkswagen-group-audi-employs-ken-block-porsche-making-718-electric-5.jpg" data-orig-size="768,471" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="Block Audi 2" data-image-description="

Audi

” data-medium-file=”http://lntransportation.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/volkswagen-group-audi-employs-ken-block-porsche-making-718-electric-4.jpg” data-large-file=”http://lntransportation.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/volkswagen-group-audi-employs-ken-block-porsche-making-718-electric.jpg” class=”aligncenter size-large wp-image-1774614″ src=”http://lntransportation.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/volkswagen-group-audi-employs-ken-block-porsche-making-718-electric.jpg” alt width=”610″ height=”374″ srcset=”http://lntransportation.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/volkswagen-group-audi-employs-ken-block-porsche-making-718-electric.jpg 610w, http://lntransportation.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/volkswagen-group-audi-employs-ken-block-porsche-making-718-electric-3.jpg 75w, http://lntransportation.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/volkswagen-group-audi-employs-ken-block-porsche-making-718-electric-4.jpg 450w, http://lntransportation.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/volkswagen-group-audi-employs-ken-block-porsche-making-718-electric-5.jpg 768w, http://lntransportation.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/volkswagen-group-audi-employs-ken-block-porsche-making-718-electric-6.jpg 120w” sizes=”(max-width: 610px) 100vw, 610px”>

“Don’t get me wrong, I love the sound of combustion engines, especially the five-cylinder that Audi is so famous for,” he said. “That’s what I grew up with. Even so, I welcome change and whatever might make me go faster. Of course, I’ll miss the sound of the engine, but there are other ways to enjoy new technology and its sounds. The view that combustion engines are the answer because something would be missing without that growl is wrong. I have kids who haven’t grown up with those sounds for the past thirty or fifty years as I have and don’t care about them. They’re used to the idea that there are combustion engines and electric motors, each with their own sounds. To them, both are cool. We older people need to change our attitude and learn that the lack of a sound can also be very cool.”

What does all of this mean? Well, other than the fact that Audi is now paying Ken Block to say things, we’re not absolutely certain. The manufacturer has been extremely cagey on the details, only admitting that the Hoonigan executive will be helping to deliver “exclusive joint projects in the field of electric mobility” and already drove the classic Sport Quattro S1, V8 Quattro DTM, Audi RS E-Tron GT, and E-Tron Vision Gran Turismo prototype.

My guess is that this results in another gymkhana video where Block pilots an Audi-branded vehicle through tight spaces at unadvisable speeds. Perhaps there will even be a few new electrified products from the manufacturer with Ken’s signature on them — though his sitting through an entire development phase seems unlikely.

Meanwhile, Porsche is supposedly already working on a new EV that will end up replacing one of its best models. According to Car and Driver, the 718 will become a totally battery-electric vehicle for the 2025 model year. The outlet said that it ended months of speculation after Porsche unveiled the Mission R Concept (pictured) at the Munich auto show. It’s the correct shape and size to replace the 718 and will reportedly serve as the template for its successor.

<img data-attachment-id="1774610" data-permalink="https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2021/09/volkswagen-group-audi-employs-ken-block-porsche-making-718-electric/porsche-mission-r-concept/" data-orig-file="http://lntransportation.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/volkswagen-group-audi-employs-ken-block-porsche-making-718-electric-11.jpg" data-orig-size="980,653" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="Porsche Mission R Concept" data-image-description="

Porsche

” data-medium-file=”http://lntransportation.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/volkswagen-group-audi-employs-ken-block-porsche-making-718-electric-8.jpg” data-large-file=”http://lntransportation.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/volkswagen-group-audi-employs-ken-block-porsche-making-718-electric-1.jpg” class=”aligncenter size-large wp-image-1774610″ src=”http://lntransportation.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/volkswagen-group-audi-employs-ken-block-porsche-making-718-electric-1.jpg” alt width=”610″ height=”406″ srcset=”http://lntransportation.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/volkswagen-group-audi-employs-ken-block-porsche-making-718-electric-1.jpg 610w, http://lntransportation.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/volkswagen-group-audi-employs-ken-block-porsche-making-718-electric-7.jpg 75w, http://lntransportation.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/volkswagen-group-audi-employs-ken-block-porsche-making-718-electric-8.jpg 450w, http://lntransportation.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/volkswagen-group-audi-employs-ken-block-porsche-making-718-electric-9.jpg 768w, http://lntransportation.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/volkswagen-group-audi-employs-ken-block-porsche-making-718-electric-10.jpg 120w, http://lntransportation.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/volkswagen-group-audi-employs-ken-block-porsche-making-718-electric-11.jpg 980w” sizes=”(max-width: 610px) 100vw, 610px”>

From Car and Driver:

We haven’t seen the interior yet, but we are assured it will be the brand’s most futuristic yet, more forward-looking than the Taycan and a massive leap from the conservatively styled current 718 cockpit. In designing the user interface, Porsche is keeping the customer base in mind: In China, the most important market, the average age of a 718 buyer is just 31. We are told, “This will be the most modern Porsche.”

Sports-car fans have been concerned that an electric 718 could become excessively heavy; a Taycan, after all, comes in between 4,568 pounds for the entry-level model with the small battery and 5,199 pounds for the Turbo S Cross Turismo, despite its not-exactly-spacious package. The 718, on the other hand, will be almost a miracle of lightweight technology: The internal target weight is under 3,650 pounds.

Weight is one thing but the car also needs to be useable. If the Porsche Taycan taught us anything, it’s that diminished range can severely undermine what’s an otherwise desirable automobile. We’re also slightly concerned that future 718 models won’t be a cost-conscious alternative to the 911, but its main competition. The iconic 911 is said to remain internal-combustion-focused until at least 2030. Though an all-electric 718 will probably be able to match its acceleration before the speedometer reaches blistering speeds. Assuming there remains a divide between EV and ICE fans, this might not be a big issue and the same goes if Porsche can keep pricing below the $83,000 it charges for the Taycan.

However, it doesn’t really matter what the consumer wants or what it’s going to cost. Europe’s restrictive Euro 7 regulations have effectively painted all manufacturers into a corner. The European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association has claimed the proposed rules would basically kill their ability to continue developing internal-combustion engines, especially since regulators are considering real-world emission monitoring over the entire lifetime of a vehicle. Assuming Porsche still wants to build high-performance vehicles with juicy spec sheets inside the EU, they’ll have to be electric.

<img data-attachment-id="1774612" data-permalink="https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2021/09/volkswagen-group-audi-employs-ken-block-porsche-making-718-electric/porsche-mission-r-concept-rear/" data-orig-file="http://lntransportation.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/volkswagen-group-audi-employs-ken-block-porsche-making-718-electric-16.jpg" data-orig-size="980,653" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="Porsche Mission R concept rear" data-image-description="

Porsche

” data-medium-file=”http://lntransportation.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/volkswagen-group-audi-employs-ken-block-porsche-making-718-electric-13.jpg” data-large-file=”http://lntransportation.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/volkswagen-group-audi-employs-ken-block-porsche-making-718-electric-2.jpg” class=”aligncenter size-large wp-image-1774612″ src=”http://lntransportation.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/volkswagen-group-audi-employs-ken-block-porsche-making-718-electric-2.jpg” alt width=”610″ height=”406″ srcset=”http://lntransportation.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/volkswagen-group-audi-employs-ken-block-porsche-making-718-electric-2.jpg 610w, http://lntransportation.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/volkswagen-group-audi-employs-ken-block-porsche-making-718-electric-12.jpg 75w, http://lntransportation.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/volkswagen-group-audi-employs-ken-block-porsche-making-718-electric-13.jpg 450w, http://lntransportation.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/volkswagen-group-audi-employs-ken-block-porsche-making-718-electric-14.jpg 768w, http://lntransportation.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/volkswagen-group-audi-employs-ken-block-porsche-making-718-electric-15.jpg 120w, http://lntransportation.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/volkswagen-group-audi-employs-ken-block-porsche-making-718-electric-16.jpg 980w” sizes=”(max-width: 610px) 100vw, 610px”>

[Images: Volkswagen Group]

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Vaccine Mandates Being Considered By Auto Industry, UAW

September 10, 2021 admin

<img data-attachment-id="1773672" data-permalink="https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2021/09/vaccine-mandates-being-considered-by-auto-industry-uaw/covid-19vaccinationrecordcardsissuedbycdcunitedstatescenters/" data-orig-file="http://lntransportation.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/vaccine-mandates-being-considered-by-auto-industry-uaw-5.jpg" data-orig-size="1000,667" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"Shutterstock","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"Copyright (c) 2021 Michael Vi\/Shutterstock. No use without permission.","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"Covid-19,Vaccination,Record,Cards,Issued,By,Cdc,(united,States,Centers","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="Covid-19,Vaccination,Record,Cards,Issued,By,Cdc,(united,States,Centers" data-image-description="

Michael Vi/Shutterstock

With the Biden administration having announced that it would start requiring companies to vaccinate employees, automakers and UAW are finding themselves in a sticky situation. Unions had previously said they wanted to hold off on endorsing or opposing mandatory vaccinations until after they discussed things with the industry and their own members. Considering Joe Biden said he wouldn’t make vaccines mandatory less than 10 months ago, employers are getting caught with their pants around the proverbial ankles.

Automakers had previously been surveying white-collar workers to see what they wanted to do while upping on-site COVID restrictions, but operating under the impression that any hard decisions were likely a long way off and left entirely to their discretion. Now the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration is planning a new standard that requires all employers with 100 (or more) employees to guarantee their workforce is fully vaccinated or require any unvaccinated workers to produce a negative test result on a minimum weekly basis.

Employers that fail to implement the stated requirements could face fines of nearly $14,000 per violation, according to the White House, with penalties also doubling for those who refuse to wear masks during interstate travel. Those are potentially steep fees when you’re employees number in the thousands. Union officials have said they’re considering the matter without committing to more than absolutely necessary — though the UAW officially opposed vaccine requirements in the past.

From UAW President Ray Curry:

“The UAW has and continues to strongly encourage all members and their families to be vaccinated unless there is specific health or religious concerns. We know that this is the best way to protect our members, coworkers and their families.

We are reviewing the details of yesterday’s announcements and the impact on our members and our over 700 employer contracts.

In the meantime, we continue our member commitment to practice safety in every one of our worksites by following protocols including masks, sanitizing and reporting any exposure or symptoms of the virus. At the UAW we all understand that fighting this pandemic and protecting our families is key to our survival.”

Assuming the union ultimately decides to endorse the vaccine decree, it’s likely going to be fracturing its membership. While I am hardly against vaccinations, I strongly support informed consent and speaking candidly about this has resulted in autoworkers frequently confessing they’re similarly opposed to forced vaccinations. Many have said they would immediately quit their jobs, matching a recent Washington Post poll claiming 70 percent of unvaccinated workers would simply abandon their positions if vaccine mandates are instituted. It’s my assumption that the industry will have a sudden, catastrophic staffing shortage were it to move forward with the Biden plan.

Automakers have been similarly noncommittal, with manufacturers (including Ford, GM, Stellantis, Honda, and Toyota) stating they encourage staff to get vaccinated and want to adhere to all government-issued health protocols. But they typically steer clear of addressing the Biden plan directly, possibly indicating some hesitancy. That said, it hasn’t even been a full day since the vaccine mandate was announced and their HR and legal departments are probably wringing their hands as they ponder upon what’s to be done and the fallout it might create.

Every statement automakers have been willing to make thus far can be paraphrased into “hold on … we’ve got to think about this,” followed by a paragraph about how they believe in vaccinations and want to adhere to recommendations coming from the relevant health experts. Conversely, very little has been said about the rights or preferences of their employees.

I’m not going to beat around this bush. The entire premise of these mandates seems insane to me, bordering on wicked. As an American, I always thought the whole premise of the country was predicated upon the shared belief that personal liberties and freedom of choice trump everything else. But that doesn’t seem to be what’s coming down from the top anymore. The rhetoric being used by Joe Biden is egregiously confrontational, including statements like “we’ve been patient, but our patience is wearing thin” as he made sweeping assertions about how the unvaccinated are stifling national unity and progress. He also confusingly stated that vaccinated workers need to be “protected” from the unvaccinated.

Assuming vaccines are effective, shouldn’t it be the other way round? What exactly are we shielding people from when new strains continue to manifest, can still be spread amongst the vaccinated, and the shots we currently have are targeting older COVID variants that have lost steam?

The economic and social stress this is likely to place upon the industry and country as a whole will be nothing short of monumental. Protests have been erupting across the globe all summer. Truckers have started organizing in numerous countries and have refused to deliver to areas imposing strict COVID rules, exacerbating food shortages in urban areas. In the United States, the same was true for cities that opted to defund police departments. Now they’re starting to talk about strikes focused on vaccine and mask mandates while they’re already experiencing a severe shortage of drivers. Imagine if that spills over to an automotive sector that’s already been beleaguered by the semiconductor shortage, their suppliers, and every other industry you rely on.

[Image: Michael Vi/Shutterstock]

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Penske & Cox Premiere AI Based Auto Sales Platform With Confusing Name

July 22, 2021 admin

<img data-attachment-id="1678584" data-permalink="https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2019/06/ask-bark-did-i-throw-away-the-key-to-a-new-car/shutterstock_731078407/" data-orig-file="http://lntransportation.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/penske-cox-premiere-ai-based-auto-sales-platform-with-confusing-name-5.jpg" data-orig-size="1000,667" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="inflatable tube man wacky waving style dealer lot" data-image-description="

Gretchen Gunda Enger/Shutterstock

Years ago, waiting for a haircut, dental appointment, or psychological evaluation meant thumbing through a paperback filled with local listings of automobiles you had convinced yourself you might be in the market for. While primarily an exercise for wasting one’s time, there was always a chance you’d run to a payphone or whip our your Nextel to contact the seller so you could begin the delicate dance of commerce.

But the modern experience has been streamlined, digitized and requires no cheap ink staining your thumb to get to final destination of car ownership. It’s also being heavily consolidated, as the biggest names in the industry continue to take more of the online space devoted to vehicle browsing. Penske Automotive Group and Cox Automotive have announced they’ll be joining forces to establish another online buying platform, controlled by artificial intelligence, for secondhand cars. Cox already owns Autotrader.com, Manheim Auctions, and Kelly Blue Book. Penske owns CarShop, offers vehicle servicing, logistics management, and has national dealer/rental networks for both passenger cars and commercial trucks.

The duo has collaboratively developed what they call a “transformational, fully automated technology platform to enable the online retail sale of used vehicles.” It’s effectively just a website but allegedly one that takes the cream of the crop from their other properties to create an automated buying platform that offers the best secondhand vehicles in their respective decks.

Officially owned by Cox, the platform is being called “Esntial Commerce” which is not to be confused with “Essential Commerce” — the more sensical sounding title practically every outlet used when sharing the press release before they had to issue corrections.

The platform isn’t unique in that it’s a way to buy cars online. In fact, that’s gradually becoming the default shopping model for used vehicles while manufacturers test ways to make it work for new ones. But it’s being made out as an all-in-one solution that totally removes person-to-person exchanges. Esntial Commerce is supposed to take care of everything from vehicle comparisons to signing the paperwork online so you can wait around for your vehicle to be delivered at a destination of your choosing.

“Penske’s CarShop powered by Cox Automotive Esntial Commerce delivers personalization, F&I automation, and a seamless closing of the transaction when buying a vehicle online,” Steve Rowley, President of Cox Automotive, said in a statement. “No one has delivered an automotive eCommerce solution that can scale to support the industry’s transformation for retailers and for consumers — until now. As our solution matures, we expect it to drive both consumer satisfaction and profitability.”

“Over the last year the [Penske] and [Cox] teams have collaborated on this unparalleled technology that delivers a completely digital solution to the marketplace,” Penske Automotive Group Chair Roger Penske elaborated. “This new digital platform meets the digital-first demands of today’s customer while providing us with the opportunity to offer our customers 100 [percent] online functionality.”

While derivative of current industry trends, Esntial Commerce seems to be offering some truly novel by having an AI take you through literally the entire process of purchasing a used car. But there’s also something a little eerie about it, despite how unfun the dealer experience can be. Customers will undoubtedly be locked into paying whatever the algorithm decides once it has ran through their credit score and calculated the trade-in value. The complete absence of another living being likely means you cannot haggle or try and get overly creative with the financing options. But that’s exactly what Penske and Cox wanted, saying they went through numerous vendors before deciding the self-made, algorithmic AI approach was best.

Penske confirmed that Esntial Commerce will gradually become baked into its franchised dealerships (specifically for secondhand sales). But when and how that will be implemented has gone unanswered. We’re also not sure how that’s going to play out for its employment roster as the automated platform presumably requires fewer salaried workers. Meanwhile, Cox has plans to extend the service to other businesses later in the year. For now, you can access it via the CarShop website by selecting the “buy online” option.

[Image: Gretchen Gunda Enger/Shutterstock]

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Detroit Wrapping on Ventilator Production, Returning to Cars

August 26, 2020 admin

<img data-attachment-id="1733216" data-permalink="https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2020/08/detroit-wrapping-on-ventilator-production-returning-to-cars/shutterstock_1158833029/" data-orig-file="http://lntransportation.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/detroit-wrapping-on-ventilator-production-returning-to-cars-5.jpg" data-orig-size="1000,667" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="silverado production fort wayne GM factory assembly pickup production" data-image-description="

John Gress Media Inc/Shutterstock

General Motors and Ford Motor Company are about to conclude their prolonged stint of ventilator production. In case you were unaware, these businesses typically manufacturer automobiles (cars, for the layperson) and have allocated a portion of their factory space to build medical equipment that was assumed to be useful during the pandemic. However, the United States now has more ventilators than it knows what to do with, and most of them seem like they won’t be required — so it’s mission accomplished, unless COVID-19 suddenly becomes a much more vicious illness.

Either way, GM and Ford both plan to re-prioritize vehicle production. The Blue Oval moved core staff off ventilator lines and back to their normal places of assembly months ago. Some of the remaining temporary workers hired to assist with the medical equipment are said to have an opportunity building the new Ford Bronco. Meanwhile, GM says it wants to move ventilator production to a facility in Kokomo, Indiana, next month, where it will hand operations over to Ventec Life Systems as it regains the union employs allocated for the project. Temporary hires will be absorbed by Ventec.

According to Reuters, GM and Ventec are in the last leg of completing their joint contract to deliver 30,000 critical care ventilators by the end of August under a $489 million contract with the federal government. Ford has reportedly assembled around 47,000 of the 50,000 ventilators it agreed to supply with help from General Electric Co. That contract is worth roughly $336 million.

From Reuters:

[Health and Human Services] said it has received more than 69,000 ventilators assembled by GM, Ford and their partners, and “both of these delivery schedules are nearly complete.”

Ford and GM earlier this year said they would employ a total of as many as 1,500 people on ventilator assembly lines. Automakers likened the efforts to their switch from making cars to tanks and planes during the Second World War.

While roughly 12,000-15,000 ventilators have been issued to U.S. hospitals, the Health and Human Services (HHS) department reported that the government has nearly 110,000 ventilators stockpiled. While President Trump suggested a large portion of those will be issued to other countries in need, demand has come down immensely. We know the United States shipped heaps of personal protective equipment to China before COVID-19 officially became a global pandemic, and that the plan was to continue doing so while incorporating breathing machines (though the latter would not be donated) once the U.S. had a reliable supply for itself. It was also made clear that other nations would be given priority, as Trump said he planned to donate 200 to the United Kingdom in April.

But treatment strategies changed.

Invasive ventilators have been replaced with sleep apnea machines for at-risk patients or simply rolling them onto their sides and giving them helpful prescriptions. The HHS also confessed that the U.S. probably never needed quite so many units as were being manufactured. “States initially requested far more ventilators than they actually needed,” an HHS spokeswoman explained, adding that orders were placed at at time where the nation had more questions than answers.

Even though ventilators are being taken off the table at automotive plants, the industry will still manufacture personal protective equipment (masks, face shields) for the foreseeable future. Demand for PPE has not diminished in the slightest, and the situation is unlikely to change while face coverings are still required to interact with the public. It’s a situation we don’t see changing, even as Sweden (a country that went largely mask-free, didn’t do lockdowns, and still avoided mass contagion) has started to claim that masks are effectively useless against the virus. The rhetoric is quite different here, though not terribly distinct from most first-world nations that wanted to exercise the maximum amount of caution.

Presidential candidate Joe Biden recently said that “every governor should mandate mandatory mask wearing” and recommended their continued use until at least November of this year. The right has been more flippant about the usefulness of face coverings in general, but even President Trump offered his own tepid endorsement this summer.

We figure this will result in automakers tossing together masks until at least 2021, though the demand this places on companies is much lower than ventilator manufacturing and shouldn’t interfere with the core business of automakers.

[Image: John Gress Media Inc/Shutterstock]

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