Tag Archives: Business

Uber’s Stock Takes Hit After Mixed Q1 Results

May 6, 2021 admin

The impact of Uber Inc.’s long legal battle about the classification of its drivers in the U.K. — which it ultimately lost — came to light: $600 million.

ADCU beats Uber in UK court 2021 — The union representing Uber drivers in the UK secured a legal victory over the ride-hailing giant in the UK.

The California-based ride-hailing company revealed in its Q1 earnings report Wednesday that complying with the court’s decision comes with a massive price tag. The U.K.’s highest court ruling made drivers employees rather than independent contractors and entitled to benefits like any other full-time worker.

Overall, the rest of the report was a mixed bag, resulting in a drop in the stock price of about 5.6% after the results were revealed, closing at $51.18. The decline continued Thursday, sliding another nearly 9% to $46.65.

Hits and misses

The company beat analysts estimates in some areas, such as posting just a 6 cent loss compared with the 54 cents expected. However, it fell short in revenue generated where it was expected to bring in $3.29 billion during the quarter but generated just $2.9 billion.

Aurora bought Uber’s Advanced Technology Group for $400 million.

Uber’s Q1 net loss was $108 million, which looks impressive when compared with the $968 million it lost last quarter. One might suggest that the 24% jump in gross bookings compared with the previous quarter — and an all-time high — carried the company.

Nope. It was the $1.6 billion gain it received from the sale of its autonomous vehicle technology unit to autonomous vehicle tech company Aurora. Not only did the sale generate some cash, it also meant Uber wasn’t throwing cash at the business, which wasn’t making much headway in.

By the numbers

Its adjusted EBITDA loss was $359 million, which improved by $95 million from the prior quarter. Another bright spot was the company’s food delivery service, which performed better than its “core” ride-hailing division.

Delivery revenue was $1.7 billion, compared with $853 million. This part of the company carried the ride-hailing portion of Uber during the pandemic. Uber said the Eats segment revenue was up 28% quarter over quarter.

Uber is struggling to find drivers in the wake of the pandemic.

“We’re finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel,” CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said on a call with investors. “Uber is starting to fire on all cylinders, as more consumers are riding with us again while continuing to use our expanding delivery offerings.”

Uber officials confirmed again the company expects to be profitable by the end of 2021.

Still needs drivers

Officials confirmed once again it was struggling to find drivers in the wake of the pandemic.

Uber’s spending $250 million to increase drivers’ pay, including offering payment guarantees and other incentives to lure new drivers to the service and entice the existing ones to work more often.The effort comes as Uber and rival Lyft report their drivers are enjoying higher than average earnings due to a sharp jump in demand as states begin rolling back COVID-mandated restrictions. People are getting more and more freedom to return to “normal” and drivers are seeing a significant spike in rates due to the demand.

SEC Investigating VW Due to the “Voltswagen” Stunt

April 30, 2021 admin

The “Voltswagen” April Fool’s Day prank has led to an investigation by the SEC.

What started out as a “humorous” advertising and marketing ploy could land German automaker Volkswagen in serious trouble with the federal government.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is apparently looking into VW’s “Voltswagen” marketing stunt to determine if it hurt company stock prices and may have broken any U.S. securities laws, according to German news outlet Der Spiegel.

The incident in question dates back to March 29. As a sort of early April Fool’s Day prank (and marketing ploy), VW “accidentally” released a rough draft of a press release declaring the company was going to change its name to “Voltswagen” as part of a larger effort to promote its ever-growing line-up of electric vehicles (EVs).

This action was picked up by the worldwide automotive press and on March 30 VW issued an official press release to several news outlets, including the Associated Press, confirming the leaked statement from the day before.

This action resulted in VW’s stock price going up. At one point it was 12.5% above its price before the whole incident.

SEC looking at jump in stock price

VW of America President Scott Keogh took responsibility for the poorly received April Fools’ prank that wasn’t on April 1.

This is what caught the attention of the SEC, taking what many considered a fairly unfunny publicity ruse to a possible federal offense.

After the April Fool’s stunt failed in the eyes of the media and the public, VW issued a press statement saying the releases were actually part of a larger tradition in which companies often issue prank statements.

This one just meant to also focus the world’s attention on VW’s growing EV portfolio.

But public statements that affect stock prices usually don’t get an “April Fools” immunity. An SEC investigation could result in charges against the company.

Several news organizations, including The New York Times and Reuters, have asked for a comment from VW. So far, the company has declined to issue one.

Just one of many VW legal scandals

This is not the first time VW has gotten into trouble for the way it conducts its business.

Oh those wacky Germans!! As quickly as it got here, VW took it away: Voltswagen is the company that never was.

In October 2015, as Volkswagen struggled to deal with its diesel emissions scandal, new data raised questions about whether the automaker properly reported death and injury claims to U.S. regulators during the past decade.

A study by the financial advisory firm Stout Risius Ross Inc., found that Volkswagen of America reported nine times fewer deaths and injuries than the average of the 11 largest automakers operating in the U.S. market. Significantly, VW reported less than half as many incidents as either Fiat Chrysler or Honda, both of which have been fined for underreporting their own death and injury data.

Back in September 2015, the EPA accused the German maker of using a so-called “defeat devices,” software designed to fool government emissions tests, on a variety of luxury models from the Audi and Porsche brands. The feds charged VW took steps to cover up excess emissions on 482,000 vehicles sold in the U.S. during a 7-year period.

The end result was VW paying billions of dollars in fines to various governments around the world. The company also faced numerous consumer lawsuits that further cost the company money.

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Lyft Sells Self-Driving Business Unit to Toyota for $500 Million

April 27, 2021 admin

Lyft has been using the autonomous prototypes in the Las Vegas market.

Lyft Inc. sold its autonomous vehicle technology unit, Level 5, to Toyota Motor Co. for $550 million, following the lead of its rival, Uber Inc.

The company launched Level 5 in 2017 to build a self-driving system for its network of vehicles. The goal, ultimately, was to eliminate the need for drivers. The company grew to nearly 400 employees, but as Lyft continues to lose money overall, it needed to find ways to end its string of quarterly losses.

Not only will it get $550 million from Toyota, it will also stop funneling multiple millions of dollars into a development project with no finish line in sight for a payoff. Lyft gets $200 million immediately and the remaining $350 million will be paid in installments during the next five years.

Uber finalized a similar deal last fall, selling its autonomous vehicle unit called Advanced Technology Group to Aurora led by former Waymo chief Chris Urmson for $400 million.

Immediate financial relief

Lyft has provided 100,000 self-driving rides as part of its autonomous technology development.

The ride-hailing company said selling its Level 5 subsidiary puts it back on the path to profitability. First and foremost, it cuts $100 million of annualized non-GAAP operating expenses on a net basis, Co-founder and President John Zimmer noted in the announcement.

“Assuming the transaction closes within the expected timeframe and the COVID recovery continues, we are confident that we can achieve Adjusted EBITDA profitability in the third quarter of this year,” Zimmer said in a statement.

The company isn’t getting out of the robotaxi business. It’s already partnered with Motional and Waymo to develop self-driving tech and now it will just rely on that partnership to move toward autonomous vehicles. Working with the pair, Lyft’s already provided more than 100,000 self-driving rides in its vehicles in the last three years.

However, Lyft can now focus on what it can do best with autonomous vehicles by offering services such as routing, consumer interface and managing, and maintaining and cleaning partners’ autonomous vehicle fleets, which could mean added revenue, it said.

Uber made a similar choice

Lyft’s deal is similar to Uber’s move last December to sell its Advanced Technology Group, or ATG, to Aurora, the autonomous vehicle technology company founded by Google and Waymo veteran Chris Urmson. The deal came in at $400 million.

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi noted after the sale of its ATG unit the company’s path to profitability had been shortened.

AVs were a critical component of the path to profitability by Uber, which now relies on part-time drivers or gig workers to ferry passengers, using its celebrated phone app. Uber invested huge sums in its internal AV project; however, was crippled in 2018 when one of its test vehicles struck and killed a pedestrian in Tempe, Arizona. It never really recovered.

Uber also ended up with a 26% ownership interest in Aurora on a fully diluted basis, the company said in a filing.

Aurora and Uber agreed to collaborate to launch self-driving vehicles on its ride-hailing and food delivery network. Uber is also working on building out its freight logistics platform but is not operating its own trucks at present.

The completion of the deal caused Uber’s CEO Dara Khosrowshahi to utter a familiar refrain to Reuters: “This essentially advances our path to profitability.” He said the deal should put the company on track for profitability by the end of this year, largely due to the fact Uber would no longer be investing vast sums of cash into ATG.

Dominos, Nuro Team Up to Test Driverless Delivery Vehicles

April 13, 2021 admin

Domino’s and Silicon Valley startup Nuro are partnering to use the self-driving R2 robot to deliver pizzas in Houston.

The development of Autonomous Vehicle (AV) technology can sometimes be as easy as pie, a pizza pie that is.

Ann Arbor, Michigan-based pizza chain Domino’s and autonomous vehicle developer Nuro Monday unveiled a new self-driving pizza delivery vehicle. The two companies will be testing in a Houston neighborhood.

The way it works is that select customers who place a prepaid website order from the participating Domino’s store can opt to have their order delivered by R2, the nickname for the driverless vehicle, which got approval to drive on roads in California in February 2020 — first vehicle to get that approval in the U.S.

These select customers receive text alerts updating them on R2’s location and provide them with a unique PIN to retrieve their order once the vehicle arrives at their home. Customers may also track the vehicle via GPS on their order confirmation page. Once R2 arrives, customers will be prompted to enter their PIN on the robot’s touchscreen. R2’s doors will then open upward, revealing the customer’s hot Domino’s order.

Pizza delivery explores future of AVs

Domino’s and Nuro are launching autonomous pizza delivery in Houston, beginning this week.

“We’re excited to continue innovating the delivery experience for Domino’s customers by testing autonomous delivery with Nuro in Houston,” said Dennis Maloney, Domino’s senior vice president and chief innovation officer.

“There is still so much for our brand to learn about the autonomous delivery space. This program will allow us to better understand how customers respond to the deliveries, how they interact with the robot and how it affects store operations.”

Domino’s spokeswoman Dani Bulger said this system will not eliminate Domino’s need for delivery drivers, as this is a test intended to keep us ahead in the world of technology.

“We’ve introduced many innovations over the years, which have changed the roles of some jobs, but employment has continued to grow,” Bulger said. “We believe autonomous vehicles will play a role in our overall delivery strategy, alongside our delivery drivers, as we continue to provide the best delivery experience possible to our customers. We don’t use third-party delivery aggregators.”

This isn’t Domino’s maiden voyage with autonomous delivery vehicles. In 2017, the pizza maker teamed with Ford on a similar project in Ann Arbor. The test program ran six weeks and used driverless Ford Fusion sedans converted for specially for the project. Each vehicle is equipped with a heated compartment that can carry up to four pizzas and five side dishes.

The Niro R2 is designed to tackle the “last mile” deliveries, like groceries.

Much like the Nuro-Domino’s collaboration, customers punched in PIN to gain access to their order. There actually was a person behind the wheel of the prototype delivery vehicles — a Ford engineer monitoring the operation of the test cars. But the windows of the vehicles will be blacked out and there was no direct interaction with customers.

Size matters

The Silicon Valley startup rolled out its first iteration of R2 last fall. It’s specifically designed for “last mile” deliveries. To that end, the R2 is small. And that’s for a specific reason. Narrow vehicles allow for better passive and dynamic safety. This could help prevent pedestrian fatalities on roads.

Since Nuro vehicles only carry goods, the company can turn safety innovation inside out, shifting its focus to protecting those outside the vehicle.

The R2 features 360-degree cameras, as well as Lidar, short and long-range radar, and ultrasonic sensors. These techs combine that advanced hardware with a robust autonomy stack that includes mapping, localization, perception, and prediction. The result is a representation of the road without any blind spots.

Ford and Domino’s partnered in a test program to deliver pizzas using autonomous vehicles.

Intelligent production

The R2 is built using the principles of “Intelligent Production.” The company uses basic components when they make sense and crafts custom parts when needed. That allows Nuro to build the best system without being limited by the constraints of existing vehicles.

This approach allows Nuro to deploy and iterate quickly to create safe autonomous solutions as quickly as possible.

“Nuro’s mission is to better everyday life through robotics. Now, for the first time, we’re launching real world, autonomous deliveries with R2 and Domino’s,” said Dave Ferguson, Nuro co-founder and president. “We’re excited to introduce our autonomous delivery robots to a select set of Domino’s customers in Houston. We can’t wait to see what they think.”

“Zoom Zombies” Are the Driving Dead

April 7, 2021 admin

Too many of these could turn you into a zombie if you have to climb behind the wheel afterward.

If you’re one of the millions of Americans who have been working from home and spending hours a day in video meetings you might notice it can become difficult pulling your thoughts back together at the end of the day. And if you then have to climb behind the wheel that could prove deadly.

A new study raises concerns about “Zoom Zombies,” motorists who can’t fully focus on the road ahead after a day of videoconferencing. This may be one of the reasons why in 2020 U.S. highway deaths posted their biggest year-over-year increase in nearly a century.

“COVID-19 fundamentally changed the way we interact with our vehicles,” said David Timm, founder and CEO of Root Insurance, which raised concerns about Zoom Zombies in its annual Distracted Driving Awareness Survey. “As many abruptly shifted to a virtual environment, Americans’ reliance on technology dramatically increased along with their screen time, causing a majority of drivers to carry this distracted behavior into their vehicles.”

Covid-19 and the distracted driving pandemic

NHTSA estimates that more than 10% of highway deaths stem from distracted driving.

Distracted driving has become an increasingly serious problem as more and more motorists interact with smartphones and other technology while behind the wheel. Even before the COVID pandemic, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimated that more than 10% of highway fatalities involved distracted driving. Preliminary analysis suggests that has gone up since last year’s lockdowns began.

The Roots study found 64% of the U.S. motorists it surveyed acknowledging they check their phones while driving. That’s up 2% from last year, and 6% from the 2019 Distracted Driving Awareness Survey. Meanwhile, 53% of the respondents said they check their phones within the first 15 minutes behind the wheel — a 9% jump from 2019 — when they should be trying to shift focus to driving.

Add the fact that drivers are downplaying the risks. The study found three in 10 drivers don’t see the risk of driving while using a mobile phone. That’s up from 24% just a year ago.

But the study raised another concern: even when motorists aren’t texting or chatting on their phones, they still might not be paying full attention to the job of driving.

Lexus Driving Disrupted distracted drivers

Younger drivers are more likely to have trouble concentrating on the road after engaging in some sort of video conference call.

The younger the driver, the worse the problem

Root reports that 54% of the 1,819 adult motorists it surveyed have had trouble concentrating on the road after making videoconference calls with Zoom, Microsoft Meet or some other software platform. The younger the driver, the worse the problem. For Gen Z motorists, 65% reported losing focus while driving, while it was 61% for millennials and 48% for Gen-Xers.

“The problem with distraction is huge and it’s not just checking e-mail or texting,” said Russ Rader, an executive with the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. “There’s the risk of cognitive distraction, looking at the road while your thoughts are elsewhere. That zoning out may mean you don’t notice a dangerous situation soon enough to react.”

Whether you call them “Zoom Zombies” or “Zoombies,” the problem has gained widespread attention, and concern — especially when it comes to driving.

If it appears drivers has seemingly forgotten how to drive as pandemic-related restrictions eased, it’s because, well, they have.

“I think computer use, in general, can overload you,” especially after a series of videoconference meetings, said Joan Claybrook, a former NHTSA administrator and longtime auto safety advocate. “After you get into your car you may be operating on auto pilot.”

Driving skills have atrophied

That’s all the worse as we emerge from the pandemic, experts told TheDetroitBureau.com. During the last 12 months, most Americans have been driving less and even as roadways begin to look more crowded, “driving skills have atrophied for many people,” warns Sam Abuelsamid, principal auto analyst with Guidehouse Insights.

“It’s become harder to drive safely because you’re going to forget some of the skills you learned over time,” added Abuelsamid. “It’s not as easy as just jumping back on a bike.”

While he believes Zoom fatigue is “likely a contributor to the increase in highway fatalities,” how much it contributes is uncertain. What’s clear is that highway fatalities soared in 2020, even as motorists slashed the number of miles they drove.

Record surge in fatalities

Preliminary data indicated as many as 42,060 Americans were killed in motor vehicle crashes last year, the National Safety Council reported last month. That was an 8% increase from 2019. That surge occurred even though Americans drove a total of 2.83 trillion miles in 2020. That was a 13.2% decrease from the year before, marking the lowest level of driving by American motorists in two decades, reported the U.S. Federal Highway Authority.

Traffic fatalities rose in 2020, rising 8%, but the death rate, the number of deaths per miles driven, jumped 24% compared with 2019.

So, on a per mile basis, the death rate surged by 24% in 2020, the biggest year-over-year increase since 1924.

Why does “Zooming” take so much out of people? It’s not like sitting around a table for an in-person meeting. Key visual cues are absent, such as body language, while others can overwhelm, according to psychologist Sharon Parker, director of the Centre for Transformative Work Design.

They tend to be sharply focused, without the normal chit-chat and other interactions that come before — sometimes during — and after in-person meetings, Parker wrote. One result: participants come away struggling to interpret what actually happened rather than transferring attention to what comes next.

And that may extend beyond the work day to when you’re behind the wheel and should be focusing on the road ahead.

Krafcik Leaves Waymo After Five Years as CEO

April 2, 2021 admin

Waymo CEO John Krafcik is way gone, announcing his departure and the company’s plans to move the current COO and CTO into the role of co-CEO.

Add “former” to the title of Waymo CEO John Krafcik, who announced today he’s left the company.

The former Hyundai Motor America chief spent five years heading up the autonomous vehicle subsidiary of Google, which, according to his farewell on LinkedIn, “was called ‘Chauffeur’ internally.”

Tekedra Mawakana and Dmitri Dolgov, of whom Krafcik said “having seen their brilliance, vision, and commitment in play for years — I assure you they are very well suited for this,” take over as co-CEOs of the Mountain View, Calif.-based AI-focused company. As is often the case with senior executives, Krafcik will stay on in an advisory capacity.

“So now, with the fully autonomous Waymo One ride-hailing service open to all in our launch area of Metro Phoenix, and with the fifth generation of the Waymo Driver being prepared for deployment in ride-hailing and goods delivery, it’s a wonderful opportunity for me to pass the baton to Tekedra and Dmitri as Waymo’s co-CEOs,” he wrote.

Next steps

Waymo named former COO Tekedra Mawakana as its new co-CEO to replace Krafcik.

Krafcik didn’t offer many details what the future holds, although it could be that he’s uncertain himself. He said he and his wife, Leila, will take a “coupbatical,” which he described as “a refresh period where we look forward to reconnecting with old friends & family, and discovering new parts of the world.

“After that, we’ve got a few ideas for focus and contribution that we’ll flesh out together and share when the time is right. We’ve already relocated to Austin, Texas, and we look forward to seeing some of you there, or on our travels.”

Krafcik once headed up Hyundai’s U.S. operations, helping lead the brand through an image renaissance and a period of rapid growth. He even earned the “Automotive Executive of the Year” in 2013. However, his run there ended in late 2013 after the South Korean automaker declined to renew his contract — despite the accolade.

However, he quickly landed on his feet, taking over as CEO of TrueCar just as the automotive sales and data website was readying to go public. His tenure there was short, however, as he moved on to Waymo, then-Google’s self-driving car project, just a little more than a year later in September 2015.

Dynamic duo

Waymo CTO Dmitri Dolgov joins Mawakana as co-CEO with Krafcik’s departure.

As for the company, Mawakana and Dolgov now step into new roles. Previously the COO and CTO respectively, they are described as having “complementary skill sets and experiences.” Due to the nature of their roles, they’re already accustomed to working together.

Dolgov, who started in autonomy as part of Stanford’s DARPA Urban Challenge team, joined the company in 2009, when it was still referred to as Google’s self-driving car project. Over time, his influence and responsibility grew. He became CTO late in 2016.

Mawakana, joined Waymo as a policy lead. Prior to joining the company in 2017, she led global policy teams at eBay, AOL, Startec and Yahoo, after beginning her career as Washington, D.C.-based law firm Steptoe & Johnson LLP.

Volts, er, Volkswagen’s April Fool’s Day Prank a Jolt to the System

March 31, 2021 admin

Oh those wacky Germans!! As quickly as it got here, VW took it away: Voltswagen is the company that never was.

A lesson for wannabe pranksters: if you’re planning an April Fool’s Day joke, stick to April 1st.

That lesson apparently got lost in translation over at Voltswagen, er, Volkswagen headquarters when the company intentionally leaked an “internal document” on March 29 indicating it was planning to change its name as a way to highlight a dramatic, mega-billion-dollar shift to battery-electric vehicles.

Like so many others, automotive PR departments have often found ways to tweak the media on April 1 and the closer a supposed story hews to reality the better the joke — though news veterans have learned to tread cautiously with everything they see that day. VW’s gag, it seems, gained credibility because of the timing, even though it would have generated major skepticism had it come out two days later.

But “There will be no renaming of Volkswagen of America,” the company now says after receiving numerous angry calls from those fooled by the supposed name change — including, we will admit, TheDetroitBureau.com.

Good one, guys … good one

Volkswagen of America chief Scott Keogh, left, and VW AG CEO Herbert Diess share a laugh, knowing what was going to be unleashed on the U.S. media.

As readers will note, we did question whether this was part of a short-term marketing campaign, rather than a real, permanent name change. After all, other companies have taken similar steps. IHOP in 2018 announced it was becoming IHOB, a short-lived switch, it turned out, to promote the fact it offered more than just pancakes for breakfast.

Indeed, the stunt was intended to highlight the launch of the Voltswagen, er, Volkswagen ID.4, the carmaker’s first long-range battery-electric vehicle targeting the U.S. market. It began rolling into American showrooms this month.

“The alleged renaming was designed to be an announcement in the spirit of April Fool’s Day, highlighting the launch of the all-electric ID.4 SUV and signaling our commitment to bringing electric mobility to all,” said a statement from VW released the day after the rouse, 36 hours before April Fool’s Day.

The right amount of credibility for a fake release

The thread of credibility was, in fact, there for at least a short-term use of the name Voltswagen. The German company is going all-in on electrification, committing to spend more than $80 billion to bring at least 50 all-electric models to market by mid-decade. Its high-line Bentley brand will only sell battery-electric vehicles by 2030 and while the flagship VW brand hasn’t committed to going completely BEV, global CEO Herbert Diess has strongly hinted that is in the works.

Volkswagen has designated $86 billion to bring more than 50 EVs to market in the next few years, including the ID.4.

“We have said, from the beginning of our shift to an electric future, that we will build EVs for the millions, not just millionaires. This name change signifies a nod to our past as the peoples’ car and our firm belief that our future is in being the peoples’ electric car,” said the fake VW release, purportedly quoting Scott Keogh, president and CEO of Volkswagen of America.

VW already did adopt a new name for its electric vehicles. They are being grouped together under the ID banner. An all-electric hatchback, the ID.3, went on sale in Europe last year. Other models are coming, including the ID.Buzz, a modern, battery-powered take on the legendary VW Microbus.

Volkswagen isn’t alone, one rival German automaker marketing its BEVs through the new Mercedes-EQ marque, another opting to call its electric models BMW i. And Hyundai just launched a new battery-car sub-brand called Ioniq.

VW’s reaching out to promote its electrification efforts shouldn’t be surprising. The automaker’s global CEO Herbert Diess declared a goal of becoming the world’s leading EV manufacturer, his goal to “overtake” today’s top seller, Tesla.

Whether the Voltswagen stunt will short-circuit the launch of the ID.4 isn’t certain. But wary journalists are likely to be far less willing to get charged up the next time a VW press release arrives.

Bow. Wow! One-Bow Design Takes Mercedes EQS in an Entirely New Direction

March 27, 2021 admin

The new Mercedes-Benz EQS battery-electric sedan makes its formal debut April 15.

One thing’s for sure: there’ll be no mistaking the new Mercedes EQS sedan when it rolls down the street.

Think of the EQS as the all-electric alternative to the German automaker’s familiar S-Class flagship. But you clearly won’t confuse the two when it reaches showrooms in autumn. Some new battery-electric vehicles share the same design language as conventional, gas-powered products. With EQS, Mercedes goes off in an entirely new direction, one it’s been hinting at with concept vehicles like the 2019 Vision EQS.

The production model adopts what the automaker calls a “one-bow” design. It takes the look of the coupe-like Mercedes CLS to extremes. The result could have rolled off the set of a sci-fi film. But there are practical benefits in terms of range and interior roominess, as well.

“We said we have to go further” than just packing batteries into a conventional looking product,” Steffen Kohl, Mercedes’ director of advanced exterior style, said during a media webinar. The EQS “carries the future of Mercedes-Benz,” he added, noting the “one-bow” language of the EQS will strongly influence other products to come from the new, all-electric Mercedes-EQ sub-brand.

Plenty of power and range

Robert Lesnik led the exterior design effort for Mercedes new EQS battery-electric sedan.

EQS rides on a skateboard-like platform, mimicking virtually all new battery-electric vehicles. Its batteries, motors and other key electrical components sit below the floorboards.

The automaker will reveal full powertrain details during a formal unveiling April 15. But EQS uses twin motors, one on each axle, drawing power from a 108 kilowatt-hour battery pack. That provides about 435 miles of range using the European WLTP test cycle. The EPA rating should come in somewhere about 350 miles, according to industry observers.

The layout moves the sedan’s wheels close to the vehicle’s corners. It also frees up space where a traditional gas or diesel engine would be mounted, providing significant flexibility to the Mercedes design team.

Shorter wheelbase, longer cabin

The cab-forward design features a short nose, the angled, one-piece aluminum clamshell hood rising aggressively to flow into a steeply raked windshield. Instead of a traditional, two- or three-box layout, the look is like that of a single bow line, explained Robert Lesnik, who led the exterior design effort.

The Mercedes-Benz Vision EQS concept provided a framework for the company’s new electric luxury sedan.

“EQS will be the world’s best production car ever in terms of aerodynamics,” with a drag coefficient of 0.20 significantly better than even the sleekest of today’s supercars, he explained.

The effect “looks optically lower than it is,” Lesnik added.

The front end features a new grille with “abstracted, three-dimensional star pattern(s),” according to Mercedes. It’s framed by slit-like headlamps flowing into the front quarter panels.

“When people ask why we need a grille anymore,” Lesnik explains that it is “not an air intake. It’s a face.”

“Coming from the future”

The side panels lack the normal creases found on conventional Mercedes models, though the greenhouse does pinch in towards the trunk, giving the EQS a sense of muscularity.

The new EQS features Mercedes’ newly introduced Hyperscreen technology.

Around back, the most distinctive feature is a light band connecting what Mercedes calls “curved, 3D helix” taillamps.

From nose to tail, the new EQS measures 5.2 meters, or 204.7 inches. That’s about 3.5 inches shorter than the U.S. version of the latest Mercedes S-Class. But the electric sedan has more room for four passengers, its cabin pushed forward into what would normally be the engine compartment.

As distinctive as the exterior might be, the interior takes things even further, said Peter Balko, who oversaw development of the cabin. “We wanted our interior to be modern,” he explained, “as if coming from the future.”

Buyers will have numerous options

Buyers have several key options to choose from. The showpiece layout uses the new hyperscreen concept first shown on the latest S-Class. It features a seamless digital cluster running the entire width of the instrument panel. The organically shaped glass blends three different displays, starting with the digital gauge cluster, the touchscreen infotainment screen and a separate display for the front passenger.

The gauge cluster on the new EQS is configurable based on the wants of the driver.

EQS offers a digital gauge cluster and a large, free-floating, Tesla-like infotainment screen for those seeking a more conventional look. The space in front of the passenger can be outfitted with an assortment of different woods and fabrics and even a version of the Star Pattern grille.

The EQS will “touch almost all of your senses,” said Kohl. Among other things, the product development team has come up with three distinctive, user-programmable “soundscapes.”

Sounding off

While battery cars aren’t entirely silent, they are significantly quieter than vehicles with conventional internal combustion engines. Motorists can enjoy the lack of noise or they can opt for one of the soundscapes, “depending upon the emotions of the moment,” said lead sound engineer Thomas Kuppers.

Silver Waves is meant to be soft and soothing;
Vivid Flux is “shimming and explosive,” a bit “techie but (with) warmth,” said Kuppers; and
Roaring Pulse is “pretty raw, with “the growl of thunder,” especially under aggressive driving.

“We haven’t finished yet,” Kuppers added, noting that, “There will be new soundscapes over the life of the vehicle that we will download through over-the-air updates.”

The new EQS will borrow from the conventional S-Class by also appealing to the sense of smell, Mercedes officials noted. The new BEV will have the ability to inject scents into the cabin, including some designed specifically for the new model.

Q&A: Unite Digital Chief Strategy Officer Dave Zuchowski

March 25, 2021 admin

Unite Digital’s Dave Zuchowski offered insight into the future of automotive retailing during his session with TheDetroitBureau.

Since the very earliest days of the auto industry, motorists have shopped for cars much the same way as they do today. Or, at least, how they did until the COVID pandemic struck. During the past 12 months there’s been a massive shift to online shopping and few expect to see a return to the previous “norm.”

That’s setting in motion a dramatic transformation on the retail side of the business, starting with what dealers do and how they make money. It’s also expected to bring a sharp decline in the number of dealers serving the U.S. market, with perhaps 30% of today’s retailers closing shop or selling out to chains like AutoNation in the not-too-distant future, says Dave Zuchowski.

Zuchowski has spent four decades in the auto business, including a run as CEO of Hyundai Motor America. After a few years working as a consultant, Zuchowski took a new assignment last year, signing on as the chief strategy officer for Unite Digital, a startup that works with dealers on the challenges of working in a digital retail environment. He spoke to TheDetroitBureau.com about what he sees coming in the new world of automotive retailing.

Impact of the internet

Shopping online rose during the pandemic, and is likely here to stay.

TheDetroitBureau.com: We see more and more car buyers going online, whether to do their homework or to complete a purchase. What are the challenges for dealers?

Zuchowski: Inertia is a huge issue. Dealers are resistant to change because it’s a high-dollar, top-line business. If all else fails, revenue cures a lot of evils. So, they’re very reluctant to change because what they’ve had has worked for a very long time. They’re very reluctant to walk away from what worked and that, to me, is the biggest problem. (But) what really matters is what the consumer wants and the biggest change is that they’re not putting up with what we put up with all these years.

TDB: COVID clearly sped up change on the retail side, didn’t it?

Zuchowski: You have all the overlying conditions (for change) and what happened is that dealers reported record profits in the midst of the pandemic. They went through the process, line by line, and they renegotiated costs. They consolidated jobs and responsibilities. They cut back on inventory. They flattened and streamlined the organization. That happens in a downturn. But what surprised everybody was that consumers really turned out to like shopping at home, having a single point of contact and contactless delivery and concierge services, all the things that came out of necessity.

Dealers saw marketing and inventory costs come down and that let them have very targeted, customized marketing campaigns rather than broad-based campaigns that are extremely expensive and pressure margins and do bad things. They went from a supply-side model to a demand-side model. And they realized that though volume went down, margins came back up. People are willing to pay more for that personal touch, even as expenses go down. Dealers have done this before when the economy goes down. The difference is that this time, with COVID, customers responded very favorably.

More and more dealers are bolstering their online sales resources.

TDB: So, will the car business go the way of Amazon, with everything done online?

Zuchowski: Digital retailing doesn’t mean 100% of the people will do 100% of the transaction online. It means we need to create a parallel path, replicating every sales process that can be done in the store and make it available online. Then you let the consumer decide how much to do in the store and how much to do online. I don’t think 100% will want to do everything online but I think it’ll be the distinct majority in the not-too-distant future. I’m talking three to five years.

Other changes in retailing

TDB: It’s not just the pandemic forcing change in automotive retailing, though. What about the coming age of the electric vehicle? We’ve seen Volvo, for one, say they expect to sell all their future battery-electric cars entirely online.

Zuchowski: The traditional retail model has been push, rather than pull. It’s supply, rather than demand oriented. In other industries, it’s completely the opposite. Traditional dealers have a lot of staff. They’re top heavy, with an average of two managers for every sales person. It’s a structure that’s very expensive and no longer what the consumer wants. They want a single point of contact. They don’t want to go into a store and deal with a salesperson, then negotiate with somebody else and then deal with somebody handling (finance and insurance). They want someone who can handle things, soup to nuts.

TDB: They also want a set, single price, don’t they?

Nissan@Home now allows consumers to handle the entire purchase of a new vehicle online.

Zuchowski: I think “one price” is a misnomer but we certainly have to decrease the variability between transaction prices. Customers know from the internet what a dealer paid for the vehicle so there isn’t nearly as much dependence on negotiations.

The dealership of the future

TDB: What does this mean in terms of the number of dealerships going forward and the number of employees?

Zuchowski: A great question. I firmly believe the 30% of dealers who don’t get it and are slow to react will go out of business or get consolidated. The new number will be 70% of what we have today.

When I started out in 1980 there might have been 24,000, maybe 25,000 dealers and now there’s 17,000. (Long term) it’s probably closer to 12,000. You’ll have dealers controlling entire market areas with one central facility and maybe inventory in a storage area, service in a commercial area and maybe a few boutique-style showrooms in high-traffic areas. You’ll have fewer stores with smaller inventory, fewer service bays. The stores will look different and they’ll go to different locations for different functions. There’ll be fewer individual owners and more dealer groups owning a bunch of stores.

TDB: Will things be different for those dealers who remain?

All pure electric Volvo models to be available online only

Zuchowski: There’s always going to be an important role for the dealer in this country. But that role will change. Dealerships essentially will turn into delivery and service centers. I would be very reluctant to make huge investments if I were a dealer, say, for a new, $5 million facility. The way a dealer will make money down the road will change. And there will different ways to get revenue. But even with volumes going down, margins could go up. They won’t have to carry 1,000 cars in stock and spend $100,000 a month on advertising, for one thing.

TDB: Let’s wrap up by talking used versus new.

Zuchowski: It’s a mistake not to look at the business holistically. Every year about 45 million to 50 million vehicles are being sold and when new cars are doing well used cars are off. And when used cars are doing well new car sales are off.

We’ve had an affordability problem for some time but there’s always been a way around it. We’ve now stretched out payments as far as you can go. And we’ve played with rates, now with the lowest interest rates on record. How many people can afford a $40,000 vehicle, especially if your interest rates aren’t at zero percent? Now, all the new technology isn’t free and there are all the regulations to comply with, and you have to add all that to the price of a vehicle. But we’re running out of ways to manage payments. I think used will gain more steam because new vehicle affordability will become a bigger and bigger problem as interest rates go up.

Angry Shareholders Sue Lordstown Motors

March 22, 2021 admin

Lordstown Motors CEO Steve Burns is named in the recently filed lawsuit against the EV startup.

Angry shareholders filed at least three lawsuits against Lordstown Motors for fraud in U.S. District Court, demanding compensation from the cash reserves the company says it is planning to use to launch its battery-electric pickup truck this fall.

The startup company, housed in an old General Motors plant to produce its truck, has yet to file a response to any of the lawsuits. The first suit against Lordstown was filed March 18.

The lawsuits, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio’s Youngstown Division, comes on the heels of disastrous week for the fledgling electric vehicle company. It began with the devastating research report by Hindenburg Research that sent the company’s stock tumbling.

The company followed that with an unsatisfactory earnings call during which the executives failed to answer the issues raised in the report.

Plaintiffs hit EV startup hard

Burns said during the company’s earnings call he believed his company was the only one to begin automated assembly this early in the pre-production process.

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of Matthew Rico, who identifies himself as Lordstown shareholder, “Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) the Company’s purported pre-orders were non-binding; (ii) many of the would-be customers who made these purported pre-orders lacked the means to make such purchases and/or would not have credible demand for Lordstown’s Endurance; (iii) Lordstown is not and has not been ‘on track’ to commence production of the Endurance in September 2021; (iv) the first test run of the Endurance led to the vehicle bursting into flames within 10 minutes; and (v) as a result.”

Rico also is asking that his lawsuit be certified as a “class action” that would cover all of Lordstown shareholders damaged by the company’s misconduct.

Hindenburg Research, a short-seller group, claimed the EV truckmaker either faked or overstated claims that it has advance orders for 100,000 of the electric pickups it plans to launch later this year. Further, the group described Lordstown CEO Steve Burns as a “con man.”

The tenor of the Hindenburg report echoes a study it put out last year on Nikola Corp., which also used a SPAC deal to go public, initially generating a big run up in its share price while also lining up a proposed alliance with General Motors.

Lawsuit targets Lordstown executives

CEO Burns expressed enough confidence in his team that he upped the expected production levels to 60,000 units.

The lawsuit names several Lordstown executives, starting with CEO William Burns, as defendants. The suit is built around the statements, including documents the company filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and various press releases by the company that “were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.”

“The Individual Defendants, because of their positions at the Company, possessed the power and authority to control the content and form of the Company’s annual reports, quarterly reports, press releases, investor presentations, and other materials provided to the SEC, securities analysts, money and portfolio managers and investors,” contend in the filing.

Instead, the lawsuit said Lordstown executive “authorized the publication of the documents, presentations, and materials alleged herein to be misleading prior to its issuance and had the ability and opportunity to prevent the issuance of these false statements or to cause them to be corrected,” going back to when the company went public via a SPAC in August 2020.

The SPAC generated $675 million in cash, money it is using to finish development of its new Endurance model. Lordstown officials claimed they received more than 100,000 non-binding production reservations from commercial fleet users, which the aforementioned Hindenburg report contends is untrue.

The lawsuit added the defendants from Lordstown “knew that the adverse facts” had not been disclosed and were being concealed from the public and that the positive representations being made were false and misleading, making them liable for damages suffered by shareholders.

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