Lyft to sell autonomous driving unit for $550 million to Toyota

WASHINGTON - US ride hailing service Lyft agreed to sell its autonomous driving division to a unit of Japan's Toyota for $550 million, the companies said Monday.

The move follows a similar divestment from Uber last year as the rideshare firms focus on core operations amid struggles during the yearlong coronavirus pandemic.

The Lyft operations known as Level 5 will be folded into Woven Planet Holdings, a subsidiary of Toyota Motor Corporation, which will create a team of some 1,200 working on self-driving technology in Japan, the United States and Britain.

Lyft will receive some $550 million in cash, with $200 million paid upfront and $350 million of payments over a five-year period, under the agreement.

"This acquisition advances our mission to develop the safest mobility in the world at scale," said Woven Planet chief executive James Kuffner.

"This deal will be key in weaving together the people, resources, and infrastructure that will help us to transform the world we live in through mobility technologies that can bring about a happier, safer future for us all."

Lyft CEO Logan Green said the transaction "brings together the vision, talent, resources and commitment to advance clean, autonomous mobility on a global scale."

Both Lyft and Uber had been working on their own technology for autonomous cars, but the firms have been hit hard by the slowdown in ridesharing during the global pandemic.

Agence France-Presse

Ford in talks with Google to build self-driving cars — Automotive News

Google is said to be in talks with automaker Ford Motor Co (F.N) to help build the Internet search company’s autonomous cars, Automotive News reported, citing a person with knowledge of the project.

The contract manufacturing deal, if finalised, is expected to come during the annual International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas during the first week of January, Automotive News said.

A Google spokesman told Automotive News that the company would not comment on speculation, although Google officials confirmed that the company is talking to automakers.

Earlier this year, Google began discussions with most of the world’s top automakers and assembled a team of traditional and nontraditional suppliers to speed efforts to bring self-driving cars to the market by 2020.

In June, Google began testing tiny, bubble-shaped self-driving prototype vehicles of its own design on public roads around Mountain View. The company has also started testing self-driving prototypes in Austin.

Google is expected to make its self-driving cars unit, which will offer rides for hire, a stand-alone business under its parent company, Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O), next year, Bloomberg reported earlier.

Ford, although lagging behind most competitors, ramped up its pace to develop self-driving cars earlier this year and said it would expand advanced safety technology, including automatic braking, enabling hands-free operation of cars under certain conditions by automating such basic functions as steering, braking and throttle.

This was to be included across its global lineup over the next five years.

Reuters could not independently reach Ford Motor and Google for comment outside regular U.S. business hours.

soure: interaksyon.com

GM recalls another 3.4 million cars for ignition problem

WASHINGTON — General Motors on Monday recalled 3.4 million cars in North America to fix an ignition problem that could cause the car to lose power that is linked to injuries.

The bulk of the 2000 to 2014 model-year cars — 3.2 million — are in the United States, the largest US automaker said.

GM said that the ignition switch may move out of the “run” position if the key is carrying extra weight and is jarred, such as when the car hits a pothole or crosses railroad tracks.

Switching out of the “run” position affects power steering and power braking and could cause air bags not to deploy in a crash.

GM said it knows of eight crashes and six injuries related to this recall.

The company said the recall stems from its review of safety issues following its recall in February of 2.6 million Chevrolet Cobalts and other small cars for ignition switch problems.

The cars covered in the newest recall are Buick Lacrosses, Chevrolet Impalas, Cadillac Devilles, Cadillac DTS, Buick Lucernes, Buick Regals, and Chevy Monte Carlos.

GM said addressing the problem would involve replacing existing ignition keys with new ones designed differently, or retooling existing keys.

“Until the rework or replacement is completed, owners of the recalled cars are urged to remove additional weight from their key chains and drive with only the ignition key,” GM said.

GM announced five other recalls for a total of 165,770 vehicles for a variety of problems, including with automatic transmissions and power steering.

The company said it knew of no crashes or injuries related to four of the conditions, but injury data was unclear for a problem that could cause the rollover sensor to unintentionally deploy the roof rail air bags, which happened on 15 occasions.

GM said it would take a charge of about $700 million for recall repairs in the second quarter, including the $400 million provision it previously announced. That brings to $2.0 billion the amount set aside for recall costs in the first half of the year.

GM has now recalled some 20 million vehicles this year in the US and foreign countries for safety problems.

The automaker is under congressional and, reportedly, Justice Department investigation over why it failed to act on the Cobalt ignition switch problem until this February despite knowing about it for more than 11 years.

That problem has been tied to dozens of accidents and at least 13 deaths, according to GM. Outside analysts have said the death toll could be much higher.

The company is facing multiple lawsuits for that problem, which analysts say could ultimately cost the company billions of dollars in damages.

GE chief executive Marry Barra will return to Capitol Hill on Wednesday for another congressional grilling before the oversight panel of the House of Representatives about the Cobalt recall scandal.

source: interaksyon.com

GM’s new chief seeks global share gain

DETROIT — The new chief of General Motors vowed to keep a steady hand on the wheel Thursday as she seeks to expand global market share and complete a major turnaround at the US automaker’s troubled European unit.

“To me, what’s important is we’re focused on the product,” Mary Barra, who took over as chief executive officer last week, told reporters at GM headquarters in Detroit.

Barra said she did not expect to make major changes in the strategies she inherited from outgoing chief Dan Akerson, who successfully steered GM back into profitability and independence after a government-backed bankruptcy.

“There is a strategy and the word (from me) is accelerate,” she said in her first lengthy discussion with journalists since becoming the first woman to head a major automaker.

“Don’t expect any right or left turns.”

GM plans to maintain robust investment in the development of new vehicles and continue its disciplined approach to pricing and incentives even as the rapid growth in US sales is expected to plateau.

“We’re in it for the long term,” said Barra who started her career with GM more than 30 years ago and worked her way up through the ranks after receiving a degree in electrical engineering from the old General Motors Institute in Flint.

“We have to maintain the fortress balance sheet. This is a cyclical business. We want to make sure we have the financial performance that allows us to reinvest in the business.”

GM, which for 77 years was the world’s largest automaker in terms of sales before being overtaken by Japanese rival Toyota in 2008, was once again relegated to second place Thursday when Toyota announced record 2013 sales of 9.98 million vehicles.

GM sold 9.71 million cars last year, while Germany’s Volkswagen logged annual sales of 9.5 million.

While she didn’t indicate any strong desire to regain the crown, Barra said she was “looking for modest share growth” both in the United States and globally.

“We have a strategy. I think there is a lot of opportunity,” around the world, she said.

Barra expects GM to continue its expansion in China where the company and its partners are second behind Volkswagen.

“Clearly we have great opportunities in China,” she said.

Europe — where GM has lost money for 16 consecutive years and expects to post another loss when it reports 2013 results next month — remains a trouble spot.

But Barra expressed confidence in the automaker’s restructuring plan, which aims for profitability by mid-decade, and said she doesn’t have any kind of hard and fast deadline for the turnaround to be complete.

“Europe is an important market,” Barra said. “I’m a glass half-full kind of person. I think Europe is very great opportunity for GM.”

While it’s “important to operate profitably everywhere we operate,” Barra noted that the automaker’s transformation in Europe — and particularly at its subsidiary Opel — is nonetheless impressive.

“We’re no longer talking about the viability of Opel,” said Barra, who has served on Opel’s board for the past couple years.

“Instead the focus is on showing of Opel products and rebuilding the image of the Opel brand,” she said. “We’re going to do everything we can to strengthen the Opel brand.”

source: interaksyon.com

Toyota to unveil concept fuel-cell car at Tokyo Motor Show

TOKYO — Toyota said Tuesday it plans to unveil its latest fuel-cell concept car at the Tokyo Motor show, with an expected commercial rollout two years away.

The four-seater sedan has a range of 500 kilometers (310 miles) — longer than previous versions — and can be recharged in just three minutes through hydrogen gas tanks stored inside the vehicle, the Japanese auto giant said ahead of the exhibition later this month.

Toyota, the world’s biggest automaker, said it would launch a commercial version of the mid-sized vehicle around 2015.

By that time, there were likely to be “hundreds” of hydrogen refueling stations in Japan, Europe and the United States, it added.

Fuel cell vehicles are considered the holy grail of green cars because they emit nothing but water vapor from the tailpipe and can operate on renewable hydrogen gas.

Toyota’s concept vehicle seeks to jump two key hurdles that analysts say have hindered consumer buying of so-called green cars, including electric vehicles — range and re-fueling infrastructure.

Relatively high prices have also dented purchasing of green vehicles.

However demand for lower-emission vehicles is forecast to grow, with further technological advances in the field seen as crucial due to toughening emissions standards.

Apart from Toyota, which is working on its fuel-cell concept car with Germany’s BMW, others are eyeing a widespread commercial offering. They include a Honda joint venture with General Motors and Nissan’s work with Ford and Daimler.

Honda already has a commercial fuel-cell car called the FCX Clarity but it has only been sold in limited markets on a very small scale.

At the Tokyo show, which runs from November 20 to December 1, Toyota is also planning to showcase a prototype taxi for the Japanese market that promises green technology while catering to the nation’s rapidly ageing population.

The hybrid taxi has a sliding electric door to make entering and exiting the car easier for those wheelchair-bound or people with baby strollers, Toyota said. A screen fixed to the back of the front seats supplies information about routes and taxi fares.

The carmaker said it wanted to commercialize the vehicle ahead of an expected surge in demand when the Japanese capital hosts the 2020 Olympic games.

Toyota said it also planned to display a futuristic vehicle, dubbed Fun Vehicle 2, which allows standing drivers to change the vehicle’s direction simply by shifting their weight, similar to the Segway although the car can move at faster speeds.

The car’s pop-up windshield can turn oncoming objects a distinct color to alert drivers to their presence.

source: interaksyon.com

Nissan plans to begin selling self-driving cars by 2020

IRVINE, California — Nissan Motor Co Ltd said it will be ready to bring fully self-driving vehicles to market by 2020.

The Japanese automaker said it plans to offer “multiple, commercially viable” vehicles that are capable of autonomous operation without driver input.

The self-driving vehicles will be sold “at realistic prices for consumers,” the company said at a media event in Irvine, California.

Nissan said its goal is to offer autonomous cars “across the model range within two vehicle generations” – about 10-12 years after the projected 2020 launch.

The company said it has been researching and developing autonomous vehicles “for years” with such top universities as Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford, Oxford, Carnegie Mellon and the University of Tokyo. It is building a dedicated test track in Japan for autonomous vehicles that will be completed by next spring.

Google Inc, the Internet search leader, launched an autonomous car program in 2010 and has built and is testing several different versions, including one based on Toyota Motor Corp’s Prius.

source: interaksyon.com

The car is the next major tech platform — GM

BOSTON — The car is the next great proving ground for communications technology, General Motors Co Chief Executive Dan Akerson said late this week.

The automobile will become a major platform for tech “and one with far better battery life than an iPhone,” he said in prepared remarks to the Chief Executives’ Club of Boston.

Developing better in-car technology is critical for automakers like GM to attract younger, tech-savvy buyers. If they can pull it off, the companies will generate new sources of revenue and boost profit margins. One approach may be for GM to sell advertising within the car itself, Akerson said last month.

In mid-2014, the No. 1 U.S. automaker, teaming up with AT&T Inc, will start selling vehicles embedded with 4G LTE mobile broadband, a wireless connection that allows for faster flow of data that GM says would allow passengers in the backseat to watch streaming video.

Akerson, a former top executive with telecommunications companies MCI, Nextel and XO Communications, said automakers have no choice as the average U.S. consumer is spending more than 2-1/2 hours a day on their smartphones and tablets. That tops the 16 hours each week spent in cars as drivers or passengers.

“Marry the two and you have a megatrend that we intend to harness for competitive advantage,” he said.

Akerson cited a J.D. Power study that found more than two-thirds of new car buyers own a smartphone, and for 80 percent of them connectivity strongly influences which car they buy.

Moreover, it’s not just American consumers who want that, he said, citing similar studies in China, the world’s largest auto market.

He said drivers want hands-free calling, navigation and automatic crash warning, in that order. He called those “the bread and butter” of the company’s in-vehicle OnStar service that connects drivers to live operators for directions or emergency help. OnStar has more than 6 million subscribers.

As for why consumers with smartphones would want such services, Akerson said GM’s features will be integrated to prevent distracted driving.

However, the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety released a report on Wednesday saying that hands-free technology in cars actually increases driver distraction. AAA urged the auto industry to consider disabling certain functions of voice-to-text technologies, such as using social media or interacting with email, so they are inoperable while the vehicle is in motion.

Citi analyst Itay Michaeli has estimated that OnStar generates about $1.5 billion in annual revenue for GM and the unit is worth between $5 billion and $7 billion as a whole.

Akerson said installing 3G Wi-Fi in vehicles only scratches the surface of what’s possible.

“Imagine that your vehicle can predict that it needs a new battery and then automatically schedules a visit to your dealer before it dies on the (Massachusetts) Pike in rush hour,” he said.

“How cool would it be to have your car automatically call Dunkin’ Donuts when you’re a mile away, so your coffee and cruller are ready and paid for when you pull up?” Akerson added.

Some services will need far more bandwidth and much higher download speeds, which 4G LTE will allow, he said. “We’re going to turn millions of our cars and trucks into nodes on the Internet through the industry’s largest global deployment of 4G LTE.”

The tech features will just be the beginning as GM needs to entice thousands of code writers to come up with apps for its cars, he said. That approach made Apple and Android dominant in their field, and Akerson said he hopes a GM App Shop someday will be just as popular.

source: interaksyon.com

Hyundai, Kia recall 1.9M units in US

WASHINGTON — South Korean automakers Hyundai and Kia are recalling nearly 1.9 million vehicles in the United States to fix brake lights and airbags, the US government said Wednesday.

Hyundai recalled certain model-year 2011-2013 Hyundai Elantra vehicles for airbag problems. The brake light recall affects Kia vehicles in model years between 2007 and 2011, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said.

Hyundai Motor Company, South Korea’s largest automaker, notified the NHTSA that a support bracket may become displaced when a side airbag deploys, potentially causing a laceration injury.

Hyundai’s affiliate, Kia Motors Corporation, is recalling certain model year 2007-2010 Rondo and Sportage, model year 2007-2011 Sorento, model year 2007 Sedona, model year 2010-2011 Soul, and model year 2011 Optima vehicles.

A faulty stop light switch may prevent the brake lights from illuminating when the brake pedal is depressed or may prevent deactivation of the cruise control by depressing the brake pedal, increasing the risk of a crash.

In addition, Kia reported, the problem may affect the push-button start feature and affect the operation of the brake-transmission shift interlock feature preventing the shifter from being moved out of the park position.

Repairs of the affected vehicles will be free of charge, the companies said.

Hyundai, together with its smaller affiliate Kia, is the world’s fifth-largest automaker.

source: interaksyon.com