Auto Lovers Land

During Investor Day Wednesday, Tesla officials are expected to reveal plans for a new plant Mexico, in the state of Nuevo León, which is 150 miles away from the Texas border.  Tesla CEO Elon Musk is expected to make the formal announcement about the plant in Mexico during Investor Day Wednesday. The plant could cost as much as $10 billion — and several years — to complete.  TheDetroitBureau.com first reported the plan  last December. The initial plan called for a factory costing between $800 million and $1 billion to produce parts for the EV maker.  Further investments — the $10 billion — could grow the plant into a Gigafactory that would produce vehicles as well. A deal, but not agreement Mexican President Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador welcomed the EV maker´s potential arrival into the country, but in his welcome statement he disagreed with Tesla’s choice locate its plant in the northern state, citing water supply problems. Mexican President Andrés Manuel ...

Utility vehicles seem to be crowding out every other kind of vehicle, except for pickup trucks, on American streets and roads. So, it is no surprise manufacturers based around Detroit are exiting the old-line passenger car business, probably forever, and replacing them with utility vehicles of various sizes. The 2023 Mazda CX-5 retains the brand’s reputation for good driving dynamics while offering plenty of room. Other manufacturers from Asia and Europe also are edging away from the shrinking passenger car segments, which are increasingly defined by the smallest vehicles or luxury sedans built with the thought they could be driven by a chauffeur. Even manufacturers such as Mazda, which has a history of making smart, fun-to-drive, sporty cars, has moved into the crowded utility vehicle space with vehicles such as CX-5, which is a direct competitor to popular utilities such as the Toyota RAV4, Honda CRV, Nissan Rogue and Ford Escape.  Overview The 2023 Mazda CX-5 carries on...

As EVs go from niche to mainstream automakers are facing serious challenges lining up supplies of critical materials like lithium, nickel, cobalt and manganese. But such shortages may be a relatively short-term problem. Within the next decade, as much as 80% of the key ingredients in EV batteries could come from recycling, much as is the case today with the lead-acid batteries in conventional vehicles. Honda offered up its first wide-ranging look at the 2024 Prologue EV, its first all-electric model. On Monday, Honda announced an agreement with Ascend Elements , a Massachusetts-based battery recycler. “Through this collaboration, Honda will seek to obtain a consistent supply of nickel, cobalt and lithium that Ascend Elements reclaims from recycled lithium-ion batteries,” the automaker said in a statement. “Honda will then utilize these resources in its battery supply chain for electrified vehicles produced by Honda in North America.” “Increased battery recycling and material cir...

GM won the “Overall Loyalty to Manufacturer” Award for the eighth straight year as part of S&P Global Mobility’s 27th Annual Loyalty Awards. New vehicle buyers are less loyal now than they were last year — substantially less so than three years ago. Some of the lack of “commitment” is due to the low inventories buyers have faced in light of the COVID pandemic, according to the latest study from S&P Global Mobility. General Motors and Tesla were tops among the auto companies securing the faith of previous owners. “The past three years have been a challenge for the automotive industry,” said Joe LaFeir, president, Automotive Insights, S&P Global Mobility. “As customers are returning back to market post-pandemic and inventory levels have slowly improved from last year’s lows, retaining loyal customers has been more challenging than ever before.” S&P Global Mobility announced the winners of its 27th annual Automotive Loyalty Awards, recognizing General Motors as the...

Lordstown Motors Corp. recalled 19 of its  Endurance all-electric full-size pickup  trucks that are either in use by customers or in use internally by the company.  Lordstown’s recalling more than half of the vehicles it’s produced due to a potential loss of propulsion. The voluntary recall was filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) as an effort to address a specific electrical connection issue that could result in a loss of propulsion while driving.  Lordstown is working with its supplier network to implement a corrective action the company believes will fix this issue. The recall affects 19 vehicles that are either in the hands of customers or being used internally by LMC. Lordstown trucks waiting for shipment and vehicles in process at the manufacturing plant will not be released until they have been retrofitted with the new parts, once those parts are available. Additionally, the company has ceased production until the proble...

Big things come in small packages, or so it might be for Tesla, with speculation growing that CEO Elon Musk will announce plans for a downsized, more affordable new model as part of the automaker’s “Master Plan Part Three.” Might Tesla CEO Elon Musk roll out the much anticipated Model 2 during Investor Day? Maybe. What some expect to be dubbed the Tesla Model 2 could be announced during the automaker’s annual Investor Day Wednesday. But not everyone is convinced Tesla is ready to pull off such a program, citing issues with battery production. And even if Musk does want to enter a new, more mainstream segment of the emerging EV market, the question is when Tesla could pull it off. The carmaker has rarely hit its targets, either for new products or new technologies, such as the Cybertruck pickup and a fully functional version of its Full Self-Driving system. Taking EVs mainstream Whatever the plans for a smaller model, Musk will have some good things to talk about after sufferi...

For those following electric automotive startups, Fisker’s fiscal year 2022 results, announced on Monday, should sound familiar. Fisker Inc. Chairman and CEO Henrik Fisker says the company is moving closer to saleable production units. Fisker disclosed a larger-than-expected fourth quarter net loss of $170.1 million or 54 cents per share, which exceeded the analysts’ expected loss of 42 cents per share. This compares with Fisker’s net loss in 2021 of $138.4 million, or 47 cents per share. For the full year in 2022, the company lost $547.5 million, or $1.80 per share, compared with at $471.4 million loss, which equated to $1.61 per share. The company said the $702 million it spent last year was below an anticipated $715 million to $790 million in spending. The company ended the year with a $736 million cash balance.  For the 2023 fiscal year, the company is expecting expenditures of $535 million to $610 million, offset by a potentially positive EBITDA for 2023 and 8%-12% ann...

Numbers, numbers and more numbers will dominate the news this week! Henrik Fisker’s company will report its Q4 and FY 2022 earnings Monday morning. First we’ll start with a few more rounds of earnings reports, beginning with EV startup Fisker on Monday when Henrik Fisker’s second chance for success reports its fourth quarter and full year results.  The only black we’ll see is the color of the font on the report, but that’s ok since the company’s still in the testing and development stage. On Tuesday at 2 p.m. we’ll get earnings from another EV startup, Rivian. Again, we’re unlikely to see any profits, however, Rivian’s results should offer insight into how the company is progressing — or if it’s not. Finally, the next round of numbers we’ll be looking at come at the end of the week when the automakers announce their February sales results.  It won’t just be numbers from EV makers this week though as Tesla’s annual Investor Day will give those who are watching and wai...

Hyundai boasts its own logistics division, which includes shipping vessels and port facilities. This week in 1986, Hyundai introduced the subcompact Excel to America, a car sold elsewhere also sold as the Hyundai Pony, Hyundai Presto, Hyundai X2, and Mitsubishi Precis.  Sales in the United States reach 168,882 units in its first year, climbing to 253,610 vehicles the following year despite having dealers in only 31 of 50 states. But all hasn’t been smooth sailing for the automaker, despite its current success. A young automaker’s start While Hyundai Motor Co. entered the automobile industry in South Korea in 1967, the company’s roots stretch back to 1947 with the formation of the Hyundai Engineering and Construction Co. Its name, derived from the Korean word Hyun, which means modern, and Dai, which denotes to era, certainly seemed apt, as it landed major government contracts that helped build the national transportation infrastructure.  With the launch of the aut...

Hyundai Motor Co. announced Friday it will sell its shares in a parts manufacturing enterprise in Alabama after multiple suppliers were found to have used illegal child labor.  Hyundai Motor Co. announced Friday it will sell its shares in a parts manufacturing enterprise in Alabama after multiple suppliers were found to have used illegal child labor. The practices were  uncovered and first reported by Reuters  news agency late last year. According to the December report, children as young as 12 were found working in multiple factories that supplied parts and assemblies to Hyundai and Kia. Hyundai had previously  stated its intention to sever ties  to the suppliers.  The parts operations found to be using child labor are owned by  Hwashin America Corp.  and  Ajin Industrial Co . One subsidiary that employed children is called  SMART Alabama LLC , and produces metal stampings for Hyundai and Kia vehicles. Hyundai Motor Co. currently...