Industry

Getty Images Jaguar Land Rover’s (JLR) owner Tata Motors announced a surprise quarterly loss of more than $1bn (£700m). It came as the Indian company wrote off $2.05bn related to its revamp of the UK-based luxury car business. It also warned that a global semiconductor shortage are now impacting production plans for the current quarter.

MILAN — Stellantis and iPhone assembler Foxconn said they agreed to create a joint venture that will supply in-car and connected-car technologies. The two companies have signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding to form Mobile Drive, a 50-50 joint venture based in the Netherlands. Mobile Drive will operate as an automotive supplier, and take part

From his role as mayor of Charlotte, N.C., to his stint as transportation secretary under President Barack Obama from 2013 to 2017, Anthony Foxx has long advocated for accessibility across U.S. transit systems, innovation in mobility and equity in transportation policy. Foxx, 50, is now chief policy officer at Lyft. He spoke with Reporters Pete

The marriage between special-purpose acquisition companies and clean-tech vehicle startups is on the rocks as regulators push for detail on the one thing most of them lack: a solid business. Stocks of electric-mobility companies such as Nikola Corp., Lordstown Motors Corp. and Romeo Power Inc. that went public by merging with SPACs are down at

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — On a recent Friday afternoon, a delivery robot made its way along a crowded sidewalk on State Street. It made an abrupt stop in front of Amer’s Deli, spun itself 90 degrees and backed into a parking space with the precise movements of a Revolutionary War soldier. Some passersby were taken

Scooter startup Bird to go public through merger with SPAC Bird Rides Inc. will go public by merging with a blank-check company, securing a new source of capital after venture capitalists largely lost interest in money-losing scooter rental startups. A special purpose acquisition company called Switchback II Corp. will take Bird public and provide as

Volkswagen Group plans to offer a highly automated version of the hippie-era microbus it’s reviving as an electric van as the carmaker commercializes self-driving technology along with startup Argo AI. VW is preparing an ID.Buzz with Level 4 autonomy — meaning the vehicle can drive itself under certain conditions — to be ready for commercial

Self-driving tech company Pony.ai, backed by Toyota Motor Corp., said on Monday its next-generation technology for robotaxis will be using lidars made by Luminar Technologies Inc. Lidars are laser-based sensors that are a key component to many autonomous vehicle technologies and help them perceive the environment around the cars. Pony.ai CEO James Peng said the

Volkswagen Group’s ambitions in highly automated and autonomous vehicles have been cooled by setbacks. Those included premium subsidiary Audi abandoning plans to turn on Level 3 conditional autonomy in the A8 flagship sedan and the group’s inability to create a standard for the technology together with partners. In addition, rivals such as Tesla, Honda, Mercedes-Benz

The levels of driving automation, the industry’s go-to framework, were updated this week to clarify differences between Level 3 and Level 4, part of an effort to better define and group the capabilities of autonomous technologies that are on the road and under development. The six levels, established by SAE International in 2014, describe the

The pace of auto industry change has become more exponential than linear, said Swamy Kotagiri, CEO of Magna International. And keeping up with it now requires a comprehensive product portfolio, partnerships and alliances — but also agility, Kotagiri said during an Automotive News Congress Conversations webcast last week. Kotagiri, who took the helm of the

Hyundai’s twin goals of reaching 1 million U.S. sales a year by 2025 and introducing an ambitious global green-car portfolio might seem to be discrete ideas. But its North American CEO, Jose Muñoz, says the two objectives go hand in hand. The South Korean automaker wants to embrace electric and hydrogen vehicles in a way

Free2Move, the short-term vehicle rental operation owned by Stellantis, has been pushing its car-sharing services into the U.S. market recently following its success with the model across the globe. Now Free2Move is bringing its Car on Demand subscription services to the U.S. after operating them in Europe since 2019. The company has been operating a

Out of 15 companies developing automated driving systems, Waymo is in the lead, while Tesla comes in last, according to the latest leaderboard report from consulting company Guidehouse Insights. The report, released last week, evaluated the companies and categorized them as leaders, contenders, challengers or followers. Leaders scored 75 or above in strategy and execution,

Concerns are growing over the auto industry’s reliance on an overseas supply chain for the raw materials needed to make the lithium ion batteries powering America’s electric transportation future. Clarios, a longtime battery supplier, says policymakers and industry executives should not overlook a homegrown solution. Recycling could provide the materials needed to fill a substantial

AFP/Getty Images Production at Oxford’s Mini plant will be suspended for three working days due a shortage of computer chips. BMW said its Cowley factory will not manufacture cars on Friday or on Tuesday and Wednesday after the bank holiday weekend. A spokeswoman said the company had taken steps to minimise further disruption and was

As a presidential candidate, Democrat Joe Biden built his campaign around a blueprint to address the COVID-19 pandemic while putting the U.S. on a path toward clean energy to curb climate change, modernize infrastructure and create jobs. Now, nearly 100 days into his presidency, Biden has laid out the framework for his policy direction through

Luminar Technologies has embarked on its first foray beyond the automotive realm. The lidar supplier said Monday it has entered a partnership with Airbus UpNext, the future-looking subsidiary of the aviation giant that tests and evaluates new technologies. Working together, the companies will develop lidar sensors that can augment the sensing capabilities of both traditional

Lyft Inc. will sell its self-driving technology unit to Toyota Motor Corp. in a $550 million deal, the companies said on Monday, allowing the ride-hail company to hit its profitability target one quarter earlier. The sale of Level 5 to Toyota’s Woven Planet division will allow Lyft to focus on partnerships with self-driving companies that

TOKYO — Honda’s new CEO wants the company’s U.S. lineup to be gasoline-free by 2040 as part of an ambitious new electrification plan that will lean on General Motors and solid-state batteries. Toshihiro Mibe, who took office April 1, pitched the vision last week as a mission to derive all of Honda Motor Co.’s global

The push to widen the adoption of electric vehicles in the U.S. is driving the conversion of utility poles and streetlights into EV charging destinations. Installing streetlight and pole- mounted stations is part of a growing movement to create more curbside EV charging options in urban areas. The idea is to enhance the feasibility of

DETROIT — Canoo Inc. on Thursday said Executive Chairman Tony Aquila will take over as chief executive, and the electric vehicle startup outlined a push to roll out its own vehicles. Aquila, a former software CEO who joined Canoo in October, immediately replaces Ulrich Kranz, who co-founded the company and exits at the end of

WASHINGTON — Two U.S. senators are working on legislation that would allow automakers to deploy tens of thousands of self-driving vehicles on U.S. roads, a significant reform that could help speed the commercial use of automated vehicles. Sens. Gary Peters, a Democrat, and John Thune, a Republican, have circulated a draft amendment seen by Reuters

PA Media Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is shutting its two main car factories temporarily due to a shortage of computer chips. The difficulties at Britain’s biggest carmaker echo similar problems at other manufacturers, including Ford, who have been hit by a global shortage of chips. JLR said there would be a “limited period” of closure

SAN FRANCISCO — Domino’s Pizza Inc. and Nuro Inc., a Silicon Valley startup, said on Monday they will launch robotic pizza delivery in Houston this week, seeking to capitalize on rising online orders caused by the pandemic. Nuro, founded by two former Google engineers in 2016, raised $940 million from the SoftBank Vision Fund and

Would you mind terribly if I tapped the regenerative brakes a minute on the industry’s downhill run to an all-electric future? We’re speeding up in exactly the wrong direction, and without a slight course correction, we’re going to wind up on one of those runaway truck ramps with our wheels buried up to the axles

Volvo has signed an agreement to provide cars to the autonomous driving technology unit of China’s top ride-hailing firm, Didi Chuxing, for its self-driving test fleet. Volvo will provide XC90 crossovers equipped with backup steering and braking systems that DiDi Autonomous Driving will integrate with DiDi Gemini, its new self-driving hardware platform, the automaker said

TOKYO — Beyond its sleek space shuttle-like profile and minimalistic, Apple-gadget design aura, Hyundai’s new Staria people mover offers a peek at the automaker’s future. The van also captures Hyundai’s strategy for repositioning itself as a “smart mobility solution provider” for an era of ride-sharing, on-the-go workspaces, eco- delivery models and a whole new segment

DETROIT — Ford Motor Co.’s upcoming hands-free driver-assist system has a new name: BlueCruise. Previously referred to as Active Drive Assist, the feature will go live in the third quarter on Ford’s Mustang Mach-E crossover and F-150 pickup. Ford said Wednesday that BlueCruise software, activated through an over-the-air-update, will cost $600 for a three-year subscription,

SEOUL — Hyundai Motor Group said Friday it has formed a new mobility division to launch more service models and named an outsider as its chief following his tenure with global tech giants such as Apple Inc and Microsoft. Song Chang-hyeon will lead the newly established Transportation-as-a-Service division, which will oversee mobility business for Hyundai