Interesting Car/Truck Manufacturer News

GM invests in plants to keep up with truck demand
Dec. 14, 2020 2:17 PM ETBy: Clark Schultz, SA News Editor2 Comments

• General Motors <<GM> >sets plans to invest $70M into its Tonawanda, New York engine plant and more than $6M into its Parma, Ohio metal stamping plant.
• The automaker says the two outlays will support continued strong customer and dealer demand for GM's Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups.
• The Tonawanda investment will be used to increase capacity on the engine block machining line and the Parma investment will be used to construct four new metal assembly cells to support increased truck production volumes.
• "GM continues to invest to strengthen our core business and respond to growing customer demand for our full-size pickups," says a top GM exec.
• Tonawanda produces award-winning engines including the 4.3L V-6, 5.3L V-8, and the 6.2L V-8 Ecotec3 family of engines for the Chevrolet Silverado, Suburban and Tahoe, GMC Yukon and Yukon Denali and Cadillac Escalade.
• GM is on a dual path, with a huge investments also going into developing the electric vehicle part of the business.

Baidu rallies 4% on report of electric vehicle partnership interest
Dec. 15, 2020 8:01 AM ETBaidu, Inc. (BIDU)By: Clark Schultz, SA News Editor

• Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU) has held talks with automakers in China about the possibility of producing electric vehicles, sources tell Reuters.
• The tech powerhouse is said to considering contract manufacturing or creating a majority-owned venture with an existing automaker.
• Baidu is reported to have held preliminary talks with Zhejiang Geely (OTCPK:GELYF), Guangzhou Automobile Group (OTCPK:GNZUF) and China FAW's Hongqi. Notably, the company has been active in autonomous driving research through the creation of its Apollo unit in 2017. The unit mainly supplies technology powered by artificial intelligence for automakers like Geely, Volkswagen, Toyota and Ford.

Carvana gains after attracting a new bull even with shares at all-time high
Dec. 15, 2020 8:46 AM ETCarvana Co. (CVNA)By: Clark Schultz, SA News Editor3 Comments

• Truist initiates Carvana (NYSE:CVNA) with a Buy rating on its view that the online auto upstart is set to disrupt the industry even more.
• "As a leading ecommerce platform for buying and selling used cars, Carvana is at forefront of the digital disruption in this ~$840B category. We expect expanding vehicle selection, increasing coverage, faster delivery and rising brand awareness to drive a robust 32% revenue CAGR and ~9% market share over the next 10 yrs."
• Shares of Carvana are up 1.61% premarket to $255.00 after carving out a new 52-week higher yesterday of $262.37. Truist assigns a price target of $314 to CVNA vs. the average Wall Street PT of $239.67.

Bollinger’s New Production-Intent Electric Pickup and SUV Are White Hot
You can reserve yours now with a $1,000 deposit.

Bollinger Unveils Its Production-Intent Electric B1 SUV and B2 Pickup – Robb Report

Audi’s New e-tron GT EV Will Look ‘99%’ Like the Concept That Wowed the LA Auto Show
The futuristic sedan will go into production early next year.

Audi’s New e-tron GT EV Will Look ‘99%’ Like the Original Concept – Robb Report

New electric Ford Mustang starts to hit showrooms
Dec. 15, 2020 12:05 PM ETFord Motor Company (F)By: Clark Schultz, SA News Editor47 Comments

• The electric vehicle spotlight is burning bright on the Ford Mustang Mach-E as the first reviews come in with some versions in showrooms.
• Ford (F +1.5%) says the model is intended to be a tech-forward car, with the typical buyer being the 99% of the population that doesn't buy EVs today. About 65% of Mach-E preorder owners are new to Ford and many are from coastal areas of the country, where Detroit automakers typically underperform.
• One of the big selling points of the Mach-E is the infotainment system, which is described as being much like an iPhone that can learn habits of various drivers and preemptively prioritize features.
• Early Mach-E reviews (good and bad): TechCrunch, Motor Trend, The Verge.

This billion here and a billion there game can't go on forever. I feel like this could be 1928 all over again.
I hope I'm wrong...

Weather Man said:

New electric Ford Mustang starts to hit showrooms
Dec. 15, 2020 12:05 PM ETFord Motor Company (F)By: Clark Schultz, SA News Editor47 Comments

• The electric vehicle spotlight is burning bright on the Ford Mustang Mach-E as the first reviews come in with some versions in showrooms.
• Ford (F +1.5%) says the model is intended to be a tech-forward car, with the typical buyer being the 99% of the population that doesn't buy EVs today. About 65% of Mach-E preorder owners are new to Ford and many are from coastal areas of the country, where Detroit automakers typically underperform.
• One of the big selling points of the Mach-E is the infotainment system, which is described as being much like an iPhone that can learn habits of various drivers and preemptively prioritize features.
• Early Mach-E reviews (good and bad): TechCrunch, Motor Trend, The Verge.

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ughh... now I have to hear all these new Tesla loving D-bags that buy this Mach-E and rep "Mustang".

Lamborghini SC20 Is A Roofless 770-HP Aventador Approved For Road Use
Motor1.com

It's not the first time the V12 raging bull has lost its roof entirely, but it now packs more punch.

The Lamborghini Aventador has had such a long life cycle that we’ve lost count of how many derivatives the V12 raging bull has received since 2011. We do remember one of the first ones – the Aventador J – a roofless take on Sant’Agata Bolognese’s supercar created in early 2012 as a one-off for a wealthy buyer. The spirit of the 700-horsepower J is alive and well nearly nine years later with the unveiling of the SC20.

Created by Lamborghini Squadra Corse, the SC20 is actually a road-legal car as opposed to the SCV12 unveiled earlier this year by the same team as a track-only coupe. The new speedster from Italy serves as a natural follow-up to the SC18 Alston, which will go down in history as Squadra Corse’s first machine developed outside of the motorsport world.

SC18 Alston, the naturally aspirated 6.5-liter engine has been dialed to a monstrous 770 horsepower and 720 Newton-meters (531 pound-feet) of torque. If these numbers seem familiar, it’s because they perfectly match those of the SVJ, the most hardcore variant of the “regular” Aventadors.

You can tell the car has been designed by Squadra Corse as the styling is far more aggressive compared to the Aventador J. The crazy aero work lends the speedster a race car vibe, and Lamborghini’s motorsport division says they were inspired not just by the J, but also the Diablo VT Roadster, Veneno Roadster, and the Gallardo-based Concept S.

The one-of-one SC20 has Sián-like taillights and a bespoke Bianco Fu main body color with Cepheus Blue accents as commissioned by the mysterious buyer. Exposed carbon fiber was used inside the cabin where the air vents are 3D-printed and the door handles are made from solid aluminum. There’s more carbon fiber to be found inside for the shells of the seats covered in leather and Alcantara.

While there’s no word about pricing, it’s safe to assume the SC20 was a lot more expensive than a $573,966 Aventador SVJ Roadster.

Truckmakers To Kill The Combustion Engine In Europe By 2040
Motor1.com

Different technologies will be used for the different stages of heavy-duty transportation.

September marked the first time in history when hybrid, plug-in, and fully electric cars combined outsold diesels in Europe. There’s little doubt this trend will expand even further in the coming months and years, as the Old continent is preparing for zero-emission mobility by the middle of the century. Some of the world’s largest truckmakers have also just agreed the sector will go CO2-free relatively soon.

Daimler, Scania, Man, Volvo, Daf, Iveco, and Ford have signed a pledge to stop selling vehicles with internal combustion engines by 2040, a full decade earlier than initially planned. The industry aims to spend between €50bn and €100bn ($61bn-$122 bn) on developing hydrogen, battery, and clean fuel technologies.

“If we can make this happen, we need to work all together,” Scania chief executive Henrik Henriksson, who also chairs ACEA’s commercial vehicle board, told the Financial Times. The carmaker association is working with the German-funded Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research on the best technologies and approaches, which include higher taxes on carbon across the continent.

The industry divides heavy-duty transportation into two main segments - inner-city deliveries and long-distance haulage. The former can be more easily pushed towards zero-emission operations but the latter is more dependable on combustion engines because of the long distances and charging times.

“It’s the backbone of any society in the world today, but we have to recognize that they are very dependent on the internal combustion engines to transport all the goods of every industry,” Professor Johan Rockström, director of the Potsdam Institute, commented about heavy trucks.

All this probably means there will be diversification when it comes to the green technologies for the large trucks of tomorrow. Battery tech will be preserved for in-city deliveries, while hydrogen is expected to be a more likely scenario for the largest long-distance trucks. Biofuels are seen as a short-term solution.

“There is no silver bullet; it won’t be that one technology will rule everything, there will be parallel technologies over time. They will come in different paces, but if we sit and wait for the perfect technology to emerge we will burn the planet,” Henriksson added.

Weather Man said:

Ford's new hybrid F-150 officially has the best fuel economy of any non-diesel full-size pickup truck
View attachment 1677343View attachment 1677344©

Ford The 2021 F-150 PowerBoost gets an EPA-estimated 25 mpg combined on two-wheel-drive models. Ford

• The hybrid 2021 Ford F-150 has taken the crown as the most efficient pickup in its class, according to EPA fuel-economy estimates Ford released Friday.
• The rear-wheel-drive F-150 PowerBoost delivers a combined 25 mpg and can travel 750 miles on a tank of gas, according to the agency.
• The truck is powered by a 3.5-liter V6 and an electric motor and delivers the most torque of any factory F-150 — 570 lb-ft — Ford says

Ford's new hybrid F-150 officially has the best fuel economy of any non-diesel full-size pickup truck (msn.com)

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so roughly 10mpg city improvement over what I see and 4-5mpg hwy over what I got, not bad at all. I know theyre having a hard enough time tuning a 21 F150 at all, be interested to see if they can figure it out with the powerboost once they crack it. I definitely want to be able to tune mine

Ford has a new Mustang GT mule roaming the streets of Dearborn.
Not sure if this has been posted yet, but hoping this might be a Boss 302. And not a hybrid. Thankfully it’s a V8.


Pick your poison.

When does everyone plug in? At night, no solar, light winds. Solution, we'll build massive ****ing lithium battery storage sites to hold 1,000's of megawatts of power. So, we'll generate green power, send it to big ****ing battery parks and then retransmit the power at night. Sounds perfectly ****ing efficient to me, even better, we'll assume we generate and transmit the power at 100% efficiency with no loss when figuring the EV mileage.

Electric vehicles are overhyped, Toyota top exec says
Dec. 17, 2020 10:51 PM ETToyota Motor Corporation (TM)By: Carl Surran, SA News Editor53 Comments

• Toyota (NYSE:TM) President Akio Toyoda criticizes what he considers as excessive hype over electric vehicles, saying converting entirely to EVs could cost hundreds of billions of dollars and make cars unaffordable for average people.
• Japan would run out of electricity in the summer if all cars were running on electric power, and the infrastructure needed to support a fleet consisting entirely of EVs would cost Japan as much as ¥37T (~$358B), Toyoda told a news conference in his capacity as chairman of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association.
• If Japan is too hasty in banning gasoline-powered cars, "the current business model of the car industry is going to collapse," causing the loss of millions of jobs, he said.
• Toyoda said he fears government regulations would make cars a "flower on a high summit," out of reach for the average person.
• Despite Tesla's success with BEV developments, Toyota continues to insist that BEVs are not yet ready, a stance that suggests caution about investing in Toyota at this time, Keith Williams writes in an analysis published recently on Seeking Alpha.

General Motors lands 10K pre-orders for the Hummer EV
Dec. 21, 2020 2:30 PM ETGeneral Motors Company (GM)By: Clark Schultz, SA News Editor21 Comments

• General Motors (GM +1.0%) could produce as many as 10K Hummer EVs during the first year of production based off the strong number of pre-orders it booked.
• GM is reported to have 10K preorders lined up for the Hummer Edition 1 model, which is going to be listed at $112,595 and go into production in late 2021. At least one GMC dealer thinks the automaker may increase Hummer production.
• On the flip side, Electrek notes that the Hummer production could also go lower after accounting for reservation holders who decide not go through with their orders.
• The report follows on indications in October of strong demand for the Hummer EV.
• That strong demand stoked confidence from Wedbush Securities that GM will ride the Hummer into the EV fast lane.

@13COBRA what is the deal with the new cylinder deactivated 5.0 trucks? I just saw on a couple YouTube channels Ford went this route and was wondering if yall know anything yet

LMP Automotive receives $192M financing for Stage 1 acquisition, shoots up positive outlook
Dec. 22, 2020 4:25 PM ETLMP Automotive Holdings, Inc. (LMPX)By: Shweta Agarwal, SA News Editor

• LMP Automotive Holdings (NASDAQ:LMPX) says it has entered into a commitment letter with Truist Bank for a $192M financing.
• The financing is provided for the company's Stage 1 southeast acquisitions, which is expected to be immediately accretive to income, adding ~2,300 new and used vehicles valued at roughly $58M, report.
• "We intend to use the proceeds to fund the consummation of our stage 1 acquisitions which consist of 13 dealerships, including 12 new vehicle franchises, and 6 parcels of dealership real estate totaling approximately 67 acres in the Southeast. A portion of the proceeds will be utilized for new and used vehicle floorplan plus working capital," says LMP's CEO Sam Tawfik.
• The company expects Stage 1 closing to occur in Jan. 2021, subject to certain approvals.
• 2021 Outlook: Revenue expected to be in the range of $510-540M; Adj. EBITDA of $22-24M; EPS of $2.20 to $2.40.
• "We expect 2022 full year operations attributable to this stage 1 group to produce ~$590M in revenue and $29M in adjusted EBITDA, or $2.90 per share, based on roughly 10M shares outstanding," says CFO Evan Bernstein.

2021 Jeep Wrangler 4xe plug-in hybrid: Here's how much it costs | Fox News

Weather Man said:

Audi’s New e-tron GT EV Will Look ‘99%’ Like the Concept That Wowed the LA Auto Show
The futuristic sedan will go into production early next year.

Audi’s New e-tron GT EV Will Look ‘99%’ Like the Original Concept – Robb Report

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Id love that with a blown v8...hell or a turbo 6

jeffh81 said:

@13COBRA what is the deal with the new cylinder deactivated 5.0 trucks? I just saw on a couple YouTube channels Ford went this route and was wondering if yall know anything yet

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Really?

Dammit

Double"O" said:

Really?

Dammit

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7.3 SD!