Between now and 2022, VWAG plans to invest over $40 billion on autonomous vehicles and electrified variants of every model sold by its dozen passenger car brands, as well as developing driverless electric truck technology.
"We are laying the foundation for making Volkswagen the world’s number-one player in electric mobility by 2025,” Chief Executive Matthias Müller said. “The entire automotive industry is facing fundamental changes in the coming years, which will provide great opportunities, but also require us to put in tremendous efforts.”
Electrification won't be limited to flagship brands, but also to luxury divisions, low-end marques Seat and Skoda as well as a new sub-brand called Volkswagen I.D.
Read more of the original article at The Detroit Bureau.
CEO Mary Barra told an investor conference, that GM's new modular EV platform will be able to produce at least 20 new battery-powered vehicles by 2023, with the flexibility to accommodate nine different body styles in multiple sizes, segments and brands.
“We are committed to a future electric vehicle portfolio that will be profitable,” Barra said at the Barclays Global Automotive Conference in New York.
The new EV platform will make vehicles 30 percent cheaper to build than the current Chevrolet Bolt EV, due to cost cuts of lithium-ion batteries to less than $100 per kilowatt-hour from $145 per kilowatt-hour by 2021.
Read more of the original article at Forbes.
Donlen has just announced that Bob Barna has joined Donlen as vice president, strategic sales and Ian Crapper has joined Donlen in the role of managing director, global business.
Barna will be building relationships with companies across the U.S. and he will work closely with Donlen’s sales territory managers to provide proactive and ongoing strategic solutions to fleets resulting in streamlined processes and year-over-year cost reductions. Crapper will be responsible for Donlen’s global fleet program and he will manage the global product to enhance services for existing global customers.
The 2018 Cadillac CT6 luxury sedan's Super Cruise driver-assistance system uses a radar sensor, cameras, GPS positioning and a highly precise digital map, and handles all of the braking, accelerating and steering - allowing the driver to 'text while driving', if necessary.
G.M. is careful to specify that it is not promoting Super Cruise as a way to let drivers text, Google or open a newspaper on the highway. “We don’t recommend it,” said Lisa Sieradski, global product manager for the CT6. “It will allow you to glance down at a phone or the radio, but you have to return your eyes to the road.”
Read more of the original article at The New York Times.
Uber will own a fleet of autonomous vehicles with its order of 24,000 Volvo flagship VC90 SUVs, while building its self-driving system through Uber's Advanced Technologies Group.
Jeff Miller, Uber’s head of automotive alliances, said: “Our goal was from day one to make investments into a vehicle that could be manufactured at scale."
Volvo’s deal with Uber and Ford’s with Lyft show the pressure on automakers to avoid becoming outdated in a world of increased automation, and on ride-hailing companies to start automating to cut driver costs and turn profits.
Read more of the original article at The Guardian.