7 Jan, 2021
Ford concedes truck leadership to GM; Italy considers stake in Stellantis
By Isa Martinez
TOP NEWS IN AUTOMOTIVE
* Ford Motor Co. conceded its leadership in trucks to General Motors Co. in 2020, selling 787,422 trucks compared to GM's 839,691, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing data by Motor Intelligence. Ford sold 542,749 vehicles during the final quarter, down 9.8%, compared to GM's 4.8% jump in sales to 771,323. Ford's full-year 2020 sales dropped 15.6% to 2,422,698 vehicles, while GM's annual sales fell 11.8% to 2,547,339.
* The Italian government could have "a possible presence" in Stellantis, the combined entity resulting from the merger of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV and Peugeot SA, Reuters reported, citing Deputy Economy Minister Antonio Misiani's statement to La Repubblica. Italy taking a stake in Stellantis, similar to how France holds a stake in Renault SA, "cannot and must not be a taboo," Misiani said.
➤ Geopolitics takes back seat to trade needs in Sichuan Yahua, Tesla lithium deal
Galaxy Resources CEO Simon Hay said Sichuan Yahua's deal to supply Tesla for five years from 2021 reflected China's plan to become a major player in the EV supply chain, and its support of "national champions" like Sichuan Yahua to achieve that aim.
➤ Stimulus expectations tempered even with Democrats' Senate takeover
A slim Democratic majority in the Senate means scaled-back relief packages could pass under Biden, though more ambitious economic plans could be stifled by filibusters.
➤ Supply Chain: COVID-21, mines and straits — outlier risks for supply chains
After a tumultuous 2020, global supply chains face a wide range of outlier risks in 2021 including an evolution of the pandemic, a more hawkish geopolitical stance from China, insecurity at sea and a more belligerent North Korea.
ELECTRIC VEHICLES
* South Korean battery manufacturer SK Innovation Co. Ltd. will invest $1.5 billion to take a 9.9% stake in hydrogen fuel cell company Plug Power, the Financial Times (London) reported, sending the shares of SK Innovation's parent company up as much as 7%, with Plug Power shares surging 20% on the news. SK Innovation, which will become the largest shareholder in Plug Power, plans to form a joint venture to launch hydrogen fuel cells in Asian markets.
* Volvo Cars said it will more than triple the electric car manufacturing capabilities of its plant in Ghent, Belgium, by 2022. The plant will begin building Volvo's next fully electric model in 2021, in addition to the XC40 and the XC40 Recharge, and plans to have electric vehicles make up about 60% of production capacity by 2022.
MOBILITY SERVICES
* Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. said it will add its S-Cross, Ignis and WagonR models to Maruti Suzuki Subscribe, its car subscription service. The service is active in major Indian cities including Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, Mumbai, Chennai and Ahmedabad.
POLICY, REGULATION AND SAFETY
* The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said fuel efficiency for cars in the 2019 model year fell 0.2 miles per gallon to 24.9 mpg in 2020, citing the increased market share of SUVs over cars.
AUTO PARTS AND EQUIPMENT
* Auto software company Veoneer Inc. estimated that its total order value reached about $14 billion in 2020. This excluded an estimated order book value of approximately $4 billion from its divested brake control business. The company said the expected reduction in vehicle production until 2025 further reduced the order book estimate by about $1 billion.
AUTOMOTIVE RETAIL
* Volkswagen AG's namesake brand sold 148,338 vehicles in the U.K. in 2020, translating to a market share of 9.09%.
COMMERCIAL VEHICLES
* Zhejiang Geely Automobile Co. Ltd.'s Volvo Cars said it sold 391,751 vehicles in the second half of 2020, up 7.4% year over year, as annual sales declined 6.2% to 661,713 automobiles.
MARKETS
