5 Feb, 2021
Ford doubles down on EVs, autonomous cars; Lear's Q4'20 EPS beats Street
By Kiran Murali
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* Ford Motor Co. doubled down on its electrification and autonomous vehicle push by raising the electric vehicle investment to $22 billion with an additional investment of over $7 billion in autonomous vehicles. It reported a better-than-expected non-GAAP EPS of 34 cents in the fourth quarter, beating the S&P Capital IQ consensus normalized loss per share estimate of 9 cents. The U.S. carmaker said it will adjust shifts at its plants in Dearborn, Mich., and Kansas City in the week of Feb. 8, and it also estimated that chip shortage would hit its 2021 adjusted EBIT by $1 billion to $2.5 billion.
* Lear Corp. posted 38.6% year-over-year growth in its fourth-quarter adjusted EPS to $3.66, beating the S&P Capital IQ consensus normalized EPS estimate of $3.45. The auto parts supplier forecast 2021 net sales in the range of $19.8 billion to $20.8 billion and adjusted EBITDA of $1.69 billion to $1.86 billion.
➤ Semiconductors aren't the whole problem for Nissan, General Motors
The automotive industry is struggling to deal with an uneven recovery in demand — U.S. auto sales fell year over year in January — as well as an extended shortage of semiconductors.
➤ Ex-Apple CEO: Big tech has yet to master healthcare but 'only a matter of time'
John Sculley spoke with S&P Global Market Intelligence about the future for telehealth and how big tech might disrupt the healthcare industry.
➤ Congress can 'forget' about a carbon penalty with even Senate split – Manchin
U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said the U.S. must focus on clean energy innovation and using fossil fuels "in the cleanest fashion humanly possible."
* Volkswagen AG's head of research & development and Audi CEO Markus Duesmann said Europe should be leading in future technologies such as software and chips on par with the U.S. and Asia as the industry suffers from an acute chip shortage, Reuters reported. Separately, German carmakers are considering raising their semiconductor inventories to avoid more supply crunch in the future, the Financial Times (London) reported, citing Porsche CEO Oliver Blume and Daimler AG CEO Ola Källenius.
* General Motors Co. will invest $75 million in its transmission manufacturing plant in Toledo, Ohio, to increase the capacity of 10-speed transmission used in full-size trucks.
* Zhejiang Geely Automobile Co. Ltd.-owned Volvo Cars CEO Hakan Samuelsson said the Swedish carmaker has secured the semiconductor chip supply for the next four weeks but warned that the shortage might impact its first quarter, Reuters reported.
ELECTRIC VEHICLES
* Tesla Inc. has proposed investing in Indonesia, Reuters reported, citing the country's deputy head for investment and mining coordination Septian Seto. Tesla's discussions in Indonesia reportedly have been focused on batteries and energy storage solutions.
* Japan's electric-motor maker Nidec will buy Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Machine Tool Co. Ltd. from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. to strengthen its electric vehicle traction unit. A Nikkei Asia report said the deal is estimated to be worth ¥30 billion, or $285 million.
AUTONOMOUS AND CONNECTED VEHICLES
* Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.'s venture capital fund made an investment of undisclosed sum in autonomous trucking technology company TuSimple, which is developing a Level 4 self-driving system.
AUTO PARTS AND EQUIPMENT
* French automotive supplier Valeo SA will invest more than €400 million to cut emissions related to its operating activities by 45% by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
* California-based chipmaker Xilinx Inc.'s president and CEO, Victor Peng, warned that the supply bottleneck affecting the automakers might not be resolved soon and pointed out that the problem extends beyond semiconductor production to other materials and components in the supply chain, the Nikkei Asia reported.
AUTOMOTIVE RETAIL
* China-based Hozon Auto, which owns electric vehicle brand Nezha, aims to sell 40,000 to 50,000 electric vehicles in 2021, Gasgoo reported, citing the company co-founder and CEO, Zhang Yong.
MARKETS
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