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Tesla to enable 'full self-driving' on cars; Daimler confirms regulatory action

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Tesla to enable 'full self-driving' on cars; Daimler confirms regulatory action

TOP NEWS

* Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk tweeted June 10 that the electric car maker will begin to enable "full self-driving features" on its models after the new software update to Tesla's Autopilot driver assistance system in August. Musk wrote in the tweet that Autopilot so far has focused "entirely on safety" and the Tesla Version 9 of the technology will do a better job tackling lane-merging traffic. The company's stock was up 4.55% to $332.10 on June 11 from its June 8 closing price.

* Daimler AG confirmed that it has received an administrative order from the German auto regulator KBA that certain calibrations of specified functionalities in the Mercedes-Benz Vito are impermissible, adding that it plans to launch a defense against the order. Germany ordered to recall 774,000 vehicles in Europe following the automaker's failure to ease a regulator's concerns over irregularities in diesel emissions tests, according to Bloomberg News. Meanwhile, Munich public prosecutor's office expanded an ongoing investigation into Volkswagen AG's luxury car unit Audi to 20 suspects, including Audi's CEO Rupert Stadler, Reuters reported.

CARMAKERS

* British luxury carmaker Jaguar Land Rover Ltd. said moving production of its Discovery SUV to Slovakia could lead to jobs cuts in the U.K., Reuters reported. Citing a statement by the Tata Motors Ltd. unit, the report added that the move is part of the company's long-term manufacturing strategy.

* Volkswagen AG-owned Czech carmaker Škoda Auto could look at different options, including contract manufacturing, for making its new SUVs as demand has outstripped Škoda's production capacities for 2018, Reuters reported. Utilizing unused capacity across the German automaker's different facilities reportedly might not be enough as Škoda's production could spike to 2 million cars by about 2025 from the current 1.2 million. A decision regarding this is expected by November, the report added.

* Peugeot SA's Opel unit aims to save between 20% and 50% of the development costs on every car, including floor assembly, vehicle electronics, chassis and powertrain expenses, by using its parent's vehicle platform, Reuters reported, citing Opel CEO Michael Lohscheller. Opel, which the French carmaker is trying to turn profitable by 2020, reportedly will roll out in 2019 the new Corsa model based on Peugeot's platform.

ELECTRIC AND AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES

* Ford Motor Co. is testing with California-based logistics firm Postmates Inc., a self-driving delivery service in Miami and Miami Beach areas that can hand over items to customers from over 70 local businesses. The test vehicles, which will determine the design of Ford's purpose-built self-driving vehicles to launch in 2021, are manually driven and come with lockers. Customers need to punch in an access code to retrieve their items from the appropriate locker.

* Toyota Motor Corp. and wireless carrier KDDI Corp. have signed on a number of other Japanese automakers to the two companies' connected car platform, Bloomberg News reported, citing Keiichi Mori, KDDI's head of internet of things projects. Toyota forecasts its cars to run the platform, which would enable vehicles to connect with wireless networks without the need for global roaming services, starting in 2019. Mori reportedly refused to name the new partner.

* Chinese electric vehicle startup Byton received $500 million during its Series B funding round led by FAW Group, Tus-Holdings and Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd., among others. The startup also officially opened its global headquarters in Nanjing, China. Byton forecasts rolling out the first batch of prototype models in April 2019, a pilot program beginning in the first half of 2019, followed by mass production targeted for the fourth quarter of 2019.

REGULATIONS AND SAFETY

* The general counsel of the U.S. National Labor Relations Board brought about a case against Tesla Inc. after Michael Sanchez, a Tesla worker, alleged that he was told to leave a Tesla facility in February 2017 for distributing pro-union leaflets, Reuters reported. Tesla attorney Mark Ross said during the trial, which will continue through June 14 and thereafter in late-September, that the case is a smear campaign against Tesla and CEO Elon Musk, Bloomberg News reported.

AUTO PARTS AND EQUIPMENT

* Canadian fuel cell developer Ballard Power Systems Inc. extended to August 2022 an existing partnership called HyMotion with Volkswagen AG's Audi for making automotive fuel cell stacks, with a total outlay of C$80 million to C$130 million. Audi said it already has tested a number of concept cars using the project's fuel cell technology and is working to launch a small series production in future.

AUTOMOTIVE RETAIL

* Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, or BMW Group, reported that its May sales decreased 2.1% year over year to 204,041 units due to volatility in China, in anticipation of the upcoming changes in import duties, and lesser availability of the BMW X3 owing to an ongoing global production ramp up. The German carmaker's year-to-date sales were up 1.6% year over year to 1,003,573 units. It expects the X3 model to become fully available globally in the second half of 2018.

* Volkswagen AG's Audi recorded global sales in May of about 160,600 premium vehicles, a rise of 0.7% year over year. Global sales since the beginning of 2018 rose 6.4% to 785,300 automobiles. The automaker has sold about 287,500 Q models, with SUVs accounting for 36.6% of sales.

TRUCKS AND MOTORCYCLES

* Daimler AG Trucks unit's CEO Martin Daum said it will take at least five years to develop commercial self-driving trucks that can follow a human-driven vehicle one behind another in a "platoon," the Financial Times reported. Daum reportedly said a "completely driverless" truck would take even more time because that is an "exponentially higher requirement than just running a truck with an engineer always sitting next to a driver."

The day ahead

Early morning futures indicators pointed to a lower opening for the U.S. market.

In Asia, Hang Seng gained 0.13% to 31,103.06, while the Nikkei 225 rose 0.33% to 22,878.35.

In Europe, around midday, the FTSE 100 dropped 0.29% to 7,715.36, and the Euronext 100 shed 0.13% to 1,063.03.

On the macro front

The National Federation of Independent Business' Small Business Optimism Index, the Consumer Price Index and the Redbook are due out today.

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