Toyota is considering raising its prices in the US and Europe because of rising production costs, Tesla employees are being cornered by Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover, and Abarth find that driving is fun, small cars make you happy – who knows! All this and more in Morning shift for Tuesday, November 1, Year 2022.
First gear: Toyota prices rise due to rising production costs
I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but things are getting more and more expensive. When inflation threatens to wreak havoc In our grocery store, Toyota seems to be raising prices soon, too.
According to Automotive News, the Japanese carmaker is considering raising prices in the US and in Europe as it struggles to hold on to rising construction costs. It followed news that the company posted a loss in North America last quarter. Automotive news reports:
“Executives have warned of impending adjustments and said they need to offset rising input costs that have sent the Japanese operator’s North American business into a tailspin. operating loss in the region in the most recent quarter. The big question is how much customers will be willing to bear the price increase.
Communications director Jun Nagata said: “We are really trying to figure out how to come up with the right price. ‘We’ve started to reflect these higher prices into cars as much as possible.’
“Price increases are also in the spotlight in Europe, which has also fallen to quarterly losses in the region. Toyota has struggled to combat a worldwide increase in costs exceeding $2 billion in the July-September period.”
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Automotive News adds that Toyota has increased “prices are in line with rising material costs and inflation. However, the new increase could be “more positive” for the company to maintain profitability.
2nd gear: Tesla employees embroiled in Musk’s Twitter takeover
It finally happened, after months of “won’t, won’t it,” Tesla boss Elon Musk finally took over power at Twitter last week with a wave of drama and rumors of shaking the way social media platforms verify users. Now, Musk is making full-time work his hobby and has pulled Tesla employees in.
According to CNBC, Musk pulled more than 50 employees from Tesla’s Autopilot team and put them on the first list on Twitter. CNBC reported:
“According to internal filings seen by CNBC, employees from other Musk companies are now allowed to work at Twitter, including more than 50 people from Tesla, two from The Boring Company (which is building underground tunnels). earth) and one from Neuralink (developing a brain-computer interface). ”
The staff has left The ultimate goal of self-driving cars and joining the new mission of slightly fewer bot accounts at Twitter include software development director Ashok Elluswamy, Autopilot and TeslaBot engineering director Milan Kovac and senior director of software engineering Maha Virduhagiri. CNBC adds:
Several Twitter employees told CNBC over the weekend that current Tesla employees on Twitter participated in a code review at the social network, despite their skills in working on Autopilot as well as other software. and other Tesla hardware that do not directly overlap with the languages and systems used. to build and maintain social networks. ”
3rd gear: EV batteries have a lot of hurdles to overcome
It can feel like the tram is the hottest thing since sliced bread, like Automakers continue to show off newer, more shiny models with more scope. However, according to a new report from Reuters, mass production of electric cars is hitting the bottom of a series of “supply chain and geopolitical headwinds”.
Reuters cited a report from S&P Global Mobility, which said it had warned of a “slowing” of EV adoption because of “a fragile supply chain affected by geopolitical tensions that could affect sales.” expanding production of electric vehicle (EV) batteries as planned.” Reuters report:
“The auto industry informant says original equipment manufacturers’ desire to sell hybrid vehicles and batteries will face strong headwinds as they scramble for raw materials, with year-on-year market demand for lithium-ion batteries are pegged at around 3.4 Terawatt hours (TWh) by 2030.
“S&P Global Mobility also said that soaring prices of key battery metals threaten the margins of suppliers and automakers, with problems around the production of these metals driving up component prices. and vehicles”.
Reuters reports that the steps between excavating and assembling an EV battery are particularly challenging, which sounds like a lot of steps. It added that meeting current EV volume targets “will require a steep growth curve for a growing industry.”
4th gear: GM battery factory worker wants to join UAW
Workers at General Motors’ Ohio battery plant, which opened in August in partnership with LG, are facing a struggle as they try to unite. More than 900 workers at the plant are said to have signed authorization cards for the United Auto Workers Union to represent them, but the move has so far not been recognized by GM or LG.
The current, Automotive News Report that the UAW had applied to the National Labor Relations Board to allow it to represent workers at the Ohio Ultium plant. Automotive news reports:
“The UAW said it filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board on behalf of about 900 workers at Ultium Cells after a majority of workers signed a card allowing the union to represent them.
“By refusing to recognize their majority will, Ultium – a joint venture between General Motors and LG Energy Solution – has decided to ignore democracy and delay the recognition process,” said UAW President Ray Curry said in a statement. ”
According to ReutersA representative from the Ultium plant said it “respects workers’ freedom to choose to represent their union and the UAW’s efforts to organize workers to make batteries at its Ohio manufacturing facility.” ours.”
Bloomberg adds that “organizing the Ultium plant will be the union’s first move in the field of EV battery production”. As a result, UAW wants to ensure “good wages and benefits for workers” at the Ohio plant.
5th gear: Abarth proves that driving fun cars makes you happy
If you’ve ever wanted proof that driving nice cars on fun roads can make you happy, I have good news for you. Performance wing Fiat Abarth experimented with a series of fun little cars from the company and studied the emotional reactions of the drivers. It found that happiness was the “most prominent” emotion between the driver and the passenger.
According to Yahoo Newstests taken in the UK by Abarth and researchers from Loughborough University (pronounced luff-bruh). The participants drove around a track on different Abarth cars while the researchers used heart rate sensors and facial recognition to track their reactions. Yahoo News report:
“Working in conjunction with Loughborough University, the performance car brand carried out testing with the F595, 595 Essesse and 595 Competizione models. Participants went through a number of driving challenges at Mallory Park, Leicestershire, including hot laps and precision driving missions.
“The results showed that the ‘most prominent’ emotion experienced during testing was happiness, for both the driver and the passenger.”
Interestingly, it wasn’t all fun and games for the study participants. Apparently, when they rode the shotgun with a professional racer who pushed the car to its limit, they “experienced brief bouts of fear and shock”, as well as the aforementioned happiness.
Reverse: 65 years of the Mac’
Neutral: Whatar Make Yare you happy?
If driving a lovely little Abarth around the track was enough to make British racers happy, what would happen to driving an American gearhead? Is there a car that always puts a smile on your face whenever you drive or see one?
