Trade News

<!--*/ */ /*-->*/ Bosch is latest to join hydrogen investment wave

Hydrogen continues to gain momentum as a viable alternative to fossil fuels amid worldwide efforts to curb emissions from transportation.

The latest in a string of developments large and small came Wednesday, when global supplier Bosch said it will invest as much as $591 million in technology for hydrogen generation by the end of the decade.

The company wants to branch into development of components for hydrogen electrolyzers, which use electrolysis to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. Demand across the European Union is forecast to rise to approximately 11 million tons a year, according to Bosch.

Stefan Hartung, chairman of Bosch's board of management, said the company intends to support the "rapid expansion of hydrogen production" across Europe. This jibes with a European Union plan to wean Europe off Russian fossil fuels as quickly as possible.

It was only tw…

Lucid Group Inc. delivered just 360 Air sedans in the first quarter and said it will increase vehicle pricing next month.

The California EV startup continues to struggle with supply-chain shortages and rising costs despite a healthy order backlog of 30,000 vehicles, Lucid said during its first-quarter earnings call Thursday. Prices would not rise for current reservation holders.

CEO Peter Rawlinson said that despite the modest delivery numbers, Lucid showed improvement in deliveries to start the second quarter.

"In April alone, we delivered well over 300 vehicles, demonstrating our accelerated production ramp," Rawlinson said. Total production in the first-quarter was 700 vehicles, Lucid said.

Moreover, Rawlinson reiterated production guidance for this year of 12,000 to 14,000 Air sedans based on its current information about parts supplies.

Earlier this year, Lucid slashed its previous production guidance of 20,000 units for 2022, citing …

Startup electric automaker Lucid Group Inc. on Thursday raised prices for most models from June after it posted a $598 million operating loss for the first quarter.

The automaker said it is grappling with rising raw materials costs, but said it would honor current reservations in a move to avoid the blowback a rival faced.

From June 1, new reservations in the U.S.  will be priced at $154,000 for Air Grand Touring, $107,400 for Air Touring and $87,400 for Air Pure models, the company said.

"Similar to many companies in our industry, we continue to face global supply chain and logistics challenges, including Covid-related factory shutdowns in China," CFO Sherry House said.

Amazon-backed Rivian Automotive Inc. had to earlier this year roll back price hikes on electric vehicles booked before March 1 after facing backlash from customers following a 20 percent increase in prices.

Despite the challenges, Lucid reiterated its annual producti…

Automotive seating supplier Adient said earnings swung to a loss and revenue fell 11 percent for its fiscal second quarter as a variety of industry headwinds hurt results.

The company posted an $81 million net loss, compared with a $69 million gain during the same period last year.

Adient said adjusted earnings declined 48 percent to $159 million from the year-earlier period. Consolidated sales fell more than 8 percent from a year earlier to $3.5 billion.

In a Thursday presentation to investors, Adient attributed the decline to "numerous external factors including supply chain disruptions (and resulting operating inefficiencies) and increased freight costs."

CEO Doug Del Grosso said Adient was implementing strategies to help remedy the losses.

"All together, these headwinds are forecasted to place approximately $475 million of downward pressure on Adient's results in fiscal 2022," Del Grosso said. "Through self-help initiatives and improvem…

Michigan remains in contention for a new Stellantis electric vehicle battery plant as the automaker completes the final analysis before an anticipated announcement of a site.

Stellantis COO Mark Stewart said Thursday that the state "absolutely" could be home to a new plant and that it has a "great working relationship" with the Michigan Economic Development Corp. and utility DTE Energy Co., which can leverage incentives and electricity rates — two key considerations for automakers searching for EV plant sites.

"We're still in discussions with Michigan as well as other states," Stewart told reporters after a media event in Detroit celebrating the opening of a plant by Stellantis supplier Dakkota Integrated Systems. "Still going through all of the site selection.

"We are in the final stages of going through the analysis, and so I would hope within the next month, two months maximum, we should be able to be at a position to (announce)," Stewart added.

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Aptiv posted lower first-quarter profit on Thursday, as surging raw material prices and a shortage of electrical components hindered the auto part supplier's deliveries in the quarter.

Net income during the first quarter fell 74 percent to $73 million while revenue rose 4 percent to $4.2 billion, Aptiv said in a statement Thursday.

Aptiv, whose primary customers include Stellantis, Volkswagen and General Motors, supplies several key electrical components and software for modern vehicles that are used for everything from infotainment systems to integrated driver safety systems.

However, rising prices of raw materials and a global semiconductor shortage forced several automakers to slash their production cycles and in some cases even produce cars without certain features, thereby impacting Aptiv's orders.

The company in its last quarter also warned that inflationary pressures would continue to have an impact on its operations.

Shares in Apt…

Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk has secured $7.14 billion in funding from a group of investors such as Oracle Corp.co-founder Larry Ellison to fund his $44 billion takeover of social-media platform Twitter Inc., according to a filing on Thursday.

Musk revealed in a filing he also received equity commitment letters from investors including Sequoia Capital, Brookfield, Qatar Holding and others.

The move comes as Musk's margin loan was reduced to $6.25 billion from $12.5 billion announced earlier, the filing revealed.

Musk will continue to hold talks with existing holders of Twitter, including the company's former chief Jack Dorsey, to contribute shares to the proposed acquisition, the filing showed.

Reuters last week reported Musk was in talks with large investment firms and high net-worth individuals about taking on more financing for his Twitter acquisition and tying up less of his wealth in the deal.

MILAN -- Stellantis said sales rose in the first quarter, supported by strong pricing and a strong vehicle mix, as well as favorable exchange-rate effects, but it sees only a partial recovery in microchip supply issues this year.

Net revenue increased 12 percent to 41.5 billion euros ($44.1 billion) in the January-March period, the automaker said in a statement on Thursday.

The automaker, since the PSA-Fiat Chrysler merger, does not disclose quarterly financial performance -- only half-year and full-year results.

"Our full-year guidance for double-digit adjusted operating income margins and positive cash-flow is confirmed, despite supply and inflationary headwinds, as good product momentum and strategic partnerships continue to pave the way," CFO Richard Palmer said in the statement.

Vehicle shipments, however, fell 12 percent in the quarter, mainly because of the impact of unfilled semiconductor orders.

"A 12 percent increase in reve…

BMW said earnings rose 12 percent in the first quarter even as the war in Ukraine and COVID lockdowns in China disrupted the automaker’s supply chain.

Group earnings before interest and tax rose to 3.39 billion euros ($3.6 billion) in the first quarter, the company said Thursday.

BMW confirmed the outlook for the year that it outlined in March, when it said Russia's invasion of Ukraine will push down automaking returns to between 7 percent and 9 percent. That's slightly less than the 8 percent to 10 percent range it had estimated before the war started.

BMW and its rivals have shifted production to higher-margin models as output has been hampered by the semiconductor shortage and other supply-chain problems.

Despite delivering 6 percent fewer cars in the first quarter, BMW's auto revenue rose 17 percent compared with the same period last year.

Profitability in BMW’s auto division was behind rival Mercedes-Benz, which posted a record margi…

Magna International Inc. said it launched new advanced driver-assistance functions on the 2022 Toyota Tundra pickup, a key development for the supplier giant as it looks to establish its position as vehicle automation grows.

In a Wednesday news release, Magna said the Tundra is equipped with a "complete surround view system" that includes five cameras that "provide a high-resolution view around the vehicle and assist the driver in various situations." It can provide a 3D image of the truck and its surroundings, giving the driver "greater reassurance when maneuvering the vehicle," Magna said.

Other functions provided by Magna include "semi-automated" trailer guidance, which Magna said can help the driver back a trailer into a desired location and a "see-through hood" feature that it said can allow drivers to look at what is under the hood of the truck to avoid dangerous obstacles in off-road settings.

The premiere of the new features on the Tundra comes a…

Auto supplier BorgWarner Inc. saw its net income more than triple to $200 million in the first quarter of 2022, while its revenue decreased because of shaky foreign currencies and decreased production.

BorgWarner's net income of $200 million represents more than a 200 percent increase from last year's $65 million. But last year, net income fell by nearly half as a result of a one-time $272 million loss on equity securities.

The supplier said net sales fell 3 percent from a year earlier to $3.87 billion. In a press release, BorgWarner said "excluding the impact of foreign currencies and the impact of divestitures, organic sales were up 1 percent compared with first quarter 2021."

Most of the company's business units reported declines in revenue through the quarter. First-quarter revenue from BorgWarner's air management unit fell about 4 percent to $1.9 billion, e-Propulsion & Drivetrain fell nearly 6 percent to $1.4 billion and fuel injection fell 0.6…