+++ On Thursday last week, the CEOs of Renault , Nissan and Mitsubishi got together to announce… well, nothing much new. But that wasn’t the point. The point was to tell the world that the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi ALLIANCE is strong and committed to finding common synergies that will ensure all three brands thrive in an electric and connected future. And in that, it was arguably successful. “3 years ago, the Alliance was facing a crisis unprecedented in its history, based on a lack of trust”, said Alliance chairman Jean-Dominique Senard in his opening remarks. “This period belongs to the past”. He reminded viewers of the online presentation that the Alliance employs 420.000 people globally, covers all the world’s major markets and operates 29 plants. “The solidity of the Alliance foundation is a fundamental asset of our 3 companies”, he said. That solidity was very much in doubt in 2018 when then-CEO Carlos Ghosn was arrested on landing in Tokyo airport, charged with financial irregularities. The soap opera that followed shed an unwelcome light on tensions within the Alliance, precipitating the crisis. Ghosn himself alleged that he was set up by a Nissan board opposed to his proposed merger of Nissan and Renault. As late as last year, he called the 22-year-old Alliance a “zombie”. The years of Nissan’s unhappiness at being steered by Renault by virtue of the French company’s 43 % stake in its Japanese partner from bailing Nissan out of bankruptcy in 1999 looked to have finally spilled over. Financial problems in 2019 were accelerated in 2020 when the Covid-19 pandemic exposed structural weaknesses in both companies and triggered record losses. That focused minds at both companies and prompted the ‘leader-follower’ strategy whereby Nissan, Renault and to a lesser extent Mitsubishi took the lead in certain technologies or regions. For example, Renault was the lead in Europe, Nissan in China and Mitsubishi in South-East Asia. Thursday’s presentation spelled out each brand’s leadership on technology development. Renault is in charge of the E/E architecture (for electric/electronic, meaning software and computing power), while Nissan leads in autonomous driving and solid-state batteries. There was one important announcement: Renault will engineer and build a new Nissan Micra in Europe, based on what’s now called the CMF-BEV platform, developed from the small-car CMF-B platform and also underpinning the new electric Renault 5. At the event, Alliance assigned names to five EV platforms. Four of those are already underpinning cars, but spelled out, it looked like a coherent strategy. These would create 35 EVs by 2030, with the most important (the CMF-EV that sits under the new Nissan Ariya) eventually forming the basis of 1.5 million cars by 2030. Also impressing those looking for clear signs that the Alliance is working as it should was the promise that 80% of Alliance vehicles will be underpinned by common platforms by 2026, up from 60% now. “We think 2 clear messages emerge from the conference”, wrote Harald Hendrikse, an analyst at Morgan Stanley, in an investor report. “One, the Alliance co-operation is back and two, the Alliance has a credible tech strategy much like other OEMs”. Senard hinted that the 2021 financial report for the 3 companies due in February shows that the financial situation is back on track. “We have gone through strong crises at the three companies in the last 5 years and obviously we weren’t brilliant in terms of competitiveness,” he said. “The 3 companies have corrected the direction and are now moving to a much more competitive situation”. Analysts in the past have argued that the Alliance will never be as quick to make decisions as its rivals, because there’s no overriding CEO to force the situation, as there was when Ghosn was in charge. Both Senard and Nissan CEO Makota Uchida assuaged concerns by pointing out that the CEOs hold twice-monthly Alliance board meetings. Not everything has been resolved. Renault’s attempts to embed itself in China have pushed it into the arms of Geely, rather than Nissan, although Renault CEO Luca de Meo was quick to absolve Nissan. The show of solidarity was in response to criticism that nothing seemed to be happening, according to Senard. “The main message of this meeting is that the alliance is strong and exists”, he said. “There were some doubts in past months and years about what is the Alliance. I even heard that the Alliance was silent and nothing was happening. On the contrary, we have been working hard under the radar. Clearly the ties are extremely strong and in effect unbreakable”. +++
+++ BENTLEY will begin testing its first EV later this year, and it’s likely to be the priciest model in the line-up, CEO Adrian Hallmark has revealed. While Hallmark refused to be drawn on whether the car, which will go on sale in 2025, will be a high-riding saloon or an SUV, both of which have been rumoured, he did confirm that it will occupy a new price point for the firm while drawing reference to the old Mulsanne limousine. Confirming that the EV will be set apart from the current line-up on price, he said: “Today all of our products are in a very tight price band. So I can say that we would like to either go up or down in order to exploit the brand further in terms of its potential”. Given the car is set to feature cutting-edge technology as well as have a significant battery range, it’s highly unlikely that it will be priced below the Bentayga, which starts at around 300.000 in the Netherlands. With Bentley’s current range topping out at around €300.000, a price closer to the Mulsanne’s near €330.000 starting price is expected, hinting at its likely halo positioning in Bentley’s line-up as it prepares to launch 5 EVs by 2030. Hallmark described the EV’s underlying technology as signed off, and said the interior design was 95 % complete and exterior design 80-85 % ready “with some work to do to further improve what we’ve already decided”. He confirmed that testing will begin later this year, as well as saying that styling models of all five Bentley EVs exist, suggesting they require only refinement as they edge towards production by the end of the decade. Talking about the styling of the 2025 car, Hallmark stressed that the EV will have its own unique look and packaging, rather than evolve from current designs. He said: “It’s an incremental product, so it will exist alongside our current cars. We’re trying to shape a segment and game-changer, not just an electric version of what we already have. It will be more progressive than some of our current designs. Not radical, but with hints that signal we’re entering a new era with this vehicle”. Ground-breaking aerodynamics are likely to be a key feature of that, Hallmark revealed, adding: “Let’s be clear: the design will look like a Bentley, feel like a Bentley and go like a Bentley. But yes, the overall aero efficiency will be a step change from our current cars. It will be among the very best for efficiency, no question. It has to be, because there are inherent weight and therefore efficiency issues with battery packs that we will overcome”. He confirmed that while there are no plans to reduce wheelbases on EVs, the firm’s designers are working to slightly reduce the width of its cars to improve efficiency. However, he stressed that many familiar Bentley qualities, particularly in terms of interior design and the overall luxury-focused driving experience, will still apply. “In terms of the effort we go to in order to choose the materials, the way we design them and the way they go together for an overall aesthetic, as well as the comfort and the features that we apply in our vehicles, we do believe we stand apart”, he said. “We will take another leap forward when it comes to electric vehicles”. Hallmark also suggested that Bentley is looking at alternative methods for charging its cars, including induction charging or automated systems that hook up to the car without the need to be manually plugged in. “The first thing to acknowledge is that most of our owners will live in houses where they can charge at home, so the restrictions of public charging are unlikely to apply,” he said. “We’re working with partners to look at higher-powered charging solutions and hands-free solutions, whether that’s inductive or robotic. They can be done without huge cost and can remove some of the hassle. 5 years ago, the efficiency of inductive charging was so low that most people gave up on the idea of it. Now we know that, so long as you can be very precise, you can get to 90-95 % of the efficiency of a plug, so that’s interesting, especially if it’s linked to autonomous parking to guide it into position”. +++
+++ The Hyundai Ioniq Electric is the electric vehicle with the BEST MOT RECORD in Britain, according to new analysis by Move Electric. The battery electric version of the Korean firm’s versatile liftback (which is also offered in hybrid and plug-in form) had a 98.75 % first time pass rate. Move Electric, which covers all forms of electric mobility, analysed 5230 MOT records of electric cars held by the Department for Transport. Overall, 87 % of EVs passed their MOT first time, compared to 86.65 % of electric vehicles in a similar study of combustion-engined cars conducted by What Car? last year. The Ioniq Electric, which went into production in 2017, had a 98.75 % first time pass rate, with owners averaging 48.000 km miles annually. The second-generation Nissan Leaf had a pass rate of 97.70 %, with the Volkswagen e-Golf, which went out of production in 2020 to make way for the bespoke electric ID 3, third with 93.94 %. The Tesla Model X (92.08 %) and BMW i3 (91.81 %) completed the top 5. All cars aged 3 years old are required to pass an annual MOT test in the UK, so the study does not include any of the newest generation of EVs that have launched in recent years. The data did hint at the practicality of EVs, with the average vehicle having covered 34,331 miles. The Tesla Model S, which had an 86.16% MOT pass rate, led the way, with owners covering an average of 51,516 miles annually. Move Electric ranked 16 vehicles for which there were more than 30 MOT test results available. The Reva G-Wiz, an Indian-built electric city car that was sold in the UK from 2001 until 2012, was the worst performer, with a first-time pass rate of 77.27 %. Move Electric editor James Attwood said: “The market for used electric cars is booming and our research shows that when it comes time for their first MOT test, they’re more likely to pass at the first attempt than petrol or diesel models. Another positive is the significant mileage many EV owners cover, which addresses the myth that electric cars cannot be used as daily transport. It’s also worth remembering that the newest cars that needed an MOT in 2020 dated from 2017. Since then there has been an influx of new EVs that offer more range and practicality, and which also promise to be just as reliable and easy to live with day-to-day”. What Car? conducted a similar analysis last year, finding an MOT pass rate for petrol and diesel cars aged under 8 years old of 84.46 %, with the vehicles having completed an average of 65.000 km. +++
+++ JAGUAR ’s new electric vehicle platform will be built in-house, the company has said, giving new details of its shift to an all-electric line-up from 2025 under Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) ’s Reimagine plan. CEO Thierry Bolloré initially said the company would look externally for an EV platform suitable enough to underpin a range of upmarket electric Jaguars, but JLR is now working on its own platform, Bolloré told investors in a call on Monday. Bolloré said that JLR cars, including Jaguars, need a platform that combines design proportions and capabilities not offered by other car makers, citing both the MLA High platform underpinning the new Range Rover and the future EMA platform for smaller Land Rovers. “Concerning the new Jaguar, we’re making unique proportion a priority. That’s the reason why at the moment we do it by ourselves”, Bollore said. The new platform is called Panthera, chief financial officer Adrian Mardell said on the call. Panthera is the scientific name for the genus of big cats that includes jaguars, tigers, lions and leopards. JLR decision to go it alone on the Jaguar platform rather than save money on development by buying in a platform is likely to be related to JLR’s chief designer Gerry McGovern’s requirement that the cars should look unique as the company takes the brand more towards Bentley territory in terms of pricing. On the investor call, Bolloré said JLR is looking at “significantly” commonalising elements across all future JLR platform as it moves to a lower-volume, higher-value future. “The new control points, the batteries, the electric motors, the software, on-board, off-board, all that is creating real scale”, he said. “The proportions are crucial to get what we want from Jaguar”, Bolloré told last year. “The platform is a consequence of proportions we’ve decided on. They’re absolutely bespoke”. The I-Pace will survive into Jaguar’s new era but be considered separately from its all-new EV family. Bolloré explained that the plan for Jaguar is to create “distinct cars with no overlap”. They will be “really modern luxury cars that are the copy of nothing in style or design, the top of technology and refinement, but not looking backwards”. JLR is currently behind on pure-electric sales, with the Jaguar I-Pace accounting for just 3 % of sales for the company in the last financial quarter ending 31 December 2021. Jaguar made just 14.407 sales during the quarter; the worst result for the brand since December 2013. JLR blamed chip shortages and the need to prioritise production of the outgoing Range Rover ahead of the new model arriving in showrooms early this year. +++
+++ JAGUAR LAND ROVER (JLR) reported a 22 % uptick in revenue in the last financial quarter, citing an improvement in wholesale volumes and component supply over the second quarter, but the semiconductor shortage continues to restrict its profitability. In the 3 months to December 2021 (the third quarter of the fiscal year), JLR delivered 69.182 cars to dealers, an 8 % increase on the previous quarter, and boosted output by 41 % to 72.184 vehicles. Revenue climbed to £4.7 billion for the quarter, compared with £3.9 billion in Q2, while its pre-tax margin increased to 1.4 % and its free cashflow to £164 million. However, it made a £9 million pre-tax loss, contrasting heavily with a £439 million pre-tax profit in the same period the year before. JLR enters the final financial quarter with £4.5 billion in cash and short-term investments and notes that it has an undrawn revolving credit facility of £2 billion available until July of this year, which will go down to £1.5 billion through March 2024. The company noted that the ongoing chip shortage (and the resultant shortfall in dealer stock) continues to restrict sales volumes. Retail sales fell 13.6 % last quarter to 80.126 vehicles, which is a more significant 36.6 % down on the same period in 2020. But supply of semiconductor chips did improve during the quarter, and JLR is “engaging with first-tier suppliers and directly with the chip manufacturers to secure supply longer-term”. It therefore expects profits to improve further in this current quarter and hasn’t adjusted any of the medium or long-term financial targets outlined as part of CEO Thierry Bolloré’s bold Reimagine strategy. Year on year, JLR increased the proportion of electrified vehicle retail sales, comprising mild-hybrids, plug-in hybrids and battery-electric vehicles, from 53 % to 69 %, and diversified its model mix, thanks to a 30 % increase in wholesales of the new Range Rover. The company currently has 155.000 orders to fulfil, an increase of 30.000 units over the second quarter, which it attributes to “strong demand for the new Range Rover” ahead of deliveries beginning in the final quarter of this year. Bolloré said: “Whilst semiconductor supplies have continued to constrain sales this quarter, we continue to see very strong demand for our products underlining the desirability of our vehicles. The global order book is at record levels and has grown an incredible 30.000 units for the new Range Rover before deliveries even start this quarter. We continue to execute our Reimagine strategy to realise the full potential of the business and create the next generation of the most desirable luxury vehicles for the most discerning of customers”. +++
+++ Daimler has rebranded itself as MERCEDES-BENZ as it looks to focus on the changing environment of the automotive industry, with a particular emphasis on electrification. The German company says the rebranding will allow it to “fully concentrate” on its Mercedes-Benz, Mercedes-AMG, Mercedes-Maybach and Mercedes-EQ brands. The move comes almost a year after Daimler announced that it would spin off its commercial vehicles division as a standalone entity, Daimler Truck. “The renaming to Mercedes-Benz Group underlines our renewed strategic focus. In doing so, we want to make clear where we see the core of our company: building the most desirable cars in the world”, said Ola Källenius, chairman of the now-renamed Mercedes-Benz. “The Mercedes star has always been a promise for the future: Changing the present in order to improve it. We want to continue this legacy of our founders by taking the lead in electric mobility and vehicle software”. Daimler Mobility, which offers mobility services in financing, leasing and insurance, has taken the new name Mercedes-Benz Mobility. Källenius hopes the move will potentially unlock shareholder value and “unlock the full potential” of both companies as leaders in automotive innovation. “We have a real chance to raise the multiple”, he told reporters. Daimler is currently worth around €77 billion, but Källenius didn’t suggest a specific valuation target for the firm. Going forward, it will focus on autonomous driving, intelligent connectivity and new mobility concepts. “If we can boost cash flow and our multiples, there’s lots of potential in the Mercedes-Benz stock”, he said. Daimler’s shift to electric vehicles is already well under way. Its all-electric EQ range already contains 6 models: the EQC SUV, the EQA and EQB crossovers, the EQS limousine, the EQV van, and the soon-to-arrive EQE saloon. Other senior Daimler figures believe the move has come at the right time to “sustainably safeguard success”. “Daimler Truck and Mercedes-Benz will be able to master the transformation of the industry even more successfully with full entrepreneurial freedom and an independent management structure”, said Bernd Pischetsrieder, Daimler’s supervisory board chairman. “By spinning off the commercial-vehicle business, we aim to create value for our shareholders, increase our profitability and fully exploit our potential”. Some analysts believe Mercedes-Benz will be viewed similarly to Tesla or Lucid, targeting an EV multiple (an indicator that can be used to value stock), but suggested that a major challenge for the firm will be the shift from internal combustion engines. “Lucid and Tesla get to start at 100% EV”, said Tom Narayan, European auto analyst at RBC Capital Markets. “For Mercedes, you have to convert your existing ICE business to EVs. That may be a limitation on how far the multiple could go near-term”. +++
+++ ROLLS-ROYCE will follow up its first EV, the Spectre coupé, with all-electric successors to the current Cullinan, Ghost saloon and Phantom limousine. CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös said it’s important that each model is replaced by an EV alternative as the firm progresses towards a pure-electric line-up by 2030. The British firm will refresh its current range in the coming years but won’t launch any more combustion models, making the current Ghost the final petrol-powered Rolls-Royce to be introduced. Müller-Ötvös highlighted the British government’s planned 2030 ban on new ICE car sales as a particular incentive but said: “We aren’t only driven by legal: we’re also driven by our fairly young clientele worldwide, and we’re seeing more and more people asking actively for an electrified Rolls-Royce”. The age of the average Rolls-Royce buyer has dropped sharply in recent years to just 43, and Müller-Ötvös notes that “quite a lot of our clients already own an electric car, be it a Tesla, a BMW or some other model”, and so have experience when it comes to operating EV chargers and range management. He wouldn’t be drawn on the technical details of Rolls-Royce’s future EVs beyond confirming that “the entire portfolio will be electrified”. The Spectre’s 150 million-mile testing programme will no doubt inform the development of its future range-mates, accelerating the lead time of each EV based on Goodwood’s Architecture of Luxury. Electrifying the entire portfolio, said Müller-Ötvös, is “a huge task for a relatively small company”, but the required investment won’t automatically translate into more expensive cars. “We never price ‘cost-driven’, we price ‘segment-driven’ and ‘substance-driven’ ”, explained Müller-Ötvös, emphasising that the Spectre (which will arrive in 2023, shortly after the similarly shaped Wraith bows out) will be priced according to its positioning rather than its powertrain. The future electric Phantom therefore won’t necessarily cost more than the current V12 petrol-engined car’s €560.425 Dutch starting price. A priority for the Phantom EV and its range-mates will be exhibiting characteristics that compensate for the loss of Rolls-Royce’s venerable V12, which will bow out in 2030. The firm’s electric powertrain will therefore be “very torquey”, promised Müller-Ötvös, and will allow for “waftability, silent movement, a magic carpet ride, utmost quality and so on”. When Müller-Ötvös was asked: “Will you be able to maintain profit margins with EVs?”, he said: “One thing is clear: we will never bring a car to market that isn’t as profitable as the combustion-engined cars. That’s my credo. I would like to drive contribution margins per car, because I’m in the business of making profit: that’s my task in the BMW Group, not making volume”. When Müller-Ötvös was asked: “How will you leverage the scale of the BMW Group as you move into the EV era?”, he said: ““We’re leveraging the BMW Group’s scale as we have done in the past: in a very intelligent way. We’re using components from the group which fit us, which make a Rolls-Royce truly a Rolls-Royce. We aren’t into rebadging existing bodies from mass-manufactured cars as Rolls-Royces, so we take components. We would be foolish not doing so”. When Müller-Ötvös was asked: “Will you integrate the group’s autonomous driving systems?, he said: “We will introduce autonomous driving once it makes complete sense for our clients. So far, we haven’t reached that state. This segment is very different: you hardly see people driving from London to Edinburgh and so on; you see commuting traffic into and outside of cities, and mostly for fun. That’s why now only 20% of Rolls-Royces are chauffeur-driven. When I started here (in 2010), it was 80% chauffeur-driven, and I think that indicates that particularly younger drivers are quite keen to sit behind the wheel and drive the cars themselves”. When Müller-Ötvös was asked: “So could we see more sporting Rolls-Royces aimed at keen drivers?”, he said: “I wouldn’t use the word ‘sporting’. We have found a lovely sweet spot with how we tune Black Badge cars. I think we’ve already made the Ghost Black Badge is as sporty as any Rolls-Royce will get regular Ghost more appealing for self-drivers than ever before, and Black Badge is the cherry on the cake for the real self-driver. I will leave it like that for the moment, because the one thing I will never compromise is comfort. The sportier you go, the more compromises you need to make on the comfort side. Comfort is what makes people buy Rolls-Royces”. +++
+++ SKODA boss Thomas Schäfer has confirmed its next 3 electric cars will all be smaller than the Enyaq and Enyaq Coupé, but has said the firm wouldn’t rule out launching larger EVs in the future. The new Enyaq Coupé iV is Skoda’s second model built on the Volkswagen Group’s versatile bespoke electric MEB platform. As previously reported, the firm’s next priorities include a smaller saloon-style car (likely to be similar in size to the Volkswagen ID 3) and its first model on the compact MEB Entry platform, which would essentially serve to replace the Citigo e-iV that went out of production in 2020. Last year, the Volkswagen ID Life and Cupra Urban Rebel concept previewed the first cars from those respective brands to use the new, smaller MEB platform, previewing production models due to arrive in 2025 with a target price of around €20.000. Asked when Skoda would showcase a model using that platform, Schäfer said: “Our colleagues from Seat, Cupra and Volkswagen are pushing ahead a little stronger on that side. Within the group we are balancing this a bit. “We’re coming shortly with an announcement on this one, but rest assured it will be differentiated from our sister brands and a beautiful concept that really fits Skoda”. While the immediate priority is on filling the electric line-up below the Enyaq, Schäfer did not rule out eventually adding a larger, 7-seat SUV or an MPV similar to the forthcoming ID Buzz. He said: “Never say never. It’s one step at a time, but we’ve promised that the 3 models below the Enyaq are the priority for now”. The Czech firm is aiming for 50-70% of its sales in Europe to be pure-electric cars by 2030, with plans for a major expansion. +++