+++ ASTON MARTIN has issued a trading update to the stock exchange warning that it anticipates missing its EBITDA (earnings before depreciation, and amortisation) target by around £15 million for 2021 as a result of delays readying the Valkyrie hypercar for production. Describing the hypercar project as “challenging” and noting that it was “inherited” when he led a consortium buying into the firm in 2020, executive chairman Lawrence Stroll highlighted that production had now begun, and that ten customer cars were delivered prior to the end of last year. Aston Martin’s trading statement said: “This was fewer than previously planned and accordingly adjusted EBITDA is anticipated to be £15 million lower than expected. The impact is timing only, all Aston Martin Valkyrie Coupés are sold and remain allocated to customers with significant deposits”. The statement also noted that customer demand for the Valkyrie Spider was double the allocation of cars that will be built, and that the income from the Valkyrie project is delayed rather than lost as a result of the ongoing demand for the cars. However, Stroll and CEO Tobias Moers highlighted the positive steps taken by Aston Martin in 2021, including growing wholesaled cars (82 %) to 6.182, including 3.001 units of the DBX, and noting that supply was lower than demand, removing the need to discount and protecting residuals. The latter was highlighted as a significant failing of the company prior to Stroll taking ownership. “I am extremely pleased that our core business has delivered to plan with over 6.000 core wholesales in the year while driving inventory to levels that are appropriate for an ultra-luxury business,” said Stroll. “The evidence is there that our strategy is working, as retail sales are well ahead of wholesales supported by strong pricing and improving residual values. It is a very long time since the core business was in such good health as it is today. We have achieved an enormous amount and are well on track with our transformation of Aston Martin into one of the greatest ultra-luxury brands in the world with new leadership, partners and products, and our return to Formula One, which has significantly increased our brand exposure, perception and desirability”. Moers added: “Our core business delivered as planned while navigating a challenging external operating environment. We are achieving strong pricing and closed the year with dealer stock at optimum levels aligned to our business approach”. The statement also revealed Aston will have a year-end cash balance of around £420 million, saying this is higher than previously anticipated, and confirmed that full results for 2021 will be announced on February 24. +++
+++ BENTLEY recorded its second consecutive year of record sales in 2021, despite the lingering impact of the coronavirus pandemic and the ongoing semiconductor shortage. The luxury British firm sold 14.659 cars in 2021; an increase of 31 % compared with 2020, when it sold 11.206 cars despite being gripped by pandemic-enforced shutdowns. Bentley has attributed the growth to new model introductions and demand for its new hybrid variants. It launched 11 new derivatives last year, including the 650 hp Continental GT Speed. The Bentayga, also offered with a hybrid powertrain, was Bentley’s bestselling car and had its most successful year. 1 in 5 Bentayga sales (which made up 40 % of Bentley orders overall) were hybrids. The Continental GT, meanwhile, accounted for 33 % of the firm’s sales figures, split 60 % coupé and 40 % convertible. The closely related Flying Spur put in a strong performance in its first full year on sale, making up 27 % of sales. Bentley expects the model to bring further success in 2022 with the introduction of a new hybrid variant. Adrian Hallmark, Bentley chairman and CEO, said: “This is our second record sales year in successive years and is a positive sign of our brand strength, operational excellence, strong global demand and affirmation of our strategic priorities. “The reaction to the market introduction of the Bentayga Hybrid and anticipation for Flying Spur Hybrid demonstrate the path the luxury sector is heading, and we are positioned firmly at the forefront”. All markets achieved double-digit growth, with record sales in the US and China. Bentley sold 1.328 cars in the United Kingdom (its home market)- for an increase of 14 % compared with 2020. The US remains Bentley’s number 1 market, where it sold 4.212 units. The Chinese market grew the most (40 %) with sales of 4.033 cars. Europe took delivery of 2.520 cars; an increase of 15 %, with sales split almost evenly across the Bentley model line-up. “These numbers are validation that we not only lead the sector in sales and market share, but also investment in electric technologies and commitment to being the first fully electrified and zero-carbon luxury car company in the world”, Hallmark said. +++
+++ Tobias MOERS ’s future as CEO of Aston Martin is uncertain following this morning’s trading update warning that the firm would miss its earnings targets. Speculation regarding Moers’s ongoing role at the firm follows indifferent financial results for the Gaydon-based luxury car maker, which was taken over by a consortium led by billionaire Lawrence Stroll in January 2020. Asked if Moers’s position was secure, a spokesperson said: “Aston Martin doesn’t comment on speculation”. While Moers was quoted in the trading update alongside executive chairman Stroll, multiple sources have told that a potential replacement has already been approached. Moers took over from Andy Palmer as CEO, moving from Mercedes-AMG in August 2020. He swiftly implemented a new strategy, including putting plans for a family of Lagonda electric cars on ice and axing development of the firm’s own V6, but he has struggled to see the Valkyrie project through to completion (with the car’s technical complexity blamed) and several established, senior leaders at the company have left the firm since his arrival. These include chief special operations officer David King, chief executive for vehicle attributes Matt Becker, director of Q operations Simon Lane, global president of UK and South Africa Phil Eaglesfield, general manager Carl Elston, supply chain director Kris Elston, new model quality director Stuart Jeff and chief marketing officer Peter Freedman. More than half of the company’s senior leadership team had left since Moers took the helm of the firm, suggesting his hands-on leadership style had led to significant tensions. While the fact a substantial number of personnel have departed is backed up by searches on LinkedIn, exact percentages could not be verified. Shortly after taking over the role, Moers described Aston Martin’s position as: “Worse than I thought, about as bad as it could be”. He is said to have clashed with his teams repeatedly as he tried to impose his vision for the firm’s future. Although Aston’s financial results have been more positive in recent times, with revenues near tripled year-on-year in 2021, chiefly buoyed by sales of the DBX developed under Palmer’s watch, and which accounted for more than half of sales, substantial loan repayments still held back its financial performance last year. Aston Martin’s share price has fallen almost 90 % since the company was floated in 2018 and the potential loss of the firm’s boss is likely to be regarded as another setback for Stroll’s ambitions to return the firm to profitability and grow it into being regarded as Britain’s Ferrari. Details of Moers’s likely successor remain fluid. +++
+++ Volkswagen has ended production of the PASSAT saloon, citing stronger sales of the Variant estate and the arrival of the Arteon fastback as factors in the decision. The 4-door Ford Mondeo rival is no longer available to order and a spokesman confirmed that production was ended shortly before Christmas. The B8-generation Passat has been on sale since 2014 and isn’t due to be entirely replaced until 2023, when the 9th iteration is slated to arrive atop an updated version of the MQB architecture and with a greater emphasis on practicality. But several months ahead of the model’s retirement, Volkswagen has taken the decision to streamline the range, leaving only the Variant on sale. This more capacious car has outsold the saloon by a ratio of around 2:1 since at least the Passat was facelifted in 2019. Volkswagen has sold saloon and estate versions of the Passat since the original launched in 1973. Another factor in the saloon’s early demise is the existence of the similarly positioned Arteon, which offers comparable levels of interior space and a similar engine line-up to the closely related Passat, albeit at a sizeable premium. Notably, however, the Arteon Shooting Brake continues to be offered alongside the Passat Variant. The company hasn’t set a date for the estate’s withdrawal, but news of the saloon’s retirement comes as development ramps up on the new ‘Aero-B’, which will essentially serve as an all-electric equivalent to the Passat. This new arrival, which will use the same MEB platform as the Volkswagen ID.3 and ID.4, will offer a choice of rear- and four-wheeldrive layouts, a choice of battery sizes and (crucially) the option of saloon and estate bodystyles. +++
+++ Shares of RIVIAN briefly fell below their introduction price in a broader selloff among electric vehicle (EV) makers as the race for market share intensifies with legacy companies ramping up EV production. Rivian shares fell as much as 16.5 % to $75.13, slipping below the debut price of $78 for the first time, before closing the day at $87.33, down just under 3 %. Other EV makers Tesla, Lucid Group and Fisker also lost ground, with valuation of high-flying tech sector coming under pressure against the backdrop of the Federal Reserve’s hawkish signals. The slide in Rivian shares comes a day after one of its biggest investors, Amazon.com, teamed up with carmaker Stellantis. They will develop cars and trucks with Amazon software and deploy electric vans made by Stellantis on Amazon’s delivery network. “Amazon has invested a lot of money in Rivian. That was a key factor for a lot of people in demonstrating this is a viable company that has a product that maybe relatively unique in the marketplace”, Guidehouse Insights analyst Sam Abuelsamid said. Rivian and Amazon had signed a contract in 2019 to build 100.000 electric delivery vans for the e-commerce giant by 2025. But now the electric commercial vehicle business, a vital market for Rivian, is flooded with more options. General Motors’s electric commercial vehicle business, BrightDrop, has signed deals with Walmart and FedEx, while Ford is expected to deliver its E-Transit cargo van to customers this year. Deutsche Bank analyst Emmanuel Rosner said the fall in Rivian shares indicates that investors perhaps assumed Amazon would primarily rely on Rivian vans for its EV fleet and perceived the latest announcement as reducing its opportunity. Meanwhile, General Motors announced the launch of its electric Chevrolet Silverado pickup and Ford is doubling production of its F-150 Lightning, both pickup trucks that would compete with Rivian’s R1T, at a time it is struggling to stick to delivery dates due to supply chip constraints. “Investors are probably getting a little spooked by the legacy industry making a comeback”, Abuelsamid said. Rivian, which still has no discernible sales, is expected to deliver cars to customers this year. Production at its second plant in Georgia, in which it has invested $5 billion, is likely to begin only by 2024. “It’s still sort of unproven in terms of investability of that as a stock versus some of the other names like Tesla and arguably Ford”, said David Keller, chief market strategist at StockCharts.com. +++
+++ TOYOTA will begin comprehensively refreshing ex-customer cars at its United Kingdom manufacturing facility as part of a drive to add value to vehicles throughout their life cycles. Agustín Martín, president and managing director of Toyota GB, gave the first details of a new process that Toyota will implement as part of its new fleet-focused mobility sub-brand, Kinto. He said: “We need to stretch the way we look at life for both the vehicle and the customer. I think we’re very familiar with the usual 2- to 3-year cycles that are extremely popular in the UK, but we need to go beyond that 2- to 3-year cycle and say: ‘Okay, what happens in that second cycle and in the third cycle?’ ”. In order to extend its contact time with customers “at least to 10 years”, Toyota will take vehicles back to the factory after their first use cycle (ie a typical lease contract) and refurbish them “to the best standard” to ensure the second user has as new a vehicle as possible. The same process could also be carried out, Martín suggested, before the third use cycle, after which Toyota will focus its efforts on recycling the vehicles as efficiently as possible. While the details of the vehicles’ end-of-life process have yet to be laid out, Martín hinted that the focus will be on avoiding waste and reducing the environmental impact of new vehicle production. He said: “How do we recycle it? How do we reuse different parts that are essential and maybe can be used for other services? How do we then rebuild the batteries, reuse them and recycle them? How do we use part of the material for the brand-new vehicle that’s going to be used in the factory?” Toyota’s emphasis on customer satisfaction and vehicle durability extends to its first production BEV, the BZ4X, which is due in early 2022. Its 71.4 kWh battery, giving a range of 450 km, is promised to retain up to 90 % of its usable capacity after 10 years of use. +++
+++ 2021 was a bizarre year for auto sales, even after 2020. Both were heavily influenced by Covid and the ensuing supply chain mess, and the ongoing shortages of chips and other critical materials and components will surely linger into 2022. But the show must go on, and go on it did. While it may not look like it on paper, 2021 saw customers return to showrooms in droves, driving up demand for new cars. Also in the UNITED STATES . Here’s what they took home most often. 10) Honda Civic – This staple has been a sales leader for Honda for decades, inching further and further ahead of the Accord as the midsize segment has contracted. It slipped from 8th place to 10th in 2021, but remained in the top 10 despite ongoing parts shortages. 9) Toyota Highlander – Believe it or not, 3-rows don’t typically crack the top 10. Just goes to show how strange 2021 really was. The Highlander was in 14th place last year, so this is a big leap for the family hauler. 8) Jeep Grand Cherokee – This is another surprise, and a first for Jeep, if my notes are correct. The Grand Cherokee was bolstered by the addition of a new 3-row model this year (Jeep combines the 2 for its sales reports) but keep in mind that the vast majority of volume here was actually the outgoing (as in not the brand-new 2022) 2-row model. Kudos to Jeep on jumping from 15th to 8th. 7) Nissan Rogue (X-Trail) – The new Rogue is outselling its predecessor handily: 7th place is a 4-spot bump for the little volume SUV. That’s a big win for Nissan, which could use a few of those. 6) Toyota Camry – From here on out, the list gets a bit more predictable. The Camry slotted in 6th last year too, and it’s interesting how Toyota’s script is flipped from that of Honda, which sees more volume from its compact sedan than its midsize. The Corolla family landed in 12th. Not bad, just not this good. 5) Honda CR-V – I said before that Honda’s midsize Accord has fallen a bit from its previous heights, but the CR-V has risen in proportion to replace it. Honda struggled with the chip shortage like everybody else in the second half, but early volume kept its year-end figures healthy despite the production shortfalls. 4) Toyota RAV4 – Meanwhile, Toyota managed to get both its midsize sedan and compact SUV into the top 10. The RAV4 is perfectly named for this position, which it also held last year. 3) Well, this one’s a biggie. GM’s combined sales of its Silverado and Sierra pickups technically makes it the largest full-size truck maker by volume in the United States, but thanks to the separate nameplates, that distinction doesn’t translate to higher placement on this list. Not only is the Silverado not in first, but it actually slipped a spot this year to third due to production constraints and the continued success of Ram’s new pickup line. 2) Ram Pickup – Quite the coup for Stellantis. As we noted above, this was largely due to GM’s inability to build trucks due to component shortages, but Ram has been nipping at the General’s heels for years, with the 2 nameplates trading places often in quarterly sales results over the past few years. This was a pretty solid thumping though (a difference of 40.000 units) and to Ram’s credit, the truck line finished up 1 % over last year. Silverado (down 10.8 %) and F-Series (down 6.8 %) can’t say the same. 1) Ford F-Series – As predictable as always. The F-Series has been America’s best selling vehicle line basically forever. Ford’s total full-size volume has slipped behind GM’s again in recent years due to production issues even pre-Covid, but it remains the king of the hill at the end of the day (month, quarter or year). +++
+++ Vietnam’s VINFAST plans to build electric vehicle battery cells and packs in a new U.S. manufacturing complex, its global chief executive told, as the company pledged to transform itself into an all-electric automaker by the end of this year. VinFast, part of Vingroup JSC, the largest conglomerate in the Communist-ruled country, became the country’s first full-fledged domestic car maker when gasoline-powered models built under its own badge hit the streets in 2019. The company, which began selling EVs in Vietnam at the end of 2021, said in a statement it planned to become what it said would be the first car company to cease making gasoline-powered cars and transition to all-electric vehicle production from late 2022. VinFast is betting big on the U.S. market, where it hopes its electric SUVs and a battery leasing model will be enough to tempt consumers away from the likes of Tesla and General Motors. “We will build our gigafactory in the U.S. as well”, Le Thi Thu Thuy, Vingroup vice chair and VinFast Global CEO said, referring to the new battery facility in an interview during her U.S. visit to attend the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The company will continue to source batteries from its suppliers, she added. Thuy said VinFast will initially assemble battery packs with cells sourced from its supplier at its U.S. complex before starting its own production there. “We have narrowed down from I think, over 50 sites to about three sites”, she said. She will visit some sites during her trip before making a decision this year, adding that the “mega site” would also include an electric bus factory. In December, Vingroup said it had started building a battery cell plant in Vietnam. The company is looking to initially produce 100.000 battery packs per year, with $174 million in investment, and then upgrade capacity to 1 million. VinFast plans to start producing electric cars in the U.S. in the late 2024. The company said prices for its VF8 (a SUV) started from $41.000 in the United States, and that it would apply blockchain technology to record orders and confirm ownership. By comparison, a Tesla Model X sells for around $50,000. Vingroup said it was targeting global electric vehicle sales of 42.000 next year. Shares of Vingroup rose as much as 5.8 % after it revealed three VinFast’s electric vehicles line-up and the plans to go all-electric. VinFast is eyeing a share listing in the United States this year. +++
+++ Yes, you read that right, I finally know when the production version of the VOLKSWAGEN ID.Buzz electric van concept will be revealed. It’s going to be shown on March 9, 2022. Five years after the concept made its debut, we finally get to see the real thing. The announcement came from chairman Herbert Diess. He also shared a little video clip with a rendering of the production van. It seems to fit the prototypes we’ve been seeing over the last year, and still has plenty of the retro cues that made the concept a hit. As it will be based on the MEB platform shared with other ID. models, we expect the ID.Buzz will have similar or identical powertrains. It will probably be offered with a standard 204 hp rear motor and rear-wheel drive, with a 299 hp dual-motor all-wheel-drive setup optional. I expect range to be somewhere between 320 and 480 km. +++
+++ VOLVO is revising its infotainment system to feature YouTube and upgraded Google services, including the technology giant’s virtual assistant. The update is the latest step in Volvo’s partnership with Google and applies to all models with an Android-powered infotainment system; generally cars produced from 2020 onwards. Volvo says the integration of smart services bolsters its aim to transform its cars into an “extension of drivers’ living environment”. Google Assistant will allow customers to speak directly to their car and control several remote functions, including unlocking the car and warming up the cabin on winter mornings. Future features will include scheduling charging. “We are now looking to be the first to integrate fully with Google Assistant-enabled devices. It is a natural next step in our partnership with Google”, said Henrik Green, Volvo’s chief product officer. “This integration allows us to improve the customer experience immensely, as it gives customers the possibility to easily and securely manage their car while at home or on the go, through any personal device that has Google Assistant”. Models will also benefit from YouTube integration, which, the firm says, will be a useful feature on longer journeys as drivers can watch videos while their car is charging or waiting in a car park. The app will be usable only when the car is fully stationary. “Allowing our customers to watch videos while charging or when waiting to pick up their children from school is part of our promise to make their lives better and more enjoyable”, said Green. “With YouTube and other major streaming services coming soon, our customers can enjoy their charging break instead of seeing it as just a hassle, making electric car ownership that bit easier”. Drivers will also be able to download a host of other, non-Google applications, including Sygic and Flitsmeister navigation, Chargepoint and Plugshare for EV charging and SportHero and ParkWhiz for parking. Volvo owners with an Android system in their cars can upgrade in the coming months. Drivers need to connect their infotainment system to the Volvo Cars App and a device with Google Assistant installed. +++