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  • GM Grows Board of Directors’ Diversity with New Whitman, Tatum

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    Meg Whitman, a technology leader and former head of Hewlett Packard Enterprise, will join the General Motors Board of Directors.

    What was already the most diverse board of directors in the automotive industry just go a little more so, General Motors Co. expanding its board, adding Meg Whitman and Mark Tatum to fill the spots.

    The move grows GM’s board from 12 to 13 members. Adding Whitman, a former Republican gubernatorial candidate in California and CEO of Quibi Holdings LLC, a media startup, results in women filling seven of the posts on the board. It makes GM the only automaker where women comprise a majority of the board.

    Tatum, who is of Asian and African-American heritage, is the National Basketball Association’s deputy commissioner and chief operating officer. Diversity within the company has been a priority for Chairman and CEO Mary Barra since her appointment in 2013.

    Diversity is a strength

    GM quickly pointed out that the diversity of the company’s newly expanded board isn’t just limited to gender or ethnic background.

    Diversity has been a theme during Mary Barra’s tenure as GM’s Chairman and CEO.

    The company’s 12 independent directors have senior leadership and board experience in information technology, digital commerce, retail, higher education, investment management, international affairs, defense, transportation, cybersecurity, and pharmaceuticals, among others.

    “Our diverse Board of Directors is a competitive advantage for GM as we work to deliver a better, safer and more sustainable world,” said GM Chairman and CEO Mary Barra. “Mark and Meg will bring unique experiences to the Board, especially in technology, brand building and customer experience that will help us drive value for shareholders and other GM stakeholders now and into the future.”

    Diversity is a focus in the company’s executive ranks as well. Barra’s overseen a significant shift of women into higher level roles at the company during her tenure. Some of those include Dhivya Suryadevara as Chief Financial Officer, the first-ever woman to hold the job, and Alicia Bolder Davis as the Head of Global Manufacturing.

    Others include Ann Cathcart Chaplin, corporate secretary and deputy general counsel; Margaret Curry, vice president, Tax and chief tax officer; Julia Steyn, head of urban mobility and Maven; Kimberly Brycz as senior vice president, Global Human Resources; and Pamela Fletcher, vice president, Global Electric Vehicle Programs. Both Boler Davis and Suryadevara left the company for other opportunities in the last 18 months.

    Results are showing

    Mark Tatum, deputy commissioner and chief operating officer of the National Basketball Association, will join the General Motors Board of Directors.

    The push to diversify, at least by gender, is beginning to get noticed. GM was the top ranked company in the U.S. on the Gender Equality Global Report & Ranking for 2021. It was No. 5 globally, with a score of 71%, up from No. 11 and a score of 68% last year. GM was the only automaker in the Top 100.

    Researchers noted GM achieved gender balance at the board level (at the time the report was issued, there were six women on GM’s board). Additionally, women represent 20% of the executive team, 32.2% of senior management and 21.8% of the workforce.

    “They offer a living wage and flexible work arrangements to their employees. General Motors is the only company in the U.S. and globally that publishes a mean, unadjusted gender pay gap of less than 3% in all pay bands, and they have a strategy to close the gender pay gap. General Motors also publishes all eight of Equileap’s recommended policies that promote gender equality,” the report noted.

    It is compiled by Equileap, a data research firm, which researched 3,702 companies based on 19 gender equality criteria, including gender balance from the board to the workforce, as well as the pay gap and policies relating to parental leave and sexual harassment. The average score for the Top 100 companies globally was 64 percent, an increase of 2 percentage points from last year.

    Other automakers making moves

    Alexandra Ford English has been nominated for the Ford Motor Co. board of directors.

    GM’s top domestic rival, Ford Motor Co., currently has three women on its board of directors and nominated a fourth, Alexandra Ford English, daughter of current Executive Chairman Bill Ford Jr., who is virtually assured of election to the board later this year.

    Ford English, 33, recently accepted another board position that elevated her profile. She took on the role as Ford Motor Co.’s representative to the Rivian board of directors. Ford Motor owns an equity stake in the EV maker. She’s held roles in corporate strategy at companies like Tory Burch and Gap Inc. as well as the automaker, which she joined in 2017.

    The company’s global workforce is 28% female and 20% of its leadership comprises women. Some of it is top officers include Joy Falotico, president, The Lincoln Motor Co.; Lisa Drake, chief operating officer, North America; Suzy Deering, chief marketing officer; Dianne Craig, president, International Markets Group; Elena Ford, chief customer experience officer; Cathy O’Callaghan, vice president, Controller; and Kiersten Robinson, chief people and employee experiences officer.

    Falotico, Drake and Deering have all moved into their roles in the last 12 months with the first two moving from other jobs within the company. Deering arrived at the automaker in January from eBay, where she was global chief marketing officer. She actually took over for Falotico, who now focuses solely on running Lincoln.

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  • Lexus Reveals Limited-Run 2022 IS 500 F Sport Performance

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    2022 Lexus IS 500 F Sport Performance Launch Edition - on track

    The 2022 Lexus IS 500 F Sport Performance Launch Edition is a fully loaded version of the new, V-8-powered sedan.

    The name is long. The order list is short. We got a first look at the new 2022 Lexus IS 500 F Sport Performance model barely a month ago. Now, the Japanese luxury brand is adding a special Limited Edition package of which just 500 will be produced.

    For those who like the idea of having unique features — like the personalized number plate on the center console — the good news is that all 500 of the 2022 Lexus IS 500 F Sport Performance Launch Edition models will be earmarked “exclusively for North America.”

    “Standing apart from the standard IS 500, the 2022 IS 500 Launch Edition interior builds upon Takumi craftsmanship with elevated interior materials, including sporty two-tone Black & Gray Ultrasuede trimmed front and rear seats, door accents, and center console,” Lexus said in a statement.

    Other special features include silver ash wood details on the otherwise leather-wrapped steering wheel, as well as updates to the instrument cluster. Now, when you’re sedan wakes up, the version of the IS spinning on the digital display will be a Launch Edition “to further set this model apart from the standard IS 500,” Lexus explained.

    Taking the green flag

    2022 Lexus IS 500 F Sport Performance Launch Edition -

    The 2022 Lexus IS 500 F Sport Performance Launch Edition clocks some track time alongside a race version of the new sports sedan.

    The Launch Edition made its debut Friday evening in Sebring, just hours before the start of the annual 12-hour race there. It’s an appropriate venue.

    The IS has played a significant role for Lexus, helping adding a little adrenaline to its image of solid but stodgy design and performance. The first Lexus F model was an upgraded IS launched in 2008 and featured a 416-horsepower V-8.

    When the prior-generation Lexus IS debuted, some fans feared the automaker was taking a step back. replacing the V-8 with a respectable but nowhere near as impressive 3.5-liter V-6 rated at 311 hp. For 2022, the IS 350 jumped to 350 hp and 311 lb-ft. A nice increase, but still nowhere near past F Sport numbers.

    Lexus had a surprise in store

    2022 Lexus IS 500 F Sport Performance Launch Edition - number plate

    Each 2022 Lexus IS 500 F Sport Performance Launch Edition will feature a unique number plate, with only 500 of the sedans to be produced.

    It turns out the brand was only holding the big news in reserve. Last month, it said it would “dial up the sports sedan formula to eleven,” with the debut of the new IS F Sport. It marked the return of the V-8, punching out a hefty 472 hp, or 122 more than the turbo-6 in the 2021 IS F Sport Performance edition.

    And this is just a hint of what’s to come from the brand. Lexus last month said this is “the first model in the new Lexus F Sport Performance line.” It appears the marque is getting ready to take direct aim against the likes of Mercedes-AMG and BMW M.

    The 2022 Lexus IS 500 F Sport Performance gains only 143 pounds when compared with the IS 350 F Sport. So, the boost in performance should be notable. Lexus claims the Performance model will hit 60 in 4.5 seconds, a full 1.1 seconds quicker than the IS 350.

    Beyond 0-60

    2022 Lexus IS 500 F Sport Performance Launch Edition - interior

    The cabin of the 2022 Lexus IS 500 F Sport Performance Launch Edition features a number of unique details, also including the ash wood-finished steering wheel.

    Straight line acceleration is just part part of the picture. To handle the curves, the IS 500 Performance model comes standard with the Dynamic Handling Package now available as an option on the IS 350 F Sport. That includes an adaptive suspension and Torsen limited-slip differential. The chassis also gets a new Yamaha rear performance damper.

    To scrub off speed, the Performance model’s brakes are upgraded, as well, with larger 14-inch two-piece aluminum front rotors and 12.7-inch rotors in the rear.

    Visually, the IS 500’s hood has been raised by nearly 2 inches and gets more distinctive character lines in Performance trim. The front bumper and fenders also have been stretched to handle the big V-8.  There’s also a new, rear diffuser framing the sedan’s quad exhaust, dark chrome window trim, and a black rear lip spoiler.

    The top model comes with exclusive 19-inch split-10-spoke Enkei alloy wheels that shave about 6 pounds off total vehicle weight.

    2022 Lexus IS 500 F Sport Performance Launch Edition - on track rear

    The 2022 Lexus IS 500 marks just the first of what will be a line-up of F-Sport Performance models.

    More to come

    Going forward, all Lexus Performance models will feature unique black badging to distinguish them from standard F models.

    Inside, look for similar black badging on the heated leather steering wheel and door sill plates. And the gauge cluster will feature unique animation.

    Like other IS models, the IS 500 Performance and Performance Launch Edition models will get a number of upgrades to the Lexus advanced driver assistance technology. Among other things, the Forward Collision Warning system now will have greater range and will be able to detect a potential head-on collision when turning left.

    Lexus won’t reveal pricing until closer to the on-sale date of the Performance and Launch Edition models next autumn. The current, 2021 Lexus IS 350 F Sport starts at $42,900. Expect to see the number jump for the 2022 Lexus IS 500 F Sport, especially if you’re considering either the Performance or Launch Edition models.

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  • BMW Launching New i4 EV Three Months Ahead of Schedule

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    BMW Chairman Oliver Zipse with iX and i4

    BMW Chairman Oliver Zipse revealed the new i4 alongside the iX — three months early.

    BMW is clearly anxious to regain momentum in the small but growing battery-car market, the Bavarian automaker revealing plans Wednesday to bring the new i4 to market three months earlier than originally scheduled.

    The announcement came hours after BMW provided new details about the launch of another all-electric model, the iX. All told, the luxury brand plans to have electrified options, including hybrids and battery-electric vehicles, available in 90% of the segments it competes in by 2023. And it expects BEVs alone to generate “well over 50%” of its annual sales by 2030.

    “We have a clear roadmap for making the transformation of our industry a real competitive advantage for BMW in the coming years: uncompromisingly electric, digital and circular,” Chairman Oliver Zipse said during the automaker’s annual meeting.

    Early pioneer now playing catch up

    BMW’s Zipse laid out the company’s electrification plans, including BEVs making up at least 50% of sales by 2030.

    BMW was an early pioneer in electrification with products like the all-electric i3 city car and i8 plug-in hybrid sports car. But it has slipped behind some key rivals in recent years, in part, due to internal debate over the approach to take with electrified drivetrains.

    It had been planning to use platforms capable of handling everything from gas and diesel to all-electric but future BEVs now will ride on unique, skateboard-like platforms.

    The transition begins this year, BMW getting ready to start taking orders for both the i4 and the iX, the latter the production version of the iNext concept.

    The i4 will reach showrooms in Germany and some other key markets before the end of this year, a full quarter ahead of the original target. Deliveries of the iNext begin in early 2022.

    They will join the three all electric models the company currently offers, the BMW i3 and iX3 and Mini SE, said Zipse. That will “signalise the start of our technology offensive in 2021: these two all-electric vehicles will set the bench

    2022 BMW i4 annual meeting pic

    The new i4 debuted three months earlier than expected and is part of the company’s “neuer klasse” of vehicles.

    mark for BEVs going forward,” the BMW chairman said in a statement.

    The “Neue Klasse”

    By 2023, BMW expects to have “around a dozen fully electric models” in production worldwide, he added. It also will have various hybridized products.

    In the “third phase” of its electrification program, BMW will launch what it described as the “Neue Klasse,” or New Class, of vehicles. These are expected to use an entirely new platform developed specifically for all-electric products.

    Additionally, they will use a “completely redefined” electrical and software architecture, “a new generation” of batteries and electric drivetrains, and will adopt a “radically new approach to sustainability across the entire vehicle life cycle.”

    BMW said it is taking steps to ensure that the entire manufacturing process of future products will be more environmentally friendly, starting from the mining of raw materials. That it will put a premium on recycling of critical materials such as the lithium in its batteries, while turning to renewable energy to power its factories.

    BMW iX - driving

    The BMW iX uses a two-motor setup to put out 500 horsepower and is expected to travel 300 miles.

    Other BMW brands going electric, too

    While Wednesday’s announcement primarily focused on the flagship BMW brand, the automaker noted that its British-based marque, Mini, is set “to become a fully electric brand by the early 2030s.”

    Last September, Rolls-Royce CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös revealed that the ultra-luxury brand is working on its own BEV. It is under pressure to electrify at several levels, archrival Bentley itself planning to go completely electric by the end of this decade.

    Bentley parent Volkswagen AG is accelerating its overall electrification program with a goal of being the industry leader by the middle of this decade.

    Its own high-line brands are rapidly shifting to battery propulsion, including not only Bentley but also Audi and Porsche. Industry observers question whether that could force BMW to move even faster than the plan it outlined Wednesday.

    BMW with its joint venture partner Brilliance is charging ahead with iX3 production in China.

    Like its rivals, BMW acknowledged it has ramped up spending on its electrification program. That is expected to strain industry profits in the coming years, according to various analysts. Complicating matters, the higher production costs have made it difficult to maintain traditional profit margins on BEVs.

    Making money on EVs

    But Zipse was optimistic about BMW’s finances, despite the increase in R&D and related spending. If anything, the company’s statement said that, “Despite the volatile situation brought about by the global spread of coronavirus, the BMW Group expects business to develop positively and the risk situation to remain stable in the financial year 2021.”

    If anything, the automaker described “electric mobility” as “a key growth driver in 2020.” It sold 192,662 battery-based vehicles last year through the BMW and Mini brands, a 31.8% year-over-year increase. In Europe, it added, those hybrids and BEVs now account for a full 15% of total sales.

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  • GM Inks New Deal with Innovative EV Battery Maker

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    GM’s next-gen lithium metal batteries, the expected energy density increase may mean higher range in a similarly sized pack or comparable range in a smaller pack.

    General Motors continued its charge to develop better batteries, announcing its partnership with lithium metal battery startup SolidEnergy Systems.

    The company, also known as SES, is working on technology that would reduce the size of EV batteries while increasing driving range of the vehicle they’re used in. GM officials have long discussed the need to reduce battery costs, another factor in the production of electrified vehicles is weight.

    Batteries are heavy and developing and using a smaller battery equates to weight savings, helping to further expand the improved range afforded by the batteries SES and GM are working to create.

    Lighter, farther, cheaper

    GM says its lithium metal battery with a protected anode offers the Big Three of EVs: affordability, high performance and energy density. The initial prototype batteries have already completed 150,000 simulated test miles at research and development labs at GM’s Global Technical Center in Warren, Michigan, demonstrating real-world potential, the company revealed.

    GM announced a joint development agreement with lithium metal battery innovator SolidEnergy Systems.

    The automaker isn’t just working with SES to bring lithium-metal batteries to fruition, but several other companies as well. However, it does have a history with SES, investing in the company six years ago through its GM Ventures arm.

    This new deal is the next step in that collaboration, and as part of that progression, GM and SES plan to build a manufacturing prototyping line in Woburn, Massachusetts, for a high-capacity, pre-production battery by 2023.

    Results mean EVs for all

    “Affordability and range are two major barriers to mass EV adoption,” said GM President Mark Reuss.

    GM’s prototype lithium metal batteries were developed at the company’s research and development labs in Warren, Michigan.

    “With this next-generation Ultium chemistry, we believe we’re on the cusp of a once-in-a-generation improvement in energy density and cost. There’s even more room to improve in both categories, and we intend to innovate faster than any other company in this space.”

    The goal is to incorporate these smaller, more powerful and less expensive batteries as part of the Ultium Platform that will be the basis for a slew of new EVs coming from the auto company. The first of those, the GMC Hummer hits the road this year.

    GM is working to complete its $2.3 billion plant to build the Ultium batteries in partnership with South Korea’s LG Chem. The pair is setting up shop in Lordstown, Ohio. Officials recently revealed two more plants could be in the works. The first would be near GM’s plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee.

    The company is investing $2 billion at that facility to prepare it to produce Cadillac’s first-ever all-electric model, the Lyriq. GM is investing $27 billion in electric and autonomous vehicles with plans to have 30 EV models available around the world by the end of 2025. The company declared it would end production of gas- and diesel-powered vehicles by 2035.

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  • New Vehicle Buyers Want Financing Info Before Shopping, Study Shows

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    buying online

    New car buyers want to know what kind of financing they qualify for before they head out to the dealer.

    As new vehicle sales rebound from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, it appears that more and more potential buyers want to have more certainty about their financing before hitting the dealership sales floor.

    A new study from CarGurus.com, the global online automotive marketplace, shows that shoppers prefer to have some idea about what their financing options are before they head out the door to look at a vehicle.

    In fact, 93% felt that being pre-qualified for a loan would be helpful as they looked to get a good deal on a new ride. The study also showed that buyers aren’t as well as informed about their options as they could be. Although better than nine out of 10 wanted to be prequalified, a third didn’t realize they could do just that, and only half actually did get tentative approval for financing beforehand.

    Improving the shopping experience

    “Our research found that consumers are eager to purchase a vehicle in a similar fashion to buying a home, and they want know more about financing for this major purchase in advance instead of treating it as an afterthought,” said Madison Gross, director of Customer Insights at CarGurus.

    People want more information about financing, and are missing out on helpful tips when it comes to the purchase of a new vehicle.

    Pre-qualifying for auto financing gives shoppers more confidence, with 68% of believing that doing so would help them feel more confident and prepared to talk to dealers about financing, and 66% found value in pre-qualification because they wanted to complete more of the shopping process before visiting the dealership.

    Other findings included:

    • 46% of shoppers are concerned that their pre-qualification rates would not be final;
    • 41% are concerned that they would have to repeat the financing process at the dealership; and
    • 42% of shoppers wished they could see their monthly payment estimates while shopping for a car online before visiting a dealership.

    In addition to asking car shoppers about pre-qualification in advance of visiting the dealership, the study also aimed to learn more about their overall automotive financing knowledge.

    Potential buyers lack education

    The study also discovered that buyers weren’t entirely certain about the processes — and profits — of an auto dealership and how it may impact their experience. For example, shoppers believe that a vehicle’s price drives the most profit for dealerships (45%), while 30% think that auto loans do.

    Additionally, buyers consider different factors when it comes to the loan on their vehicle. For 37%, the monthly

    Buyers securing financing beforehand feel more confident in the buying process.

    payment and interest rate equally mattered most. However, the total price paid over loan life ranked at the top of 18% of buyers’ lists. In 7% of cases, the length of the loan drove their thinking.

    When presented with an imaginary car shopping scenario involving a 5-year loan with 5% APR for a $25,000 vehicle and $5,000 down payment, shoppers believed the following would have the greatest impact on monthly payments:

    • 46% – whether the interest rate increased from 5% to 8%
    • 29% – if the length of the loan increased from 5 to 6 years
    • 24% – if there were no down payment

    “According to the study, there is also a lot of room to educate consumers on the general ideas around automotive finance, which should ultimately provide a better shopping experience for both consumers and dealerships,” Gross said.

    In addition, the study delved into a wide array of similar automotive finance topics, some of which regards ways to improve shoppers’ experiences when purchasing a vehicle.

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  • A Car You’ve Never Heard of From a Company that Deserves Admiration

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    Patterson-Greenfield flyer

    America’s only Black-owned automaker was C.R. Patterson & Sons, which built the Patterson-Greenfield Automobile.

    There are many forgotten automakers, companies that existed for a few years before fizzling out. Truthfully, there were thousands, yet only one, owned and run by Blacks: C.R. Patterson & Sons, which launched its first model, the Patterson-Greenfield, in 1914.

    It’s an era when President Woodrow Wilson segregated federal offices, separating toilets in the U.S. Treasury and the Interior Department, which the administration defended as being beneficial to Blacks.

    It’s a time when D.W. Griffith’s movie “Birth of a Nation” was seen as legitimate entertainment, despite glorifying the Klu Klux Klan. In 1908, when boxer Jack Johnson became the first Black man to capture heavyweight champion of the world, fans began looking for “The Great White Hope” – a white fighter who could defeat him. Seven years later, it happened after 26 rounds.

    Given such inherent racism, it’s miraculous even one Black-owned car company existed.

    America’s only car built by a Black-owned automaker

    C.R. Patterson shop and car

    C.R. Patterson and his three sons all worked in the business from 1914 to 1918.

    While carriagebuilders are experts at their craft, the engineering it takes to produce a car and its many parts is immensely challenging. So, it’s not surprising that the car, the Patterson-Greenfield, used off-the-shelf parts. Its purchased steel frame had a 108-inch wheelbase, with Patterson completing the wood-framed bodies. Other purchased parts included cantilever springs, the full-floating rear axle, demountable rims, lighting, ventilated windshield and, most importantly, the engine.

    Some sources claim Pattersons were powered by a 30-horsepower 4-cylinder Continental engine. Yet company ads talk of engines made by Golden, Belknap & Swartz, or G.B. & S., a Detroit engine builder for small automakers from 1910 through 1924. The L-head 4-cylinder produced 22.5 horsepower, slightly more than a Ford Model T, and was matched with a 3-speed manual transmission with reverse.

    Debuting in 1914 as a closed touring car or open roadster, prices ranged from $685 to $850 (or $17,918 to $22,235 adjusted for inflation), and it was sold as “the only Negro Automobile Manufacturing Concern in the United States.”

    Yet by 1917, after as many as 150 cars were built, production shut down. What happened?

    An unlikely beginning leads to surprising success

    Like many early car companies, the story starts in 19th century, with Charles Richard Patterson, or C.R., for short.

    Born on a Virginia plantation in 1833, it isn’t known how Patterson got to Greenfield, Ohio by 1850, a town with strong abolitionist sympathies, home to one of America’s earliest abolition societies and a well-known stop on the Underground Railroad.

    Here, C.R. flourished as a Blacksmith, a common skilled trade for Blacks ­as better jobs were reserved for whites. Working for carriagemaker Dines & Simpson, he rose to shop foreman, working and supervising an integrated workforce. In 1864, he married; six children followed, including Frederick, Samuel and Postell, all of whom would work alongside their father.

    By 1873, C.R. formed his own business with a white man who had helped secure the company’s initial financing. J.P. Lowe and Co. proved successful until the Panic of 1893, which killed many businesses. Lowe, who had bankrolled the company, wanted out. C.R. obliged, renaming the company C.R. Patterson & Sons.

    Seven years later, the company boasted an integrated workforce of 50, building 28 models priced from $120 to $150, as well as a Mail Delivery Buggy and the School Wagon.

    A new era

    Then, in 1910, C.R. died, and Frederick took the reins.

    The Patterson’s also build built bus bodies sold in Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky.

    Times were changing. There was now one car for every 800 people, a huge change from the year before, when there was one car for every 65,000. The company was already servicing automobiles as a sideline. To Frederick, who graduated from Ohio State University where he was the first Black to play on the football team and served as class president, now was the time to build their own car.

    Frederick pondered what it should be. Their shop was not a custom coachbuilder, nor a mass producer. It was somewhere in-between. And that’s what he wanted from his new car. Also, it had to be practical for family use; large, but not too large. Finally, it had to be reasonably priced, yet contain the quality the company was known for.

    It proved successful, for a time.

    So what went wrong?

    Patterson produced his car through 1917. But a World War was raging and raw material costs were rising. Being Black-owned, the company was blocked from obtaining the financing needed to expand, so Patterson couldn’t compete with the deep pockets of larger mass producers like Ford, General Motors and Studebaker, which also had a decade’s head start.

    Patterson experimented with cars as early as 1902. Had he started then, the year that carriagebuilder Studebaker built its first car, one year before Ford Motor Co. was founded, and six years before GM was established, he might have stood a chance.

    The company thrived until the death of Frederick in 1932, after which the company slowly declined.

    The company returns to its roots

    Patterson turned to producing custom bodies for commercial vehicles, which the company had successfully done as carriagebuilders. The company supplied school bus bodies across Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky, as well as the first transit buses in Cincinnati and Cleveland.

    It also fabricated insulated cargo trucks, hearses, moving vans, ice, bakery and milk trucks on Chevrolet, Dodge, Ford, Graham, Reo, and International chassis. Frederick’s son, Frederick Jr., oversaw their design.

    The company thrived until the death of Frederick in 1932, after which the company slowly declined. New school bus safety standards in 1935 strained the business as the company struggled to compete against larger, better-financed competitors. In the end, a misguided move to Gallipolis, Ohio proved fatal.

    By 1939, the company closed.

    Today, 156 years after the Civil War’s end, the U.S. is still struggling to reconcile democracy with slavery. That a Black-owned firm, C.R. Patterson & Sons of Greenfield, Ohio, could find success in such a malicious environment over three generations should be held up for the significant accomplishment that it is, and an example of how anyone can overcome adversity.

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  • Lucid Motors SPAC Company Churchill Sees Big Valuation Drop

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    Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson 2020

    Lucid Motors CEO Peter Rawlinson was effusive in his praise of his soon-to-be publicly traded company.

    Weeks after revealing plans it was going to go public using a blank-check company, nascent EV maker Lucid Motors released the details about the multi-billion dollar venture late yesterday rolling the dice with the public today.

    The California-based company’s reverse merger with Churchill Capital Corp. IV started with a valuation of $24 billion. However, shares of Churchill rose as high as $65 once the deal was revealed a few weeks back. But potential issues brought the stock back to earth today where it closed at about $35 a share.

    Seen as a viable competitor to Tesla Inc., Lucid walks away with about $4.4 billion in cash in the tentative deal. The automaker will use that money to get its first product, the Lucid Air, into full production. The remainder will be used to develop the company’s next vehicle.

    Tough few trading days for EV makers

    The Arizona factory, known as AMP-1, initially will have the capacity for 30,000 vehicles annually, but expansions could take that up to 400,000.

    Tesla, long the darling of investors, saw its stock taking a hit the past few days. After floating above $900 a share for a while, it’s dropped into the mid-$670 range and a market capitalization of about $647 billion. The king of EV makers isn’t alone, virtually all publicly traded electric vehicle companies have fallen in recent days.

    Joining Tesla in a slide are Nio, Lordstown Motors, Nikola Corp., Kandi and others. After opening at $15, Lucid finished the day at around $39 a share. It ran higher than that, but slid back after it was revealed that Lucid’s first model won’t going into production until the fourth quarter of this year. It was initially slated to being production this spring.

    Lucid also revealed it would take the company five years to reach its full production rate of 250,000 vehicles annual — Tesla put out almost 500,000 in 2020 — and it won’t be cash-flow positive until 2025.

    The future is now for Lucid

    Prior to the introduction of the stock, Lucid’s CEO Peter Rawlinson, a former top executive at Tesla, was effusive in his support of his company.

    Commercial production of the Lucid Air was set to launch this spring, but officials pushed that back to the fourth quarter of this year.

    “Lucid is proud to be leading a new era of high-technology, high-efficiency zero-emission transportation,” he said in a lengthy statement. “Through a ground-up rethinking of how EVs are designed, our in-house-developed, race-proven technology and meticulous engineering have enabled industry-leading powertrain efficiency and new levels of performance.

    “Lucid is going public to accelerate into the next phase of our growth as we work towards the launch of our new pure-electric luxury sedan, Lucid Air, in 2021 followed by our Gravity performance luxury SUV in 2023.

    “Financing from the transaction will also be used to support expansion of our manufacturing facility in Arizona, which is the first greenfield purpose-built EV manufacturing facility in North America and is already operational for pre-production builds of the Lucid Air. Scheduled to expand over three phases in the coming years, our Arizona facility is designed to be capable of producing approximately 365,000 units per year at scale.

    “Lastly, this transaction further enables the realization of our vision to supply Lucid’s advanced EV technologies to third parties such as other automotive manufacturers as well as offer energy storage solutions in the residential, commercial and utility segments.”

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  • Ford Loses $2.8B in Q4 as Restructuring, Pandemic Hit Bottom Line

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    Ford CEO Jim Farley expects the company’s restructuring will begin to produce positive results.

    Ford Motor Co. ended 2020 posting a loss for the final quarter of the year as well as for the full year as the pandemic wreaked havoc on the company’s already difficult financial position.

    The automaker reported a net loss of $2.8 billion, or 70 cents per share, on revenue of $36 billion during the fourth quarter, pulling the full year’s results down to a net loss $1.3 billion, or 32 cents per share, on revenue of $127.1 billion.

    In the midst of a corporate-wide restructuring process to improve its profitability, the company was also hit hard — like most automakers — by the COVID-19 pandemic. While the numbers weren’t great, it’s a means to an end.

    “We are profoundly changing the trajectory of our earnings power,” said John Lawler Ford’s chief financial officer, “unlocking the tremendous value Ford can create for customers, shareholders and other stakeholders.”

    Sticking to the plan

    Ford CFO John Lawler said the automaker could lose 10% to 20% of its Q1 production due chip shortages.

    That earnings power is focused on securing an 8% adjusted EBIT margin, specifically 10% in the U.S. and 6% in Europe with the rest of the company’s regional operations turning a profit too. Lawler said the company’s third and fourth quarter results “provided evidence of progress” in the company’s effort to improve profitability.

    Despite the losses, Ford did improve its overall liquidity, finishing 2020 with $31 billion in cash and a total liquidity of almost $47 billion.

    On an adjusted basis, the company’s EBIT of $1.7 billion, up from $485 million during the year-ago period. The automotive EBIT margin was 3.8%. The company noted that the gains were “broad-based and largely resulted from improved pricing and lower structural costs, as well as the overlap with UAW contract-ratification costs in 2019.”

    Company officials acknowledged the year wasn’t what they hoped and were optimistic about 2021. Ford’s Lawler said the company was on course to earn $8 billion to $9 billion in adjusted EBIT – including a $900 million non-cash gain on its investment in Rivian – and generate $3.5 billion to $4.5 billion in adjusted free cash flow in 2021.

    Semiconductor shortage may hit bottom line

    This optimism comes despite an ongoing issue with semiconductor availability. Lawler said the company was diligently monitoring the situation, but it is “so liquid” that it’s tough to determine what the impact on the bottom line will be.

    He did estimate the company could lose as much as 20% of its first quarter production as plants are forced to shut down temporarily, and that those losses could continue throughout the first half of the year. It’s possible to make up some of that in the second half, he noted, but it was too early to tell.

    The shortages could lower Ford’s 2021 adjusted EBIT by $1 billion to $2.5 billion, he said. He added the company expects full-year cash and EBIT effects to be about equal – with quarterly cash implications more volatile, given the mechanics of company working capital.


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  • Chrysler is No More as Stellantis Comes to Life

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    Is this the last logo that will use the Chrysler name?

    Chrysler is dead.

    Perhaps a bit dramatic, but nevertheless, the merger between Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. and Peugeot S.A. became effective today, resulting in Stellantis N.V. Shares of the newly formed Stellantis begin trading on exchanges in France, Italy and the U.S. starting Monday. All will use the ticker symbol STLA.

    The deal has been going through extensive regulatory approvals, twin shareholder votes and the necessary dottings of i’s and crossings of t’s for more than a year.

    As of today, that means that for the first time since June 6, 1925, when it was founded by Walter P. Chrysler, the Chrysler name will no longer exist as a corporate entity.

    (FCA CEO Manley gets new assignment following Stellantis merger.)

    Stellantis is alive! The company’s stock begins trading on three exchanges Monday.

    In many ways, the Chrysler name was a survivor. The company’s been through a variety of mergers, potential mergers and bankruptcies. It escaped the “merger of equals,” DaimlerChrysler from the late 1990s.

    It was essentially spared its life when the late Sergio Marchionne swooped in and offered to keep it going if the U.S. government would help it through bankruptcy in 2009. The final deal got done with Chrysler Group LLC becoming part of FCA US LLC to follow

    the naming convention of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. on Dec. 16, 2014.

    Chrysler Corp. fought its way through several near misses when it came to mergers as potential deals with Japanese automaker Mitsubishi, China’s GAC and most recently an effort to merge with Peugeot’s French rival, Renault S.A., a deal that was reportedly scuttled after demands by the French government, which holds an ownership stake in Renault, were too much for then FCA CEO Mike Manley to accept.

    (Fiat, PSA set to get EU go-ahead to complete Stellantis merger.)

    Then there was the effort by the aforementioned Marchionne to find a partner for FCA, seemingly almost any partner would do. He approached General Motors and was promptly rebuffed. He reportedly got the same treatment from Volkswagen. There was even a rumored dalliance with EV behemoth Tesla, which would have bolstered FCA’s basically non-existent electric vehicle program.

    The arrival of Stellantis means for the first time in 95 years the Chrysler name won’t be on a corporate marquee.

    It also survived a previous bankruptcy in the late 1970s, paying off the loans early with its charismatic CEO Lee Iacocca, who came over from Ford, helping to lead the company’s charge back to prosperity. Chrysler did enjoy one major merger success when it acquired American Motors in 1987, including – and especially – the Jeep brand.

    In fact, no one seems certain what the future holds for the Chrysler name period. Early in the process, officials said that all brands would be retained, but time and economics often change the equation and currently, the Chrysler brand offers just two products: the Chrysler Pacifica minivan and 300 sedan. Neither are in segments that are seeing sales gains.

    To be fair, there’s been some speculation about the survival of the Fiat name in the same vein. Fiat’s been around even longer, founded in Turin, Italy in 1899. In the U.S., it’s only offering the 500X in 2021.

    (Fiat Chrysler and PSA not exactly a “merger of equals.”)

    The Chrysler name isn’t the only vestige of FCA seemingly taking a step back as its CEO Mike Manley is no longer in charge, that duty going to PSA’s Carlos Tavares nor will he be on the board of directors as John Elkann, FCA’s chairman, will take that spot as the chairman of the new Stellantis. Manley, 56, is now Head of the Americas.


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  • Automakers Join Broader U.S. Business Community in Curbing or Suspending Political Donations

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    In light of the attack of the U.S. Capitol Building by rioters last week, GM officials are weighing the company’s options when it comes to PAC donations.

    A number of automakers have joined the growing push by U.S. businesses to suspend or entirely eliminate political spending in the wake of last week’s attempted insurrection by supporters of President Donald Trump.

    Scores of major corporations, from Hallmark to Dow, have reacted to the political violence that saw rioters break into the U.S. Capitol. In some instances, businesses have said they will suspend all political contributions. In other cases, companies are specifically targeting politicians and political groups that backed false claims that the election was rigged.

    Hallmark, for example, said it not only was ending financial support for Kansas Sen. Josh Hawley but was demanding he return previous campaign donations. The archconservative Republican has been seen as a leader in the “Stop-the-Steal” effort, caught on camera encouraging rioters as they approached the Capitol last Wednesday and then voting to reject the results of the election won by now President-elect Joe Biden.

    (Automakers, manufacturing trade group react in horror to Washington insurrection.)

    Ford executives said the automaker has suspended its PAC contributions “for now.”

    By and large, automakers have announced less aggressive responses to the what happened in Washington last week, though many did speak out against the violence, including Ford Chairman Bill Ford and CEO Jim Farley, as well as General Motors Chairman and CEO Mary Barra.

    Barra last week tweeted that, “The peaceful transition of power is a cornerstone of American democracy, and regardless of politics the violence at the U.S. Capitol does not reflect who we are as a nation. It’s imperative that we come together as a country and reinforce the values and ideals that unite us.”

    Asked Monday whether GM would also halt some or all political donations, a source said on background that the company is “weighing its options.”

    (Trump attacks GM, demands it move Chinese manufacturing operations “back to America.”)

    The company’s official response noted that, “While we have not determined our 2021 PAC spending at this time, GM PAC is committed to supporting and building relationships in a bipartisan manner, funds are contributed by GM employees and are distributed to support the election of U.S. federal and state candidates who foster sound business policies and understand the importance of a robust auto industry.”

    Fiat Chrysler was not donating to politicians prior to the events of recent weeks.

    For its part, Ford is taking more immediate action. “As we have said, events over the past year have underscored the need for a broader, ongoing discussion about other relevant considerations when it comes to our employee PAC. In order to give these important discussions the time and reflection they deserve, the Ford PAC will be suspending new contributions for now,” the company said in a statement.

    Toyota, meanwhile, sent a statement to TheDetroitBureau.com saying that, “Given recent events and the horrific attack on the U.S. Capitol, we are assessing our future PAC criteria.”

    (Trump attacks Ford after it agrees to a clean car deal with California.)

    A number of other automakers told TheDetroitBureau.com that they were not giving political donations even before the events of recent weeks. That includes Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Nissan and Hyundai. Several other companies have yet to respond to requests for comment.


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