Volkswagen’s power struggle is over for now

Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess probably feels a little better for his job security, the Nissan Rogue is as important as ever for Nissan’s future, and Genesis. All this and more The morning shift for December 15, 2020.

1st March: The drama of Volkswagen CEO seems to be over for now

Herbert Diess, CEO of Volkswagen has been talkative until recently, in an apparent commitment to consolidating power when it seemed a second like its term above the largest car manufacturer in the world May they have been hesitant. But the drama is done for now, according to Reuters, with VW’s board showing support for Diess this week. For Reuters:

Volkswagen’s supervisory board unanimously supported the 62-year-old CEO in a statement Monday, in addition to supporting key appointments he had requested, including Arno Antlitz who took over as chief financial officer of Frank Witter in June.

“The deciding factor is that he (Diess) was able to assert himself on important points in terms of content,” said Ingo Speich, head of sustainability and corporate governance for savings fund company Deka Investment.

Diess, who became CEO in 2018, withdrew his demand for an extension of his contract, which runs until 2023, according to people close to the supervisory board, in what was seen as a partial victory for [Bernd Osterloh, Volkswagen’s labor boss].

“Diess is strengthened because it has largely responded to its demands when it comes to board appointments,” said Frank Schwope, an analyst at the Norddeutsche Landesbank.

“Whether his contract is extended today or within a year is irrelevant.”

The big fight has been for Diess ’management with VW, which has seen the company diving head-first in electric. This strategy seems smart, as China and Europe (and also the United States as well) become electric, but it makes the people at VW really love Lamborghini and Bugatti. and Ducati is really shaking. It also bothers labor leaders, as electric vehicles are expected to need fewer workers.

Everyone assumes that all this will be shaken in the coming years; the only one I am 100 years old The sure percentage is that the Volkswagen ID.4 will be a complete failure in the U.S.

2nd Gear: The Rogue is a Welcome Bright Spot for Nissan

Nissan has recently gone down and out. You can do this until hilarious disaster that was Carlos Ghosn, but also to a strategy of committing to volume when world demand did not fully match.

There is good news for Nissan After all this: Rogue sales in the United States have been good, after the introduction of the third generation this year.

From Bloomberg:

Sales of Nissan Motor Co.’s new Rogue they have been rising in the U.S. since the compact SUV debuted in October attracting higher-income customers, a sign that the Japanese automaker is moving forward in its incentive-driven expansion strategy.

Buyers of the new Rogue have average family incomes that are about $ 10,000 higher than buyers of the previous model, according to Mike Colleran, Nissan’s senior vice president in North America, responsible for marketing and sales in the U.S. Colleran declined to comment on details of planned sales incentives for the new Rogue, but said the vehicle manufacturer expects the SUV’s overall transaction price to rise. “That’s a powerful statement,” he said.

[…]

“The overwhelming vision is that Nissan’s performance will recover as it launches new models,” said Takeshi Miyao, an analyst at automotive consultancy Carnorama. Future performance depends on the good degree of sales of new vehicles, but the first cars of the 12-impulse model “have exceeded sales expectations,” he said.

Rogue’s retail sales rose 20% in November from the previous month, Nissan’s Colleran said, adding that he is “very pleased” with the increase given that November was a month of short sales in the USA. The new Nissan models attract a different buyer who is looking for less, less in the price of a car and more in its technology and overall appearance. Other models that will go on sale in the United States over the coming months include Nissan’s new Ariya electric vehicle.

There’s also an update on Ghosn: in a separate report, Bloomberg he says which France is now investigating for tax evasion. By B’berg:

Carlos Ghosn, a fugitive car executive, is being investigated in France for possible tax evasion during his last three years at the helm of Renault SA and Nissan Motor Co., according to a person familiar with the matter.

Ghosn and French tax authorities have been debating since the middle of last year whether the former CEO should have been considered a French resident during the years 2016, 2017 and 2018, said the person who asked not to appoint him because the information is not public. Ghosn testified in 2012 that he had moved to the Netherlands and was subsequently treated as a non-resident, the person said.

The Liberation newspaper reported on Monday that a French judge had allowed authorities to confiscate about 13 million euros ($ 16 million) in assets from Ghosn and his wife, Carole, pending the outcome of the investigation. . Authorities are preparing a “major” tax adjustment, according to the newspaper.

3rd team: car manufacturers and climate targets

Bloomberg has an interesting feature monitoring the operation of various companies on their climate goals. The results are predictably mixed, with some winners (Sony, Levi Strauss, Target) and some losers (Staples ???). Among carmakers, Honda and BMW did it, Volvo did it very well and GM was a bit everywhere.

But this was only among self-reported companies, as many do not.

Bloomberg Green analyzed 187 different climate commitments that should be met voluntarily by 2020 or earlier. The good news is that most of these promises (138, so far) have already been fulfilled or are well on their way by the end of the year, in part because many companies are setting modest goals.

More worryingly, for a tenth of these goals, companies would not provide data on their progress. Thousands of the world’s largest companies still do not reliably publish data on climate risks or set targets to reduce them.

None of the companies that made five-year commitments would have been able to predict a pandemic once a century. He economic consequences of Covid-19 may reach some short-term emissions targets as cities close and factories stop producing, but global carbon emissions decline it will be temporary. The data collected for this project have been mostly extracted from 2019, which does not reflect the impact of the pandemic. The analysis excludes targets that have been significantly revised since 2015.

With fewer visitors to Las Vegas, for example, MGM Resorts International has significantly reduced energy consumption at the casino and the largest hotel complex in the city’s famous strip. Corporate travel has essentially come to a standstill, which will help biotechnology company Genentech far exceed its modest target of reducing transportation emissions by 10% from 2010 and professional services firm KPMG exceeds its target. to reduce emissions per employee in its US unit.

This measure had risen sharply before the pandemic (56% more since 2015) and put the company on track to lose its target. But because of global travel restrictions, the company estimates it will now exceed its goal. KPMG said it “seeks to block many of the sustainability gains we have made as a result of the pandemic,” which will bring it closer to the commitment to achieve zero net emissions by 2030.

Saving the planet will never be done with individual companies achieving their own climate goals according to their own assessments of what needs to be done, becausee this is mainly marketing. Instead, we will need swift and comprehensive action at the government level. You know, good old rules.

4th Gear: The head of Genesis gets a promotion

Jaehoon Chang, executive vice president of Genesis, will now be CEO of Hyundai, said the company today. Genesis sales have not been spectacular, But their cars are good.

Automotive news has some background:

The announcement is part of several personnel changes aimed at strengthening the Hyundai Motor group, as it expands to new areas of autonomous driving, robotics and urban air mobility.

The move follows the recent purchase of Hyundai a stake controlled by the American robotics company Boston Dynamics for $ 1.1 billion and its creation of a brand new hydrogen fuel cell.

Aside from leading the Genesis premium brand, Chang also leads the Korean carmaker’s business division and the so-called people and business operation support division.

In this role, he has been reforming Hyundai’s corporate culture to make it less top-down and more dynamic, agile and creative to stay ahead of rapidly changing industry trends.

5th gear: Baidu may want electric cars

Baidu is a Chinese internet company that runs one of the largest search engines in the world. But yes many other companies, i maybe soon this list will include electric cars.

Reuters reports:

China’s Baidu Inc. is considering making its own electric vehicles and has held talks with automakers about the possibility, according to three people with knowledge of the matter, of the latest move in a race between tech companies to develop smart cars.

The search engine leader, which also develops autonomous driving technology and Internet connectivity infrastructure, is considering contract manufacturing, said one of the people, or set up a majority-owned company with automakers.

The initiative would be a step forward for the internet as Tencent Holdings Ltd, Amazon.com Inc and Alphabet Inc, which have also developed car-related technology or invested in smart vehicle startups.

Baidu has held preliminary (undecided) talks with automobile manufacturers such as Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. Ltd., Guangzhou Automobile Group Co. Ltd. (GAC) and Hongqi of China FAW Group Corp. Ltd., about a possible company, according to people.

Hethe car scene in China really feels like the internal combustion engine car scene a century ago. Many contenders, many suitors, many people who only stab in the dark. Most of them, of course, will not succeed.

Reverse: Getty

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