Happy Monday! It’s November 27, 2023, and that is The Morning Shift — your every day roundup of the highest automotive headlines from world wide, multi function place. Here are the essential tales you could know.
1st Gear: Things Aren’t Looking Too Hot At Volkswagen
Volkswagen’s higher-ups have determined the folks’s model isn’t extracting sufficient cash from the folks, so that they’ve determined to chop prices to compensate. By firing extra folks. From Reuters:
Volkswagen’s (VOWG_p.DE) 10 billion euro ($10.9 billion) financial savings programme will embrace employees reductions, managers advised employees on Monday as model chief Thomas Schaefer warned that prime prices and low productiveness had been making its automobiles uncompetitive.
The German carmaker is within the midst of negotiations with its works council over a cost-cutting scheme at its VW model, step one in a group-wide drive to spice up effectivity within the transition to electrical automobiles.
“With many of our pre-existing structures, processes and high costs, we are no longer competitive as the Volkswagen brand,” Schaefer advised a employees assembly on the carmaker’s headquarters in Wolfsburg, in line with a publish on the corporate’s intranet website and seen by Reuters.
The firm had beforehand stated it deliberate to make the most of the “demographic curve” to scale back its workforce, having pledged that it could not perform dismissals till 2029.
It appears the downsizing is being dealt with humanely, no less than, with “partial or early retirement” masking the sum complete of the layoffs. Can you think about having that form of safety net?
2nd Gear: Your Next EV’s Battery Might Be Cheaper
The world goes electrical, however up to now — within the U.S., no less than — it hasn’t gone there cheaply. Now, it appears, we might lastly be on the trail in the direction of accessibility in EVs. From Bloomberg:
As the auto trade grapples with the best way to make reasonably priced EVs, the duty might get simpler by one key metric. Battery costs are resuming a long-term pattern of decline, following an unprecedented improve final 12 months.
According to BloombergNEF’s annual lithium-ion battery value survey, common pack costs fell to $139 per kilowatt hour this 12 months, a 14% drop from $161/kWh in 2022.
…
The essential contributor to falling battery costs traditionally has been technological innovation. This hasn’t been the case in 2023. This 12 months, the drop in battery costs is primarily attributed to decrease uncooked materials prices.
Cheap EVs haven’t succeeded within the U.S. the best way they’ve overseas, however perhaps that’s simply because they haven’t been low-cost sufficient. Knock ten grand off the Leaf and folks might be lining up. I’m certain of it.
third Gear: Subaru Raises Wages After UAW Strike
What’s that they are saying about rising tides? The United Auto Workers took to the picket line, and now it appears each auto employee is profitable — union or not. From the Detroit News:
Another international automaker is upping wages after the United Auto Workers gained document contracts from the Detroit Three automakers.
Subaru Corp. on Wednesday advised workers it is going to improve wages in January. The will increase will occur “at each step of our wage scales — including the largest production increase in company history,” Subaru spokesperson Craig Koven stated in a press release. “With this change, our top production wage will have increased seven times and more than 24% since 2019.”
The improve was a part of Subaru’s “semi-annual wage review conducted this time each year,” Koven stated. Current trade circumstances had been considered for the wage will increase. On the advantages entrance, Subaru is the one recognized non-U.S. auto producer to supply premium-free healthcare, in line with Koven’s assertion.
The UAW has introduced wage will increase to GM, Ford, Stellantis, Honda, Toyota, and now Subaru. Who’s subsequent, Tesla? [Eyes emoji]
4th Gear: We’re Never Getting Out Of The Oil Business, Are We?
While the remainder of the world has been pushing towards electrification, cleaner power that might assist mitigate the tides of worldwide local weather change, Saudi Arabia has been making some extent of not doing that. Now, Italy is becoming a member of in. From Reuters:
ROME, Nov 27 (Reuters) – Italy is discussing joint investments with Saudi Arabia within the automotive, mining, oil & gasoline, defence, hydrogen and house sectors, Industry Minister Adolfo Urso stated on Monday.
Since taking workplace in October 2022, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has sought to forge nearer ties with the Gulf, shrugging off the considerations of earlier coalitions over human rights within the area.
Urso is visiting the Arabian peninsula till Tuesday, with conferences in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
“Italy and Saudi Arabia are committed to developing a regulatory and industrial framework that favours and accelerates strategic autonomy in the critical raw materials sector,” Urso stated in a press release after a gathering in Riyadh with Khalid Al Saalem, president of the Royal Commission for Jubail & Yanbu, which helps oversee growth of Saudi Arabia’s power trade.
Things are so high-quality. You don’t even understand how high-quality they’re. Sure, perhaps humanity won’t ever escape the loss of life grip of fossil fuels, and perhaps that grip will slowly suffocate us all, however give it some thought this manner: There are like seven dudes who’re making beaucoup bucks off it.
Reverse: The Bruce Is Loose
On The Radio: Covet – ‘Firebird’
Source: jalopnik.com