Automotive

Tesla begins to roll out the updates to its Enhanced Auto Pilot, with a 1,000 vehicles in the first round of updates and the rest in the following week.
It’s not just your computer that gets its software updates these days, from now on your trusty vehicle does the same and in the case of Tesla vehicles, the latest upgrade “Autopilot 1” will bring owners closer to self driving with the HW2 Autopilot software. The update is currently being uploaded to 1,000 Tesla vehicles and if all goes well, the rest of the fleet will be updated in the following week. The company will also provide a P100D performance upgrade in January, for Model S and Model X users.
‘HW2 Autopilot software uploading to 1,000 cars this eve. Will then hold to verify no field issues and upload to rest of fleet next week,’ Elon Musk posted on Twitter last Saturday.

Honda is in talks with Google to install the tech company’s self-driving technology in Honda vehicles.

Honda will have to provide Waymo with vehicles that are specially modified to accommodate the self-driving technology, while Waymo would lend Honda its insight into self-driving technology, a field every automaker is interested in these days.

The automaker says that if a deal is reached, it will provide vehicles to Waymo that are modified to handle the technology. The Hondas would join Waymo’s fleet that includes Lexus SUVs and Chrysler Pacifica minivans.

Google is setting up its self-driving car unit as its own separate entity called Waymo under the Alphabet umbrella, the company announced today. The name is derived from its mission of finding “a new way forward in mobility.”

"We’ll continue to have access of infrastructure and resources Alphabet provides, but we also have this feeling of being a venture-backed startup," said John Krafcik, formerly CEO of Google Cars and now leader of Waymo, said at an event here Tuesday.

There were no details provided on Waymo’s business plan, although the mission is to bring the company’s technology to market and monetize it via a partnership with an automotive company.

Volkswagen AG is expected to announce a sweeping restructuring of its embattled VW passenger car brand that includes up to 30,000 job cuts over the next five years and a shift toward electric vehicles and new digital mobility businesses, a source told Reuters Friday.

The announcement is expected to come later in the day at a news conference. It foresees €3.7 billion ($3.9 billion) in annual savings at VW’s namesake brand, which will involve 23,000 job cuts in Germany alone, another source said.

The shares of KTM Industries AG, the Austrian vehicle group, were primary listed today under the “International Reporting Standard” on SIX Swiss Exchange and traded for the first time.

The opening price on SIX Swiss Exchange was CHF 4.90. Based on this price, the market capitalization of the listed shares amounts to CHF 1,104 billion. The issued share capital of KTM Industries comprises 225.386.742 no-par-value ordinary bearer shares. A public offering of the company’s securities has not taken place.

Samsung Electronics announced an $8 billion deal on Monday to buy Harman International Industries, in an all-cash deal that makes Samsung a major player in the world of automotive technology.

The electronics giant previously shunned big acquisitions, and the latest deal underscores a strategic shift as the company tries to break into the high-barrier automotive industry where it has little track record.

As part of the deal, which is subject to approval by Harman shareholders, Harman will remain an independent subsidiary of the technology giant. Samsung will pay $112 a share in cash for Harman, which generated roughly $700 million in net profit on $7 billion of revenue last year.

Now it’s official: Nissan bought 34% stake in Mitsubishi. The deal cost Nissan $2.3 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal, and brings Mitsubishi into the Nissan-Renault Alliance. Carlos Ghosn, CEO of both Nissan and Renault, has been nominated to be the new chairman of the Mitsubishi board. The agreement created the world’s fourth-largest auto group, after Toyota, Volkswagen and General Motors.

Ford Australia will close its production line in Broadmeadows on Friday, 91 years on, the final Ford Falcon will roll off the production line. On the same day, Ford’s rival Holden will close Cruze production in Adelaide, and Ford will shutter its engine plant in Geelong. In the course of the next year, Australia’s three car makers, Toyota too, will shut down completely.

In all, more than 5,000 production jobs, plus many more white collar and supplier positions, will be lost. Ford will reportedly continue operations in Australia, with product development, research and parts sales to carry on.