General Motors unveils a locally built prototype electric vehicle

General Motors on Wednesday unveiled a locally built prototype electric vehicle (REEV), designed exclusively for the national REEV student competition. The company said that it is a technical demonstration by the company and a concept.

The vehicle was showcased at the 37th FISITA World Automotive Congress, which was inaugurated in Chennai on Wednesday.

Unveiling the vehicle, General Motors vice president global propulsion systems, Dan Nicholson said the world-class capability at GMTC-I made it an important part of GM’s global engineering operations.

"We have designed this keeping India in our mind and it's a concept and it will be a learning platform," said Nicholoson.

Engineering is a global function for General Motors and the India design center is an integral part of it. GMTC-I houses a design studio and an engineering center.

GM's self-driving car unit to get SoftBank push with $2.25-bn investment

Japan's SoftBank Group Corp will invest $2.25 billion in General Motors Co's autonomous vehicle unit Cruise, the companies said on Thursday, a deal that validates the venerable Detroit automaker's leadership in self-driving cars and sent GM shares up nearly 13 per cent.

The move by SoftBank's $100-billion Vision Fund is one of the highest profile, largest investments to date in self-driving technology, an industry that could revolutionize transportation but faces engineering, safety and regulatory challenges, as well as scepticism among potential users.

SoftBank has made a string of large bets in so-called mobility companies, such as ride services provider Uber Technologies Inc , expecting that transportation services for people and goods will explode. The Cruise deal extends that wager, betting that computers will displace drivers and cut operating costs.

GM Chief Executive Officer Mary Barra said GM might explore "other opportunities" with some of the companies that SoftBank has funded, including Uber, China's Didi, India's Ola and Southeast Asia's Grab.

GM union faces big job losses but South Koreans don't care about it

When Lee Bum-yeon lost his job along with nearly 2,000 other union workers in 2001 after South Korea's Daewoo Motor went bankrupt, his neighbours at supermarkets and bakeries gave his young daughters free snacks and bread.

"People felt sorry. People felt heart-broken. They were worried how we were going to make a living," 55-year-old Lee said.

Now, with General Motors cutting some 2,600 jobs and threatening to leave South Korea in the absence of steep union concessions, the once sympathetic public is nowhere to be seen.

"I don't think anyone is feeling for us anymore," a grim-faced Lee, who was rehired by GM a year after it bought Daewoo in 2002, told Reuters outside GM's Bupyeong factory near Seoul.

South Korea's reputation for militant unions and rigid labour practices has long been cited as contributing to high labour costs and a persistent discount for corporate Korea. Shares of South Korean companies are typically undervalued in comparison to their global peers, a phenomenon known as the "Korea Discount".

Apple expands self driving programme, nearly doubles fleet in California

Registering 18 new vehicles since January, Apple has expanded its self-driving car programme rapidly and now has 45 autonomous vehicles registered with California's Department of Motor Vehicles.

The company had 27 self-driving cars until late January.

"Apple has nearly doubled the number of self-driving cars in its California test fleet. The number of cars is more than companies like Google, Waymo, and Uber have and is second only to General Motors which performs tests with Cruise -- its self-driving division," the Financial Times reported late on Tuesday.

Behind Apple is Tesla which currently has 39 self-driving vehicles, and Uber which has 29 cars.

Codenamed "Project Titan", Apple's self-driving programme's fleet is reportedly made up of Lexus RX450h SUVs each of which is fitted with huge racks of LIDAR and radar sensors as well as cameras.

GM posts loss on $7-bn non-cash charge; margins up despite sales drop

General Motors Co on Tuesday posted better-than-expected quarterly results as cost-cutting and higher vehicle prices offset a double-digit decline in US sales volume and said it expected 2018 would be a strong year globally and in North America, sending its stock up more than 1 percent.

Speaking to reporters, Chief Financial Officer Chuck Stevens said that despite recent stock market volatility due to concerns that the US economy may be overheating, the No 1 US automaker is "not overly concerned about inflation."

"Our forecast is premised on continued growth in the US economy," Stevens said. He said GM expects interest rates to rise 75 basis points in 2018.

Stevens said that a 25 basis point increase in interest rates meant an increase of only $3 for the average car loan payment.

US jobless claims down 5,000, labour market tightens

The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell last week, pointing to a tightening labor market that likely keeps the Federal Reserve on course to announce plans next month to start reducing its massive bond portfolio.

Labor market strength was also underscored by another report on Thursday showing US-based employers in July announced the fewest job cuts in eight months.

"The labor market remains tight as a drum even if it is not throwing off the sparks of higher wages and more inflation," said Chris Rupkey, chief economist at MUFG in New York. "The Fed can continue mopping up the stimulus provided to fight the financial crisis and recession."

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits decreased 5,000 to a seasonally adjusted 2,40,000 for the week ended July 29, the Labor Department said. Economists had forecast claims falling to 242,000.

Claims have now been below 300,000, a threshold associated with a healthy labour market, for 126 straight weeks. Thatis the longest such stretch since 1970, when the labour market was smaller. The labour market is near full employment, with the thejobless rate at 4.4 percent.

Economists believe that labour market tightness will encourage the Fed to announce a plan to start offloading its $4.2 trillion portfolios of Treasury bonds and mortgage-backed securities in September.
READ MORE

US jobless claims rise from three-month low

The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits rebounded from a three-month low last week, but remained below a level consistent with a tightening labor market.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 244,000 for the week ended July 22, the Labor Department said on Thursday.

Data for the prior week was revised to show 1,000 more applications received than previously reported.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast claims rising to 241,000. It was the 125th straight week that claims remained below 300,000, a threshold associated with a robust labor market. That is the longest such stretch since 1970, when the labor market was smaller. The labor market is near full employment, with the jobless rate at 4.4 percent.

Claims have been volatile in recent weeks as automakers shut assembly plants for annual retooling. Some manufacturers like General Motors are extending their summer shutdowns to manage excess inventory from declining sales.

Economists say this could be throwing off the model used by the government to strip out seasonal fluctuations from the data, causing swings in the weekly numbers.

A Labor Department official said there were no special factors influencing the claims data and that no states had been estimated.
READ MORE

Volkswagen looks at rehiring Opel CEO: Source

Carmaker Volkswagen is looking at rehiring the chief executive of General Motors' Opel, possibly to lead its Audi brand, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Sunday, following a media report the executive will quit Opel.

Opel boss Karl-Thomas Neumann plans to resign as General Motors (GM) prepares to sell the business to France's PSA Group, German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung (FAS) reported over the weekend.

Without citing its sources, the newspaper said Neumann saw the sale as the right strategic step, but was concerned PSA under-estimated the growing importance of electric cars.

The source said Volkswagen (VW) bosses were informally discussing giving Neumann, who quit VW in 2013 for the Opel top job, a prominent position, potentially as head of premium brand Audi.

VW and Opel declined to comment.

Audi CEO Rupert Stadler has come under fire for how he has handled the fallout from VW's diesel emissions scandal.

He only received a five-year contract extension last month because of an agreement among supervisory board members that he would not serve out his full term, two sources have told Reuters.

Pressure has built on Stadler after Munich prosecutors widened an investigation into the premium carmaker, and after Germany's transport ministry accused Audi of cheating on emissions tests.

In an interview with trade publication Automobilwoche, Stadler over the weekend defended his record: "The diesel crisis has consumed and is still consuming resources. I'm still convinced that we have initiated the right strategic steps."

Neumann, 56, planned to inform Opel's supervisory board about his decision at its next meeting on June 22, FAS said, adding he wanted to stay on only until GM completed the sale of Opel to PSA, owner of the Peugeot, Citroen and DS brands.

READ MORE