TheDetroitBureau.com covers the top stories occurring in the auto industry in the latest edition of the Headlight News podcast. The weekly roundup includes news, features, reviews and more.
The on-again, off-again Dutch car company Spyker is, well, on again with another round of investment. Since 2000, it has rolled out a small number of largely hand-built sports cars. But it has been plagued by a series of seemingly endless financial setbacks that put it into bankruptcy last year. However, a group of Russian investors is back in the saddle with the company that’s produced fewer than 300 vehicles since 2000.
Other things you need to know this week include:
- Vietnam’s only automaker’s push to make in-roads into the U.S. market may have been slowed as VinFast CEO Michael Lohscheller resigned for personal reasons. His job is now being handled by Vingroup Vice Chairman Le Thi Thu Thuy. She’s expected to remain in that role for the foreseeable future;
- Zeekr, Geely Holding Groups premium EV brand revealed its going to build vehicles for Waymo One, Alphabet Inc.’s autonomous ride-hailing service in the U.S. The new vehicle will be designed and developed for Waymo One at Geely’s China Europe Vehicle Technology Centre in Gothenburg, Sweden using Zeekr’s new proprietary, open-source vehicle architecture;
- Rivian CEO R.J. Scaringe told investors the newly public company would not make its production forecasts for 2021. He also said the company would delay building vehicles with its “Max pack,” which offers 400 miles of range, until 2023. Investors reacted predictably;
- Alpha Motor Corp. released photos of its latest battery electric concept vehicle last week, dubbed the Saga Estate. The prototype joins its siblings, the Saga and SuperSaga sports sedans, Ace coupe, Jax SUV, and the Wolf pickup, all of which are battery electric vehicles designed and marketed by Alpha, and contract manufactured; and,
- Tesla is recalling more than 475,000 Model 3 and Model S sedans. The affected Model S sedans have a latch problem that may lead a front trunk to open. The company’s recalling more than 356,300 Model 3 sedans from 2017 to 2020 to deal with problems with the rearview camera.
Sales of new vehicles were hemmed in again during December, setting the stage for what could be a bumpy ride in 2022, notes Executive Editor Joseph Szczesny. IHS Markit analysts believe sales could return to pre-COVID levels in the second half of 2022, but there is little to suggest it will happening during the first six months. Find out more about the final sales expectations for 2021 and 2022.
The new Mercedes-Benz EQS sedan has received plenty of kudos — albeit with a few complaints, as well. The new Mercedes-AMG EQS 53 4Matic+ adds more power, improved handling and even more highline features when compared to the initial Mercedes-Benz EQS 450+ and EQS 580 4Matic models. So, heading off to Palm Springs to get a day behind the wheel of AMG’s first all-electric sedan, several questions popped into EIC Paul A. Eisenstein’s mind: Does it really take the EQS to a new level of performance? And is it a viable competitor to the Tesla Model S, the king of the premium EV sedan segment? Uh … yup — and then some, he reports.
Nothing rings in the New Year like an auto show — and we’ve got one this week, albeit it’s not quite the event we expected just two weeks ago. Managing Editor Michael Strong says it’s a good thing we’ve got one: the Consumer Electronics Show. However, what was expected to be an in-person event has now gone heavily digital with the rise of the Omicron variant of COVID-19. In addition to new intros at the show, automakers will tell us how many current vehicles they sold in December and all of 2021.
This week in 1967, Hyundai Motor Co. is established in South Korea. The automaker’s first car is the 1968 Cortina, built under license from Ford Motor Co. It takes Hyundai another nine years to build its first true Korean passenger car, the Hyundai Pony, reveals Executive Editor Larry Printz.
Find out more the industry’s history and more by listening to TheDetroitBureau’s latest edition of the Headlight News podcast by clicking here. And look for a new episode every Monday!
