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To be clear, GM's Ultium batteries are designed and produced by South Korea's superb LG Chem in a JV.

GM will build electric pickup for Nikola under partnership

Hannah Lutz, Automotive News  /  September 8, 2020

DETROIT -- General Motors is taking an 11 percent stake in startup electric truckmaker Nikola Corp. under a partnership that calls for GM to engineer and assemble Nikola's first vehicle, the companies said Tuesday.

Under the agreement, which is expected to close this month, GM will build the Nikola Badger, an electric and fuel cell pickup planned for production in late 2022, using GM's proprietary Ultium batteries.

"This strategic partnership with Nikola, an industry-leading disrupter, continues the broader deployment of General Motors' all-new Ultium battery and Hydrotec fuel cell systems," GM CEO Mary Barra said in a joint statement. "We are growing our presence in multiple high-volume EV segments while building scale to lower battery and fuel cell costs and increase profitability. In addition, applying General Motors' electrified technology solutions to the heavy-duty class of commercial vehicles is another important step in fulfilling our vision of a zero-emissions future."

GM will receive $2 billion worth of shares in Nikola and be able to nominate one director, the statement said.

The agreement will commercialize GM's fuel cell technology in high volumes and extends the use of its fuel cell system to the semi-truck market.

Nikola will facilitate sales and marketing for the Badger and will retain the Nikola Badger brand. Nikola will unveil the Badger in December at the Nikola World 2020 event in Arizona.

"Nikola immediately gets decades of supplier and manufacturing knowledge, validated and tested production-ready EV propulsion, world-class engineering and investor confidence," Nikola founder and Executive Chairman Trevor Milton said in the statement. "Most importantly, General Motors has a vested interest to see Nikola succeed."

Using a GM factory, rather than building its own, will save Nikola billions, Milton said. “We can come to market quickly. We could never do that on our own,” he told reporters on a conference call. “GM already has all the resources, all the people, the factories. They've got the supply chain. They've got logistics built in. For us, that was a big deal.”

Milton expects Badger production to be in the tens of thousands per year but said Nikola and GM will reevaluate according to demand. So far, orders are split between battery-powered and hydrogen-fuel-cell-powered pickups, he said.

Badger production was originally slated for 2021, but it was pushed back to late 2022 because of growing demand, the pandemic’s impact on suppliers and GM’s production standards, which Milton says are more stringent than Nikola’s

“We're a new company. We've got a lot to learn,” he said. “That's one of the benefits GM brings. Even though it’s a little bit of a delay, it's going to bring a better-quality truck.”

GM shares closed Tuesday's trading up 7.9 percent to $32.38 Nikola shares closed up 41 percent to $50.05.

GM said it is continuing to develop the Ultium batteries, which will be produced through a joint venture with LG Chem in Ohio. The automaker plans to include silicon anodes and lithium metal anodes to improve range, affordability and reduce usage of expensive metals.

Earlier this year, GM said it would co-develop two electric vehicles for Honda with its Ultium batteries, and last week the automakers signed a memo of understanding to form a North American automotive alliance that may include a range of vehicles sold under both brands and further cooperation in purchasing, r&d and platforms.

Farley wants Ford to run like a Deere with commercial trucks

Reuters  /  September 8, 2020

DETROIT -- From the moment he was named COO and heir apparent to the top spot at Ford Motor Co. in February, Jim Farley has touted the growth potential of its commercial vehicles.

But it's not just more trucks and vans that Farley wants to sell. As Farley prepares to takes over as CEO on Oct. 1, he is betting Ford can transform its commercial vehicle business to generate recurring revenue through sales of services that take advantage of the software, data and connectivity in its F-Series pickup truck and Transit vans.

"Think of it as a second F-150," Farley told Reuters, referring to the U.S. automaker's lucrative full-size truck business that generates $50 billion in annual revenue. "We have the F-150 everyone loves. There's this other business out here that's huge."

"Think of the data being more powerful than the fuel economy of the vehicle," he added.

Automakers like Ford have talked for a long time about generating post-sale revenue from connected vehicles, but they have struggled to deliver. As a result, Ford has been abandoned by growth-oriented investors, despite its lucrative F-Series franchise.

Ford wants to show it can grow, and build a competitive moat around its commercial vehicle business before Tesla, several startups and larger technology players like Amazon enter those markets.

The U.S. market alone last year accounted for more than $58 billion in sales of commercial trucks and vans, everything from Class-1 regular pickups to Class-7 heavy-duty trucks like the Ford F-750.

New hire

Farley is counting on a new hire to help build data-generated revenue from Ford's commercial vehicle business: Alex Purdy, former head of agricultural equipment maker Deere & Co.'s Silicon Valley office.

At Deere, Purdy led efforts to deliver artificial intelligence on the farm through smart equipment and founded John Deere Labs to help build a "sticky" relationship with customers. Deere's aftermarket parts and services business accounted for about 15-20 percent of $35 billion in sales last year.

In his first interview since his May hiring to lead Ford's commercial vehicle connectivity business, Purdy said he "helped transition an industrial goods business that thought about metal bending into a service business."

Among the products developed by Deere while Purdy worked there were the ExactEmerge planter that offers improved seed spacing at higher speeds, freeing up workers for other jobs; and the See and Spray distribution system that will use smart cameras to distinguish between healthy and unhealthy crops, allowing for reduced use of herbicides when it's introduced next year.

Purdy, a 35-year-old former investment banker and consultant, grew up on a farm in Okotoks, outside Calgary, Canada, and describes himself as "passionate about smart connected vehicles, automotive, AI."

Truck leader

Ford is the leading commercial vehicle brand in the United States and Europe -- with shares of 40 percent and almost 15 percent respectively -- thanks to the F-Series trucks as well as its Transit vans.

"Ford is the 900-pound gorilla in the commercial business," said Rhett Ricart, a big Ford commercial vehicle dealer in Columbus, Ohio. "They've always had this competitive advantage."

Earlier this year, Ricart moved into a new 116,000-square-foot commercial truck facility that dwarfs the old 18,000-square-foot building, and said he looks forward to working with Ford as they roll out additional connected services.

Purdy and other Ford officials want Ford's commercial customers to regularly pay for services, creating a revenue stream that flows throughout the vehicle's life, beyond a one-time transaction every few years.

Ford officials talk about products as such geolocation services to optimize route planning and reduce gasoline usage, predictive products that allow for faster oil changes and fleet management operations.

Lower costs

"When you measure time as a commodity like money, there are lots of those kinds of experiences that customers are willing to pay for because they're in the productivity business," Farley said.

The goal for Ford is to lower the total cost of ownership for its commercial customers; raise productivity, such as increased package delivery; and reduce downtime for customer vehicles, said Ted Cannis, head of Ford's North American commercial vehicle business.

"So now the total addressable market, instead of being just new-vehicle sales is the entire process -- parts, service, accessories, connected services," he said.

Hans Schep, head of Ford's European commercial vehicle business, said the shift in focus is playing out in meetings on quality. Five years ago, those meetings were about how to reduce Ford's warranty costs, he said. Now, the discussions are about how to keep its customers' vehicles on the road.

Ford's push in commercial vehicles will work hand-in-hand with the push to electrify its vehicles, including the F-150 and Transit.

As part of the efforts, Ford and Volkswagen Group said in June they would make up to 8 million units of mid-sized pickup trucks and commercial vans over the lifecycle of the vehicles, starting in 2022. Farley believes the automakers' alliance will allow Ford to use their combined scale to build its European commercial vehicle business even more.

Wall Street Journal  /  September 8, 2020

General Motors has agreed to help Nikola engineer and build its electric pickup truck in exchange for an 11% stake.

Power, durability, maneuverability: the Ford Trucks model 4142D 8x4 twin-steer vocational chassis has everything you need to succeed in construction.

#SharingTheLoad #FordTrucks

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http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/140354-international-turbostar-1968-gas-turbine-prototype/

Bloomberg  /  September 4, 2020

Volkswagen Group's heavy-truck business plans to make a fresh push to acquire Navistar International Corp. after talks were put on hold amid the coronavirus pandemic.

VW’s Traton is seeking to restart negotiations this month to win over Navistar’s management and the main shareholders, including billionaire investor Carl Icahn.

The German company’s truck unit in January offered to buy the rest of Navistar for $35 a share in cash, or $2.9 billion, to secure a bridgehead in the U.S. heavy-truck market and step up its challenge to Daimler and Volvo AB. VW already owns 16.7 percent, the second-biggest stake.

VW and Traton executives earlier this year stoked doubts among investors about whether the deal would move ahead after acknowledging that talks were on hold due to the pandemic, despite reiterating that the strategic rationale remained.

Navistar, which builds International-brand trucks, school buses, defense vehicles and engines, still hasn’t accepted nor rejected the offer. Chairman Troy Clarke said in June that the offer “remains on the table” while adding that the pandemic “slowed the process.”

It remains unclear whether the $35-a-share offer will satisfy Icahn, the No. 1 shareholder with 16.8 percent, and Mark Rachesky, the founder and chief investment officer of MHR Fund Management, which is Navistar’s third-largest shareholder with a 16.3 percent stake. VW has the firepower to bump if needed.

Shares of Navistar have gained 15 percent this year to $33.17 a share, valuing the company at $3.3 billion, eating away at the original premium in the bid.

VW’s heavy-truck division was created from acquisitions of Germany’s MAN and Sweden’s Scania. The unit had for years struggled to combine the operations before hiring former Daimler executive Andreas Renschler, who spearheaded a partial listing of Traton last year. Renschler left in July amid a series of executive shakeups at VW.

VW purchased its stake in Navistar in 2017, laying the groundwork for a footprint in North America.

That pickup truck cab was cramped, particularly with the large steering wheel.

#ThrowbackThursday - Check out this #Autocar Truck classic!  #VintageTrucks

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Scania Group Press Release  /  August 12, 2020

PepsiCo in Brazil has acquired 18 compressed gas vehicles from Scania, the largest order to date of gas trucks in the country.

The trucks – ten Scania G 340 4x2 and eight Scania R 410 6x2 – will be deployed for PepsiCo’s product deliveries throughout Brazil. Among PepsiCo’s brands, one of the world's leading food and beverage companies, is Pepsi, 7UP, Lay’s, Doritos, Tropicana and Gatorade. The goal is to reduce absolute greenhouse gas emissions across PepsiCo’s value chain by 20 percent by 2030.

“We needed to see substantially reduced emissions”

“PepsiCo was the first in the industry to carry out tests with gas-powered trucks and one of the first to test electric vehicles,” says Eduardo Sacchi, Senior Supply Chain Director at PepsiCo Brasil “This demonstrates our commitment in leading the transition to increasingly sustainable transport alternatives.”

Before purchasing the 18 Scania trucks, PepsiCo Brasil received a demonstration gas truck in November 2019 for trials.

“The testing period was crucial for assessing performance before making a purchase decision,” says Sacchi. “We needed to see substantially reduced emissions, reduced noise  as well as if we could favourably operate the trucks considering our routes and fuel availability.”

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Scania Group Press Release  /  August 19, 2020

When this season ends in November, captain Reino Nurmi will have transported some 450,000 cubic metres of wood in Finland’s Lake Saimaa with his faithful tugboat M/A Olli. That equals some 8,000 truckloads. During Nurmi’s 46^th season, Olli’s Scania 16-litre V8 DI16 engine will accumulate more than 3,000 operational hours.

“M/A Olli is quite agile and tows well. It’s also good in shallow places when vessels cannot have much draft,” says Nurmi.

Timber rafting was the principle mode of transporting logs in Finland until the 1960s, when its popularity waned and nowadays it is only practiced on Lake Saimaa. But rafting still makes good sense as the cheapest and by far the most environmentally sound mode of moving timber. Besides the transport itself, the logs are less subject to harmful insects in water.

Timber rafting is very much the antithesis of modern-day transport, moving at a slow and unhurried pace of 2 km/h. The logs are usually picked up in North Karelia and North Savo and transported as far as 450 kilometres, taking many days. The largest towed batches are over 30,000 cubic meters, with a floating load of more than one kilometre in length.

“We aim to have over a thousand bundles per trip. In comparison a truck normally takes about three bundles of logs.”.

Towed by Olli, the logs are bundled with nine bundles always moving in parallel. There is also an auxiliary vessel that pushes the float in narrow places and helps keep the load together.

“We've got to anticipate everything,” says Nurmi. “We monitor the weather forecast for strong winds. We have certain safe spots to stop and wait long enough to the weather to calm.”

Back in 1974, Nurmi worked at a paper mill, a job he did not really enjoy. “The district manager for timber rafting worked next door and I went to see if I could get a job from him. He said that he could promise work for one summer, but not any longer. That summer has lasted quite long now.”

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International Trucks Press Release  /  August 26, 2020

Uptime is more than a word in the development of the LT Series, it’s an unwavering commitment to deliver a truck that is as reliable and easy to service as the road is long.

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Sailor under investigation for arson in USS Bonhomme Richard ship fire

Jennifer Kastner, ABC10 News  /  August 26, 2020

SAN DIEGO (KGTV) -- A Navy sailor is under investigation in connection with the fire that caused extensive damage to the USS Bonhomme Richard at Naval Base San Diego.

Multiple sources with close ties to Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) say investigators determined the July 12 fire may have been set intentionally. Investigators identified a sailor as an arson suspect in their probe.

Multiple search warrants were executed at the sailor’s home and property. The sailor’s name and rank were not disclosed.

Garrett Motion Exploring Options to Restructure Balance Sheet

Dow Jones Newswires  /  August 26, 2020
Garrett Motion  Inc. (Symbol GTX) on Wednesday said it is working with its financial and legal advisers to explore options for a restructuring of its balance sheet, a move it warned could wipe out current shareholders.

The Switzerland-based transportation-systems company warned that any actions it might take could materially reduce the value of its common shares, dilute existing holders or result in the cancellation of its existing common stock.

(Note that Garrett domiciled itself outside of the U.S. in Switzerland)

The former Honeywell unit said it is moving to address its balance-sheet concerns while its core business remains strong.

Garrett said its high leverage poses significant challenges to its overall strategic and financial flexibility, a situation made worse by a burdensome agreement with its former parent related to asbestos liabilities.

Garrett late last year sued Honeywell, alleging the conglomerate unilaterally imposed the "oppressive and unconscionable" 30-year indemnification agreement before its October 2018 spinoff.

Garrett said it has ample liquidity to support its current and future commitments [so why then explore options for a restructuring?], noting that it had $482 million in available cash and undrawn revolver capacity as of June 30.