Fords Needs To Think About Its Own In-Car Software System

The auto giant has been advised to start working on a separate software system to be incorporated in its cars.

According to the most recent news about Fords Motors, it was seen that the shares of the auto car making company went down on the index by around 0.96% on the trading that took place on Monday. This dip that was witnessed in the market is now being considered as a consequence of the statement made by Don Butler, who is employed by the auto giant as its Head of Connected Services. According to Butler, the company currently needs to start bringing its focus on software plans and projects to be incorporated its own cars, rather than depending on other providers to give it a system. Butler also claimed that it is important for Fords business to experience a boom in the software and auto industry, it is mandatory that now the giant starts working on making its own customized software for the luxury and hybrid cars its produces as only that will help it to become better compete with the present competition in an improved manner. According to a report which was recent published by CNBC, it was stated that since the automobiles are rapidly becoming used to having a high end software system installed within them, the need for a separate system increases every day. Presently, Fords cars use a software system called SYNC which provides the users with the opportunity to connect their smart phones to their vehicles with ease. At the same time, developers in the market have built up another software app which gives the users a chance to obtain interesting apps on their smart phones and then use them in the cars made by the auto company, simply by commanding them instructions by voice. This app is called AppLink and it is just one of the examples of how progress can be made by the company if only it tries to make its software system a better offering for it customers. Reportedly, Fords management has already opened up a platform for different developments to be made within its software by developers in the market and this is being done for the past two years. However, Butler believes that to grow as a company, the luxury car maker needs to start bringing more ideas to the yard so as to sustain its position in the auto industry and to even get better in the process. This will first be done by accepting the need to own and build a separate system for its cars, which the auto giant still needs to put into action.

Tesla Signs Deal With New Battery Supplier

The auto car maker signed a deal with LG Chem which will be providing upgraded batteries for Roadster.

According to the most recent news about electric car makers Tesla Motors, it was reported that the auto making giant has recently collaborated with a Korean battery making company called LG Chem, and this deal between the two companies is believed to help the auto giant to give its battery business a huge boost. The company has upgraded its EV portfolio and has signed the deal following this event. Tesla cars are already receiving their batteries and battery cells from a variety of companies and in a press release, the giant further confirmed that the cells it will be receiving from LG Chem will be incorporated in its Roadster vehicle, and this one will particular be the 3.0 battery cell. Similarly, Panasonic also works in collaboration with the electric car makers and provides battery cells from the Model S cars. Presently the luxury car makers are working to build up the much talked about Gigafactory which will ensure the giant’s self-efficiency in the battery business. However, it is not a hidden factor that companies like Panasonic are also working with the company in the Gigafactory to provide for the Model 3 smart car which will be released sooner than later. It has been reported by multiple news sources that the first car of Tesla business, namely Roadster, has always been built with a 2.0 and 2.5 level battery but it has been manufactured in such a way that it can adapt to the higher efficiency of 3.0 battery packets that the LG Chem will now be supplying to the company. On the other hand, analysts have also pointed out that this collaboration with the Korean will not put down the relationship the giant has with Panasonic and it will maintain its position of being the most important supplier of batteries to the hybrid car manufacturer. LG Chem, on the other hand, has been involved in supplying battery cells to a couple of prominent auto makers in the industries like General Motors and has been carrying forward a strong business since a very long time. Analysts at the Navigant Consulting have released a report in which it has been stated that very soon the Korean battery providers will be competing for a target of 1GWH towards the end of the next year, which is an accomplishment to be considered. As for the electric vehicle maker, the giant has already been using batteries from LG Chem to support its previously launched sedans and also its new car Model X which it released only recently. 

Toyota Receives Sales Lead From Volkswagen

The Japanese auto makers have now managed to make the most sales in the past three quarters, beating the record previously made by Volkswagen.

Following the scandal that shook up its auto business in the industry, Volkswagen has found itself in some serious issues which is why the giant’s control has now been shifted over its global sales lead to auto giant Toyota Motors. The German auto maker has been working its way up in the global market for the past three months but due to the scandal of emission that shook up the company on a massive scale, the lead of the global sales was gladly taken by rival giant. The strong sales report which Toyota business recently rolled out showed that the smart car maker sold a huge 7.49 million vehicles in the first nine months of the year, and in the same time period Volkswagen reported a sales figure of 7.43 million, which shows that the difference with which the Japanese auto makers won the game was considerably a huge one. The third highest sales in the past three quarters were made by General Motors, which released a sales figure of 7.2 million cars. Analysts in the auto industry are of the opinion that since Volkswagen is clearly out of the game, rivals Toyota and GM now have the opportunity to take advantage of the situation and hike up their sales by capitalizing in the right manner so as to increase their production and sales for the customers who have been let down by the German giant. Volkswagen is apparently going through a very tough time with the authorities, as it was recently found to be carrying out a cheat business because of which a lot of A class lawsuits have also been filed against it, along with some unavoidable fines which is sure to bring the company down on many levels. The auto company is not facing trouble with only a single regulator, but it has found itself to be answerable to a number of them, which is only bringing the company lower than the high position it once enjoyed in the auto making competition. According to Bloomberg’s report on the company’s scandal, it was reported that there are around 325 lawsuits that have been filed against the hybrid car makers in the United States alone, which means that the trouble being faced by the company is on a colossal level and is to grow even more in the other countries where the auto giant seems to be selling off its cars in. 

Tesla Beats Illumina Inc By Being Declared As the Smartest Company

The firm is showing massive signs of growth for near future which has made analysts quite positive.

Recently, a list of 50 smartest companies in the auto industry was released in which Tesla Motors managed to successfully secure the first position, beating out the previous winner in the race, Illumina Inc, which is a biotech firm working in the United States. The auto making giant, on the other hand, has been declared as the most innovative firm in the industry to be working on new technology ideas and bringing out the best out of it. In the report that was published, it was stated that the electric car makers have been making it big with their smart cars and have become one of the most competitive companies in the auto industry.

Tesla business is also being planned by the owners to expand more as it has become common news that the hybrid car makers are working on a new business in the battery business where it has settled to establish a new battery making plant that will solely work towards the product of lithium batteries. This step of the firm was initially taken with mixed opinions from analysts but over the passage of time, this has received quite a positive response from not only the analysts but also the investors.

Tesla was seen to reply to the success that it received in its future plans and how it plans to carry them out. The firm’s management informed the press that the actual plan is to bring about such a change in the society where people use electric smart cars on a mass level and get rid of cars that not only consume oil and gas but which also emit harmful chemicals by burning that gas. Taking into consideration the fact that customers start using hybrid cars only that are run by electric batteries chargeable by solar energy, many positives can be expected in the future.

Therefore, Tesla currently plans on focusing on expanding its business out to more and more people. Presently, the cars being produced by the firm are declared as luxury cars because of the price tag they carry but over the period of time, the company has decided to launch cars that carry a mediocre price which is reachable for people of almost all classes. Furthermore, the fact that the batteries in these cars will be chargeable by solar energy gives the customers more to think about and consider buying an electric car for them.

Only in the last quarter that the firm went through, the reported sales exceeded the expectations of the analysts by a mile, making the rivals in the industry believe that the auto giant is here to stay.

Bidness Autos - Toyota Motors: The Auto Maker To Make The Most Sales in 1Q

The automakers have successfully topped the list of companies making the most sales in the first fiscal quarter of 2015.

In the most recent Toyota news, it has been seen as a pleasant surprise that the first has managed to get the first position to make the largest sales in the first quarter of the financial year 2015. The total cars that the firm has sold have come around 2.52 million, as per a report submitted by AFP Tokyo. This number has come about to be a massive one considering the kind of sales that the firm has made and it has turned out to be quite a success for the Japanese auto giants. Keeping in the mind the fact that the company on an overall basis witnessed a dip in the demand on the local level, this number of sales carried out has been no doubt commendable.

In the report presented by AFP, it has been observed that Toyota cars managed to not only beat German Volkswagen in the process of topping the list, but it also left behind GM Company which is an American firm. The Japanese automakers have made successful sales by being ahead not by a small margin but by a huge difference as Volkswagen has come next to the firm with its sales coming around at 2.49 million. As for General Motors, the firm only managed to sell around 2.4 million cars, securing the third position in making the most sales in the first fiscal quarter of the year.

If the past performance of TM sales is taken into consideration, it will be seen that the demand on a general level has seen a decline which is why the sales fell around 2.5% in the quarter as compared to the sales made in the previous one. For the full financial year of 2015, the expected sales are expected to be made around 10.23 million. The sales might be decreasing for the year and the reason given by analysts is that it shows that the Japanese giant is taking all the queries into consideration which arose after the customers faced some safety issues in the cars that they bought from the company.

The first time Toyota Company managed to beat all the other companies on the globe, like General Motors and other auto giants, was in 2008 when the first managed to top the list. Due to the natural calamities that hit Japan after that, the firm stumbled and took some time to get back in a position again. However this time around, the firm has shown that it has nothing to fear and a lot to do in the upcoming year, keeping in mind the amazing sales made in the start of 2015.