Tesla files to expand Model Y production lines at Fremont factory

The churn is in, IMHO — there’s a new, uh, article out that claims that the Bit Time Investors are dumping TSLA and buying Ford and GM.

I might do that too, if Ford and GM were down at Shutdown 2020 levels.

Lucid is said to be on the brink of delivering its first vehicles, sez here.

BYDD, yet another Chinese Tesla-killer, could beat TSLA to $1 trillion, sez here.

Cathie Wood sold $110 million in TSLA shares, and so did a bunch of TSLA insiders, sez here.

Tesla granted patent for laser ‘windshield wipers’ that zap debris
By Gary Gastelu FOXBusiness
https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/tesla-patent-laser-windshield-wipers

September 10, 2021 11:36am ET

Ford to Close Plants in India, a Tough Market for Auto Giants

7:25 am ET September 10, 2021 (Dow Jones)

By Krishna Pokharel and Philip Wen

Ford Motor Co.’s decision to stop making cars in India deals a blow to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s domestic manufacturing drive while highlighting the difficulty foreign auto makers have gaining a foothold in the market.

On Thursday, Ford said it would shut manufacturing operations in Sanand, in the western state of Gujarat, and in the southern city of Chennai after accumulating more than $2 billion in losses during the past 10 years. It cited weaker-than-expected demand for its new vehicles...

Ford and most other Western auto makers have found it difficult to stake a claim in India’s passenger vehicle market, which is dominated by the smaller, budget-friendly passenger cars produced by the Indian units of Japan’s Suzuki Motor Corp. and South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Co. Together those two companies account for 60% of new car sales.

Although Ford has been in India for three decades, its market share last month amounted to 1.4%, according to India’s Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations. Rivals Renault SA, Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. fared little better, each holding a share of less than 3%...

Ford’s decision follows exits by General Motors Co., MAN Truck & Bus SE of Germany and Harley-Davidson Inc. since 2017. Toyota Motor Corp. last year blamed high taxes for a decision to halt its expansion in India. India’s automotive industry entered a decline in 2019, a slowdown that has been exacerbated by the pandemic.

The Indian dealer federation said Ford’s move would directly impact 170 dealers who have invested more than $270 million in setting up the company’s dealerships and together employ around 40,000 people.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

Apple Car Said To Get A New Chief: What You Need To Know

2:18 am ET September 10, 2021 (Benzinga)

Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) has named Kevin Lynch as the new head of its self-driving car project, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, citing people with knowledge of the matter.

What Happened: Lynch’s appointment comes as a replacement for Doug Field who left the Cupertino, California-based company earlier this week to join Ford Motor Co (NYSE: F) as its chief advanced technology and embedded systems officer.

Lynch joined Apple in 2013 to run the company’s smartwatch and health efforts. Prior to Apple, he was with software company Adobe Inc (NASDAQ: ADBE).

HOURS AGO! Elon Musk Claims Ford/UAW Wrote The New EV Incentive Bill

September 13, 2021

Torque News

Just a few hours ago Tesla CEO Elon Musk expressed his direct view in regards to the new proposed US tax credit for electric cars, saying “this is written by Ford/UAW lobbyists, as they make their electric car in Mexico. Not obvious how this serves American taxpayers.” Honda and Toyota aren’t pleased either.

Compared to previously proposed reforms, the new federal electric car incentive has some big changes.

The biggest change in the new federal electric vehicle incentives reform is the $4,500 additional benefit to electric vehicles coming out of factories where the workers are part of a union.

It is putting several foreign automakers that produce vehicles without union workers at a disadvantage. In fact, Toyota and Honda are two of them.

Both Toyota and Honda are now angry after getting shut out of the electric car tax credit. “Honda and Toyota registered their fury at Democratic lawmakers, who proposed to expand tax credits for EVs but only for union-made cars assembled in the U.S. That would leave the Japanese automakers — and Elon Musk’s Tesla — in the rear view of their American rivals,” reports The Motley Fool.

Domestically, the new proposed EV tax credit incentive gives a strong advantage to virtually all American automakers, except for Tesla.

Until now Tesla has resisted efforts from the UAW to unionize the Fremont factory, where Tesla produces all its vehicles for the US market.

I am looking at some discussions about this topic and one person says, “here’s a company, that has done what no other has done, in the face of all odds, and it’s just constant negative bombardment and exclusion.”

“American-made should be the top priority! We need to be making the cars of the future here, not losing our auto industry to Mexico and China,” comments Whole Mars Blogger under Elon Musk’s tweet. Elon commented back writing, “@POTUS. (Ahem),” hoping that the president Biden’s Twitter account will notice it.

Another user, named Zack, wrote that Tesla is the most American car out there. To this Elon Musk replied “Literally!.”

I’m not convinced we need to funnel cash to these automakers, especially foreign vehicles. Tesla sells everything they make and have a long waitlist. It’s clear the consumers want EVs.

This is Armen Hareyan from Torque News.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_nps9bjuMQ

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