Kathianne
06-27-2023, 04:47 PM
You're not alone:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/ford-plans-to-lay-off-at-least-1-000-contract-salaried-workers-bf4f5ef3?mod=hp_lead_pos3
Ford Plans to Lay Off at Least 1,000 Contract and Salaried WorkersCuts expected to significantly affect engineers in North America
By
Nora Eckert
Updated June 27, 2023 11:36 am ET
Ford Motor F 2.13%increase; green up pointing triangle plans to lay off at least 1,000 salaried employees and contract workers in North America, people familiar with the matter said, the automaker’s latest effort to defray the heavy cost of investing in electric cars.
...
Many automakers are focused on areas where they can cut costs to offset their heavy investments in EV development. In recent months, General Motors and Jeep-maker Stellantis both began offering buyouts, with executives emphasizing the need to control costs as they pour more money into electric and digital technology. Stellantis’s buyout offers also included unionized workers at its U.S. factories.
...
Ford has said it expects to lose $3 billion in operating profit on its EVs business this year. While executives at the automaker have said profits from its gas-engine operations would sustain the business in the midst of these losses, some analysts have questioned whether the automaker would require additional funding.
As Ford executives have focused on cost-cutting measures across the organization, including reducing its workforce, the automaker has sought out government financing for the expansion of its battery-manufacturing operations.
Last week, the Energy Department said it would loan a Ford joint venture $9.2 billion to support production of EV batteries across three factories in the U.S. South, the largest commitment in the loan program’s office history. The billion-dollar infusion is meant to bolster Ford’s joint venture with Korean battery-maker SK On, covering two battery plants in Kentucky and one in Tennessee.
...
Not just Ford:
https://www.wkbn.com/news/local-news/lordstown-news/lordstown-motors-files-for-bankruptcy-sues-foxconn-will-sell-endurance-vehicle/
LORDSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) – Lordstown Motors officially filed for bankruptcy and sued Foxconn early Tuesday morning after a tumultuous few months in the stock market as its deal with Foxconn fell apart.
The official filing for bankruptcy was filed in Delaware on Tuesday.
The filing estimates Lordstown EV Corporation has 5,001 to 10,000 creditors and estimates $100,000,001 to $500 million in assets and liabilities.
Lordstown Motors CEO Edward Hightower filed the paperwork.
The bankruptcy documents include “first-day” motions to continue operations at LMC and uphold their responsibilities to stakeholders, according to a press release from Lordstown Motors.
The press release also says Lordstown is in the process of trying to sell the Endurance vehicle and related assets.
“We remain confident that an orderly, expedited sale process will maximize value for our stakeholders and enable the talent and technology behind the Endurance to find new and supportive ownership. While in Chapter 11, Lordstown will continue to support our customers. We are grateful for the Lordstown team for their commitment and dedication to our vision and to our customers, suppliers and business partners for believing in the Endurance and in the EV evolution.”
EDWARD HIGHTOWER, LORDSTOWN MOTORS CEO
As part of the litigation, Lordstown filed a lawsuit against the Hon Hai Technology Group and its affiliates, including Foxconn.
...
https://www.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/VOLKSWAGEN-AG-436737/news/Works-council-VW-curbs-production-of-e-cars-in-Emden-44197151/
EMDEN (dpa-AFX) - Volkswagen is temporarily cutting back production of e-cars at its Emden plant due to flagging sales, according to the works council. In the next two weeks until the plant vacations, the late shift in the production of the ID.4 compact SUV and the first models of the new ID.7 electric sedan will be canceled, works council head Manfred Wulff said in response to a question, confirming a report in the "Nordwest-Zeitung" newspaper. A VW spokeswoman in Emden told the paper, "We are confident that capacity utilization at the plant will increase again with the market launch of the ID.7 at the end of the year."
The workforce was informed of this on Monday, the works council said. According to the statement, while production of combustion models, such as the Passat, will continue unchanged, the three-week plant vacation for employees in the E-segment is also to be extended by one week. In addition, around 300 of the 1,500 temporary workers currently employed in Emden are not to be kept on from August.
According to the works council, the reason for the production cuts is flagging sales of e-vehicles. "We are noticing customer reticence quite vehemently in the electric world," Wulff said. Uncertainty among customers is high, he said. Demand is nearly 30 percent below the originally planned production figures, he said. Among VW's Emden workforce, disillusionment reigned in the face of news of the shortened shifts, Wulff said. (Means: 'No one wants these cars.)
According to the works council, the original plan at the Emden VW site was to start a third production shift for the E-models in the fall. Now the official start of production of the ID.7 in Emden, scheduled for July, will be delayed, Wulff said. Currently, only a few models are being produced in advance./len/DP/nas
Oh, unintended consequences on tires:
https://www.continental-tires.com/products/b2c/tire-knowledge/electric-vehicle-tires.html
When batteries are so heavy and new tires have to be changed; roads, bridges, etc., gonna cost:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/06/27/time-to-slam-the-brakes-on-the-ev-calamity/
Time to slam the brakes on the electric vehicle calamityOur economically ruinous approach to Net Zero, combined with the failure to fix our decrepit road network, is a national embarrassment
MATTHEW LYNN
27 June 2023 • 1:30pm
...
News that EVs damage roads twice as much as their petrol equivalents as the pothole crisis grows on Britain’s roads brings together two great failings of the British state.
First, potholes are now an epidemic on our decrepit road network. The tarmac is littered with hazardous bumps and craters. Tyres are being worn much more quickly as a result, creating new hazards: worn and defective tyres are among the leading causes of accidents on UK roads. And even if there is no collision, or even damage to the vehicle, journeys are punctured by stomach churning bumps and jolts. The state of our country roads are not what you would expect in a developed nation.
Second, our obsession with centrally planned decarbonisation is causing all sorts of unintended consequences. Electric vehicles put a massive stress on roads: last month it was reported that their sheer weight could sink our bridges. The batteries are heavy, with many popular models weighing more than two tonnes, and while that might be fine for motorways built for big lorries, on smaller roads it has put huge strain on surfaces of many highways. They are literally buckling under the pressure. What’s more, EVs are not currently charged a fuel duty on the electricity used to recharge them. Drivers of electric cars will have to start paying vehicle excise duty from 2025, bringing them in line with petrol and diesel vehicles.
It is going to get much worse. There are currently 900,000 electric cars on the road. But with sales of new petrol and diesel cars banned from 2030 that number is going to rise and rise. The stress on our roads will increase at least five fold over the next few years as the switch to electric accelerates.
...
https://www.wsj.com/articles/ford-plans-to-lay-off-at-least-1-000-contract-salaried-workers-bf4f5ef3?mod=hp_lead_pos3
Ford Plans to Lay Off at Least 1,000 Contract and Salaried WorkersCuts expected to significantly affect engineers in North America
By
Nora Eckert
Updated June 27, 2023 11:36 am ET
Ford Motor F 2.13%increase; green up pointing triangle plans to lay off at least 1,000 salaried employees and contract workers in North America, people familiar with the matter said, the automaker’s latest effort to defray the heavy cost of investing in electric cars.
...
Many automakers are focused on areas where they can cut costs to offset their heavy investments in EV development. In recent months, General Motors and Jeep-maker Stellantis both began offering buyouts, with executives emphasizing the need to control costs as they pour more money into electric and digital technology. Stellantis’s buyout offers also included unionized workers at its U.S. factories.
...
Ford has said it expects to lose $3 billion in operating profit on its EVs business this year. While executives at the automaker have said profits from its gas-engine operations would sustain the business in the midst of these losses, some analysts have questioned whether the automaker would require additional funding.
As Ford executives have focused on cost-cutting measures across the organization, including reducing its workforce, the automaker has sought out government financing for the expansion of its battery-manufacturing operations.
Last week, the Energy Department said it would loan a Ford joint venture $9.2 billion to support production of EV batteries across three factories in the U.S. South, the largest commitment in the loan program’s office history. The billion-dollar infusion is meant to bolster Ford’s joint venture with Korean battery-maker SK On, covering two battery plants in Kentucky and one in Tennessee.
...
Not just Ford:
https://www.wkbn.com/news/local-news/lordstown-news/lordstown-motors-files-for-bankruptcy-sues-foxconn-will-sell-endurance-vehicle/
LORDSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) – Lordstown Motors officially filed for bankruptcy and sued Foxconn early Tuesday morning after a tumultuous few months in the stock market as its deal with Foxconn fell apart.
The official filing for bankruptcy was filed in Delaware on Tuesday.
The filing estimates Lordstown EV Corporation has 5,001 to 10,000 creditors and estimates $100,000,001 to $500 million in assets and liabilities.
Lordstown Motors CEO Edward Hightower filed the paperwork.
The bankruptcy documents include “first-day” motions to continue operations at LMC and uphold their responsibilities to stakeholders, according to a press release from Lordstown Motors.
The press release also says Lordstown is in the process of trying to sell the Endurance vehicle and related assets.
“We remain confident that an orderly, expedited sale process will maximize value for our stakeholders and enable the talent and technology behind the Endurance to find new and supportive ownership. While in Chapter 11, Lordstown will continue to support our customers. We are grateful for the Lordstown team for their commitment and dedication to our vision and to our customers, suppliers and business partners for believing in the Endurance and in the EV evolution.”
EDWARD HIGHTOWER, LORDSTOWN MOTORS CEO
As part of the litigation, Lordstown filed a lawsuit against the Hon Hai Technology Group and its affiliates, including Foxconn.
...
https://www.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/VOLKSWAGEN-AG-436737/news/Works-council-VW-curbs-production-of-e-cars-in-Emden-44197151/
EMDEN (dpa-AFX) - Volkswagen is temporarily cutting back production of e-cars at its Emden plant due to flagging sales, according to the works council. In the next two weeks until the plant vacations, the late shift in the production of the ID.4 compact SUV and the first models of the new ID.7 electric sedan will be canceled, works council head Manfred Wulff said in response to a question, confirming a report in the "Nordwest-Zeitung" newspaper. A VW spokeswoman in Emden told the paper, "We are confident that capacity utilization at the plant will increase again with the market launch of the ID.7 at the end of the year."
The workforce was informed of this on Monday, the works council said. According to the statement, while production of combustion models, such as the Passat, will continue unchanged, the three-week plant vacation for employees in the E-segment is also to be extended by one week. In addition, around 300 of the 1,500 temporary workers currently employed in Emden are not to be kept on from August.
According to the works council, the reason for the production cuts is flagging sales of e-vehicles. "We are noticing customer reticence quite vehemently in the electric world," Wulff said. Uncertainty among customers is high, he said. Demand is nearly 30 percent below the originally planned production figures, he said. Among VW's Emden workforce, disillusionment reigned in the face of news of the shortened shifts, Wulff said. (Means: 'No one wants these cars.)
According to the works council, the original plan at the Emden VW site was to start a third production shift for the E-models in the fall. Now the official start of production of the ID.7 in Emden, scheduled for July, will be delayed, Wulff said. Currently, only a few models are being produced in advance./len/DP/nas
Oh, unintended consequences on tires:
https://www.continental-tires.com/products/b2c/tire-knowledge/electric-vehicle-tires.html
When batteries are so heavy and new tires have to be changed; roads, bridges, etc., gonna cost:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/06/27/time-to-slam-the-brakes-on-the-ev-calamity/
Time to slam the brakes on the electric vehicle calamityOur economically ruinous approach to Net Zero, combined with the failure to fix our decrepit road network, is a national embarrassment
MATTHEW LYNN
27 June 2023 • 1:30pm
...
News that EVs damage roads twice as much as their petrol equivalents as the pothole crisis grows on Britain’s roads brings together two great failings of the British state.
First, potholes are now an epidemic on our decrepit road network. The tarmac is littered with hazardous bumps and craters. Tyres are being worn much more quickly as a result, creating new hazards: worn and defective tyres are among the leading causes of accidents on UK roads. And even if there is no collision, or even damage to the vehicle, journeys are punctured by stomach churning bumps and jolts. The state of our country roads are not what you would expect in a developed nation.
Second, our obsession with centrally planned decarbonisation is causing all sorts of unintended consequences. Electric vehicles put a massive stress on roads: last month it was reported that their sheer weight could sink our bridges. The batteries are heavy, with many popular models weighing more than two tonnes, and while that might be fine for motorways built for big lorries, on smaller roads it has put huge strain on surfaces of many highways. They are literally buckling under the pressure. What’s more, EVs are not currently charged a fuel duty on the electricity used to recharge them. Drivers of electric cars will have to start paying vehicle excise duty from 2025, bringing them in line with petrol and diesel vehicles.
It is going to get much worse. There are currently 900,000 electric cars on the road. But with sales of new petrol and diesel cars banned from 2030 that number is going to rise and rise. The stress on our roads will increase at least five fold over the next few years as the switch to electric accelerates.
...