The surprise leadership shuffle on Thursday at Toyota Motor, renewed urgency at Renault and Nissan Motor to restructure their alliance and Elon Musk's declaration that Tesla will be the world's No. 1 car maker by a wide margin have one thing in common: what once defined the global auto industry's centre is no longer holding.
The announcement that Akio Toyoda will step down as chief executive of the world's top-selling car maker on April 1 came only hours after Mr Musk used a quarterly earnings call to declare that Tesla was now the industry leader in profitability and manufacturing efficiency — the crown Toyota held for three decades.
Toyota's incoming chief executive, Koji Sato, faces a daunting task. He must accelerate the Japanese car maker's efforts to develop more competitive electric vehicles. But he will get little breathing room from Tesla or the Chinese EV manufacturers who are using their leads in technology and production costs to slash prices.
Best selling electric cars in UK in 2022 - in pictures
Tesla already earns roughly seven times as much per vehicle as Toyota. Its 17 per cent pre-tax margins are roughly double the average for the rest of the industry. And after a rough 2022 for the company's shares, the stock has gained 28 per cent to open up 2023.
Mr Musk hinted again on Wednesday that Tesla was working on a new vehicle that could sell profitably for under $30,000 — which would compete head-on with mass market models from Toyota, Volkswagen, Ford Motor and General Motors.
Mr Musk has in the past teased products that took far longer to deliver than he initially promised, such as the long-delayed Cybertruck.
But the Tesla chief's ambitions are clear: to reorder the auto industry hierarchy that for decades had Toyota at the top.
"I don't think you could see a second place with a telescope, at least we can't," Mr Musk said when asked how the auto industry could look in five years.
Global car makers are experienced with periods of feast and famine that come on roughly seven to 10 year cycles. What is happening now is different.
The shocks of the pandemic, two years of supply chain chaos and a possible recession this year are colliding with a once-in-a-century shift of the industry's fundamental technology.
As combustion vehicles give way to electric vehicles with high-powered computer chips for brains, many of the advantages of incumbency that Toyota enjoyed are withering away.
The shift to electric, computerised and software-driven vehicles has opened the door for Tesla and other start-ups, particularly in China, to reset the ground rules for competition. Tesla's price war could be only the start.
"We question whether competitors can keep up in this EV race," Morgan Stanley auto analyst Adam Jonas wrote in a note this week.
Incumbent car makers can no longer count on refinement of mature vehicle technology to stay competitive. Established car makers are investing heavily in EVs — some faster and with more success than others.
South Korea's Hyundai Motor on Thursday reported better-than-expected results powered in part by strong sales of its new EV lineup. Hyundai forecast its EV sales would grow by 54 per cent this year — a faster pace than Tesla had forecast.
Chinese manufacturers pouring EVs into Europe have as much as a €10,000 ($10,866) cost advantage, Patrick Koller, chief executive of auto supplier Forvia, said this month.
The intensifying competition puts pressure on Renault and Nissan to resolve negotiations to restructure their alliance. The companies are now aiming to announce a deal — including an investment by Nissan in Renault's EV unit — by February 6, sources told Reuters.
Renault and Nissan once argued that their alliance gave them significant advantages in economies of scale. That potential still exists. But first they will have to fight to stay at their current size as Tesla and Chinese manufacturers try to strip away their sales.
"Even though the market is shrinking, we're growing and EVs have doubled almost year-over-year," Tesla vice president Lars Moravy told analysts on Wednesday.
"We always look at it as how much of the total vehicle space do we have, and we're just going to keep growing in that space. There's 95 per cent for us to go get."
Stage result
1. Jasper Philipsen (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix 4:42:34
2. Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Hansgrohe
3. Elia Viviani (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers
4. Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) BikeExchange-Jayco
5. Emils Liepins (Lat) Trek-Segafredo
6. Arnaud Demare (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
7. Max Kanter (Ger) Movistar Team
8. Olav Kooij (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
9. Tom Devriendt (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
10. Pascal Ackermann (Ger) UAE Team Emirate
The Bio
Favourite vegetable: “I really like the taste of the beetroot, the potatoes and the eggplant we are producing.”
Holiday destination: “I like Paris very much, it’s a city very close to my heart.”
Book: “Das Kapital, by Karl Marx. I am not a communist, but there are a lot of lessons for the capitalist system, if you let it get out of control, and humanity.”
Musician: “I like very much Fairuz, the Lebanese singer, and the other is Umm Kulthum. Fairuz is for listening to in the morning, Umm Kulthum for the night.”
The specs
Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors
Power: 480kW
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)
On sale: Now
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Global Fungi Facts
• Scientists estimate there could be as many as 3 million fungal species globally
• Only about 160,000 have been officially described leaving around 90% undiscovered
• Fungi account for roughly 90% of Earth's unknown biodiversity
• Forest fungi help tackle climate change, absorbing up to 36% of global fossil fuel emissions annually and storing around 5 billion tonnes of carbon in the planet's topsoil
MATCH DETAILS
Manchester United 3
Greenwood (21), Martial (33), Rashford (49)
Partizan Belgrade 0
SPECS
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KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
AIR
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The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8
Power: 503hp at 6,000rpm
Torque: 685Nm at 2,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Price: from Dh850,000
On sale: now
New process leads to panic among jobseekers
As a UAE-based travel agent who processes tourist visas from the Philippines, Jennifer Pacia Gado is fielding a lot of calls from concerned travellers just now. And they are all asking the same question.
“My clients are mostly Filipinos, and they [all want to know] about good conduct certificates,” says the 34-year-old Filipina, who has lived in the UAE for five years.
Ms Gado contacted the Philippines Embassy to get more information on the certificate so she can share it with her clients. She says many are worried about the process and associated costs – which could be as high as Dh500 to obtain and attest a good conduct certificate from the Philippines for jobseekers already living in the UAE.
“They are worried about this because when they arrive here without the NBI [National Bureau of Investigation] clearance, it is a hassle because it takes time,” she says.
“They need to go first to the embassy to apply for the application of the NBI clearance. After that they have go to the police station [in the UAE] for the fingerprints. And then they will apply for the special power of attorney so that someone can finish the process in the Philippines. So it is a long process and more expensive if you are doing it from here.”
Pakistanis%20at%20the%20ILT20%20
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A general guide to how active you are:
Less than 5,000 steps - sedentary
5,000 - 9,999 steps - lightly active
10,000 - 12,500 steps - active
12,500 - highly active
Sri Lanka World Cup squad
Dimuth Karunaratne (c), Lasith Malinga, Angelo Mathews, Thisara Perera, Kusal Perera, Dhananjaya de Silva, Kusal Mendis, Isuru Udana, Milinda Siriwardana, Avishka Fernando, Jeevan Mendis, Lahiru Thirimanne, Jeffrey Vandersay, Nuwan Pradeep, Suranga Lakmal.
My Country: A Syrian Memoir
Kassem Eid, Bloomsbury
ULTRA PROCESSED FOODS
- Carbonated drinks, sweet or savoury packaged snacks, confectionery, mass-produced packaged breads and buns
- Margarines and spreads; cookies, biscuits, pastries, cakes, and cake mixes, breakfast cereals, cereal and energy bars
- Energy drinks, milk drinks, fruit yoghurts and fruit drinks, cocoa drinks, meat and chicken extracts and instant sauces
- Infant formulas and follow-on milks, health and slimming products such as powdered or fortified meal and dish substitutes
- Many ready-to-heat products including pre-prepared pies and pasta and pizza dishes, poultry and fish nuggets and sticks, sausages, burgers, hot dogs, and other reconstituted meat products, powdered and packaged instant soups, noodles and desserts
World record transfers
1. Kylian Mbappe - to Real Madrid in 2017/18 - €180 million (Dh770.4m - if a deal goes through)
2. Paul Pogba - to Manchester United in 2016/17 - €105m
3. Gareth Bale - to Real Madrid in 2013/14 - €101m
4. Cristiano Ronaldo - to Real Madrid in 2009/10 - €94m
5. Gonzalo Higuain - to Juventus in 2016/17 - €90m
6. Neymar - to Barcelona in 2013/14 - €88.2m
7. Romelu Lukaku - to Manchester United in 2017/18 - €84.7m
8. Luis Suarez - to Barcelona in 2014/15 - €81.72m
9. Angel di Maria - to Manchester United in 2014/15 - €75m
10. James Rodriguez - to Real Madrid in 2014/15 - €75m
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The%20specs
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