Autonomous vehicles

Robo-taxis’ earnings horsepower

3 Mar 2020

General Motors reckons autonomous cabs can be a $1 trln market in the United States alone. That requires some heady assumptions about how cheap running such a service can be, and how many people can be persuaded to ditch car ownership for robo-rides.

Robo-taxi payday is a marathon self-drive away

3 Mar 2020

The prospect of mass adoption of autonomous cars has won Alphabet unit Waymo outside investors, helped boost Tesla’s stock and has GM positing a $5 trln global market. Robo-taxis could be big money-spinners. But aligning tech, costs, regulation and user readiness will take years.

GM’s investors school Tesla’s on self-driving hype

22 Jan 2020

Shares in Mary Barra’s $50 bln carmaker barely budged after it unveiled its autonomous vehicle, yet the potential of similar technology helped Elon Musk’s outfit to top $100 bln in market value. Considering true self-driving remains a long way off, GM’s owners are more realistic.

Elon Musk’s balancing act requires capital support

14 Mar 2019

Tesla’s latest SUV extends its line but threatens to dent Model 3 sales and whack earnings. It’s a fresh complication for a CEO fighting with the SEC and flip-flopping over store closures. A cash injection, say by selling a stake in its self-driving unit, could smooth the ride.

The Exchange: Hollowing out white-collar jobs

13 Feb 2019

In “The Globotics Upheaval” Richard Baldwin predicts machine learning and instant communications will disrupt service workers just as automation and offshoring upended Western factories. He tells Breakingviews what’s coming, and what we can do to slow it down.

Tech to disrupt supply chains more than trade wars

2 Jan 2019

U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs give global companies an incentive to manufacture locally. But the shift was already underway because of new technologies like automation. Carmakers and pharma groups will localise more production in 2019 even if tensions over commerce abate.

Fiat Chrysler revs up for new hair-raising ride

31 May 2018

CEO Sergio Marchionne is about to unveil the $32 bln carmaker's next five-year plan after hitting most previous targets. He has to show how the company can fix its stalling Europe unit while catching up on electric and self-driving vehicles, all without him at the wheel.

SoftBank-GM self-driving deal is more than a hedge

31 May 2018

The Japanese firm’s Vision Fund will invest over $2 bln in the U.S. carmaker’s AV unit. It’s betting self-driving cars become so huge that investing in future winners and losers alike will still pay off. The risk may not be spreading its bets too widely, but being too early.

Computers come for debt capital markets jobs

1 May 2018

Citi, JPMorgan and Bank of America will later this year roll out an online platform that will streamline the way in which companies issue bonds and help investors to compare credits. A successful launch could over time help these banks to shrink their sales and syndicate teams.

GKN turbocharges defence with $5 bln auto sale

9 Mar 2018

The besieged engineer is selling its car parts division to U.S. rival Dana for stock and cash. The price looks generous, and even allows GKN to ditch its pension liabilities. The sum of the UK group’s parts now looks well above what hostile suitor Melrose Industries can afford.

Uber’s Waymo deal recasts existential question

9 Feb 2018

The ride-hailing service is paying Alphabet’s self-driving unit $245 mln in equity, ending a legal fight over trade secrets. Uber says it didn’t use its rival’s know-how. But if driverless cars are its only road to profitability, it needs to be a technology leader, not a laggard.

Wanted: Italian-American carmaker seeks new driver

29 Dec 2017

CEO Sergio Marchionne will soon head for FCA’s off ramp. A blizzard of well-timed deals helped spark stellar returns, but the group has low margins and big gaps. Marchionne also wears too many hats. Breakingviews imagines a consultant advising the board on picking his successor.

Can carmakers think outside the self-driving box?

19 Dec 2017

Renault is investing in a magazine publisher, targeting the extra leisure time people will have in driverless cars. Breakingviews imagines the pitch from an M&A banker eager to encourage auto executives to buy other autonomous-vehicle beneficiaries, from music to alcohol. Sincerely.

BlackRock ETF bot makes turkeys of human managers

27 Nov 2017

Larry Fink’s $6 trln asset manager is turning to computers to run a new batch of exchange-traded funds tracking shifting industry sectors. Machine learning and big data should do it well and at low cost. It adds more worries for flesh-and-blood stock pickers.

AI is the big driver of SoftBank’s Uber move

15 Sep 2017

A mooted $10 bln investment in Uber would leave Masayoshi Son’s group with stakes in most of the world’s big ride-hailing firms. It’s a huge sum, even if SoftBank buys in at a big discount. The strategy reflects Son’s belief in the disruptive power of autonomous driving.

Deutsche Bank CEO tells truth to robotic employees

7 Sep 2017

John Cryan wants the German bank to embrace a “revolutionary spirit” as people lose their jobs to artificial-intelligence technology. His comments reflect the competitive reality – but Deutsche’s whopping 86 pct cost-to-revenue ratio makes its staff among the most vulnerable.

Governance coup caps first leg of Uber’s journey

21 Jun 2017

Travis Kalanick quit as CEO amid pressure from the ride-hailing app's investors. His stewardship had become a distraction. For a private firm to jettison its controlling shareholder suggests a modicum of market discipline in startup land – if he really does take a back seat.

EU could spoil Uber’s cross-country road trip

12 May 2017

Travis Kalanick’s ride-hailing service can be regulated like any other transport firm, according to an EU legal opinion. That actually changes little – many member states already do. The big difference is that it would puncture Uber’s fantasy of European single-market protections.

Goldman’s robo venture co-opts startup rivals

21 Mar 2017

The U.S. investment bank is the latest established player to build an automated private banking tool for clients. Standalone robo-advisory services are already struggling with lousy margins. Now, as more incumbents fight back, their best option may be to sell.

Brexit could weaken Britain’s puny productivity

21 Mar 2017

As in most developed countries, UK companies are struggling to produce more with the same workers. Exporters and foreign-owned firms are the notable exceptions. If leaving the European Union squeezes trade and shrinks foreign investment, living standards will suffer.