Ford will stop production at its Sao Bernardo do Campo plant in...

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20/02/19

08:24

Post #: 37493720
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Originally posted by ljcamp: ↑

But electrification has thrown the car industry into turmoil. Its best brands are founded on their engineering heritage—especially in Germany. Compared with existing vehicles, electric cars are much simpler and have fewer parts; they are more like computers on wheels. That means they need fewer people to assemble them and fewer subsidiary systems from specialist suppliers. Carworkers at factories that do not make electric cars are worried that they could be for the chop. With less to go wrong, the market for maintenance and spare parts will shrink. While today’s carmakers grapple with their costly legacy of old factories and swollen workforces, new entrants will be unencumbered. Premium brands may be able to stand out through styling and handling, but low-margin, mass-market carmakers will have to compete chiefly on cost.

Meanwhile, a scramble for lithium is under way. The price of lithium carbonate has risen from $4,000 a tonne in 2011 to more than $14,000. Demand for cobalt and rare-earth elements for electric motors is also soaring. Lithium is used not just to power cars: utilities want giant batteries to store energy when demand is slack and release it as it peaks. Will all this make lithium-rich Chile the new Saudi Arabia? Not exactly, because electric cars do not consume it; old lithium-ion batteries from cars can be reused in power grids, and then recycled.

https://www.economist.com/leaders/2017/08/12/the-death-of-the-internal-combustion-engine?al_applink_data=%7B%22target_url%22%3A%22https%3A%5C%2F%5C%2Fecon.st%5C%2F2SIFcBd%22%2C%22extras%22%3A%7B%22fb_app_id%22%3A128869720483178%7D%2C%22referer_app_link%22%3A%7B%22url%22%3A%22fb%3A%5C%2F%5C%2F%5C%2F%3Fapp_id%3D128869720483178%22%2C%22app_name%22%3A%22Facebook%22%7D%7D

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Ford will stop production at its Sao Bernardo do Campo plant in Brazil this year, and will stop selling the Cargo lineup, F-4000 and F-350 trucks along with the Fiesta compact car once it sells out of its inventories.

Japanese automaker Honda confirmed Tuesday that it plans to close its Swindon car plant in the U.K., risking the loss of 3,500 jobs.

GXY Price at posting: $1.93 Sentiment: Hold Disclosure: Held
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Ford will stop production at its Sao Bernardo do Campo plant in...

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