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Voltswagen

The “Voltswagen” April Fool’s Day prank has led to an investigation by the SEC.

What started out as a “humorous” advertising and marketing ploy could land German automaker Volkswagen in serious trouble with the federal government.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is apparently looking into VW’s “Voltswagen” marketing stunt to determine if it hurt company stock prices and may have broken any U.S. securities laws, according to German news outlet Der Spiegel.

The incident in question dates back to March 29. As a sort of early April Fool’s Day prank (and marketing ploy), VW “accidentally” released a rough draft of a press release declaring the company was going to change its name to “Voltswagen” as part of a larger effort to promote its ever-growing line-up of electric vehicles (EVs).

This action was picked up by the worldwide automotive press and on March 30 VW issued an official press release to several news outlets, including the Associated Press, confirming the leaked statement from the day before.

This action resulted in VW’s stock price going up. At one point it was 12.5% above its price before the whole incident.

SEC looking at jump in stock price

VW of America President Scott Keogh took responsibility for the poorly received April Fools’ prank that wasn’t on April 1.

This is what caught the attention of the SEC, taking what many considered a fairly unfunny publicity ruse to a possible federal offense.

After the April Fool’s stunt failed in the eyes of the media and the public, VW issued a press statement saying the releases were actually part of a larger tradition in which companies often issue prank statements.

This one just meant to also focus the world’s attention on VW’s growing EV portfolio.

But public statements that affect stock prices usually don’t get an “April Fools” immunity. An SEC investigation could result in charges against the company.

Several news organizations, including The New York Times and Reuters, have asked for a comment from VW. So far, the company has declined to issue one.

Just one of many VW legal scandals

This is not the first time VW has gotten into trouble for the way it conducts its business.

Oh those wacky Germans!! As quickly as it got here, VW took it away: Voltswagen is the company that never was.

In October 2015, as Volkswagen struggled to deal with its diesel emissions scandal, new data raised questions about whether the automaker properly reported death and injury claims to U.S. regulators during the past decade.

A study by the financial advisory firm Stout Risius Ross Inc., found that Volkswagen of America reported nine times fewer deaths and injuries than the average of the 11 largest automakers operating in the U.S. market. Significantly, VW reported less than half as many incidents as either Fiat Chrysler or Honda, both of which have been fined for underreporting their own death and injury data.

Back in September 2015, the EPA accused the German maker of using a so-called “defeat devices,” software designed to fool government emissions tests, on a variety of luxury models from the Audi and Porsche brands. The feds charged VW took steps to cover up excess emissions on 482,000 vehicles sold in the U.S. during a 7-year period.

The end result was VW paying billions of dollars in fines to various governments around the world. The company also faced numerous consumer lawsuits that further cost the company money.


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GM Chairman and CEO Mary Barra’s been pushing the company’s all-electric future, she offered a peek as some of that at CES 2021.

General Motors Chairman and CEO Mary Barra is fond of saying the automaker is “on a path to an all-electric future,” something she underscored during a virtual CES webinar focusing on not only the automaker’s battery technology but also showing off some of the many battery and autonomous vehicles in development.

Along with models the automaker already has unveiled, like the Chevrolet Bolt EUV and GMC Hummer, several other projects were revealed during the hourlong presentation, including an ultra-luxurious new Cadillac dubbed Celestiq, as well as a flying car concept “designed for the moment when time is of the essence.”

“The key” to just about everything GM has in development is electrification, stressed Barra, who has led a massive shakeup of GM’s traditional approach to the car business since being named CEO in December 2013. Barra recently announced GM will introduce 30 all-electric models by 2025, up from the previous target of 20 by 2023. Meanwhile, spending on EVs and AVs, or autonomous vehicles, will jump to $27 billion by mid-decade.

(GM wants to revolutionize e-commerce with electric droids and vans.)

GM’s Crystal Windham talks about Cadillac’s latest product, the Celestiq, during CES 2021.

The automaker introduced its first long-range all-electric model, the Chevrolet Bolt EV, in 2016 and is set to begin expanding the line-up this year with the stretched Bolt EUV and GMC Hummer pickup. The pace will rapidly accelerate in 2022 when Cadillac’s first battery-electric vehicle, the Lyriq SUV, launches, along with an SUV version of the Hummer and other products.

The Cadillac brand was GM’s first to offer a specific target date, 2030, for going entirely electric, and the new Celestiq will fill a long-opened gap as the luxury division’s new flagship. First shown during a media backgrounder last March as a pure concept exercise, the project was formally confirmed during Tuesday’s CEO keynote.

It’s “a designer’s dream,” said Crystal Windham, Cadillac’s director of interior design. While the Celestiq prototype was shown largely concealed by shadows during the webinar, the version seen by reporters last March bore much in common with the over-the-top Cadillac Sixteen concept of 2003 with what Windham described as “a dramatic presence with a low profile and rear-drive proportions.”

One of the most distinctive features of the Celestiq will be an all-glass roof divided into four quadrants. It will use electroluminescent technology so that each of the exotic sedan’s passengers will be able to change it from transparent to opaque. The instrument panel, meanwhile, will take things a step beyond what is offered in the latest-generation Caddy Escalade, introducing a video screen running pillar to pillar. There will be additional screens for rear seat passengers and additional touchscreens to operate climate and other vehicle controls.

GM didn’t offer an unobscured view of the Celestiq, but instead showed bits and pieces of the luxury EV.

GM officials have been mum about other details but Celestiq will use an all-wheel-drive version of GM’s new Ultium BEV platform and, based on comments made recently by brand boss Steve Carlisle, range of 400 or more miles is likely. Meanwhile, the Ultium platform can deliver up to 1,000 horsepower, though it is not clear if the Cadillac Celestiq will push that high.

During the Barra-led webinar, GM’s battery lab group manager Mei Cai revealed some of the automaker’s plans for the Ultium batteries that will soon start rolling off a new assembly line in Ohio built as part of a joint venture with Korea’s LG Chem.

The new cells will deliver 60% more energy than batteries used in today’s Chevy Bolt and deliver as much as 450 miles per charge, depending upon the vehicle and the size of its pack. They’re also about 40% lower in cost, which would mean something at or below $100 a kilowatt-hour.

(GM rolls out new logo and marketing campaign pitching its corporate transformation.)

In addition to luxury EVs for the road, GM revealed a VTOL flying car.

But GM already is working on second-generation Ultium technology which, said Cai, will yield another 40% reduction in price and double the energy capacity – meaning a range of as much as 600 miles per charge. Last March, GM President Mark Reuss also noted a longer-term goal of reducing charging times to as little as 10 minutes.

Lighter, more energy-dense batteries could prove critical for another project GM revealed during the Barra seminar. While just a concept, for now, it suggests the automaker is ready to join competitors like Hyundai, Toyota and Aston Martin in working on flying cars.

The four-rotor prototype, dubbed the VTOL (vertical-take-off-and-landing), is “designed for the moment when time is of the essence and convenience is everything,” said Michael Simcoe, GM’s vice president of global design.

Even fewer details were revealed about the VTOL than about Celestiq, though Simcoe did note the concept would use a 90 kWh lithium-ion battery pack.

The flying car would be targeted at Cadillac customers, as would another prototype revealed during the webinar, this one a sort of living room on wheels that adopts the sort of toaster-on-wheels shape that we’re seeing with many driverless vehicle concepts.

Michael Simcoe talks about the Cadillac Halo pod concept at CES 2021.

GM’s “provides a societal space for a group of friends or family to spend time together on their way to a destination,” said Simcoe. Like Celestiq, it features an all-glass roof, “but encourages eyes to turn inside to focus on one another.”

Among other things, the high-tech cruiser uses biometric sensors to constantly control interior temperature and humidity, as well as lighting and ambient noise levels, and even introduces aromatics to influence the “well-being” of its passengers.

(CEO Barra wants GM to be dominant global EV maker.)

As with the VTOL flying car, the prototype is envisioned to become part of what Simcoe described as the “Cadillac Halo portfolio.” No details were offered on production plans for either model.

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Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga supports the move to ban the sale of non-electric new vehicles staring in 2035.

Despite strong pushback from the country’s largest automaker, Japan has announced plans to halt the sale of vehicles relying solely on internal combustion engines after 2035.

The move means the Asian nation will join a growing list of countries planning to phase out vehicles powered by gas or diesel, including both the United Kingdom and Norway. A number of other countries, including France and Germany, are considering similar bans.

Vehicles with internal combustion engines won’t be banned entirely. Automakers will still be able to market hybrids in Japan, regulators ruled. Even so, the plan released on Christmas Day was a significant victory for Japanese environmentalists considering it was strongly opposed by key industry leaders, including Toyota President Akio Toyoda who warned earlier this month that a broad shift to electric vehicles could cause the auto industry’s traditional business model “to collapse.”

(Toyota boss Akio Toyoda remains EV skeptic.)

Akio Toyoda, Toyota’s top officer, is against the ban.

As the head of Japan’s largest and most powerful company – and in his role as the head of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association – Toyoda hoped to convince regulators to back off on the proposed ban. But it had widespread backing from other quarters, including Japan’s new Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.

In October, shortly after assuming his post, Suga had pledged to cut Japan’s carbon dioxide emissions to net zero by 2050 while indicating he supported a shift to battery-powered vehicles.

Global sales of electrified vehicles remain modest, running in single digits in all but a handful of markets, even when including hybrids, PHEVs and fuel-cell vehicles, as well as pure battery-electric vehicles. But demand is expected to increase sharply as key obstacles, such as range, cost and public charging, are addressed. It also will help that scores of new BEVs are scheduled to go into production in the coming years, proponents say.

While Japanese automakers were pioneers with their early push to bring hybrids to market, “Japan is very far behind” in terms of developing more advanced products relying solely on battery power, Masayoshi Arai, an official with the country’s

Nissan is one of a few Japanese automakers dedicating resources to a move to EVs.

Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, said last week.

Toyota only recently introduced a BEV model in Europe, though it has announced plans to add two more – one through the flagship Toyota division, a second under the Lexus badge. It also this month revealed an all-electric microcar targeting the Japanese home market. Only the Nissan and Mitsubishi brands, among Japanese automakers, have committed significant resources to the development of pure battery-electric vehicles and, even then, they have fallen behind key foreign rivals in terms of bringing new products to market.

(Toyota hopes to boost interest in hydrogen tech with second-generation Mirai.)

Toyota officials have, throughout the years, pointed to numerous concerns about BEVs, including their cost, limited range and other obstacles to widespread consumer acceptance. For his part, company chief Toyoda said this month that he feared a switch to all-electric models would seriously disrupt the classic automotive industry business model. He also raised questions about whether Japan’s electric grid could supply the needed energy — and, if it did add the generating capacity, he warned, that could actually increase the country’s reliance on fossil fuels.

With the debut of the 2021 Mirai fuel-cell vehicle, Toyota’s hoping to spur interest in the tech again.

For his part, Japan’s new prime minister is downplaying such concerns and said that efforts to address greenhouse gas production “should be tackled as a strategy for growth, not as a limitation on growth.”

Downplaying the need for new coal or natural gas plants, the plan released by the Japanese government would add up to 45 gigawatts of new offshore wind generating capacity by 2040.

With the Christmas Day announcement, Japan becomes the second member of the Group of Seven, or G7, to lay out specific plans to ban non-electrified vehicles.

The UK originally had planned to do so by 2040 but now has pushed that target date up to 2030. Like Japan, its ban will continue to permit the sale of hybrids – but only through 2035, at which point only pure, zero-emissions vehicles will be able to be sold in Great Britain. That will include both BEVs and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles.

Despite its reticence about EVs, Toyota rolled out a new battery-electric car Dec. 25: the C+pod.

A handful of other countries, including Norway, have also laid out ZEV transition plans. So have some states and regions – including California and the Canadian province of British Columbia. A number of cities, such as London, Paris, Berlin and Mexico City, plan to bar vehicles not running in zero-emissions mode, meanwhile. China, meanwhile, has laid out plans to have “New Energy Vehicles,” plug-based models, reach 20% of the market by 2025. It is considering a total ban at a later date.

(Britain to ban sale of all new gas and diesel cars by 2030.)

With most of the country’s automakers reluctant to bring plug-based models to market, demand has grown far more slowly than in many other major regions. The Ministry of Economy, Industry and Trade noted that consumers purchased only 6,000 PHEVs and BEVs during the third quarter of 2020. By comparison, demand tripled in Europe to 270,000 – all-electric models accounting for roughly three-quarters of Norwegian sales. China, meanwhile, is expected to again top 1 million plug-based models for all of 2020.