AD #3577 - Daimler and Toyota Merging Truck Divisions; Cadillac Reveals New SUV; Ford Deploying Mobile Service Fleet

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Daimler Truck and Toyota reached a deal to combine their Japanese commercial vehicle subsidiaries.

Daimler's Mitsubishi Fuso and Toyota's Hino unit will be merged into a holding company, which is expected to be listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The two

automakers will invest equally in the company, and it will sell products globally.

They're combining their truck operations in order to help pay for the development of hydrogen connected and autonomous technologies. The deal is still preliminary, but Daimler and Toyota

hope to make the deal official by the end of twenty twenty four. Chip

makers and Vidia and media Tech are partnering on next gen infotainment systems. Media

Tech will integrate and Nvidia's GPU chip and software into the chips that it supplies for infotainment displays. The displays will be capable of streaming video or games and

interacting with drivers using artificial intelligence. The systems would also be capable of working

with automated driving systems based on Nvidio technology chips for infotainment displays as a growing market, and this year it's expected to reach twelve billion dollars. And speaking

of in vehicle entertainment, NITZA announced it dropped its investigation into Tesla's in vehicle games. The automaker initially allowed owners to play games on the front center screen

while the car was moving, but after NITZA launched an investigation in December of twenty twenty one, Tesla removed that capability and now the Safety Agency has closed the probe, But it did say after analyzing the data provided by Tesla, a quote produced significant concerns about drive or distraction during the time it was available.

At its recent Capital markets day, Ford CEO Jim Farley said the company is working to improve vehicle quality. One way it's doing that is by testing

vehicles until they fail instead of testing to a set standard, which started with the new super duty trucks. But if one of its vehicles does need to

go in for work, Ford's hoping a new mobile service fleet will help improve the customer experience. By the end of the year, it wants to have

nearly one thousand Escapes in dealer hands that are equipped to do light repairs as well as software updates, which Ford says could handle nearly seventy percent of current recalls, and by using smaller vehicles like an escape rather than a large commercial van which is typically used, Ford says it's more affordable for smaller dealers and can help bigger dealers expand their existing mobile fleets. We want to know what

drives you're testing. OTA Connected Car Diagnostics, remote Testing. Intrepid Control Systems

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your data. Renault has started development with several other companies of an autonomous electric

public transportation system for France. Renault will provide an EV platform for a six

meter long or over nineteen and a half foot minibus, while the others will provide the connected and level for autonomous technology, as well as handle the operation and maintenance. The idea is to have no driver on board the bus,

but rather a single person that controls a fleet of vehicles that operate in a controlled area. Renault says the vehicle it develops will be significantly faster than the

autonomous shuttles deployed today, so maybe people won't get so angry at avs for going to slow and full scale operation of the fleet of buses is expected to start in twenty twenty six. Toyota developed a new stationary battery storage system that

it will start testing this fall. It combines several evy batteries into one unit,

along with the necessary technology to take in and distribute power that can come from traditional sources as well as solar and wind. The storage system has three

megawatt hours of capacity and the ability for one megawatt of output. Toyota believes

demand for systems like these will continue to grow to support the global trend toward carbon neutrality. China's great Wall Motor is expanding its operations in Thailand. The

company is investing thirty million dollars to open a battery pack assembly plant, where it also plans to make a small electric car next year. Great Wall is

also considering opening an R and D center in the country, and it's looking at developing a small electric pickup truck, which are popular in Thailand. Great

Walls or a good Cat, was the top selling ev and Thailand last year, and next year it will begin producing the model in the country. Cadillac

is coming out with a new SUV called the GT four, which looks like it's a coupe version of the XT four. Right now, the GT four

is only being revealed in China, so no word yet if it's going to make its way to other markets. Interior styling looks pretty much the same as

the XT four, but the front lighting is separated by a small piece of body color facia. A sharp fin styling element has been added at the rear

that helps provide a floating roof effect along with a two tone paint job, and the rear lighting kind of curls over the rear fender rather than extending down from the top of the hatch. Cadillac also hasn't killed off the CT six

in China and just showed off a refreshed version with slightly new styling, a big curve display screen, and an updated supercrew system. And speaking of GM

Luxury in China, it nabbed a former exect from Rolls Royce and BMW to run the Durant Guild. Leon Lee was named Vice president of GM Premium Import

and president of the Durant Guild, which is its new lifestyle platform that will provide unique services as well as import a portfolio of high end ices and evs like the Cadillac Celastic. The Durant Guild is meant to drive GM's growth in

China, and that brings us to the end of today's show. Thank you

for tuning in. Altoline Daily is brought to you by Bridgetone Solutions for your

journey, Intrepid Control Systems over the year, engineering boost your game, and by Scheffler We Pioneer Motion. At Scheffler We Pioneer Motion electrifying mobility, manufacturing

smarter, reducing CO two emissions, making energy production clean. Scheffler Pioneer's Motion

to advance how the world moves

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