Dec. 12, 2025 | Ford, SK On end joint battery venture; doing mobile service right
About this episode
Ford and SK On have ended their joint battery venture, resulting in Ford taking full control of its Kentucky plants while SK On focuses on energy storage. Mexico is imposing significant tariffs on Chinese cars, raising concerns about rising costs in the automotive industry. Rivian is making strides in autonomous driving with its new AI chip. Additionally, Jeremy Stevens from Bozard Ford discusses the advantages of mobile service, emphasizing customer interaction and retention as key benefits. The episode also touches on potential changes in North American trade agreements and their implications for the auto sector.
South Korean battery maker SK On is ending its joint venture with Ford. Mexico plans tariffs as high as 50 percent on Chinese cars. Plus, Jeremy Stephens of Bozard Ford joins the show to talk about how mobile service has helped serve his customers and boost the company’s bottom line.
Ford
"South Korean battery maker SKOn is ending its joint venture with Ford. The breakup will split control of their U.S. battery factories."
Ford is a big car company that makes cars and trucks, and it owns the battery factories in Kentucky after ending its partnership with SKOn.
Ford Motor Company is a major American automaker that owns and operates vehicle manufacturing plants, including the U.S. battery factories mentioned in the segment.
SKOn
"South Korean battery maker SKOn is ending its joint venture with Ford. The breakup will split control of their U.S. battery factories."
SKOn makes batteries for electric cars and used to work with Ford, but now they’re ending that partnership.
SKOn is a South Korean battery manufacturer that previously partnered with Ford to produce electric vehicle batteries in the United States.
Rivian
"And Rivian has developed its own artificial intelligence computer chip and it says it will add lidar sensors to upcoming R2 SUV models."
Rivian makes electric cars that are designed for off‑road adventures and everyday use. They’re a newer company compared to older automakers.
Rivian is an American electric vehicle manufacturer known for its adventure-oriented SUVs and pickup trucks.
lidar sensors
"And Rivian has developed its own artificial intelligence computer chip and it says it will add lidar sensors to upcoming R2 SUV models."
Lidar sensors use lasers to see the world around a car, helping it understand where other cars and obstacles are. This helps self‑driving systems stay safe.
Lidar (Light Detection and Ranging) sensors emit laser pulses to map surroundings in 3D, crucial for autonomous driving.
autonomous driving features
"The move comes as the electric vehicle maker looks to accelerate the rollout of autonomous driving features."
Autonomous driving features let the car drive itself in certain situations, like keeping a safe distance from other cars or staying in its lane.
Features that allow a vehicle to navigate and drive with minimal human input, such as adaptive cruise control or lane keeping.
third generation autonomy computer
"The company calls the new chip module the Rivian autonomy processor. It will power its upcoming third generation autonomy computer."
Rivian plans a new version of its self‑driving computer that will be faster and smarter, helping the cars drive more safely.
The next iteration of Rivian’s self‑driving computing platform, expected to offer faster processing and more advanced features.
5 billion pixels per second
"Rivian says the chip can process 5 billion pixels per second and will draw upon data gathered by a suite of vehicle sensors."
The chip can look at a huge number of tiny parts of an image every second, which helps it understand the road quickly.
A measure of the chip’s image‑processing speed, indicating how many individual picture elements it can analyze each second.
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