Mercedes-Benz Hits Accelerator in E-car Race with Tesla

A battery cell is installed at a Mercedes-Benz EQC electric car in a production line at a plant in Bremen, Germany, January 29, 2020. REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer/File Photo
A battery cell is installed at a Mercedes-Benz EQC electric car in a production line at a plant in Bremen, Germany, January 29, 2020. REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer/File Photo
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Mercedes-Benz Hits Accelerator in E-car Race with Tesla

A battery cell is installed at a Mercedes-Benz EQC electric car in a production line at a plant in Bremen, Germany, January 29, 2020. REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer/File Photo
A battery cell is installed at a Mercedes-Benz EQC electric car in a production line at a plant in Bremen, Germany, January 29, 2020. REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer/File Photo

Mercedes-Benz maker Daimler plans to invest more than 40 billion euros ($47 billion) by 2030 to be ready to take on Tesla in an all-electric car market, but warned the shift in technology would lead to job cuts.

Outlining its strategy for an electric future, the inventor of the modern motor car said on Thursday it would, with partners, build eight battery plants as it ramps up electric vehicle (EV) production.

From 2025, all new vehicle platforms will only make EVs, Reuters quoted the German luxury automaker as saying.

"We really want to go for it ... and be dominantly, if not all electric, by the end of the decade," Chief Executive Ola Källenius told Reuters, adding that spending on traditional combustion-engine technology would be "close to zero" by 2025.

However, Daimler - to be renamed Mercedes-Benz as part of plans to spin off its trucks division later this year – stopped short of giving a hard deadline for ending sales of fossil-fuel cars.

Some carmakers like Geely-owned Volvo Cars have committed to going all electric by 2030, while General Motors Co says it aspires to be fully electric by 2035, as they all try to close the gap to industry leader Tesla.

"We need to move the debate away from when you build the last combustion engine because it's not relevant," Källenius said. "The question is how quickly can you scale up to being close to 100% electric and that's what we're focusing on."

Daimler shares rose as much as 2.5% after the news, which comes just over a week after the European Union proposed an effective ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2035 as part of a broad package of measures to combat global warming.

Ahead of the EU's announcement, carmakers had announced a series of major investments in EVs. Earlier this month, Stellantis said it would invest more than 30 billion euros by 2025 on electrifying its line-up.



Samsung Electronics Changes Chip Chiefs after Chairman Lee Confronts ‘Crisis’

The company logo is displayed at the Samsung news conference at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas January 7, 2013. (Reuters)
The company logo is displayed at the Samsung news conference at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas January 7, 2013. (Reuters)
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Samsung Electronics Changes Chip Chiefs after Chairman Lee Confronts ‘Crisis’

The company logo is displayed at the Samsung news conference at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas January 7, 2013. (Reuters)
The company logo is displayed at the Samsung news conference at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas January 7, 2013. (Reuters)

Samsung Electronics sought to inject impetus into its memory and foundry chip units by appointing new leaders on Wednesday, as it scrambles to catch SK Hynix and Taiwan's TSMC in the booming AI chip market.

The world's biggest memory chipmaker reavowed its faith in semiconductor chief Jun Young-hyun by naming him co-CEO and bestowing direct control of its struggling memory chip business.

Samsung also made US chip head Han Jin-man president and head of its foundry business making customer-designed chips.

However, Samsung kept Chung Hyun-ho, second-in-command to Chairman Jay Y. Lee, as head of its Business Support Task Force and appointed a former CFO as Chung's deputy. That disappointed some analysts who argued for change among the biggest decision makers whose missteps they said made Samsung slow to embrace AI.

Samsung's share price closed down 3.4% as the reshuffle did little to calm concern about how the technology giant will navigate risk associated with the protectionist policies of US President-elect Donald Trump.

Even before Trump's election triumph, Samsung's stock had been falling due to investor concern that it lags rivals as supplier to leading AI chip designer Nvidia.

Chip chief Jun takes on direct oversight of the memory chip business having headed the overall semiconductor division since May in an appointment Samsung said would tackle a "chip crisis".

Profit in the division plunged 40% in the third quarter from the second, with Samsung saying AI chip business had suffered a delay with a "major" customer - with analysts naming Nvidia as the likely customer. Samsung has since said it has made headway.

The extra responsibility indicates "Samsung is backing Jun's strategy to regain its competitiveness," said KB Securities' head of research Jeff Kim.

Still, with Chung remaining head of the Business Support Task Force - widely regarded as Lee's de facto secretariat involved in key decision-making - there are questions as to whether the reshuffle will address concerns about leadership, said Park Ju-gun, head of corporate analysis firm Leaders Index.

Joining the Business Support Task Force is President and CFO Park Hark-kyu, with a new CFO yet to be announced.

As well as catching up in AI and stemming a stock price decline, management has to contend with slowing profit growth and intensifying competition from Chinese rivals.

"I am fully aware that there are grave concerns about the future of Samsung recently," Chairman Lee said this week during a final hearing of an accounting fraud trial where he is a defendant. He has denied wrongdoing.

Wednesday's appointments also included a new chief technology officer of the foundry business and an executive tasked with finding new growth areas.

Samsung said the reshuffle is aimed at overcoming business uncertainty, revamping its organization and raising the technological competitiveness of its chip business.