9Steyr, Bosch, Valeo, Continental, ZF, Vodafone, HERE, AIMotive and more. It is surprising that all the suppliers are European. This recent announcement demonstrates Sony's serious resolve. Could this new outlook make the brand cool again? It comes within weeks of comparable news or rumors regarding other tech giants' forays in the mobility space. These recent news and rumors relate to Apple's evasive Titan car project, Amazon's Zoox robotaxi, Alibaba's (China's Amazon) Zhiji/IM EV JV with SAIC, or Microsoft's participation in GM/Cruise's $2B round. These moves by powerful and rich tech companies add pressure on incumbent OEMs and suppliers. It forces them to accelerate their transformation towards electrification, digitalization and mobility services. By the way, a center piece of Bosch's press conference was its reorganization, bringing its 17,000 compute HW and SW resources in a new Cross Domain Computing Solutions unit. We should expect this to turn into a powerhouse.On the electrification front, I would highlight the JV announced between Magna and LG Electronics to manufacture e-motors, inverters, on board chargers and e-drive systems. LG will contribute their electrical / electronic capabilities, building on the experience acquired on the Chevy Bolt EV and Jaguar I-PACE, whereas Magna will bring their software, systems integration and manufacturing expertise. GM used CES to introduce a Cadillac shuttle concept and an eVTOL concept -- other OEMs such as Hyundai or FCA (now Stellantis) are investigating Urban Air Mobility as well. The company also announced the creation of Brightdrop, a new entity dedicated to vehicles and services for deliveries, a space undergoing a deep transformation. EV600 is a commercial van with a 1t payload and a 250-mile range, leveraging GM's Ultium battery tech. GM also introduced Ultifi, a customer portal/app to manage your vehicle, buy new features & services, control OtA updates, etc. This seems to replicate Tesla's well designed app and customer portal. There were fewer announcements on the autonomous driving front than in the last couple of years. Mass deployment of AVs is perhaps a decade away. Yet, a wave of concentration -- the last sign being Aurora's recent acquisition of Uber ATG -- combined with massive funding rounds by the big players enables the latter to increase the pace of full driverless pilots by the likes of Waymo, Cruise or AutoX. During CES, Mobileye announced the development of a new LiDAR system-on-chip (SoC), leveraging the capability of its parent company Intel. With this product, which will be part of the company's camera-first sensor suite, Mobileye anticipates they will have a Level 4 system at a cost compatible with broad consumer demand by 2025. In the meantime, the company will deploy AV pilots in Tokyo, Shanghai and Paris besides its current cities (Tel Aviv, Munich and Detroit). These deployments can reportedly happen in 2 weeks by 2 people. Separately, GM announced they will deploy Super Cruise to 22 vehicles by 2023. Well-perceived on Cadillac CT6, the Level 2 solution will be used next on the CUV version of the Bolt EV. GM continues with its double paths to full autonomy, educating the public with the more widely distributed Level 2, and shooting straight to Level 4 with Cruise.
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