Tag: Honda Motor Co Ltd

Mercedes-Benz workers in Alabama vote against UAW union membership

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United Auto Workers (UAW) members and supporters on a picket line outside the ZF Chassis Systems plant in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, US, on Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023.

Andi Rice | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Mercedes-Benz workers in Alabama have voted against union representation by the United Auto Workers, the National Labor Relations Board said Friday.

The results are a blow to the UAW’s organizing efforts a month after the Detroit union won an organizing drive of roughly 4,330 Volkswagen plant workers in Tennessee. Voting started Monday and ended Friday.

Union organizing failed with 56% of the vote, or 2,642 workers, casting ballots against the UAW, according to the NLRB, which oversaw the election. More than 90% of the 5,075 eligible Mercedes-Benz workers voted in the election, according to the results.

The NLRB said 51 ballots were challenged and not counted, but they aren’t determinative to the outcome of the election. There were five void ballots.

The union and company have five business days to file objections to the election, including any alleged interference, according to the NLRB. If no objections are filed, the election result will be certified, and the union will have to wait one year to file for a union election for a similar bargaining unit.

Mercedes-Benz in a statement said company officials “look forward to continuing to work directly with our Team Members to ensure [Mercedes-Benz US International] is not only their employer of choice, but a place they would recommend to friends and family.”

United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain (right) and UAW Secretary-Treasurer Margaret Mock (left) lead a march outside Stellantis’ Ram 1500 plant in Sterling Heights, Michigan after the union called a strike at the plant on Oct. 23, 2023.

Michael Wayland / CNBC

The loss is expected to hurt the UAW in an unprecedented organizing drive launched late last year of 13 non-union automakers in the U.S. after securing record contracts with Detroit automakers Ford Motor, General Motors and Stellantis. Those agreements included significant wage increase, reinstatement of cost-of-living adjustments and other benefits.

UAW President Shawn Fain said while the Mercedes-Benz vote was obviously not the result the union wanted, it was a valiant effort, adding the vote “isn’t a failure” but a “bump in the road.”

“While this loss stings, I’ll tell you this, we’re going to keep our heads up, keep our heads up high. These workers have nothing to do but be proud in the effort they put forth and what they’ve done,” he said Friday during a media conference. “We fought the good fight and we’re going to continue on, continue forward. Ultimately, these workers here are going to win.”

The Mercedes-Benz vote was expected to be more challenging for the union than the Volkswagen plant in Tennessee, where the union had already established a presence after two failed organizing drives in the past decade and where it faced less opposition from the automaker.

Stephen Silvia, author of “The UAW’s Southern Gamble: Organizing Workers at Foreign-Owned Vehicle Plants,” noted Mercedes-Benz replaced the plant’s leader weeks ahead of the election. He said companies routinely do this, promising workers changes at their facilities in an effort to stave of organizing.

“Companies do anti-union campaigns because they can be effective, and I think this one was effective,” said Silvia, a professor at American University in Washington, D.C. “A common piece of an anti-union campaign is firing the plant manager … That seems to have persuaded enough of the workers to vote against the union.”

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, who was one of six Republican governors to condemn the union’s organizing drive, hailed the outcome of the vote.

“The workers in Vance have spoken, and they have spoken clearly! Alabama is not Michigan, and we are not the Sweet Home to the UAW. We urge the UAW to respect the results of this secret ballot election,” she said.

Workers at Mercedes-Benz’s Tuscaloosa plant, located about 60 miles southwest of Birmingham, have produced more than 4 million vehicles since the plant opened in 1997, including 295,000 vehicles in 2023, according to the plant’s website.

The Alabama plant currently produces vehicles such as the gas-powered GLE and GLS Maybach SUVs as well as the all-electric EQS and EQE SUVs.

The NLRB last week said it continues to process and investigate open unfair labor practice charges filed by the UAW against automakers, including six unfair labor practice charges against Mercedes-Benz since March.

Fain said Friday the union would continue to move forward with those charges. He declined to say whether the union plans to challenge the election results, saying he’d “leave that” to the union’s legal team.

The charges allege that Mercedes-Benz has “disciplined employees for discussing unionization at work, prohibited distribution of union materials and paraphernalia, surveilled employees, discharged union supporters, forced employees to attend captive audience meetings, and made statements suggesting that union activity is futile,” the NLRB said.

The union has filed other charges against automakers Honda, Hyundai, Lucid, Rivian, Tesla and Toyota, according to the NLRB.

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May 17, 2024
Why automakers are turning to hybrids in the middle of the industry's EV transition

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2023 Prius Prime on display, April 6, 2023.

Scott Mlyn | CNBC

DETROIT — As sales of all-electric vehicles grow more slowly than expected, major automakers are increasingly meeting their customers in the middle.

More and more companies are reconsidering the viability of hybrid cars and trucks to appease consumer demand and avoid costly penalties related to federal fuel economy and emissions standards.

The shifting strategies run counterintuitively to industrywide EV messaging of recent years. Many auto companies have begun to invest billions of dollars in all-electric vehicles, and the Biden administration has made a push to get more EVs on U.S. roadways as quickly as possible.

But hybrid vehicles — those with traditional internal combustion engines combined with EV battery technologies — could help the automotive industry lower fuel consumption and emissions in the short-term, while easing consumers into vehicle electrification.

Sales of traditional hybrid electric vehicles, or HEVs, such as the Toyota Prius, are outpacing those of all-electric vehicles in 2023, according to Edmunds. HEVs accounted for 8.3% of U.S. car sales, about 1.2 million vehicles sold, through November of this year. That share is up 2.8 percentage points compared with total sales last year.

EVs made up 6.9% of sales heading into December, or roughly 976,560 units, up 1.7 percentage points compared with total sales last year. Sales of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, or PHEVs, accounted for only 1% of U.S. sales through November.

“There’s been so much talk over the past few years about the move toward electrification and sort of forgoing hybrids, but … hybrids are not dead,” said Jessica Caldwell, Edmunds executive director of insights. “There’s a lot of consumers out there that are interested in electrification, maybe not ready to go fully electric.”

Hybrids can also cost less and relieve many concerns typically associated with EVs such as range anxiety and lack of charging infrastructure. The average hybrid this year cost $42,381, according to Edmunds. That’s below the roughly $59,400 average for an EV; $60,700 for a PHEV; and $44,800 for a traditional vehicle.

Morgan Stanley earlier this month said Toyota Motor, Honda Motor and Hyundai Motor, including Kia, account for 9 out of 10 hybrid sales in the U.S. Representatives for those automakers said they are actively attempting to increase production and sales of hybrid vehicles in the U.S.

“While the transition to full battery electric transportation will take time, hybrids and plug-in hybrids will play an equally important role in Kia America’s near and mid-term goals,” Eric Watson, vice president of Kia America sales, said in a statement to CNBC.

And other companies, such as the Detroit automakers, are following suit.

Detroit Three automakers

The Detroit automakers have varying strategies for hybrid vehicles.

Ford Motor offers PHEVs but is leaning into HEVs, announcing plans in September to double sales of the V-6 hybrid model during the 2024 model year to roughly 20% in the U.S. It’s part of Ford CEO Jim Farley’s plans to quadruple the company’s production of gas-electric hybrids.

Ford’s hybrid sales through November of this year are up 23% over the same period in 2022 to more than 121,000 units, or 6.8% of its total sales through that point. In comparison, Ford’s EV sales are up 16.2% to roughly 62,500 units, accounting for 3.5% of its total sales.

Battery breakdown

Both hybrids and plug-in hybrids have a traditional engine combined with EV technologies. A traditional hybrid such as the Toyota Prius has electrified parts, including a small battery, to provide better fuel economy to assist the engine. PHEVs typically have a larger battery to provide for all-electric driving for a certain number of miles until an engine is needed to power the vehicle or electric motors.

Chrysler parent Stellantis, for its part, is leaning on PHEVs for its electrification strategy, before introducing a host of EVs starting next year. The company is the top seller of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles in the U.S., and the vehicles accounted for about 10% of the company’s third-quarter sales, led by Jeep Wrangler and Grand Cherokee SUVs.

But General Motors isn’t ready just yet to alter its EV plans, which include a goal to exclusively offer all-electric vehicles by 2035.

GM led the way for plug-in electric vehicles with the Chevrolet Volt during the 2010s. The company discontinued the vehicle in early 2019, citing demand and cost concerns.

Since then, the automaker has not offered another hybrid vehicle in the U.S. other than the recently launched Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray, a hybrid version of the famed sports car. GM does offer hybrids, including PHEVs, in China.

2024 Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray hybrid sports car

GM

“We still have a plan in place that allows us to be all light-duty vehicles EV by 2035,” GM CEO Mary Barra said Monday during an Automotive Press Association meeting in Detroit. “We’ll adjust based on where the customer is and where demand is. It’s not going to be ‘if we build it they will come.’ We’re going to be led by the customer.”

Her comments come after GM President Mark Reuss told CNBC in August that he was “flexible” regarding hybrids as a way of meeting federal regulations.

“If it means we have to do that by law, then we have to do that by law,” he said. “If there’s regulations that get dealt on us, then we’re going to look at everything in our toolbox to meet them.”

Federal regulations

Major auto companies, including the Detroit automakers, were counting on EVs to assist in offsetting the emissions and low fuel economies of larger SUVs and trucks that can cost them hundreds of millions of dollars in fines by the federal government.

GM and Stellantis were forced to pay a combined $363.8 million in penalties for failing to meet federal fuel-economy standards for cars and trucks they produced in previous years, according to information published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in June.

Such fines would significantly increase under current proposals by the Biden administration to improve fuel efficiency of vehicles and move toward EVs, according to automaker lobbying groups.

The American Automotive Policy Council, a group representing the Detroit Three, earlier this year said the automakers would face more than $14 billion in noncompliance penalties between 2027 and 2032 barring significant changes to their fleets’ overall fuel efficiency. U.S. automakers have separately warned the fines would cost $6.5 billion for GM, $3 billion at Stellantis and $1 billion at Ford, according to Reuters.

NHTSA in July proposed boosting fuel efficiency requirements by 2% per year for passenger cars and 4% per year for pickup trucks and SUVs from 2027 through 2032, resulting in a fleetwide average fuel efficiency of 58 mpg.

With EVs playing a lesser role than anticipated to boost those fleetwide averages, hybrids could save automakers millions.

“Even without electric vehicles, there’s an expectation that electrification of an internal combustion engine is going to be necessary to meet regulations anyway,” said Stephanie Brinley, principal automotive analyst at S&P Global Mobility.

Industry leader

The resurgence of hybrids is especially important for Toyota. The world’s largest automaker is considered the pioneer of traditional hybrids, with the Prius.

The company ironically became a target of environmental groups last year for its strategy to move forward with a mix of hybrids, PHEVs and EVs, which critics viewed as a lack of commitment to an all-electric future.

Toyota’s argument at the time, and still, is that it’s meeting consumer needs and planning for a more gradual global adoption that will naturally include some markets shifting to EVs sooner than others.

The company further says it takes into account the entire environmental impact of producing EVs compared with hybrid electrified vehicles, arguing it can produce eight 40-mile plug-in hybrids for every one 320-mile battery electric vehicle and save up to eight times the carbon emitted into the atmosphere.

“People are finally seeing reality,” Toyota Chairman and former CEO Akio Toyoda, who has been heavily criticized for the slower approach on EVs, said in October regarding EVs, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda speaks during a small media roundtable on Sept. 29, 2022 in Las Vegas.

Toyota

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December 8, 2023
Toyota, Honda among 2.3 million vehicles recalled in November. How to make sure your car is fit for long-distance travel plans

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Rear view of couple traveling through car.

Maskot | Maskot | Getty Images

A recall on your vehicle can derail your travel plans, depending on the issue at hand.

It’s an issue plenty of drivers have to consider this fall. Subaru, Volkswagen, General Motors, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota and Honda Motor are among the vehicle manufacturers that have issued recall notices with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in November — collectively affecting more than 2.3 million vehicles.

Among those, Toyota recalled nearly 1.9 million RAV4s to fix a battery issue that could potentially cause a fire. Honda Motor issued a recall last week on nearly 250,000 Honda and Acura vehicles due to a manufacturing error that may cause engine damage.

Luckily, “recalls are covered repairs by the automaker at no cost to the consumer,” said Tom McParland, contributing writer for automotive website Jalopnik and operator of vehicle-buying service Automatch Consulting. If a driver’s vehicle was recalled, they should make an appointment at their local dealer for the repair.

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Yet, as many Americans prepare to drive long distances to see family and loved ones for the holiday weekend, travel plans may need to change depending on the severity of a recall affecting your vehicle, experts say.

Recalls occur ‘when there haven’t been any incidents’

Sometimes the government can compel automakers to recall their vehicles, but these notices usually occur after multiple people report the same problem or the automaker finds a flaw in the manufacturing process after an investigation, said Brian Moody, executive editor for Kelley Blue Book.

“It’s common for there to be a recall when there haven’t been any incidents yet,” said Moody.

Once the recall notice is issued, the manufacturer will send out mailed notifications to drivers, but those can arrive weeks or months later.

For example, the NHTSA notices say owner notification letters for Honda’s Nov. 2 steering control recall are expected to be mailed Dec. 18. For the Nov. 16 recall on damaged engines, drivers should expect to receive a notification on Jan. 2, 2024.

If you hear about a recall in the news, it can help to call the dealer or the automaker’s customer service line to determine if your car is affected, experts say.

“It’s not always that a recall applies equally to every single version of a model that you have. There may be limitations,” Moody said.

Travel plans ‘will depend on the nature of the recall’

As to whether or not travel plans should be altered, the decision will depend on the nature of the recall, said McParland.

“If the recall says possible transmission failure, that’s a lot more risky for long-distance travel versus a glitchy navigation system,” McParland said.

If you decide to rent a car instead of driving your own due to a recall notice, it’s unlikely to be reimbursed by the automaker.

“Usually rentals are not covered” as part of the recall repair, McParland said.

While some insurance policies may have a breakdown coverage and may provide rentals if the vehicle is in the shop for a major recall service, it is not the norm.

“It’s worth calling your carrier to ask,” added McParland.

It is more common for luxury automakers to provide their customers with loaner cars. Otherwise, it is up to the individual dealership or the manufacturer’s terms of sale, Moody said.

Here are three tips to help drivers navigate recalls:

1. Figure out if your car is affected

“There is a government database where folks can look up if their car is impacted by the recall,” McParland said. Drivers can put in their VIN into the NHTSA site. It will pull up all the recalls your car model has had, said Moody.

To see if the recall was already addressed, you can either check the government website or look through the manufacturer site, said Moody.

Drivers can also look into different online resources in addition to the government data, Moody said. Other website services can help you locate nearby repair shops and typical car issues your model may have.

If you receive a mailed notification from the manufacturer, follow the instructions and call your dealership as soon as you can.

2. Book an appointment ‘as soon as possible’

If your car is affected by a recall, “you want to make an appointment as soon as possible,” Moody said.

While the repair will be completed at no cost to the consumer, some dealers may have a backlog of appointments for a certain issue, said McParland. “An immediate repair may not be available,” he said.

3. Check if a mechanic is covered under the warranty

If you are facing a backlog of recall appointments at your local dealer and would opt to take the vehicle elsewhere for a faster service, ask the manufacturer first, said Moody. Contact customer service and explain your situation. The company may be able to cover the recall repair done by outside official channels, he said.

Otherwise, the rule of thumb for a recall is to take your vehicle to your local dealership of that automaker. There is a system in place where the manufacturer reimburses the local dealer and the service is free for the customer, Moody said.

Altogether, if you don’t know what the recall is for or don’t understand what the affected car part does, call your local dealer or manufacturer to ask, especially before you head out on a long trip.

“If you see something like ‘may lose control’, or ‘vehicle fire’ … maybe don’t drive until you find out for sure if the car is covered,” Moody said.

Don’t miss these stories from CNBC PRO:

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November 23, 2023
Honda joins Toyota in raising U.S. wages for its auto workers as unionization push looms

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Honda Motor Co.’s U.S. unit joined other foreign carmakers in raising their automobile workers’ wages in the wake of historic wins for the United Auto Workers and as the union has vowed to intensify its organizing push.

Honda
7267,
-4.11%
gave U.S. production workers an 11% raise that will go into effect in January. Honda also cut down the time to reach a top wage from six years to three years, and added benefits, the company said Friday.

The Wall Street Journal on Friday first reported the raises, citing a memo it had reviewed.

UAW President Shawn Fain has said numerous times the union wants to expand its base into the nonunionized automobile workforce beyond the Midwest.

At an address to UAW members in mid-October, for instance, Fain said that the UAW was “going to organize non-union auto companies like we’ve never organized before.”

Don’t miss: Ford and GM inventories rise despite UAW strike, but demand concerns linger

U.S. auto workers at foreign carmakers such as Honda and Volkswagen AG
VOW,
-1.12%,
which have their major factories in the Southeast, are not unionized. Neither are auto workers at Tesla Inc.
TSLA,
+2.22%,
which has car-making factories in California and Texas.

Auto workers went on strike for six weeks starting in mid-September, hitting several factories and facilities of Ford Motor Co.
F,
+1.65%,
General Motors Co.
GM,
+0.75%
and Stellantis NV
STLA,
+1.57%.

The labor action, which the UAW dubbed a “stand-up strike,” called on select local unions to stand up and walk out. It marked a break from tradition: Going back decades, the UAW would strike at one company at a time, mostly to save its picket-line firepower and strike fund.

Related: There’s a new Tesla bear in town: EV maker is a ‘very expensive company,’ HSBC says

The new strategy yielded big results, including pay raises of around 25% over the life of the four-year contract plus cost-of-living adjustments, the end of several wage tiers, and better retirement benefits.

At an event Thursday to celebrate the UAW deal and the reopening of a Stellantis factory in Illinois, President Joe Biden seemed to support the UAW’s unionization push.

“I want this type of contract for all auto workers,” Biden said. “And I have a feeling UAW has a plan for that.”

During the UAW strike, some Wall Street analysts said that Tesla would benefit from the increased costs to unionized factories following the labor agreements. One analyst noted that even before any wage increases, the Big Three automakers were paying their workers 38% more than comparable Tesla workers earned.

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November 10, 2023
Toyota stock having best week since 2009 after annual meeting, new EV goals

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Akio Toyoda, Chairman of Toyota Motor Corp.

Yoshikazu Tsuno | Gamma-rapho | Getty Images

DETROIT – Toyota Motor’s stock is having its best week since 2009 following the company disclosing plans for its next-generation electric vehicles and shareholders voting in favor of its new leadership, including former CEO Akio Toyoda as chairman.

Shares of Toyota on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday achieved a new 52-week high before closing at $168.18 per share, up 1.6% during intraday trading and roughly 13% this week.

If shares can retain their current momentum, it would be the stock’s best week since April 2009 when they increased 14.5%. It would also mark only the third double-digit weekly gain in more than two decades.

The notable increase in the relatively mundane stock follows additional details about the company’s EV strategy, which has previously been criticized by some for not being aggressive enough.

Ahead of its annual meeting Wednesday, Toyota outlined plans for a new generation of EVs to rival industry leaders Tesla and China-based BYD. The company said it plans to launch its next-generation EVs starting in 2026, including vehicles with highly touted “solid-state batteries” by 2027 or 2028.

Solid-state batteries can be lighter, with greater energy density and provide more range at a lower cost than today’s EVs with lithium-ion batteries.

People arrive to attend an annual shareholders’ meeting for Toyota Motor in the city of Toyota, Aichi Prefecture on June 14, 2023. Toyota is under pressure from large institutional investors for chairman Akio Toyoda to step down over his lukewarm embrace of electric vehicles.

Str | Afp | Getty Images

Takero Kato, president of BEV Factory, said that Toyota is targeting a driving range of 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) for its EVs. BEV Factory aims to produce about 1.7 million vehicles by 2030, he said.

“Proactive disclosure of a new tech strategy featuring next-gen batteries and giga casting delivered a riposte to the view that it is lagging in BEVs. We await quantitative disclosure on BEV profit ahead,” Morgan Stanley analyst Shinji Kakiuchi said Wednesday in an investor note.

Following the announcements, Toyota shareholders Wednesday aligned their voting with company recommendations, including leadership approval and voting down a shareholder proposal requiring Toyota to review its climate-related lobbying activities.

Shareholders also approved the company’s new leadership and board, including the appointment of CEO Koji Sato as a director and Toyoda – grandson of automaker’s founder – as chairman.

Shares of Toyota on the NYSE are up about 23% this year, as the auto industry continues to recover from the coronavirus pandemic and supply chain issues that led to record low vehicle inventory levels.

Toyota’s gains put it in the middle of Japanese automaker stocks, ahead or in-line with the Detroit automakers and behind shares of Tesla, which have more than doubled in 2023.

Here’s how other automaker stocks have performed this year compared to Toyota:

Auto stocks so far this year

*Shares of these companies are traded in the U.S. as American depositary receipts.

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June 15, 2023
From color-changing cars to self-driving strollers, here’s some of the coolest tech from CES 2023 | CNN Business

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CNN
—

A long list of companies once again showed off an assortment of cutting edge technology and oddball gadgets at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week.

There were new twists on foldable devices, cars that changed colors and smart ovens that live streamed dinners. There was a self-driving stroller, a pillow that pulsates to reduce anxiety and a locker from LG that claims to deodorize smelly sneakers in less than 40 minutes. At the event, some people gathered in groups, sitting in silence, to test out the latest virtual reality products.

While some of these devices may never find their way into households, the products on display offer a glimpse at some of the biggest tech trends companies are anticipating this year and in the years ahead.

Here’s a look at some of the buzziest products announced last week:

BMW unveiled a wild color-changing concept car with 260 e-panels that can change up to 32 colors. During a demo, different parts of the car, including the wheel covers, flashed in varying hues and swirls of colors. The technology, which relies on panels that receive electrical impulses, isn’t ready for production. (Breaks between panels and what looked like wiring could be seen on the outside of the car.) But just imagine being able to drive a sporty red car on the weekends and then a conservative gray model when you go to work.

If you think snapping photos of your meal for Instagram is overdone, now you can livestream your dinner as it cooks in real time and post it to your social feeds. Samsung’s new AI Wall oven features an internal camera that can capture footage of your baking food or allow you to keep tabs on it without ever leaving the couch. The oven, which uses an algorithm to recognize dishes and suggest cooking times and temperatures, also pushes notifications to your phone to prevent you from burning meals. The oven will launch in North America later this year; a price has not yet been announced.

Canadian-based baby gear startup Gluxkind was showed off its Ella AI Powered Smart Stroller. It offers much of the same tech seen in autonomous cars and delivery robots, including a dual-motor system for uphill walks and automatic downhill brake assist. It’s meant to serve as an “extra pairs of eyes and an extra set of hands,” according to the company’s website – not a replacement for a caregiver. The Ella stroller is able to drive itself for hands-free strolling – but only when a child is not inside.

No gadget at CES this year was as striking as the Mutalk mouthpiece from startup Shiftall. The device, which looks like a muzzle, features a soundproof Bluetooth microphone that makes it difficult for others in the room to hear your voice when you’re on calls. The company thinks the $200 gadget will come in handy for everything from voice chats and playing online games to shouting in VR when you don’t want to disturb anyone else nearby. Instead of hearing you, they will simply see your new mouthpiece; you can decide which is worse.

If you ever wanted to hit 15 miles per hour on roller skates, this electric pair from French startup AtmosGear promises to help get you there. With a battery pack that holds an hour charge and the ability to travel over 12 miles, the skates can clip onto any existing roller skates, turning them into motor-propelled footwear. The skates are currently available for pre-order for $525.

You’ve probably heard of smartphones that come with headphones, but what about headphones that come with a screen? The JBL Tour Pro 2 earbuds adds a touchscreen to the case to bring smartwatch-like capabilities by allowing users to control its settings, answer calls, set alarms, manage music and check battery life. No launch date has been announced, but the new buds will cost $250 when they eventually go on sale.

Some companies offered a new twist on the foldable phone concept. For example, Samsung Display’s Flex Hybrid prototype features a foldable and slidable display (the right side slides to offer more screen space). Meanwhile, the Asus $3500 Zenbook 17 Fold OLED – the world’s first foldable 17-inch laptop – picked up significant buzz on the show floor, acting almost like a large tablet that can be folded in half when on the go.

Dubbed “the world’s first awareable,” the $500 Nowatch is a watch… with no clock. The Amsterdam-based startup of the same name launched the device to help users monitor stress, body temperature, heart rate, movement and sleep. But unlike other smartwatches, there’s no watchface – instead, a gemstone sits where the touchscreen display typically goes. “We’ve replaced the traditional watch face with ancient stones, celebrating the belief that time is NOW,” the company said on its website.

Honda and Sony have joined forces to create tech-filled electric cars that, they say, will be both fun to drive and filled with the latest entertainment innovation. According to the CEO of Sony Honda Mobility, its cars will recognize your moods and be highly communicative and sensitive to your needs. The car will have screens on the outside so it can “express itself” and share information and will be able to “detect and understand people and society by utilizing sensing and [artificial intelligence] technologies,” according to the company. That’s why the company named its first joint car brand Afeela, in that it just has to “feel” right. But it’s unclear if we’re afeeling that name.

While it typically requires a blood panel and a visit to the doctor’s office to learn more about vitamin deficiencies, Withins says its new $500 U-Scan device can tell you similar information right from the comfort of your own toilet. The device attaches to existing toilets and collects data from your urine stream to detect vitamin deficiencies, check hydration and monitor metabolism, according to the company. An additional device called the U-Scan Cycle Sync tracks periods and ovulation cycles.

Schlage’s new smart lock is one of the first to work with Apple’s Home Key functionality, which allows users to upload their keys to their Apple Wallet and unlock their deadbolted front door directly from their phone or Apple Watch. The lock also works with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant for voice controlled, hands-free locking. Available in two finishes, the deadbolt can manage access codes, view lock history and handle multiple locks at once. The lock, which will cost $300, will be available for purchase late this spring, according to a company press release.

– CNN’s Peter Valdes-Depena contributed to this report

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January 11, 2023
Sony and Honda reveal their new car brand | CNN Business

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CNN
—

Sony and Honda, which announced a joint venture last year to develop and build electric cars, have revealed the name of their new car brand. It will be called Afeela.

At a presentation during the Consumer Electronics Show, Sony Honda Mobility chief executive Yasuhide Mizuno revealed a prototype of the company’s first car, which looked like a mid-sized sedan, but he revealed little detail about it. The car will be available to order and even purchase in 2025, he said, but the first deliveries of the car would not take place in North America until 2026, he said. The car will be built at one of Honda’s factories.

“At the heart of this mobility experience is the word ‘feel,’” Mizuno said, explaining that focus will be on sensing and interacting with people.

The car will have safety and driver assistance systems from Honda along with entertainment and interactive features from Sony, Mizuno said. When developing the car, the emphasis has been on software and user interface technology as much as on driving dynamics and performance, he said.

Running above the car’s front bumper is a narrow exterior display screen the company calls the media bar. It will allow the vehicle to show information and interact with people outside the vehicle, Mizuno said.

Inside, the company is working with Unreal Engine graphics technology from Epic Games, the company that produces Fortnite, to design interfaces for the vehicle. Unreal Engine’s technology has also been used by other auto brands including General Motors, which used the technology in the Hummer EV. The car will come with a wealth of entertainment options, he said.

Mizuno also boasted of the 45 cameras and sensors inside and outside the vehicle, some of which are used to detect the condition of the driver to help ensure alertness and safety.

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January 5, 2023
Japan’s Sony, Honda jointly making EVs for 2026 US delivery

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TOKYO — A new electric car company that brings together two big names in Japanese business, Honda and Sony, officially kicked off Thursday, with both sides stressing their common values of taking up challenges and serving people’s needs.

The electric vehicle from Sony Honda Mobility Inc. will go on sale in 2025, with deliveries coming first in the U.S. in early 2026, and in Japan later that year, Chief Executive Yasuhide Mizuno told reporters. Pre-orders start 2025.

In March, Sony Group Corp. and Honda agreed to set up the 50-50 joint venture, with the idea of bringing together Honda’s expertise in autos, mobility technology and sales with Sony’s imaging, network, sensor and entertainment expertise.

Production will take place at a Honda plant in the U.S., but details such as pricing, platform and the kind of battery to be used were not disclosed. Production volume was also not given, but officials said this was a special model and not intended for massive sales.

Mizuno, who is from Honda Motor Co., said the collaboration brings together hardware and software to deliver an emotionally satisfying experience on the move.

“It was necessary to take a totally new approach,” Mizuno told reporters in Tokyo. “We want to make this completely new.”

The U.S. was chosen for the launch because electric vehicles were already popular there, Japan came second as Honda’s home market, and other markets, including Europe, will follow, but no dates were set, he said.

Izumi Kawanishi, the Sony executive who became Chief Operating Officer at Sony Mobility, said partners will be added to the project.

Demand for “zero-emissions” vehicles is expected to grow worldwide amid concerns about climate change and sustainability.

Sony, which makes the PlayStation video-game console and has movie and music businesses, showed an electric car concept at the CES gadget show in Las Vegas two years ago, and has been eager to find an auto partner.

Honda has electric vehicles in its lineup, although not as plentiful as do some rivals, like Ford Motor Co. or Nissan Motor Co. Tokyo-based Honda has teamed up with General Motors to share platforms for EVs in North America, but the products are not yet on sale.

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Yuri Kageyama is on Twitter https://twitter.com/yurikageyama

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October 12, 2022