Good day,
The German automotive industry is witnessing some pressing times as experts fear a bankruptcy wave within the automotive parts suppliers’ segment. Avir Guss, a leading auto parts manufacturer, currently has a debt that runs in the millions, which it needs to repay this week. If it is not able to raise the amount, the company will be staring at insolvency.
However, Avir Guss is not the only company that is in the clutches of insolvency. South German parts supplier Weber Automotive and Swabian paint shop builder Eisenmann were recent casualties to the downturn in the German automotive market. Roughly 1,500 Avir Guss employees are protesting on the streets, asking for an explanation of its future.
This predicament comes as a shock to the employees, who believed the company was saved from financial ruin after auto majors Volkswagen, General Motors, and Deutz had joined hands last week to agree on providing aid for Avir Guss. Now, the deal seems to have not gone through at the last minute, further worsening the survival prospects of Avir Guss.
Did you know?
Autonomous driving startup Waymo has carried more than 6,000 passengers in the first month of flagging off its taxi service with self-driving cars in California.
Quotable
″India could increase its trade footprint in (the) midst of the US-China trade conflict, particularly under categories on which (the) U.S. has imposed tariffs on China. Apart from trade, diversion in investment flows is an opportunity that India could benefit from, as manufacturers seek alternative origination destinations.”
– Radhika Rao, an economist at Singapore bank DBS Group, commenting on India’s rise to fill the gaps of the U.S. trade war with China
In other news
Vietnam becomes a victim of its own success in trade war
More and more businesses are complaining about congested ports and roads, rocketing costs for land and labor, and regulations that aren’t being loosened fast enough. (Bloomberg)
Airbus ups freighter forecast as stored fleet remains historically low
Airbus is predicting demand for just over 850 new-build freighters over the next two decades in the airframer’s latest global forecast. (Air Cargo News)
Consumers will not sacrifice food standards after Brexit, says Tesco boss
UK’s biggest supermarket rules out sale of chlorine-washed chicken from the U.S. (Financial Times)
Natural gas could be replaced within 15 years
The shale market and the flooding of the market with cheap natural gas is strengthening the fuel’s competitive position and replacing coal in the power generation market. (Oilprice)
Shipper, a platform for e-commerce logistics in Indonesia, raises $5 million
Shipper is a startup with the ambitious goal of giving online sellers access to “Amazon-level logistics.” (TechCrunch)
Final Thoughts
The explosive growth that the e-scooter sharing market had witnessed over the last couple of years has seen a significant decline as the hullabaloo surrounding e-scooters toned down – largely due to government regulations. But nowhere has it been so evident as in the West Coast, with several cities in the state of California cracking down on the number of e-scooters populating localities while pushing e-scooter companies to enforce geofencing.
Geofencing is a technology that allows e-scooter companies to remotely control the speed limits of their e-scooters based on the region it traverses. This would mean that if a rider crosses the boundaries of a certain region, the e-scooter will automatically have its speed reduced or the engine shut down – based on the regulations enforced by the respective e-scooter company. Such restrictions have made people frustrated with the idea of e-scooter sharing – a perspective which in the long run might translate to fewer patrons for this alternative mobility segment.
Hammer down everyone!