Tag Archives: excluding

BMW

FIA WEC at Spa-Francorchamps: BMW M Team WRT suffers setbacks on the house spherical.

Leave a comment

Spa-Francorchamps. With solar, summery climate, and a brand new FIA WEC attendance document (excluding 24h Le Mans) with 88,180 spectators trackside, the stage was set for BMW M Team WRT’s house race within the FIA World Endurance Championship (FIA WEC). However, the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps (BEL), spherical three of the 2024 season, proved to be disappointing for the staff and for BMW M Motorsport. In the Hypercar class, the 2 BMW M Hybrid V8s completed in positions 11 and 13 after six hours of racing, which had been interrupted for practically two hours by a purple flag. The two BMW M4 GT3s, fielded by Team WRT within the LMGT3 class, retired by no fault of their very own.

 

In Friday’s qualifying, BMW M Team WRT managed to make it into the Hyperpole session with a Hypercar, simply as they did on the second spherical at Imola (ITA). That meant BMW M works drivers Robin Frijns (NED), Sheldon van der Linde (RSA) and René Rast (GER) began the six-hour race from ninth place within the #20 BMW M Hybrid V8. Their team-mates, Dries Vanthoor (BEL), Marco Wittmann (GER), and Raffaele Marciello (SUI) began from twelfth place with the #15 BMW M Hybrid V8.

Following robust performances at Imola, the purpose was to problem for a podium once more at Spa-Francorchamps. However, the race proved difficult for each crews of the BMW M Hybrid V8s, and so they weren’t capable of make progress by the sphere. Consequently, automotive #15 completed in eleventh place after six hours of racing, whereas automotive #20 ended up in thirteenth place.

In the LMGT3 class each Team WRT BMW M4 GT3s, following their 1-2 end result at Imola, had possibilities for podium finishes however their race was ended prematurely by no fault of their very own. In the LMGT3 Hyperpole, Ahmad Al Harthy (OMA) secured second place on the grid for the #46 BMW M4 GT3, which he shares with Valentino Rossi (ITA) and Maxime Martin (BEL). However, within the race, automotive #46, whereas operating in fourth place, was closely hit on account of a sequence response following an unlucky racing incident and crashed into the observe barrier. Car #31 of Augusto Farfus (BRA), Sean Gelael (INA), and Darren Leung (GBR), steadily progressed from twelfth on the grid, however was additionally closely impacted by one other automotive whereas in fourth place after over 4 hours of racing. Following this incident, the race was red-flagged for practically two hours as in depth repairs to the observe boundaries had been required. Al Harthy and Gelael, who had been on the wheel on the respective instances, remained unharmed.

The fourth of eight races within the FIA WEC 2024 season, the 24 Hours of Le Mans (FRA), will happen on fifteenth/sixteenth June.

 

Reactions to the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps:

Franciscus van Meel (CEO of BMW M GmbH): “This weekend didn’t go as we had hoped. After Imola, it was a setback. We started fairly well, had a lot of bad luck, but also made some mistakes ourselves. Now, it’s time to look ahead. The next race is Le Mans, and with all the bad luck we’ve had here, maybe we’ll have more good luck there.”

Andreas Roos (Head of BMW M Motorsport): “It was overall a challenging weekend here at Spa. The pace of our BMW M Hybrid V8 was definitely there, but unfortunately, we couldn’t convert that into a good result. I think we simply made too many mistakes during the race which we now need to analyse in detail. However, it was good to see that the speed was there again. We continue to work hard to come back even stronger. In the LMGT3 class, it was, of course, very disappointing that both cars were involved in accidents that were not their fault and consequently retired. After the very good result with the 1-2 at Imola, this is naturally a hard setback for the LMGT3 crew as a strong result with important points would have been possible again here at Spa. Thanks to BMW M Team WRT and BMW M Motorsport for their hard work so that we can get closer to our goal of winning races.”

Vincent Vosse (BMW M Team WRT Team Principal): “I think that we have got some good information to take with us but one of those bits of information is that you cannot make a good result without having a clean race, and unfortunately we did not have a clean race. We have to analyse why and make it better. In LMGT3, it was a real shame to see how much work we have put together with the #31 and #46 cars and that was gone and not through the fault of our drivers. It is tough to swallow. Now let’s see what we can do at Le Mans to recover all of those points we have lost here.”

Raffaele Marciello (#15 BMW M Hybrid V8, eleventh place Hypercar): “It has been a difficult race. We were fighting for points and were running in the top ten. Then unfortunately, I made a mistake and we got a penalty. That was quite unfortunate but let’s see how to improve and to do better next time.”

René Rast (#20 BMW M Hybrid V8, thirteenth place Hypercar): “It was not a great day. Everything went wrong somehow. We got a lot of penalties and have always been kind of at the wrong end of everything. A technical issue, penalties, so overall no points today. We need to learn from that. I think that pace wise, we were in the mix. That is one positive at least but we just need to perform better and make less mistake and hopefully in the next race we will be better.”

 

Augusto Farfus (#31 BMW M4 GT3, DNF LMGT3): “All drivers in the #31 executed a very good race. Every single driver fulfilled his own task. Unfortunately, we’ve got both LMGT3 cars taken out by Hypercars and that should be a sign that this is something that needs to be reacted to.”

Maxime Martin (#46 BMW M4 GT3, DNF LMGT3): “It’s a pity. We’re certainly not at Spa to retire after one and a half hours. But it’s part of the game, that’s racing. It’s indeed a shame because Ahmad was doing a good job and we could have scored some important points. But that’s the way it is. Now we focus on the next race, the most important, the 24 hours of Le Mans.”

Note to editors:

Photos and movies for editorial use can be found for obtain at this hyperlink: https://b.mw/Media_Exchange_WEC

Smartphones

How Much Is T-Mobile’s Cheapest Plan & What Features Does It Include?

Part of the T-Mobile Connect vary, the corporate’s $10 monthly plan (excluding tax) is the very best on provide, together with 1000 minutes of calls and 1000 texts. The much less interesting a part of the plan is it solely permits 1GB monthly. This means should you run out of knowledge earlier than the following billing interval (every cycle lasts 30 days), you may need to both watch for the following cycle, use Wi-Fi, or buy an information go.

The included minutes exclude any worldwide calls. If you wish to make worldwide calls, you possibly can add T-Mobile’s Stateside International Talk to your plan for $15 monthly to get limitless calls to landlines in over 70 international locations. The plan additionally features a function known as Data Maximizer, which mechanically limits video streaming high quality to SD to cut back knowledge utilization.

The plan is out there for each new and current T-Mobile prospects. If you are already on a T-Mobile pay as you go plan, you possibly can swap to Connect by T-Mobile at any time.

VolvoCars

Volvo Cars Q3 results: momentum continues while performing and transforming

  • Q3 revenue was SEK 92 bn (SEK 79 bn in Q3 2022)

  • Q3 operating income (excluding JVs and associates) was SEK 6.1 bn (SEK 3.5 bn in Q3 2022)

  • Q3 operating income was SEK 4.5 bn (SEK 2.1 bn in Q3 2022)

  • Q3 EBIT margin (excluding JVs and associates) was 6.7 per cent (4.4 per cent in Q3 2022)

  • Q3 EBIT margin was 4.8 per cent (2.6 per cent in Q3 2022)

  • Q3 basic earnings per share was SEK 1.01 (SEK 0.11 in Q3 2022)

  • Q3 fully electric car sales share at 13 per cent (7 per cent in Q3 2022)

Volvo Cars today reports an almost 75 per cent increase in operating profits, excluding joint ventures and associates, to SEK 6.1 bn for the third quarter of 2023. The EBIT (operating) margin excluding joint ventures and associates came in at 6.7 per cent, compared with a margin of 4.4 per cent in the same period last year. The company saw strong sales and revenue growth during the quarter, which in combination with lower costs for raw materials and logistics resulted in a solid underlying operating profit.

“Our operating performance is gathering momentum, while we continue to make steady progress on our transformation objectives,” said Jim Rowan, President and Chief Executive of Volvo Cars. “As such, the quarter developed as we planned and communicated, putting us in a good position to close out the year with solid double-digit growth in retail volumes and a considerably higher share of fully electric cars for the full year. At the same time, uncertainties remain on the horizon, and we continue to be watchful.”

The full CEO report, with more detailed highlights of the quarter, is included in the interim report for the period and can be found here.

Retail sales continued to improve during the quarter, with solid double-digit growth in all three months and sales growth of 22 per cent for the period compared with the third quarter of 2022. That means Volvo Cars has now reported 13 consecutive months of retail sales growth, illustrating solid demand for its cars despite pricing pressures in many parts of the world.

The company’s pure electric sales share of 13 per cent for the quarter was almost double what it was in the same period in 2022, increasing by 111 per cent year on year. This underlines how Volvo Cars is well on its way to become one of the fastest transformers in the industry. The launch of the competitively priced, fully electric EX30 SUV will serve to strengthen its position and help the company in its ambition to become a fully electric car company by 2030.

Customer response to models such as the EX30 has been strong, and the small SUV generated higher than expected pre-orders. EX30 production started in the third quarter and the first cars are expected to be delivered during Q4, with production and deliveries ramping up in earnest in 2024.

When Volvo Cars revealed the EX30 in June, it indicated it was exploring additional manufacturing locations globally, and earlier today the company announced its plan to expand production of the EX30 and to also build it at the Ghent plant in Belgium from 2025. This decision reflects the strong demand for the EX30, supports Volvo Cars’ strategy of building where it sells, and boosts production capacity for the car in Europe as well as for global export.

Q3 operating and financial performance
The solid operational performance and good momentum was reflected in the company’s key operational indicators. Production volumes in the third quarter were up by 16 per cent versus the same period a year ago, as availability and visibility continued to improve in the supply chain.

Commercially, Volvo Cars’ order book remained stable and the company managed to maintain premium pricing. Its strong brand position, based on safety, quality and Scandinavian design, has proven to be a real asset in maintaining its premium pricing position. As a result, the company booked a revenue for the quarter of SEK 92 billion, up 16 per cent compared with the same period last year.

At the same time, the gross margin continued to improve and came in at 19.6 per cent, helped by improving margins on electric cars, which came in at 9 per cent and was significantly up compared with the last quarter. This underscores that lower lithium prices are starting to have an effect, as well as the company is realizing the effects of increased pricing on model-year 2024 fully electric cars – as indicated during the previous quarter. Once the EX30 starts to be shipped to customers, it will further boost Volvo Cars’ profitable growth in fully electric cars, which the company believes will position it well versus many of its competitors.

In addition to lower raw material prices, costs for freight and other logistics have also eased. Spot buy costs for key components such as semiconductors were also reduced, while Volvo Cars’ internal cost efficiency and optimization initiatives are starting to bear fruit.

With regards to its climate action plan, Volvo Cars continued to make progress in its efforts to reduce its CO2 footprint per car. During the first nine months of the year, overall CO2 emissions per car were 19 per cent lower compared with our 2018 benchmark, supporting our mid-decade ambition of a 40 per cent CO2 reduction per car.

Looking ahead
The performance for the third quarter puts Volvo Cars in a position to close out the year in line with earlier communications: solid double-digit growth in retail volumes for the full year and an increased share of fully electric cars versus 2022.

This positions the company well for a fast start in 2024, when it will bring three new fully electric models on the roads. Deliveries of the EX30 to customers are starting soon, and on 12 November it will reveal the Volvo EM90, the company’s first ever premium multi-purpose vehicle (MPV). That means that in less than six months, Volvo Cars will have unveiled two brand-new cars into two new segments, on top of the EX90 revealed late last year.

The company’s current trajectory shows that the building blocks for its transformation in recent years are starting to deliver at pace. Rather than simply delivering on its transformation passively, Volvo Cars chooses to actively engage with wider changes in the key technology shifts for the future and be one of the fastest industry transformers.

“We remain vigilant in light of the macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainties and remain laser-focused on execution,” said Jim Rowan. “We will continue to emphasize cost-consciousness throughout our organization and constantly work to make our business more efficient and more sustainable.”

This disclosure contains information that Volvo Car AB (publ) is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation (EU nr 596/2014). The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person, on 26-10-2023 07:00 CET.

VolvoCars

Volvo Cars Q2 results: full speed ahead in transformation with a solid business performance

  • Q2 revenue was SEK 102.2 bn (SEK 71.3 bn in Q2 2022)

  • Q2 EBIT (excluding JVs and associates) was SEK 6.4 bn (SEK 4.6 bn in Q2 2022)

  • Q2 EBIT was SEK 5.0 bn (SEK 10.8 bn in Q2 2022)

  • Q2 EBIT margin, excluding JVs and associates and without non-recurring items, was 7.2 per cent

  • Q2 EBIT margin (excluding JVs and associates) was 6.3 per cent (6.5 per cent in Q2 2022)

  • Q2 EBIT margin was 4.9 per cent (15.1 per cent in Q2 2022)

  • Q2 basic earnings per share was SEK 1.12 (SEK 3.00 in Q2 2022)

  • Q2 fully electric car sales share at 16 per cent (7 per cent in Q2 2022)

Volvo Cars today reports a 39 per cent increase in operating profits, excluding joint ventures and associates, to SEK 6.4 bn and a corresponding EBIT margin of 6.3 per cent for the second quarter of 2023. The result came despite a SEK 0.9 bn non-recurring item related to the redundancy programme announced in May, part of securing a more efficient and sustainable cost base for the future. Without this item, the underlying EBIT margin, excluding joint ventures and associates, was 7.2 per cent in the second quarter. This illustrates that the solid underlying performance momentum from the first three months of the year continued during this past quarter.

The company’s EBIT, including joint ventures and associates, reached SEK 5 bn, which was lower compared to the corresponding period last year. This is mainly because group EBIT for the second quarter of 2022 was positively influenced by the one-time, non-recurring accounting effects of Polestar’s listing on the Nasdaq stock exchange in New York. The interim report for the second quarter of 2023 can be found here.

“The second quarter of 2023 shows that the year is shaping up as planned,” said Jim Rowan, President and Chief Executive. “In these past three months we have continued to deliver on our ambitious transformation goals and made steady progress. At the same time, we also achieved a solid underlying business performance with increased sales and revenues. We are performing and transforming, while navigating the external challenges that have come our way.”

During the quarter, the company reported a continued strong sales performance in electric cars. Sales of fully electric Volvo car models increased by 178 per cent year-on-year during the quarter and accounted for 16 per cent of its total share. The company’s newly launched fully electric cars – the Volvo EX90 and EX30 SUV models – are not yet in production and have so far not contributed to the company’s 2023 performance. Once these new cars hit the roads, they will further boost fully electric car sales towards Volvo Cars’ ambitious goal to sell only fully electric cars by 2030.

While it delivered a higher percentage of fully electric cars during the quarter, the company’s margins on fully electric cars were impacted in this period because the lithium used in these cars was sourced when prices peaked during late 2022.

Additionally, as it introduced new model year 2024 fully electric cars with a considerably better range than existing models, Volvo Cars proactively shifted out the inventory of model year 2023 cars.

As the company enters the second half of 2023 this dynamic will change, since it will not only benefit from lower lithium prices, but also realise the effects of increased pricing on MY2024 fully electric cars. Therefore, margins on fully electric cars are expected to improve in the coming quarters.

Last month, Volvo Cars also revealed the fully electric EX30, its first ever small SUV. With this car, the company enters an important new segment and customer demographic, and one that it expects to grow rapidly in the coming years. The EX30 will also boost the company’s profitable growth in fully electric cars, with expected gross margins on the car in the range of 15 to 20 per cent. Both the EX30 and the larger EX90 are exciting steps into the future and clearly demonstrate Volvo Cars’ course going forward: premium electric cars, built on next-generation electric architectures with advanced battery and computing technology, as well as next-level passive and active safety features.

Volvo Cars continued its commercial transformation this past quarter. In June, it reached another key milestone when the United Kingdom became its first market to fully transform from a traditional wholesale business to a direct consumer model that is designed around flexibility for the customer. The knowledge it gains from the UK commercial transformation will be crucial as the company plans to make more markets fully direct in the coming years, together with its trusted retail partners. This will both improve the overall customer experience and make its commercial network more efficient, transparent and cost-effective.

In May, Volvo Cars also increased the focus on the global cost optimisation and resource efficiency initiative it launched late last year. This included a global redundancy programme including around 1,300 office-based positions in Sweden, as part of efforts to reduce costs and drive efficiencies across its global operations. The aim is to establish a more efficient and sustainable cost base for the future, by restructuring and changing ways of working in parts of the organisation, as well as focusing even more on securing the relevant skills it needs to be successful.

Q2 operating and financial performance

In terms of its operational performance during the second quarter, Volvo Cars recorded revenues of SEK 102.2 billion, an increase of 43 per cent versus the same period in 2022. It also saw a solid global sales increase of 25 per cent to 178,800 cars sold, a strong performance in electrified car sales, as well as continued premium pricing in many markets.

The sales performance was helped by improved production output in the company’s factories. During the second quarter, it produced 50 per cent more cars than in the same period last year. This is a validation of the steps the company introduced to make its supply chain more resilient, such as broadening its supplier base, improving performance and delivery from its suppliers, developing direct relationships with key semi-conductor companies and foundries, and creating more transparency in the overall value chain.

Second-quarter EBIT, excluding joint ventures and associates, was weighed down by a non-recurring item of about SEK 0.9 billion, but still came in at SEK 6.4 billion, an increase of 39 per cent year-on-year. This cost was related to the redundancy programme that was part of the enhanced cost-efficiency initiative announced in May.

Efforts to reduce the company’s CO2 footprint per car also continued to progress. During the second quarter of the year, overall CO2 emissions per car were 18.8 per cent lower compared with its 2018 benchmark, supporting its mid-decade ambition of a 40 per cent CO2 reduction per car.

Looking ahead to the rest of the year

2023 remains a crucial year in Volvo Cars’ transformation. With more new electric cars on the way and work ongoing on a new battery plant in Sweden and its planned new electric car factory in Slovakia, the company is putting in place important building blocks for its next growth phase.

It has opened a new Tech Hub in Krakow, Poland, which will complement existing ones in Stockholm and Lund in Sweden, and Bangalore in India. These Tech Hubs and its other R&D centres will help Volvo Cars deliver on its ambition to become a leader in future mobility, by creating a global powerhouse of next-generation technology. The company will also continue its commercial transformation towards more direct business and a constantly improving customer experience.

More broadly speaking, the company sees supply and demand continue to normalise in the wider market, which brings some additional pricing pressure as price levels have also started to normalise in several markets. Yet while rising interest rates in some of its largest markets put pressure on the consumer and the overall market, demand for Volvo cars continues to be healthy.

Assuming there are no further unexpected supply chain disruptions, Volvo Cars expects a solid double-digit growth in retail sales for the full year. It also expects the share of fully electric car sales to come in even higher than last year’s full-year share of 11 per cent.

“We’re staying the course and continue to make progress towards our ambition to be a leader in next-generation mobility,” said Jim Rowan. “The proof of a real transformation is in its execution and that is where our focus continues to be as we head into the second half of 2023.”

This disclosure contains information that Volvo Car AB (publ) is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation (EU nr 596/2014) and the Swedish Securities Markets Act (2007:528). The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person, on 20-07-2023 07:00 CET.