Toronto, Ontario — In this week’s Tuesday Ticker Magna announces a partnership with EV automaker Fisker, rumours of Takata seat belt recalls loom and Uber preps plans to land in Halifax by the end of this year.
Oceans apart
Electric vehicle maker Fisker is partnering with Canadian auto parts supplier Magna to assemble the upcoming Ocean SUV, a move which will be accompanied by Fisker making shares in its company available on the public market.
According to Reuters, Magna International will supply the vehicle platform for Ocean SUV, which will be built at Magna’s Graz, Austria plant. The partnership will also see Magna take a six percent stake in Fisker, which is currently worth about US$3 billion, according to CEO Henrik Fisker.
“This is a great example of our strategy to leverage our strong portfolio to scale for future mobility needs,” Magna President Swamy Kotagiri said.
Fisker had reportedly been in talks with Volkswagen over the use of its MEB platform—though it seems that plan will not come to fruition now. Instead, Fisker may tap VW for body panels and interior bits.
The vehicle will carry a starting price of $37,499, and feature an all-electric range of 482 kilometres (300 miles) thanks to Magna’s platform, which is largely made of aluminum.
The Ocean will begin production in November 2022, while the Fisker brand will be publicly traded on the New York stock market as “FSR” starting October 30.
Buckle up
Japanese regulators have advised automakers to prepare for recalls regarding seatbelts from Takata, the same supplier for millions of recalled airbags.
NBC News reported that “Joyson Safety Systems, the Chinese-owned automotive supplier that took over the remains of Takata after it went bankrupt in 2017, said it is pouring over 20 years of testing data for seatbelt webbing and has found inaccuracies suggesting the numbers might have been altered intentionally.” The recall issue lies in the seat belt webbing, which may have been produced incorrectly.
Takata creates seatbelt webbing for 30 percent of vehicles worldwide.
Uber Atlantic
Uber Canada announced last week that it intends to seek a license and launch the ride-sharing app in Halifax, Nova Scotia before the end of the year.
“We’ve long heard about the excitement for Uber in Halifax,” said Matthew Price, general manager of Uber Canada in a news release. “We look forward to providing Haligonians access to the same safe, affordable ride options that we do in more than 10,000 cities across Canada and the globe.”
A news release states that, before the app goes live in the Nova Scotian capital, qualified drivers will need to register and complete a sign-up process. Drivers must have a class 4 license to work for Uber.
