Confidential coach: Ford’s connectivity stance, Gordon Murray looks to the long term and more Car News

In this week’s auto gossip roundup, Ford shares his pleasantly straightforward way of positioning connectivity, Gordon Murray explains why he certainly isn’t planning for retirement yet and more.

Ford Connectivity Position

Connectivity is fast becoming the biggest buzzword in the auto industry, and Ford’s chief commercial officer in the auto industry, Alex Purdy, has a pleasantly simple way of positioning it: “We think data are the new oil because they are essential to our electricity. future and enables this “permanent” relationship with our customers. “

Gordon Murray: I don’t have a retirement plan

The Gordon Murray Group recently announced that it would invest £ 300million in R&D and the expansion of its management team, but Murray himself said that was not an indication he planned to take of hindsight. “There’s no way I’m going to retire, if that’s what you’re asking; I would just be bored, ”he said. “But I’ll be 75 soon, so there’s definitely a bit of succession planning in all of this, even if it sounds pretty morbid. But the main problem is that as you grow you need the right people to help you grow.

Volvo’s autonomous ambitions

Volvo’s chief technology officer, Lars Stenqvist, sees many more uses for autonomous vehicles than for road transport alone. He said: “We already offer solutions in quarries, mines and ports. You can turn them off and control the environment, so the use of security is much higher. “

Semiconductor chip timeline “is not good”

The timeline for ending the pandemic-linked semiconductor chip shortage that continues to affect automotive production worldwide “is not good,” according to Stellantis boss Carlos Tavares. He said he expected his business to be better insulated from the crisis, but “when we did our own investigations we weren’t protected.”