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Recharge Wrap-up: BorgWarner buys Remy, Citroen's Bluesummer

BorgWarner will buy Remy International. The auto parts maker, known especially for its turbocharging technology, will buy Remy, a maker of electric motors for EVs and hybrids, in order to better compete in a growing electrified vehicle market. In a deal expected to close late this year, BorgWarner has offered to buy 32.2 million shares of Remy at $29.50 each for a total of about $950 million. Remy did about $1.2 billion in sales in 2014. Read more from Reuters. Deliveries of the Tesla Model S P85D will begin soon in Hong Kong. Some customers there have received emails from Tesla saying, "Your Model S is ready to enter production," and asking for registration information. Hong Kong is likely to be one of the first locations to receive the right-hand-drive version of the P85D. The first deliveries are expected in late August. Read more at Inside EVs. Tesla Motors has hired Ganesh Srivats as its vice president for sales in North America. Srivats is the former senior vice president at British luxury fashion brand Burberry. The hire will help Tesla build its luxury lifestyle image as the company enters more markets around the globe. "If Tesla is thinking that they are selling a lifestyle and a way of thinking, then someone from Burberry could be the right choice," says Ken Harris of Cadent Consulting Group. "Burberry gets lifestyle." Earlier this year, Tesla reassigned its vice president of worldwide sales and service Jerome Guillen, and created separate sales positions for North America, Europe and Asia. Read more from Bloomberg. Citroen will distribute Bollore's four-seat, electric convertible, the Bluesummer. Bollore Group and PSA Peugeot Citroen recently announced that the funky EV would be built at PSA's plant in Rennes, France beginning in September. While it originally appeared that the Bluesummer would be available through carsharing programs, Citroen now says it will sell the Bluesummer through its dealership network. "This partnership with the Bollore Group is an opportunity for the Citroen network to increase its sales by attracting to its showrooms new customers who like the originality and freshness of the Bluesummer and thus promoting all the vehicles in the range," says Philippe Narbeburu, sales director for Citroen France. Read more in the press release below.

Tesla halts production to prep for Model X

That darling of the electric car world, Tesla, is idling production at its factory in Fremont, CA, for the first time in order to expand the factory in preparation for its future Model X crossover. The $100-million renovation will add 25 robots and upgrades to the body shop and assembly line to support the new vehicle.
Since it will be offering two models simultaneously, Tesla will need to be able to keep up with the pace of demand. "This represents the single biggest investment in the plant since we really started operations and enables us for higher volumes," said Tesla spokesperson Simon Sproule to Bloomberg. The new robots will be able to boost production by 25 percent and will allow the automaker to build the Model S and Model X on the same assembly line. There won't be too much downtime at the California plant, though. The upgrades will be finished within the next two weeks.
With these factory updates, the Model X may finally get its electrically powered wheels on the road. The CUV has been delayed multiple times since its announcement. It was originally supposed to be on sale in early 2014, then later in the year, but now the latest news from Elon Musk places the crossover's launch in the second quarter of 2015.

Recharge Wrap-up: Tesla store reboot, Jaguar "EV-Type" an electric F-Pace?

The Connecticut Hydrogen and Electric Automobile Purchase Rebate (CHEAPR) program is creating demand for EVs. $1 million has been set aside for rebates ranging from $750 to $3,000 per car, depending on battery size (in addition to federal incentives). Dealers also get an incentive of $150 to $300 per vehicle to help motivate them to promote EVs. "This is the type of program that can be a win-win-win for the state, auto manufacturers, dealers and consumers," says Chevrolet dealer Leo Karl, who has seen a jump in demand for the Volt under the CHEAPR program. Karl expects the funds to run out as early as this fall. Read more at Automotive News. The Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV is scheduled to go on sale in the US in May 2016. As Mitsubishi makes some changes, including plans to ditch its Normal, IL assembly plant, the company's future in the US is being called into question. The new date for the plug-in hybrid version of the Outlander comes after multiple delays. Mitsubishi also plans to offer a 2016 model of the i-MiEV despite slowing sales. Read more at Automotive News. Tesla is overhauling its stores in advance of the Model X going on sale. The revamp includes informative interactive displays and a heavier emphasis on Tesla merchandise sales. The displays provide information about safety, Autopilot technology, the charging network, electric motors and other information to help familiarize customers with Tesla. The Tesla Design Collection - which includes luggage, apparel and other gear - also helps position Tesla as a luxury lifestyle brand, rather than just a mere automaker. Expect the stores to be continually updated over time. "Tesla is able to pivot in their stores the way they release new software," says Cadent Consulting Group's Ken Harris. "This is important to an emerging brand." Learn more from Bloomberg. Could Jaguar be planning an electric F-Pace called the EV-Type to compete with the Tesla Model X? Autocar is reporting that the upcoming SUV from Jaguar could spawn a whole family of vehicles, including an all-electric version. Jaguar has registered the trademark for the EV-Type name, and that vehicle would likely be built at the Magna Steyr factory in Graz, Austria. That would free up capacity to build the traditionally powered F-Pace in the UK. Read more at Green Car Reports, or at Autocar.