FORD & RIVIAN BOTH CONTINUE IN ELECTRIC VEHICLE SECTOR, JUST NOT TOGETHER Spotlight on Innovation Head lines A ccording to both Ford Motor and Rivian, they no longer plan to co-develop an electric vehicle together. The two companies initially announced GENERAL MOTORS ACQUIRED A 25% STAKE IN PURE WATERCRAFT G eneral Motors, which has billed itself as “all in on electrification” this year, has acquired a 25% stake in Pure Watercraft, a Seattle start-up that
makes electric outboard motors for boats. Pure Watercraft motors use lithium-ion batteries and replace 40-to-50 horsepower outboard motors that burn gas or diesel. Traditional fuel-powered boats con - tribute to environmental problems including noise pol - lution, smog, and water pollution that is plainly visible floating on the water in their wake. Pure’s systems are much quieter and cleaner and allows GM to go fishing into the U.S. outboard engine market which reached a record level during 2020 with an estimated $3.4 billion in sales according to the National Marine Manufacturer’s Association (NMMA).
development of a joint vehicle when Ford invested $500 million in Rivian in 2019. They later said it would be for Ford’s luxury Lincoln brand, before canceling those plans last year. Ford, at the time, said the automakers would still seek other opportunities to collaborate with one another. However, those plans also have now been scrapped, according to Ford spokesman Ian Thibodeau. He said the company retains ties with Rivian, including a 12% stake in the start-up, which at the company’s IPO last week reached a value of more than $10 billion.
PENTAGON ASKS FOR BIDS ON NEW CLOUD CONTRACTS T he U.S. General Services Administration advised in November that the Defense Department has solicited bids from Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Oracle for cloud contracts. The outreach comes after the Pentagon set aside a highly contested $10 billion contract that Microsoft had won, and Amazon had challenged. The value of the new contracts is not known, but the Defense Department estimates it could run into the multiple billions of dollars. The new effort, known as Joint Warfighting Cloud Capa - bility, or JWCC, appears like it will bolster the top global cloud infrastructure providers, Amazon and Microsoft, although it could also provide more credibility to two smaller entities.
THE GLOBAL CHIP SHORTAGE WILL DRAG INTO 2022 A ccording to a top semiconductor analyst at JPMorgan, the global chip shortage is set to drag on till 2022, but the situation could improve from mid-year onwards as more supplies become available. The U.S. investment bank is recommending investors pursue longer-term trends in the semiconductor space — in areas like high-end computing globally as well as less-advanced technologies in China. An ongoing supply crunch for chips has hurt production across a number of industries, ranging from cars to consumer appliances, personal computers and smartphones.
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NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021
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