Ford’s Mustang Mach-E to take a shot at Tesla’s Model Y
T he direct-to-consumer movement is “another megatrend starting” and Nike is not waiting to jump on the bandwagon but to lead it with the company’s decision to stop selling merchandise to Amazon which shows that mega brands are now opting to go directly to consumers. Nike confirmed to CNBC that a pilot program, launched in 2017, to sell a limited product assortment to Amazon, in exchange for stricter policing of the Nike brand on the platform, will end. Nike also said that it is shifting its focus to its direct- to-consumer business, which brings in about 30% of annual sales. Nike’s decision to stop selling merchandise to Amazon is just the start of what will be a huge movement of mega brands opting to go directly to consumers without the online platform acting as the middleman. Nike ditching Amazon to sell directly to consumers
Tesla and Neoen SA work to bulk up Hornsdale site
Hemp is the New Oak
Now that it’s legal to grow hemp in the United States and Canada, a man who’s spent the last decade developing hemp “hardwood” is building a $6 million factory to manufacture the product for use in the construction industry. Greg Wilson, owner of the new start up company Fibonacci, patented product called “HempWood” which is made out of compressed hemp pulp fibers, held together with a soy-based glue. While that may sound like some newfangled version of particle board, it’s not. It looks and feels like oak but is actually 20 percent harder than the famous hardwood tree. Plus, it also grows 100 times as fast. It takes an oak tree at least 60 years to mature, it only takes hemp 6 months.
T he world’s biggest lithium-ion battery is about to get even bigger, with Tesla Inc. set to beef up capacity at the Hornsdale site in South Australia. The system will be expanded by 50% to 150 megawatts, according to an announcement from Neoen SA, the French company that operates the site. The storage site has already saved consumers more than $50 million in its first year of operation. Since its 2017 installation, the battery has helped to stabilize the grid, avoid outages and lower costs by offsetting the intermittency of renewable power generation. That’s helped blaze a trail for other plants around the world.
F ord has unveiled its first all-electric SUV called the Mustang Mach-E, a nod to one of the most iconic versions of the pony car. The unveiling took place next to Tesla’s design center outside of Los Angeles. While Ford Executive Chairman, Bill Ford has said the location choice was just “a coincidence” after the event, the Mach-E’s pricing, design and performance are testaments that Ford is looking to be the first mainstream automaker to potentially give Tesla a run for its money. The Tesla Model Y and Ford’s Mach-E are expected to feature similar pricing, performance specifications and EV range when they arrive in the second half of 2020. The Mach-E also features a clean, tech-savvy interior with a 15.5-inch screen that is very Tesla-like. While other mainstream automakers such as General Motors and Nissan Motor offer EVs however, analysts say none have been so squared to take a run at Tesla like Ford’s Mach-E.
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DECEMBER 2019 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • DECEMBER 2019
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