Welcome to today's edition of the Daily 5.
Self-driving tech company Waymo today formally rolled out its robotaxi service in Los Angeles after previous launches in San Francisco and Phoenix.
As Pete Bigelow reports, Waymo has tested in L.A. for more than a year and has conducted commercial rides for select members of an early rider community. Service to the general public began today and the company says it has a waitlist of nearly 300,000 in the city.
"Our service has matured quickly, and our riders are embracing the many benefits of fully autonomous driving," Tekedra Mawakana, the company's co-CEO, said in a statement.
Waymo said it will start with about 100 Jaguar I-Pace electric vehicles, which will offer service over 80 square miles.
But this wasn't the only big news involving Jaguar today.
For at least some of you, the headline "Jaguar stops selling new cars in U.K. ahead of EV-only shift" probably caught your attention. It's not new news that the Jaguar brand is going dormant in its home country as it prepares to go all-EV, but the headline nonetheless signals a historic benchmark in global automotive history.
The iconic Jaguar luxury brand traces its roots back more than a century in the United Kingdom when it was known as Swallow Sidebar Co., according to the brand's history on JLR's website. Ford Motor Co. bought Jaguar in 1990, combined it with Land Rover, then sold it to India's Tata Motors in 2008.
In 2021, JLR said Jaguar would become an all-EV brand. Today the transition is ongoing until the relaunch happens in 2026. It won't be easy given the slow uptake of EVs by consumers in the U.S. and U.K. Meanwhile, any remaining Jaguars for sale in the U.K. are now considered used cars, regardless of their mileage. Incredible.
Speaking of electric vehicles, the ongoing cash burn at Vietnamese EV startup VinFast has prompted its Vietnamese leader Pham Nhat Vuong to pledge an additional $2 billion to its balance sheets. The company posted a widening $773.5 million net loss in the second quarter. Third-quarter results won't be out for a few weeks. Vuong and VinFast's parent company said they are committed to supporting the automaker through 2026 if needed.
In other news, Nissan Motor Co. disclosed an activist investor in Japan has acquired a 2.5 percent stake in the troubled automaker. This sent Nissan shares soaring. It's a good bet we're going to hear a lot more about this investor in the coming weeks and months.
Looking ahead to Wednesday, we're going to take an in-depth look at Volkswagen Group of America's plans to improve how it receives and delivers its vehicles from a port near Houston. The automaker remains serious about expanding market share in the U.S., and improved logistics will be key.
That's it for today. Have a great rest of your afternoon.
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— Philip Nussel, online editor
