Ford sells 10.5 million shares of Rivian / Uber reports 19% YoY increase in gross bookings

Hey Insiders — It's been a busy week in transportation. Here's the latest on Uber's earnings, Ford's Rivian shares, and Lilium's new investment: Nicolas 1. Ford sold 10.5 million shares of Rivian, ending up with a 1.15% stake in the EV maker. Ford reported a $7.3B write-down on its Rivian investment for 2022.  Q: Rivian slightly missed its 25,000-unit production target for 2022 and canceled its plans for joint production of an electric van with Mercedes-Benz. How do you think the company will perform this year? Share your thoughts. 2. Uber reported a 19% YoY increase in gross bookings to $30.7B in Q4. Uber generated $595M in net income. Lyft reported a net loss of $422.2M for the quarter. Q: How do you think ride-hailing will perform in 2023? Share your thoughts on Inside.com. NOTE: Inside.com founder and CEO Jason Calacanis is an investor in Uber. 3. Lithium-ion battery manufacturer Ionblox (formerly Zenlabs Energy) raised a $32M Series B with a follow-on investment by eVTOL developer Lilium. Ionblox claims its pre-lithiated silicon anode technology allows for 50% higher energy density and 5x the power versus conventional lithium-ion cells. Q: Lilium expects local certification to be granted in Saudi Arabia starting in 2025, where it has an order for 100 eVTOLs. What markets do you think are apt for eVTOL operations? Let us know. 4. General Motors signed a three-year agreement with GlobalFoundries for semiconductor chips. This marks GM's second supply chain news for the week after it reportedly made a bid for a minority stake in Brazilian mining company Vale to gain earlier access to EV materials. 5. EV battery recycling company Redwood Materials received a $2B loan from the Department of Energy, with which it aims to produce 100 GWh annually of battery-grade copper foil and cathode-active materials. In December, Redwood announced plans for a $3.5B battery recycling campus in South Carolina.  6. Southwest COO Andrew Watterson apologized for "not having enough winter operational resilience" at a Senate hearing on Thursday about the airline's cancelation of 16,700 flights between Dec. 21 and Dec. 31. The airline is also being sued by a group of shareholders alleging the airline violated federal regulations and risked investments by ignoring issues with its scheduling system. 7. Lucid Motors announced it will begin discounting versions of the Lucid Air Touring and Air Grand Touring despite the vehicles not qualifying for the new EV tax credits. The automaker slightly surpassed its adjusted production goal for 2022 with an output of  7,180 vehicles. Nicolas is a Sr. Analyst at Inside, covering transportation and startup trends. He is an avid map maker and data nerd. Nicolas has worked in the shared-scooter space, as well as advised e-bike and moped startups.  Editor Aaron Crutchfield is based in the high desert of California. Over the last two decades, he has spent time writing and editing at various local newspapers and defense contractors in California. When he's not working, he can often be found looking at the latest memes with his kids or working on his 1962 and 1972 Fords. If your company would like to sponsor an Inside.com newsletter, please take a look at our sponsor page here.

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