Trucks | FoT: Deliveroo, Slate, Harman

FoT is the intelligence arm of Trucks Venture Capital 

Notable:

America's biggest auto importer? GM (link). 'The Detroit stalwart imported more cars into the US last year than any other automaker, even Japan’s Toyota. Nearly half of the vehicles GM sold in the US last year – 1.23 million autos – were built abroad.'

America's aging air traffic control system gets a new plan, in theory (link). Someone said the title of the plan sounded like a 4th grader's group project (link to PDF).

Cadillac is getting back to its made-to-order roots (link). Via CD. If GM manages to do this with Escalades, it will be a great program. At some point GM will realize Escalade is the most luxurious thing they make.

Young drivers and old cars are a dangerous mix (link). 'The findings from this study confirm that young drivers are more likely to operate older vehicles (>15 years old) or vehicles with fewer driver assistance features, and that both of these vehicle factors are associated with increased risk of dying in fatal crashes.'

Video: Ferrari designer Flavio Manzoni sketches the Ferrari Vision Gran Turismo (link). Video: brute-force entering the Ford securi-code keypad (link). Video: driving through a massive cloud of grasshoppers in Australia (link). Via Diego. Audio: AviationWeek talks about what they saw inside JetZero last week (link). Video: Trek built a $2B business, but now tarifs are jeopardizing its future (link). Video: filming the LiDAR on Volvo EX90 will likely damage your camera (link). Via Ryan. Video: how did they film this car commercial? (link). Via JA.

Wintermeyer's overhead photo series of asphalt donuts; ‘urban calligraphy’ (link). Via Phil B.

M&A / Deals / Changes:

Slate Auto raises $700M (link). Led by Bezos Expeditions, General Catalyst and TWG Global.

UK delivery startup Deliveroo acquired by Doordash for $3.85B (link).

Sound United consumer audio business acquired by Harman for $350M (link).

Geely to take Zeekr brand private (link). 'Geely has offered US$25.66 per Zeekr American Depository Receipt (ADS), which equals US$2.566 per ordinary share. This price represents a 14% premium over Zeekr’s closing price on May 5, 2025 valuing the company at approximately US$6.5 billion.'

Spanish shared mobility startup Busup raises $3.2M (link). Led by True Global Ventures.

Indian fuel aggregator startup Nawgati raises $2.5M (link). Led by Upadhyaya.

UK battery monitoring startup Breathe Battery raises $21M (link). Led by Kinnevik.

Indian commuting transport platform Routematic raises $40M (link). Led by Fullerton Carbon Action Fund and Shift4Good.

Indian EV subscription platform startup Alt Mobility raises undisclosed round (link). Led by Beyond Capital Ventures.

'Free the Eagle' is an activist firm's approach to changing Harley-Davidson, including recommending the ouster of three board members (link).

GM's San Francisco offices of its Cruise division put up for sublease (link).

In conjunction with Magna and JLR, Waymo plans on doubling its robotaxi production at Arizona facility by end of 2026 (link).

Board & Executive Changes:

Aurora: Co-founder and board member Sterling Anderson to depart (link).

QuantumScape: Luca Fasoli named COO (link).

Aeva Technologies: Chris Eberle resigns from board; Daniel Gibson joins board (link).

Curated Jobs:

Lead Data Scientist at May Mobility in Ann Arbor, MI USA (link).

High Performance Battery AI Developer at Ferrari in Maranello, Italy (link).

Diagnostics Engineer, Robotaxi Operations at Tesla in Austin, TX USA (link).

Hiring? Post a job (link). If you're a startup, use code 'Trucks' for free standard listings.

Hunting? View all 365 postings on the MobilityJobs job board (link).

New Stuff:

Zoox recalls its 270-unit fleet after safety incident last month in Las Vegas (link, link to PDF report).

Ex Ford PR exec Alan Hall launches Road Work Communications (link).

The recently discovered McDermitt Caldera in Oregon has a lithium deposit worth a reported $1.5T (link).

CPSC votes to advance e-bike, lithium-ion battery testing proposal (link).

House transportation committee approves $250 annual EV fee (link).

Patents & Patent Applications:

Toyota's patent application shows authenticating members of a vehicle micro-cloud (link).

Statistics / Projections:

USC professor predicts California gas prices could rise to over $8.40 a gallon in 2026 (link). Via ABC10. 'Mische says the [two] refinery closings will cost the state about 21% of its fuel production between 2023 and 2026.'

Kenya's EV sales have gone up roughly 10x in just three years (link). Via Will M / ESI Africa.

Within the autonomous vehicle industry, there is an open role-to-FTE ratio 54% larger than the national average (link). Via NGV Talent.

Thank you:

Thank you to Igino Cafiero (link), Cory Cozzens (link), Kaleb Dumot (link), Carolina Echecopar (link), Kaity Fischer (link), Harry Forss (link), Alan Hall (link), Donia Madkour (link), Ken Margolis (link) and Luke Schneider (link) for offers of introductions to new founders, investors and friends over the last week.

Trucks portfolio companies mentioned in this issue:

JetZero (link), May Mobility (link). View the full portfolio of Trucks companies (link).

Do not place batteries into mouth (Energizer warning label),

Reilly Brennan