Foresight Cameras & AI Detect Coronavirus Symptons
Foresight Autonomous Holdings Ltd. an innovator in automotive vision, announced today that it has started developing a mass screening solution for the detection of COVID-19 symptoms based on visible-light and thermal cameras. In addition, the Company has submitted a patent application to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for a system and method for detection of people infected with the COVID-19 virus.
Based on the Company’s extensive knowledge using FLIR thermal cameras, artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced algorithms, the system is designed to rapidly and accurately detect some of the main symptoms associated with the COVID-19 virus. Foresight’s expertise in automotive vision systems and advanced algorithms will be applied to detect symptoms of COVID-19 including cough and signs of fatigue, in addition to high body temperature, thus increasing the likelihood of accurate detection and potentially eliminating false positive results. These symptoms can be identified by using the Company’s intellectual property that combines both visible-light and thermal cameras.
Hyundai Mobis Contactless Marketing
Hyundai Mobis will boost overseas orders with various contactless marketing activities as part of its response to changes in the global economy and social environment in the post COVID-19 era.
With constraints on direct sales and order-receiving activities based on traditional face-to-face contact, the company is seeking ways to create new sales opportunities. It is expected that the brand image of Hyundai Mobis, which is taking a leap to become a global technology leader in future cars, will be improved through preemptive untact marketing technology.
Hyundai Mobis is increasingly planning to produce Virtual Tech-Fair content and proactively use it for sales and order-receiving activities given that offline events such as motor shows and technology expos will never be the same in the post COVID-19 era.
The content handled by the Virtual Tech-Fair are future technologies, such as autonomous driving sensors, electrification and connectivity, and new core technologies, such as braking, steering, lamps and airbags. The company will produce and share VR content with customers in the form of links for a certain period of time. Three-dimensional life-like VR content is expected to help customer understand technologies more effectively than when they see them in person.
Hyundai Mobis will carry out real-time product promotion activities using the online broadcasting platform. Customers will connect to the video system at a time they want, with data presentation, product demonstration and Q&A provided in real time. At a time when it is difficult for people to see each other and move from point A to point B due to COVID-19, the company expects to maintain close communication with customers online without any space-time constraints.
To this end, Hyundai Mobis is planning to install a system for real-time broadcasting and product demonstration inside the Technical Center. The company will have the capacity and infrastructure for quickly providing information on technologies to customers when they need it.
Until now few B2B (business to business transactions) companies used contactless product promotion to advance into markets. In most cases, they participated in offline expos or professional technology expos, or visited customer sites for technology promotion.
In addition, Hyundai Mobis is going to make professional videos about key future car products, and use them for marketing. Rather than PR videos focusing on products and images, the content will feature researchers in charge of explaining the background, meaning and strong points of technology development. The company expects that it will be able to provide more detailed information to global customers through technical presentation videos.
In relation to this, Hyundai Mobis decided to make full use of the recently remodeled M.Tech Gallery inside the Technical Center in Yongin, Gyeonggi-do to make product videos. Its 66 new advanced technologies in future cars are on display at Hyundai Mobis M.Tech Gallery. The futuristic urban autonomous driving concept car ‘M.Vision S,’ which was exhibited at North American CES, the world’s largest consumer electronics and IT expo, is also on display at the M.Tech Gallery.
Goodyear Partners with Turo for Free AndGo Cleaning.
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company (NASDAQ: GT), through its innovative fleet servicing platform, AndGo by Goodyear, is providing on-demand and on-location professional vehicle services for Turo, the leading peer-to-peer car-sharing marketplace.
The AndGo by Goodyear offer for Turo hosts is currently available in Southern California, with more markets coming soon.
Additionally, through June 2020, AndGo will offer cleaning and sanitization services to Turo hosts in the service area free by using code TUROCLEAN (subjected to limited schedule availability).
Dealership Deals May Make a Comeback
The 2020 auto dealership buy/sell market declined in the first quarter, falling 9.3% off 2019’s transactions pace as the COVID-19 pandemic took its toll on auto retail, according to the just-released First Quarter 2020 Blue Sky Report® by Kerrigan Advisors. Transactions slated to close at the end of the quarter were postponed, renegotiated or, in the worst case, terminated. However, the report indicates that blue sky values are not dramatically impacted and, with auto sales due for an uptick, a buy/sell rebound in the second half of 2020 is anticipated.
A bright start to the year was not enough to avoid severe financial whiplash as US dealerships shuttered in mid-March and consumers were told to stay home. As a result, auto sales plummeted in March and April, resulting in one of the sharpest declines in dealership earnings on record, and the buy/sell market followed suit: Kerrigan Advisors expects the second quarter of 2020 to be the slowest buy/sell market in recent history.
“As a result of the coronavirus, auto dealers had to refocus their energy on internal operations and cash preservation in March and April,” said Erin Kerrigan, Founder and Managing Director of Kerrigan Advisors. “And while, at present, the industry is still managing through the economic effects of the health crisis, we see better days ahead thanks to the resilience of the dealer model that’s likely to thrive as dealerships reopen. In fact, with industry cost cuts and improved efficiencies, we expect auto retail will see significant improvements in profitability, making more money on less revenue, in the second half of 2020.”
Given strong buyer demand and today’s low cost of capital, The Blue Sky Report® by Kerrigan Advisors does not forecast dramatic changes in blue sky values in the foreseeable future, despite the economic impact of COVID-19 in the first and second quarter. Once again, says the report, many dealers have shown the ability to maintain profits, even during the worst of times (in the depths of the Great Recession, auto retailers remained profitable); and sellers choose to patiently wait for a buyer to reach their valuation expectations, rather than sell at a discounted valuation. This means that the most likely impact of COVID-19 will be a slower buy/sell market in the second quarter of 2020, rather than a decline in dealership valuations.
As auto sales rise, and buyers seek to put a substantial amount of capital to work, the report sees potential for a rebound in buy/sell activity in the second half of the year, and notes that the capital markets are experiencing a surge in auto retail valuations. Since bottoming on March 18th, The Kerrigan Index™ has risen 81.2% through the end of May. Also, the industry is seeing improved profits from an increased utilization of technology to cut costs as digital retailing becomes the order of the day.
“While the coronavirus will undoubtedly force some distressed dealership sales, those one-off valuations are not a reflection of the overall market,” said Ryan Kerrigan, Managing Director of Kerrigan Advisors. “In fact, while this global health crisis is impacting auto retail in many different ways, industry partners, vendors, lenders and OEMS have provided dealers with tremendous financial and administrative support to ensure they weather the financial impact of lost sales and avoid closure. And, auto retailers have the most flexible cost structures within the supply chain, so they are best able to adjust to unforeseen events. Given that, the health crisis has caused few distressed transactions.”
Kerrigan Advisors made one valuation upgrade in the First Quarter 2020 Blue Sky Report, increasing Toyota’s low-end multiple from 5.25 to 5.5. This increase reflects rising buyer demand for one of the highest quality franchises in the market and a belief that Toyota is best prepared amongst all OEMs to weather the economic impact of COVID-19. “Toyota had one of the lowest sales declines in the first quarter of any franchise and maintains the highest credit rating of the OEMs,” said Erin Kerrigan. “With a flight to quality assets, Toyota franchises are expected to command even higher multiples as buyers seek safe investments during the pandemic.”
Kerrigan Advisors has identified the following three trends, which are expected to meaningfully impact the buy/sell market for the remainder of 2020.
- Sellers’ blue sky pricing expectations exclude COVID-19 financial impact
- Surge in buyer/investor demand due to industry growth prospects and low cost of capital
- Buy/sell activity by state diverges based on level of economic shutdown
Highlights from the First Quarter 2020 Blue Sky Report® by Kerrigan Advisors include:
- Prior to COVID-19, dealership earnings through February were on track for a 38.7% increase over 2019 and near 2015’s record level.
- First quarter buy/sell activity declined 9.3%, with 49 transactions closing compared to 54 transactions during the first quarter of 2019.1
- The first quarter of 2020 saw a high level (31%) of multi-dealership transactions.
- Among the franchises being acquired, domestics continued to dominate in the first quarter of 2020, representing 57% of buy/sells, up 84% since 2015. Domestic dealership buy/sell market share is now consistent with franchise market share. Kerrigan Advisors expects domestics to dominate the 2020 buy/sell market, as multi-generation dealer families decide to sell post-pandemic. Additionally, import luxury’s buy/sell market share increased in the first quarter to 18%, up 12.5% over last year.
- The public auto retailers’ spending on US dealership acquisitions in the first quarter of 2020 increased 11.5%, compared to the first quarter of 2019. The publics were expected to spend over $1 billion on acquisitions in the first quarter of 2020 with Asbury Automotive Group’s acquisition of Park Place Dealerships.
- Asbury Automotive Group terminated the Park Place acquisition on March 24th. The company’s market capitalization declined 51.6% from the time of its announcement of the Park Place Dealerships acquisition in December to the time of the transaction termination.
- Kerrigan Advisors expects the second quarter of 2020 to be the slowest buy/sell market in recent history due to pandemic stay-at-home orders.
- Kerrigan Advisors upgraded Toyota’s low-end blue sky multiple from 5.25 to 5.5 and downgraded Ford’s low-end blue sky multiple, Buick GMC’s high-end and low-end multiples, and Nissan’s low-end and high-end blue sky multiples.