Channel NewsAsia 23 Oct 18
LONDON: British technology company Dyson said on Tuesday (Oct 23) it would build its electric car in Singapore, with a new automotive manufacturing facility set for completion in 2020 ahead of the first vehicle launch a year later.
The electric car plant is part of Dyson's £2.5 billion (US$3.3 billion) global investment drive in new technology.
Dyson, founded by the billionaire British inventor of the bagless vacuum cleaner James Dyson, announced its plans to build an electric car a little over a year ago - a sector in which the company will face stiff competition from established players.
The 71-year-old entrepreneur is looking to exploit his company's expertise in solid-state battery technology and electric motors that are found in his innovative vacuum cleaners and other products like bladeless fans and air purifiers.
Electric vehicles are increasing in popularity as governments worldwide drive forward plans to gradually phase out polluting petrol and diesel cars.
It is designing the technology and building a test track in Wiltshire, western England, but said the decision to make the car in Singapore reflected the international nature of its operations.
Dyson already employs around 1,100 people in Singapore at its new Singapore Technology Centre at Science Park One and its Advanced Manufacturing Centre at West Park where it makes electric motors.
The company, best known for its cordless vacuum cleaners, hand dryers and fans, said Singapore offered access to high-growth markets, an extensive supply chain and a highly skilled workforce.
Dyson Chief Executive Jim Rowan said: "The decision of where to make our car is complex, based on supply chains, access to markets, and the availability of the expertise that will help us achieve our ambitions.
"I am delighted to let you know that the Dyson Board has now decided that our first automotive manufacturing facility will be in Singapore."
Rowan added that Dyson's existing footprint in Singapore, combined with Singapore's significant advanced manufacturing expertise, made it a frontrunner.
"Singapore has a comparatively high cost base, but also great technology expertise and focus. It is therefore the right place to make high-quality technology loaded machines, and the right place to make our electric vehicle," he said.
Dyson told AFP in an interview earlier this year that electric cars were already available to order.
The company said that its 2017 operating profit surged by almost one third to around £800 million (S$1.4 billion), aided by fast growth in China, India, Japan, Korea and Taiwan. Revenues leapt 40 per cent to £3.5 billion.
"OUR ENGINEERS MUST RISE TO THE CHALLENGE"
In a Facebook post later on Tuesday, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said Singapore's engineers must "rise to the challenge" and "prove themselves equal to the best in the world".
"When I met Sir James Dyson last month, he told me that our expertise in advanced manufacturing, global and regional connectivity, and the quality of our research scientists and engineers, all influenced Dyson’s decision," said the prime minister. "I was also delighted to hear that his company is working with our schools to inspire and mentor future generations of Singaporean engineers."
Separately, Minister for Trade and Industry Chan Chun Sing said in a Facebook post that the company's decision "testifies to Singapore’s attractiveness as a base for investments in innovation".
Source: Agencies/CNA/zl(hm)
Bladeless-fan maker Dyson to build electric cars in Singapore
Christopher Tan Straits Times 23 Oct 18;
SINGAPORE - Dyson, the British company known for its bladeless fans and bagless vacuum cleaners, announced on Tuesday (Oct 23) that it will make electric cars at a facility in Singapore.
The plant, at a location which the company declined to reveal when contacted, will be ready by 2020, according to a press statement.
Neither would it say much about the car when contacted, except that it will be electric, and "very different from anything in existence" today.
In its statement, Dyson said the two-storey manufacturing facility will be "a highly sophisticated one, using the latest technologies, including robotics and automation".
Almost a year ago, the company said it had begun working on a battery electric vehicle, due to be launched by 2020.
The company said then it had assembled a team of 400 people and is committed to spending £2 billion (S$3.6 billion) on the project to take on the likes of Tesla and other automotive giants.
It would not say how much of that investment will be for the Singapore plant.
Asked why it was venturing into this highly competitive field and why it thought it could succeed, a Dyson spokesman told The Straits Times last September that the company had actually come up with a diesel particulate filter system in the 1990s.
But the market was not ready for it and the project stopped.
"Now, Dyson has the opportunity to bring all our technologies together into a battery electric vehicle. Rather than filtering emissions at the exhaust pipe, today we have the ability to solve it at the source," he added.
Dyson said on Tuesday that it chose Singapore because of its proximity and access to high-growth markets; ready access to a supply chain of advanced materials and components; and access to highly skilled, dependable labour and advanced manufacturing capability.
Construction of the Singapore plant will begin in December, and it will be completed in 2020.
In a Facebook post, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said that Sir James Dyson, the inventor who founded the company bearing his name, told him that Dyson decided to make its first electric car in Singapore because of its expertise in advanced manufacturing, global and regional connectivity, and the quality of research scientists and engineers. The electric car is expected to launch in 2021.
The news took some industry players by surprise.
A senior executive with a top German manufacturer said: "There are more than 100 electric carmakers in China, and none of them are traditional car manufacturers. They buy parts from various suppliers and simply assemble them.
"This model is not viable. They are exposed to huge cost risks, and they will not have the expertise to deal with after sales service or safety recalls.
"That does not mean none will succeed. Geely was a refrigerator maker. But that's just one out of how many?"
Another senior executive with a major listed motor company here said: "They have picked the most expensive place on earth to build a car.
"And being a non-car company, they won't have economies of scale - just like Tesla - and when the major car manufacturers start rolling out electric models in a big way, they will not be able to compete."
But Andrew Delios, a professor in the National University of Singapore’s Department of Strategy & Policy, said: “It is not expensive to manufacture in Singapore. For high-value added products with substantial automation, skilled labour and a steady business environment are more important than hourly wage rates.”
Nitin Pangarkar, an associate professor in the same department, said: “Dyson making cars is unusual because cars are far more complex than the usual Dyson products. They lack the brand reputation and the technological expertise, so it’s going to be a big challenge for them.”
Singapore had a car assembling industry back in the 1960s. But all of them closed by the 1980s, when lower-cost locations in the region came up.
But about 15 years ago, the Singapore Government began looking at reviving the industry.
The Economic Development Board explored the possibility with motor giants such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Nissan and General Motors on setting up manufacturing or assembly operations here.
Dyson's history in Singapore began 11 years ago with a small engineering team developing high-speed electric motors.
It employs 1,100 people here and has made more than 50 million motors in Singapore.
Why did Dyson pick Singapore to build its electric car?
Channel NewsAsia 24 Oct 18;
SINGAPORE: When James Dyson, the billionaire British inventor of the bagless vacuum cleaner, unveiled a plan to build an electric car plant in Singapore, it raised a few eyebrows.
Not only does the land-starved city state have some of the highest average salaries in the world, but it has been nearly 40 years since Ford closed its factory in Singapore, effectively ending car production on the Southeast Asian island.
"It is a bit of a surprise because of the cost base and no other car manufacturing plant being here," said Shantanu Majumdar, a regional director at consultancy JD Power.
Dyson said on Tuesday the decision was based on supply chains, access to markets and the availability of expertise, which offset the cost factor.
But what other factors could have influenced the decision? Why not head straight to the biggest electric vehicle market in the world, China, like rival Tesla?
Here's a look at some of the less obvious pros and cons:
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1. HIGH COSTS VS GENEROUS INCENTIVES
Compared with other global cities, Singapore has some of the highest average salaries in the world after tax, according to studies by Deutsche Bank. Land available for industrial use is scarce and expensive, and it ranks highly in general cost-of-living indexes.
But aside from its skilled engineers and scientists, for a high-tech firm like Dyson, Singapore offers generous incentive schemes.
Some schemes include tax breaks for five years, which can be extended, and grants that can cover up to 30 per cent of the cost of projects to improve business efficiency. Singapore declined to comment on whether Dyson benefitted from any such schemes.
To shore up productivity in its manufacturing sector, which makes up less than a quarter of its output, Singapore has focused efforts on attracting high-end manufacturers and those who adopt automated production processes.
2. SMALL MARKET VS CHINA GATEWAY
Dyson may have decided to make electric cars in Singapore, but few are likely to be driven here or anywhere in Southeast Asia for that matter.
The number of privately owned electric vehicles in Singapore is in single digits, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk has criticised Singapore for not being supportive of electric vehicles.
Singapore is one of the world's most expensive places to own a car because the Government strictly controls the vehicle population by charging owners a variable rate for the right to own and use a vehicle for a limited number of years.
In the broader Southeast Asia, only 142 electric vehicles are forecast to be sold this year, data from consultant LMC Automotive shows.
By contrast, sales in China are forecast to almost reach 700,000 vehicles this year, more than double the combined sales from the United States and Europe.
But with one of the world's busiest ports on its doorstep, Dyson can roll a car off the production line in Singapore and within the hour it can be on its way to China or other sizable electric vehicle markets like South Korea or Japan.
Dyson products - which also include bladeless fans, air purifiers and hair dryers - are becoming a premium brand in China and other Asian markets. Asia accounted for more than 70 per cent of its growth last year, the firm said.
READ: Dyson’s new gadget curls, straightens and volumises hair using only air and physics
3. FAMILIARITY VS NEW FRONTIER
Dyson's history with Singapore probably also played a role.
It already employs 1,100 people in Singapore, making 21 million digital electric motors a year. It also has manufacturing hubs in Malaysia - connected to Singapore via two road bridges - and the Philippines.
"This is obviously a surprise but since Singapore is at the heart of Southeast Asia, Dyson would be best placed to source many components from neighbouring countries and, locally, assemble and manufacture the high-tech car here," said a corporate banker who deals with multinational firms in the region.
Another option for Dyson could have been to follow rival Tesla to the biggest market, China.
By the time Dyson's first car is ready in 2021, Tesla may already be selling locally produced cars in China after it signed a deal with the Shanghai government for an 860,000 sq m plot of land to build its first overseas Gigafactory.
But China is becoming a crowded market for making electric vehicles and the government is reining in subsidies.
Meanwhile, Singapore does have an extensive free trade agreement with China which lists various car types and car parts in its tariff-reduction schedule.
Singapore's Economic Development Board did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether electric vehicles would be eligible for exemptions under this arrangement.
JD Power's Majumdar said intellectual property would be another consideration for Dyson.
"Intellectual protections are very strong in Singapore ... It is definitely an advantage. When you are in China ... you may not be so comfortable on that part."
Source: Reuters/nc
