Ford gives cause to not chase Tesla 6 Feb 2024 The Detroit-based automaker beat expectations and announced a new dividend but keeps sounding a cautious note on expanding electric losses. Offering investors a look under the hood helps to justify trimming its ambitions.
India needs less Tesla, more Toyota 6 Feb 2024 Hybrids - like those made by the Japanese marque - are taxed as luxuries, at a far higher rate than pure electric vehicles. As global EV sales growth falters and companies around the world slam the brakes on investments, India has fresh reason to level the playing field.
Red Sea delays are no panacea for European EVs 5 Feb 2024 Suez Canal blockages mean Chinese electric vehicles take longer to get to Europe. But these don’t look bad enough to close the price gap with EU rivals. The most likely upshot is a slower rate of domestic EV adoption, rather than a change in the competitive pecking order.
Elon Musk charts largely painless Delaware exodus 2 Feb 2024 Tesla’s boss is angling to reincorporate in Texas after the First State’s corporate judiciary undid his $56 bln pay package. Such a move would invite yet another lawsuit, but have little effect on investors. It also might give other cultish CEOs ideas on the value of governance.
Italy is fighting a rearguard battle on Stellantis 2 Feb 2024 Rome may invest in the $73 bln carmaker. Matching France’s 6% stake would cost 4 bln euros, hurting the government’s privatisation effort, and may spook Italian business. Saving jobs at the former Fiat is a natural concern, but Italy is no longer the group’s centre of gravity.
Capital Calls: Ferrari closes gap with Hermes 1 Feb 2024 Concise views on global finance: The Italian carmaker’s valuation looks more like its luxury rival Hermes after its record results.
Elon Musk is his own worst enemy: part 420 31 Jan 2024 A Delaware court nixed the Tesla CEO’s $56 bln pay package, finding rampant dysfunction behind it. The sum may have been justifiable, but the carnival barking that underpins the company’s valuation complicates matters. If investors keep enabling Musk, bad governance will persist.
Battery minerals pressure causes cracks Down Under 31 Jan 2024 Miner IGO is freezing a nickel project key to a near-$1 bln acquisition just 18 months ago. It’s also having trouble selling lithium. Falling commodity prices and slowing EV growth are proving problematic for many, including BHP. But bad dealmaking has compounded IGO’s pain.
GM’s good news is that it’s still GM 30 Jan 2024 The automaker forecast resilient profit for 2024, easing fears that striking workers had struck a hard enough bargain to drag the bottom line. Slipping pricing power and EV risks cast clouds, but a steady gas-guzzler business now seems enviable.
Renault’s green IPO hitch is blessing in disguise 30 Jan 2024 The $11 bln French carmaker decided not to list electric-vehicle division Ampere, citing market headwinds. CEO de Meo had hoped to value it at up to 10 bln euros, but a public float never looked like a must-have. The move will allow him to focus on the unit’s ambitious targets.
Huawei revs up a new way to feed the beast 30 Jan 2024 China’s tech champion may sell half of its autos unit at a $35 bln valuation. It’d raise funds for more research into chips, AI, 6G and more. That’d be welcome after geopolitical tensions and US sanctions sapped sales. But its excursion into EVs could hit some potholes.
Tesla’s secret weapon: US automakers’ flaws 24 Jan 2024 The $650 bln electric-car maker’s fourth quarter continues to show the strain of stalling growth and falling prices as Chinese rivals rise. A long-sought cheap model is a ways off, but boss Elon Musk has one big fillip: old-guard rivals are still behind in his home market.
It will take more than Draghi to boost EU growth 22 Jan 2024 Europe can’t decide if it will be more competitive with open markets or heavily protected national champions, and it wants Mario Draghi to pick. Italy’s former PM is more likely to reflect than resolve tensions among members. But the bloc can’t up its game behind closed doors.
Capital Calls: Microsoft’s Russian hacker 22 Jan 2024 Concise views on global finance: The $3 trln tech firm disclosed that a nation-state hack accessed leaders’ email, saying it showed the need for potentially “disruptive” measures. It’s a worrying acknowledgement of the still-vague costs of geopolitical tensions for tech giants.
Ola IPO will drive Indian EVs back to the future 19 Jan 2024 The SoftBank-backed e-scooter maker is revving up to go public at a mooted $8 bln valuation. The deal, plus a burgeoning home market, marks a moment reminiscent of an earlier mania for Chinese upstarts like Nio. Investors hoping for a similar ride, though, may be disappointed.
Elon Musk’s losing streak is heading for Tesla 17 Jan 2024 The billionaire wants 25% control at the $690 bln carmaker, after trimming his stake in part to finance an ill-advised deal for Twitter. Musk’s social-media frolic risked making him an absentee CEO; containing that threat means following bad governance with worse.
China’s auto exports can hold the fast lane 10 Jan 2024 The country has displaced Japan as the world's largest shipper of cars abroad, sending more than 5 mln overseas last year, per an industry group. Companies best known for gas guzzlers are among the winners. But EV makers like BYD are gaining share and will drive the trend on.
VinFast charges up its stock market unsuitability 9 Jan 2024 The $16 bln electric-vehicle maker has replaced both its CEO and CFO within five months of going public via a SPAC. The new boss is founder Pham Nhat Vuong, who owns almost all its stock. The latest moves are a reminder that VinFast looks and acts like a private firm.
Tesla-BYD rivalry is mostly manufactured, for now 3 Jan 2024 Elon Musk’s outfit ceded its title of world’s biggest EV maker to the Chinese company. In a growing industry, that’s irrelevant, plus BYD has a home advantage. The longer-term danger to Tesla, assuming geopolitics doesn't upend its supply chain, is if its peer advances in tech.
Toyota will engineer a half-electric renaissance 27 Dec 2023 The world’s largest carmaker is playing catchup with electric upstarts like Tesla and China’s BYD, just as global demand for EVs slows. But boss Koji Sato will capitalise on the Japanese giant’s edge in hybrid vehicles as the tech enjoys a sudden renaissance.