Autos

Carmakers’ green future gets revved up by Covid-19

18 May 2020

The virus has added pollution fears to climate-change concerns. That should be a boon for electric vehicles when production restarts. But cheap oil makes gas guzzlers look even more economical. State incentives like trading in clunkers for EV discounts would help tip the balance.

Tesla pits electric-power hope against experience

14 May 2020

A big battery upgrade could soon make Model 3s as cheap as gas guzzlers, Reuters reports. That’d be a big leap ahead for electric vehicles and could also shake up utilities. But the infrastructure needs work. And boss Elon Musk has a history of overpromising and underdelivering.

Corona Capital: Air travel, Starbucks

14 May 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Airlines’ experienced hands offer warning; Starbucks begins dance with landlords.

Corona Capital: Cruise ships, China/U.S. friction

13 May 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Royal Caribbean raises and dreams of a time when cruise ships come back into favor, while a U.S. pension fund decides to give Chinese stocks a miss.

Luckin pileup crashes into China’s car lot

8 May 2020

The coffee chain scandal hit shares in Car Inc, a rental firm chaired by Luckin founder Lu Zhengyao. Lu also leads Ucar, whose banks could dump a slug of Car Inc pledged as collateral, triggering a change of control and dragging in Warburg Pincus. It’s a lesson in key-man risk.

Carmakers put V-shaped recovery hopes to the test

6 May 2020

GM, Fiat Chrysler and Ford hope to restart U.S. production soon. Analysts expect new-car sales to return quickly. But the poor financial health of customers and industries like construction and energy will sap demand. That could turn a V into a U.

Pandemic stalls Ferrari’s Formula 1 turboboost

4 May 2020

Bans on mass events are disrupting this year’s racing season. That’s bad for the luxury carmaker, which in 2019 made 14% of its revenue from Grand Prix events and branding. While the core auto business should hold up, a lack of action on the tracks leaves growth in the slow lane.

Corona Capital: Baseball and robo-taxis

4 May 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout. Taiwan hits on a way to please baseball fans, with the help of some people-shaped placards. Meanwhile, chipmaker Intel finds a deal amid a crisis.

Tesla’s Elon Musk turns from prey to predator

30 Apr 2020

The electric-car maker’s boss lashed out at state-imposed “fascist” lockdowns. Truth is, Tesla’s having a good crisis. Its $160 bln valuation bests all but Toyota. Rather than kvetching, Musk could use this firepower to seize the moment and expand global manufacturing capacity.

Beware hidden hazards in Nio’s China rescue route

29 Apr 2020

The electric-car maker secured a $1 bln lifeline from state-backed funds. Existing shareholders get diluted in a deal that injects mainland assets into a new entity, but it’s a clever way to tap local financing. Two distinct sets of investors may challenge boss William Li.

Corona Capital: U.S. GDP, Gilead’s drug, Spotify

29 Apr 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: the U.S. economy takes a dive; Gilead’s antiviral drug may help a bit; and Spotify sings an upbeat tune.

Corona Capital: Small biz bankruptcies, NFL

27 Apr 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout. Small businesses get time but not money; the NFL’s draft viewership does a victory dance.

Tesla gets board street cred it sorely needs

23 Apr 2020

Hiro Mizuno, former investment chief at Japan’s $1.5 trln pension fund is joining the electric-car maker as a director. He and Tesla boss Elon Musk may bond over their views on short sellers. But it’s Mizuno’s ESG clout that will serve the governance-challenged manufacturer best.

Car industry’s growth engine is running on fumes

21 Apr 2020

The churn of new car lease sales has come to a grinding halt in March. It’s a double whammy for the likes of Ford and VW that are facing steep devaluations on cars that will be handed back by cash-strapped customers. A painful financial reckoning lies around the corner.

Corona Capital: Pemex, Bond liquidity

20 Apr 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Pemex becomes world’s chunkiest fallen angel, and bond liquidity gets a needed boost.

Tesla bulls switch on autopilot

16 Apr 2020

Elon Musk’s carmaker is now worth over $130 bln, its stock price having doubled from its coronavirus low in just four weeks. A stronger balance sheet, a reopened China, and its technology edge are all grounds for optimism. But yet again investors are ignoring hazards ahead.

China’s 2003 auto recovery will be instructive

16 Apr 2020

Sales got a bump at the height of SARS, as consumers avoided public transit and purchased cars for the first time. That psychology could soon play out in India and other markets where ownership is low. But the drag of congestion and spending power may be bigger this time.

FCA’s big dividend ambitions bruised by pandemic

15 Apr 2020

Plummeting auto sales triggered by the Covid-19 crisis and idle plants expose carmakers’ acute need for cash. Tapping state aid would alleviate Fiat’s pandemic pain. But that would probably require delaying or reconsidering payouts to cement a planned union with France’s Peugeot.

Corona Capital: Oil cheerleading, Mortgaging Ford

13 Apr 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: U.S. and Saudi energy ministers agree on pumping up oil, Ford may use an old trick to raise new capital.

Icahn’s Volkswagen-Navistar deal is DOA

8 Apr 2020

The activist was finally set to make a fat return on the U.S. truck maker thanks to the German carmaker’s $2.9 bln offer. But the deal was never signed, and the target’s shares have halved. Given CEO Herbert Diess may have to take state aid, another Icahn bet may bite the dust.