Electric Vehicles

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.

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.

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.

Elon Musk can make Tesla a national champion

5 Jan 2024

The billionaire’s $745 bln car company faces rising rival BYD, growing backlash in Europe, and a deal landscape that’s impossible. Attempts to diversify rest on far-out ideas like dabbling in AI and robots. It has a better path: becoming a cornerstone of US infrastructure.

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.

Nio’s $2 bln Christmas gift requires some strings

19 Dec 2023

Shareholders welcomed the money-losing electric-car maker’s latest infusion from CYVN. But cash alone won’t put Nio on track unless it focuses and cuts costs. With a 20% stake and two board seats, the Abu Dhabi investor could push for some New Year’s Resolutions to boost returns.

Stellantis will cruise with GM and Ford

18 Dec 2023

The maker of Jeeps and Opels run by Carlos Tavares is one of Europe’s lowest-valued carmakers. Yet it generates much of its income in the US, and boasts industry-leading profit margins. Keeping a single New York listing could see its valuation match Detroit rivals.

UK, EU trade détente leans on Chinese threat

6 Dec 2023

The European Union fell in line with UK demands to ease part of Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal. Delaying tariffs on battery parts helps carmakers like Volkswagen sell to Britain and fend off competition from China. But Brussels has reason to be tougher on other issues, like finance.

Capital Calls: BAT writedown

6 Dec 2023

Concise views on global finance: The $65 bln maker of Lucky Strike cigarettes unveiled a plan for a ‘smokeless’ world, but it’s in no hurry to build it.

Capital Calls: Saks and Neiman Marcus

1 Dec 2023

Concise views on global finance: The two luxury retailers are once again contemplating a merger. Fickle consumers, even for high end items, make the marriage ideal.

Tesla should dig the Cybertruck’s grave

30 Nov 2023

Elon Musk is about to launch the bizarre, angular pickup two years late after warning that it will be a financial drain. GM and Ford will fight to guard their cash cows; Rivian has a leg up; and pickup buyers are electric skeptics. Releasing this albatross is a mistake.

GM’s big buyback is welcome dose of realism

29 Nov 2023

The Detroit carmaker is falling further behind electric supremo Tesla, its robo-taxis are on ice, and wages are up. Its response: buy back $10 bln of stock. Returning money to investors suggests CEO Mary Barra thinks they can spend it better than she. They would probably agree.

GM’s driverless ride heads into a ditch

21 Nov 2023

The carmaker’s robo-taxi unit is on pause after an accident; its two co-founders have left. As OpenAI’s drama shows, losing visionary leaders is a big problem. The silver lining: In GM’s case, investors never seemed to take the cash-guzzling Cruise division seriously anyway.

Renault electric acceleration can swerve IPO

15 Nov 2023

The French carmaker is eyeing 25 bln euros of revenue in 2031 for its battery ride unit Ampere. Capturing the full value of that through an IPO may be tricky in the short term given a sluggish EV market. A listing would be a distraction, and Renault doesn’t really need the money.

Rivian overtakes EV upstarts with Detroit playbook

8 Nov 2023

The $16 bln electric vehicle maker cut losses and raised production even as the market sags. A focus on pick-up trucks and vans apes Ford, but its results are moving in the right direction. While still a minnow, CEO RJ Scaringe’s group is pulling ahead of peers like Lucid.