Electric Vehicles

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.

China EV champs race to make leaner green machines

8 Nov 2023

Nio is ditching 10% of its staff. Rivals won’t be far behind. While electric-car startups in the People’s Republic have proven their tech can keep pace with Tesla, their losses have been rising, in part due to a persistent price war. That makes cutting costs the next big test.

Capital Calls: Pfizer pessimism

31 Oct 2023

Concise views on global finance: A glut of vaccines has gutted Pfizer’s valuation, leaving it lower than it was before the pandemic. That’s an over-reaction, even if its Covid-19 therapies prove worthless.

Capital Calls: McDonald’s resilience

30 Oct 2023

Concise views on global finance: The Golden Arches’ global same-store sales rose 9% thanks to both selective menu-price increases and smaller meals in different markets. It demonstrates the company’s ability to keep pace with disparate economies’ stretched consumers.

China deal offers Stellantis ingenious EV shortcut

26 Oct 2023

The $58 bln Jeep-owner is paying $1.6 bln for 20% of electric-car maker Leapmotor and the right to sell its autos abroad. Hitching up with the Chinese group’s affordable and advanced tech will help CEO Carlos Tavares accelerate his green goals, despite festering geopolitics.

GM earnings give its restive workers an inch

24 Oct 2023

The automaker’s strong third-quarter earnings have raised the stakes in a strike costing it $200 million a week. The union continues to push aggressively. But with Detroit’s gas guzzlers doing relatively well, a tough-but-survivable compromise seems possible.

Tesla downshifts out of ludicrous mode

19 Oct 2023

The electric-car maker is gasping to keep sales ahead of China’s BYD. Its US market share also dipped below half while gross profit slumped to 16% in the latest quarter as boss Elon Musk cut prices. Accelerating again depends on new car designs and cheap overseas manufacturing.

Tycoon’s lithium grab leaves investors hanging

16 Oct 2023

Billionaire Gina Rinehart has stifled Albemarle’s $4.2 bln bid for Liontown with deft use of Australia’s takeover rules. Now the minerals producer has to raise cash just as prices for the key battery material are falling. She needs to show why her spoiling tactics were worth it.

Capital Calls: Finnair

6 Oct 2023

Concise views on global finance: The state-backed airline is planning to raise 600 mln euros through a rights issue – almost as much as its current equity.

China’s EV makers would steer around EU roadblock

14 Sep 2023

A Brussels probe may mean hefty tariffs on battery-powered cars imported from the People’s Republic. BYD, Nio and peers could start making them in the bloc, which accounts for a quarter of global EV sales. Focusing on Asia and Latin America, though, would make more sense.

Tariffs unfit to solve EU’s Chinese EV puzzle

13 Sep 2023

Ursula von der Leyen’s new anti-dumping investigation could result in punitive duties on China-made electric vehicles. But penalties are a bad fix for the EU’s green push. The bloc still needs the People’s Republic to help it phase out car pollution – and to buy Europe’s exports.

China is bitter medicine for Europe’s EV pivot

12 Sep 2023

Ditching EU combustion engines by 2035 requires carmakers like VW to rapidly boost sales of battery rides. That’s a challenge when electric cars are pricier than gasoline ones. Competition from China will lift take-up and force Western players to become more efficient.

VinFast’s volatile stock has an easy, painful fix

30 Aug 2023

Vietnam’s nascent electric-car maker capped a flighty first fortnight on Nasdaq with a 44% fall on Tuesday. Blame its tiny sub-1% free float. Selling new shares would reduce trading swings and raise cash the $107 bln firm will soon need. It requires crashing its zippy valuation.