Electric Vehicles

VinFast’s $27 bln SPAC deal belongs in scrapyard

17 Jul 2023

Most of the acquiring blank-cheque company’s investors opted for their money back rather than own the Vietnamese EV maker. The buyer could try to trim the heady valuation. But with the Tesla wannabe’s low US sales and poor reviews, ditching the deal is better than patching it up.

Capital Calls: Thames Water, Bayer

10 Jul 2023

Concise views on global finance: The indebted UK utility secured a pledge from shareholders to cough up 750 mln pounds over the next two years; the German conglomerate could help long-suffering investors by undoing the disastrous Monsanto deal.

Beijing’s autos intervention is a necessary evil

7 Jul 2023

Regulators orchestrated a truce between Tesla and 15 Chinese rivals after a price war drove discounts on some models to as much as 20%. State interference can be costly, but this leaves room for healthy competition. And it suits EV makers more than their gas-guzzling rivals.

Capital Calls: Blackstone’s bright property sale

26 Jun 2023

Concise views on global finance: The investment firm led by Steve Schwarzman is selling a group of warehouses to Prologis for $3 bln, demonstrating that some parts of the troubled commercial real estate industry are holding up.

China’s $72 bln tax break heralds green-car crunch

23 Jun 2023

Extending hefty incentives to buyers for another four years shows Beijing is anxious to support electric vehicles. But prolonging existing subsidies is unlikely to transform the fortunes of loss-making groups like Nio and Xpeng. Weaker rivals may be nearing the end of the road.

Volkswagen’s tight ship is facing a bigger storm

21 Jun 2023

The $78 bln carmaker’s pledge to boost margins and curb investment may fend off criticisms of inefficiency. Yet CEO Oliver Blume has yet to convince investors he can battle greater competition from Tesla and Chinese rivals. Volkswagen’s depressed valuation may linger.

China’s next export is an electric-vehicle fight

19 Jun 2023

Carmakers led by BYD have established supremacy against global brands thanks to efficient supply chains. As sales stall in the People’s Republic, their long-held ambitions to drive overseas including to Europe is suddenly a necessity. They’ll road-test rising anti-China sentiment.

Capital Calls: London crypto move, Stellantis SPAC

12 Jun 2023

Concise views on global finance: British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak welcomes Andreessen Horowitz’s UK office just as cryptocurrencies face a regulatory crackdown in the US; the European carmaker’s move to back a London blank-check vehicle is less hairy than it sounds.

Detroit wisely gives up to Tesla this time

9 Jun 2023

General Motors joined rival Ford in adopting electric-car leader Tesla’s charging tech. It eases the path for their battery-powered divisions by ceding modest revenue to Elon Musk’s company. The risk is that other more lucrative parts of their vehicles will head the same way.

Chinese battery cash will fuel Europe’s EV drive

31 May 2023

The country’s investments in foreign plants and projects to power electric cars quadrupled to $15 bln, chiefly into the EU. Over-reliance on tech leader CATL and its compatriots is a risk. But European rivals are few and carmakers like VW and BMW have more to gain than lose.

Capital Calls: Russian cash, Chinese car feud

25 May 2023

Concise views on global finance: European plans to divert Russian money to Ukraine are ill-thought-out; a feud between China’s BYD and Great Wall Motor is spooking investors.

Geely’s Aston Martin stunt could backfire

19 May 2023

The Chinese auto giant is doubling its stake in the storied carmaker to 17%, and snagging a board seat. But the 45% premium looks rich. Aston Martin needs to speed electrification and sales in China, but Geely will struggle to squeeze value from a stalling British business.

Tesla pushes limits of India’s electric-car dreams

18 May 2023

Elon Musk hopes to make and sell cars in the country. Giving up demands for import tax breaks and building a factory at scale makes sense if his $550 bln company is a market-maker as it was in China. Tesla would need to follow Apple’s roadmap and engineer a new export hub too.

Tesla’s governance autopilot heads for disaster

17 May 2023

Despite a 60% drop from peak market value and Twitter distractions, shareholders backed the EV-maker’s board yet again. Boss Elon Musk’s indulgence of conspiracy theories and avowal to keep speaking his mind raise more red flags. The supine stance invites dangerous consequences.

EU can afford to extend UK car sector’s pit stop

17 May 2023

Stellantis wants Britain to tweak its trade deal with Europe to avoid tariffs on electric vehicles. Delaying rules on where carmakers source material would help both EU and British manufacturers. Moreover, a reprieve would still leave the bloc streets ahead in the EV race.

Vietnam’s Tesla debuts with wrong kind of power

15 May 2023

VinFast is going public at a sales multiple seven times its rival. Merging at a $27 bln valuation with casino mogul Lawrence Ho’s SPAC secures it a listing in the US where the electric-vehicle maker is expanding. But it needs funding and an inflated 2021-style deal doesn’t help.

Volkswagen has increasingly narrow recovery track

4 May 2023

The $77 bln German auto giant reported bumper revenue, but faces an era of slowing growth as slick rivals like Tesla expand. CEO Oliver Blume hopes to boost car sales by 15% and avoid a collapse in prices. Neither looks easy, but at least its stock is priced for the worst.

Tesla’s California slump will be a US slump

24 Apr 2023

The $510 bln electric-car kingpin saw its share of battery-powered sales in California, a bellwether US market, tumble by 13 percentage points from 2022. Emerging rivals and a nascent price war are taking their toll; Musk’s position in Twitter may only make it worse.

Tesla can no longer succeed just on its own terms

19 Apr 2023

The EV maker’s key margin gauge tumbled 11 percentage points, below its own forecast, as it slashed prices to boost sales. Costs are at least under control, but sagging growth is a concern. A lot now rides on producing new models to fend off technological and competitive threats.

Capital Calls: H&M, UK car goals

30 Mar 2023

Concise views on global finance: The $20 bln Swedish retailer’s investors seem to think the worst has passed; Britain has loosened its ambition to phase out combustion engine cars, but the big question is how many green vehicles will be made domestically.