Tag: Autos

Shares of Chinese Tesla rival Xpeng rocket 11% as EV deliveries return to growth

A XPeng Inc. G6 electric sport utility vehicle (SUV). The company is hoping the release of the new car will boost sales which plunged in the first quarter.

Qilai Shen | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Shares of Xpeng surged in pre-market trade in the U.S. after the Chinese electric vehicle maker reported a quarterly return to growth for car deliveries, following more than a year of declines.

Xpeng on Saturday said it delivered 23,205 cars in the second quarter of 2023, logging a 27% quarter-on-quarter rise. This surpassed the company’s own delivery forecast of between 21,000 and 22,000 units. That was still lower than the 34,422 cars delivered in the second quarter of last year.

U.S.-listed shares of Xpeng surged more than 11% in pre-market trade before paring some of those gains.

Deliveries have been declining each quarter since the first quarter of 2022 for Xpeng, as it struggled with a tough macroeconomic environment in China and heightened competition from domestic rivals and from Tesla, which has been cutting prices in China to spur demand. That has also hurt Xpeng’s competitiveness.

Tesla’s strategy seems to be working with the company reporting global vehicles deliveries of 466,140 in the second quarter, beating analysts expectations.

Xpeng said deliveries in June alone totalled 8,620 cars, marking a 15% increase over May and the highest monthly delivery figure this year.

The Guangzhou, China-headquartered company said deliveries of its flagship P7 sedan rose 17% in June from May, but did not give a specific unit figure.

Xpeng’s latest car — the G6 Ultra Smart Coupe SUV — was launched at the end of the second quarter, with deliveries beginning this month. Xpeng is hoping this will boost sales in the coming quarters.

Xpeng’s losses continue to widen and competition is getting fiercer. Last month, Chinese EV start-up Nio made big price cuts to its cars.

Xpeng has been reorganizing its management structure and overhauling the company over the past few months in the hope of unlocking growth.

Some of the company’s rivals have fared better. Li Auto delivered 32,575 vehicles in June while its second quarter figures totaled 86,533. Nio meanwhile delivered 10,707 vehicles in June and 23,520 cars in the second quarter, not far ahead of Xpeng.

Meanwhile, Warren Buffett-backed automaker BYD delivered 253,046 new energy vehicles — which includes battery and plug-in hybrids — in June alone, representing a 96% year-on-year rise.

Source link

July 3, 2023
Tesla reported 466,140 deliveries for the second quarter, and production of 479,700 vehicles

Tesla posted its second-quarter vehicle production and delivery report for 2023 on Sunday.

Here are the key numbers from the electric vehicle maker:

Total deliveries Q2 2023: 466,140

Total production Q2 2023: 479,700

The numbers beat analysts’ expectations and indicate that deliveries rose 83% year-over-year for Tesla after Elon Musk’s auto business added manufacturing capacity, and ramped up production at its vehicle assembly plant in Austin, Texas.

Tesla groups deliveries into two categories but does not report individual model or region-specific numbers.

The second quarter of 2023 marked the fifth period in a row when Tesla reported a higher level of vehicles produced compared to deliveries.

During the second quarter of last year, Tesla reported 254,695 deliveries, and in the first quarter of 2023, Tesla reported 422,875 deliveries. During the second quarter of 2022, Tesla produced 258,580 vehicles and last quarter it produced 440,808 vehicles.

Deliveries are a carefully watched number by Tesla shareholders and are the closest approximation of sales disclosed by the company.

Wall Street was expecting Tesla to report deliveries of 445,924 for the period ending June 30, 2023, according to analyst estimates compiled by FactSet-owned Street Account.

The independent researcher who publishes under the handle TroyTeslike was expecting deliveries of 448,000 and production of 471,355 vehicles.

CEO Elon Musk’s electric vehicle maker offered some discounts and other incentives to boost sales of its cars in the U.S. during the quarter, including on its Model 3 entry-level sedan, and more recently, its older Model X SUV and Model S flagship sedan, which represent a small percentage of overall sales for Tesla currently.

The Model 3 and Y are now eligible for a $7,500 tax credit in the U.S. under the Inflation Reduction Act.

About 96% of the deliveries Tesla reported in the second quarter of 2023 were of its Model Y crossover, and Model 3 entry-level sedan in this quarter.

Piper Sandler senior research analyst Alexander E. Potter wrote in a note on June 26, that according to the firm’s analysis, “Prices have been stable,” for Tesla during the second quarter on balance. The company’s steep discounts in and beyond China in the first quarter sparked cries of a “price war” in the electric vehicle market. Potter cautioned that “Price cuts in Q3, if any, could reignite concern re: margins,” for investors.

Tesla currently operates vehicle assembly plants in Fremont, California, Austin, Texas, and overseas in Shanghai and Brandenburg, Germany (outside of Berlin). The company also makes the Semi, a heavy-duty electric truck, at its battery plant in Sparks, Nevada. Deliveries of the Semi began in December 2022 but Tesla still isn’t producing the trucks in high volumes.

In March, Musk announced that Tesla plans to build a new factory near Monterrey, Mexico, a day’s drive from its Austin, Texas factory. After meeting with India Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New York in June, Musk said Tesla was also looking to invest in India “as soon as humanly possible,” too.

The company is expected to begin selling a partly revamped version of the Model 3 in North America this year. At an annual shareholder meeting in May, Musk also said Tesla will deliver its first Cybertruck pickups in 2023 and is developing a new kind of drive unit and other technology that should allow it to deliver a more affordable electric vehicle in the future.

Anticipation for newer and more affordable models could continue to put pressure on sales, along with rising competition, especially in China.

Musk, who is also executive chairman and CTO of Twitter and CEO of SpaceX, wrote in a tweet ahead of the second-quarter deliveries report: “Please advise people to be wary of margin loans. Tesla has always been a high variability stock, often with no obvious rhyme or reason. We are confident about long-term value creation, but cannot control the manic-depressive nature of the stock market.”

Tesla shares closed at $261.77 on Friday ahead of the second-quarter deliveries report. The company said, in a statement, it will post financial results for the second quarter after the market close on Wednesday, July 19, 2023.

— CNBC’s Ashley Capoot contributed reporting.

Source link

July 2, 2023
Li Auto, XPeng, and NIO Deliver Record Number of EVs in June

Deliveries in June from Chinese electric-vehicle producers

Li Auto

XPeng

and

NIO

were great but uneven. The results hold a couple of lessons for investors ahead of

Tesla

‘s closely watched delivery report due Sunday.

Source link

July 1, 2023
Tesla, Nvidia, Spirit Aerosystems, KB Home, Accenture, and More Market Movers

Stock futures were falling following three straight days of losses for Wall Street. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell again will be delivering testimony before Congress. His comments on Wednesday that the central bank likely would be raising rates further this year pushed markets lower.

Source link

June 22, 2023
China’s new EV subsidies might not be enough to bolster slowing growth

Cadillac advertises for its electric car in Shanghai on May 23, 2023. A traffic police woman stands below.

Hugo Hu | Getty Images News | Getty Images

BEIJING — Subsidies for electric cars aren’t enough to boost growth in China’s slowing economy.

One of the few detailed stimulus plans Beijing has announced this year extends tax breaks for electric car purchases, according to documents released Wednesday.

The incentives – which were set to expire this year – will now run until the end of 2027.

Authorities expect additional consumer savings of 520 billion yuan ($72.43 billion) as a result.

However, tax breaks don’t resolve the fundamental reason why people in China haven’t bought more electric cars: mileage concerns.

Charging challenges

Charging the car battery is still “relatively troublesome,” said Craig Zeng, CFO of online car information and shopping site Autohome. That’s according to a CNBC translation of his Mandarin language remarks.

He was speaking about the electric car market in general.

The layout of China’s residential areas means there aren’t many private parking spaces and there’s a limit to how many chargers communities can install, he pointed out.

Most people live in apartment compounds in China’s cities, with some parking underground or in lots surrounding the apartment buildings. In the capital city of Beijing, having a designated parking spot —without a battery charger — can cost nearly $100 a month or more on top of the apartment rent.

In such an environment, “after many people buy a car, the problem of charging it will gradually become more apparent,” Zeng said, noting the problem will affect people’s future decisions about buying an electric car.

Read more about electric vehicles from CNBC Pro

During a press briefing Wednesday, Chinese officials noted the charging problems and called for faster installation of charging infrastructure in residential parking spaces – especially in new developments. That’s according to an official transcript of their remarks.

The officials pointed out the country has rapidly expanded its charging infrastructure over the last seven years, and that in central urban areas, charging stations offer the same coverage as gas stations.

However, China still has a long way to go.

More than 70% of total public fast chargers are located in just 10 provinces, the International Energy Agency said in its 2023 electric vehicle outlook report. That’s only about a third of the country.

Fast charging allows drivers to charge car batteries in less than an hour, but it still takes far longer than filling up a gas tank.

China still leads globally in the installation of public fast charging stations – almost 90% of the global growth in such chargers last year, the IEA said.

“Growth in EV sales can only be sustained if charging demand is met by accessible and affordable infrastructure, either through private charging in homes or at work, or publicly accessible charging stations,” the IEA report said.

Broader economic slowdown

Spurring demand for electric cars also faces challenges from tepid consumer spending.

China’s retail sales grew more slowly than expected in May from a year ago.

Auto sales, one of the largest components of retail sales by value, maintained steady year-on-year growth – but fell by 8% from the prior month. Many brands have also cut prices this year to boost sales.

Recent meetings of the top executive body, the State Council, noted the economic challenges and called for further support, specifically for new energy vehicles. But the announcements and interest rate cuts have fallen short of market expectations for broader stimulus.

“Although Beijing may still introduce certain policy measures to stabilize growth in coming months, the disappointing State Council meeting suggests measures for stimulating the economy could be introduced in a gradual manner, as decision-making is now highly centralized with an emphasis on ‘security,’” Nomura analysts said in a report on Monday.

Growing market penetration

Analysts are still expecting growth for electric cars in China, the largest auto market in the world.

China typically lumps electric cars into a broader category called new energy vehicles, which includes battery-only and hybrid-powered cars.

Penetration of new energy vehicles in overall passenger car sales has reached about one-third of the market in recent months, according to figures from the China Passenger Car Association.

That’s well beyond the official target of at least 20% penetration by 2025.

Autohome’s Zeng said he expects new energy vehicle sales penetration to remain between 30% and 40% this year, and reach 50% in 2025.

Chinese authorities have supported the growth of the domestic new energy vehicle market over the last decade in a bid to become a global player in the auto industry.

On the consumer side, cities such as Beijing and Hangzhou have made it far easier for drivers to get a license plate for an electric car versus a traditional internal combustion engine vehicle.

Source link

June 21, 2023
Tesla secret configuration allows select drivers to use Autopilot, FSD without a nag to take the wheel

A Tesla Model Y is seen on a Tesla car lot on May 31, 2023 in Austin, Texas.

Brandon Bell | Getty Images

A security researcher who uses the handle “@GreentheOnly” has discovered a secret setting in Tesla vehicles that can be enabled by the company and allows a driver to use Tesla’s advanced driver assistance systems, marketed as Autopilot and Full Self-Driving, without keeping their hands on the steering wheel for an extended period of time.

When a Tesla vehicle has this mode enabled, it eliminates what owners of the cars refer to as the “nag.” The researcher has nicknamed the feature “Elon Mode,” but that is not the company’s internal nomenclature for it, he said.

Tesla does not offer a self-driving vehicle today. CEO Elon Musk has promised to deliver a self-driving car since at least 2016, and said a Tesla would be able to complete a demo drive across the United States without human intervention by the end of 2017.

Instead, Tesla driver assistance systems require a human driver to remain attentive and ready to brake or steer at any moment.

Typically, when a Tesla driver is using Autopilot or FSD (or their variations), a visual symbol blinks on the car’s touch screen to prompt drivers to apply resistance to the steering wheel at frequent intervals. If the driver does not grasp the steering wheel, the nag escalates to a beeping noise. If the driver still does not apply torque to the steering wheel at that point, the vehicle can temporarily disable the use of Autopilot for up to several weeks.

Musk said in a tweet last year in December, he would remove the “nag” for at least some Tesla owners in January. That plan never came to fruition. By April 2023, Musk said in a tweet, “We are gradually reducing it, proportionate to improved safety” in reference to the nags.

The security researcher who revealed “Elon mode,” and whose identity is known to both Tesla and CNBC, asked to remain pseudonymous, citing privacy concerns.

The Verge previously reported on “Elon mode.”

He has tested features of Tesla’s vehicles for years and is an owner of a Tesla Model X. He has also reported bugs to the company consistently, and earned tens of thousands of dollars from filing successful Tesla bug bounties, as previously reported.

The “white hat hacker” said in an interview via direct message on Tuesday, that “Unless you work at Tesla, or otherwise have access to relevant databases at the company,” there’s no way to know how many cars have “Elon mode” available today.

In February, Tesla issued a voluntary recall in the U.S. for 362,758 of its vehicles, warning that its Full Self-Driving Beta system may cause crashes. (It was the second such recall.) Tesla delivered an over-the-air software update to address the issues.

The FSD Beta system at that time could cause crashes, the safety recall report said, by allowing affected vehicles to, “Act unsafe around intersections, such as traveling straight through an intersection while in a turn-only lane, entering a stop sign-controlled intersection without coming to a complete stop, or proceeding into an intersection during a steady yellow traffic signal without due caution.”

GreentheOnly said he expects future recalls related to issues with FSD Beta and how well the system automatically stops for “traffic-control devices” like traffic lights and stop signs.

According to the most recent available data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Tesla has reported 19 incidents to the agency that resulted in at least one fatality, and where the company’s driver assistance systems were in use within 30 seconds of the collision.

There are 21 total incidents that Tesla reported to NHTSA that resulted in fatalities and where the cars were equipped with its driver assistance systems.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Source link

June 21, 2023
Toyota defies skeptics as stock seals best week since 2009

Akio Toyoda, president and CEO of Toyota Motor Corp.

Kiyoshi Ota | Bloomberg | Getty Images

DETROIT – Toyota Motor stock sealed its best week since 2009 on Friday, as the automaker laid out a robust plan for future all-electric vehicles and company scion Akio Toyoda became leader of the Japanese company’s board.

Shares of Toyota on the New York Stock Exchange closed Friday at $164.35 per share, down 2.3% for the day but still up 10.6% on the week. That 5-day gain is the stock’s best week since April 2009 when shares increased 14.5%.

Such a rally is not typical for the stock. It’s only the third double-digit weekly gain in more than two decades for the relatively well-performing but mundane stock. Shares of the company are up 20% so far in 2023.

The positive uptick this year comes as recent supply chain problems ease for the automotive industry, including Toyota, and after Toyoda, grandson of the company’s founder, announced plans to transition from CEO to chairman after more than 13 years leading the automaker.

Toyoda, who left his post as chief executive on April 1 and was succeeded by Koji Sato, had faced criticism from some environmental groups and investors for not going all-in on EVs and continuing production of hybrids and plug-in hybrids such as the Prius and Prius Prime.

Toyota’s stock in 2023.

Toyota executives, while increasing investments in EVs, have argued such cars and trucks are one solution, not the solution, to meet tightening global emissions standards and achieve carbon neutrality.

To address skeptics of its strategy, the automaker this week in Japan offered a rare peek behind the curtain into its future plans.

“Management has only rarely announced the details of technology under development in the past, and we sensed commitment to ensuring competitive strength via electrification and intellectualization under the new management team,” JPMorgan analyst Akira Kishimoto said in an investor note this week.

Ahead of its annual meeting Wednesday, Toyota outlined plans for a new generation of EVs to rival industry leaders Tesla and China-based BYD. The company said it plans to launch its next-generation EVs starting in 2026, including vehicles with highly touted “solid-state batteries” by 2027 or 2028.

Solid-state batteries can be lighter, with greater energy density and provide more range at a lower cost than today’s EVs that run on lithium-ion batteries.

Takero Kato, president of Toyota’s battery electric vehicle factory, said that Toyota is targeting a driving range of 1,000 kilometers, or 620 miles, for its EVs. The facility aims to produce about 1.7 million vehicles by 2030, he said.

“A strategic focus on differentiation (in terms of technologies and business model) rather than scale in 2025-30 and the company’s strong ability to develop technologies toward this end are longer-term positives, in our view,” UBS analyst Kohei Takahashi said Tuesday in an investor note.

Following the announcements, Toyota shareholders on Wednesday approval the company’s new leadership and rejected a shareholder proposal requiring Toyota to review its climate-related lobbying activities — voting in alignment with company recommendations.

— CNBC’s Michael Bloom and Lim Hui Jie contributed to this report.

Source link

June 16, 2023
Stellantis to reveal its first Europe-made affordable electric vehicle

The new Citroën e-C3 model will have a 320-kilometre range and a 57-minute “fast charge” capability.

Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images

Stellantis, the third-largest carmaker in the world by revenue, will reveal its first European-made, affordable electric car in mid-October.

The new Citroën e-C3 model will have a 320-kilometre range and a 57-minute “fast charge” capability, Citroën says. The company says it expects to make pre-bookings available by the end of this year, with deliveries starting in the second quarter of 2024.

Stellantis last month said that it would be adding nine new battery electric vehicles to its range this year as the European carmaker looks to further tap into the lucrative market, which is currently dominated by Chinese manufacturers. The company aims to have a total of 47 battery electric vehicles on the market by the end of 2024, the May press release said.

Citroën itself seeks to electrify its entire range by the end of 2024.

Sales of Stellantis’ battery electric vehicles were up 22% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2023, the company reported.

Shares of Stellantis were up 0.2% when markets opened at 8.00 a.m. London time Friday.

Stellantis share price.

The International Energy Agency in April estimated that electric vehicle sales exceeded 10 million in 2022, with China accounting for around 60% of the market.

Europe is the second-largest market for electric cars, with sales having increased by more than 15% in 2022, the energy watchdog says. It forecasts that EV purchases will climb to 25.9 million in 2028.

China is unlikely to dominate the electric vehicle market going forward, Volvo Cars CEO Jim Rowan told CNBC on June 8.

“We’re seeing a lot of new, fully electric brands … popping up in China, and that causes it to be somewhat turbulent, and a little bit chaotic within that market as people fight and jockey for position,” Rowan said.

“I think that it will prove more difficult for them to be successful in Europe and in America than it will be for them to be successful in China,” he added.

— CNBC’s Charlotte Reed and Anmar Frangoul contributed to this report.

Source link

June 16, 2023
Toyota stock having best week since 2009 after annual meeting, new EV goals

Akio Toyoda, Chairman of Toyota Motor Corp.

Yoshikazu Tsuno | Gamma-rapho | Getty Images

DETROIT – Toyota Motor’s stock is having its best week since 2009 following the company disclosing plans for its next-generation electric vehicles and shareholders voting in favor of its new leadership, including former CEO Akio Toyoda as chairman.

Shares of Toyota on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday achieved a new 52-week high before closing at $168.18 per share, up 1.6% during intraday trading and roughly 13% this week.

If shares can retain their current momentum, it would be the stock’s best week since April 2009 when they increased 14.5%. It would also mark only the third double-digit weekly gain in more than two decades.

The notable increase in the relatively mundane stock follows additional details about the company’s EV strategy, which has previously been criticized by some for not being aggressive enough.

Ahead of its annual meeting Wednesday, Toyota outlined plans for a new generation of EVs to rival industry leaders Tesla and China-based BYD. The company said it plans to launch its next-generation EVs starting in 2026, including vehicles with highly touted “solid-state batteries” by 2027 or 2028.

Solid-state batteries can be lighter, with greater energy density and provide more range at a lower cost than today’s EVs with lithium-ion batteries.

People arrive to attend an annual shareholders’ meeting for Toyota Motor in the city of Toyota, Aichi Prefecture on June 14, 2023. Toyota is under pressure from large institutional investors for chairman Akio Toyoda to step down over his lukewarm embrace of electric vehicles.

Str | Afp | Getty Images

Takero Kato, president of BEV Factory, said that Toyota is targeting a driving range of 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) for its EVs. BEV Factory aims to produce about 1.7 million vehicles by 2030, he said.

“Proactive disclosure of a new tech strategy featuring next-gen batteries and giga casting delivered a riposte to the view that it is lagging in BEVs. We await quantitative disclosure on BEV profit ahead,” Morgan Stanley analyst Shinji Kakiuchi said Wednesday in an investor note.

Following the announcements, Toyota shareholders Wednesday aligned their voting with company recommendations, including leadership approval and voting down a shareholder proposal requiring Toyota to review its climate-related lobbying activities.

Shareholders also approved the company’s new leadership and board, including the appointment of CEO Koji Sato as a director and Toyoda – grandson of automaker’s founder – as chairman.

Shares of Toyota on the NYSE are up about 23% this year, as the auto industry continues to recover from the coronavirus pandemic and supply chain issues that led to record low vehicle inventory levels.

Toyota’s gains put it in the middle of Japanese automaker stocks, ahead or in-line with the Detroit automakers and behind shares of Tesla, which have more than doubled in 2023.

Here’s how other automaker stocks have performed this year compared to Toyota:

Auto stocks so far this year

*Shares of these companies are traded in the U.S. as American depositary receipts.

Source link

June 15, 2023
Tesla Stock’s Winning Run Analyzed by Wall Street. Here’s What Drove It.

Tesla Stock’s Winning Streak Ended. Wall Street Says Ford, GM, AI Made It All Happen.

Source link

June 15, 2023
Toyota shares surge 5% after announcing plans for next-gen battery EVs

A display of Toyota electrified vehicles at the 2022 New York Auto Show, April 13, 2022.

Scott Mlyn | CNBC

Shares of Japanese automaker Toyota spiked 5% Tuesday after the company announced it will introduce a full lineup of battery electric vehicles with “next generation” batteries from 2026.

These will be developed and manufactured by a new EV unit called BEV Factory, which was established in May.

In a presentation Tuesday, Takero Kato, president of BEV Factory, said that Toyota is targeting a driving range of 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) for its EVs. BEV Factory aims to produce about 1.7 million vehicles by 2030, Kato said.

In comparison, the Tesla Model 3 has a range of about 430 kilometers, while the long-range model has a range of about 570 kilometers.

Toyota has a goal of achieving sales of 1.5 million all-electric vehicles per year by 2026, and selling 3.5 million all-electric vehicles annually by 2030.

Separately, the company is also developing a method for mass producing all-solid-state batteries for battery electric vehicles, and aims to commercialize this in 2027 to 2028. Toyota said it will be looking at a 20% improvement in cruising range for its all-solid-state batteries, compared to the current batteries.

This is along with a higher-specification model that is under research and development. This model aims for a 50% improvement in cruising range compared to the current product.

More pronounced shift to EVs?

Most notably, Toyota said that it has discovered a technological breakthrough that overcomes the challenge of battery durability in its all-solid-state batteries, and as such, the company is “reviewing its introduction to conventional HEVs and accelerating [its] development as a battery for BEVs.”

HEVs refer to hybrid electric vehicles, which are vehicles that are powered by a conventional internal combustion engine in combination with one or more electric motors.

This could signal a continued shift in the automaker’s EV strategy under new CEO Koji Sato, who took over the helm in April. In February, Sato said that the company will “accelerate the development of BEVs with a different approach than before,” Nikkei reported.

Under previous CEO Akio Toyoda, Toyota had come under fire for its go-slow approach to all-electric cars, instead sticking with the belief that all-electric vehicles are one solution, not the solution, for the company’s goal to become carbon neutral. This strategy persisted even up to the end of 2022, when it unveiled new hybrid Prius models.

Read more about electric vehicles from CNBC Pro

Toyota executives had argued they did not believe that all-electric vehicles will be adopted as readily as competitors think, citing reasons like roadblocks and saying that the market was not “mature enough.”

On its website, Toyota says that the materials needed to produce one long-range, all-electric vehicle battery could be used to produce six plug-in hybrid vehicle batteries, or 90 hybrid electric vehicle batteries.

The more aggressive push to all-electric vehicles could be seen in Kato’s presentation, with the BEV Factory president saying that “our aim is to change the future with BEVs … the next-generation battery EVs will adopt new batteries, through which we are determined to become a world leader in battery EV energy consumption.”

Source link

June 12, 2023
Elon Musk discussed a possible Mongolia expansion with the country’s prime minister

Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

Ludovic Marin | Afp | Getty Images

Mongolia’s prime minister Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene and Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Monday discussed possible expansion and investments into the Asian country over a virtual meeting.

“They discussed the possibility of welcoming Tesla to Mongolia for its electric vehicles battery factory, leveraging the country’s wide availability of copper and rare earth elements, which are essential components of electric cars’ batteries,” according to a statement issued on behalf of the Mongolian government.

The East Asian country is rich in minerals and boasts large deposits of copper, gold and coal.

“The Mongolian Government is committed to cooperating with international organisations to help boost the development of new technologies and raise investment in the country,” the statement said.

A statement from the cabinet secretariat of Mongolia’s government added that the country’s prime minister emphasized his support for the use of electric cars and urged Mongolian citizens to use such vehicles.

Musk and Oyun-Erdene also spoke about bringing Starlink — a satellite communications terminals and services provider operated by the Musk-founded SpaceX — to Mongolia. Starlink was registered as a company in Mongolia in 2022 and is expected to launch regionally this year.

Musk’s meeting with the Mongolian leader comes after the tech giant last week met with Chinese vice premier Ding Xuexiang and other top officials in China, as Beijing looks to portray a friendly business environment for foreign companies amid tensions with the U.S.

The Tesla CEO complimented China’s technological advances and visited the Tesla gigafactory in Shanghai.

Source link

June 7, 2023
‘Public nuisance’: New York sues Hyundai and Kia, alleging their cars are easy to steal

Hyundai Motor Co. vehicles are displayed at the company’s Motorstudio showroom in Goyang, South Korea, on Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020.

Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

South Korean automakers Hyundai and Kia are being sued for causing a “public nuisance,” according to a complaint filed in Manhattan federal court.

New York City is accusing the two firms of failing to install devices that prevent cars from being stolen, after a social media challenge prompted young teens to steal vehicles off the street by hot wiring them using a USB cable.

A viral TikTok challenge started in 2021 and spurred a rise in thefts of Hyundai and Kia cars. Chicago saw a jump of 800% year-on-year in the theft of these cars for the month of August 2022, officials told CNBC at the time. Los Angeles officials also saw an 85% jump compared with the year before.

“In electing profits over safety and deviating from industry norms by not including engine immobilizers as a standard safety feature, Defendants created and maintained a public nuisance,” the city said in the filing made in the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York.

New York accused the two companies of enabling “this spiraling epidemic” of car thefts.

“This case is a clear example of what happens to public safety when car manufacturers choose not to include standard anti-theft technology in their cars,” the filing said. “Making sure cars are not easy to steal protects both property and the public by keeping dangerous drivers in stolen vehicles off the roads,” it said.

When contacted by CNBC, Hyundai highlighted a response sent to news outlets where it said it made immobilizers standard on all vehicles from November 2021 and had taken measures to reduce the threat of thefts.

Highlighting the companies’ “failure” to install an anti-theft device, the complaint accused them of having “opened the floodgates to vehicle theft, crime sprees, reckless driving, and public harm.”

Shares of South Korea’s largest automakers fell on Wednesday. Hyundai Motors slid by more than 2% while Kia Corp dropped by more than 5%.

Hyundai and Kia last month agreed to a $200 million consumer class-action lawsuit settlement, according to Reuters, which covered approximately 9 million car owners and included up to $145 million for out-of-pocket losses for customers.

‘Virtual explosion’ of thefts

New York City in its filing said that the thefts are still continuing, and that it is seeking “compensation for the economic losses,” without specifying an exact figure.

“In 2023, in comparison to past years, there has been a virtual explosion of thefts of Kias and Hyundais,” it said. Around 977 Hyundai and Kia vehicles were reported stolen in the first four months of the year, according to the filing.

“This represents a roughly 660% increase in thefts of Kia and Hyundai vehicles as compared to those same months in 2022, when there were only 148 such thefts,” it said.

Stock picks and investing trends from CNBC Pro:

New York City joins a number of cities that took similar measures against the two automakers, including Baltimore, St. Louis, Milwaukee, San Diego and Seattle.

In a release, Baltimore Mayor Brandon M. Scott said in May: “These cost-cutting measures employed by Hyundai and Kia at the expense of public safety are unacceptable.”

Source link

June 6, 2023
The rise of Albemarle, the world’s largest lithium producer

Demand for lithium, a key component for electric vehicle batteries, is expected to surge, from 500,000 metric tons of lithium carbonate in 2021 to three to four million metric tons in less than a decade, according to McKinsey & Company.

Albemarle, the world’s top producer of this critical metal and the operator of mines in Australia, Chile and the U.S., says it plans to bring another domestic lithium mine online by 2027 — Kings Mountain in North Carolina. It already operates Silver Peak in Nevada.

related investing news

Albemarle is also building a $1.3 billion processing facility in South Carolina, where it will process battery-grade lithium hydroxide. The plant will support the manufacturing of 2.4 million electric vehicles annually and be able to process lithium from recycled batteries.

Despite that growth, Albemarle faces a number of potential headwinds including a possible economic downturn that could slow the demand for EVs, new battery chemistries that could reduce the need for lithium, battery recycling and additional competitors. Tesla began construction of a lithium refinery in Texas in 2023.

To better understand how lithium, known as “White Gold,” is extracted, the challenges involved and where production is moving to next, CNBC got a behind-the-scenes look at Albemarle’s operations in Chile and the U.S.

Watch the video to learn more.

Source link

June 3, 2023
Chinese EV startup Li Auto says car deliveries more than doubled in May

A Li Auto store inside a shopping mall in Yantai, Shandong province on May 6, 2023.

Future Publishing | Future Publishing | Getty Images

BEIJING — Chinese electric car startup Li Auto said it delivered more than twice as many cars in May versus a year ago.

For a third-straight month, Li Auto’s deliveries topped 20,000 with a climb to 28,277 vehicles in May, according to a release Thursday. That’s up by about 146% from a year ago.

In contrast, competitors Nio and Xpeng both reported a year-over-year drop in monthly deliveries.

Li Auto differs from the two startups in that its electric cars come with a fuel tank for charging the battery and extending driving range.

That divergence comes as China’s fast-growing electric car market grows more competitive.

Average selling price is down by about 10% to 15% across brands, Bank of America Securities’ head of Asia Pacific basic materials, Matty Zhao said Friday on CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia.”

She expects China’s electric car market to grow by 27% this year to 8.7 million units, with penetration of overall auto sales set to grow to 32% this year, versus 26% last year.

Some brands, such as Xpeng, are trying to compete by selling advanced assisted driving technology.

Xpeng said it delivered 7,506 electric cars in May, up by a few hundred from April. The company said its P7i sedan saw a “substantial increase” in deliveries.

Last week, management said wait times for P7i orders was more than six weeks due to production delays, which they expected would improve in June. The company projected a significant increase in overall deliveries to more than 20,000 vehicles a month in the fourth quarter.

Nio delivered 6,155 cars in May, down from April and a year ago. The company is set to release quarterly earnings on June 9.

Based on Li Auto’s reported and forecast deliveries, the company expects to deliver at least 22,000 vehicles in June.

Those monthly deliveries are still only a fraction of the market compared with industry giants Tesla and BYD.

Three U.S.-listed Chinese electric car startups.

BYD said it sold 239,092 passenger vehicles in May, doubling compared with a year ago. About half were purely battery-powered, while the other half were hybrids.

Tesla sold nearly 40,000 cars to consumers in China in April, according to the latest figures available from the China Passenger Car Association. That’s up from the year-ago period which saw few electric car sales due to Covid controls that locked down Shanghai, where Tesla’s factory in China is located.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk visited Beijing and Shanghai this week for the first time in more than three years.

Source link

June 1, 2023
Buy Ford Stock, Analyst Says. The Gap Is an Opportunity.
This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies for distribution to your colleagues, clients or customers visit http://www.djreprints.com.

https://www.barrons.com/articles/ford-stock-analyst-buy-608f1c5c
Updated May 30, 2023 2:33 pm ET / Original May 30, 2023 8:23 am ET

Order Reprints

Print Article

Ford Motor

stock picked up an upgrade to Buy. Business execution is improving and Wall Street hasn’t caught up yet with what’s possible. That’s an opportunity.
Source link
May 30, 2023
Tesla shares rise as Elon Musk meets with China’s foreign minister

Tesla CEO Elon Musk attends an opening ceremony for Tesla China-made Model Y program in Shanghai, east China, Jan. 7, 2020.

Ding Ting | Xinhua News Agency | Getty Images

Shares of Tesla rose Tuesday after the electric carmaker’s CEO Elon Musk met with China’s Foreign Minister Qin Gang.

It comes as Beijing is pushing to show it is open to foreign business, and as Musk reportedly signaled further expansion of his car company’s business in China.

Qin, who was until recently China’s ambassador to the U.S., said “Chinese-style modernization,” characterized by a huge population and “common prosperity” will create “unprecedented growth potential and market demand,” according to a statement from the Chinese foreign ministry.

He added that China’s electric vehicle market “has broad prospects for development” and that China will continue to open up and create a better market-oriented and law-based business environment for foreign firms like Tesla.

According to the Chinese foreign ministry statement, Musk praised the Chinese people and China’s achievements. Tesla opposes “decoupling” and is willing to continue to expand its business in China, the statement said.

Shares of Tesla jumped 5% shortly after markets opened Tuesday, before later paring gains. As of 10 a.m. ET, the stock was trading at $202.93, up 2.6% for the session.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a CNBC request to verify the Chinese foreign ministry’s statement.

The meeting between Musk and Qin comes at a time of continued tensions between the U.S. and China over technology. Last year, Washington enacted sweeping export restrictions on key chips and semiconductor equipment to China, in a move that could hobble’s Beijing’s attempts to boost its domestic industry in a critical technology.

This month, Chinese regulators barred operators of “critical information infrastructure” in China from buying products from U.S. chipmaker Micron.

The Chinese foreign minister on Tuesday said that a “constructive” U.S. and China relationship is in the interest of both countries and the world.

Competition

On Tesla’s side, Musk’s visit of Tuesday comes as the company faces heightened competition and a price war in China. Tesla has been adjusting the prices of its cars in China amid a tougher macroeconomic environment in the world’s second-largest economy.

The Chinese foreign ministry statement did not supply much detail on what was discussed between Musk and Qin. China is Tesla’s second-biggest market, and Musk has sought to maintain good relations with Beijing. The billionaire has pledged investments over the years and praised the country’s technology.

“China rocks in my opinion,” Musk said in 2020.

Tesla’s biggest car production factory is in the Chinese mega-city Shanghai, and the company in April announced plans to build another plant locally to manufacture its Megapack energy storage system.

Source link

May 30, 2023
Toyota, Daimler in deal to combine Japan truck operations

A Toyota Revo BEV Concept truck seen during the 44th Bangkok International Motor Show.

Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images

Daimler Truck Holding and Toyota Motor Corp said on Tuesday they had entered a non-binding agreement to combine the businesses of their truck units in Japan.

Under the memorandum of understanding (MOU), the businesses of Daimler-owned Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corp and Toyota subsidiary Hino Motors Ltd would be combined under a holding company, they said in a statement.

The shares of the new company are expected to be listed on the Prime Market of the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Daimler Truck and Toyota will invest in the company equally and cooperate on the development of hydrogen and other technologies in areas such as connectivity and autonomous driving, the statement said.

The companies expect to sign a definitive agreement in the first quarter of 2024 and close the transaction by the end of next year, they said.

Last year, a committee tasked with investigating an emissions scandal at Hino, which became a Toyota subsidiary in 2001, found that the truck and bus maker had falsified emissions data going back to 2003.

The heads of the four companies will hold a joint news conference in Tokyo at 4:30 p.m. (0730 GMT).

Source link

May 30, 2023
Elon Musk says his days are ‘long and complicated’ splitting time between SpaceX, Tesla and Twitter

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, speaks with CNBC on May 16th, 2023.

David A. Grogan | CNBC

Elon Musk added to his work portfolio late last year, when he acquired Twitter for $44 billion and appointed himself CEO. While he recently announced a successor for that role, the job is currently still his, and he remains the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX.

He talked about trying to manage his schedule in an interview on Tuesday at the The Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council Summit.

“My days are very long and complicated as you might imagine,” Musk said. “And there’s a great deal of context switching,” he said, emphasizing that “switching context is is quite painful.”

Musk said he generally tries to divide his schedule “so it’s predominantly one company on one day.”

But that’s not always possible. This Tuesday was “a Tesla day,” he said, but he “might end up at Twitter late tonight, and then tomorrow would be partly a Tesla day as well, half Twitter and then Thursday would be sort of a half-SpaceX, half-Tesla day.”

He described his jobs as “somewhat intertwined,” and said “the time management is extremely difficult.”

The complexity hasn’t been good for his investments. Tesla shares lost more than half their value in the two months after the Twitter deal closed last year, on concern that Musk would have less time to focus on the electric car maker even as the market was getting more competitive. Meanwhile, advertisers fled or temporarily suspended their campaigns on Twitter, and in March Musk marked down the value of the company to $20 billion. Musk said on Tuesday that many advertisers are coming back.

While other executives may outsource their calendar to a chief of staff or executive assistant, Musk said he does most of his scheduling on his own. He said he has “one part-time assistant” to help him manage his work schedule, a fact that was corroborated by a former Tesla employee.

“It’s impossible for someone else to know what the priorities are,” Musk said, adding that he is usually working most hours of the day, wrapping up at 2 a.m., his typical bedtime.

At Twitter, Musk now plans to shift into the role of executive chairman and technology chief, with former NBC ad executive Linda Yaccarino slated to become CEO.

However, Twitter is primarily a technology company, so his ongoing job as CTO will likely be demanding.

Thorold Barker, The Wall Street Journal’s editor for Europe, Middle East and Africa, asked Musk if he has a succession plan in place at his businesses.

“Succession is one of the toughest, age-old problems,” Musk said. “It’s plagued countries, kings, prime ministers and presidents, and CEOs since the dawn of history.”

Musk said he’s told his boards, “in all cases,” who is his choice to take over in a “worst-case scenario.” He emphasized the companies’ boards could also go in another direction as far as who should step into his shoes.

At Tesla, there’s been speculation that finance chief Zachary Kirkhorn is among candidates who Musk would endorse as a successor.

As CNBC previously reported, Musk’s companies frequently engage in related party transactions, and he’s faced political pressure to more cleanly separate them.

After Musk took over Twitter, for example, he authorized dozens of employees from Tesla, SpaceX and the Boring Co. to help him at the social media venture. The “transition team” he established at Twitter was involved in everything from code review to personnel and facilities-related decisions.

Musk was also a co-founding director and donor to OpenAI, a former non-profit that’s now backed by Microsoft. Financial filings from 2017 for OpenAI reveal that Musk donated around $250,000 worth of Tesla vehicles as part of his millions of dollars worth of donations to OpenAI back in its earlier days.

Of late, Musk has been openly attacking OpenAI’s corporate structure and the amount of ownership it’s sold to Microsoft. On Tuesday, Musk talked some about X.ai, a competitor he wants to develop in order to challenge OpenAI, and Google’s DeepMind.

“I don’t want to jump the gun here on announcements,” Musk said. “But OpenAI has a relationship with Microsoft that seems to work fairly well, and it’s possible that X.ai and Twitter and Tesla would have something similar.”

WATCH: Elon Musk in using generative AI in marketing

Source link

May 23, 2023
Ford lays out its plans to ramp EVs and boost profits in key capital markets day

Ford Mustang on display at the NY Auto Show, April 6, 2023.

Scott Mlyn | CNBC

DEARBORN, Mich. – Ford Motor is making its case to Wall Street at an investor event Monday, sharing details of its plan to profitably build millions of EVs while growing its traditional operations.

Ford CEO Jim Farley kicked off the day discussing the company’s growth plans for its gas-powered, fleet, and electric business units.

related investing news

“I’m not here to tell you that were undervalued, you’ll make your own decision,” Farley said.

Ford said early Monday that it is maintaining its 2023 guidance of between $9 billion to $11 billion in adjusted EBIT and about $6 billion in adjusted free cash flow.

The company ahead of the event also announced a series of new deals for the supply of lithium products in support of its plan to dramatically ramp up production of electric vehicles.

Ford is targeting an 8% EBIT margin on its electric vehicle unit and a 2 million EV production runrate by 2026, up from an expected 600,000 by year-end.

The automaker is expected to lose about $3 billion on its “Model e” electric vehicle business this year, off-set from profits in its traditional “Blue” and “Pro” fleet businesses. The company separated the businesses and began reporting them separately this year.

For the first quarter, Ford said the EV operations’ loss widened to $722 million in the first quarter from $380 million a year earlier. The company’s traditional car business earned $2.6 billion, and the automaker’s fleet operations reported $1.4 billion in earnings.

The company expects to simplify its operations and increase margins from traditional products to low double-digit EBIT margins up from 7.2% in 2022.

For the traditional business, Kumar Galhotra, president of the operations, said 8 percentage points of margin are expected to come from reductions in structural and controlled costs. That will assist in off-setting 6 percentage points in net pricing.

“Demand continues to outstrip capacity for our key [internal combustion] vehicles,” Galhotra said. “In the next 10 months, Ford Blue will increase its capacity by over 160,000 units.”

That increase may be surprising, as the company invests billions into EVs. Galhotra said while the company expects its sales of traditional vehicles to begin declining after 2025 in exchange for EVs, vehicles with internal combustion engines will be around “well into” the next decade, he said.

Profitably balancing the shift from traditional vehicles with engines to EVs is an increasingly difficult challenge for traditional automakers such as Ford.

Doug Field, chief advanced product development and technology officer, said a key to doing so is increasing efficiencies in its next-generation EVs that are set to begin production in 2025.

‘Different kind of revenue’

Field also touted a push into software and subscription revenue models, using the automaker’s BlueCruise hands-free highway driving system as as example.

“As we build out our next gen platforms, we aspire to deliver [BlueCruise] to as many customers as possible,” Field said. “When you can take your eyes off the road, everything changes.”

Ford for the 2024 model-year expects to build 500,000 vehicles equipped with the hands-free technology. At an expected take rate of 20%, Field said BlueCruise alone could amount to $200 million in revenue.

“My finance and business partners tell me that this is a different kind of revenue,” he said. “They use these words like accretive to margins, less cyclical than vehicle sales.”

Field said that Ford’s approach to creating EVs is radically different from its traditional approach to vehicle development, emphasizing that software will define and control many new features – including features Ford hasn’t yet developed, but will add to existing vehicles in the future via updates.

“The products we make are not living rooms,” Field said. “They are moving, working robots. And our software ambition goes way beyond deep into how our products move, how they collect data, and how they support people who are going to use them for real work.

“We call them unimaginably great products, because the best things we will make are the ones we haven’t thought of yet.”

Source link

May 22, 2023