Tesla Wipes Out $145 Billion In Value In Two Weeks

Good morning! It’s Thursday, November 2, 2023, and this is The Morning Shift, your daily roundup of the top automotive headlines from around the world, in one place. Here are the important stories you need to know.

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Contents

1st Gear: Slowing Demand Means Tesla Loses $145 Billion In Valuation

A drop in the price of Tesla shares has wiped away nearly one-fifth of the automaker’s value in less than two weeks. The news comes amid mounting concerns that demand for electric vehicles is beginning to weaken. From Bloomberg:

The selloff started earlier this month when the electric-vehicle giant dialed back growth expectations during its third quarter earnings call. That was followed by grim commentary from several global automakers, as well as Wall Street analysts. This week, battery-maker Panasonic Holdings Corp. and chipmaker ON Semiconductor Corp. also sounded alarms for the EV industry.

The warnings have weighed on stocks across the US automotive sector, which has also been battling extensive negotiations with its labor unions over wages. Still, Tesla’s decline stands out: shares have sunk over 17% since the Oct. 18 report, compared to a 2.8% drop in the S&P 500 Index, and a 3.4% decline in the Nasdaq 100. The retreat in the EV-maker’s stock price has erased about $130 billion from the company’s market capitalization.

“At the crux of the problem is a capital-intensive sector investing in unproven EV strategies amid a world of rising costs, lower prices, rising rates and slower demand,” Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas wrote in a note discussing the wider industry weakness Tuesday. “What investors seem to be waking up to today is the idea that the tens of billions of dollars invested in EVs may be value destructive rather than value accretive.”

The overall outlook for vehicles has reportedly been becoming more grim as high interest rates have sent the cost of car ownership sky high. If you add rising inflation to the mix, buying a car becomes even more difficult from a price perspective. EVs just happen to be getting hit first.

As a pureplay EV maker with an eye-watering valuation, the stakes are high for Tesla. While some part of its expensive share price reflects its potential to develop self-driving cars, a large part depends on the company’s ability to maintain its current dominant position in the EV industry and its profit margins.

As EV demand continues to taper off and Tesla continues to aggressively cut prices to few sales results, investors are starting to get jittery, according to Bloomberg. It reflected in the sharp share price slide.

2nd Gear: Tesla Not At Fault For Deadly Chinese Crash

In some good news for Tesla, a Chinese court has ruled that one of its Model Y was not the cause of a 2022 accident that killed two people and injured three others.

The Austin, Texas-based automaker had sued a Chinese social media influencer who alleged the crash, which happened in November of 2022, was caused by a malfunctioning Model Y. A forensics investigation ruled out the possibility that the accident was caused by defects in the steering or braking system. From Bloomberg:

The influencer, who has an account on Douyin — or the Chinese version of Tiktok — was ordered to issue a public apology on their account and pay Tesla 30,000 yuan ($4,100) compensation for reputational damage, the report said.

The Chinese ruling follows Tesla’s win in the first jury trial over a fatal crash in California that may have involved the use of Autopilot, the automaker’s driver-assistance system. A 12-member jury cleared the EV maker of wrongdoing and vindicated the technology that’s a core part of Elon Musk’s efforts to gain an edge in the electrification race.

The Chinese accident involved an owner who said he couldn’t get the Model Y to stop after it accelerated up to a speed of 164 kilometers per hour (102 miles per hour) for about 2.6 kilometers and crashed into other vehicles and four pedestrians. The car was finally brought to a halt after the driver crashed it into buildings on the side of the street, surveillance footage showed.

The news comes just a day after Tesla won a case in the U.S. against someone saying a malfunction in Autopilot led to a fatal crash.

3rd Gear: Hourly Ford UAW Workers Could Get Buyouts

A tentative agreement between the United Auto Workers union and Ford comes with a buyout option that is being offered to hourly workers. On page 13 of the 36-page document called the UAW “highlighter” is information on a $50,000 buyout for an unlimited number of UAW members. From The Detroit Free Press:

“Your UAW bargaining committee was successful in negotiating enterprise-wide buyout offerings for our legacy members,” the document says. “The Special Retirement Incentive (SRI) will be for $50,000 (gross pretax) for an unlimited number of eligible production and skilled trade members. The sign-up period for the SRI will be determined by the national parties and all eligible applicants will be required to retire during the 2024 calendar year.”

The eligible parties must retire by Dec. 1, 2024, according to the summary.

What isn’t listed on the UAW website is who is eligible to apply for the retirement bonus. The Detroit Free Press confirmed who may apply with a UAW source not authorized to be speak on the matter:

Workers with 30 or more years of credited service

Workers age 55 or older with 10 or more years of credited service

Workers age 65 years or older with one or more years of credited service.

Ford has many UAW employees whose family members have worked for “Ford’s” for generations.

The UAW’s strike agains the Big Three began on September 15, and Ford reached a tentative agreement with the union on October 25. About 57,000 union members who work for Ford began the ratification vote on November 1. The process is expected to take until the middle of this month.

4th Gear: Fire Risk Means 2.16 Million Toyota RAV4s Recalled

Toyota is recalling 1.85 million 2013-2018 RAV4s in the U.S. and an additional 306,000 in Canada and Mexico because of a sizing issue with replacement 12-volt batteries that could lead to a fire. From Automotive News:

“Some replacement 12-volt batteries of the size specified for the subject vehicles have smaller top dimensions than others,” Toyota said in a press release. “If a small-top battery is used for replacement and the hold-down clamp is not tightened correctly, the battery could move when the vehicle is driven with forceful turns. The movement could cause the positive battery terminal to contact the hold-down clamp and short circuit, increasing the risk of a fire.”

[Josh Burns, a Toyota spokesperson] declined to comment on whether the automaker was aware of any injuries, accidents, deaths or fires.

To fix the issue, dealers will replace the battery hold-down clamp, tray and positive terminal cover with improved parts.

Vehicle owners will be notified by late December.

This is now the 12th recall Toyota has issued in 2023. Previously, about 1.4 million vehicles in the U.S. were impacted. This latest recall will more than double that number.

Reverse: He’s The Aviator

Neutral: I Wish I Cared

I don’t know man, the World Series just didn’t do it for me this year. I’m happy for the Ranger, though. At least they aren’t the Astros, those cheating fucks.