Ford CEO Jim Farley frustrated after bad earnings
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/02/03/ford-ceo-jim-farley-frustrated-after-bad-earnings.html
In boost for Ford and Tesla, Treasury changes EV tax rules making it easier to be categorized as an SUV
https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/03/business/electric-vehicle-tax-rules-suvs/index.html
I think Ford has to hang in there. Elon is doing a great service to all of Tesla's competition.
I think the legacy automakers will largely fail to bridge the coming transportation disruption. It'll be a slow demise as we've seen with malls, coal, magazines, & newspapers. They have too many legacy issues --facilities, labor, and -mostly- the inability to accept that they have to change.
From the article: (bold by me)
QuoteThe company's fourth-quarter earnings on Thursday missed analyst expectations by a wide margin, as costs and supply chain issues again hurt Ford's bottom line, Farley knows his company needs to change.
When there is such substantial changes to the market (gasoline to electric) you can't look at quarterly earnings. They need to think long term.
>>coming transportation disruption
>> long term
The US Hasn't Noticed That China-Made Cars Are Taking Over the WorldThe country is poised to become the No. 2 exporter of passenger vehicles, surpassing the US and South Korea and risking new tensions with trading partners and rivals.https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-01-26/how-china-is-quietly-dominating-the-global-car-market
The whole article is worth a read but some of you may get paywalled if you've recently read something by Bloomberg, so...
QuoteOverseas shipments of cars made in China have tripled since 2020 to reach more than 2.5 million last year, according to data from the China Passenger Car Association. That's only a whisker (about 60,000 units) behind Germany, whose exports have fallen in recent years. China's numbers, behind Japan but ahead of the US and South Korea, herald the emergence of a formidable rival to the established auto giants. Chinese brands are now market leaders in the Middle East and Latin America.
QuoteBut thanks to increasing automation and resulting standardization— Goldman Sachs Group Inc. says new auto plants in China have the highest levels of robot usage in the world—those concerns [meeting European safety standards] are now history. As quality improved over the past decade, Chinese cars started acing European safety tests. China's tough curbs on air pollution have also helped most of its cars meet European emissions standards.
Quote"The switch to battery means the motor is no longer a differentiator," says Alexander Klose, executive vice president for overseas operations at Aiways Automobiles Co., a pure-Chinese EV maker, which has sold several thousand vehicles in Europe. Technologically, "it's created a level playing field," he says.