Tag: Musk, Elon

China Wants to Set the Terms of Any ‘Thaw’ With the U.S.

Media Library

For a few weeks, a flurry of meetings between American and Chinese officials seemed to signal that the two countries were trying to reduce tensions, after months of rancor and frozen high-level contacts raised concerns about the risk of a conflict, accidental or otherwise. First the U.S. national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, met with China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, in Vienna, in May. Then the two countries’ top commerce officials held talks, the first bilateral cabinet-level meeting in Washington in months. China’s ambassador also arrived in Washington last week, finally…

Tesla’s Profit Dropped Sharply in First Quarter as It Cut Prices

Chin@Strategy

Tesla’s profit fell sharply in the first three months of the year after it cut the prices of its electric vehicles, the company said on Wednesday. The carmaker, led by Elon Musk, said it had made $2.5 billion in the first quarter, a drop from $3.7 billion in the last three months of last year and $3.3 billion in the first quarter of 2022. Tesla sold more electric cars in the United States last year than all its competitors combined. But its market share slipped as traditional carmakers like General…

China’s New Premier Needs to Revive Growth. How Far Will Loyalty Get Him?

Chin@Strategy

Before Li Qiang was appointed China’s No. 2 leader this past week, he oversaw Shanghai, a city that, for a time early last year, was celebrated for trying to contain Covid with relative restraint. City officials wanted to avoid the economic devastation of a full-scale lockdown and instead opted for limited restrictions that applied to, in one instance, a single milk tea shop. But as cases spread, the central government in Beijing intervened. Suddenly, the pragmatism and business-friendly character that had long defined Shanghai’s spirit gave way to “zero Covid,”…

Tesla Offers a New ‘Master Plan’ but Few Big Revelations

Chin@Strategy

Tesla said on Wednesday that it would build a factory in Mexico to manufacture an electric vehicle that would be significantly more affordable than any of the cars it sold now. But the company disappointed investors who were expecting it to make big announcements about new products and strategies. Shareholders and analysts had expected Tesla to reveal information that would clarify how the company would retain its crown as the world’s dominant maker of electric vehicles in the face of energetic competition from established carmakers and relatively younger Chinese manufacturers.…

The Toll That Twitter’s Glitches Is Taking on Chinese Activists

Chin@Strategy

In November, Bao Pu, a veteran human rights activist who was visiting Beijing, posted videos on Twitter of university protests against China’s tough coronavirus lockdown orders. He gained over 10,000 followers in subsequent weeks. But friends and fellow activists soon told him they were having a hard time finding his posts — and even his account — on Twitter. “I was shocked,” said Mr. Bao, who is based in Hong Kong. He said he feared that Twitter was “putting a limit on the influence” that he could have. More than…

Tesla’s Profit Jumped 12% in Fourth Quarter

Chin@Strategy

Tesla said Wednesday that profit in the fourth quarter of 2022 rose 12 percent from the previous quarter, above Wall Street expectations, capping a tumultuous year that included intensifying competition, supply chain disruptions and concerns about the behavior of its chief executive, Elon Musk. Net profit for the quarter was $3.7 billion, up from $3.3 billion in the third quarter, Tesla said. For the full year, Tesla’s profit more than doubled to $12.6 billion from $5.5 billion in 2021. Sales for the year, including revenue from solar panels and other…

Davos Worries About a ‘Polycrisis’

Chin@Strategy

Hand-wringing in Davos Andrew here. I’m attending the World Economic Forum with DealBook’s Lauren Hirsch and a team from The Times to capture the mood and behind-the-scenes action among the world leaders and the C.E.O.s who’ve made their annual pilgrimage to the Swiss Alps. Speaking of which: Davos is normally full of hand-wringing over the state of the world, but it feels especially pronounced this year. (That isn’t necessarily reflected in the crowd of corporate pop-ups on the Promenade, one of the town’s main thoroughfares, nor in the cocktail party…

Tesla Sales in China Slump as Competition Intensifies

Chin@Strategy

Tesla sales in China, the world’s largest car market, rose in 2022 but slumped in December as domestic manufacturers gained ground, according to data published Thursday. The company sold around 56,000 cars in China last month, a decline of more than 20 percent from a year earlier, and nearly 45 percent from the previous month. For the full year, Tesla’s Chinese sales rose 50 percent, according to data published by the China Passenger Car Association. China accounts for roughly 40 percent of Tesla’s sales. Concern about the carmaker’s performance there…

Tesla Car Sales Rose 18% in Last Quarter

Chin@Strategy

Tesla said Monday that it delivered 405,000 electric cars during the last three months of the year, an 18 percent increase from the previous quarter that fell short of analyst estimates and may reinforce investor fears that the electric car company is losing momentum. Wall Street analysts had predicted that Tesla would sell around 420,000 vehicles from October through December, up from 343,000 vehicles in the third quarter. The company sold a total of 1.3 million cars in 2022, a 40 percent increase from the year before. That was short…

Tesla Had a Bad Year. Some Investors Are Blaming Elon Musk.

Chin@Strategy

In a down year for stocks, the 70 percent drop in Tesla’s share price stands out for the scale of wealth vaporized and the unorthodox behavior of its chief executive, Elon Musk. The collapse of Tesla’s stock price destroyed about $680 billion in market value. And Mr. Musk, once hailed as a genius who remade the car industry, appears increasingly distracted by his acquisition of Twitter and is using the social network to vent his frustrations. He insulted one of his critics this week by describing him as having “tiny…