Tag: Tesla Motors Inc

Price War Over Electric Cars Erupts in China

Chin@Strategy

A cutthroat price war has erupted in the world’s largest automobile market. Within the span of a week in March, Volkswagen’s Chinese joint venture slashed prices on its ID.3 electric cars by 18 percent. Changan Automobile, one of China’s state-owned car manufacturers, offered $3,000 cash rebates, free charging credits and other incentives for its electric vehicles. BYD, the country’s biggest E.V. maker, unveiled a second round of markdowns in a month for some of its older models. Amid slumping auto sales, car brands are going to extremes to stay competitive,…

Falling Lithium Prices Are Making Electric Cars More Affordable

Chin@Strategy

Lithium, the common ingredient in almost all electric-car batteries, has become so precious that it is often called white gold. But something surprising has happened recently: The metal’s price has fallen, helping to make electric vehicles more affordable. Since January, the price of lithium has dropped by nearly 20 percent, according to Benchmark Minerals, even as sales of electric vehicles have soared. Cobalt, another important battery material, has fallen by more than half. Copper, essential to electric motors and batteries, has slipped by about 18 percent, even though U.S. mines…

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.…

China’s Leading Electric Carmaker Has Arrived in Germany

Chin@Strategy

Germans take huge pride in their automotive industry, and have never been eager to abandon their Audis, BMWs or Mercedes-Benzes for foreign makes. But with a goal to change that, a Chinese automaker that sells the most electric cars in the world has begun offering three of its models in Germany. BYD, founded in 1995 under the name “Build Your Dreams,” has become a behemoth in China, the world’s largest auto market, by focusing on electric vehicles. Last year it sold a total of 1.86 million battery-powered cars, including plug-in…

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…

Why China’s Economy Faces a Perilous Road to Recovery

Chin@Strategy

Many European manufacturers in China have been forced to operate with about half their usual staff for two to three weeks, affecting output somewhat, said Klaus Zenkel, the chairman of the chamber’s South China chapter. As a precaution against lockdowns, many companies had accumulated spare parts in warehouses before the Covid wave and have relied on those to keep running. But to save on costs, a few small suppliers of specific components have stopped operations early for the Lunar New Year holiday, which starts on Jan. 21. “Everyone managed a…