Most electric vehicle stocks rose in the week ended Aug. 23, rising along with the broader market on hopes that a Federal Reserve interest rate cut is imminent, but company-specific news weighed on some stocks.
Here's a quick rundown of what happened in the EV world this week:
Mixed news for Tesla in Europe: The European Union announced this week that it would reduce tariffs on Tesla Inc.'s TSLA China-made EVs imported into the region to 9%, down from an initially proposed 20.8%. The reduced tariff rate also applies to other Chinese companies. The EU already imposes a 10% tariff on imports of battery EVs, and the new tariffs were intended to protect domestic companies from unfair competition with Chinese manufacturers who are benefiting heavily from so-called “unfair subsidies.”
The move comes on the heels of Tesla being dethroned by BMW AG BWMYY in July. The German premium automaker shipped 14,869 BEVs in July, compared with Tesla's 14,561, according to data from market research firm JATO Dynamics.
This week, Tesla lost another longtime executive, Sreela Venkataratnam, vice president of finance and operations, after 11 years in the role. Tesla announced major job cuts in April, leading to the departure of several key executives. In a separate development, Uber Technologies Inc. has reportedly hired former Tesla executive Rebecca Tinucci, who was head of Tesla's charging network, as its global head of sustainability.
Rawlinson Says Tesla is Distracted: Peter Rawlinson, LCID of premium EV maker Lucid Group, has spoken out again. In an interview with Yahoo Finance this week, he said, “We're way ahead of Tesla. We took them away. When I was at Tesla, Tesla was the technology leader. They got distracted and we took them away.” Lucid has completed construction of its Arizona factory to produce 90,000 vehicles per year and is on track to produce 9,000 Lucid Airs by the end of the year, he added, with the Gravity also due to go on sale this year.
See also: Best EV Stocks
Ford scales back EV plans: Ford Motor Co., a long-established automaker that has scaled back its EV plans several times, announced it would scrap plans to launch a three-row all-electric SUV and build a hybrid vehicle instead. The company also said it would delay the launch of its next-generation electric truck to late 2027 and start building a new electric commercial van that uses battery cells produced at its Tennessee plant. The measures were necessitated by growing competition, especially from low-cost EV makers in China, and aggressive pricing strategies adopted by industry players.
“We have decided to align our product and technology roadmap, as well as our industry footprint, to achieve our goal of being EBIT positive within 12 months of the launch of all new models through pricing and margin compression,” said CFO John Lawler.
Workhorse hits cash crunch: Ohio-based electric vehicle maker Workhorse Group (WKHS) reported disappointing second-quarter results, reporting revenue of $840,000, below market expectations of $8.43 million. The company blamed lower sales of its W4 CC vehicle for the decline in revenue. Bottom line earnings also fell short of expectations. In its quarterly filing with the SEC, the company issued a going concern warning.
Canoo Executive Resigns: GOEV Chief Technology Officer Sohel Merchant, one of the founding members of struggling lifestyle EV maker Canoo, Inc., has resigned as the company undergoes a major restructuring, TechCrunch reported. The company is implementing austerity measures, including closing its Los Angeles location and asking employees outside the location to relocate to Texas or Oklahoma, according to the report.
The CraneShares Electric Vehicles & Future Mobility Index ETF, KARS, closed Friday at $18.93, up 1.21%, according to data from Benzinga Pro. The ETF has gained 3.44% this week.
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Here's how EV stocks are performing this week.
Weekly Change (+/-)Tesla +1.94%Nio, Inc. NIO +3.29%XPeng, Inc. XPEV +1.01%Li Auto, Inc. LI +3.36%Workhorse -33.55%Hyzon Motors, Inc. HYZN +20.59%Canoo -2.00%Rivian Automotive, Inc. RIVN +5.68%Lucid +33.33%Faraday Future Intelligent Electric Inc. FFIE +41.21%Nikola Corp. NKLA -7.63%VinFast Auto Ltd. VFS -3.68%Market news and data provided by Benzinga API
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