Welcome to My Car Week, a newsletter by Thomas Gigold. I’ve been writing about cars and mobility for 20 years now. Feel free to share & subscribe, helping me to keep it real. ✌️

Hey there.

Sorry, but this week’s mail is only bringing bad news, if you are an EV fan!

It looks like some manufacturers are going into reverse when it comes to electric vehicles - this week there have quite been some reports of poor EV-sales from the bigger manufacturers & some questionable quotes from high politics, both in the US and Europe.

It should not come as a surprise, that Donald Trump loves the oil-industry. His election victory could turn the US EV-market upside down, based on his latest remarks. Meanwhile even in Europe, political support is wavering. Conservatives in Germany have been railing for months against the EV strategy of the European Union. And the now re-elected president of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, also promised in her inaugural paper to review decisions in the transport sector for the European Zero Emission Pact: E-fuels should perhaps be allowed then. Seems like conservatives just always need to see something burning...

All in all, not a good week for electric mobility.
After all, negative headlines of this kind don't do much to improve the mood of potential buyers, investors or even critics.

The market is definitely growing - just not for the established players, and on a tiny, tiny scale. In Europe, the growth rate is currently 1.7% year-on-year. And as in the US, the beneficiaries are mostly names that are not directly on the list when you think of the bigger companies: Volvo, Hyundai, BMW, BYD and Rivian are driving the growth, while companies like Tesla, Volkswagen and GM are struggling.

However, the taste of blood remains in the mouths of most car CEOs at the moment: while the market is uncertain, manufacturers have to invest in the electric future.
Because one thing is clear: combustion engines belong in the museum or the garage for chic summer days. There is no way around electric drive trains in everyday's car if we take climate change seriously.

However, if you look at the market, it seems that politicians are no longer willing to tackle the issue of climate change, companies have no confidence in their EV-strategies, and buyers are just unsure what to do.

In this mail:

• Tesla is Losing Ground

• Problems for Porsche

• Ford: EV Goals Were Too Ambitious

Tesla is Losing Ground

This will be a bad year for Tesla.
First, there are the revenue numbers:
In Q2/2024, Tesla made a profit of US$ 1.48 billion. Although it sounds good, this is catastrophic - a staggering 45% drop compared to Q2/2023 - despite price cuts, low-interest loans and mass layoffs.

Also important to know: $890 million of these profits come not from the sale of cars, but from the sale of ZEV certificates that other companies buy to improve their carbon footprint. This means that Tesla earns more money from certificate trading than from its core business.

And then there’s the markets, in which Tesla is is losing ground, in both–the United States and Europe, with sales falling by 8% (US) and 13% (EU).

There are many reasons for the falling sales figures.

• In the currently rather green-liberal bubble of potential Tesla buyers, Elon Musk's increasing extremism on the right-wing spectrum + endorsment of Donald Trump is not going down well.

• The line-up of vehicles simply looks old. Although there are always technical updates to the vehicles, Tesla has not developed visually for 12 years (Model S, 7 years for the Model 3), while other manufacturers have now gone through two whole evolutionary stages of design.

• The competition is becoming stronger.
  BMW, Volkswagen, BYD, Ford, Hyundai + Kia, Renault … Tesla's Cybertruck also hasn’t really taken off in terms of sales with just 11,300 sold in the US through the first half of 2024.

• The trick to cut prices - like Tesla did it in 2023 - aren't attractive anymore as more EVs come to market and reduces demand and prices fall. Since now everyone is adding discounts, you need to get other attraction points.

/ AP

🤖 On this weeks Tesla Q2 earnings call Elon Musk claimed – again – that Tesla will solve autonomy by the end of the year, just like he has said for the past 10 years. I think I mentioned in the last newsletter, that the date for the big reveal of Teslas Robotaxi was moved from August to “later”, did I? / Threads (you should watch the video!)

Electric Vehicles Are Piling Up At Dealerships

A 2^nd Trump Presidency Could Mean Big Changes for EVs

Donald Trump has made it clear he’s not a fan of electric vehicles or clean energy. He wants to freeze the climate laws of the Biden adminstration, mostly the the Inflation Reduction Act, that secures money for clean energy and electric mobility. Also, he wants to take back tax credits for EVs, which has helped persuade consumers to make the switch to electric.

It would also mean, that Trump introduces tariffs on cars produced in Mexico. Tesla as well as Chinese car manufacturers try to establish plants there, which potentially could bring cars to the US then. With the announcement of his plans, Trump made Elon Musk freeze the planning for a new Tesla plant in Mexico for now. / QZ

💸 You can now pay your Ferrari with cryptocurrencies. The company is rolling out the acceptance of crypto to Europe, after a succesfull test in the US to “better address the evolving needs of its clients”, as stated by the company. / Reuters

9 and 11 Problems for Porsche

Like Porsche, like Ford (see below).
While presenting it latest numbers, Porsche is making a clear statement: ‘The transition to electric cars is taking longer than we thought five years ago’, which is why the car manufacturer is changing its strategy slightly, to ensure it can deliver “the cars people want” – with combustion engines, PHEVs and EVs.

At the same time, Porsche cuts its profit forecast.

According to Porsche, this is because important suppliers have been ‘paralysed’ by flood damage. For this reason, the forecast for EV sales also had to be adjusted: this is still expected to be 12-13%, 2 to 3 per cent lower than the previous target.

Even before the flood, Porsche was already struggling with a decline in sales in China, where demand is seen to be falling. The replacement of the head of China is intended to counteract this. This is important, as Porsche generates 20 per cent of its total sales in China. / Porsche Press Release, n-tv (de), Financial Times

🤡 Elon Musk tweeted to have the first Optimus robots work in Tesla factories by 2025, doing simple task. I would actually bet money against this promise, and it seems a safe bet. / X & Gizmodo

Ford: EV Goals Were 'Too Ambitious'

Ford has invested heavily to make up for the shortfall in e-mobility. In the USA, the company has developed its own vehicles, while in Europe it buys platforms from VW.

However, customers are not following suit as planned: Ford's E-Car division is making losses; even though Ford can offset these with the sales of combustion engines.
Ford in Europe, however, has an even bigger problem. With the end of bestsellers such as the Fiesta, Focus, Mondeo and S-Max, SUVs and electric models have to fill the gap.

In an interview with Autocar, Marin Gjaja, COO of Ford's Model E-Car division, said that the company was overly ambitious with its EV plans in Europe. "I think customers have voted, and they told us that was too ambitious. We don't see that going all-electric by 2030 [in Europe] is a good choice for our business or, especially, for our customers." / heise (de) + Autocar

🗓️ General Motors is shelving plans for a Buick EV as well as the start of its new electric factory in Michigan. / Car & Driver 

💀 The EV no one missed: The production of the Mercedes EQC ended in November 2023 already – but no one noticed until now.

That’s all folks!
Sorry for all the negative news … Here’s a sweet little cat, so you have something positive to start into the weekend!

– Thomas