....lithium market participants are aware that the outlook for the resource is closely tied to EV and the auto industry.
....do you expect the auto industry to do well in a deteriorating economy?
....if you are bullish on lithium, you must in the soft landing camp, but if you aren't and think that the economy would get worse ahead, that belief would be in contradiction to the idea that EV/lithium would recover and grow stronger.
...in the meantime, you read about all the EV growth (IEA etc) sprouting as if a slowing economy/recession would have little impact on EV demand. If that was the case, Chinese EV makers would not be bending hand over fist to slash EV prices in desperation to get Chinese consumers to buy. And the Chinese Govt would have to appeal to its citizens to change their vehicles to EV to shore up the economy.
...and of course, if the outlook is that good, Chinese EV makers stocks wouldn't be doing this:
BYD -6.35% (1 month) -9.53% (1 year)
Nio -15.8% (1 month) -50.48% (1 year)
Xpeng -17.67% (1 month) -23.46% (1 year)
Li Auto -21.53% (1 month) +3.83% (1 year)
Geely -1.52% (1 month) -5.89% (1 year)
...Chinese EVs are taking the Govt line of looking at the big picture, sacrificing their bottom line to cement China EV global dominance under 'common prosperity' capitalism model.
....China EV which accounts for a large portion of overall global EV growth is not even positive to EV makers bottom line growth let alone the bottom line of its lithium supply chain players. You can see how Chinese lithium giant Tianqi has fared (see link below). EV/Lithium, 73508858, page-153 | HotCopper Forum
BREAKING: US Subprime auto loan delinquency rates are now set to cross above 4% and stand at 2008 levels.
The 60-day delinquency rate for subprime auto loans is now ~3.9%, doubling in just 3 years.
Since 2021, subprime and prime auto loan delinquencies have moved in a straight-line higher.
The increase accelerated once the Fed began raising rates in March 2022. Meanwhile, auto insurance rates have spiked by 22% over the last year, the biggest jump in over 50 years.
