...EV growth is a different scene in US compared to China.
...but even China EV growth is 'force fed', if car makers slash their prices aggressively and offer sweeteners to buy, of course you get good growth. But how long can that last? And if it does, it comes at the expense of all supply chain costs (including lithium) staying low. If and when they rise again, those aggressive pricing would likely end, and EV growth would moderate as well.
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Tesla shares have fallen about 31 per cent so far this year, underperforming legacy automakers such as Toyota Motor and General Motors, whose shares have rallied 45 per cent and 20 per cent respectively thanks to a slow consumer transition away from traditional internal combustion engine vehicles.
Energy giant BP has also cut more than a tenth of the workforce in its EV charging business after a bet on rapid growth in commercial EV fleets didn’t pay off, Reuters reported on Monday, underscoring the broader impact of slowing EV demand.
A newly elected works council of labour representatives at Tesla’s German plant was not informed or consulted before the announcement to staff, said Dirk Schulze, head of the IG Metall union in the region.
“It is the legal obligation of management not only to inform the works council but to consult with it on how jobs can be secured,” Schulze said.
Analysts said the layoffs were another sign that Tesla would struggle to maintain growth.
“Tesla is maturing as a company and isn’t the growth story that it used to be,” said Craig Irwin, senior research analyst at Roth Capital. “Layoffs imply management expects weak demand to persist.”
Analysts from Gartner and Hargreaves Lansdown said the cuts were a sign of cost pressures as the car maker invests in new models and artificial intelligence.
Tesla reported this month that its global vehicle deliveries in the first quarter fell for the first time in almost four years, as price cuts failed to stir demand.
The EV maker has been slow to refresh its ageing models as high interest rates have sapped consumer appetite for big-ticket items, while rivals in China, the world’s largest auto market, are rolling out cheaper models.
