KEY POINTS
- Market leader Tesla will kickstart the EV earnings season with its quarterly report due on Wednesday.
- The quarter was marred by demand slowdown and supply constraints, which have served to temper expectations.
The electric vehicle space saw mixed sentiment in the week ended Jan. 20, with technical moves lifting some EV stocks, while the broader market volatility weighed on most others.
Now, here are the key events that happened in the EV space during the week:
Analysts Back Tesla: Notwithstanding the shaky near-term fundamentals, most analysts opine that the EV pioneer will emerge out of the current lackadaisical phase without any serious damage. A proprietary survey by Wedbush showed that 76% of the China buyers want to buy a Tesla vehicle after the Jan. 6 price cuts, preferring the brand over domestic rivals including BYD Manufacturing Company Limited and Nio, Inc..
Separately, Jefferies analyst Philippe Houchois said speed and simplicity are Tesla’s main competitive levers and will drive further affordability and resource efficiency. Piper Sandler’s Alexander Potter proactively recommended accumulating Tesla stock at its current valuation.
The price cuts in the U.S., Europe and China this year have had a positive effect on buying intentions and interest. Data from car-shopping website Edmunds.com showed that on-site shopper consideration of Tesla pages more than doubled to 2% this week and that Model 3 and Model Y improved their ranking among the most-searched vehicles from 47th and 70th, respectively to 11th and 2nd, respectively, according to Teslarati.
XPeng, Lucid Ape Tesla Move: Chinese EV startup XPeng, Inc. announced this week price reductions of up to 12.5% for its vehicles as a lockstep move with Tesla. XPeng was seen struggling for much of last year and underperformed its domestic peers Nio and Li Auto, Inc.. A DriveTeslaCanada report said U.S. luxury EV maker Lucid Group, Inc.
has announced a $7,500 discount on its Air sedan for those customers leasing the vehicle through Lucid Financial Services. The report cited letters sent to reservation holders.
Nio, CATL Forge Partnership: Nio and its battery supplier CATL signed an agreement to deepen their existing relationship, aiming to advance technological cooperation on new brands, projects and markets. The companies also seek to improve demand-supply coordination, further overseas expansion and develop a business model centering on batteries with long life.
Ford Looks To Reduce Reliance On Volkswagen In Europe: Ford Motor Company, which announced two new EVs based on Volkswagen AG’s platform in Europe, reportedly wants to reduce its reliance on the German automaker in the future. The company is reportedly spending $2 billion to convert its Cologne factory to build two MEB-based cars.
GM Reportedly Working On Mini EV Pickup: General Motors Corp. is working on a baby EV pickup truck with two doors, a 4-4.5 foot length bed and a low roofline, Automotive News reported. The auto-specific news site said it saw the truck at the company’s affordable design studio in Warren, Michigan, and termed it as sporty and futuristic.