A row of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) 2017 Crysler Pacifica minivan vehicles are displayed for sale at a car dealership in Moline, Illinois, on Saturday, July 1, 2017.Daniel Acker | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesFiat Chrysler and Renault are in discussions to form a partnership, a source familiar with the talks told CNBC.
The Italian-American and French automakers are looking at a number of opportunities that would have the companies working together in the future, the source said.
It is unclear if a partnership between the two automakers would lead to Fiat Chrysler eventually joining the Nissan-Renault-Mitsubishi alliance.
Fiat Chrysler declined CNBC's request for comment. Renault could not be immediately reached for comment.
The Financial Times first reported the story.
Back in March, The Financial Times reported that Renault planned to take up merger talks with Nissan within the year, and then potentially acquire Fiat Chrysler.
Fiat Chrysler's chief executive, Mike Manley, previously told the FT: “If there's a partnership, merger, relationship that makes us stronger, then I'm absolutely open to looking at it.”
If Fiat Chrysler is added to the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance, which dates back to 1999, it would become the largest global carmaker, with 15.6 million combined sales a year. The current leader, Volkswagen, sold 10.8 million last year.
Author: CNBC Online news
Read Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s email to employees: Company averaged 900 Model 3s per day this week
Tesla CEO Elon Musk speaks during the unveiling of the new Tesla Model Y in Hawthorne, California on March 14, 2019.Frederic J. Brown | AFP | Getty ImagesTesla shares rose more than 1% Thursday after CEO Elon Musk sent an e-mail to all employees saying the electric vehicle maker is close to reaching its target production numbers for the Model 3 this quarter.
The e-mail's optimistic tone helped Tesla shares turn positive for the first time in seven days. The company added over $500 million to its market cap, reaching around $34.6 billion, in early trading on Thursday.
Here's what Musk wrote to employees:
Subj. Exciting Goal!
Date: May 22, 2109
To: Everbody
As of yesterday we had over 50,000 net new orders for this quarter. Based on current trends, we have a good chance of exceeding the record 90,700 deliveries of Q4 last year and making this the highest deliveries/sales quarter in Tesla history!
In order to achieve this, we need sustained output of 1,000 Model 3's per day. Almost all parts of the Model 3 production system have exceeded 1,000 units on multiple days (congratulations!) and we've averaged about 900/day this week, so we're only about 10% away from 7,000/week.
If we rally hard, we can do it!
Thanks for your hard work
Analysts had been losing confidence in Tesla's stock during the past week as the company entered cost-cutting mode. In an email to employees obtained by CNBC last week, Musk stressed the need for “hardcore” measures to cut spending.
Citi analysts wrote Tuesday that Tesla's shares could fall more than 80% to $36, citing “lingering demand/FCF (free cash flow) concerns.” In a private call with Morgan Stanley clients Wednesday, Morgan Stanley research analyst Adam Jonas said he was skeptical about the company's ability to grow, CNBC reported.
“Tesla is not really seen as a growth story,” Jonas said on the call, which CNBC heard in a recording. Today, “It seems like a distressed credit and restructuring story.”
Loup Ventures co-founder Gene Munster gave the stock its latest downward revision Thursday. Munster expected the company would miss its delivery expectations this year especially as trade tensions drag on between the U.S. and China. He lowered 2019 delivery estimates about 10% to just 310,000 vehicles compared to guidance between 360,000 and 400,000.
While Musk's email to Tesla employees shed a light on production progress, logistics remains another challenge for the company in meeting its second-quarter delivery goals.
In the first quarter of 2019, Musk said the increase in overseas business stressed the company's logistics operations. Half of Tesla's global deliveries happened in the final 10 days of the first quarter.
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Watch: How Elon Musk's tweets might be affecting the latest price targets for Tesla
VIDEO7:3607:36How Elon Musk's tweets might be affecting the latest price targets for TeslaSquawk Box
Don’t expect Apple or Amazon to buy Tesla, Morgan Stanley analyst warns investors
Elon MuskMike Blake | ReutersIn an invitation-only call with institutional clients of Morgan Stanley on Wednesday, research analyst Adam Jonas — a long-time Tesla bull — expressed skepticism about the electric vehicle maker and said not to count on a buyer like Apple to bail the company out.
“Tesla is not really seen as a growth story,” Jonas said on the call, which CNBC heard in a recording. Today, “It seems like a distressed credit and restructuring story.”
Some details of the call were previously reported by Business Insider.
Jonas spent some time on the call responding to the hope that a big tech company like Apple or Amazon might buy Tesla. in a CNBC interview on Tuesday, analyst Craig Irwin of Roth Capital Partners rekindled the rumor that Apple once made a bid for Tesla.
But Jonas poured cold water on the notion of a big tech acquisition today.
He explained, “For risk mitigation and liability containment, they may not want to expose themselves to the unlimited liability of being involved in owning a business where occasionally a car catches on fire, takes down a building, or accidentally kills a pedestrian or passenger, things that happen. The auto industry has an ugly side to it. The roads are very dangerous. There's a lot of stored energy in a vehicle. And the regulatory environment [around autonomous cars] has not had time to cure yet.”
Jonas acknowledged that Apple has interest in transportation (as do Amazon and other big tech firms). But Morgan Stanley's tech researchers, he said, don't expect Apple to have a service or related hardware devoted entirely to transportation until the 2030s.
He added, “Perhaps those big tech firms don't want to expose themselves to that up front. And moreover they realize the autonomous race is more of a marathon where over a 10- or 20-year period you collect real world miles. There may be other ways to do that besides owning a full-stack, awesome, great auto company.”
SpaceX to the rescue?Apart from shooting down the idea of a white knight, Jonas also expressed skepticism about the company's current state.
“In late 2018, demand was exceeding supply, cash flow was strong, there was a ton of excitement around the Model Y,” Jonas said. “Today — supply exceeds demand, they are burning cash, nobody cares about the Model Y.”
Finally, Jonas told investors that, given the precedent of Tesla's acquisition of SolarCity, there's a possibility Musk could use his 54% stake in SpaceX, a company that has a post-money valuation of $31.5 billion, to eventually collateralize Tesla.
“There's a precedent for Elon Musk to think across his portfolio of companies,” he said.
Jonas said near-term, Wall Street is expecting Tesla to deliver just 70,000 vehicles in the second quarter of 2019. While he and Morgan Stanley have a more optimistic estimate of 82,000 vehicles, that still falls short of Tesla guidance. The company said it would deliver 90,000 cars this quarter, and wrote in a first-quarter shareholder letter:
“Although we are driving towards higher internal goals, we reaffirm our prior guidance of 360,000 to 400,000 vehicle deliveries in 2019, representing an increase of approximately 45% to 65% compared to 2018.”
Tesla and Morgan Stanley did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the call.
Morgan Stanley was a lead underwriter in Tesla's $2.7 billion offering of stock and convertible notes, which closed earlier this month. The week of the offering, Morgan Stanley said it saw the funding as a 12-month bridge to help the company gain a foothold in China.
Tesla's stock is down 15% since last Thursday, and dropped 6% on Wednesday to under $193. The slide began last week after an e-mail surfaced in which Tesla CEO Elon Musk urged employees to cut spending and told them he would personally oversee outgoing expenses.
That news was followed by a bad Consumer Reports review of Tesla's new Autopilot Navigate feature in its Model 3 electric sedans. The stock may also be reacting to ongoing trade tensions between the US and China, as Tesla has staked its future on building and selling its cars there.
WATCH: Morgan Stanley says Tesla could hit $10 if this happens
VIDEO6:1906:19Tesla could hit $10 if this happensFast Money
A major Chinese automaker postpones its US launch as trade war drags on
Daniel Acker | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesGAC Motor, one of China's largest carmakers, has postponed its launch in the U.S. because of the ongoing trade war between the world's two-largest economies, a company executive said Tuesday.
The automaker, headquartered in Guangzhou in southern China, said its entrance into the U.S., which was anticipated for this year, will be postponed.
“The current relationship between the U.S. and China, the trade war, the relationship is uncertain” said Hebin Zeng, president of international at GAC Motor. “We postponed the plan to enter the North American market.”
Zeng declined to give a specific timeline on when GAC could enter the U.S.
“In terms of when we will go into the market, we will have further discussions depending on the changes of circumstances,” he said.
Geely is the only Chinese carmaker that sells in the U.S. through the Volvo Car brand that it owns.
GAC has been expanding into several international markets, particularly in the Middle East.
Apple bid to buy Tesla in 2013 for $240 a share, analyst says
GP: Elon Musk, chief executive officer of Tesla Inc., speaks during an event at the site of the company's manufacturing facility in Shanghai, China, on Monday, Jan. 7, 2019.Qilai Shen | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesWith Tesla's stock sinking to around $200 this week, Craig Irwin, an analyst at Roth Capital Partners, told CNBC on Tuesday that the electric car company could have sold to Apple six years ago for a significantly higher price per share.
“Around 2013, there was a serious bid from Apple at around $240 a share,” Irwin said in an interview on “Squawk Box. ” “This is something we did multiple checks on. I have complete confidence that this is accurate. Apple bid for Tesla. I don't know if it got to a formal paperwork stage, but I know from multiple different sources that this was very credible.”
Apple and Tesla did not respond to requests for comment.
Tesla is down more than 38% in 2019, to a share price of $197.76 at the start of trading Tuesday. The stock has plunged 46% from its high in August, when CEO Elon Musk said he had “funding secured” to take the company private at $420 a share.
Knowing there was a “very credible” bid on the table in 2013 keeps Irwin from being more bearish on the stock today.
“If Apple had interest then, they would probably have interest now at the right price,” he said.
VIDEO6:3806:38Watch a Tesla analyst weigh in on Morgan Stanley's revised bear caseSquawk BoxIrwin said that Apple's car project continues to develop in secret, and that the company is building large “dry rooms” in California to do something related to automotive batteries. According to Irwin, those rooms are designed to handle the environmental containment required for the production of lithium-ion batteries.
“My checks are Apple is building several dry rooms, including a couple that are much larger than what you would need for watch or consumer product battery development,” Irwin wrote in a follow-up email.
Irwin is not the first to suggest that Apple and Tesla have held discussions. The San Francisco Chronicle reported in 2014 that Musk met with Apple's head of mergers and acquisitions and most likely CEO Tim Cook as well.
If the two companies were to combine, it would be by far Apple's largest acquisition ever and one of the biggest in the history of the technology industry. Tesla's current market cap is about $36 billion. The most Apple has ever paid is $3 billion for Beats Electronics in 2014.
For a deal to take place Apple would face the question of what to do with the outspoken Musk and his tendency to gain attention for many of the wrong reasons, whether it's tweeting out material nonpublic information or smoking weed on a podcast.
“Regarding the acquisition: my understanding is Apple wanted Elon Musk to step away, and that was a deal killer,” Irwin said in the email.
Correction: In August, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said he had “funding secured” to take the company private at $420 a share. An earlier version mischaracterized his statement.
WATCH: Elon Musk seen smoking weed on podcast
VIDEO0:5700:57Elon Musk seen smoking weed on podcastSquawk BoxSubscribe to CNBC on YouTube.
Post Office to test autonomous semi trucks for hauling mail across state lines
U.S. Postal Service trucks sit parked outside a station in Chelsea, New York.Adam Jeffery | CNBC The U.S. Postal Service is testing its first long-haul self-driving delivery truck in a two-week pilot program that will use an autonomous tractor trailer to deliver mail between distribution centers in Phoenix, Arizona and Dallas, Texas.
TuSimple, a self-driving truck company, is providing the truck and will have a safety engineer and driver in the cab to monitor its performance and take control if there are any issues, the company said in announcing the test Tuesday. The postal service has been exploring the idea for some time, recently soliciting bids to put semi-autonomous mail trucks on the road in a few years that allow a human to sort the mail while being autonomously driven along their route.
“We are conducting research and testing as part of our efforts to operate a future class of vehicles which will incorporate new technology to accommodate a diverse mail mix, enhance safety, improve service, reduce emissions, and produce operational savings,” said postal service spokeswoman Kim Frum.
The pilot-program is limited, just five runs in late May. For TuSimple, the test drives are a chance to validate its vision of autonomous semi's changing the dynamics and costs of long-haul trucking. The start-up has been hauling freight on I-10 in self-driving trucks since last August. TuSimple, with 17 self-driving semi's, has raised $178 million in four rounds of funding since it was founded in 2015.
“Performing for the USPS on this pilot in this particular commercial corridor gives us specific use cases to help us validate our system, and expedite the technological development and commercialization progress,” said Dr. Xiaodi Hou, Founder, President and Chief Technology Officer of TuSimple.
Autonomous trucking has become a hot area for private equity investors with startups like Boxbot Ike raising millions of dollars to develop the technology for self-driving semi's The appeal of the space is simple: autonomous trucks could lower the cost of shipping goods by eliminating drivers.
While nobody expects regulators to approve driverless semi's anytime soon, the potential of autonomous trucks is enormous. It's the reason manufacturers are working on self-driving semi's. Tesla, which is developing an all-electric semi, has said all of its trucks will come with autopilot technology.
For the U.S. Postal Service, self-driving semi's could provide a huge benefit. In 2018, the USPS had more than 5,500 tractors and trailers in its fleet.
A self-driving shuttle bus is on the move at Brussels Airport
Initially, the autonomous shuttle bus will make its trips without passengers.Brussels Airport CompanyA self-driving shuttle bus has started making trips at Brussels Airport. In a statement earlier this week, the airport said that the vehicle, which is operated by transport firm De Lijn, would undertake several demonstration trips, without passengers, to test the technology.
It is hoped that, eventually, the vehicles, which use sensors to detect surrounding objects, will be able to navigate through traffic autonomously. The airport said it expects passengers to be able to use the vehicles by the middle of 2021.
The CEO of the Brussels Airport Company, Arnaud Feist, said intelligent mobility was “one of our strategic priorities for sustainable development over the coming years.”
Feist added that the airport wanted to encourage passengers and employees to travel there by public transport.
“This joint project with De Lijn, which commenced in 2015, is one of the initiatives specifically aimed at achieving this objective,” he explained. “We're now exploring how self-driving buses can be deployed to improve the efficiency of passenger transport on the airport grounds.”
Slowly but surely, autonomous vehicles are starting to be used in real world situations. In January 2019, Japanese airline All Nippon Airways announced it had commenced the second phase of testing for an autonomous and driverless bus at Haneda Airport in Tokyo.
In April, Starship Technologies – which specializes in autonomous delivery services – announced it had made 50,000 commercial deliveries with its technology.
The firm's robots can make deliveries within a four-mile radius, and carry goods including parcels, groceries and food.
Ford recalls 270,000 Fusion cars to fix glitch that can cause vehicles to shift gears and roll away
Ford Motor Co. Fusion vehicles move down the production line at the Flat Rock Assembly Plant in Flat Rock, Michigan.Jeff Kowalsky | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesFord Motor said Wednesday that it is recalling more than 270,000 Fusion vehicles in North America to fix a transmission glitch that can cause the car to shift gears and roll away.
The recall is for 2013-16 Fusion vehicles with 2.5-liter engines that were built at the automaker's Flat Rock, Michigan, and Hermosillo, Mexico, assembly plants.
The company said the bushing that attaches the shifter cable to the vehicle's transmission may detach, which can result in “unintended vehicle movement.” Ford said it is aware of three reports of property damage due to the issue and one injury “potentially” related to the problem.
VIDEO2:2802:28Ford on the road to nowhereTrading NationAbout 260,000 of the cars were recalled in the United States. More than 10,000 and 3,000 vehicles were also recalled in Canada and Mexico, respectively.
Ford also recalled about 3,000 2019 Ranger pickup trucks in the United States and Canada that were built at the company's Wayne, Michigan, assembly plant. The automaker cited another transmission issue for the Ranger recalls, saying that the transmission shift cable bracket in affected vehicles may not have been torqued correctly and can eventually come lose.
This can cause the vehicle to shift into a different gear than the one selected by the driver, which can lead to the pickup truck rolling away and “increasing the risk of crash or injury.”
The company said it has not received any incident reports regarding the faulty Ranger vehicles.
Read Ford's full statement here.
WATCH: Ford has a new robot to deliver parts to factory workers
VIDEO1:0301:03Ford has a new robot to deliver parts to factory workersThe Bottom Line
Trump administration will delay auto tariffs for up to six months
VIDEO1:1101:11Trump officially postpones auto tariffs for up to six monthsSquawk BoxThe Trump administration will delay tariffs on cars and auto part imports for up to six months as it negotiates trade deals with the European Union and Japan.
In a proclamation Friday, Trump said he directed U.S.Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to seek agreements to “address the threatened impairment” of national security from auto imports. Trump could choose to move forward with tariffs during the talks.
“United States defense and military superiority depend on the competitiveness of our automobile industry and the research and development that industry generates,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement. “The negotiation process will be led by United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and, if agreements are not reached within 180 days, the President will determine whether and what further action needs to be taken.”
In his proclamation, Trump argued in part that “domestic conditions of competition must be improved by reducing imports.”
Vehicles wait for shipment at Lianyungang Port in Lianyungang, China.VCG | Visual China Group | Getty ImagesThe White House had to decide by Saturday whether to slap duties on autos. Earlier this year, the Commerce Department said Trump could justify the move on national security grounds. By law, the administration can push back its decision by up to six months if it is negotiating with trading partners.
In a statement Friday, EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said “we completely reject the notion that our car exports are a national security threat.” She added that the trade bloc “is prepared to negotiate a limited trade agreement” including cars, but not so-called managed trade, in which the partners could set targets like quotas.
Malmstrom said EU officials will discuss the issue with Lighthizer next week in Paris.
Levying the auto tariffs threatened to open new fronts in a global trade war that could drag down the U.S. economy. The EU has already prepared a list of American goods to target with tariffs if Trump goes ahead with the car duties.
Automakers and some U.S. lawmakers opposed the potential tariffs. The American car industry said the duties would put jobs in jeopardy and raise prices for consumers.
The decision comes after the U.S. and China fired new shots in their trade war. The White House is working to salvage a deal with Beijing to address what the U.S. calls trade abuses amid the widening conflict.
Trump also used the national security justification last year to put tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, including metals coming from allies such as the EU, Canada and Mexico. Europe previously retaliated after those duties.
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Usain Bolt launches two-seater electric vehicle which starts at $9,999
VIDEO4:1504:15Cities need help with congestion: Usain Bolt on electric scooter firmStreet Signs EuropeUsain Bolt's Mobility company has launched a two-seater, all-electric and zero-emission vehicle.
Dubbed the Bolt Nano, it was unveiled at the VivaTech conference in Paris Thursday. Whilst detailed information about the vehicle has yet to be revealed, prices start at $9,999, with deliveries starting in 2020.
Those interested in the Bolt Nano can put down a refundable deposit of $999 to reserve a vehicle, which has a swappable battery and seats one passenger in the front and one in the back. The vehicles are small enough for four to fit into one parking space.
The launch of the Bolt Nano comes in the same week that the firm announced it was rolling out its e-scooter offering in Paris. Users of the scooter service locate their vehicles via an app, paying for their ride through an account with the company. In the U.S., it costs $1 to unlock a vehicle and then 15 cents per minute.
Speaking to CNBC's Karen Tso Thursday, Bolt said that, having retired from sport, he was entering a new chapter of his life. “Through traveling, through my times as a track athlete, I've learned that the cities around the world need help with congestion,” he said.
Bolt, one of the most successful and iconic athletes of all time, is a co-founder of the business. The firm says its aim is to cut congestion and people's reliance on “personal vehicles” by partnering with city governments to “weave transportation alternatives into the fabric of urban environments.”
Sarah Haynes is also co-founder of the firm. She told CNBC that there was a “big, big appetite for finding solutions for transportation issues.”
“The cities that we have today are the same ones that have been there for centuries, and they're not made for this many cars,” she explained, going on to add that the firm was “looking at a fleet of transportation solutions that are electric. Our designs with our scooters are all customized so we can recycle every single part, including the batteries.”
The way people move around urban areas is changing, with ride-hailing services such as Uber and Lyft now offered in major cities across the world. Well established cycle-share schemes are also available in capitals such as London and Paris.
In the electric scooter market, Usain Bolt's venture is one of many looking to tap in to the shared transport sector. Firms such as Bird, Lime, and Bolt – formerly known as Taxify – also offer users a platform that allows them to locate and hire electric scooters using their smartphone.
Whether electric scooters take off and become a popular mode of transport for urban commuters remains to be seen. Regulatory hurdles pose a significant challenge to their mass adoption.
In the U.K., for example, e-scooters are considered to be “powered transporters.” This means that, currently, they are defined as being “motor vehicles” and it is illegal to use them on a public road without complying with several requirements, which in practice is difficult. Use of powered transporters on U.K. pavements and cycle lanes is also prohibited.
Change is afoot, however. In March 2019, the government announced what it described as “the biggest review into transport in a generation.” The review will look at regulations surrounding vehicles such as e-scooters and e-cargo bike trailers and will explore modernizing old laws that date back to the 1800s.