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Elon Musk: Tesla had ‘single-digit weeks’ as it teetered on brink of collapse

VCG | Getty Images
Elon Musk, Tesla CEO, addresses a press conference in October 2015.

Tesla almost died earlier this year, CEO Elon Musk said Sunday night in an interview with Axios that aired on HBO.

Musk said the company was “bleeding money like crazy” as it worked through the Model 3 production ramp in the spring and summer. He said the company “came within single-digit” weeks of death before it was able to meet its Model 3 production goals.

“Tesla really faced a severe threat of death due to the Model 3 production ramp,” Musk said. “Essentially, the company was bleeding money like crazy, and if we didn't solve these problems in a very short period of time, we would die. And it was extremely difficult to solve them.”

Musk also talked about the personal toll working nonstop during the production ramp took on him, calling it “very painful.”

“It hurts my brain and my heart,” Musk said. “It hurts. It is not recommended for anyone. I just did it because if I didn't do it… there was a good chance Tesla would die.”

An inside look at Tesla's Gigafactory
10:27 AM ET Thu, 15 Nov 2018 | 03:31

Trump is reportedly obsessed with tariffs on foreign cars and sees them as his best trade tactic

Rebecca Cook | Reuters
A Ford Motor assembly worker prepares to attach a door to a 2018 F150 pick-up truck at Ford's Dearborn Truck Plant in Dearborn, Michigan, September 27, 2018.

President Donald Trump is focused on crushing overseas automakers with heavy tariffs, now seeing the threat of further car duties as his best trade negotiating tactic, Axios reported Monday.

The president has told aides privately that his perceived trade deal success in Canada was because of threats to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that the U.S. would levy painful auto tariffs, Axios reported. Trump is now reportedly considering using the same tactic with the European Commission.

“Trump says gleefully that the moment he started talking about maybe tariffs on cars, that [European Commission President Jean-Claude] Juncker got on the fastest plane known to mankind, comes straight over to Washington and starts offering deals,” a senior European official told Axios.

GM and Ford shares were up fractionally Monday morning. Tariffs would be negative for the companies if other countries decided to retaliate.

Read the full Axios report here.

WATCH:Twelve US execs explain how Trump's trade war affects their bottom lines

Twelve US execs explain how Trump's trade war affects their bottom lines
4:53 PM ET Mon, 29 Oct 2018 | 07:33

Ford China sales fall by more than 40 percent, again

JOHANNES EISELE | AFP | Getty Images
The Ford Mustang is displayed during the 17th Shanghai International Automobile Industry Exhibition in Shanghai.

Ford's sales in China just keep falling.

The company's sales in the world's largest car market fell 45 percent in October, compared with the same month last year.

Ford has recently said it has seen its business in China deteriorate. Ford's sales in China dropped 43 percent in September over the same month in 2017.

The drop is due partly to a slowdown in sales across the industry and partly to problems unique to Ford.

One major factor hurting sales is a government crackdown on certain forms of lending that made credit available to a wide swath of buyers in China's middle class, especially in its growing second-tier cities, said Michael Dunne, CEO of ZoZoGo, a firm that advises automakers on doing business in the country.

China had for some time allowed peer-to-peer lending schemes, where wealthier people could lend money to the less wealthy. But the recent crackdown on such practices has shut down several companies facilitating the process and left those remaining lenders skittish, along with many consumers, Dunne said.

However, Ford has been hit particularly hard, while U.S. rival General Motors seems to have fared well in the face of those challenges.

Ford's product line in China is a bit stale, and has failed to keep up with the rapidly changing demand in the country, said IHS Markit analyst Stephanie Brinley, who follows the automotive industry.

“Ford is in a unique situation to the degree that they really did have a product problem,” she said. “That market wants to see fresh product faster, and Ford just wasn't delivering it. It is not that their products were inherently bad, it is just that they weren't updating them fast enough for what the market wants. And they are addressing that.”

Ford recently unveiled its Territory SUV, a sport utility vehicle made especially for the Chinese market. The SUV is the first in an upcoming onslaught of new vehicles the automaker is planning for the region. Ford also recently separated its Chinese business unit from its larger Asia-Pacific region and appointed a president specifically for the country, in a bid to accelerate growth.

WATCH:Ford is using bionic suits to help employees work safer

Ford is using bionic suits to help employees work safer
6:24 PM ET Fri, 20 April 2018 | 02:20

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak: ‘I do not believe in auto driving cars’ — it’s not possible yet

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak: Tesla makes so many mistakes
12:30 PM ET Tue, 13 Nov 2018 | 03:35

Technologist Steve Wozniak told CNBC on Tuesday he had once hoped that Apple would build the first self-driving car.

But the Apple co-founder said, “I do not believe in auto driving cars” at this point. “I don't really believe it's quite possible yet” that cars will be able to drive themselves without a steering wheel, he added.

Wozniak said on “Fast Money Halftime Report” that roads are not prepared for autonomous vehicles because they are built by imperfect humans who are “not as good as nature and mathematics and even evolution.”

However, Wozniak does support of advancements in “assistive driving” technology that can allow cars to “spot red lights, and stop signs and avoid some of the accidents today.”

But he warned that people should “not to lose sight of the fact you're not going to get a car that drives itself.”

Wozniak — who owns a Tesla and said he enjoys driving it — warned that the so-called Autopilot feature does not actually self-drive the car.

“Tesla makes so many mistakes,” he said, but didn't elaborate. “It really convinces me that auto piloting and auto steering car driving itself is not going to happen.”

Wozniak said he kept upgrading his Tesla and then “gave up” on the idea of autonomous driving. “I said, 'It's really not going to happen,'” he recalled.

Tesla was not immediately available to respond to CNBC's request for comment on Wozniak's interview.

Ford hits the road in Miami, in a big bet on autonomous vehicles, ride sharing and delivery services

Ford's autonomous vehicle fleet
10:04 AM ET Fri, 16 Nov 2018 | 02:45

Ford is road testing its autonomous vehicles in partnership with the city of Miami, as the legacy automaker hopes to capitalize on the emerging technology in ride-share and business delivery.

The automaker has been testing a Ford Fusion equipped with autonomous vehicle tech, or AV, in Miami since February. It chose the city because of its congestion and the unpredictability of the traffic there. Tests are also being done in three other cities: Pittsburgh, Detroit and Washington, D.C.

Ford has said it plans to begin selling self-driving cars by 2021, but it is also testing out ways it can use these vehicles to carry people and things. Sherif Marakby, CEO of Ford Autonomous Vehicles, told CNBC the company is focused on profitability and scalability.

“We're laser focused on profitability,” said Marakby, who said autonomous vehicles provide transportation at a lower cost than current vehicles. “While the vehicle is expensive, initially we're deploying it in service so the cost per mile for transportation for a person or a business is going to be lower and will be profitable for us,” he said.

Ford has said it plans to invest a total of $4 billion into AV technology through 2023.

On Wednesday, the company announced a partnership with Walmart and Postmates to collaborate on a delivery service that will one day use autonomous vehicles.

During a test ride with CNBC, Ford used a car that was autonomous, however, it did travel along a predetermined and pre-programmed route. Ford also manned the vehicle with a safety driver, whose hands hovered over the wheel, which the company said was a “precaution.”

Source: Ford
Ford AV Argo autonomous vehicle test car

Waymo, the self-driving car unit of Alphabet, will launch its first AV service by the end of the year and expects to attract business customers. General Motors' Cruise says it will have an autonomous ride-share service by next year.

Some analysts have said Ford is lagging behind in self-driving technology, but Marakby pushed back on that notion.

“I want investors and I want everyone to know that we are developing an autonomous vehicle service that means a whole lot more than the car,” Marakby said. “What that means is … when we launch these cars it's not just going to be the car. It's going to be an app. It's going to be the cloud … The autonomous car will know where to go when someone orders it.”

Ford is phasing out its manufacturing of most cars and increasing production of trucks and SUVs. Marakby said Ford's ride-share vehicle will be designed for that business.

“We feel that what we're building is an autonomous vehicle mobility service and we think the future is going to continue to have more and more of these transportation methods,” he said.

WATCH: Ford is using bionic suits to help employees work safer

Ford is using bionic suits to help employees work safer
6:24 PM ET Fri, 20 April 2018 | 02:20

Mitsubishi will propose removing Ghosn from board

Marlene Awaad | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Carlos Ghosn, chairman of the alliance between Renault SA, Nissan Motor Co. and Mitsubishi Motors Corp., pauses during a Bloomberg Television interview at the Paris Motor Show in Paris, France, on Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2018.

Mitsubishi will propose removing embattled executive Carlos Ghosn from its board of directors, the company said Monday.

Ghosn, who is chairman and CEO of the strategic alliance among French automaker Renault and Japanese carmakers Nissan and Mitsubishi, was arrested Monday in Tokyo on charges of making misleading financial statements to regulators, Mitsubishi said Monday.

Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa held a press conference earlier on Monday saying Nissan would seek Ghosn's removal from his roles at Nissan.

Nissan said a whistleblower alerted the company to several instances of alleged misconduct on Ghosn's part, including underreporting compensation to regulators and personal misuse of company money.

In addition to being chairman and CEO of the alliance, the chairman of Nissan, and a board member at Mitsubishi, Ghosn is also the CEO of Renault.

Ghosn began spearheading the alliance between Renault and Nissan in the late 1990s. Many industry veterans were skeptical that an alliance between a French car company and a Japanese carmaker would ever work. But the initiative was successful, and the two were joined by Mitsubishi in 2016.

Here is the full statement from Mitsubishi:

“Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (MMC) today announces that media outlets reported that MMC's Chairman of the Board and Representative Director, Carlos Ghosn, had been arrested by Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office on the charge of filing annual securities reports containing fake statement, in breach of the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act.
“In response to the arrest of Ghosn, and since the alleged misconduct is related to a corporate governance and compliance issue, it is to be proposed to the Board of Directors to promptly remove Ghosn from his position as MMC's Chairman of the Board and Representative Director.
“We will readily conduct an internal investigation on whether Ghosn has been engaged in the misconduct like the above within MMC.
“MMC deeply apologizes for any concern caused by the recent event.”

Toyota is making high-performance versions of its popular, but ‘boring,’ Camry and Avalon sedans

Toyota is making fast, high-performance versions of its popular Camry and Avalon sedans, swimming against the tide of consumer demand for SUVs and crossovers.

The Japanese automaker said Friday it plans to release the new versions of the mid-size Camry sedan and full-size Avalon — better known for hauling families or ride-share passengers — under Toyota's TRD badge, which stands for Toyota Racing Development, Toyota's in-house performance tuning shop. Toyota already offers TRD trims on some cars, trucks, and SUVs. For example, the TRD Pro trim is available on Toyota's popular Tacoma mid-size pickup truck, and there is a TRD Special Edition of the Toyota 86 sports car.

But in a bid to keep its sedans exciting when consumers are running toward taller vehicles, Toyota is bringing them to the track.

Source: Toyota
Toyota Avalon TRD

Toyota has made sporty cars throughout its history, such as the Supra sports car which the company reportedly plans to bring back in 2020.

But its passenger cars, and many of its SUVs, are perhaps better known for being well-built, reliable and capable vehicles good for commuting and hauling groceries. The Camry, for example, has long been one of the top-selling vehicles in America. But more than one reviewer has called the ubiquitous vehicle “boring.” Even the company has acknowledged its less-than-exciting image.

Toyota assured that it is taking the idea of a TRD sedan very seriously.

“Track-tuned means exactly that,” Toyota said Friday. The automaker said Toyota's TRD engineers developed the cars through extensive testing at facilities in Arizona, Texas and Japan. The cars come with V6 engines, automatic transmission and sport-tuned suspensions. Brakes will be larger for better stopping power.

It will also have an aerodynamic body kit, which includes features such as a lid spoiler, and rear diffuser that help push the vehicle closer to the road and improve speed and handling.

Both vehicles will be available in Fall 2019, the company said.

VW wants to be the most profitable electric car company in the world

Justin Sullivan | Getty Images
The Volkswagen logo is displayed at Serramonte Volkswagen on November 18, 2016 in Colma, California.

Volkswagen announced it's to spend 44 billion euros ($50 billion) on new plants, electric cars, autonomous driving and mobility services.

The war chest is to be spent in the four years between 2019 and 2023 and represents about a third of the company's total outlay allocated to the four-year period.

“One aim of the Volkswagen Group's strategy is to speed up the pace of innovation. We are focusing our investments on the future fields of mobility and systematically implementing our strategy,” Herbert Diess, the CEO of Volkswagen, said in a press release, issued after a Supervisory Board meeting Friday.

VW CEO: We will be most profitable electric car firm
12 Mins Ago | 02:22

Diess told CNBC's Annette Weisbach that he expects the German carmaker to be the most profitable maker of electric cars thanks to its economies of scale. The auto group said it wanted to improve productivity by focusing its electrification strategy within Germany, while pushing some traditional engines to multi-brand factories in eastern Europe.

German plants in Emden and Hanover will be converted to build electric vehicles, while the Volkswagen Passat family will now be built in the Czech Republic. A new location in Eastern Europe will be built for some Skoda and SEAT cars.

VW Group added that it wanted its automotive division to lower its capital expenditure ratio to 6 percent of revenues from 2020 onward.

VW CEO: Politicians are beating auto firms up
11 Mins Ago | 02:06

Diess said VW's previous “bad behavior” meant that his firm had been “beaten up” by politicians in Germany and abroad but he hoped that relations were improving.

‘Insane’ for UK and EU to harm border trade, McLaren CEO says

Confident of Brexit deal, McLaren CEO says
1 Hour Ago | 02:21

The chief executive of British sports car maker McLaren Automotive has told CNBC that it would be “insane” for the United Kingdom and European Union (EU) to fail to agree a deal on Brexit.

Mike Flewitt said he spoke to U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May on a conference call two weeks ago and he is confident that a withdrawal deal will be done. How to maintain the frictionless movement of goods between Ireland and Northern Ireland after Brexit remains a sticking point in negotiations. However, the supercar executive warned that any outcome that slowed the cross-border movement of goods would be hugely damaging.

“It would be insane, both for the EU and for the U.K. to run into a situation where we're affecting imports and exports through that period,” he said, before adding “We shouldn't let ourselves run into a problem like that in this day and age, it would be crazy.”

Flewit stressed that he was not only talking about disruption to the automotive industry.

“Think of food stocks and livestock and anything that's coming across borders being delayed (that) would be a real problem so I'm in the camp of optimists who think we'll find a way through,” he told CNBC's Julianna Tatelbaum at the firm's headquarters just outside London.

McLaren officially opened a new composite factory in northern England on Wednesday, allowing it to directly design and build the carbon chassis of its cars in the United Kingdom. The McLaren Composites Technology Centre (MCTC) has been completed thanks to a £50 million ($64.6 million) joint investment with Sheffield City Council.

Flewitt said that decision, while not Brexit related, would help the car maker's control over manufacturing as it moved more production “onshore.”

“It actually moves our U.K. content up from around about 50 percent to the core by value, closer to 60 percent,” he added.

Trade war

Trade war is hurting China, McLaren CEO warns
1 Hour Ago | 00:55

The McLaren leader described the North American and Chinese markets as both “incredibly” positive despite evidence the trade war effect was starting to erode confidence among Chinese customers.

He said there was no such problem in the United States, even though a level of unpredictability surrounded Washington policy. “Demand has been very positive and is growing in North America. There is a degree of confidence around the economy,” he said.

Flewitt said sales in the Middle East had lagged in 2018, while in Europe most good news was coming out of Germany, Switzerland, and the U.K.

The volume of autos sold by McLaren in 2018 is tipped by the chief executive to be a little over four-and-a-half thousand cars. The latest model to hit showrooms is the McLaren 600LT which is considered an entry-level model at £185,000 ($239,000).

A look inside Tesla’s Gigafactory: The key to the automakers’ success

An inside look at Tesla's Gigafactory
1 Hour Ago | 03:31

Walk into Tesla's Gigafactory in Sparks, Nevada, and the first thing that stands out is the size of the battery plant. It's enormous. So big that you could fit 33 football fields — and it's only getting larger.

“The Gigafactory is critical to Tesla. There is more batteries produced here for electric vehicles than in the rest of the planet combined. We would not be able to make all the vehicles we are making now if we didn't have the Gigafactory,” said Jerome Guillen, president of Tesla Automotive.

The Gigafactory's expansion since opening in July 2016 has been critical to Tesla's growth. This year, the automaker is on track to sell 170,000 vehicles, a jump of more than 59 percent compared to last year. Much of that growth is due to its latest vehicle, the Model 3, a sedan targeted to a broader audience than Tesla's previous cars. All of the Model 3's batteries are built at the Gigafactory.

Last quarter, as Tesla hit its target of producing more than 5,000 Model 3 cars per week, the company posted a profit. CEO Elon Musk says his company has turned the corner after years of mounting losses.

Meghan Reeder | CNBC
Workers at the Tesla Gigafactory.

“We expect to again have positive net income and cash flow in Q4 and I believe, our aspiration certainly will be for all quarters going forward,” Musk told analysts during the company's earnings conference call.

Analysts are not so sure. “Part of the real reason they beat in Q3 is because the mix was so strong,” said Colin Langan, an auto analyst for UBS who has a sell rating on Tesla. Langan calculates the average Tesla sold for more than $60,000 last quarter, well above the price point Tesla initially promised potential buyers.

“I think long-term the price will probably settle in the mid-forties, where comparable luxury vehicles sell today, and that is going to put a lot of margin pressure on over time,” he said.

Easing that pressure and keeping Tesla profitable will come down to a few key factors, most notably, growing sales and lowering the cost to build battery packs. In both cases, the Gigafactory will determine if Tesla succeeds.

Running around the clock, the Gigafactory cranks out approximately two battery packs every minute. Its production is currently estimated to be 5,000 a week, with room to grow, according to Sam Jaffe, managing director with Cairn Energy Research Advisors in Boulder, Colorado.

Meghan Reeder | CNBC
Workers at the Tesla Gigafactory.

Jaffe studies the electric vehicle market, specifically focusing on the costs to build the battery packs and cells that provide the energy inside those packs. Jaffe's analysis pegs Tesla's cost to manufacture a battery cell at $116 per kilowatt-hour, which he says is “far ahead of the industry.” He estimates other automakers building electric vehicles have battery cell costs closer to $146 per kilowatt-hour.

“Tesla has shown an ability and a drive to reduce both cell costs and battery pack costs,” he said. “They have been planning for this moment, with this tremendous cost advantage, for a long time, and in general they have executed well on it.”

That's not to say, there haven't been growing pains at the Gigafactory. From having to backtrack on overly ambitious plans to use robotics and automation to allegations the plant is being wasteful, Tesla's battery plant has faced plenty of scrutiny.

Meghan Reeder | CNBC
Workers at the Tesla Gigafactory.

Guillen said he believes the Gigafactory is just tapping its potential for battery production.

“The costs have come down and continue to come down a lot and that has enabled us to reach profitability in the last quarter and positive cash flow as well,” he said.

—CNBC's Meghan Reeder contributed to this report.