Last week, China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (“CAAM”) unveiled vehicle sales data for the month of July. Auto sales in July rose 16.4% year over year to 2.11 million units, marking the fourth consecutive month of gain registered by the world’s biggest auto market. The main highlight of the July auto report in China was growth in NEV (new-energy vehicles), which rose 19.3% year over year to 98,000 units, marking the first monthly gain over a year.
In the past week, China-based electric vehicle (EV) maker NIO came out with stellar Q2 results and provided an upbeat outlook for the third quarter. The EV giant Tesla TSLA made huge headlines after announcing a 5-for-1 stock split to make its shares more accessible to retail investors.The company’s shareholders of record on Aug 21 will receive four additional shares at the close of trading on Aug 28. Post-split trading will begin on Aug 31.
(Read the Last Auto Stock Roundup here).
Recap of the Week’s Most Important Stories
1. Ford F issued three safety recalls in North America. The first recall concerns 558,610 vehicles over a brake issue. The recall affects select 2015-18 Ford Edge and 2016-18 Lincoln MKX vehicles. The second recall is for 3,597 Lincoln Corsair vehicles built at the Louisville Assembly Plant from Jan 7 to Oct 21, 2019 to fix a faulty rear coil spring. The third recall is for select 2020 Ford F-150 pickups over battery connection issue. The recall affects 431 vehicles built at the Kansas City Assembly Plant from Jun 30 to Jul 1, 2020. (Ford Recalls 562,638 Vehicles Over Multiple Defects)
2. NIO Inc. NIO reported second-quarter loss per ADS of 15 cents, narrower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 34 cents. The figure also narrowed from the year-ago loss of 45 cents per share. The China-based EV maker posted revenues of $526.4 million, up 146.5% year over year. The top line also surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $486 million. Robust deliveries in second-quarter 2020 led to the outperformance. Third-quarter revenues are forecast between $572.9 million and $596.2 million, indicating a rise of 125% from the corresponding quarter of 2019. (NIO Q2 Loss Narrower Than Expected, Q3 Guidance Promising)
3. Toyota Motor TM and Mazda Motor recently announced plans to invest $2.3 billion in a new joint venture factory in Alabama. This reflects an $830 million increase from that announced in 2018, as part of their original plan. The additional spending will incorporate new cutting-edge manufacturing technologies into the companies’ production lines and provide enhanced training to the workforce. The factory, which currently has about 600 employees, is now targeted to have 4,000 new workers. The production of up to 150,000 Mazda crossover and 150,000 Toyota Sport Utility Vehicles per annum is scheduled to begin next year. (Toyota & Mazda Increase Investment In Alabama Factory To $2.3B)
4. General Motors GM announced that it would price its first next-gen electric vehicle — Cadillac Lyriq electric SUV — at below $60,000, after unveiling the latest model last week. The Lyriq, expected to be on the roads by late 2022, will have 300 miles of expected range on a full charge based on Cadillac testing. The vehicle will offer at-home Level 2 AC charge rates up to 19kW and public DC fast-charging rates of up to 150 kW. It is also fitted with the General Motors driving system, Super Cruise, which allows 200,000 miles of hands-free highway driving and automatic lane change. (General Motors 2023 Cadillac Lyriq to be Priced Below $60K)
5. Daimler AG DDAIF announced plans to pay $2.2 billion in order to settle claims over emission-cheating software in the company’s diesel vehicles in the United States. Notably, there are two parts to the settlement. The first part involves the payment of $1.5 billion to resolve civil and environmental claims related to emission-control systems of the firm’s 250,000 diesel passenger cars as well as vans in the United States. The other part involves the payment of $700 million to settle class-action litigation brought by consumers. (Daimler to Pay Fine of $2.2B for Emissions-Cheating Software)
Price Performance
The following table shows the price movement of some of the major auto players over the past week and six-month period.
In the past week, all stocks have gained apart from General Motors and Ford. In the past six months, shares of Tesla, Advance Auto Parts and AutoZone have increased. Tesla has gained the most in the said period.
What’s Next in the Auto Space?
Watch out for further impact of the pandemic on the auto sector. Investors are keenly awaiting Advance Auto Parts’ AAP results, set to be released tomorrow.
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Ford Motor Company (F) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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NIO Inc. (NIO) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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