Interest Rates: The leading concern, cited by 62% of dealers, indicating a significant impact on business operations, slightly down from 65% in the previous quarter.
Economic Uncertainty: 55% of dealers expressed concerns over the economy, highlighting ongoing economic challenges and a noticeable decrease from 61% last quarter.
Market Conditions: 40% of dealers are wary of current market conditions, a decline from 48% in Q4 2023, reflecting concerns about the selling environment.
Other notable concerns include the political climate (33%), increasing expenses (32%), and limited inventory (31%), each contributing to the cautious outlook among dealers.
Canoo: Making Cars, Flying Planes
In 2023, EV startup Canoo spent $1.7 million on its CEO's private jet, twice its annual revenue of $886,000, underscoring its fiscal challenges.
Despite delivering 22 vehicles and reducing operational losses to $267 million from $506 million the previous year, its net losses amounted to $302.6 million.
This extravagance in executive perks highlights the stark contrast between Canoo's spending and its revenue, even as it aims for a brighter financial forecast in 2024.
Q1, EVs, Summaries
Ford:
Price reductions up to $8,100 on the Mustang Mach-E significantly boosted sales, with a 64% year-over-year increase in February and a tripling of EV market share to 13.3%.
Despite a $4.7 billion loss by Ford's Model e unit last year, these strategic price cuts attracted more buyers.
Tesla:
Experienced an 8.5% drop in Q1 deliveries year-over-year to 386,810 vehicles, below analyst expectations.
Shares fell by approximately 6.5%, indicating a notable quarterly decline.
Rivian:
Missed production estimates with 13,980 vehicles in Q1, leading to a slight 1% drop in premarket shares.
Plans to upgrade production lines and maintain its annual forecast despite a slight 3% sequential decline in deliveries.
BYD:
Q1 sales fell 43% from the previous quarter to 300,114 units, passing the top EV seller title back to Tesla.
Overall vehicle sales were up 13.4% year-over-year but showed a significant drop from the previous quarter's peak.
A Truckload of Friendship: Nissan and Mitsubishi
Nissan and Mitsubishi are enhancing their partnership by planning multiple vehicle launches for North America, including hybrid and electric models.
Among the possible offerings is a new pickup truck, potentially marking Mitsubishi's re-entry into the U.S. truck market since 2009. This collaboration is part of Nissan's broader strategy, "The Arc," aiming for 30 new vehicle launches by 2027 to transition towards electric vehicles. The partnership might leverage Nissan's EV technology, offering competitive advantages in the expanding electrified vehicle market.
--
Tesla is back on top of the global EV pile, but Ford found the secret ingredient: Cars people can afford.
Every day, we report news that makes us think we should get into consulting.
