Autopilot and FSD buyers are suing Tesla, automakers are upset that dealers aren’t allowed to lie, and Tesla is moving into battery production. All that and more in Morning shift for Thursday, September 15, 2022.
Equipment one: Buyers suing Tesla over claims that autonomy will arrive next year are, quite frankly, factual at this point
There is a tradition in the automotive world, one that has taken shape over the past decade. Once a year, Elon Musk shows up and says that Tesla cars will have full autonomy in the next year. Then, perhaps, he searches for his shadow to tell us all if winter is six weeks away.
But customers are growing tired of the ever-changing timeline, and buyers who put down five or six figures on a car to get technology that still doesn’t exist are starting to feel ripped off. In fact, they are suing Tesla. Are from Reuters:
Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) was sued on Wednesday in a proposed class action that alleges Elon Musk’s electric car company misled the public by falsely advertising. about Autopilot and Full Autopilot features.
The lawsuit alleges that Tesla and Musk from 2016 falsely advertised that the technology was fully operational or “just around the corner” despite knowing that the technology didn’t work or didn’t exist, and caused vehicles to move around. unsafe communication.
Briggs Matsko, the named plaintiff, said Tesla did this to “create excitement” about its vehicles, attract investment, boost sales, avoid bankruptcy, boost stock prices and become more become a “dominant player” in the field of electric vehicles.
“Tesla has yet to produce anything even when remotely approaching a fully autonomous vehicle,” Matsko said.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in San Francisco, seeks unspecified damages to people who since 2016 have purchased or rented Tesla vehicles with Autopilot, Enhanced Autopilot, and Full Self-Driving features.
In a shocking series of events, people who spend a ton of money on a car to get a particular feature get annoyed that the feature doesn’t actually exist. Who knows!
2nd gear: Car manufacturers have a hard time when their dealers can’t lie
Earlier this year, the Federal Trade Commission set out new rules about the extent to which an auto dealership can lie to its buyers. Dealers, yes getting fat and complacent lying, not satisfied with the change. Now, it looks like they’ve called out the name in the big guns: Car Corridor. Are from Automotive News:
An attorney for the Alliance for Automotive Innovation on Monday advised the Federal Trade Commission to rethink its strategy for dealer price disclosures, calling the agency’s current plans “bloated.” with the conversational nature of multiple sales.”
David Bright, senior attorney for the auto trade group, also asked for language clarifying the FTC’s plan to ban duplicate F&I products and issued a general warning to the agency that “regulatory and regulatory excessive scale” can affect the car buying process.
Bright wrote in the organization’s public comment on the FTC’s proposed new auto dealership regulations. “A regulation that unnecessarily burdens dealers and creates rigid processes in auto retail could frustrate consumers and have a negative impact on conventional automakers. through reduced sales and reduced consumer awareness of their brand and the automotive industry as a whole.”
Now, this might just be my own naivety, but I would think that “being cheated on and getting hit four figures in a required last minute fee” would lead to “decreased customer awareness.” ” more than any of the FTC regulations. I guess that’s why I’m just a blogger and not an attorney representing the automakers.
3rd gear: BILLIONesla may be moving battery production next door
The Inflation Reduction Act imposed some new restrictions on the $7,500 EV tax credit, because Joe Manchin makes money from fossil fuels and he there won’t be any clean energy startups interrupting that sweet cash flow. One of the most controversial restrictions is on battery manufacturing, where unwritten rules would require automakers to make their batteries in the US or risk being phased out. tax credits for their vehicles. It looks like Tesla is quickly following the rules – moving planned battery production from Germany to the US. Are from The Wall Street Journal:
Tesla Inc. is halting plans to manufacture battery cells in Germany as it considers eligibility for US battery and electric vehicle manufacturing tax credits, people familiar with the matter said.
The people, who said the company is working on making its own batteries, discussed shipping the cell-manufacturing equipment it plans to use at its Berlin-area factory to the US.
…
Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In the days after the bill became law, the company told Texas officials that it was searching for sites in the area to find a refinery to refine lithium, the key battery input that today is home to many people. mainly processed in China.
Of course, battery production is only one piece of the puzzle. To remain eligible for the penny of the revised rebate, Tesla will also have to start supplying its lithium only from countries with which the US has existing trade agreements.
4th item: Ultium workers allow strike for union recognition
In Ohio, there’s a factory that isn’t exactly a General Motors factory, but it’s not exactly an LG facility either. It’s both, a partnership between the two companies that make GM’s Ultium EV components. But the workers at that plant considered themselves car manufacturers rather than chemists, and organized with United Auto workers to be represented as such. Now, they are willing to close the factory so that companies can recognize this unit. Are from Detroit News:
Workers at the Ultium Cells LLC plant in northeastern Ohio authorized the strike in an effort to get the company to recognize the United Auto Workers Union as its bargaining agent.
On Friday, 94% of workers voted at the General Motors Co. and LG Energy Solution approved the strike recognition measure, Darwin Cooper, President of UAW Local 1112 told The Detroit News. There is no deadline for the strike to happen, he added.
Experts say the UAW will use the vote as leverage in an effort to get the company to recognize the union. But Ultium said in a statement that it is pushing for an election certified by the National Labor Relations Board, something experts say the UAW wants to avoid because it lengthens the process.
Ultium is General Motors’ new trump card in the hole, its vision for the company’s future. If it wants to bank on EVs, the workers who build them deserve representation.
5th gear: Porsche IPO will have exactly 911 million shares because who cares
Did you know that when companies issue shares on the stock exchange, they can only issue as many shares as they want? Porsche seems to have decided to buy 911 million shares for the upcoming IPO, in honor of the Porsche 911. Welcome to an economy where most of the time it’s the law. make up and the numbers never seem problem. Are from Reuters:
Volkswagen’s supervisory board (VOWG_p.DE) will meet on Sunday to move ahead with the IPO of the Porsche brand, including 911 million shares following the launch of its most popular model, two people familiar with the matter said. .
Details on the price range, valuation and confirmed platform investors are likely to be announced after the meeting, a third source said.
The 911 million shares of Porsche AG will be divided into 455.5 million shares of preferred stock and 455.5 million shares of common stock, according to the stock issuance website. Only preferred shares are listed.
Porsche SE (PSHG_p.DE), the leading shareholder of Volkswagen, has committed to purchase 25% plus one common share at a 7.5% discount on preferred shares.
So Porsche is owned by Volkswagen, which is largely owned by Porsche, and Porsche will acquire Porsche from Volkswagen through an IPO. I will go back to bed.
Reversal: And then we learn from our mistakes and never repeat them
Neutral: Please appreciate this color
Since the olden days, my favorite car color has always been Midnight Purple from the GT-Rs of the ’90s. Ford has gone to great lengths to beat it with Liquid blue, but that never went into production and was completely out of stock (though it did pre-order the Nardo Gray hell we’re all living in). But Blue Ember, aside from the Mustang Dark Horse, may take its toll. Only look at it.
