Hello! It is Friday, July 5, 2024 and it is The morning shiftYour daily digest of the world’s top automotive headlines, all in one place. Here are the important stories you need to know.
1st gear: Elon Musk loses $5 billion per month
At the beginning of this year, Elon Musk had so much money that he could single-handedly solve world hunger with his $251 billion fortune. However, Tesla sales stagnateunending struggles with its acquisition of Twitter and the turbulent value of Tesla shares means it has lost money this year – a lot of money.
Musk is reportedly the billionaire who has lost the most money so far this year, and his worth has been declining by about $5 billion per month. Forbes reportsAccording to the site, his wealth fell by more than 10% between the end of 2023 and June 28, 2024. As the site explains:
Elon Musk’s net worth increased from $251.3 billion to $221.4 billion between December 31, 2023, and June 28, the stock market’s last normal trading day in the first half of the year, more than any other billionaire tracked by Forbes, although Musk remains the richest person on the planet.
The shrinking of Musk’s piggy bank is largely due to a Delaware judge in January scrapping his record compensation package for Tesla, then valued at $51 billion, leading Forbes to slash the value of the stock award by 50% due to uncertainty over whether Musk would get his hands on those stock options.
Aside from the rewards, the past six months have been another volatile one for Musk’s fortunes, with the value of his existing 13% stake in Tesla down about $20 billion as the automaker’s shares slid 20% on falling profits and car deliveries, partly offset by Musk’s stake in his generative artificial intelligence startup xAI rising to $14.4 billion. (Musk also owns a roughly $75 billion stake in private aerospace company SpaceX, a $7 billion stake in his social media company X, and smaller stakes in his other ventures like experimental human brain startup Neuralink.)
Despite the Musk’s difficulties During the first half of 2024, many of the world’s richest people fared much better. In fact, Forbes reports that the net worth of the super-rich increased dramatically during the period. The collective net worth of Forbes’ top 10 richest people increased from $1.47 trillion at the end of 2023 to $1.66 trillion at the end of June 2024.
Even though he lost a few billion here and there, Musk remains the richest person in the world. in front of Amazon boss Jeff Bezoswhose net worth is approximately $214 billion at the time of writing.
2nd gear: Tesla to produce 1 million vehicles per year in Germany
There’s no need to feel too sorry for Musk for long, though, as his company has just been given the green light to increase production and try to sell even more cars. After a tumultuous few months which saw Protesters storm factoryTesla’s German factory has been given the green light for an expansion that could see it produce up to a million cars each year.
The Tesla factory in the German state of Brandenburg has just had its expansion application approved by the region’s lawmakers, reports Automotive NewsThe move will allow the company to increase production at the site to around one million cars per year. Automotive News reports:
The approval initially allows Tesla to build an asphalt logistics area for the new vehicles, as well as stairwells at its pressing plant and an access guard, authorities said.
The expansion is part of the Elon Musk-owned company’s plans to double the site’s capacity to 100 gigawatt hours of battery production and 1 million cars per year, allowing it to dominate the European electric vehicle market.
The American car manufacturer assembles Model Y cars at the site in Germany to be sold throughout Europe. In 2023, the production rate was around 5,000 cars per week, increasing this production to 6,000 cars per week from 2024.
However, the site’s expansion has been repeatedly criticized by environmental groups in the area, who accuse Elon Musk and Tesla greenwashing and say expanding operations in the area will negatively impact water supplies and local wildlife.
Third gear: EU imposes 38% tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles
After weeks of debate on the issue, European Union lawmakers have outlined the strategy to be adopted. Measures taken to combat cheap Chinese electric cars to sweep the continent. The Biden administration has imposed a 100% tariff on Chinese electric vehicles imported to America earlier this year, and now the EU has announced a 38 percent tax on cars imported from China.
The tariff of up to 37.6% on Chinese electric cars will take effect today (July 5) and is expected to fight against “unfair” public subsidies which benefit Chinese car manufacturers, reports Al Jazeera. As the site explains:
The Commission, the EU’s executive, launched an investigation into Chinese electric vehicle makers last year to determine whether state subsidies were unfairly harming European carmakers.
After four months, once the investigation is complete, the Commission could propose “specific obligations” that would apply for five years and on which the 27 members would decide.
The move increases tariffs from the current level of 10% as trade disputes intensify between the EU and China, particularly over green technologies.
The provisional duties of between 17.4 and 37.6 percent, with no retroactive effect, are aimed at preventing what Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has called a threat of a flood of cheap electric vehicles built with public subsidies.
However, the tariffs have not been well received by everyone in Europe, with some carmakers warning that they are putting the bloc on a slippery slope that leads directly to a Trade war between Europe and ChinaVW has warned that the tariffs will have a negative impact on the European auto industry in the long term.
4th Gear: Toyota Discovers the Real Problem of Fake Emission Certificates
After General Motors fined more than $140 million for yesterday’s failed emissions tests, Toyota has concluded an investigation in an emissions scandal after identifying falsified certificates describing the pollution emitted by several of its cars.
Toyota was one of several Japanese automakers to admit to submitting falsified emissions certificates Last month, the automaker finalized an investigation into the scandal, adding that it had found no additional cars with falsified documents, Reuters reports. As the site explains:
Toyota Motor Corp has found no new cases of irregularities in certification applications for its car models beyond those it had already reported last month, the Japanese automaker said in a statement Friday.
The world’s best-selling automaker said it reported its findings to Japan’s transport ministry after completing its investigation into the certification process for all domestic models over the past 10 years.
Toyota said Friday it is committed to continuing to take measures in accordance with the Transportation Ministry’s guidelines.
In addition to Toyota, falsified emissions certificates have also been identified by Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha. This follows an internal investigation at Toyota that revealed falsified crash test documents at its subsidiary Daihatsu last year, affecting light vehicles built by the company.