The auto industry was as horrified by the coup as the rest

Yesterday was bad, Elon Musk could soon be the richest man in the world on paper and rhodium. All this and more The morning shift for January 7, 2021.

I would say yesterday was one of the dumbest days in American history, but everyone has already said it. This is too much merit for a group of nobles in any case. Keep calm and the car on, as they say.

1st gear: Auto People React

GM CEO Mary Barra tweeted:

Ford CEO Jim Farley also tweeted:

The U.S. Eastern Michigan District Attorney (who prosecuted the UAW corruption scandal) also tweeted:

UAW President Rory Gamble made a statement:

The National Manufacturers Association also weighed in, because everyone was waiting for what the National Manufacturers Association had to say:

Everything will be a distant memory soon and you will have the feeling that it would always end like this, with a cheap and useless crime that temporarily delayed the adults from performing their duties. Four people have now been reported death.

2nd gear: car sales are bad in Europe

The reason is the pandemic. Aside from a group of nobles storming the Capitol, we are still concerned about the pandemic.

From Bloomberg:

Registrations fell by about 25% last year in Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Spain, the five largest countries in Europe that buy cars, according to industry associations and transport ministries. The resurgence of Covid-19 led several governments to re-implement blocking measures that are likely to drag on demand in early 2021.

Germany’s new vehicle registrations fell about 20 percent in 2020, according to preliminary data from the Federal Motor Transportation Authority, which will release detailed numbers on Friday. Figures released earlier this week showed that sales fell 32% in Spain, 29% in the UK, 28% in Italy and 25% in France. The UK car industry trade group said the country’s decline was the worst since 1943.

The data show the excessive impact the coronavirus had on the European car industry last year relative to China and the United States, where vehicle purchases were more resilient. The continuing weakness in demand poses a risk to the euro area economy, which was largely based on the manufacturing sector in the recovery of the second half of last year.

“We are in a deep crisis,” Pierre-Louis Debar, head of statistics at the French automotive industry group CCFA, said in an interview. “It’s more extensive than anything we’ve seen in the past.”

3rd team: Rhodes? Rhodes!

Rhodium is used in catalytic converters and many countries are concerned about cleaning the air these days. This has caused the price of rhodium to skyrocket.

From The Financial Times:

Car companies in Europe and China are increasingly using rhodium to comply with tougher legislation on clean air, while the supply of South Africa, the largest producer, has been disrupted by diffusion. of Covid-19.

Aided by the economic recovery in China, the world’s largest auto market, rhodium’s benchmark prices have hit a record $ 17,790 an ounce, a 200% increase from its March 2020 lows. a kilogram of rhodium is worth nearly half a million pounds.

Nicholas Hops, co-manager of the Coronation Resources Fund, said “you have a massive struggle for metal” from auto companies. “If you don’t have enough rhodium, you can’t comply with emissions legislation and we know how draconian these fines are.”

4th Gear: Elon Musk

Tesla’s value on paper is enormous, or exceeds $ 700 billion. Ford’s value, by context, is about $ 34 billion. On paper, the value of Tesla has CEO Elon Musk almost the richest person in the world.

From Bloomberg:

A 2.8% rise in the price of electric vehicle maker shares pushed Musk to $ 3 billion on Wednesday from Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos, who currently ranks first in the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, a ranking of the 500 richest people in the world.

The South African-born engineer’s net worth on Wednesday amounted to $ 181.1 billion, a short distance from Bezos, which has held the top spot since October 2017. As CEO of Space Exploration Technologies Corp. . , owner of Blue Origin LLC, in the private space race.

The milestone exceeds 12 extraordinary months for Musk. Over the past year, its net worth soared to more than $ 150 billion, probably in the fastest period of wealth creation in history. Its rise was driven by an unprecedented rise in Tesla’s share price, which rose 743% last year thanks to steady gains, inclusion in the S&P 500 index and the enthusiasm of Wall Street and retail investors. .

Elon’s pay is largely tied in stock this and can materialize or not, depending on the future of Tesla. But it’s always good to be the best of something.

5th gear: Model Y sales in China are high

There is waiting time for the car, which has basically met expectations in terms of sales. These expectations were huge.

From Bloomberg:

A basic version of the electric vehicle purchased will now be delivered in the second quarter and a performance variant in the third quarter, the Tesla website showed. When Tesla announced the price last week and began sales, it said deliveries would take place this month.

A strong start to the vehicle would be an advantage for Tesla, as it seeks to maintain its advantage in the premium segment over rivals such as Nio Inc. and the company set the price of the vehicle below other brands to maintain a competitive advantage.

“Based on order intake and our production plan, we have adjusted the delivery time of the Model Y from the last orders in the second quarter,” a Tesla representative via WeChat said on Thursday.

Reverse: balloon? Globe!