Posted on 05/06/2022 10:18:16 AM PDT by fireman15
Major U.S. automaker Ford blamed its sizable investment in electric vehicle (EV) company Rivian for its dramatic revenue decline in the first quarter of 2022.
Ford reported revenue of $34.5 billion between January and March, a 5% decline relative to the same period in 2021, and a net loss of $3.1 billion, according to the company’s earnings report released Wednesday. The Detroit automaker said its large investment in Rivian accounted for $5.4 billion in losses during the first quarter.
“A net loss of $3.1 billion was primarily attributable to a mark-to-market loss of $5.4 billion on the company’s investment in Rivian,” Ford said in the earnings report.
Ford maintains a roughly 12% stake in Rivian, CNBC reported in November.
Rivian has posted massive profit losses of its own and its share price has plummeted nearly 70% over the last six months. The value of Ford’s roughly 102 million Rivian shares has fallen from about $17.5 billion to $3.2 billion since November.
In the final three months of 2021, Rivian reported a net loss of $2.5 billion.
Automakers have increasingly turned their attention toward manufacturing electric vehicles as governments push aggressive green energy plans. President Joe Biden has promised to craft policies to ensure 50% of new vehicle sales in the U.S. are emissions-free by 2030 and every addition to the federal government’s 600,000-vehicle fleet is electric by 2035.
However, Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe recently suggested that the supply chain for EV batteries is still far behind where it needs to be to achieve many of the goals pushed by Western governments, the WSJ reported.
“Put very simply, all the world’s cell production combined represents well under 10% of what we will need in 10 years,” Scaringe said last week. “Meaning, 90% to 95% of the supply chain does not exist.”
(Excerpt) Read more at thestarnewsnetwork.com ...
One of the biggest problems that anyone purchasing an electric vehicle should consider... is that the life of the batteries which are very fragile if "abused" in any way can be very limited. This typically means that you should not charge them past 85% or discharge them below 15%... This means that the range is essentially 30% less than advertised right from the start. It is a bad joke!
The batteries are by far the most expensive component, and the prices and availability situation is getting worse. By the time you pay it off and hope to trade it in, the batteries will be close to be needing to be replaced and will make the car worthless in the current market.
Too big to fail! Time to steal the preferred stockholders’ stake and give it to the UAW!
I can’t imagine companies like Ford would be doing well even without this EV idiocy. With all the supply chain disruptions leading to empty dealership lots, how many new vehicles are these companies actually selling these days?
Revenue being down 5% doesn’t have anything to do with electric car sales. Could it be some resistance to $50,000 pickup trucks?
Go woke, go broke.
But, but, but the f-150 lightning can power your house after a storm and stuff. Or something.
Supporting the Mich’s Nancy’s Chucks BiLiar Bush’s DC Freeloaders
OBush’s Freeloader Class.
Unfortunately I find myself in the market for a new car. My 2007 Ford Expedition has had over $3500 in repairs since January and now it’s back in the shop. Mechanic is telling me it needs a $4800 oil pump job. I cannot afford that. Have to say there are some SLIM pickings on the new car lots. I have all but ruled out a new Ford because of price and fuel economy. Would love another Mazda but unfortunately the local dealership closed back during the shut down. I’ve checked for used cars and they are all high mileage and most cost almost the same as a new one! It’s insane!! FJB
If only there were any available for sale. Yesterday, someone said there was a used all-electric plain Jane lightning available somewhere in an undisclosed location in Kansas available for $80,000. But the owner is holding on to it until the virtue signaling EV fans bid it up.
“Could it be some resistance to $50,000 pickup trucks?”
That hasn’t been a problem in the last decade around the Northeast.
You can’t sell cars if you have no cars to sell. Just look at all the dealerships, they’re half empty and try to compensate by parking the existing cars further apart......
I hate to tell you... but it is time to find a new mechanic.
EVs are interesting. Fast as heck. But, there are so many considerations that haven’t been addressed. The most glaring of which are:
Lack of charging stations
Charging time
The capability of the electric grid
Availability of resources such as lithium
To go all in on EVs is breathtakingly stupid. I can’t imagine the car makers suddenly got as stupid as Joe Biden, so I’m guessing there’s a huge push by world governments. The execs at the car makers may not be stone stupid, but politicians are.
EVs might play a small part in this, but every car brand is dealing with huge supply chain issues. Our local Toyota dealership has zero new vehicles on its lot. Zero. Everything is “in transit” or has to be ordered, and many vehicles have waiting lists of over a year. That’s why used cars are selling for thousands more than a new model, and people are willing to pay those prices simply because new cars are almost impossible to find. It’s insane.
About a month ago I checked out a local Subaru dealer’s inventory of two different models and there were none in stock.
Isn’t the Rivian pickup a competitor to the F-150 Lightning?
Why would Ford be investing in a competitor?
There must be something real special about the location of the oil pump in your Expedition for a simple oil pump costing 4800.00.
You might want to take a look at post 11 by Hot Tabasco...
“You can't sell cars if you have no cars to sell. Just look at all the dealerships, they're half empty and try to compensate by parking the existing cars further apart......”
The supply chain is completely screwed up even for normal vehicles with no relief in sight. Biden and Co. have completely screwed us over to the point that it will be a long, long time before anything can get back to normal. It is not an accident.
No one mentions that there are 5-10 year old kids in Central Africa digging for Cobalt in order to make the electric batteries. No safety equipment, no nothing. Just kids, literally kids using their bare hands digging in the dirt.
Why would Ford be investing in a competitor?
At this point no one can get either... so no problem.
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