本年度迄今為止,對電動汽車初創(chuàng)公司而言是糟糕的一年。情況可能還會進一步惡化。
問題并不在于電動汽車銷售停滯。事實上,雖然銷售增長速度有所放緩,但增長的勢頭沒有改變。真正的問題在于,增長的速度不及汽車廠商的預期。
福特汽車(Ford)的前首席執(zhí)行官馬克·菲爾茲于3月15日在接受美國消費者新聞與商業(yè)頻道(CNBC)的《華爾街直播室》(Squawk on the Street)欄目采訪時說:“增長速度沒有達到所有汽車廠商的預期?!彼a充道,這是因為我們正在經(jīng)歷電動汽車廠商的降價銷售、庫存增長和銷售激勵措施的增加。
他指出,早期電動汽車購買者的購車標準與普通汽車的購買者不同,他們更注重創(chuàng)新和環(huán)境影響。但許多車主已經(jīng)購買了汽車,現(xiàn)在電動汽車廠商必須贏得更注重成本和便利的普通消費者。對這些消費者來說,充電時間和充電基礎設施不足是突出的問題,除此之外還有維修成本和轉售價值等。
菲爾茲稱:“主流市場的消費者會說,你知道嗎,在你解決了所有問題之后,我就會真正考慮買電動汽車。但在此之前,我還是繼續(xù)開內燃機汽車,或者混合動力車,目前混合動力車對消費者而言一種很好的解決方案?!?/p>
混合動力車的銷量激增,這讓豐田汽車(Toyota)受益匪淺。豐田最早推出這項技術,而且它一直警告向電動汽車轉型所需要的時間會超出許多人的預期。福特汽車的混合動力汽車銷量同樣出現(xiàn)了激增,他們還計劃推出更多車型,盡管該公司因為銷售不及預期而減慢了電動汽車計劃。
但菲爾茲對于向電動汽車轉型的趨勢沒有任何質疑。
他說:“轉型一定會發(fā)生,但需要更長時間?!彼a充道,這會讓最近幾年期待電動汽車更快普及而成立的電動汽車廠商陷入困境。
菲爾茲稱:“在這個漫長的過程中,許多公司會陷入真正的財務困境,你會看到現(xiàn)在這種情況已經(jīng)發(fā)生?!?/p>
困境中的電動汽車初創(chuàng)公司
3月13日,《華爾街日報》(Wall Street Journal)報道說,特斯拉(Tesla)的挑戰(zhàn)者Fisker已經(jīng)聘請了重組顧問,幫助處理可能提起的破產(chǎn)申請。次日,該電動汽車廠商的股價下跌了約50%。Fisker表示它“經(jīng)常”與外部顧問合作,而且公司正在嘗試與一家大型汽車廠商合作,據(jù)路透社(Reuters)本月早些時候爆料,這家汽車廠商可能是日產(chǎn)汽車(Nissan)。3月15日,F(xiàn)isker的股價有所反彈。
但Fisker的市值為9,700萬美元,與2021年的41億美元相比已經(jīng)大幅縮水。該公司面臨從美國紐約證券交易所(New York Stock Exchange)退市的風險,而且上個月它進行了裁員,并警告其可能無法繼續(xù)正常運營。
與此同時,亞馬遜(Amazon)投資的Rivian最近宣布,為了節(jié)約數(shù)十億美元,將推遲在佐治亞建廠的計劃,以打消外界對其沒有足夠資金順利推出下一款車型R2的擔憂。
在此之前,特斯拉的首席執(zhí)行官埃隆·馬斯克曾經(jīng)在上個月指出,剛剛宣布裁員的Rivian只有六個季度左右的時間,否則將會破產(chǎn)。他在X上發(fā)帖稱:“他們需要大幅削減成本,而且高管團隊要住在工廠里,否則公司就會倒閉?!?/p>
Rivian的市值從2021年的最高點1,530億美元,下跌到今天的108億美元。
而沙特投資的Lucid,市值從2001年最高點的914億美元,下跌到今天的62億美元。上個月,Lucid表示今年的電動汽車產(chǎn)量只有約9,000輛,遠低于其三年前預測的2024年90,000輛的目標。(財富中文網(wǎng))
譯者:劉進龍
審校:汪皓
本年度迄今為止,對電動汽車初創(chuàng)公司而言是糟糕的一年。情況可能還會進一步惡化。
問題并不在于電動汽車銷售停滯。事實上,雖然銷售增長速度有所放緩,但增長的勢頭沒有改變。真正的問題在于,增長的速度不及汽車廠商的預期。
福特汽車(Ford)的前首席執(zhí)行官馬克·菲爾茲于3月15日在接受美國消費者新聞與商業(yè)頻道(CNBC)的《華爾街直播室》(Squawk on the Street)欄目采訪時說:“增長速度沒有達到所有汽車廠商的預期?!彼a充道,這是因為我們正在經(jīng)歷電動汽車廠商的降價銷售、庫存增長和銷售激勵措施的增加。
他指出,早期電動汽車購買者的購車標準與普通汽車的購買者不同,他們更注重創(chuàng)新和環(huán)境影響。但許多車主已經(jīng)購買了汽車,現(xiàn)在電動汽車廠商必須贏得更注重成本和便利的普通消費者。對這些消費者來說,充電時間和充電基礎設施不足是突出的問題,除此之外還有維修成本和轉售價值等。
菲爾茲稱:“主流市場的消費者會說,你知道嗎,在你解決了所有問題之后,我就會真正考慮買電動汽車。但在此之前,我還是繼續(xù)開內燃機汽車,或者混合動力車,目前混合動力車對消費者而言一種很好的解決方案?!?/p>
混合動力車的銷量激增,這讓豐田汽車(Toyota)受益匪淺。豐田最早推出這項技術,而且它一直警告向電動汽車轉型所需要的時間會超出許多人的預期。福特汽車的混合動力汽車銷量同樣出現(xiàn)了激增,他們還計劃推出更多車型,盡管該公司因為銷售不及預期而減慢了電動汽車計劃。
但菲爾茲對于向電動汽車轉型的趨勢沒有任何質疑。
他說:“轉型一定會發(fā)生,但需要更長時間?!彼a充道,這會讓最近幾年期待電動汽車更快普及而成立的電動汽車廠商陷入困境。
菲爾茲稱:“在這個漫長的過程中,許多公司會陷入真正的財務困境,你會看到現(xiàn)在這種情況已經(jīng)發(fā)生。”
困境中的電動汽車初創(chuàng)公司
3月13日,《華爾街日報》(Wall Street Journal)報道說,特斯拉(Tesla)的挑戰(zhàn)者Fisker已經(jīng)聘請了重組顧問,幫助處理可能提起的破產(chǎn)申請。次日,該電動汽車廠商的股價下跌了約50%。Fisker表示它“經(jīng)常”與外部顧問合作,而且公司正在嘗試與一家大型汽車廠商合作,據(jù)路透社(Reuters)本月早些時候爆料,這家汽車廠商可能是日產(chǎn)汽車(Nissan)。3月15日,F(xiàn)isker的股價有所反彈。
但Fisker的市值為9,700萬美元,與2021年的41億美元相比已經(jīng)大幅縮水。該公司面臨從美國紐約證券交易所(New York Stock Exchange)退市的風險,而且上個月它進行了裁員,并警告其可能無法繼續(xù)正常運營。
與此同時,亞馬遜(Amazon)投資的Rivian最近宣布,為了節(jié)約數(shù)十億美元,將推遲在佐治亞建廠的計劃,以打消外界對其沒有足夠資金順利推出下一款車型R2的擔憂。
在此之前,特斯拉的首席執(zhí)行官埃隆·馬斯克曾經(jīng)在上個月指出,剛剛宣布裁員的Rivian只有六個季度左右的時間,否則將會破產(chǎn)。他在X上發(fā)帖稱:“他們需要大幅削減成本,而且高管團隊要住在工廠里,否則公司就會倒閉?!?/p>
Rivian的市值從2021年的最高點1,530億美元,下跌到今天的108億美元。
而沙特投資的Lucid,市值從2001年最高點的914億美元,下跌到今天的62億美元。上個月,Lucid表示今年的電動汽車產(chǎn)量只有約9,000輛,遠低于其三年前預測的2024年90,000輛的目標。(財富中文網(wǎng))
譯者:劉進龍
審校:汪皓
It’s been a bad year so far for startups offering electric vehicles. It could get a lot worse.
The problem is not that EV sales aren’t growing. They are, despite a slowdown. It’s that they’re not growing as quickly as carmakers had anticipated.
“The pace that all the automakers were expecting is not there,” former Ford CEO Mark Fields told CNBC’s Squawk on the Street on March 15. That, he added, is why we’re seeing price cuts, rising inventories, and increased incentives from EV makers.
Early EV adopters, he noted, have different purchase criteria—such as innovation and environmental impact—than average buyers. But many of them have already purchased their vehicles, and now EV makers must win over everyday consumers more focused on cost and convenience. For them, charging time and inadequate charging infrastructure loom large, in addition to repair costs and resale value.
“The consumer in the mainstream market is going to say, you know what, when you figure all that stuff out, then I’ll really consider this,” said Fields. “But until then, I’ll either stick with my internal combustion engine, or alternatively, as you’re seeing, with hybrids, a really great solution for consumers right now.”
Sales of hybrid vehicles are soaring, much to the benefit of Toyota, which pioneered the technology and has long warned that the EV transition will take longer than many believed. Ford has also enjoyed surging hybrid sales and plans to offer more such vehicles, even as it decelerates its EV plans given weaker-than-expected sales.
But Fields harbors no doubts about the transition to EVs.
“The transition will absolutely happen, but it’s going to take longer,” he said. And that, he added, spells difficulty for EV makers launched in recent years with the expectation of faster EV adoption.
“With this longer path, a number of them are going to get into real financial trouble, and you’re seeing that play out right now,” he said.
Struggling EV startups
On March 13, the Wall Street Journal reported that Tesla challenger Fisker had hired restructuring advisors to help with a possible bankruptcy filing. The EV maker’s shares fell by roughly 50% the next day. They recovered somewhat on March 15, after Fisker said it “often” works with outside advisors and that it was focused on trying to partner with a large automaker, which Reuters reported earlier this month might be Nissan.
But Fisker’s market cap stands at $97 million, down from $4.1 billion in 2021. It risks being delisted from the New York Stock Exchange, and last month it cut jobs and warned it might unable to continue as a going concern.
Meanwhile, Amazon-backed Rivian recently announced that it will delay factory plans in Georgia in order to save billions of dollars, helping to ease worries that it lacked sufficient funding to see it through the launch of its next model, the R2.
That followed Tesla CEO Elon Musk suggesting last month that Rivian, which had just announced layoffs, had only six quarters or so until bankruptcy. “They need to cut costs massively, and the exec team needs to live in the factory or they will die,” he posted on X.
Rivian’s market cap has plunged from a 2021 peak of $153 billion to $10.8 billion today.
As for Saudi-backed Lucid, its market cap has plummeted from a peak of $91.4 billion in 2001 to a $6.2 billion today. Last month, it said it would build only about 9,000 EVs this year—a far cry from the 90,000 it predicted for 2024 just three years ago.