Exactly the point we were trying to extract from the electrical engineers at EE Times on December 6th:
Western Legacy Automakers Probably Won't Be Long-Term Survivors
Because their current business is being mandated and legislated out of existence the Western marques, barring some serious breakthroughs in small-scale hydrogen or methanol, will have to pivot to EV's.
And they won't be able to compete....
From Wolf Street, December 12:
The infinite wisdom of the US legacy automakers never ceases to astound.
Ford today gave another signal in a series of signals – it’s planning to cut production of its F-150 Lightning by half in 2024 to just 1,600 trucks a week – that proves the point: Two years ago, Ford, GM, and FCA (owned by Stellantis) were 10 years behind Tesla. Today, they’re 14 years behind, and they’re in the process of throwing in the towel. Every executive from the CEO on down three levels should be fired on the spot. I’m furious. I have been waiting for years for the legacy automakers to put the heat on Tesla to knock it off its high horse.
But no. Instead of focusing on designing competitive EVs – cost-competitive EVs – and to build the supply chains needed to produce them, GM announced $10 billion in share buybacks two weeks ago, and Ford $5 billion in share buybacks, to kowtow to Wall Street and keep their shares from plunging further. The CEOs should be fired on the spot, or did I already say that?
Meanwhile, Tesla’s Model Y has become the #2 bestselling model in the US in 2023 through Q3, with a market share of 2.5% of all new light vehicles sold, according to registration data provided by Experian, only half a percentage point behind the #1 bestseller, the Ford F-150 internal-combustion-engine (ICE) version, with a share of 3.0%. With this growth rate, the Model Y is threatening to take the #1 spot from Ford’s ICE F-150 in a year or two, which would be a catastrophe for Ford....
....MUCH MORE
