Here is your weekly Pro Recap of the past week's biggest headlines in the electric vehicle space: Tesla China deliveries drop; Scandinavian unions come together to fight EV giant; and Nio considers expanding layoffs.
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Tesla takes a dip in China
The China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) released data this week showing that electric vehicle giant Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) suffered a 17.8% drop in deliveries from the company’s gigafactory in Shanghai compared to the same time last year. The report marks Tesla’s biggest fall since December of 2022 when Tesla’s China-made EVs dropped 21% on the year.
Chinese rival automaker BYD (SZ:002594), however, recorded an impressive 301,378 deliveries, marking a 0.09% increase from October and a substantial 31% surge compared to the same period last year.
At the start of this year, Tesla triggered a price war in China and has since roped in more than 40 brands. However, its share of the country's EV market dropped to 5.78% in October from 8.7% in September.
Since late October, Tesla has reversed course, raising the price on its Chinese vehicles five times, even as EV demand continues to slow in the country.
Unions unite in Scandinavia
At the same time, over 4,000 miles away, in Denmark, Tesla is facing union opposition in the form of sympathy strikes.
Danish 3F, the largest union in Denmark, has decided to join with IF Metall and has pledged to back the Swedish metalworkers in a strike against the EV giant.
Members of the Danish union, including harbor workers and drivers, have said that they would refuse to unload and transport Tesla vehicles bound for Sweden at Danish ports for approximately two weeks.
Swedish labor associations have been taking action against Tesla since October. The unions are hoping to compel the electric vehicle manufacturer to agree to collective bargaining agreements with mechanics. The strike has broadened through solidarity measures, like halting the delivery of mail to Tesla.
CEO, Elon Musk has characterized the actions against his company as “insane”.
In a further setback, Tesla lost a legal dispute against Sweden’s postal service, PostNord. The service refused to deliver license plates for the Tesla vehicles, hoping to pressure the company into signing the collective agreement.
A Swedish court ruled that, for now, PostNord is not obligated to distribute license plates to Tesla.
This news follows an announcement Thursday by Norway’s largest private sector labour union, Fellesforbundet, saying that the union would tart blocking transit shipments of Tesla cars meant for the Swedish market.
Shares of TSLA ended the week up 3.23% after reaching a weekly high of $245.69/sh on Tuesday.
Nio mulls bigger layoffs
Reports surfaced Thursday suggesting Chinese electric automaker, Nio Inc (NYSE:NIO) was considering expanding their plans to reduce its workforce beyond the previously planned 10%.
According to the reports, the electric automaker directed specific departments to draft extra lists for potential layoffs, potentially increasing the initial reduction from 10% to 20% or even as much as 30%.
The intended cuts are anticipated to primarily impact non-essential sectors or areas that might not yield immediate returns or require significant investments.
These additional cutbacks come after Nio's previous announcement in November regarding its intentions to reduce its workforce by 10%, aiming to improve efficiency and reduce costs amidst escalating market competition.
In China, the demand for electric vehicles has decelerated, with consumers displaying a preference for more economically viable plug-in hybrids.
Shares of NIO ended the week up 2.71% after reaching a weekly high of $8.21/sh on Wednesday.
