According to the car maker,  strong U.S. sales was a major factor in the quarter's earnings performance. The company’s adjusted earnings came in at 44 cents per share, beating analysts’ estimates of 27 cents (based on  Refinitiv poll).  The demand decline in China, Europe and other nations led to Ford losing almost half a percent of its global market share over the first three months of the year. Nevertheless, U.S. sales remained steady at $25.4 billion, on the back of strong domestic demand for trucks and SUVs – contributing to around $2.2 billion in its overall $2.4 billion of operating earnings for the quarter.

Ford’s $500 million investment in the electric truck maker Rivian looks all the more promising after the latter’s deal with General Motors (GM) came to a final stall.It is rumored that GM wanted all the technology rights of the start-up that eventually led to the dropping of the deal. On the other hand, the deal with Ford is progressing fast as the deal allegedly allows Rivian to move ahead with its own plans and also to sign up with other potential partners.

The stock got very close to the line in February as well. The trend line is in close proximity to the 50-day moving average at this point and that could make it twice as hard for the stock to move back up. The company is set to report earnings on April 24 and that is a potential driver that could get the stock out of its downtrend, but that would be asking a lot.Over the last three years, Tesla has continued to lose money and that means it doesn’t really have a return on equity and its profit margin is -1.2%.

On Friday, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles announced that it is recalling more than 300,000 Dodge Dart compact cars in North America. The reason as cited by the company is that the cable connecting the shifter to the transmission might degrade and snap, thereby potentially causing the vehicles to roll away if the driver tries to shift for parking.Car owners will not have to bear any costs related to the replacement to follow, as mandated by recall law. Around 298,000 cars in the U.S.,  20,117 in Canada, 3,400 in Mexico and about 900 outside of North America are covered in the Fiat recall.

Toyota, auto parts maker Denso and internet company SoftBank's investment fund are investing $1 billion in car-sharing Uber's technology unit. The Japanese companies said that Toyota Motor Corp. and Denso Corp. will together invest $667 million and SoftBank Corp.'s Vision Fund will contribute $333 million in Uber Technologies Inc.'s new entity, Advanced Technologies Group, or Uber ATG, which will try to develop and commercialize automated ridesharing services. The move comes as Toyota steps up such efforts, including investing $500 million in Uber, based in San Francisco, and setting up a $20 million joint venture with SoftBank to create mobility services, both announced last year.

SpaceX launched the company’s Falcon Heavy rocket on its inaugural commercial mission on Thursday evening.Read More...

A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers introduced legislation on Wednesday to expand the electric vehicle tax credit by 400,000 vehicles per manufacturer, a provision that would give a boost to Tesla Inc and General Motors Co before the existing credit comes to an end for them. Read More...

Ford (F +1%) recalls 327K F-150 and Super Duty trucks due to a potential fire risk from faulty splicing on engine block heaters.The splice job was done after a prior recall. Read More...

Ford Motor Co is nearing a deal with Mahindra & Mahindra to form a new joint-venture company in India, a move that will likely see the U.S. automaker cease independent operations in the country, two sources with direct knowledge of the talks told Reuters. Read More...

Regulations allow a manufacturer of zero-emission vehicles to earn credits and sell excess credits to other manufacturers. This has also allowed Tesla to report quarterly profits when otherwise it would have been losses.The company reported a poor sales result in its first quarter, as it struggled to roll out its new Model 3 delivers over transit issues.

Total sales included about 50,900 Model 3 sedans, Tesla's best-selling vehicle, and 12,100 luxury Model S sedans and Model X SUVs. These figures are indeed a matter of concern for investors, as the company's sizeable debt lingers in the backdrop.Firstly, the company hastened to finish Model 3 production last year so buyers could take advantage of a $7,500 federal tax credit, which lowered the amount people had to pay for Tesla's vehicles. Secondly, the company started shipping its Model 3 to China and Europe for the first time in the first quarter.

However, the company’s more expensive offerings, like the GMC Sierra crew cab pickup, sold out. The company further disclosed that sales of smaller crossovers such as the Chevrolet Trax and Equinox, as well as its midsize Chevrolet Colorado pickup, had a good first quarter, but the major hit was the GMC Acadia SUV. Midway through the year, the company plans to launch more full-size pickups with two new heavy duty pickups from Chevrolet and GMC.More facilities are set to be opened in Flint to up these productions. The company’s overall sales decline is due to the poor performance of the traditional passengers cars that seem to have had its day.

Ford, General Motors (GM) and Toyota, together with SAE International, have established a new consortium that will focus on the safety of autonomous vehicles. In a statement Wednesday, SAE International, a global association of engineers, said the Automated Vehicle Safety Consortium (AVSC) would work “to safely advance testing, pre-competitive development and deployment of SAE Level 4 and 5 automated vehicles.”  READ MORE...

For its first quarter 2019, the automaker’s sales declined -7%, compared to the previous year’s strong quarter. Deliveries of 665,840 vehicles in the first quarter were -6.98% lower from the year-ago quarter.Among car models, Cadillac ATS deliveries plunged -86% year-over-year, while Cadillac XTS deliveries fell -23%. The company's vehicles' average transaction price, however, spiked to a record high of $35,881 which is a +2.68% increase over 2018's first quarter.  GM’s the best-seller for the quarter was the GMC Savana, with a  +36% surged in deliveries. The company’s total pick-up truck saw a +20% increase in deliveries.   

Major automakers on Tuesday reported weak U.S. sales for March and the first quarter, citing a rough start to the year, but said a robust economy and strong labor market should encourage consumers to buy more vehicles as 2019 rolls on. Read more...

China’s State Council said on Sunday that the country would continue to suspend additional tariffs on U.S. vehicles and auto parts after April 1, in a goodwill gesture following a U.S. decision to delay tariff hikes on Chinese imports. Read More...

Automaker giant Ford Motor Company announced its decision to stop producing passenger vehicles offered through a joint venture called Ford Sollers with Russian automaker Sollers PJSC while commercial vans will still continue to be produced.This restructuring of the deal between the companies is part of a larger move to boost profitability in Europe. Ford confirmed that the restructuring will come at a one-time pre-tax expense between $450 - $500 million out of which roughly $250-$300 million will be non-cash accounting charges, and the remainder roughly $200 million will be cash charges.

Shares of automobile giant, Fiat Chrysler rose more than 3% on Wednesday following merger talks with French carmaker Renault, amidst analysts’ skepticism. Analysts are of the opinion that Fiat is a potential acquisition target for Renault, but only after the latter settles its recent disagreements with the Japanese car maker Nissan, its long-standing business associate.On the other hand, one other automaker has expressed interest in acquiring Fiat Chrysler and that the company’s controlling owners, the Agnelli family’s interest in the deal suggests the automaker is a potential target. But analysts believe that it is unlikely that the disputes between Renault and Nissan will be settled any time soon. The history of the automotive industry has ample evidence of dysfunctional mergers.

The analysts now expect Tesla to deliver 47,500 Model 3s this quarter, compared to their previous forecast of 55,000. Cowen analyst Jeffrey Osborne seems skeptical on the U.S. market for Tesla cars, and anticipates the demand to decline until Tesla introduces a planned $35,000 version of the Model 3 in the second quarter.The analyst also mentioned that Tesla’s product price changes and the resulting pressure on margins have been incorporated in Cowen’s latest price targets on Tesla stock. According to Cowen’s analysis, most of Tesla's first-quarter deliveries (22,000) is expected to come from the U.S. Additionally, China would probably deliver 10,000, Norway would supply 5,300, and the rest of Europe (outside of Norway) would account for 5,850 deliveries, according to the Cowen analysts’ forecasts.  

Detroit based automobile manufacturer, General Motors, on Friday announced that it would make investments worth $300 million at its Orion Assembly Plant in Michigan, and is likely to add 400 jobs to build a new electric vehicle. According to the GM CEO, Mary Barra, the new vehicle which will bear GM’s Chevrolet brand would be produced at its Orion plant outside Detroit.It was slated to be produced outside of the U.S. initially. The $300 million investment comes as a part of the GM's pledge to invest a total of $1.8 billion in its U.S. manufacturing operations, which would create 700 new jobs and would support 28,000 jobs across six states. According to the company, the reason for shifting the production of the new car to the U.S. is that it would require an advanced version of the platform used in the current Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicle, which the Orion plant currently builds.