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Tag: Auto

  • McLaren Denies Being Acquired By Audi

    McLaren Denies Being Acquired By Audi

    Earlier in the day, reports had emerged that Audi had closed a deal to acquire the entire McLaren group. Audi had been exploring an acquisition of the McLaren Formula 1 team to facilitate its entry into the pinnacle of motorsport in 2026 when the new engine formula come into the sport. It had been open to the full acquisition of the entire McLaren Group that gives it access to the McLaren supercar brand. Audi, of course, already has a controlling stake in Lamborghini and the Volkswagen Group has been looking to enter the world of Formula 1 with its Audi and Porsche brands. Due to the pandemic, McLaren had faced many losses and was forced to lay off 1,200 workers.

    Even though its F1 team has been on a revival and its financials have improved with external funding, last month the supercar maker also lost its longtime CEO Mike Flewitt who ran the main motorcar brand while its Applied sciences division was already sold.

    Volkswagen Group has been looking to enter the world of Formula 1 with its Audi and Porsche brands

    While Audi seems keen, McLaren has come out and rubbished all these claims. “McLaren Group is aware of a news media report stating it has been sold to Audi. This is wholly inaccurate and McLaren is seeking to have the story removed. McLaren’s technology strategy has always involved ongoing discussions and collaboration with relevant partners and suppliers, including other carmakers, however, there has been no change in the ownership structure of the McLaren Group,” the company said in an official statement.

    ly denied the report which originated from Autocar. “As part of our strategic considerations, we are constantly looking at various cooperation ideas,” said an Audi spokesperson in response to the Autocar report. Porsche is looking at a partnership with Red Bull for its powertrains division while Audi had been planning to acquire a team and McLaren was the one on top of its list. If it can’t get McLaren, it will be looking at either Sauber or Williams which are now the last of the three independent teams left in the sport.

    For Audi, McLaren is very attractive. Apart from being the third most successful F1 team in history, it is a storied supercar brand. Its team is also now back on the upswing with a great set of drivers in Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo. What’s interesting is if an acquisition were to happen what will happen to the McLaren brand which counts F1 core to its identity?

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  • Musk Sells Nearly $7 Billion Worth Of Tesla Shares This Week

    Musk Sells Nearly $7 Billion Worth Of Tesla Shares This Week

    Tesla CEO Elon Musk offloaded a combined $6.9 billion worth of shares in the electric car company this week, taking advantage of a meteoric rally that vaulted the firm’s value to over $1 trillion. The billionaire sold 1.2 million shares held by his trust for more than $1.2 billion on Friday, the latest in a flurry of his stock transactions, according to U.S. security filing released later in the day.

    The world’s richest person and Tesla’s top shareholder last Saturday tweeted that he would sell 10% of his shares if users of the social media platform approved the move. The 10% would be about 17 million shares at the time of his tweet.

    He has sold 6.36 million shares this week – around 37% of 17 million. He now needs to offload about 10 million more shares to fulfill his pledge to sell 10% of his holdings.

    Shares of Tesla Inc closed lower on Friday, down 2.8% at $1,033.42, snapping an 11-week winning streak. The shares are up more than 46% this year following a sharp rally in October.

    The stock sales, which marked the first time that Musk cashed out on a stake of that size since the company was founded in 2003, were massive by capital market standards, eclipsing the initial public offerings of most companies.

    By getting Twitter users to green-light the move, he has blunted potential criticism of cashing out at a time when Tesla’s valuation has become frothy and shares are at record highs.

    Tesla shares fell 15.4% this week and lost some $187 billion in market value, more than the combined market capitalizations of Ford Motor Co and General Motors Co.

    Despite the week’s losses, Tesla is still the most valuable automaker in the world. Recent strong gains in the stock have underscored demand for shares of electric vehicle (EV) makers.

    After the blockbuster market debut of Rivian Automotive Inc on Wednesday, the two most valuable U.S. automakers are EV companies.

    In a veiled jab at the Irvine, California-based rival, Musk tweeted on Thursday: “There have been hundreds of automotive startups, both electric & combustion, but Tesla is (the) only American carmaker to reach high volume production & positive cash flow in past 100 years.”

    Musk had previously said he would have to exercise a large number of stock options this year, which would create a big tax bill. Selling some of his stock could free up funds to pay the taxes.

    Prior to the sale, Musk owned a stake of about 23% in Tesla, including stock options. After his exercise on 2.15 million stocks on Monday, he has options for 20 million more shares he needs to exercise by next August.

    “We expect the share sales will continue, as Musk holds millions of options worth billions of dollars that would otherwise expire worthlessly, and he has also prearranged share sales under 10b5-1 plans,” said Jason Benowitz, senior portfolio manager at the Roosevelt Investment Group LLC in New York.

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  • China Vehicle Sales Fall 9.4% In October 2021

    China Vehicle Sales Fall 9.4% In October 2021

    China’s auto sales fell in October for a sixth consecutive month, slumping 9.4% from a year earlier, industry data showed on Wednesday, as a prolonged global shortage of semiconductors disrupts production. Overall sales in the world’s biggest car market were 2.33 million vehicles in October, data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) showed. This time of year, known as “Golden September, Silver October”, is usually a high point in sales for the industry, with consumers making purchases after staying away from showrooms during the stifling summer months.

    One bright spot in the data was the strong sales of new energy vehicles (NEV), which grew 135% in October to 383,000 units, thanks to the government’s promotion of greener vehicles to cut pollution. These include battery-powered electric vehicles, plug-in petrol-electric hybrids and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles.

    Tesla Inc sold 54,391 China-made vehicles in October, slightly less than 56,006 the previous month when it hit the highest monthly sales in China since it started production in Shanghai about two years ago, according to data of export, the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) released on Monday.

    CAAM official Chen Shihua said chip supply is easing in the fourth quarter which is helping the country’s auto production to grow gradually.

    Chinese EV makers Nio Inc sold 3,667 cars last month and Xpeng Inc delivered 10,138 vehicles. Volkswagen AG said it sold over 12,000 ID. series EVs in China in October.

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  • Porsche AG Benefits From Being Part Of Volkswagen Group

    Porsche AG Benefits From Being Part Of Volkswagen Group

    Porsche AG, part of the Volkswagen Group, profits from being part of Volkswagen, its CEO Oliver Blume said on Wednesday, following speculation that an IPO of the luxury unit could be on the cards.

    “We feel very comfortable in the Volkswagen Group, we can profit from synergies. The important thing in this time is to focus on transformation,” Blume said, speaking at a car industry conference organized by autos publication Automobilwoche in Ludwigsburg, Germany. China Vehicle Sales Fall 9.4% In October 2021

    Germany’s Manager Magazin reported in October that investment bank Goldman Sachs and law firm Freshfields were among advisors working on a possible listing of the unit.

    Volkswagen’s CEO Herbert Diess said on Oct. 28 the company was constantly reviewing its portfolio but provided no further comment.

  • Vietnam supplier resumption to reboot Japan auto industry

    Vietnam supplier resumption to reboot Japan auto industry

    The resumption of auto part factories in Vietnam is set to contribute to the recovery of Japanese automakers struggling with a supply shortage due to Covid-19.

    The three Vietnam factories of Japan’s Furukawa Electric, which make wire harnesses for cars, are expected to soon return to full capacity.

    Factory floors “have returned to a position where they can respond to requests from a client,” Furukawa Electric President Keiichi Kobayashi said.

    The fourth Covid-19 wave has forced most southern companies to operate under restrictions, but since October, utilization rates at all three factories in Ho Chi Minh City and Ben Tre Province have been recovering steadily.

    Vietnam was the source of about 40 percent of Japan’s wire harness imports last year, with pandemic restrictions having forced Toyota Motor and seven other Japanese automakers to cut September production in half compared to a year earlier.

    Yazaki and Sumitomo Electric Industries also restoring production at their Vietnamese plants could further help support a production comeback in Japan’s auto sector.

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  • Elon Musk Sells $5 Billion In Tesla Shares After Twitter Poll

    Elon Musk Sells $5 Billion In Tesla Shares After Twitter Poll

    Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk sold about $5 billion in shares, the billionaire reported in filings on Wednesday, just days after he polled Twitter users about selling 10% of his stake. In his first share sale since 2016, Musk’s trust sold nearly 3.6 million shares in Tesla, worth around $4 billion, while he also sold another 934,000 shares for $1.1 billion after exercising options to acquire nearly 2.2 million shares. The 4.5 million shares equate to about 3% of his total holdings in the electric vehicle manufacturer, which makes up the vast part of his estimated $281.6 billion fortune, according to Forbes.

    Musk on Saturday polled Twitter users about selling 10% of his stake, helping to push down Tesla’s share price after a majority on Twitter said they agreed with the sale. The stock sank 12% on Tuesday in a multi-day selloff that endangered the company’s position in the $1 trillion club, but recovered 4.3% on Wednesday.

    The options-related sales were set up in September through a trading plan that allows corporate insiders to establish preplanned transactions on a schedule, the filing said. The sales of the option-related shares paid for associated taxes. It was not clear how or whether the trading plan related to Musk’s Twitter poll. Tesla did not respond to a request for comment.

    The additional share sales were separate and provide Musk with sizeable reserves of cash, given his wealth is largely tied to his stakes in Tesla and SpaceX. Musk has more than 20 million further stock options that are due to expire in August of next year. If Musk carried out the 10% stock sale plan, it would be a slight negative near term, said Mark Arnold, chief investment officer at Hyperion Asset Management in Brisbane where Tesla is the top holding in its global fund. “But the stock is pretty liquid and its not a huge percentage of total issued shares, so it shouldn’t have that much of an impact … we’re quite comfortable with the outlook for the business,” he said.

    While Tesla has lost close to $150 billion in market value this week, retail investors have been net buyers of the stock. Some 58% of Tesla trade orders on Fidelity’s brokerage website on Wednesday were for purchases, rather than sales. Retail investors made net purchases of $157 million on Monday and Tuesday, according to Vanda Research. Tesla is now up more than 51% in 2021, thanks largely to an October rally that was fueled by an agreement to sell 100,000 vehicles to rental car company Hertz.

    “The company itself is on fire, with strong results,” said Tim Ghriskey, a senior portfolio strategist at New York-based investment management firm Ingalls and Snyder. Bullish sentiment returned to Tesla’s options on Wednesday, with about 1.1 calls traded for every put. Calls are typically used for bullish trades, while buying puts shows a bearish bias. The company’s options accounted for about $109 billion in premium changing hands over the last two weeks, or about one in every three dollars traded in the U.S.-listed options market, according to a Reuters analysis of Trade Alert data.

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  • Apple Hires Tesla’s AutoPilot Software Pilot Boss

    Apple Hires Tesla’s AutoPilot Software Pilot Boss

    Apple has hired CJ Moore who was Tesla’s head of software for its AutoPilot autonomous driving system. CJ Moore recently had disputed Elon Musk’s claims around AutoPilot and said that it was fundamentally a level 2 ADAS system while Musk has been pitching it as an autonomous driving system. CJ Moore will be reporting to another ex-Tesla executive Stuart Bowers who is the Vice President of engineering at Apple.

    In January Musk had claimed that Tesla’s autopilot will be able to operate reliably to a level better than that of a human driver. Tesla’s FSD driving beta went live only earlier this year but still, it doesn’t make Tesla’s cars fully autonomous. Tesla is also facing an investigation from authorities in the US in relation to crashes while its cars have been in AutoPilot mode. Moore was called in as a witness after a Tesla crash that left two people dead in April.

    The Apple Car project which has been called Project Titan has been in the works for more than half a decade – and has been riddled with issues. Apple recently lost its day-to-day chief of the project Doug Field who also left for Ford. Apple placed operational control in hands of Kevin Lynch the former Apple Watch software chief.

    Apple has also hired Ulrich Kranz, the co-founder of Canoo, and the former Vice President at BMW who helped create its electric cars. Apple has also poached Tesla’s Andrew Kim, Michael Schewkutsch, and Steve MacManus.

    Apple has been struggling to close battery supply from the likes of BYD and CATL while it also still doesn’t have a manufacturing partner having spoken to many players like Magna and Nissan.

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  • Self Driving Startup Momenta Raises $500 Million

    Self Driving Startup Momenta Raises $500 Million

    Chinese self-driving startup Momenta has raised $500 million in a Series C funding. This round of funding comes after GM invested $300 million in the startup. This means now Momenta is valued at over $ billion.

    Momenta’s product portfolio includes advanced driver assistance systems which it sells to OEMs like GM and another tier 1 suppliers like Bosch. It also does R&D on unmanned level 4 ADAS systems. It has a high-profile constellation of investors including China’s SAIC group, GM, Toyota, Mercedes Benz and Bosch. It also has Temasek which is Singapore’s sovereign fund and Jack Ma’s Yunfeng Capital onboard as institutional investors.

    Momenta’s main point of differentiation is its relationship with automotive OEMs as many of the top ones are its investors as well. Many of its peers have taken a different path as they have developed in-house robotaxi fleets which is a more capital-intensive operation. It harvests data from its customers who are mass-producing vehicles.

    In China, it has Pony.AI and WeRide as its main rivals, and while they have raised a lot of money Momenta’s fundamentals are stronger because of its frugal operations.

    For GM, Momenta deploys a solution that is a mixture of consumer-grade millimeter-wave radars and high definition cameras which will be used in the automaker’s cars sold in China. Momenta also opened an office recently in Stuttgart in Germany probably because of its relationship with Mercedes Benz which is also based out of the same city.

  • Vietnam’s VinFast eyes over $200 mln capital investments in California

    Vietnam’s VinFast eyes over $200 mln capital investments in California

    VinFast said Friday it will make over $200 million in capital investments and place its U.S. headquarter in California as part of its plan to expand operation in North America.

    VinFast, the automobile arm of Vietnam’s largest conglomerate Vingroup, became the country’s first fully-fledged domestic car manufacturer when its gasoline-powered models built under its own badge hit the streets in 2019.

    It is aiming to debut in the U.S. with two battery-electric SUVs and inaugurate 60 showrooms across the country next year, the company said.

    VinFast has said it will keep an eye on the possibility of a manufacturing facility in the U.S.

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  • Toyota Joins Opposition To Proposed US EV Tax Credit

    Toyota Joins Opposition To Proposed US EV Tax Credit

    Toyota urged Washington on Tuesday not to “play politics” with environmental issues by offering tax credits for US-made electric vehicles, joining a chorus of foreign opposition to the issue. President Joe Biden’s focus on helping blue-collar American workers led to a proposal in his Build Back Better legislation to offer $4,500 in tax credits for electric vehicles built in the United States by union workers.

    Toyota, with 10 US-based auto plants employing 36,000 workers, favors “incentives for the purchase of electric vehicles to speed the transition” to all-electric, the company said in a statement.

    However, the Japanese automaker said the proposed credits for union-made vehicles devalue the work of those who chose not to join a union, and send a message that promoting unions is more important than combating climate change.

    “Let’s not play politics with the environment, the American autoworker or the American consumer,” Toyota said.

    “This isn’t fair. This isn’t right.”

    Washington’s major trading partners Canada and Mexico also sent letters to American congressional leaders in the past week objecting to the tax credits, saying they violate US commitments under the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement governing trade.

    Canadian Trade Minister Mary Ng also warned the action would undermine the highly integrated continental auto industry.

    “If passed into law, these credits would have a major adverse impact on the future of EV and automotive production in Canada, resulting in the risk of severe economic harm and tens of thousands of job losses in one of Canada’s largest manufacturing sectors,” Ng said.

    “US companies and workers would not be isolated from these impacts.”

    A letter from Mexico’s US ambassador Esteban Moctezuma Barragan and two dozen other ambassadors said the tax credit “conflicts with the goal of the quick deployment of new sustainable technologies” since it would apply to only two vehicles out of over 50 electric vehicles currently available.

  • Maserati And Hiroshi Fujiwara Launch Limited-Edition Capsule Collection of Streetwear Fashion

    Maserati And Hiroshi Fujiwara Launch Limited-Edition Capsule Collection of Streetwear Fashion

    Italian automaker Maserati and Fragment founder Hiroshi Fujiwara, one of the most influential designers in streetwear fashion collaborated for the first time earlier this year for the global launch in Tokyo of Maserati meets Fragment. The collaborators have come together once again for the launch of the Fragment meets Maserati, a limited-edition capsule collection of streetwear staples co-created by Fujiwara and Maserati.

    The collection comprises two styles of hoodies, oversized t-shirts and a baseball cap emblazoned with the signifiers of these two iconic brands. The Capsule Collection brings together Fujiwara’s rebellious style and Maserati striking design. The Fragment meets Maserati capsule collection is available worldwide at Maserati Stores and on Hypebeast’s e-commerce platform.

    Earlier this year, the Italian carmaker and the streetwear designer collaborated to bring the Maserati Ghibli Operanera and the Ghibli Operabianca special-edition cars. These special edition models were limited to only 175 units globally and are meant to symbolise “the deconstruction of convention, a rebirth of hope and unmistakable statements of intent.”

    Sprucing up the Ghibli were elements like the premium leather and Alcantara interiors with contrasting silver inserts. The seatbelts were done up in dark blue, while the grille and trident logo were tricked out. Both versions also got the 20-inch Uranus matte black alloy wheels and a badge with the Fragment logo on the C-pillar.

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  • Rolls-Royce Announces Black Badge Ghost

    Rolls-Royce Announces Black Badge Ghost

    The Black Badge has been a highly successful alter ego of Rolls-Royce and it now represents more than 27 percent of commissions worldwide. Rolls-Royce debuted Black Badge with Wraith and Ghost in 2016, followed by Dawn in 2017 then Cullinan in 2019. And now another joins this elite club – the Black Badge Ghost. Conceived in response to a group of clients who requested a Rolls-Royce that was agile, discreet, highly connected and free of any superfluous design, the new Ghost is not just the most technologically advanced Rolls-Royce yet, but also the most aesthetically pure.

    In the twelve months since this motor car has been available, it has become one of the fastest-selling products in the marque’s history, having sold more than 3500 examples worldwide. With the Black Badge Ghost, Rolls-Royce is giving its customers a choice to select any of the marque’s 44,000 colours or create their own entirely unique Bespoke hue.

    To match this dramatic coachwork, the marque’s Bespoke Collective of designers, engineers and craftspeople collaborated to create an entirely customizable process that allows Rolls-Royce hallmarks such as the high-polished Spirit of Ecstasy and Pantheon Grille to be subverted. Instead of simply painting these components, a specific chrome electrolyte is introduced to the traditional chrome plating process that is co-deposited on the stainless-steel substrate, darkening the finish. Its final thickness is just one micrometer – around one-hundredth of the width of a human hair. Each of these components is precision-polished by hand to achieve a mirror-black chrome finish before it is fitted to the motor car.

    The exterior treatment resolves with a Bespoke 21-inch composite wheelset. Designed in the Black Badge house style and reserved for Black Badge Ghost, the barrel of each wheel is made up of 22 layers of carbon fibre laid on three axes, then folded back on themselves at the outer edges of the rim, forming a total of 44 layers of carbon fiber for greater strength. A 3D-forged aluminum hub is bonded to the rim using aerospace-grade titanium fasteners and finished with the marque’s hallmark Floating Hubcap, ensuring the Double R monogram remains upright at all times. To celebrate the material substance and remarkable surface effect, a lightly tinted lacquer is applied to protect the finish but still allow clients to observe the technical complexity of the wheel’s unique carbon fibre construction.

    Advanced luxury materials have been meticulously created and crafted for a unique ambiance in the interior suite. While recalling the dramatic mechanical intent of Black Badge Ghost, the materials are true to Ghost’s Post Opulent design philosophy – one defined by authenticity and material substance rather than overt statement. In this spirit, a complex but subtle weave that incorporates a deep diamond pattern rendered in carbon and metallic fibres has been created by the marque’s craftspeople.

    Multiple wood layers are pressed onto the interior component substrates, using black Bolivar veneer for the uppermost base layer. This forms a dark foundation for the Technical Fibre layers that follow. Leaves woven from resin-coated carbon and contrasting metal-coated thread laid in a diamond pattern are applied by hand to the components in perfect alignment, creating a three-dimensional effect. To secure this extraordinary veneer, each component is cured for one hour under pressure at 100 degrees Celsius.

    The Black Badge Ghosts comes with a twin-turbocharged 6.75-litre V12 engine pushing out 592 bhp and total torque is now up by 50 Nm to 900 Nm. The powertrain has also received Bespoke transmission and throttle treatments to further enhance the engine’s increased power reserves. The ZF eight-speed gear box and both front- and rear-steered axles work collaboratively to adjust the levels of feedback to the driver, depending on throttle and steering inputs.

    As with all products in the marque’s Black Badge portfolio, the ‘Low’ button situated on the gear selection stalk unlocks Black Badge Ghost’s full suite of technologies. This is asserted by the amplification of the motor car’s engine through an entirely new exhaust system, subtly announcing its potency. All 900Nm of torque is available from just 1700rpm and, once underway in Low Mode, gearshift speeds are increased by 50% when the throttle is depressed to 90%, delivering Black Badge Ghost’s abundant power reserves with dramatic immediacy.

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  • Auto registration fee to be halved again

    Auto registration fee to be halved again

    The Ministry of Finance has said the registration fee for locally manufactured automobiles will be halved for six months until May 15 next year.

    If the government issues the decree for the purpose after Nov. 15, the fee cut would apply from Dec. 1 to May 31, it said, explaining the reduction is meant to stimulate demand and help boost investment and revive supply chains in the auto industry.

    When the fee was similarly cut in the second half of last year, it helped increase auto sales and tax collection increased by VND14.11 trillion ($613.48 million).

    Over 102,900 automobiles produced in the country were registered in the first half of last year, and the number doubled in the second half when the fee was halved.

    Some neighboring countries like Indonesia and Malaysia have also offered preferential treatment to their domestic automobile industry amid the Covid outbreaks, it added.

    Eleven foreign automobile firms that do not manufacture in Vietnam, including Audi, Volkswagen, Subaru, Volvo, Jeep, and Porsche, recently called on the government to apply the registration fee cut also to imported vehicles.

    The Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers Association had also called on the ministry for similar cuts for both local products and imports, but the ministry rejected it as not appropriate.

    The association said its members sold 170,073 vehicles in the first nine months of this year, a year-on-year decrease of 1 percent. The numbers do not include sales of Audi, Jaguar-Land Rover, Subaru, Volkswagen, Volvo and some others who did not reveal their numbers.

    According to the General Statistics Office, Vietnam imported 112,000 complete built-up vehicles in the nine-month period, up 67.9 percent.

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  • Porsche Taycan Electric Sports Car India Launch Date Announced

    Porsche Taycan Electric Sports Car India Launch Date Announced

    The long wait for the Porsche Taycan in India is over and the company is all set to launch the all-electric sports car in the country in November. The company will launch the car on November 12, along with the new Macan. We have been awaiting the arrival of the Taycan in the country and we can’t wait to see it in the flesh soon.

    Globally, the Taycan has had phenomenal success. The company has already sold 28,640 units of the electric sports car in the first 9 months of 2021 and that’s a big deal. With India on the map too, sales will definitely get a boost, considering that a lot of people have been awaiting the launch of this car in the country.

    The Porsche Taycan sports two permanently excited synchronous electric motors that can churn out a maximum of 600 bhp and will a range of over 500 km thanks to its high voltage lithium-ion batteries. The electric car will get 800-volt chargers with fast charging capability, which can offer a 400 km range in 15 minutes of charge time. It can go from 0-100 kmph in under 3.5 seconds.

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  • Tesla Zooms Past $1 Trillion Market Cap On Bet That The EV Future Is Now

    Tesla Zooms Past $1 Trillion Market Cap On Bet That The EV Future Is Now

    Tesla is the first carmaker to join the elite club of trillion-dollar companies that includes Apple Inc, Amazon.com Inc, Microsoft Corp and Alphabet Inc.

    Most automakers do not boast about sales to rental car companies, often made at discounts to unload slow-selling models. But for Tesla and its investors, Hertz’s decision to order 100,000 Tesla vehicles by the end of 2022 showed electric vehicles are no longer a niche product, but will dominate the mass car market in the near future.

    “Electric vehicles are now mainstream, and we’ve only just begun to see rising global demand and interest,” Hertz interim Chief Executive Officer Mark Fields told Reuters.

    Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk has set an annual sales growth target of 50%, on average, eventually reaching 20 million vehicles a year. That would be more than twice the volume of current sales leaders Volkswagen AG and Toyota Motor Corp.

    Consumer demand for electric vehicles is turning a corner in some major markets. The Tesla Model 3 was the best-selling vehicle of any kind in Europe last month, consulting firm JATO Dynamics reported Monday.

    Tesla also appeared on Monday to be making progress resolving regulatory problems that threatened its business in China. The company said it had opened a new data and research center in Shanghai to comply with government requirements that data collected from vehicles in China stay in the country.

    However, Tesla faced new U.S. regulatory pressure on Monday. The National Transportation Safety Board’s new chief sent Musk a letter questioning why Tesla was rolling out its “Full Self Driving” software even though the company has not officially responded to the NTSB’s questions about the automated driving system’s safety.

    “It (the Hertz order) puts an exclamation point under guidance for 50%+ growth in deliveries,” Roth Capital analyst Craig Irwin said. “Another solid piece of evidence EVs are going mainstream.”

    Tesla now faces the daunting day-to-day challenge of becoming a high-volume automaker growing at a rate not seen since the early 1900s when demand exploded for Henry Ford’s Model T.

    Tesla is coping with an order backlog for its vehicles and extended supply chain disruptions. Tesla Chief Financial Officer Zachary Kirkhorn cautioned investors during a call last week that Tesla’s near-term production goals will hinge on resolving those disruptions and ramping up two new, huge assembly and battery plants in Austin and Berlin.

    “There is quite an execution journey ahead of us,” Kirkhorn said.

    Rivals are not sitting still. Daimler AG’s Mercedes-Benz brand, General Motors Co, Ford Motor Co, and startups such as Lucid and China’s Xpeng are all battling Tesla with new electric cars or trucks.

    Investors and analysts, for now, are looking past the near-term challenges. Morgan Stanley boosted its Tesla price target by 33% to $1,200 as the brokerage expects the electric carmaker to surpass 8 million deliveries in 2030.

    The Hertz deal also underscored the power of the Tesla brand, as the rental car company emerges from bankruptcy and aims to revive its once-dominant brand. Hertz’s rescue is led by a group of investors including Knighthead Capital Management, Certares Opportunities and Apollo Capital Management.

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