As recession noise gets louder, businesses in various industries are bracing for rough economic conditions ahead. According to the data, however, electric vehicle makers and ancillary industries could see very little impact.

Electric vehicle sales are coming in strong, and the future looks bright. Li Auto Inc., NIO Inc., and XPeng Inc., all electric vehicle manufacturers based in China, recently reported increased deliveries of their electric vehicles.

While the recession may not be affecting EV sales, the unpredictability of China’s newest COVID-19 restrictions is. Outbreaks are at record-high levels, which has caused significant supply chain issues for automakers, such a VW. With a shortage of components available, it has been difficult to keep plants operating smoothly.1

Despite uncertainty in China, NIO Inc. has also made big strides in the last month. The company reported 14,178 electric vehicle deliveries in November. This figure was up 41% from October and 9% above the monthly record set by the company back in June of 2022. Year-to-date, deliveries by NIO have amounted to 106,671 electric vehicles.2

NIO also recently announced that it will be working with Tencent, a gaming, social media, and cloud computing giant in China, on autonomous driving and high-definition mapping. This move comes as XPeng and Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba opened a computing center for training software for driverless cars.3

General Motors Co., on the other hand, says their electric-vehicle program will be profitable by 2025, and forecasts that the annual revenue growth over the next three years will be around 12%, with electric vehicle sales being the primary driver of the growth.

Furthermore, the company expects their electric vehicles to be eligible for consumer tax credits of up to $3,750 per vehicle next year, and the company will start sourcing production of battery materials to qualify for the full $7,500 tax credits.4

Polestar Automotive

Polestar Automotive, a Swedish-based electric vehicle maker, reported its first ever gross profit as a public company in the most recent quarter. Its revenue jumped 105% year-over-year.

Through the first three quarters of 2022, Polestar delivered 30,424 electric vehicles globally, and says it’s on track to deliver 50,000 electric cars for the year. The company is also predicting strong sales in the fourth quarter of 2022.

The electric car manufacturer is also planning new product launches in the coming years. For 2023, Polestar is planning to reveal the Polestar 4 SUV. The Polestar 5 Grand Touring Sedan is expected to be revealed in 2024, and the Polestar 6 roadster in 2026.5

Aptiv PLC

Aptiv PLC, a company that is focused on designing, manufacturing and selling vehicle components, announced that it has completed the acquisition of an 85% equity stake in Intercable Automotive Solutions from Intercable S.r.l.

Intercable Automotive Solutions is an industry leader in manufacturing high-voltage busbars and interconnection solutions. Busbar is becoming a critical piece of electric vehicles’ electrical architecture. This deal with Aptiv is valued at €595 million and expected to be accretive to earnings per share starting in 2023.6

Investing in Auto Innovation with CARS ETF

If you’re looking to invest in electric vehicles and the future of the automobile, consider Canada’s first automobile innovation ETF, Evolve Automobile Innovation Index Fund (TSX Ticker: CARS). CARS ETF invests in global companies that are directly or indirectly involved in developing electric drivetrains, autonomous driving or network connected services for automobiles. Shift your investments into gear with CARS in your portfolio. For more information on this fund, please click here: https://evolveetfs.com/cars/

CARS ETF PORTFOLIO STRATEGY AND ACTIVITY

For the month, Polestar Automotive made the largest contribution to the Fund, followed by Xpeng Inc. and Li Auto Inc. The largest detractors to performance for the month were Ess Tech Inc., followed by Lucid Group Inc. and Solid Power Inc. On last rebalance, these securities were added to the portfolio: Aptiv PLC, ChargePoint Holdings Inc., EVgo Inc., Polestar Automotive Holding, and SES AI Corp.

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Sources:

  1. “China’s Covid Policies Once Again Upending Car Manufacturing,” Bloomberg, November 28, 2022; https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-11-29/china-s-covid-policies-once-again-upending-car-manufacturing.
  2. Root, A. “NIO and Li Auto Just Delivered a Record Number of Cars. That’s Good News for Tesla, “ Barron’s, December 1, 2022; https://www.barrons.com/articles/nio-li-auto-tesla-delivery-numbers-51669894785?tesla=y.
  3. Kharpal, A., “Chinese Tesla rival Nio and giant Tencent partner to work on self-driving tech,” CNBC, November 29, 2022; https://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/29/china-tesla-rival-nio-and-tencent-partner-to-work-on-self-driving-tech.html.
  4. Welch, D., “GM sees sales rising 12% yearly through 2025, mostly from EVs,” BNN Bloomberg, November 17, 2022; https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/gm-sees-sales-rising-12-yearly-through-2025-mostly-from-evs-1.1848076.
  5. Subramanian, P., “Polestar stock surges after reporting first-ever profit as a public company,” Yahoo! Finance, November 11, 2022; https://finance.yahoo.com/news/polestar-stock-surges-after-reporting-first-ever-profit-as-a-public-company-184110904.html.
  6. “Aptiv Completes the Acquisition of Intercable Automotive Solutions,” Yahoo! Finance, December 1, 2022; https://finance.yahoo.com/news/aptiv-completes-acquisition-intercable-automotive-123000959.html.

 

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