Tesla's Giga Shanghai Plant To Shut Down, Ford European Manufacturing Plans, Toyota Stumbles Upon Launch: Week's Top News From EV Industry

The return of risk appetite to the market helped electric vehicle stocks rebound in the week ending June 24. Most stocks, barring some second-rung EV manufacturers, posted strong gains. The gains were led by the Chinese trio as they extended their rally amid an inflection in sentiment toward Chinese stocks in general.

Here are the key events that happened in the EV space during the week:

Musk Comments Dominate: Tesla, Inc. TSLA chief executive officer Elon Musk created a stir this week with the comments he shared in an interview that was premiered this week and also at the Qatar Economic Forum organized by Bloomberg.

In an interview to the Tesla Owners of Silicon Valley, Musk talked about two of its newest Gigafactories in Berlin and Austin losing billions of dollars, calling them as gigantic money furnaces with tons of expenses and hardly any output.

Speaking virtually at the QEF, Musk touched upon a host of topics. He confirmed the 10% workforce reduction which had been mentioned earlier and said this will be done over the next three months. Incidentally, it came to light that employees released by Tesla have filed a lawsuit against the company for not complying with the 60-day notification requirement mandated under labor law.

Musk also challenged research that said German automaker Volkswagen AG VWAGY will overtake Tesla as the leading global EV brand by 2024.

As the June quarter is drawing to a close, sell-side analysts issued commentaries that suggested a soft June quarter. But most of them are optimistic that Tesla should be able to make up for the shortfall with strong second-half performances.

In other key development, Tesla is reportedly planning a two-week maintenance-related shutdown at its Giga Shanghai plant. Following the upgrade, the company plans to increase output to close to 22,000 cars per week.

Tesla's Enhanced Autopilot option, which is considered a precursor to its full-self driving software, was made available for car owners in the U.S., Canada and China. In the U.S., it can be activated for $6,000.

Related Link: Tesla Price Hikes, Lay-Offs, Rising EV Lead Times: How Does It All Connect In A 'Tough June Quarter?'

Nio Vehicle Involved In Fatal Freak Accident: A Nio, Inc. NIO test vehicle fell off the third floor of the Shanghai Automotive Innovation Port parking building. Two digital cockpit testers lost their lives in the accident. Reports suggested that the accident involved a ET7 sedan and was caused due to the driver putting it in the wrong gear.

Ford To Build EV Plant In Spain: Ford Motor Company F said this week it plans to set up an EV manufacturing plant based on a next-gen architecture in Spain later this decade. Dearborn, however, hinted at job losses, on account of the plans, at both its existing Spanish and German factories.

Lucid Opens Retail Unit In Seattle: Lucid Group, Inc. LCID announced the opening of its first retail location in the Pacific Northwest at University Village in Seattle, Washington. With this Lucid Studio, there are 28 Studio and service center locations now open in North America.

Lordstown Renews Endurance Manufacturing Efforts: An exclusive report by FleetOwner suggests that Lordstown Motors Corp. RIDE will finally begin to produce its stalled Endurance pickup truck in the coming months. The company is reportedly planning to use Cincinnati Bengals star quarterback Joe Burrow as its brand ambassador and is working on a new marketing campaign. The NFL player reportedly visited the Ohio factory this week.

Toyota Recall: Toyota Motor Corporation TM, which launched its first all-electric bZ4X in April, issued a global recall of about 2,700 units of the vehicle due to the risk of the wheels getting loose. A bulk of these vehicles are from Europe.

Related Link: Biden Administration Reportedly Approached Tesla On Its Day 1 In Office: What Was It About?