Toronto, Ontario — Stellantis airs its disputes with the federal government; Tesla fans hope Elon Musk turns his attention toward the EV brand and Boyd reports its Q1 financials in this weekly Tuesday Ticker.
Stellantis stalemate
Stellantis and LG Energy Solution have ceased construction on a planned EV battery factory in Windsor, Ont., over ongoing financial assistance issues with the federal government, Stellantis said in a statement Monday morning.
“As of today, the Canadian Government has not delivered on what was agreed to. Therefore, Stellantis and LG Energy Solution will begin implementing their contingency plans. Effective immediately, all construction related to the module production on the Windsor site has stopped.”
The facility is slated to begin operations in August 2024 and costs an estimated $5 billion. Both EV battery cells and modules are set to be assembled at the site.
A spokesperson for Canadian Innovation Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said: “[the government] continues to negotiate in good faith with [its] partners.”
The Toronto Star reported Friday that the OEM is threatening to cancel the module portion of the deal unless the government proposes a deal matching what Volkswagen received for its St. Thomas, Ont. battery plant. The German automaker is set to receive up to $13 billion in incentives—the biggest single investment Canada’s EV supply chain has ever received.
A spokesperson for Minister Champagne declined Automotive News Canada’s question to whether Ottawa was willing to match the United States’ US$10 per kWh module credit.
The Twitter-Tesla dilemma
Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who also owns Twitter, announced a new CEO for the social networking site last week—and some market analysts are hoping the move will free Musk up to focus on Tesla.
Musk named former NBCUniversal ad exec Linda Yaccarino as Twitter’s new CEO last Friday. He said Yaccarino would focus on business operations while Musk focuses on product design and new technology.
“Tesla investors are likely to celebrate this move, with Musk’s very hands-on approach at Twitter leading to concerns he had taken his eye off the ball at this EV giant,” said Sophie Lund-Yates, an analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.
In reaction to the news, however, Tesla’s shares—which had been up 59 percent, year-to-date, as of Thursday’s close—dropped three percent between Friday’s open and Monday at 11:50 a.m. EST.
As of noon Monday, shares of Tesla traded at US$167.76 per share—up 55 percent year-to-date, but down 30 percent from May 15, 2022.
Boyd’s books
The Boyd Group reported its Q1 2023 financial results last week, with increased sales of 28.4 percent and a 33 percent increase in gross profit.
Sales were reported at $714.9 million, up from $556.8 million in the same period of 2022, while gross profit was reported at $327 million (45.7 percent of sales), from $245.4 million (44.1 percent of sales) in Q1 2022.
Adjusted EBITDA increased 57.5 percent to $84.7 million (11.8 percent of sales), compared to $53.8 million (9.7 percent of sales).
The Boyd Group also added 23 collision repair locations—16 via acquisition and seven start-ups—and four single-location glass businesses in Q1 2023.
The company also said it closed most intake centres in the U.S. as a “cost reduction measure” based on demand for collision repair exceeding Boyd’s capacity.
Click here for the full rundown on the Boyd Group’s Q1 results.
