Tesla is facing more layoffs and hiring freezes: Report

Tesla is said to be about to implement a recruitment freeze on top upcoming layoffs, Wells Fargo will pay billions in fines for mistreating customers and making some people lost their car, and Elon Musk is angry with a Tesla investors are not satisfied because he called the CEO out Twitter. All that and more in Morning shift for Wednesday, December 21, 2022.

First device: Tesla is about to have another round of layoffs

Tesla has reportedly told employees that it will conduct another round of layoffs beyond the hiring freeze in the first quarter of 2023. This comes after an announcement in June that CEO Elon Musk wanted the jobs to be. executives “paused all hiring” and cut employees by 10%.

Musk said he had a “very bad feeling”” about the economy, and that’s why he wants to make the cut in June. However, these cuts never materialized and the company continued to hire thousands in the second half of the year. Looks like those days may be over. Are from electricity:

The current electricity learned that Tesla was implementing a new hiring freeze and planning more layoffs, according to a reliable source familiar with the matter.

Tesla has informed some employees that it will stop hiring for now. In addition to the hiring freeze, Tesla also said teams expect to lay off employees in the first quarter of 2023.

It’s unclear how long the hiring freeze will last as Tesla is still planning to expand in some production locations. No further details have been made available at this time.

The moves come as Tesla’s stock has been falling for the whole year despite the company’s financials hitting new records almost every quarter.

That’s partly due to a broader market downturn in 2022, but Tesla’s stock hasn’t kept up with the rest of the market over the past few months.

This is really just the latest news showing the cracks in Tesla’s armor. The automaker recently started offering some discounts and perks on the vehicles it’s making. Those are signs of demand problems for the Texas-based company.

2nd gear: Wells Fargo to pay billions of dollars for customer abuse

Wells Fargo has reached a $3.7 billion settlement with federal regulators — including a record $1.7 billion fine — over allegations it mistreated homes. machinecustomers’ ions for many years. That mistreatment eventually resulted in some customers losing their cars or homes.

More than $2 billion of the settlement with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will be used for “consumer compensation.” CFPB cites “widespread mismanagement” of auto loansMortgage, and deposit accounts.

“Wells Fargo’s cycle of repeated law violations has harmed millions of American families,” CFPB director Rohit Chopra said in a statement obtained by Bloomberg. “CFPB is asking Wells Fargo to refund billions of dollars to consumers nationwide. This is an important first step towards accountability and lasting reform of this repeat offender.” Are from Bloomberg:

Under CEO Charlie Scharf, Wells Fargo attempted to solve a series of scandals that emerged in 2016 with the revelation that the bank had opened millions of fake accounts. Problems arose in business areas, resulting in two CEOs being fired and some costly penalties, including a decision by the Federal Reserve to limit the company’s assets.

The bank set aside $2 billion in the third quarter to address a variety of legal and regulatory issues, including protecting all of its customers from harm. Scharf warned in October that the allegation “is not over.”

[…]

The bank agreed to a consent order with the CFPB without acknowledging the agency’s allegations.

According to the CFPB, the bank illegally recovered the customer’s vehicle, making a report of the error.hold for payment, and incorrect charges and interest. This agency believes that the error from the bank happened very early like 2011 to this year.

3rd gear: Musk lashed out at angry Tesla investor on Twitter

Recently, Elon Musk has been facing growing criticism for everything he touches on, and now he’s going head-to-head with an investor who was once one of his strong advocates. Tesla’s best.

It all has to do with growing concerns about Musk’s ability to manage Twitter on top of his. other businesses. Of the four companies, Tesla seems to be the one most affected by what’s going on at Twitter, at least from a stock price perspective. Are from Bloomberg:

[Musk]who has seen his fortune shrink to Tesla’s market cap, posted a tweet mocking Ross Gerber, CEO of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth Management, after the longtime investor tweeted about the electric vehicle maker’s alleged lack of leadership and said it was “time for a reshuffle”. That marks a change from the days when Tesla’s stock edged higher and fans like Gerber praise Musk’s management established the company as a global EV leader.

musk answered by asking Gerber about his “great ideas” for Tesla and its board, and telling him to “go back and read your old Stock Analysis 101 textbook.”

Gerber was previously tweeted On December 16, he informed Tesla’s board of directors that he wanted to run for a seat. Other investors, including Leo KoGuan – one of Tesla’s largest individual shareholders – have also called out. management change.

The discord comes as Tesla’s stock has fallen more than 60% since the start of the year, dragging its valuation below average. half a trillion dollar brand For the first time since November 2020. Musk has sold nearly $40 billion worth of Tesla stock since late last year, most of which will go to fund his Twitter purchase — despite kept saying he would stop selling its shares. Sales, plus the drop in Tesla’s share price, were enough to knock Musk out of the top spot of the chart. Bloomberg Billionaire Index.

Gerber replied “I love it!” when Bloomberg asked via email for his thoughts on receiving Musk’s precious attention.

4th device: Buick dealer needs Invest Sell ​​electric car

If you are a Buick dealer and want to continue selling vehicles under the brand, you will have to invest an average of $300,000 to $400,000 to sell future electric vehicles.

According to the report, the minimum investment required by dealers for tooling, staff training, and other EV equipment is an estimate and will vary by store size. This is all according to a Buick spokesman, who issued a statement to auto news.

Buick plans to switch to all-electric vehicles by 2030, and says it has no plans to introduce any new gasoline-powered vehicles after 2024. The brand will use the Electra name for the electric vehicles. along with alphanumeric codes to distinguish car models. Buick has offered to acquire any dealers in the United States that do not want to make the necessary investments to prepare to sell electric vehicles.

The brand has declined to share how many dealers have chosen to receive buyback offers so far. Poppitt said in the statement that “any dealer interested in discussing this program is encouraged to contact the Buick team.”

Buick had 1,963 dealers in the US earlier this year, according to auto news‘ Agent statistics.

[…]

Buick’s dealership offer follows a similar offer from Cadillac, which also plans to go all-electric by 2030. About a third of Cadillac’s nearly 900 U.S. dealerships have opted to buy back. , with offers typically between $300,000 and $500,000. Cadillac dealers will be required to invest an average of $200,000 in preparation for the sale and maintenance of electric vehicles.

GM isn’t the only automaker to mandate such investments. Notably, Ford has required dealers who want to sell electric vehicles to invest between $500,000 and more than $1 million depending on the certification status the store is looking to achieve.

5th gear: Second Pacifica gear shift is saved

Stellantis has reversed its decision to cut Chrysler Pacifica pickup truck production in half at the Windsor Assembly Plant in Ontario. The company will continue to operate in two shifts after initially slated to cut the second shift next summer.

A year ago, the automaker said it would cut shifts by 1,800 people because of problems with – you guessed it – supply chain. The deadline for that cut has been extended several times since, and now it appears the plan has been scrapped altogether.

That’s anyone’s guess as to why Stellantis made this decision, for no reason provided in an email from a spokesperson. Are from Detroit News:

The reversal comes after the company announced earlier this month that it would indefinitely shut down its Jeep Cherokee crossover plant in Belvidere, Illinois at the end of February. It cited a global microchip shortage and the cost of electrification in its decision.

The Windsor plant employing 4,123 people is expected to be refitted starting in 2023 for a new platform supporting battery and electric hybrid vehicles as part of the 2.8 investment. billion dollars into Stellantis’ Ontario operations. An exact start time has not been shared, but Stellantis said the plant will return to three-shift operations following the platform change.

Mark Stewart, chief operating officer for North America, recently said that Stellantis continues to face supply chain disruptions and expects the challenges to continue through 2023. The company has canceled shifts in days at the Windsor plant because of supply chain issues.

Following the investment, Windsor will build vehicles on the STLA Large platform that is designed for all-electric vehicles, but is flexible to support alternative energy sources. AutoForecast Solutions LLC says the company will build an all-electric pickup truck there, along with electric replacements for the Dodge Charger and Challenger muscle cars, gas-powered versions of which have already been built. built at the Brampton Assembly Plant in Ontario. Brampton’s future has also been secured as part of an investment in Ontario.

Detroit News reports that Windsor will also be the home of battery lab Stellantis and LG Energy Solutions. The $4.1 billion joint venture battery assembly plant is being called NextStar Energy.

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