To: Eric who wrote (1436744 ) 2/1/2024 12:55:42 PM From: Broken_Clock 2 RecommendationsRecommended By longz miraje
Respond to of 1578015 More EV good news "Natural Evolution": Volvo Shares Soar On Plans To Stop Funding Cash-Burning Polestar by Tyler Durden Thursday, Feb 01, 2024 - 04:05 AM Shares of electric-vehicle companies have been battered since the mid-point of 2022. The price war Tesla started about one year ago has made the environment even more challenging for EV automakers. On Thursday, Swedish automaker Volvo Car AB announced , "As a result, Volvo Cars will no longer provide further funding to Polestar ." In an earnings report, Volvo said Polestar is "entering the next exciting phase of its journey with a strengthened business plan and cost actions." It said the parent company will concentrate on developing Volvo Cars. The Swedish firm is mulling over a reduction of its 48% Polestar stake through distribution to its own shareholders. Chinese billionaire Li Shufu's affiliates control about 40% of Polestar, while Li holds a 79% stake in Volvo Car. [url=] [/url] "We are therefore evaluating a potential adjustment to Volvo Cars' shareholding in Polestar, including a distribution of shares to Volvo Cars shareholders. This may result in Geely Sweden Holdings becoming a significant new shareholder," Volvo continued. Investors welcomed the move designed to stop the hemorrhaging of cash-burning Polestar that has damaged Volvo Car's share price. Shares in Volvo Car jumped as much as 30% on the news. Shares are still down 38% over the past year. [url=] [/url] In an interview on Thursday, Volvo Cars CEO Jim Rowan told CNBC's Silvia Amaro that today's announcement was a "natural evolution" in the relationship between the two automakers. "Obviously, we spun out Polestar as a separate company a long time ago, and since then we've been incubating and working with Polestar for a number of years," Rowan said. "Now, Polestar ... they've have got a very exciting future ahead of them, they've moved from being a one-car company to a three-car company, they've got two brand new cars coming out very shortly, in fact in the first half of this year, and that's going to take them to a new growth trajectory." Rowan pointed out it's the right time to reduce ownership in Polestar: "That allows us and Volvo as well to fully focus on our growth journey, especially some of the technology investments that we need to make in the next two-three years." Volvo's attempt to disentangle itself from cash-burning Polestar underscores the harsh reality in the EV space. Also, Volvo cutting funding brings up viability concerns for Polestar.