Despite making some progress in contract negotiations with the United Auto Workers (UAW) union, Ford says there are still some major gaps to address before an agreement is reached. The statement comes after Ford avoided escalated strikes by meeting some UAW demands last week, just as parts workers walked out of 38 Stellantis and General Motors (GM) distribution centers on Friday.
Ford said on Sunday that there were still “significant gaps to close” in contract negotiations with the UAW, according to a report from Reuters. The UAW said it made “some real progress at Ford” over the weekend, although it added that the two parties still had serious issues to work through.
On Sunday evening, Ford said the related “issues are interconnected and must work within an overall agreement that supports our mutual success.”
At the time of writing, the UAW has not yet commented on the statement from Ford. The news also comes ahead of U.S. President Joe Biden’s plans to visit Michigan in support of the strikes on Tuesday.
Ford also said that it would be pausing construction on a $3.5 billion battery manufacturing plant in Michigan, as detailed in a Monday afternoon report from Reuters.
“We are pausing work and limiting spending on construction on the Marshall project until we’re confident about our ability to competitively operate the plant,” Ford said. “We haven’t made any final decision about the planned investment there.”
The Detroit automakers have offered contracts with 20-percent raises over the next four and a half years, though the UAW is reportedly still asking for 40-percent wage hikes over a four-year period, in addition to 32-hour work weeks. The union is also demanding the restoration of defined pension benefits and an end to a tiered wage system that requires a certain amount of time to reach top wages.
Workers at an additional 20 Stellantis and 18 GM parts distribution centers walked off the job on Friday due to a lack of progress in UAW contract negotiations. The walkouts are straining other Stellantis and GM manufacturing facilities, rendering them unable to receive the necessary parts to continue production. The expanded strikes totaled around 5,600 workers, joining the initial wave of 12,700 workers who walked out a week prior.
The UAW represents roughly 150,000 workers total, and this is the first time in history that the union has lodged strikes against all three of the Michigan automakers simultaneously.
“Like the rest of us all, all we’re asking is to not have to struggle. Just wanting enough money to pay my bills, buy groceries, and have enough for extras like taking my kid to the jump park.”– Samantha Richter, a worker at Ford Michigan Assembly Plant https://t.co/pCgxP36QWo
— UAW (@UAW) September 25, 2023
Last week, GM said it was forced to lay off around 2,000 workers at a Fairfax, Kansas plant, citing a lack of available work due to the UAW strikes. The automaker went on to call the UAW demands “untenable,” adding that it wouldn’t be able to offer unemployment for the laid-off employees.
As the Detroit Free Press reports, one auto supplier in Wixom, Michigan also announced plans to lay off 230 workers on Monday. The figure represents 75 percent of employees at Eagle Industries, Inc., which makes a material used in car door components along with other non-automotive products. While the company hasn’t explicitly disclosed its clients, a separate analysis noted that its product had been used in Ford’s vehicles.
“As a result of unforeseen business circumstances, we are providing information in anticipation of a potential layoff at the worksite,” wrote the company in a note to the state of Michigan. “The estimated number of workers is subject to change due to evolving business circumstances.”
Some predict that the ongoing strikes will likely result in higher vehicle prices due to increased costs for parts. Another analysis from the University of Michigan noted that as many as 150,000 workers could be subject to layoffs if the strikes last an entire month, highlighting the situation’s far-reaching effects until the parties can finalize a deal.
“These growing spillover effects across the automotive supply chain produce successively larger spillovers to the broader economy, as well,” states the analysis, “as laid-off workers in the supply chain lose purchasing power and cut back on spending in other parts of the economy.”
Update: Updated to include the Monday afternoon report from Reuters, in which Ford said it was pausing construction on a Michigan battery plant.
What are your thoughts? Let me know at zach@teslarati.com, find me on X at @zacharyvisconti, or send your tips to us at tips@teslarati.com.
News
Tesla launches its coolest gift idea ever just a few weeks after it was announced
“Gift one month of Full Self-Driving (Supervised), which allows the vehicle to drive itself almost anywhere with minimal intervention.”
Tesla has launched its coolest gift idea ever, just a few weeks after it was announced.
Tesla is now giving owners the opportunity to gift Full Self-Driving for one month to friends or family through a new gifting program that was suggested to the company last month.
The program will enable people to send a fellow Tesla owner one month of the company’s semi-autonomous driving software, helping them to experience the Full Self-Driving suite and potentially help Tesla gain them as a subscriber of the program, or even an outright purchase.
Tesla is going to allow owners to purchase an FSD Subscription for another owner for different month options
You’ll be able to gift FSD to someone! https://t.co/V29dhf5URj
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) November 3, 2025
Tesla has officially launched the program on its Shop. Sending one month of Full Self-Driving costs $112:
“Gift one month of Full Self-Driving (Supervised), which allows the vehicle to drive itself almost anywhere with minimal intervention. All sales are final. Can only be purchased and redeemed in the U.S. This gift card is valued at $112.00 and is intended to cover the price of one month of FSD (Supervised), including up to 13% sales tax. It is not guaranteed to cover the full monthly price if pricing or tax rates change. This gift card can be stored in Tesla Wallet and redeemed toward FSD (Supervised) or any other Tesla product or service that accepts gift card payments.”
Tesla has done a great job of expanding Full Self-Driving access over the past few years, especially by offering things like the Subscription program, free trials through referrals, and now this gift card program.
Gifting Full Self-Driving is another iteration of Tesla’s “butts in seats” strategy, which is its belief that it can flip consumers to its vehicles and products by simply letting people experience them.
There is also a reason behind pushing Full Self-Driving so hard, and it has to do with CEO Elon Musk’s compensation package. One tranche requires Musk to achieve a certain number of active paid Full Self-Driving subscriptions.
More people who try the suite are likely to pay for it over the long term.
News
Tesla expands Robotaxi app access once again, this time on a global scale
Tesla said recently it plans to launch Robotaxi in Miami, Houston, Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Dallas.
Tesla has expanded Robotaxi app access once again, but this time, it’s on a much broader scale as the company is offering the opportunity for those outside of North America to download the app.
Tesla Robotaxi is the company’s early-stage ride-hailing platform that is active in Texas, California, and Arizona, with more expansion within the United States planned for the near future.
Tesla said recently it plans to launch Robotaxi in Miami, Houston, Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Dallas.
The platform has massive potential, and Tesla is leaning on it to be a major contributor to even more disruption in the passenger transportation industry. So far, it has driven over 550,000 miles in total, with the vast majority of this coming from the Bay Area and Austin.
First Look at Tesla’s Robotaxi App: features, design, and more
However, Tesla is focusing primarily on rapid expansion, but most of this is reliant on the company’s ability to gain regulatory permission to operate the platform in various regions. The expansion plans go well outside of the U.S., as the company expanded the ability to download the app to more regions this past weekend.
So far, these are the areas it is available to download in:
- Japan
- Thailand
- Hong Kong
- South Korea
- Australia
- Taiwan
- Macau
- New Zealand
- Mexico
- U.S.
- Canada
Right now, while Tesla is focusing primarily on expansion, it is also working on other goals that have to do with making it more widely available to customers who want to grab a ride from a driverless vehicle.
One of the biggest goals it has is to eliminate safety monitors from its vehicles, which it currently utilizes in Austin in the passenger’s seat and in the driver’s seat in the Bay Area.
A few weeks ago, Tesla started implementing a new in-cabin data-sharing system, which will help support teams assist riders without anyone in the front of the car.
Tesla takes a step towards removal of Robotaxi service’s safety drivers
As Robotaxi expands into more regions, Tesla stands to gain tremendously through the deployment of the Full Self-Driving suite for personal cars, as well as driverless Robotaxis for those who are just hailing rides.
Things have gone well for Tesla in the early stages of the Robotaxi program, but expansion will truly be the test of how things operate going forward. Navigating local traffic laws and gaining approval from a regulatory standpoint will be the biggest hurdle to jump.
Tesla received a price target boost from Morgan Stanley, according to a new note on Monday morning, but there is some considerable caution also being communicated over the next year or so.
Morgan Stanley analyst Andrew Percoco took over Tesla coverage for the firm from longtime bull Adam Jonas, who appears to be focusing on embodied AI stocks and no longer automotive.
Percoco took over and immediately adjusted the price target for Tesla from $410 to $425, and changed its rating on shares from ‘Overweight’ to ‘Equal Weight.’
Percoco said he believes Tesla is the leading company in terms of electric vehicles, manufacturing, renewable energy, and real-world AI, so it deserves a premium valuation. However, he admits the high expectations for the company could provide for a “choppy trading environment” for the next year.
He wrote:
“However, high expectations on the latter have brought the stock closer to fair valuation. While it is well understood that Tesla is more than an auto manufacturer, we expect a choppy trading environment for the TSLA shares over the next 12 months, as we see downside to estimates, while the catalysts for its non-auto businesses appear priced at current levels.”
Percoco also added that if market cap hurdles are achieved, Morgan Stanley would reduce its price target by 7 percent.
Perhaps the biggest change with Percoco taking over the analysis for Jonas is how he will determine the value of each individual project. For example, he believes Optimus is worth about $60 per share of equity value.
He went on to describe the potential value of Full Self-Driving, highlighting its importance to the Tesla valuation:
“Full Self Driving (FSD) is the crown jewel of Tesla’s auto business; we believe that its leading-edge personal autonomous driving offering is a real game changer, and will remain a significant competitive advantage over its EV and non-EV peers. As Tesla continues to improve its platform with increased levels of autonomy (i.e., hands-off, eyes-off), it will revolutionize the personal driving experience. It remains to be seen if others will be able to keep pace.”
Additionally, Percoco outlined both bear and bull cases for the stock. He believes $860 per share, “which could be in play in the next 12 months if Tesla manages through the EV-downturn,” while also scaling Robotaxi, executing on unsupervised FSD, and scaling Optimus, is in play for the bull case.
Will Tesla thrive without the EV tax credit? Five reasons why they might
Meanwhile, the bear case is placed at $145 per share, and “assumes greater competition and margin pressure across all business lines, embedding zero value for humanoids, slowing the growth curve for Tesla’s robotaxi fleet to reflect regulatory challenges in scaling a vision-only perception stack, and lowering market share and margin profile for the autos and energy businesses.”
Currently, Tesla shares are trading at around $441.
Tesla launches its coolest gift idea ever just a few weeks after it was announced
Tesla expands Robotaxi app access once again, this time on a global scale
