Investor's Corner
Tesla Grabbing Sales From German Car Makers
A report from Germany says Tesla is taking sales away from German car makers in the luxury car segment of the market. It say plug-in hybrids are a dead end.


[Source: @dennis_p via Teslarati App check-in]
Professor Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer is the director of the Center for Automotive Research in Germany. He has written a report entitled “Tesla Asserts Itself In The Luxury Class,” in which he says the big three German car makers have wasted money on plug-in hybrids — which he calls a blind alley. They are also losing sales in the most profitable end of the luxury market to Tesla, he says.
“In a lot of markets we are seeing Tesla doing better than the BMW 7 series, Mercedes S class, Audi A8 and Porsche Panamera. Tesla can boast real innovation and customers with big money are trying it. I’m not sure if Tesla will be successful in the long term but when they broaden the line we will see if it can bring revolution to the car industry.”
Are plug-in hybrids really a blind alley as Professor Dudenhoeffer suggests? A report in Forbes says IHS Automotive recently looked again at its medium to long range forecasts and raised its prediction for electric vehicles in 2020 to just over 1% of the global market. It says that figure will only increase to 1.5% by 2025.
By contrast, IHS says global market share for hybrids and plug-in hybrids will be 7% in 2020. It expects that figure will rise to 16% by 2025 as upcoming US and European regulations require all cars to have better fuel economy and lower carbon dioxide emissions.
But Dudenheoffer doubts those forecasts are correct. He says plug-in hybrids are not proving popular with buyers and are seen as not environmentally friendly because they often use internal combustion engines to get where they are going. He points out that even in markets like Germany and Switzerland, where there are no subsidies for electric vehicles, the Tesla Model S is stealing sales from the Mercedes S class.
“I think plug-in hybrids are the wrong direction and will not be successful. The costs are too high. The weight of the car is too high,” Dudenhoeffer told Forbes. “I think environmentalists and governments will come to the conclusion that plug-in hybrids are not real progress.” His remarks are targeted specifically at Mercedes, which has 3 plug-in hybrid models on sale already and promises to add 7 more soon.
Tesla is doing an excellent job of disrupting the traditional German luxury car manufacturers. The real battle will come when it adds the Model 3 to the mix. It’s one thing to steer customers away from buying an S Class or 7 Series. It’s something else entirely to take sales away from mid-market models, where shoppers have many more choices and the price competition is fierce.
Tesla’s electric cars versus the other guys’ plug-in hybrids. Who will win that fight? The answer will not be entirely market driven, because government regulations will skew the results. That may give an advantage to plug-ins, at least temporarily. The car business will undergo transformative change in the next five years. Tesla has always shown an amazing ability to recognize and adapt to change and that may be its ultimate weapon in the upcoming battle.
Elon Musk
Tesla investors will be shocked by Jim Cramer’s latest assessment
Jim Cramer is now speaking positively about Tesla, especially in terms of its Robotaxi performance and its perception as a company.

Tesla investors will be shocked by analyst Jim Cramer’s latest assessment of the company.
When it comes to Tesla analysts, many of them are consistent. The bulls usually stay the bulls, and the bears usually stay the bears. The notable analysts on each side are Dan Ives and Adam Jonas for the bulls, and Gordon Johnson for the bears.
Jim Cramer is one analyst who does not necessarily fit this mold. Cramer, who hosts CNBC’s Mad Money, has switched his opinion on Tesla stock (NASDAQ: TSLA) many times.
He has been bullish, like he was when he said the stock was a “sleeping giant” two years ago, and he has been bearish, like he was when he said there was “nothing magnificent” about the company just a few months ago.
Now, he is back to being a bull.
Cramer’s comments were related to two key points: how NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang describes Tesla after working closely with the Company through their transactions, and how it is not a car company, as well as the recent launch of the Robotaxi fleet.
Jensen Huang’s Tesla Narrative
Cramer says that the narrative on quarterly and annual deliveries is overblown, and those who continue to worry about Tesla’s performance on that metric are misled.
“It’s not a car company,” he said.
He went on to say that people like Huang speak highly of Tesla, and that should be enough to deter any true skepticism:
“I believe what Musk says cause Musk is working with Jensen and Jensen’s telling me what’s happening on the other side is pretty amazing.”
Tesla self-driving development gets huge compliment from NVIDIA CEO
Robotaxi Launch
Many media outlets are being extremely negative regarding the early rollout of Tesla’s Robotaxi platform in Austin, Texas.
There have been a handful of small issues, but nothing significant. Cramer says that humans make mistakes in vehicles too, yet, when Tesla’s test phase of the Robotaxi does it, it’s front page news and needs to be magnified.
He said:
“Look, I mean, drivers make mistakes all the time. Why should we hold Tesla to a standard where there can be no mistakes?”
It’s refreshing to hear Cramer speak logically about the Robotaxi fleet, as Tesla has taken every measure to ensure there are no mishaps. There are safety monitors in the passenger seat, and the area of travel is limited, confined to a small number of people.
Tesla is still improving and hopes to remove teleoperators and safety monitors slowly, as CEO Elon Musk said more freedom could be granted within one or two months.
Investor's Corner
Tesla gets $475 price target from Benchmark amid initial Robotaxi rollout
Tesla’s limited rollout of its Robotaxi service in Austin is already catching the eye of Wall Street.

Venture capital firm Benchmark recently reiterated its “Buy” rating and raised its price target on Tesla stock (NASDAQ: TSLA) from $350 to $475 per share, citing the company’s initial Robotaxi service deployment as a sign of future growth potential.
Benchmark analyst Mickey Legg praised the Robotaxi service pilot’s “controlled and safety-first approach,” adding that it could help Tesla earn the trust of regulators and the general public.
Confidence in camera-based autonomy
Legg reiterated Benchmark’s belief in Tesla’s vision-only approach to autonomous driving. “We are a believer in Tesla’s camera-focused approach that is not only cost effective but also scalable,” he noted.
The analyst contrasted Tesla’s simple setup with the more expensive hardware stacks used by competitors like Waymo, which use various sophisticated sensors that hike up costs, as noted in an Investing.com report. Compared to Tesla’s Model Y Robotaxis, Waymo’s self-driving cars are significantly more expensive.
He also pointed to upcoming Texas regulations set to take effect in September, suggesting they could help create a regulatory framework favorable to autonomous services in other cities.
“New regulations for autonomous vehicles are set to go into place on Sept. 1 in TX that we believe will further help win trust and pave the way for expansion to additional cities,” the analyst wrote.
Tesla as a robotics powerhouse
Beyond robotaxis, Legg sees Tesla evolving beyond its roots as an electric vehicle maker. He noted that Tesla’s humanoid robot, Optimus, could be a long-term growth driver alongside new vehicle programs and other future initiatives.
“In our view, the company is undergoing an evolution from a trailblazing vehicle OEM to a high-tech automation and robotics company with unmatched domestic manufacturing scale,” he wrote.
Benchmark noted that Tesla stock had rebounded over 50% from its April lows, driven in part by easing tariff concerns and growing momentum around autonomy. With its initial Robotaxi rollout now underway, the firm has returned to its previous $475 per share target and reaffirmed TSLA as a Benchmark Top Pick for 2025.
Elon Musk
Tesla blacklisted by Swedish pension fund AP7 as it sells entire stake
A Swedish pension fund is offloading its Tesla holdings for good.

Tesla shares have been blacklisted by the Swedish pension fund AP7, who said earlier today that it has “verified violations of labor rights in the United States” by the automaker.
The fund ended up selling its entire stake, which was worth around $1.36 billion when it liquidated its holdings in late May. Reuters first reported on AP7’s move.
Other pension and retirement funds have relinquished some of their Tesla holdings due to CEO Elon Musk’s involvement in politics, among other reasons, and although the company’s stock has been a great contributor to growth for many funds over the past decade, these managers are not willing to see past the CEO’s right to free speech.
However, AP7 says the move is related not to Musk’s involvement in government nor his political stances. Instead, the fund said it verified several labor rights violations in the U.S.:
“AP7 has decided to blacklist Tesla due to verified violations of labor rights in the United States. Despite several years of dialogue with Tesla, including shareholder proposals in collaboration with other investors, the company has not taken sufficient measures to address the issues.”
Tesla made up about 1 percent of the AP7 Equity Fund, according to a spokesperson. This equated to roughly 13 billion crowns, but the fund’s total assets were about 1,181 billion crowns at the end of May when the Tesla stake was sold off.
Tesla has had its share of labor lawsuits over the past few years, just as any large company deals with at some point or another. There have been claims of restrictions against labor union supporters, including one that Tesla was favored by judges, as they did not want pro-union clothing in the factory. Tesla argued that loose-fitting clothing presented a safety hazard, and the courts agreed.

(Photo: Tesla)
There have also been claims of racism at the Fremont Factory by a former elevator contractor named Owen Diaz. He was awarded a substantial sum of $137m. However, U.S. District Judge William Orrick ruled the $137 million award was excessive, reducing it to $15 million. Diaz rejected this sum.
Another jury awarded Diaz $3.2 million. Diaz’s legal team said this payout was inadequate. He and Tesla ultimately settled for an undisclosed amount.
AP7 did not list any of the current labor violations that it cited as its reason for
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