What is the impact on major motor companies of the international policy pro electric vehicles? Will they boom or will some struggle to comply and survive? LMH
They are all having to make massive investment in development and re-tooling, and so far, the returns (on their huge scales) are skinny.
Some are declaring reduced sales and profits and warning that they might have to retrench for a while. Several are starting to suggest that they might not meet their original time targets for a 100% swing away from fossil fuels.
Tension, yes. Anxiety, yes. Prospects? Who knows. Eventual potential – enormous, but not necessarily per the current status quo. Some prestigious but slightly smaller companies will possibly be nimbler than the giants.
The technology of cars and most of their bits are well known, as are electric motors. It is battery technology, and the materials it will need, that will be the major battlegrounds.
This is, of course, very far from the first industry to grapple with seismic change (what happened, for example, to manufacturers of horse carriage whips when the car was invented?). But it is probably the biggest, and the motor industry is more geared for this “and” that rather than this “or” that.
