Key quotes:
- "Morgan Stanley's Adam Jonas asked Manley for insight on just how much FCA is paying Tesla to pool vehicle fleets for regulatory compliance reasons in Europe, to avoid fines. The figure has been reported at levels ranging from millions to billions, but Manley declined to provide Jonas with any additional information."
IMO FCA would probably only decline to give a figure if it's high ...
It's also interesting that Adam Jonas spent his precious FCA earnings call analyst question to the CEO to inquire about ... Tesla.
- "The customer will be agnostic" to certain components, Manley said, noting that batteries and drivetrain would be among them. He added that a company could buy a "skateboard" platform from Tesla, then tune other systems, such as suspension and handling, to suit various brands (FCA already has marques as diverse as Jeep, RAM, Maserati, and Alfa Romeo in its portfolio).
Btw., "skateboard design from Tesla" would include the drive train - that's why he listed the differentiation components as "suspension" and "handling".
- "Manley also said that FCA's pooling deal with Tesla would conclude in 2021, with 2022 being the first year that the company achieves the full benefit of its own efforts."
Translation: FCA admits that they'll need Tesla's credits for
at least the next 2 years. Whether they'll be able to ramp up BEV products and production by 2022 is an open question.
I'm sure Audi would prefer to sell hundreds of thousands of Etrons per year, instead of the current trickle of tens of thousands. Competing against Tesla is not easy.
- "Our relationship with Tesla goes back a long way," Manley said. "It really has helped us. But FCA are absolutely committed to reducing CO2 emissions around the world."
It's good IMO that the FCA CEO sees Tesla as a positive factor. Obviously they'd want to eliminate all CO2 emissions penalties - but that's easier said than done.
Does anyone have a link to the full FCA earnings call transcript?