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(Zero Hedge)—Elon Musk appeared at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Montgomery County on Friday night for his second town hall in the battleground state of Pennsylvania. With just 16 days until the election, Musk – and his pro-Trump America PAC – are holding town halls statewide to support the former president.
In an off-topic conversation, an audience member asked Musk why Tesla had not purchased the struggling EV competitor Rivian.
Musk responded:
“I wish them the best. I hope they do well. The car industry is a very difficult industry. There’s only two US car companies that haven’t gone bankrupt, and that’s Ford and Tesla. Rivian’s going to have a hard time. It’s insanely difficult to compete in the car industry. If it were not for two technology discontinuities, one being electrification and the other being autonomy, I think Tesla could not succeed without solving both.”
🚨ELON MUSK: "The car industry is a very difficult industry. There are only two car companies that haven't gone bankrupt: Ford and Tesla. Rivian is going to have a hard time. It's insanely difficult to compete in the car industry.
If it were not for not just one, but two… pic.twitter.com/rOgdBiGJHq
— Autism Capital 🧩 (@AutismCapital) October 19, 2024
Earlier this month, Rivian announced that third-quarter vehicle deliveries missed forecasts and lowered its full-year production guidance amid continued “component shortage.”
Rivian said it delivered 10,018 vehicles in the quarter and produced 13,157 units. This missed FactSet estimates of 12,670 deliveries.
The problem with Rivian is the limited affordability options for most models—they’re out of reach for the average consumer. The company expects to launch a smaller Tesla Model Y-rivaling R2, which won’t roll out onto US highways until late 2026 or even 2027.
Last month, Morgan Stanley’s Adam Jonas downgraded names like GM, Ford, Rivian, Magna International, and Phinia amid the slowdown in the auto market.
It doesn’t help when high interest rates and elevated vehicle prices have sent new monthly car payments skyrocketing higher in several years.
In a separate note earlier this year, MS Jonas pointed out that struggling EV companies could develop partnerships with legacy automakers.
Rivian recently partnered with Volkswagen, validating the analyst’s consolidation forecast in the space.
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Here’s what X users are saying about Musk’s comments last night about Rivian:
in reality, Tesla has nothing to gain by buying a company that egregiously burned through 23 *billion* un-successfully ramping a single product line
— WeirdNerd (@xIronman777) October 19, 2024
Elon actually wants others to do well! This is another thing that folks don’t immediately realize. Tesla open sourced all their patents to help folks like Rivian out. He cares about the mission and wants competition out there to drive better products for all.
— ĐOGEARMY GENERAL (@TheTeslaBull) October 19, 2024
They’ve burned so much cash. Soo soooo much cash. Prognosis for the future isn’t nearly as bright as Tesla either.
That said… why would Tesla want to buy into such a cash drain? What tech do they have that’s even useful to Tesla?
— Charlie (@CharliePryor) October 19, 2024
Shares of Rivian are down 57% this year – near record lows. Short interest is about 16.5% or about 122.3 million shares.
The price war Telsa started just a few short years ago to crush competition shows that Musk continues to win.
Afghan Who Plotted Election Day Terrorism Was a CIA Contractor
by Headline USA
It looks like the FBI may have entrapped a former CIA contractor in a plot to commit a terrorist attack on Election Day. The Justice Department announced this week the arrest of Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, a 27-year-old Afghan man, alleging that he was planning an Election…
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Genetically Modified Crops: A Growing Threat to Health and the Environment
by Olivia Cook
(Natural News)—Bioengineered foods and genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are commonly confused with each other, but they have different meanings. “Bioengineered” describes food and products that are enhanced with scientific techniques to add particular traits. In contrast, “GMOs” involve changing the genetic makeup of animals, plants or microbes in ways that…
United Nations Expands into “UN 2.0” to Turbocharge Sustainable Development Goals
by Liberty Sentinel
The United Nations (UN) has not gone rogue, argues journalist Alex Newman on American Family Radio’s show, At the Core , but they have always existed to achieve one goal: one-world government. This goal is not only un-American, but it is unbiblical. Newman and AFR host Walker Wildmon also dive…
Congressman Matt Gaetz Says Epstein Was Killed as Part of a ‘Foreign Operation’
by Modernity
Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz says sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein was killed as part of a ‘foreign operation’, but refused to divulge which government was responsible for his death. Gaetz made the comments during an appearance on Benny Johnson’s show. In August 2019, Epstein was found unresponsive in his jail cell…
DOJ Takes Aim at Breaking Up Google
by Infowars
On Tuesday, the United States announced potential plans to request a court mandate directing Alphabet Inc to divest significant segments of its operations, including its Chrome browser and Android operating system. This move aims to dismantle what is described as an illegal monopoly held by Google in the online search…
Is Gavin Newsom Hoping that Kamala Harris Loses the Election?
by American Greatness
Two minutes of airtime during the Democrat National Convention in Chicago gave California Governor Gavin Newsom his latest opportunity to build his national stature. As part of the announcement of Kamala Harris’s clinching of the Democrat presidential nomination during a symbolic roll call of state delegates, Newsom portrayed Harris as…
Is It Time for a Nationwide Ban on Fluoridated Water?
by Natural News
Do community leaders reserve the right to mass medicate every person in their community using the water supply as a vector? What if that medicine was eventually exposed as a POISON decades later? What if that POISON was damaging the brains of children and stunting the cognitive development of the…
GOP Rep. Luna: We Need to End FEMA Migrant Spending and Boost Disaster Relief Funding
by Breitbart
On Wednesday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Ingraham Angle,” Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) stated that FEMA’s funding for migrants should be zeroed out at once and that while there is FEMA money for hurricane victims, we should also boost emergency relief funding “that will go directly to Americans…
Earth’s Continental Crust in America and China Is Breaking Apart
by End Times Headlines
Researchers, who have been studying the dramatic changes in the continental configurations of Earth over the past billions of years, have made a stunning observation: that the oldest continental crusts are disintegrating. According to experts, the Earth’s crust went through expansion and contraction and has transformed not only its positions…
“Line All Those Guys Up and Shoot Them”: Professor Says Men Who Don’t Support Female Candidates Should Be Massacred
by Daily Caller
(Jaryn Crouson, DCNF)—A professor at the University of Kansas (UK) told a class that men who would not vote for a female president should be lined up and shot, according to a video posted on X Wednesday. The university confirmed the professor is employed at UK and made the comment…