Tesla Is No Longer A Trillion-Dollar Company

Good morning! It’s Wednesday, February 26, 2025, and this is The Morning Shift, your daily roundup of the top automotive headlines from around the world, in one place. This is where you’ll find the most important stories that are shaping the way Americans drive and get around.

In this morning’s roundup, find out how fast the value of American automaker Tesla is falling and see what the awful year that Stellantis faced did to its 2024 profits. We also find out which premium automaker is the latest to push back its first electric vehicle and see how Donald Trump’s cuts are hitting the teams researching safer transport. 

After years at the forefront of global electric vehicles sales, Tesla’s crown is starting to tarnish and its spot at the top is in doubt. The automaker saw sales fall last year for the first time in more than a decade and company boss Elon Musk is slowly tanking the brand’s reputation with his far-right tirade. As you’d expect, Musk’s shift to the right hasn’t gone down well with many buyers and just days after the political shift was blamed on plummeting sales in Europe, the American automaker lost its ranking as a trillion-dollar company.

Tesla stock is plummeting in value right now, after a lackluster presentation about the future of autonomy and Musk’s declining reputation. As a result of a further eight percent drop in the share price, Tesla lost its trillion dollar valuation yesterday, reports NBC News:

On Tuesday, the stock closed down another 8% to $302.80 and is off 25% year to date. The latest drawdown comes as new data showed new Tesla vehicle registrations plummeting in Europe, down 45% year-on-year for January, even as overall sales growth of electric-battery vehicles on the continent climbed. Sales in China also recently came in trending down.
Some reports have suggested European buyers are revolting against Musk’s active role in the Trump administration, which is effectively resetting longstanding European relations.

As well as hitting the value of Tesla, the drop in share price also hit Musk’s own pocket, as his net worth is closely tied to the value of the electric vehicle maker. In fact, the fall in Tesla shares means that Musk lost more than $100 billion since December 2024 and his position as the world’s richest man is under threat.

At the time of writing, Bloomberg reports that Musk is worth $358 billion and his fortune is down more than $20 billion compared to the start of this week. For context, that’s enough to buy 5,000 Bugatti Tourbillon hypercars.

While we’re on the subject of struggling automakers, we might as well check in with Stellantis. The Jeep owner is having a pretty rough time of it, with its CEO stepping down suddenly, sales floundering and dealers in revolt. It turns out that this isn’t a great way to make money, and the automaker saw profits fall 70 percent last year.

Alfa Romeo owner Stellantis saw profits drop 70 percent to $5.8 billion over the course of 2024, reports Automotive News. The decline came as revenue fell, shipments dropped and cash flow was negative:

Operating margin in 2024 was 5.5 percent — down from 12.8 percent in 2023 — on an adjusted operating income of €8.6 billion ($9 billion), at the low end of guidance provided after a shock profit warning last September.

Total revenues fell 17 percent last year, to €157 billion ($165 billion), with a 12 percent drop in global shipments, due to “temporary gaps” in the product range and “now-complete inventory reduction initiatives”, the company said. Net profit was down 70 percent to €5.5 billion, versus €18.6 billion in 2023.

There is a turning point on the horizon, however, as the Chrysler parent company says cash flow could be positive in 2025 and improvements in profitability could be on the cards. The change in fortunes comes as the automaker reduces inventory and backtracked on some pretty bad decisions brought in under old CEO Carlos Tavares, as Automotive News adds:

Stellantis is forecasting an adjusted operating margin of “mid-single digits” in 2025, with “positive” free cash flow and net revenue growth, the automaker said Feb. 26.

The guidance reflects the “early stage of the commercial recovery as well as elevated industry uncertainties, Stellantis said.

“We are firmly focused on gaining market share and improving financial performance as 2025 progresses,” Chairman John Elkann said in a statement.

Are we on the precipice of the great Stellantis recovery train, or is this only a short term blip in fortunes for the struggling brand? We may not find out the answer to that until this time next year, as AN adds that saving a struggling automaker is a “long-term and expensive process.”

There are no two ways about it, sales of electric vehicles haven’t quite matched many automakers’ expectations. As a result, companies across the spectrum have delayed or cancelled electric models, and now Aston Martin is delaying its first electric supercar yet again.

Aston Martin was planning to release an EV developed with tech from Lucid in 2026, but that deadline was pushed back to “the latter part of this decade,” reports Reuters. The delay comes amid a harsh round of cost cuts at the automaker to try and turn around its fortunes:

Aston Martin will prioritize its mid-engined Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV), ‘Valhalla’, which Hallmark said would be a “significant contributor” to financial performance over the next few years.

It plans to produce only 999 units, opens new tab of Valhalla, each reportedly priced at 850,000 pounds ($1.1 million), with deliveries to begin in the second half of 2025. Aston Martin declined to confirm the price.

The company pushed back the launch of its first electric vehicle (BEV) to the latter part of this decade.

Valhalla is expected to help drive positive adjusted operating earnings in 2025 and free cash flow in the second half, the company said. Overall core wholesales volumes will be similar to 2024 levels, it said.

The delay to Aston’s first EV will also accompany a five percent cut to its workforce in an attempt to save around $31 million. As a result of the bleak outlook, Aston’s shares fell around nine percent in trading yesterday.

We might as well go four for four on the bad news this week, so let’s find out the new ways president Donald Trump has found to make our lives miserable. After cutting support for electrification and sending Musk out to gut the department for transportation, Trump is now slashing funding for transportation research projects across America.

Trump’s budget cuts have come thick and fast since he took office last month. Now, the “Home Alone 2” actor slashed support for researchers working on studies examining road safety and other topics, reports Bloomberg:

The Trump administration has wasted little time launching a multipronged assault on scientific research across an array of fields. Mass layoffs have roiled the National Science Foundation, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Institutes of Health, and the administration has sought to sharply reduce the federal contribution to universities’ “research overhead,” aiming a staggering blow at US higher education.

Transportation research typically occupies a comparatively nonpartisan and uncontroversial position, but the Trump administration’s early moves have sent shock waves through the field. Federally supported projects have been canceled, experts have been fired, and datasets have disappeared. TRB, a longtime bridge between academia and government, now faces existential questions about its future. The tumult has stunned many transportation veterans, leaving them worried about the US’s ability to ensure that its mobility network — from roads, bridges and rails to maritime and aviation infrastructure — grows more productive, affordable and safe in the years ahead.

“It’s going to have a decimating effect on transportation research — at every level,” said Sandi Rosenbloom, also a planning professor at the University of Texas and a previous chair of the TRB executive committee.

The cuts don’t just mean that we may never find out how mice behave behind the wheel, they’ll also hit all manner of real-world research that shapes the way we get around. Topics such as more durable asphalt production, city planning and safe street design are all at risk as a result of Trump’s ham-fisted approach.

The drivers have settled into their new teams, the new liveries have been unveiled and now testing is kicking off in Bahrain. That’s right, Formula 1 is back, baby!

The F1 circus descended on the Bahrain International Circuit for three days of testing that will set the scene for the year ahead. It’s already offered us our first glimpse of Lewis Hamilton driving his 2025 Ferrari F1 racer, and Mercedes newbie Kimi Antonelli stamped his mark on the new car with the fastest time of the first session. Oh, and Red Bull youngster Liam Lawson also showed some quick pace, if turbulent at times.

Of course, the timings only tell half the story in testing, but with solid reliability, close times and nobody looking too far off the pace so far, it’s shaping up to be an exciting start to the season. Well, except for Sauber.

All three days of F1 testing will be streaming on ESPN, if you want to nerd out over race car for the rest of the week.