Last week, Stephen Scherr, CEO of Hertz, a US car rental company, stated in a earnings call that "our pace of increasing electric vehicles will be slower than our previous expectations
The results released by Hertz show that the company's revenue reached a historic high in the third quarter of this year, but its profit margin was lower than expected. Xie Er said, "Most of our car categories have achieved profit margin improvements, with the only exception being electric vehicles, as they have high maintenance costs
Xie Er also stated that Tesla has driven the overall decline in retail prices of electric vehicles, which has led to a decrease in the value of the company's electric vehicles compared to last year, and higher depreciation has to be included. "If it weren't for the drag of the electric vehicle business, the profit indicators might have exceeded expectations
In October 2021, Hertz Corporation, which had emerged from bankruptcy, announced that it would purchase 100000 Tesla cars, setting the largest order in Tesla's history, pushing Tesla's market value to break through the $1 trillion mark and even exceed $1.2 trillion at its highest.
But the latest data shows that the largest car rental company in the United States has approximately 50000 electric vehicles in its entire fleet, accounting for approximately 11% of the entire fleet. About 80% of them are Tesla cars, which means that Hertz currently has about 35000 Tesla cars, a far cry from 100000.
Regarding this, Scheer stated that Hertz will still purchase 100000 electric vehicles from Tesla and 175000 vehicles from General Motors. He revealed that the company expects electric vehicles from traditional automakers to have a "lower damage rate" and "lower component and labor costs" compared to Tesla.
We have established direct contact with Tesla in terms of component procurement and maintenance labor costs, and their after-sales market for components is clearly not as mature, "Scheer explained." However, like General Motors and other OEM brands, they have established a decades old component supply system that is much more mature
Scheer added that with the "diversification" of Hertz fleet, the company's profit margin and other issues will be improved. As of press release, Tesla's stock price has bucked the trend and fallen by over 5%, breaking below the $200 mark.