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Analyst calls on Apple to buy Tesla

This is the layman's understanding of how the tech world works: come up with an idea; execute idea; start making money; get bought out by Apple, Google or some other wealthy company seeking the Next Big Thing; retire to Fiji at age 23. Occasionally, though, one of those startups grows quickly enough to avoid being bought out by the big boys of Silicon Valley. Tesla is one such startup, and while it's an automaker as much as a tech company, the mingling of both worlds in its business model has helped the company survive since 2003, become publicly traded in 2010 and avoid being bought out by a bigger company (though the personality of its co-founder and CEO, Elon Musk, may have something to do with that, too).
This record of independence hasn't stopped the analysts from talking, though. According to CNN Money, Andaan Ahmad, a London-based investment banker with German bank Berenberg, has petitioned Apple CEO Tim Cook to buy out Tesla and bring Elon Musk into the Apple family. On paper, the move would sort of make sense: since the death of Steve Jobs, Apple appears to some to have been sagging, releasing better iterations of its currents products but lacking the big, new, industry-investing widget that makes people go mad. Expanding into the automotive market, a long-rumored destination for Apple, would allow the Cupertino, CA-based brand to stretch its legs in a new direction. As Ahmad notes, Apple needs to go "out of the box" or "the key debate will always be about [Apple's] ability to sustain these abnormal margins in [the] iPhone business."
Although not expressly discussed in the CNN story, we could also see some big benefits for Tesla. The Palo Alto-based automaker has been locked in a war over direct sales to customers with a number of dealership groups across the country, many of which have particularly powerful political lobbies. If Tesla had the backing of the world's most powerful company, which also has success in the business of upgrading traditional retail experiences, it could help establish the direct-sale model on a wider scale.

How the Chinese tycoon driving Volvo plans to tackle Tesla

HANGZHOU, China — "Do you know how big Volvo is?" asked Don Leclair, finance chief at Ford. It was 2008, and Leclair was responding to an offer from a little-known Chinese businessman to purchase the Swedish carmaker, which Ford owned. The businessman, Li Shufu, had a company with less than half Volvo's sales and a flagship model, King Kong, almost unknown outside China. He was politely shown the door of the "Glass House," Ford's iconic headquarters near Detroit, according to two people who were at the meeting. Ford's Leclair did not respond to requests for comment about the episode. Fast-forward to 2021 and Li Shufu's company, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, is one of the biggest-selling automakers in the world's biggest auto market. It controls not only Volvo Cars but also a clutch of global auto brands, and a significant stake in German giant Daimler AG, the maker of Mercedes-Benz. These names are now part of its plans for a revolution in autos. Geely is preparing Volvo for a listing on the Nasdaq Stockholm exchange as a route towards the future of transportation: One where cars are part of an electrified network of mobility services, driving themselves, connecting to each other and — like cellphones — generating an array of data and new business opportunities. It's a vision more Silicon Valley than Detroit, where traditional automakers globally are chasing another giant — Tesla Inc. Li Shufu and his advisers eventually convinced Ford to part with Volvo in 2010 for $1.8 billion. It was the first in a string of deals, tapping brands such as Lotus, Smart and the London Electric Vehicle Company to form a network that he calls a "bigger circle of friends" across industry segments. Li Shufu sees them as building blocks to help Geely compete in a future where autos are not vehicles, but "service providers," he told Reuters in his management suite at Geely's headquarters in Hangzhou, eastern China. In that business model, cars will be available on subscription and offer services such as making payments and in-car apps. They will update their own software, and spawn opportunities in the same way as the mobile operating systems developed by Apple Inc and Google. "We are trying to create an automotive ecosystem similar to Android," he said. Li Shufu, 58, recently adopted a foreign first name - Eric - because he liked the sound of it.

Tesla Motors stock breaks $200 mark for first time

It seems not that long ago that the air had been let out of Tesla Motors high-flying stock price. The company didn't adequately thrill the market when it disclosed its third-quarter 2013 financial results last November and TSLA price plummeted quickly enough to trigger a temporary halt to short sales. Immediately after that, the infamous Tenessee CarBQ happened, adding to the loss of altitude. Shares that had been, at one point, worth as much as $193.37 spent the last half of November 2013 bumbling along in the $120 neighborhood. If you had chosen that low point to invest, we imagine you are wearing a very self-satisfied smile today. That's because the TSLA stock has more than reversed all previous losses and reached a high of $201.91. The most dramatic part of that rise came this week as the price saw a gain of $30. By the end of the day today, TSLA settled at $196.62, up just six cents from the close of trading yesterday. Whether or not the stock has been buoyed by anticipation of the upcoming fourth-quarter financial reporting – estimated to happen a week from now – is hard to say. Certainly the fears over future battery supply constraints have been calmed, and we expect the upcoming call to have even more concrete details about the giga-factory. If you think you know the reason for the recent rise, please feel free to share with the rest of the class in the Comments. Featured Gallery Tesla Model S View 24 Photos News Source: NASDAQ Green Tesla Electric tsla nasdaq