Good luck on the good ship Future Fund and all who sail anywhere near it.
Jimmy Chalmers, the titular boss of the fund established to meet the super obligations of federal public servants, this week told the FF to invest in Australian houses and green energy rather than, well let's say Ferrari and Tesla.
Of course, we are biased here to the auto sector but in the last year Fezzer shares have gone up about 260 per cent and Tesla about 250 per cent. Lucky Jimmy's FF holds both. House prices in Australia have gone up a handy 20 per cent.
Ferrari has the third highest market cap of any carmaker (Tesla and Toyota are the others on the podium), which is not bad for a company that only makes 14,000 cars a year. While VW Group shares are down $44 in the last six months. Volkswagen has more problems than a sandwich at a seagull convention. Margins on its core products are very skinny, for the first time ever CEO Ollie Blume wants to close factories, China sales are dead, and the Trumpster is looking at tariff-blocking foreign cars from the land of the free.
VW makes SKODAs, SEATs, CUPRAs, Audis, Lambos Bentley, Porkers and Ducatis. Consumer Reports rank Audi 19th for new car reliability and near last on owner satisfaction. And profit for the first nine months of the year is down more than 30 per cent with more bad news to come.
VW Group also owns 75 per cent of the Porker company. Porker shares have sunk 36 per cent on the back of a 41 per cent profit drop. The US National Highway Transportation Safety Administration is telling owners of 2024 911, 718 Cayman GT4 RS and 718 Spyder RS cars that a batch of nuts "manufactured out of specification", which could result in wheel detachment.
Merc and Volvo profits have halved and BMW earnings are down 79 per cent for the nine months to September 30. Over at our favourite auto company, Stellantis, Reuters tells us: "Reduced shipments and lower pricing power slashed Stellantis revenue by 27 per cent in the third quarter."
Talking of not getting any satisfaction, Jaguar has stopped making cars while it prepares for new exciting woke models in 2026. Worldwide Jag sales have been falling and in Australia the brand only managed to move 581 units this year. So, the answer is make EVs with "a back end that looks like an air conditioner", charge double, launch an ad full of DEI persons that doesn't mention cars, and launch the new Jag at the Miami Art Show.
Twenty readers, just head over to Kissimmee in January, for Mecum's World's Largest Collector Car Auction, where you can buy Austin Powers' signature 1967 Jaguar E-Type Roadster, known as the "Shaguar", that starred in all three Mike Myers movies.
jc@jcp.com.au