Tesla (TSLA) and General Motors (GM) are in the thick of the battle to dominate the EV war. Each knows that the other won't give an inch in the fight for consumers' wallets.
Meantime, the showdown is being arbitrated as well by investors, who choose to bet on one or the other, in part based on the development strategies and market positioning of the two auto giants.
In the latter case, Tesla, whose market capitalization currently is about $837 billion, is one step ahead. That's 12 times GM's market cap of $68.9 billion.
Tesla, Austin, just received a new trust mark from Canadian pension fund Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.
According to a SEC filing, CPPIB held 483,016 Tesla shares as of Dec. 31, 368,706 more than its portfolio had as of Oct. 31. That total stake was recently valued at $418.3 million.
At the same time CPPIB sold 4.23 million GM shares and still held 548,346 as of Dec. 31, according to the same document addressed to the Securities and Exchange Commission. This total stake is currently valued at $25.6 million.
A Leg Up for Tesla and Slap at GM?
Besides CPPIB, Vanguard and BlackRock (BLK) have also increased their stakes in Tesla, according to their traditional quarterly documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Vanguard increased from 61,999,012 Tesla shares on October 31 to 62,448,572 shares on December 31.
As of BlackRock, it held 52,844,995 Tesla shares as of Dec. 31, which represents 1.42% of the auto maker's capital, up 0.27 percentage point from Oct. 31.
The choice made by the Canadian fund between the two car manufacturers has the air of disavowal with respect to GM. That's especially since it comes at a time when the Detroit company, led by Chief Executive Mary Barra, is redoubling its efforts to close the gap with Tesla.
GM is close to starting production of the long-awaited Lyriq SUV, Cadillac's first 100% electric car, which is supposed to launch the era of electrification of GM cars: Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC and Buick.
Preproduction has started in the Spring Hill, Tenn., factory. This site initially produced Saturn models, but GM has laid out $2 billion to enable the plant to produce the Lyriq and other electric vehicles to come under the Cadillac brand.
As is often the case with most ownership disclosure documents, the CPPIB does not explain why the pension fund prefers Tesla over GM.
But on its website, CPPIB explains its investment strategy.
"Our investment-only mandate ensures we focus solely on maximizing returns and minimizing undue risk to help build a retirement foundation for 20 million Canadians," said.
The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments) ended its third quarter of fiscal 2022 on Dec. 31, 2021, with net assets of $550.4 billion, up 1.64% from the previous quarter.
Cadillac.com
Tesla Rolls Out Full Self-Driving Beta in Canada
Meantime, Elon Musk's company sees its strategy validated.
The Model S, Model X, Model Y and Model 3 owner has just begun rolling out the advanced version of its full-self-driving beta system in Canada.
This is the first international expansion of this software that Tesla presents as the closest step to an autonomous car.
FSD Beta performs maneuvers that the base -- autopilot -- and intermediate-FSD systems cannot.
According to Tesla, FSD beta "identifies stop signs and traffic lights and automatically slows your car to a stop on approach, with your active supervision."
"When Traffic Light and Stop Sign Control (Beta) is enabled, the driving visualization displays upcoming traffic lights, stop signs or road markings at intersections where your car may need to stop," Tesla said.
"As you approach an intersection, even if the traffic light is green, your car will display a red line to indicate where the vehicle will stop and the vehicle will begin to slow. To continue through the stop line, pull the Autopilot stalk or briefly tap the accelerator pedal to confirm that it is safe to proceed. At this time, Traffic Light and Stop Sign Control does not turn the vehicle, whether you are in a turn lane or have your blinker on," the company added.
Critically important: FSD beta does not make Tesla cars self-driving, the automaker warns:
"As with all Autopilot features, you must be in control of your vehicle, pay attention to its surroundings and be ready to take immediate action including braking. This feature is in Beta and may not stop for all traffic controls.
