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Auto Stock Roundup: GM to Invest $1 Billion in US; Ford, Toyota, Honda Expand Takata Recall

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General Motors Company (GM - Free Report) announced plans to invest $1 billion in the U.S. Meanwhile, Tesla Motors, Inc. (TSLA - Free Report) revealed details of its fee structure for the Supercharger network. Meanwhile, defective Takata airbag inflators resulted in additional recalls by Ford Motor Co. (F - Free Report) , Toyota Motor Corporation (TM - Free Report) and Honda Motor Co. (HMC - Free Report) .

(Read the previous roundup here: Auto Stock Roundup for Jan 12, 2017)

Recap of the Week’s Most Important Stories

1. General Motors is planning to invest $1 billion in its U.S. manufacturing facilities. The automaker expects this investment to either create or retain 1,500 jobs in the nation. The company will also in-source axle production for its next-generation, full-size pickup trucks in Michigan instead of Mexico.

General Motors currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

2. Tesla disclosed the details of its plans to charge new customers for the use of its Supercharger network. While the company has traditionally offered free use of the charging network to customers, owners of Model S and Model X cars ordered after Jan 15, 2017 will have to pay a small fee if they use the network beyond a certain limit. The company will offer 400 kWh of free Supercharging credits to new customers every year. Beyond the free credit, customers will be charged for every kWh of energy used. However, in certain regions, they will be charged on the basis of the time of usage due to local regulations.

Tesla currently carries a Zacks Rank #3.

3. Honda is recalling 772,000 additional vehicles in the U.S. for defective front passenger seat air bag inflators made by Japanese supplier Takata Corp. These are part of an expanded recall of 1.29 million vehicles. The recall covers models including the 2005-2006 Acura MDX, 2005-2012 Acura RL, 2008-2012 Honda Accord, 2006-2011 Honda Civic, 2007-2012 Honda Fit, 2010-2012 Honda Insight, 2009-2012 Acura TSX, 2011-2012 Acura TSX Wagon, 2010-2012 Acura ZDX, 2010-2012 Honda Crosstour, 2005-2011 Honda CR-V, 2005-2011 Honda Element, 2012 Honda FCX Clarity, 2005-2012 Honda Pilot and 2006-2012 Honda Ridgeline (read more: Honda Expands Takata Air Bag Recall by 772K Units).

Honda currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

4. Ford is recalling 816,309 additional vehicles globally for defective front passenger seat airbag inflators made by Takata Corp., after the latter declared them defective. The action is part of a planned expansion of vehicles recalled earlier to new geographic regions. The recalled vehicles include 654,695 in the U.S. and federalized territories, and 161,174 in Canada. The recall covers models including the 2005-09 and 2012 Ford Mustang, 2005-06 Ford GT, 2006-09 and 2012 Ford Fusion, 2007-09 Ford Ranger, 2007-09 Ford Edge, 2006-09 and 2012 Lincoln Zephyr and Lincoln MKZ, 2007-09 Lincoln MKX and 2006-09 Mercury Milan (read more: Ford Expands Takata Airbag Recall by 816K Vehicles).

Ford currently has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

5. Toyota is recalling 543,000 additional vehicles in the U.S. to replace defective front passenger seat airbag inflators made by Takata Corp. These airbags were recently declared defective by Takata. The recall covers models including the 2008–2009 Scion xB, 2009 and 2012 Corolla and Corolla Matrix, 2007–2009 and 2012 Toyota Yaris, 2012 4Runner and Sienna and some variants of Lexus made in the 2006–2012 timeframe (read more: Toyota Adds 543K Vehicles to Takata Airbag Recall).

Toyota currently carries a Zacks Rank #3.

Performance

Auto stocks recorded mixed performance over the last week. Ford posted the maximum loss among the stocks listed below over the last week as well as six months.

Meanwhile, Tesla gainedthe most during the shorter period, while Harley-Davidson, Inc. (HOG - Free Report) was the best performer over the longer term.

Company

Last 1-Week Period

Last 6 Months

GM

-1.3%

+19.9%

F

-2.1%

-9.1%

TSLA

+3.8%

+5.8%

TM

-0.9%

+9.4%

HMC

-0.6%

+13.3%

HOG

+0.9%

+21.3%

AAP

+0.3%

+6.3%

AZO

-1.7%

-2.2%

Auto-Tires-Trucks Sector 5YR % Return

 

Auto-Tires-Trucks Sector 5YR % Return

What’s Next in the Auto Space?

Ford will post fourth-quarter and full-year 2016 results before the opening bell on Jan 26.

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