Liam Denning, Columnist

Auto Strikes Over, Market Senses Bigger Problems Ahead

Detroit’s Big Three haven’t seen a relief rally because investors are focused on a rocky transition to electric vehicles.

October 30, 2023 at 4:46 PM UTC

By Liam Denning

Liam Denning is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering energy. A former banker, he edited the Wall Street Journal’s Heard on the Street column and wrote the Financial Times’s Lex column.

Picket signs in a pile inside the UAW Local 551 union hall near Ford's Chicago Assembly Plant.
Photographer: Scott Olson/Getty Images North America

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As much as Shawn Fain has been the scourge of the Big Three automakers, he was also thereby supposed to offer perverse grounds for optimism. The resolution of the United Auto Workers’ strikes was expected to result in a relief rally for Ford Motor Co., General Motors Co. and Stellantis NV. So much for that.

Ford, which announced a deal with the union last Wednesday, plunged 12% Friday to its lowest level since early 2021. Stellantis followed with its own tentative agreement this weekend and GM did on Monday morning. Investors shrugged.