It was a slightly slower news week as the markets prepare for earnings season to hit in full force, but there were plenty of headlines to go around within the automotive sector. One piece of news that hit young electric vehicle (EV) automakers hard was the announcement by Hertz Global (NASDAQ: HTZ) that it will sell a chunk of its EV fleet and reinvest in gasoline-powered vehicles. In response, Lucid Group (NASDAQ: LCID) and Fisker (NYSE: FSR) dropped as much as 17% and 26% this week, respectively, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence. 

Hertz, one of the world's largest vehicle rental companies, announced it plans to sell a third of its U.S. EV fleet and instead reinvest in gasoline-powered vehicles. Hertz began selling the 20,000 EVs last month and will continue throughout the remainder of 2024.

It was a sudden turnaround from Hertz's 2021 stance. Back then, it announced it would buy 100,000 (NASDAQ: TSLA) vehicles -- Tesla was down as much as 5% for the week -- and the rental company will record a noncash charge of roughly $245 million during its fourth quarter.

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Source Fool.com