Latest news with #TheMorningShift
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Tesla Sends Cybertruck Workers Home
Good morning! It's Monday, May 12, 2025, and this is The Morning Shift, your daily roundup of the top automotive headlines from around the world, in one place. This is where you'll find the most important stories that are shaping the way Americans drive and get around. In this morning's edition, we're looking at Tesla idling the Cybertruck and Model Y lines, as well as the 90-day U.S.-China trade war armistice. We'll also take a peek at Nissan's plans to cut 20,000 workers, and Mazda's tariff impact estimates for April. Read more: These Are The Worst New Car And SUV Deals Right Now, According To Consumer Reports The Cybertruck is a sales failure, to the degree that Tesla has trucks piling up in parking lots because no one wants to buy them. There's not much the company can do about the former issue, besides replacing its CEO and wholly redesigning the pickup, but it can do something about the latter: Stop making so many of the things. So, that's exactly what it plans to do. From Business Insider: Tesla told Austin workers on its Model Y and Cybertruck lines to stay home for the week of Memorial Day, three workers told Business Insider. The break is unusually long, the workers said. Production lines were up and running during the same period last year, they said. ... The workers said their schedules had been increasingly inconsistent since February. Some said they had been sent home early on multiple February, the Austin factory began cracking down on overtime hours, the workers said. Two said they were told by management that if they clocked overtime hours, they could eventually face disciplinary action. Inclusion of the Model Y here is interesting. The Cybertruck debuted with a litany of problems, but the Model Y was once a best-seller. Maybe Elon Musk has really hurt Tesla's reputation that much. The United States has been big on trade war in the last few months, and China's been the primary target. Now, though, Americans are seeing the consequences of tariffs: The little treats, the video game consoles and Temu trinkets, have all gotten more expensive. In short, people haven't been happy. Now the White House is reducing its tariffs on China, but only for 90 days — unless a more lasting agreement can be reached. From Automotive News China: The U.S. and China said they will temporarily lower tariffs on each other's products in a dramatic ratcheting down of trade tensions that buys the world's two largest economies three months to work toward a broader agreement. The combined 145 percent U.S. levies on most Chinese imports will be reduced to 30 percent including the rate tied to fentanyl by May 14, while the 125 percent Chinese duties on U.S. goods will drop to 10 percent, according to a joint statement and from officials in a briefing Monday in Geneva. ... In a research note, Maeva Cousin of Bloomberg Economics said today's move "substantially lowers the U.S. average tariff shock on China," though the remaining import taxes remain high and could still cut U.S. imports from China by about 70 percent in the medium term. The fentanyl framing only gets funnier with time. It's so clearly unrelated to the ongoing trade war, but folks in both government and the media keep pretending it means anything. Y'all can give up on the fentanyl thing. Nissan hasn't been looking so hot recently. The company tried to merge with Honda, stopped trying to merge with Honda, ousted its CEO, and that was all before the tariffs hit. Now the company is cutting a massive swath of its workforce, which is never a good sign. From Bloomberg: Nissan Motor Co. will eliminate 11,000 more jobs than previously planned, NHK reported Monday, as part of a plan to restructure its flailing business. The Japanese carmaker said in November it would cut 9,000 positions after weak sales in the US and China led to a 94% drop in first-half net income. Now those job cuts will be closer to 20,000, or around 15% of the entire workforce, according to Japan's national broadcaster. The redundancies will occur both at home and overseas, it added. Cutting 15% of all your employees, globally, is a massive reduction. If the talks with Honda were the corporate equivalent of opening up your relationship in a desperate last bid to save it, what does that make this? Sending the kids to stay with Grandma for a bit? Automakers give earnings estimates to their investors annually, in a document called a guidance. In 2025, pretty much every automaker has been rescinding that guidance and saying there won't be a replacement until the trade war settles. Mazda is just the latest to pull the same move, but the company did issue some sort of estimate: A $68 million tariff hit in just one month of 2025. From Bloomberg: Mazda Motor Co. withheld its annual profit guidance after its short-term future, along with most global carmakers, was muddied by US President Donald Trump's trade war. The Japanese automaker's forecast for the fiscal year that will end March 2026 has yet to be determined due to uncertainty over factors including US tariffs on car and car parts, Mazda said Monday, adding that it will announce its expectations when it becomes possible to establish a reasonable projection. ... For Mazda, the impact could amount to as much as ¥10 billion ($68 million) just in April, Chief Executive Officer Masahiro Moro said Monday. Mazda was reporting its full-year financial results. Net income came in at ¥114 billion, lower than the company's own guidance of ¥140 billion. Remember that April was still an introductory period for tariffs, with pre-tax stock sitting on dealer lots. As that supply dwindles, the numbers aren't likely to get better for Mazda. Someone should lobby for a Miata exemption. Richards "had no idea" he wrote "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction." Probably because a ghost did it, and merely used Richards as an instrument with which to engage in the mortal realm. I just woke up with this one stuck in my head today. Not sure why. It's a good track, though, so you all get to hear it too. Want more like this? Join the Jalopnik newsletter to get the latest auto news sent straight to your inbox... Read the original article on Jalopnik.
Yahoo
07-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Tariffs Are Already Keeping Cars And Automakers Out Of The U.S.
Good morning! It's Monday, April 7, 2025, and this is The Morning Shift, your daily roundup of the top automotive headlines from around the world, in one place. This is where you'll find the most important stories that are shaping the way Americans drive and get around. In this morning's edition, we're taking a look at the early effects of Trump's tariffs on the auto industry, and Elon Musk's mindset. We'll also look at whether tariffs are helping or hurting, and how workers in other nations are feeling about them. Read more: Consumer Reports' 10 Best Used Cars Under $20,000 Are A Great Way To Dodge Republican Tariffs Trump's tariffs have already affected the market — keep an eye on your 401(k) — but everyone's been waiting with bated breath to see how companies will respond with regard to actual physical items you can purchase. Y'know, real things, not computer money. Well, now we're starting to get answers. Infiniti is halting U.S. orders for its two compact crossovers, Jaguar Land Rover is halting exports of British-built cars to the U.S., and Audi is halting cars at port in hopes things change. From Reuters: Nissan will not accept any additional orders of the Infiniti QX50 and QX55 SUVs for the U.S. market produced at the COMPAS plant it has run together with Mercedes-Benz in Mexico. Nissan said production is expected to continue for those models sold in other markets. This is good! Americans don't want smaller vehicles anyway, we want the biggest trucks imaginable. It sounds like Jaguar Land River may have some less knee-jerk plans for the long term, but that may depend on our government not jerking knees of its own. Once more from Reuters: Audi is directly in the firing line of Trump's tariffs, with its best-selling U.S. model, the Q5, produced in Mexico, and its remaining models all coming from Europe or elsewhere. The brand sent a memo to dealers, first reported on by U.S. trade publication Automotive News, saying it would freeze shipments from April 2 until further notice, a spokesperson said. The problem with the American car market has always been that there are too many choices. Dealer lots incite decision paralysis, and President Trump is doing his best to alleviate that malady in good Christian car buyers. Do you really need sixteen different compact two-row crossovers to pick from, or would the market be better served by one single government-backed choice? Sorry, I'm getting word that this is exactly what we're supposed to hate about Cuban grocery stores. Elon Musk is not terrified of the world around him. This, at least, is according to outgoing German vice chancellor Robert Habeck, who based his comments off Musk's support for tariff-free international trade at an Italian right-wing brainstorm session this past Saturday. Musk is apparently a big free-trade guy now, but Habeck wonders if that's genuine or just looking out for his own behind. From Bloomberg: "I read what Elon Musk said — I think it's a sign of weakness, and maybe of fear," Habeck said on the sidelines of a meeting of European trade ministers in Luxembourg as Trump's tariffs continued to drive a selloffs on global financial markets. ... Habeck said Musk should tell Trump to stop the trade war before talking about any kind of zero-tariff situation. "This is ridiculous and the only interpretation I have of it is that he now sees that his own companies and even economies are going to crumble because of the mess they have made, so he's afraid," Habeck said. Elon Musk? Afraid? The man sleeps with a fake model of an imaginary gun next to his bed, what does he possibly have to fear? The Nissan Rogue is a hot midsize crossover in the U.S. market, but one whose market share could be truly wounded by tariffs. Nissan, in response, is doing exactly what the Trump administration hoped: Moving more production to the States. Or, at least, not making production cuts that had previously been planned. From Reuters: As early as this summer, Nissan plans to reduce production at its Fukuoka factory in western Japan and shift some manufacturing of its Rogue SUV to the United States to mitigate the impact of Trump's tariffs, the business newspaper said, without citing the source of its information. ... The automaker now plans to maintain two shifts of production of the Rogue at its Smyrna, Tennessee, plant after announcing in January it would end one of the two shifts this month. Shifting production from Japan to the U.S. will be interesting, because it could subject Nissan to reciprocal tariffs against the States from other nations. Will Nissan have to spin Fukoka back up to full capacity to mitigate the issue? Will tariffs on either side last long enough to justify that kind of action? Only time will tell. Canada's major trade union, Unifor, has largely sided with the U.S.'s United Auto Workers in endeavoring to make working conditions better for folks who make cars across borders. Now, though, the two have split: The UAW's Shawn Fain has backed Trump's tariffs, while Unifor has condemned them. From the Detroit Free Press: Unifor National President Lana Payne no longer sees eye to eye with UAW leader Shawn Fain. In a split with its Canadian sibling, the UAW endorsed President Donald Trump's 25% tariffs on foreign-made vehicles and parts — the same tariffs Payne called "reckless and dangerous" for the entire integrated auto industry. The endorsement of tariffs is an unexpected move from Fain, who's long supported major worker-focused moves like a general strike. Unifor's move, though, speaks to the amountof Canadian pride that Trump has engendered in recent months. Even the Quebecois are pro-Canada at this point. Do you know how rare that is? Luckily, this speech didn't lay the groundwork for any Americans to die and kill in a pointless war that we lost. It would've been a real shame if the whole domino theory only existed to justify U.S. intervention in countries that didn't want us, all to prove the superiority of an economic system that's now gasping and stuttering as it collapses under its own weight. Glad to know Eisenhower just said this offhand, and it never had any major ramifications. Frances Quinlan has one of my favorite voiced in music, and few tracks showcase it better than "Tibetan Pop Stars." Give this track a listen and tell me she's not now one of your favorite vocalists too. Want more like this? Join the Jalopnik newsletter to get the latest auto news sent straight to your inbox... Read the original article on Jalopnik.
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Elon Musk's 'Unprecedented Brand Damage' Means Tesla's Sales Drop Could Get A Lot Worse
Good morning! It's Friday, April 4, 2025, and this is The Morning Shift, your daily roundup of the top automotive headlines from around the world, in one place. This is where you'll find the most important stories that are shaping the way Americans drive and get around. In this morning's edition, we're taking a look at the impact of Musk's political activities on Tesla's brand, as well as the moves Mercedes-Benz might make to get around President Trump's tariffs. We're also going to talk about Infiniti's decision to cut some models from the U.S. that are built in Mexico, and a recall that is hitting over 100,000 large Ford SUVs. Read more: You'd Only Drive These Cars If They Were Free JPMorgan Chase & Co. analyst Ryan Brinkman gave a deeply pessimistic estimate of Tesla's future, saying that the deeply underwhelming sales report confirmed "the unprecedented brand damage we had earlier feared." You really never want to hear the people who believed in you say stuff like that. He added that the sales report "causes us to think that — if anything — we may have underestimated the degree of consumer reaction." Since hitting a record high on December 17 — a little over a month after Donald Trump won the November Presidential election — sales have dropped 44%. You can probably expect a trend like that to continue if the Austin, Texas-based automaker's first-quarter sales are any indication. From Bloomberg: During the first three months of the year, Tesla delivered 336,681 vehicles, its worst quarterly total since 2022. In addition to changing over production lines at each of its assembly plants to build the redesigned Model Y, the automaker was contending with Musk, its chief executive officer, becoming a more polarizing figure due to his interventions in global politics. JPMorgan now expects Tesla's first-quarter earnings to slip to 36 cents a share, short of its previous projection of 40 cents and analysts' average estimate of 46 cents. Brinkman also trimmed his full-year projection to $2.30 a share. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg are on average estimating the company will earn $2.70 per share — and Brinkman notes that this figure has dropped 17% since Tesla last reported quarterly earnings in late January. In what could be some good news for Tesla shareholders, Musk is expected to take a big step back from his role of leading the Department of Government Efficiency after his 130-day period as a temporary advisor to Trump has lapsed. Right now, Musk is considered a special government employee. That's a classification for temporary federal hires who are only supposed to work for 130 days out of the year in their roles. There's currently no formal date for him to leave, however, and the White House counsel's office is in charge of deciding when Musk has worked those 130 days. In the 2024 election cycle, Musk became Trump's biggest donor — giving him over $250 million. He also attacked mainstream political figures in Europe and aligned himself with the far-right AfD party in Germany. Tesla sales in Germany dropped 62% in the last quarter. Mercedes-Benz is thinking about moving the production of one of its vehicles to the U.S. to get around President Trump's 25% automotive tariffs. Right now, there's no word on exactly which model would be moved to the automaker's plant in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, which currently builds the EQS SUV among others. Production chief Jörg Burzer told reporters on April 3 that the move might be necessary to deal with the cost of the new duties. From Bloomberg: "We're still assessing the impacts of these tariffs," Burzer said on the sidelines of a company event in Stuttgart, Germany. "We have made some plans, but flexibility is absolutely key." In 2024, Mercedes' most popular imported model was the GLC, of which it sold 64,163 units in the U.S. That represents a 58% increase over the prior year. Since it starts at around $50,000, it has much smaller margins and faces stiffer competition than flagship models like the S-Class and G-Wagon. Since the automaker already uses the Tuscaloosa plant to build other SUVs like GLE and GLS, it would make a lot of sense if the GLC were to join them. It's similar to how BMW builds the X3, X5, and X7 at its plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina. On top of this possible move, Mercedes-Benz has apparently considered cutting sales of lower-margin imports like the compact GLA crossover. It's a real messy time right now, folks. In the wake of the new tariffs, Nissan announced that it will no longer take U.S.-based orders for two Infiniti SUVs it builds in Mexico. It's a pretty sizable scale-back of its operations at the joint-venture plant. Additionally, Nissan says it's going to keep a second shift at its plant that builds the Rogue crossover in Smyrna, Tennessee. Earlier this year, the Japanese automaker announced it would end one of the two shifts this month. Now, Nissan is saying it won't accept any additional orders of the QX50 or QX55 for the U.S. Both crossovers are built at its COMPAS plant it operates with Mercedes-Benz (which uses the facility to build the GLB compact crossover) in Mexico. Production of both of those models is expected to be continued for other markets. From Reuters: It was not immediately clear how much of the production is sold in other markets. The two Infiniti models have only been exported from Mexico to the U.S., according to data from Mexico's national statistics agency. A Japan-based Nissan spokesperson said on Friday the models do go to other markets such as the Middle East and Canada, but could not immediately provide more details. [...] It is particularly exposed to the new tariffs as it exports the biggest number of cars from Mexico to the U.S. of any Japanese automaker. Nissan has had a pretty rough go of it for a while, now, as sales continue to slide due to an aging lineup and a lack of hybrid options. These troubles have caused the automaker to cut its profit forecast three times in the fiscal year, and its debt was downgraded to "junk" status. Ford and recalls go together like peanut butter and jelly, and that's why the Blue Oval is contacting 105,322 2018-2020 Lincoln Navigator and Ford Expedition owners because of an issue with their seat belts. Apparently, they might fail to retract or extend, which is something you generally want your seatbelts to do. Luckily, the automaker isn't aware of any accidents or injuries related to the defective part made by German supplier ZF, according to an investigation from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Here's more from Automotive News: On affected vehicles, the driver or front passenger seat belt retractor pretensioners may deploy inadvertently, the report said. The seat belt will then be locked in position, unable to retract or extend, increasing the likelihood of injury in a crash. The defect is because of oxidation in a portion of the seat belt pretensioner. [...] Those impacted can take their vehicle to a Ford or Lincoln dealer to have the pretensioners replaced. Ford has a reimbursement plan for those who have already paid for the issue to be remedied. The report from NHTSA says dealers were notified of the recall on March 31, and owners should expect to be contacted between April 14-18. On this day in 1841, President William Henry Harrison died just 32 days after being sworn into office — giving him the distinct honor of having the shortest presidential term in office. Harrison developed a fatal case of pneumonia after giving what was — ironically — the longest inaugural address in history on a cold March morning. The speech clocked in at a feature-length one hour and 45 minutes. Here's a little more on 'ol Billy Harrison's life, from Harrison was the last president born as an English subject before the American Revolution. A native of Virginia, he attended college with the intent of studying medicine, but opted to join the army before finishing his degree. President John Adams took note of Harrison's exemplary service in the Indian Wars of the Northwest Territories and, in 1801, appointed him governor of the Northwest Territories (now Indiana and Illinois). Harrison later fought in the Battle of the Thames River during the War of 1812. He went on to become a congressman and the ambassador to Colombia before running with John Tyler on the Whig Party ticket in the presidential election of 1840. Much to the horror of the political establishment, Harrison and Tyler campaigned in a vigorous style considered unseemly in their era. They used Harrison's nickname, Tippecanoe, which he had earned during a brutal Indian War campaign at Tippecanoe Creek, and concocted the campaign slogan Tippecanoe and Tyler, too. Harrison and Tyler held boisterous rallies during which they handed out free bottles of hard cider housed in little log cabin-shaped bottles. Their tactics, however controversial, were successful, and on March 4, 1841, Harrison was sworn in as the ninth U.S. president. Want more like this? Join the Jalopnik newsletter to get the latest auto news sent straight to your inbox... Read the original article on Jalopnik.
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Cars Are About To Get A Whole Heap More Expensive
Good morning! It's Thursday, April 3, 2025, and this is The Morning Shift: Your daily roundup of the top automotive headlines from around the world, all in one place. This is where you'll find the most important stories that are shaping the way Americans drive and get around. In this morning's edition, we'll find out how tariffs on automotive imports are hitting German brands, and see just how much trade the new fees could impact in their first year. Plus, the White House confirms that Elon Musk isn't going anywhere and the battle of the electric vehicle startups rages on. Read more: Apparently It's Illegal To Put A 'For Sale' Sign In Your Truck Now It finally happened, president Donald Trump's tariffs on the import of foreign cars came into effect yesterday hitting almost every corner of the American automotive industry. Now, the fallout of the 25% tax on imports is becoming clear, and it looks set to make cars a whole heap more expensive. German automaker Volkswagen confirmed this morning that its prices will have to rise as a result of the automotive tariffs, while Mercedes-Benz says its entry-level models could fall victim to the new duties, reports Bloomberg. VW sent a memo to dealers outlining its plans to add import fees to the sticker prices of its vehicles sold in the U.S., while Mercedes could reevaluate its lineup to remain competitive as tariffs take effect: The German automaker is mulling cutting sales of more entry-level models like the small GLA sport utility vehicle as part of broader tariff contingency plans, the people said, declining to be identified because the deliberations are private. Trump's 25% duties are scheduled to take effect this week. Carmakers from Germany are among the most impacted by the new import fees, reports Bloomberg, and the additional tariffs were described as a "fundamental turning point in trade policy," by Hildegard Müller, the head of Germany's auto lobby VDA. The remarks from VW and Mercedes come just days after Hyundai warned that price hikes were on the horizon. Rising prices of cars from the likes of VW and Hyundai could spell disaster at the cheaper end of the automotive spectrum, as additional fees on imports could spell the death of the cheap car and push the average new car price above $50,000 for the first time. The new import levies that came into effect last night don't just hit full cars brought into America for sale, but spread to all manner of car components as well. In fact, Reuters estimates that the tariffs will hit around $460 billion worth of goods sold in America if they remain in effect for a year. While the tariffs on cars imported into America came into force yesterday, additional fees on around 150 different car parts will hit on May 3, reports Reuters. An additional 25% fee will be applied to components such as engines, transmissions, batteries, tires, shock absorbers, and even spark plugs from next month, as the site explains: The list also includes automotive computers covered under the four-digit tariff code that includes all computer products, including laptop and desktop computers and disk drives. The category had imports of $138.5 billion in 2024, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. The total U.S. vehicle and parts imports excluding this category was $459.6 billion. The list of components impacted by the new tariffs isn't finalized, and Reuters warned that more components could be added to the list in the coming weeks or months. Whether new parts are hit with tariffs or not will all be decided via a new system being launched by the Commerce Department to allow domestic producers to request that other parts imports be targeted. The White House also confirmed today that vehicles that qualify under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement's rules of origin will only be hit by the 25% duty on parts that aren't made in the U.S. Tesla revealed its sales figures for the first quarter of 2025 this week, and it's not looking good. Company boss Elon Musk and his political stance appears to have alienated many buyers, as deliveries dropped more than 30% in the first three months of the year. Despite this, Musk isn't going to be backtracking on his political career anytime soon. The White House confirmed that Musk will stay on leading his questionable government department until his controversial job is finished, Automotive News reports. The billionaire will remain on as a special government employee until he completes his task of unnecessarily slashing government spending and gutting the federal workforce. In his role, Musk has just 130 days from the moment he was appointed to carry out his work, and that clock runs down towards the end of May. Trump previously said that Musk could finish his work for the government soon and return to the private sector, but the White House dismissed rumors that Musk is leaving anytime soon: Trump has tasked the Tesla Inc. and SpaceX CEO with leading efforts through the Department of Government Efficiency to cut government funding and reshape the federal bureaucracy. "Elon Musk and President Trump have both publicly stated that Elon will depart from public service as a special government employee when his incredible work at DOGE is complete," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said. The end date of Musk's employment at the government is up in the air, as the Tesla boss previously said he'd have wrapped up his task of cutting $1 trillion in federal spending by the end of his 130 days. That was thrown into doubt last month, however, when Musk told Fox Business Network's "Kudlow" show that he thought he'd get another year working for the President. Tesla takes all the headlines these days, but there are other electric vehicle startups in America just trying to make things work. Lucid and Rivian are two of the biggest, but they're both facing wildly different fortunes if their latest delivery data is anything to go by. In the first three months of the year, California-based Lucid saw deliveries rise while Rivian sales were on the way down, according to Reuters. Lucid's sales jumped 58% after new incentives and financing deals were launched to woo Tesla buyers, while Rivian saw sales drop 36%, as Reuters explains: Rivian has been battling tough demand as consumers opt for cheaper hybrid and gas-powered vehicles in an uncertain economic and political environment. Rivian CFO Claire McDonough had said in February vehicle deliveries would be lower this year due to soft demand, partially because of the impact of fires in Los Angeles. The company delivered 8,640 vehicles in the three month period to the end of March, which was down on the 13,588 it sold a year earlier but up on estimates of just 8,200. Lucid, meanwhile, shipped 3,109 vehicles during the first quarter, compared with 1,967 that it managed during the same period last year. Back in the day I was great at listening to new music, I subscribed to NME and Q Magazine to hear about all the latest bands coming up and would regularly run down to shows at The Harley and The Leadmill in Sheffield to try and see the next big thing. It was fun, but was an obsession that fell by the wayside over the years as I settled into the rhythm of listening to people I was, by then, very familiar with. I've since gotten into a bit of a rut of the same ten artists on repeat with the odd new musician that breaks through into my Spotify top eight for a week or two. One of the breakout acts from the past few years was British duo Wet Leg, who are back with a new song that you should give a spin. Want more like this? Join the Jalopnik newsletter to get the latest auto news sent straight to your inbox... Read the original article on Jalopnik.
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Americans Rushed Out To Buy New Cars As Tariff Threat Loomed
Good morning! It's Wednesday, April 2, 2025, and this is The Morning Shift: Your daily roundup of the top automotive headlines from around the world, all in one place. This is where you'll find the most important stories that are shaping the way Americans drive and get around. In this morning's edition, we'll find out how the threat of impending auto tariffs impacted car sales last month, and see how General Motors is faring so far in 2025. Plus, find out which electric vehicle maker was involved in a deadly crash running self-driving tech, and see why Tesla is facing a lawsuit in New York. Read more: Unsold Chinese EVs Are Piling Up At Ports The threat of tariffs on foreign cars sold in America has loomed large since president Donald Trump took office back in January, and a 25% tax on imports will finally come into force this week. The additional fees on imports could kill off cheaper cars and raise prices across the board, and the fear of those price hikes could have attributed to growing sales over the past month. Automakers across the board posted sales increases over the course of March, according to Automotive News. Sales for March were up by more than 10% for the month, with brands like Honda, Ford, and even Nissan all witnessing growth: In a sign shoppers are actively tracking the impact of the tariffs, retail volume jumped 19 percent at Ford Motor Co., 15 percent at Hyundai and 25 percent at Kia, the companies reported April 1. At Honda Motor Co., which does little fleet business, March sales rose 13 percent on record light-truck deliveries of 108,466, with first-quarter volume up 5 percent. Hyundai's North America CEO, Randy Parker, said the brand witnessed one of its strongest sales weekends in years after people "rushed" to "beat the tariffs" that could hit its models. Deliveries were also up at Toyota, VW, and Mazda, which reported its 11th straight month of increasing demand. Volvo was basically the only major automaker not to post a sales boost last month, with the automaker's deliveries down by 8.2% as a result of lower demand for its electric models. At American automaker General Motors, the boost in sales was seen across more than just a single month, as it reported that deliveries for the first quarter of 2025 were up 17%. The surge in deliveries for the three-month period reportedly came as the automaker witnessed strong demand for its pickup trucks and SUVs, reports CNBC News. The sales boost means that GM is "significantly" outpacing the rest of the industry thanks to robust demand for GM's brands (those it hasn't killed off, anyway). The boost also beat forecasts for the period, with experts initially warning that sales could rise just 1% compared with the first quarter of 2024: GM on Tuesday reported a 16.7% jump in new vehicle sales compared with the first quarter of 2024, led by incremental gains in sales of new all-electric vehicles such as the Cadillac Escalade IQ and Cadillac Optiq, as well as notable increases in entry-level crossovers and full-size SUVs. As well as outpacing the wider industry, GM's positive quarter also gave it bragging rights over its rivals: Ford and Stellantis. In contrast to the GM's 16.7% sales boost, Ford deliveries were down 1.3% for the quarter, and Stellantis' struggles continued with a 12% drop in deliveries compared with Q1 of 2024. An electric vehicle operating a kind of advanced driver assistance tech crashed in China killing three people. It was an EV that reportedly relied on cameras rather than tech like lidar to operate its driver assist tech, and -- despite the name and the camera-first focus -- it wasn't a Tesla. In fact, the deadly crash involved a Xiaomi SU7 sedan, which reportedly drove into a concrete barrier at around 60mph, reports the New York Times. Three college students were killed in the crash with a guardrail, which occurred while the car was operating with Xiaomi's Navigate On Autopilot system, as the site explains: Xiaomi said the driver had deployed the company's Navigate On Autopilot, an assisted-driving feature, while going around 70 m.p.h. on the expressway. The car was traveling at that speed when it reached a roadblock, because a portion of the road was under repair with traffic diverted into a different lane. The collision raised questions about the safety of such systems in China, with local news in the county calling for greater education about what they can, and can't, do on the road. Tech like this "carry high safety risks," reports the South China Morning Post and there is a "lack [of] knowledge" about the capabilities of such systems and the way they work, the site added. As well as dwindling demand, backlash from owners and protests against the brand across the U.S., Tesla is now on the precipice of a legal challenge in New York. Tesla is reportedly facing a lawsuit in New York over the impact its falling share price is having on pension funds across the state, reports Bloomberg. The rapidly dwindling price of Tesla shares hit the city's $285 billion pension pot, which reportedly lost more than $300 million as a result, as Bloomberg reports: New York City Comptroller Brad Lander is pushing for the city to file a shareholder lawsuit against Tesla Inc., alleging the automaker misstated how much CEO Elon Musk's work for the Trump administration has pulled him away from the company. During a news conference this week, Lander said that Tesla doesn't "have a full time CEO paying attention to the company" and keeping shareholder interests in mind, added Bloomberg. As a result, the New York City comptroller is calling on the New York City Law Department to back a shareholder lawsuit against Tesla, which calls for a full-time CEO to take control of the automaker. My aims for this year were to bake more, cycle more, and see more live music: basically more of my three favorite things. So this past weekend, I serviced my bike, made a banana bread out of some particularly mushy bananas that were lingering at the bottom of my fruit bowl, and headed to the Royal Albert hall to see a show. Talk about a good weekend! It was a bit of a last minute decision to head to the show, but was definitely worth it as I got introduced to German drummer, musician, and filmmaker Daniel Brandt and his band for the first time, and it was awesome. The four-piece made a monumental sound that put me right in the mood for a good dance, so maybe "Lucid" can do the same for you on this quiet Wednesday morning? Want more like this? Join the Jalopnik newsletter to get the latest auto news sent straight to your inbox... Read the original article on Jalopnik.
