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Runtime: 9:50
0:00 Wall Street Worried About Tesla Stock
1:00 Reuters Expose: Tesla’s Defect Cover Up
1:53 Panasonic Axes EV Battery Plant
2:14 Kia Canada Hides Sales from Kia Korea
3:03 VW Group Joins the NACS Parade
4:01 Ford Finds 20-HP Under Raptor R Hood
5:06 Canada To Ban ICE In 2035
6:02 Half of Buick Dealers Quit Overs EVs
6:55 NSU’s Early Aerodynamic Testing
8:05 Sandy Munro To Star on AAH
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This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry.
WALL STREET WORRIED ABOUT TESLA STOCK
2023 has been a great year for Tesla shareholders. The stock is up 137% and the company has a market cap of over $800 billion. But 2024 may not be as kind. Some versions of the Model 3 and Y are about to lose their eligibility for federal EV tax credits in the U.S. and Wall Street analysts worry that Tesla will be forced to cut prices, which would hurt profits. Analyst forecasts for 4th quarter earnings are down 55% compared to where they were a year ago. Profit forecasts for 2024 are down 43%. And that worry seems to be hurting the stock. Though Tesla is up 137% year to date, it’s down 6% over the last 6 months.
REUTERS EXPOSE: TESLA’S DEFECT COVER UP
Even worse, there’s an investigative report in Reuters that accuses Tesla of covering up flaws and defects with suspension and steering components. Reuters managed to get its hands on thousands of internal Tesla documents. It also conducted interviews with 9 former Tesla managers and service techs, and with 20 customers whose cars suffered catastrophic failures. Some of the documents it found have instructions for techs to tell customers that the broken parts on their cars were not defective. In other cases, Tesla blamed customers for previous damage to parts, like control arms, drive shafts, steering racks and wheels. And then it forced them to pay for the repairs. There’s a lot more in the report and we’ll provide a link to the whole story if you’d like to read more.
PANASONIC AXES EV BATTERY PLANT
The slowdown in the EV segment in the U.S. just claimed another casualty. Panasonic is dropping plans to build another battery plant in Oklahoma. Even so, it’s building new plants in Nevada and Kansas. But the outlook for EVs doesn’t look as rosy as it did just a year ago.
KIA CANADA HIDES SALES FROM KIA KOREA
Well this isn’t a good look for Kia. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reports that Kia is not delivering vehicles to customers in Canada because it already met its sales target for the year. Top Kia executives reportedly told regional managers to delay deliveries until the new year because they didn’t want to appear too successful to upper management in Korea. They were worried their marketing budget would be cut in 2024 because it would look like they didn’t need to spend that much. The executives told dealers to blame the delays on delivery and logistics issues. Kia Canada is not saying a thing. A spokesperson told the CBC it would not comment on “confidential internal business matters.”
VW GROUP JOINS THE NACS PARADE
Well this was inevitable. After most of its competitors already adopted Tesla’s chargers, Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche and Scout announced they’ll do the same. Starting in 2025, their EVs will use the North American Charging Standard or NACS charging port. Customers will have access to more than 15,000 Superchargers beginning in 2025 and for vehicles with CCS ports, the brands say they’re looking into adapter solutions. VW’s charging network, Electrify America, already announced it will offer NACS connectors at its stations in 2025.
FORD FINDS 20HP UNDER RAPTOR R HOOD
In the U.S. pickups are king and numbers mean everything in this war. That’s why the Ford F-150 Raptor R was somehow seen as less-than when it launched in 2023 with 700 horsepower, a figure that should excite most enthusiasts. But that’s two less horsepower than the Ram 1500 TRX, which had already hit the market. So, some wondered why Ford didn’t squeeze out a few more horsepower to top its rival. Well, that’s exactly what it did for the 2024 model year. Thanks to an improved air inlet system and a new calibration for the supercharged 5.2L V8, the Raptor R now makes 720 horsepower and the same 640 lb-ft of torque as it did before. Ram somewhat famously put an Easter egg under its hood of a T-Rex eating a velociraptor, so maybe Ford will have a pack of raptors taking down a T-Rex?
CANADA TO BAN ICE IN 2035
Canada could be hammering another nail in the ICE coffin. It’s coming out with new regulations that mandate that all new cars, crossovers, SUVs and light trucks must be zero emission vehicles by 2035. Right now, EVs have about 12% market share in Canada, but it wants to grow that to 20% by 2026 and 60% by 2030. However, like other regions of the world, automakers and their advocates are pushing back. They say the regulations are too ambitious, in part because EVs cost more and there’s a lack of a charging infrastructure. But hybrids and plug-in hybrids can still qualify as zero emission vehicles right now and Canada will continue to allow PHEVs beyond 2035 that have at least 80 kilometers or roughly 50 miles of range.
HALF OF BUICK DEALERS QUIT OVERS EVs
Almost half of Buick dealers in the U.S. have no interest in selling electric vehicles and are ditching the brand. Earlier this year, General Motors offered buyouts to dealers and almost half opted out because they don’t want to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars on tooling, equipment, and training to sell and service EVs. There were 1,958 Buick dealers in the U.S. at the beginning of the year but now that’s tumbled to only 1,000 or 47% fewer. Buick says the dealers that left the brand represent about 20% of its U.S. sales. But despite having fewer dealers, the brand’s sales are up 58% this year through November. Buick will unveil its first EV for the U.S. next year and it’s planning on going all-electric by the end of the decade.
NSU’S EARLY AERODYNAMIC TESTING
Audi is actually a mashup of four different companies, which is represented in the rings of its logo, and throughout the year it’s been celebrating the 150th anniversary of one of those companies, NSU. We’ve reported on a few of these highlights and its last installment for the year also caught our eye. It’s all about NSU’s early days of aerodynamics and use of a wind tunnel. The methods were primitive. Pictures show one model with little pieces of yarn taped all over its body. But the results were impressive, especially for its motorcycles. One of its first prototypes, called the Dolphin, set a world speed record of 290 km/h or 180 MPH in 1951. A later design, called the Blue Whale, won several races and even a world championship. And it helped develop a radical motorcycle, which required the rider to lay down, that went on to break 11 world records. We’ll throw a link in the transcript and description box if you’d like to see more.
SANDY MUNRO TO STAR ON AAH
At the top of the show we reported on a buzzsaw of problems that Tesla is running into. But could the Cybertruck change Tesla’s fortunes? We’ll get a better idea tomorrow when we have Sandy Munro coming on Autoline After Hours to talk about all the breakthrough technologies that are on the CT. Whether you hate the styling or not, under the skin that truck is blazing new ground. And to make sure the whole discussion stays grounded, we’ve got Joe White from Reuters and Tu Le from Sino Auto Insights coming on the show. Be sure to tune in, this show is going to be a good one.
And a programming note. Tomorrow is the last day of the year for the Autoline crew. But we’ll be back at it on January 3 as we mobilize our forces for our attack on CES. But that’s all for today’s show. Thanks for making Autoline a part of your day.
Thanks to our partner for embedding Autoline Daily on its website: WardsAuto.com
Isn’t the SRX going to use the Hellcat engine for another year or two? If so, they can easily react to Ford’s “horsepower race” if they want to. They’ve sold Challengers with 1000+ hp versions of the Hellcat engine, and I’m pretty sure they are street legal. There’s no reason they couldn’t put that engine in a pickup truck.
Just a comment are Apple shares going to crash because their car is terrible so far and they are not making many, they also make chips, phones watches plus services making it fairly valued. The media also with Tesla does not count energy storage, insurance, the largest computer chips in world, very large data storage, energy generation through solar. Also a reminder that 75% of Amazon income comes from web hosting so if their online business takes a hit the bottom line will be less affected but if their cloud based services take a hit that will affect the bottom line way more but which is more news worthy?
Dave,
As a pure car manufacturer TESLA is way overvalued. So in short, yes, they are taking into account the totality of the TESLA business. Now lets look at those business units. The cars are starting to falter. Space-X is stumbling. Boring is a bust. Solar was a bust. Insurance is tied to their flagging line up of cars. Chips are also only for their flagging line up of cars. Twitter, which is not owned by Tesla, is dragging Tesla down as well due to its bombastic CEO. The only bright points for Tesla is the supercharger network which is about to get many more customers. Had the other OEMs waited, that would have faltered as well, but Tesla received a lucky break there. That and the flagging car sales are the only thing really keeping the Tesla boat afloat.
Any financial criticism of Tesla is well warranted and it is about time Tesla faced proper scrutiny of their business from wall street.
Thank you for bringing the best auto news highlights and your great show.
Have a great holiday break!
700 hp versus 720 hp; isn’t a big enough difference to make a difference. I know bragging right (but really)?
Chuck, yeah, bragging rights about hp make no sense, but people who buy these things like them. I don’t care much about 0-60 bragging rights either. It doesn’t bother me that my C8 has a “slow” 0-60 time of ~3 seconds, while a Model S Plaid does ~2 seconds. I don’t even mind that my base Cayman is a really slow ~5 seconds 0-60.
SpaceX is doing well with their Falcon rockets. I hear one every few days, and they are very reliable, including the booster recovery. Their big rocket, though, not so much. I don’t know if they have ever had a truly successful launch/recovery.
I would expect that Kia Korea will have learned the news. With luck, at least one person will be freed up for an alternate employment opportunity.
This decision hurt manufacturing, customers, dealers, and both dealer and national sales people. Only Canadian marketing benefitted.
I thought Ram had already announced or suggested that the TRX was getting their HO I6, for the V8 was being discontinued at the end of this model year? That’s why I thought it was funny that Ford would up the power level on their limited run Raptor R, when the TRX’s next engine was going to be a 6 cylinder and could very well have more power!
It seems like Tesla is acting more and more like a legacy OEM, from the old days when they were strong arming employees and their customers! It’s a shame because they (arguably) have such good products, that these behind the behind the scenes shenanigans could have a big impact on image and reputation of their core product!
The rings of Audi and the NSU story. My fav so far this week.
The TRX has the Hellcat engine, at least it’s listed for the 2024 model year on the RAM site and the EPA site. Maybe it will be a “short” model year and they will switch to the six. C and D says it will use the six for the 2025 model year.
https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/Find.do?action=sbs&id=46855
The Ram and EPA sites show the Hellcat engine for the 2024 model year TRX, but maybe it will be a “short” model year. C and D says the TRX will use the I6 for 2025.
https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/Find.do?action=sbs&id=46855
Thanks for another great year of AD and AAH!
Yeah, the Kia news broke here over the weekend and it’s a complete joke what they were trying to pull! Name some names and let the heads roll.
“Model 3 and Y are about to lose . . . EV tax credits ”
SALE! SALE! SALE!!
Save $7,500 tax credit on Tesla Model 3 and Y before the end of the year. Get them while they last! This is also the end of quarter, inventory clearance, fire sale.
(GRINS)
As for Tesla repairs, I’m beyond warranty work and use Tesla parts and technical documentation to do my own repairs. But as a Tesla owner, I am sympathetic yet still remember the performance, pain and price of Toyota, Plymouth, and GM dealer repairs.
What maintenance or repairs do Teslas need, other than tires? I thoufht they needed zero maintenance.
Kit — I just read an article in Car and Driver from December 20th, that reported on some of what the Reuters investigation revealed and it was not pretty. The sad thing is, the problem(s) have nothing to do with the EV tech, but basic, automobile ‘stuff’, particularly suspension control arms and assemblies. Parts Tesla knew was defective and recalled in China, but not in the US and Europe! Those vehicles were having the brake downs with the same parts, but owners were told the problems were their fault and requiring the to pay for repairs, of up $14K, yet they knew the parts were bad from the beginning! Again, as it seems to always be, their EV tech is not the problem in most cases, it’s the regular car ‘stuff’ that seems to give Tesla problems and appears to be their “achilles’ heel”. Then the way they went about covering it up, does not look good and going to cast the longest shadow on the company and it’s products!
The Model 3 and Y are Tesla’s most important vehicles around the world, so it makes no since to just not use the defective parts, or simply fix them. It really seems that Tesla is taking a page from legacy OEMs of the past (i hope that this is something they nolonger do) that, learn of a problem with an item that might be expensiveto fix or replace or have big impact on current production. Then figure most failures won’t happen under warranty and when they fell, will not suspect it was defective. Those that do fell under warranty, may believe it was there fault or be easily lead to believe it was their fault, but those how push it, quietly fix it with customer being happy and no recall! You would think that with there being other complaints and questions about quality over aesthetic issues, Tesla would be forthright about serious and justified concerns/dangers of their vehicles. This is more then the naming of their self driving tech, but fundamental aspects of the operation of their two most important vehicles around the world!
This raise the question: Is this recall the REAL reason why Tesla sells are down in China???
Does Tesla make their own substandard suspension parts, or do they specify them from regular suppliers? I would have expected them to use nearly “off the shelf” suspension parts, but apparently not.
…here is a though, with all the questions of quality and safety surrounding Chinese vehicles, we see the American company, Tesla, doing as safety recall IN China! With parts they KNEW were defective!!!
Many of the components of an EV are not all that different than an ICE vehicle. They will wear out and need repair or replacement. The components that are affected by the heavier weight of a battery will likely wear out even faster. Things like shocks/struts, Wheel bearings, Ball joints, Tie rods, brakes. Maybe not brakes as they have regen but I’m sure they do wear. Most of these components are now capable of 100,000 miles but certainly not completely maintenance free.
Then you have the regular old parts that will fail than have nothing to do with being an ICE or EV. Window, seat or wiper motors, Switches, relays sensors, servos and fan motors, any type of lubricating oil, grease or coolant fluids. So, although I would expect an EV to require less maintenance there are items that will still require maintenance.
Oh, and for those EV buyers who think they dont use any oil. The average car today uses about 775Lbs of plastic. The world consumes 9 million barrels of oil every day to produce plastics. Doesn’t include the oil used in the rubber tires, bushings, gaskets and seals. Or the oil used to make grease for the steering rack, Bearings, window tracks, seat tracks etc..
I couldnt find how much oil it takes to make a pound of say Polypropylene or any other plastic for that matter.
Tesla had better start treating customers better or they could very quickly find themselves in a world of hurt. Reputation is a hard thing to reverse and once the damage is done no apology or PR stunt is going to completely clean off the tarnish. Those folks that paid around 14K for repairs here on a defect that is being recalled in China will likely be super pissed when they hear this news. That would be enough to prevent most people from ever coming back to the brand. Not to mention piling on a class-action lawsuit. If Tesla hasn’t seen what has happened to Target, Disney and Budlight when you do things to harm the reputation of the brand you can fall from grace so quick the stockholders can’t sell fast enough.
If suspension parts on Teslas are wearing out or failing quickly, maybe they are using the same ones as a 2900 pound Civic for a 4300 pound Model Y. That would explain some things. As far as brakes, they should last the life of the car on an EV, unless they have corrosion from road salt, or something like that. With normal driving, brakes last almost forever on a regular hybrid, which has a lot less regen braking available than a BEV. A friend had the original brakes on a 2008 Prius when he sold it with over 200K miles.
It seems like window, seat, and wiper motors, HVAC fans, switches, etc. have gotten very good over the years. They seem to rarely fail at less the 200K miles or so.
As far as Target, Disney and Bud Light, I don’t see much connection with what might happen with Tesla. Bud Light lost a lot of sales because of the general clientele of the product, and because there are many other similar light beers available. Target annoyed people of all stripes, first by selling products some people didn’t like, and then they annoyed people who liked the products by removing them. In the end, Target (and Disney) weren’t affected much, because there isn’t as much competition as for light beer, and because Target and Disney customers don’t tend to be of a certain politics.
Anyway, if Tesla cars really do have a lot more than their share of suspension or other problems, it will become a problem as the cars rack up miles and years.
Kit- It wasnt about what AB, Target or Disney did I was speaking about ruining your reputation and however you manage that coming back is a long road.
Get ready for a lot of BS coming from SANDY MUNRO like always.