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Runtime: 12:32
0:00 Volvo OTA Causes Brake Defect
1:01 Tesla Sales Down in China… Again
1:46 Tesla Brand Loyalty Below Chevy
2:35 Elon Musk Gets $27 Billion Pay Package
3:39 BMW iX3 Has Impressive Specs
5:04 Foxconn Sells Lordstown Plant
5:44 CATL Takes Battery Swaps to Rental Cars
6:24 U.S. SAAR Hits 16.9 Million in July
7:22 U.S. Gasoline Use Declining
8:15 Autoline Poll Results
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This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry.
VOLVO OTA CAUSES BRAKE DEFECT
OTAs, or over the air updates, are supposed to fix things, right? Well, Volvo discovered that an OTA it issued in April to fix backup camera failures in 400,000 vehicles, caused a brake defect in 11,500 of its EV and PHEV models. It happens when drivers are using regenerative braking and it can cause the car to lose its brakes. Volvo immediately stopped installing the update once it discovered the problem and has fixed most of the affected models. But safety advocates say there needs to be government standards for software updates to ensure the fixes are validated. According to NHTSA, nearly 7 million recalled vehicles in the U.S. were fixed with OTAs last year, up from just under 3 million in 2023. But those software updates can also cause other issues.
TESLA SALES DOWN IN CHINA… AGAIN
Looks like Tesla is getting off to a bad week at the same time that Elon Musk just got a $27 billion windfall. First the bad news. Tesla sales in China dropped more than 8% last month. It sold less than 68,000 cars, including exports. In fact, sales have fallen for 9 of the past 10 months. Last year the Model Y was the best selling car in China. But even with the refreshed version of the Y called Juniper, sales are down more than 17% this year. Based on the first half of the year, we calculate that sales of the Y in China will be down 28% for the full year, unless Tesla figures out how to get things turned around.
TESLA BRAND LOYALTY NOW BELOW CHEVROLET
That’s going to be hard to do, maybe not so much in China, but certainly in the U.S. and Europe. S&P Global Mobility says that it has never seen brand loyalty collapse as fast as it has at Tesla. As recently as June of last year, Tesla’s brand loyalty was the best in the business. 73% of Tesla buyers would buy another Tesla, far above any other car brand. But after Elon Musk endorsed Donald Trump for President and launched the Department of Government Efficiency to cut government spending, Tesla’s brand loyalty dropped fast. Though it has recovered a bit since Trump and Musk had their famous breakup, Tesla’s brand loyalty is still lower than Ford’s or Chevrolet’s at a little over 57%.
ELON MUSK GETS $27 BILLION PAY PACKAGE
To make sure that Elon Musk sticks around to get Tesla turned around, the EV maker’s board just awarded him stock options that could be worth $27 billion. Musk is going to get 97 million restricted shares in Tesla that he can buy for $23.34, while the stock is currently trading at over $300 a share. This is separate from a previous pay package dating back to 2018, that was blocked because of a shareholder lawsuit that is still tied up in court. Tesla’s board was worried that Musk might leave the company, so it created this new package to keep him around. Musk would have to stay with Tesla for at least the next two years to become fully vested with the new package.
BMW iX3 HAS IMPRESSIVE SPECS
The specs for BMW’s all-new generation of EVs will rank them right near the top of the best-performing electric vehicles. The first of those models is the iX3, which launches early next year. It will be capable of charging at up to 400 kW, which gives it the ability to add about 225 miles or 360 kilometers of range in 10 minutes. Overall range is estimated at 800 kilometers or roughly 500 miles on the WLTP test cycle. However, that will likely be closer to 400 miles when tested by the EPA. To achieve those range figures BMW seems to have focused a lot on efficiency and says that it reduced energy consumption by 20% compared to its previous model. Sustainability will also play a role in its new EV architecture, called Neue Klasse. Recycled materials are used in the fabrics, wheels, suspension components and even in the batteries. BMW claims that when the iX3 is charged in Europe that its CO2 footprint will break even with a comparable gas-powered car after 21,500 kilometers or just over 13,000 miles of driving. And that it will happen about 20% quicker if the car is charged with renewable electricity, like solar.
FOXCONN SELLS LORDSTOWN PLANT
Taiwanese contract manufacturer Foxconn announced that it sold its assembly plant in Ohio for $88 million. Foxconn bought the former General Motors plant from Lordstown Motors in 2022 for $230 million. Foxconn says it will reinvest the proceeds from the sale into expanding its business in the U.S. It sold the plant to Crescent Dunes, which Foxconn describes as an “existing business partner.” It’s also the name of a massive solar energy project in Nevada, but we don’t know if the two are related. Even though Foxconn sold the plant, it says it will continue building products at the factory, where it currently produces an electric tractor for Monarch Tractor.
CATL BATTERY SWAPS FOR RENTAL CARS
We think this is a smart application for battery swapping. CATL, which partnered with NIO earlier this year to build the world’s biggest battery swapping network, is bringing the technology to the rental car market. It signed an agreement with a company, called CAR, to install swapping stations at some of its 2,000 rental locations and parking lots, while CAR will eventually operate a fleet of 100,000 vehicles that feature CATL’s Choco-swap batteries. So, rather than have to wait around for an EV to charge, customers can have a fresh battery in about 5 minutes.
U.S. SAAR HITS 16.9 MILLION IN JULY
It sure looks like U.S. car shoppers are rushing out to buy vehicles before the full effects of the tariffs kick in and that could be reflected in the sales figures for July. Of the six automakers that still report on a monthly basis, Ford, Honda, Hyundai-Kia, Mazda, Subaru and Toyota, the rest report quarterly, sales were up 11% to roughly 780,000 units. That pushed the SAAR or seasonally adjusted annual rate up by over one million vehicles. It went from 15.7 million in June, which was about in line with last year, to 16.9 million in July. That means if U.S. sales continued at that same July pace, nearly 17 million new vehicles would reach customer hands by the end of the year. However, if people are rushing out to buy a new car now, then sales will likely slow down in the second half of the year.
U.S. GASOLINE USE PEAKED, IN DECLINE
We love it when Autoline viewers provide suggestions for us. Bruce Palmer wrote in to suggest that we look into gasoline usage in the United States over the last decade. So we did, and the numbers are fascinating. Gasoline usage peaked in 2018, when the country went through 9.3 million barrels of gasoline a day. Then it started dropping off. Last year it was 8.9 million barrels a day. And so far this year it’s 8.7. Obviously, electric cars had an impact. So have hybrids and PHEVs. Even ICE vehicles are more efficient. This is going to have a lasting effect on how the federal and state governments maintain their roads because almost all that money comes from taxes on the sale of gasoline. And with gasoline use going down, so will that tax money.
U.S. TRAFFIC POLICY POLL RESULTS
Ok, it’s time to go over the results of our latest poll that was open to our YouTube and Patreon members. We asked if you agreed with the IIHS calling on the U.S. to adopt similar road safety policies to Canada, like stronger seat belt and distracted driving laws and using more speed cameras, because traffic fatalities are soaring in the U.S., while going down in Canada. And a majority of you, 54% agreed that the U.S. should have similar enforcement to Canada. 35% disagreed and wanted to see more data. And 11% of you said you have a different idea. And we got some great feedback.
Alex Barnett wants to see stricter laws in the U.S. he says “I am Canadian and notice when driving in the USA that speed limits are much higher on freeways and intercity roads, and US drivers routinely run red lights often at high speed. USA roads just seem more dangerous than European or Canadian roads and the stats prove that.”
But Keith Mensing disagreed and said “We don’t need big brother catching speeders and folks running red lights. We have police that do traffic detail. Write tickets. Make the punishment an actual deterrent. Arrest and prosecute car thieves that cause accidents. Automated systems have their own issues and abuses.”
And Irvin Wright had this to say “I agree with stronger enforcement of the law where people are on their cell phone or not wearing their seat belt. Speed cameras, however, are a different matter. Speed limits are supposed to be based on the average speeds drivers are actually doing in normal day to day driving. Where I live virtually everyone drives above the speed limit and, in my experience, the CHP stops only those who are driving dangerously. Cameras won’t discriminate and slower drivers will cause frustration and wasted time.”
Thanks for all of your feedback. You really have some great insights and it’s interesting to see all the different views of people that follow this program.
But that’s a wrap for today. Thanks for tuning in.
Thanks to our partner for embedding Autoline Daily on its website: WardsAuto.com
Keith Mensing commented “We don’t need big brother catching speeders and folks running red lights. We have police that do traffic detail. Write tickets.” Well, where I am, both in Florida and Indiana, there seems to be no police enforcement any more. I don’t know if the police are busier with marijuana possession raids, taking breaks, or what, but they aren’t enforcing traffic laws. A few days ago, I saw someone blatantly run a stop sign right in front of a police vehicle, and the cop didn’t do anything.
I’m contributed to lower gas usage over the last ~3 years by replacing a Corvette and an old van with a Prius and a Highlander hybrid. Of course, the current regime is encouraging more gas usage by essentially eliminating fuel economy standards and ending EV incentives.
I totally agree Kit, I was driving to the local Toyota dealer today and saw a grand Cherokee run 2 red lights and another vehicle make a right turn on red but it’s supposed to be after stopping, this clown went around the corner like he was on the Indy 500 track. And in my 6 mile drive I saw 1 sheriffs car. Yes Kit the cops in Kokomo don’t seem to pull vehicles over for violations done where a cop can see it.
In So Cal I never see police writing tickets. We have rampant left turn red light running.
Years ago in my home town, the police department got to keep a major portion of speeding and poor driving fines. They were responsible to run a re-education class. People who were willing to take the Saturday morning class got a greatly reduced fine. Driving became very civilized. Cops were willing to make the effort.
Then the province took away the ability of municipalities to choose how to operate the system. Since most people in town are retired. a green light is just a suggestion. There are those that want to get somewhere and there is the majority; just happy their doctor or family haven’t taken their license away. You can imagine the anarchy that driving locally has become.
I skipped most segments today.
Keep in mind, Sean, that while you and John may find those news interesting, most of us really do not give a rat’s behind about what some Chinese EV company, who never imported ONE vehicle in the US, is up to, and even less about the damned battery makers.
Keep in mind, also, that 95% or more of cars on the US roads (this is DIFFERENT than the % in car sales!) are ICEs, and at least TRY to represent them with at least HALF your stories, if not 95% of them. TO me it seems that only…. 5% of your news are ICE instead!
I will make my other comments in a separate post.
Tesla loyalty drop: While I accept that the rabid greenies have a pathological hate for Trump as a person, I do NOT accept that they gave Tesla the thumbs down because Musk spent considerable effort to do the LAUDABLE task of ridding our corrupt Government of SOME of its waste, fraud and abuse with the DOGE commission. Why do these fools hate the USA so much??? Don’t they want to see our deficits and debt go down? Who are they with? The murderers of Hamas and Iran?
Tesla loyalty drop also shows that the vast majority of Tesla Buyers are not Distinguished Engineering Professors (Like some I know very well, who were ECSTATIC with their early Model S’s), but some math challenged, econs challenged ‘greenies’ of sorts like our Bob Wilson, and many more that are a third to a half of his age.
I hope Musk will not need to apply for food stamps.
In MI, they give plenty of speeding tickets, and in OH south of us even more. They also give a ton of stop violation tickets, which are as high as speeding ones.
In contrast, in y summer home overseas, we have a scenic coastal road, not a highway, with two lanes each way and no dividing island in the middle, where the speed limit is a low 60 KPH (40 MPH), and NOBODY drives that slow. In fact, if you are in the left lane, as I use when on a long trip to downtown, and go at a steady 60 M[PH, OR 100 KPH, every idiot and his mother-in law tailgate you in their tiny, underpowered hatchbacks, who have less than half my HP and a fourth of my Torque, and complain that you go too slow! AND despite the many accidents and fatalities, MANY of the dead drivers are very young idiots that don’t know how to drive, the incompetent police NEVER gives ONE speeding ticket.
@Regulus on Musk. As usual long on political emotion but short on facts and understanding of the topic at hand. Musk led DOGE and touted his estimate of elimination of waste, fraud and abuse at $2 trillion, then $1 trillion. Without stating whether that was on an annual or over a period of several years. Currently DOGE is estimating it will be able to cut $15 billion (with a “b”). So a laughable result. Maybe miracles will happen soon.
What we need is drastic reduction of government expenses to pay down the $37 trillion government debt. That requires a major cost reduction effort led by mentally stable seasoned professionals. By people who are currently e.g. Chief Operating Officer of Walmart or Coca Cola and the likes. Not by sensationalists like Musk. He has been a visionary in several different fields and become very successful in building huge businesses based on his vision. He has been very effective. What we need is efficiency. Musk has no experience in making huge organizations with labor union involvement efficient.
Each presidential candidate, of both parties, has acknowledged our dire situation of huge debt and continuing over-spending, and promised drastic improvement if elected. And not delivered. That is happening this time, just like the previous time, and the one before that.
Keep on ranting, Regulus, it is funny to read.
If the powers that be actually cared about the debt, in additin to throwing people off of health care, strangling NIH, CDC and NOAA, etc.,they might consider having those who can afford it pay more taxes. Also, do we really need to spend almost a trillion dollars a year on the military?
Tesla loyalty is down, both because, with his political activity, Elon has run off the very people who tend to buy EVs. Also, there is a lot more competition out there. Also, maybe most people who want an EV have one.
Regulus, if you are an inconsiderate jerk and drive slower than the flow of traffic in the left, passing lane, why would people not tailgate you?
Elon Musk could write a book on how to destroy a brand. In addition to driving away many customers who would buy EVs, Tesla continues to build cars that look basically the same as 2013 models.
Regardless of what Musk thinks, people want cars that look new. Do you think that buyers in 1960 were interested in cars that still looked like 1948 models? Tesla is in danger of becoming the EV equivalent of Checker Motors.
Also, congratulations to you for getting Bridgestone back as an Autoline Daily sponsor, and for picking up CSP as a sponsor, since their rebranding from Teijin.
Danny, I’ve seen more crazy driving in and around Kokomo this summer than during any other two or three summers. A week or so ago, I’m lucky I looked to the right for people passing where there’s a double yellow line, before turning right at a stop sign.
Steve Harkins, yep, things were much different in 1960. Car styling changed drastically every year, except with VW Beetle and microbus. Every year of American cars from mid-1950s to mid ’60s changed enough to easily tell the specific year of the car, and changed dramatically year-to-year in many cases. A prime example would be 1957 to 1961 big Chevys. I was a teen at the time, and it was great fun seeing the new cars as they were revealed.
Speaking of Bridgestone tires, I have 8 of them. Both of my Toyotas came with them. When I first heard of Bridgestone, I thought they were probably British or something. The name doesn’t sound very Japanese.
Kit, I heard a long time ago (possibly even from AD) that the original name for Bridgestone meant “stone bridge” in Japanese. When they were introduced in America, Firestone was big, so instead of the exact translation, they used Bridgestone.
edit: I just looked it up. The name of the company came from the founder’s name, Ishibashe (stone bridge).
As for driving in the left lane, Larry/Regulus and all the other old ladies would get a ticket doing that in Georgia. Cops will hang back and watch from behind; if you stay in the left lane (the fast/passing lane) without passing anyone for over a mile, they will give you a ticket for blocking traffic no matter what speed you are driving. Since Larry’s police have never given ONE speeding ticket yet, maybe they can get their start with “left lane hog” tickets.
Thanks, Ukendoit
Did that gasoline use study factor in the years of the pandemic when going places wasn’t really allowed? This would skew a massive external factor drop in gasoline use. People were forced to stay home, even for work. And those effects still linger (work from home.)
Kit, you clown! Look in the mirror, accusing me of things I NEVER DID. I NEVER obstrut the ‘flow of traffic” (of which you do not know one damned thing about, yet you pontificate!!!!!!). When tailgated by a moron of your caliber, I MOVE TO THE RIGHT LANE, YOU JERK who have the audacity to call your much betters “inconsiderate jerks!!”
Go help your pathetic Dems find some even BARELY tolerable candidate for 2028, you loser. AND hint, hint, Kamala, Hillary, Warren, AOC, the antisemite Squad and the self hating socialist Jew Sanders DO NOT CUT IT.
I looked up the left lane “slow poke” law, to see if GA was one of the few states that had that law (House Bill 459 passed almost unanimously in 2014). From what I’ve found, the penalty varies by state, but every state has some law about not remaining in the left lane except for South Dakota. In Germany when you hang out in the left lane, not only are you risking a ticket for poor driving, but the offense is “seen as coercion and can result in even stiffer penalties”! The site I referenced also infers that in Germany, most are cordial about staying out of the left lane, contrasted with the US where most people seem to want to get to the left lane as soon as possible.
https://www.goupstate.com/story/news/nation-world/2019/10/25/driving-in-left-lane-state-by-state-guide-to-when-its-legal-when-its-not/2447573007/
Perhaps the screamer regulus will go start his own show & leave the polite people on Autoline Daily alone.
Pathetic Clown Regulus, you said “if you are in the left lane, as I use when on a long trip to downtown,” people tailgate you. You add to the “ugly American” perception when driving. The left lane is a passing lane. It is not your job to try to enforce the speed limit, or the flow of traffic. If you are not passing someone, you should be in the right lane. Yes, I know lane discipline is not a strong point with many American drivers.
WHY DO COMPANIES INSIST ON THE CAMOFLAUGE ON NEW VEHICLES, WE CAN SEE THE SHAPE AND WE KNOW THE BRAND.