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Runtime: 9:58
0:00 Tesla Shareholders Approve Musk’s $1 Trillion Pay Plan
1:46 Ford Considers Axing The F-150 Lightning
2:55 Tariffs Pushed Car Buyers to Make Earlier Purchases
4:12 China Cuts Purchase Tax Exemption for EVs
5:15 Honda Posts 25% Decline in Operating Profit
6:04 Kia Offering $10,000 Discounts for Its EVs
6:48 U.S. EV Sales Slowdown May Only Be Temporary
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This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry.
TESLA SHAREHOLDERS APPROVE MUSK’S $1 TRILLION PAY PLAN
I think there’s a good amount of people that blame Elon Musk for any recent sales drops at Tesla, but yet shareholders heavily voted in favor of the CEO’s new pay package, which could be worth up to $1 trillion, the biggest in history and larger than the GDP of countries like Belgium and Argentina. The proposal was approved with over 75% support. But in order to receive the full amount Musk will need to hit some very lofty milestones over the next decade, like deliver 20 million vehicles, get 10 million FSD subscribers, have 1 million robotaxis in operation, sell 1 million humanoid robots and raise Tesla’s stock value to $8.5 trillion. However, controversy has swirled around the package because Elon can still earn billions even if he falls short of those targets. Reuters reports that Musk bounded on to the stage for the company’s annual meeting after the proposal went through and proceeded to talk about plans for its cars, AVs, robots and AI. He says the next-gen Roadster, which was 1st announced 8 years ago, is aiming for a reveal on April 1st. Although an April Fool’s debut doesn’t instill a lot of confidence. Around the same time, he says the Cybercab will enter production at Tesla’s plant in Texas. But no word if it will have a steering wheel or pedals. And to support all this expansion the company will need a ton of chips, so it’s considering a partnership with Intel.
FORD CONSIDERS AXING THE F-150 LIGHTNING
Full-size electric pickup sales are well below what automakers expected. That’s why Stellantis canceled development of Ram’s electric truck back in September and now the Wall Street Journal reports that Ford is considering scrapping the F-150 Lightning. Production is currently halted due to an aluminum shortage caused by a fire at supplier Novelis’ plant in October. The company is debating whether to restart production but no final decision has been made. It’s not too surprising if the model gets axed. Ford only sold 1,500 Lightnings last month in the U.S. Plus, the company is developing an affordable electric pickup based on its new Universal EV platform. That model is expected to launch in 2027 and start around $30,000. But the big question is what Ford will do with the massive assembly plant that it’s building in Tennessee? Called Blue Oval City, it’s supposed to be tooled up to make 500,000 full-size electric pickups a year. So, we fully expect that Ford will have to make some sort of adjustments to those plans.
TARIFFS PUSHED CAR BUYERS TO MAKE EARLIER PURCHASE
Tariffs had a big impact on car buyers. According to the JD Power 2025 U.S. Sales Satisfaction Index, 36% of new vehicle buyers say that tariffs impacted their buying process, with most, 87%, saying they bought earlier than they planned. And 15% of those buyers also paid more than they originally intended. Even so, overall customer satisfaction with the car buying process increased over last year. Among the mass market brands, Buick had the highest overall customer satisfaction, followed by Subaru, Chevrolet, GMC and Mini. And while GM’s mass market brands did well, Cadillac was below the industry average in the premium segment. Porsche topped the list among luxury brands for the third consecutive year. And it was followed by Land Rover, Infiniti, Mercedes-Benz and Lincoln.
CHINA CUTS PURCHASE TAX EXEMPTION FOR EVs
China is showing signs that it’s going to start to back off government support for EVs. At the end of October we reported that, for the first time in a decade, electric vehicles won’t be included in the country’s five-year development plan. And starting at the beginning of next year NEVs will no longer be fully exempt from purchase taxes, which allowed buyers to avoid up to $4,200 in costs. Instead that exemption will now be cut in half. With NEV sales soaring past 10 million last year and already topping 11 million this year, China is paying out a lot of money. The Ministry of Finance estimates total purchase-tax reductions from 2024 to 2027 will reach over $73 billion. And while NEVs continue to see sales growth, China estimates that by 2040 one-third of new cars sold will still use an internal combustion engine and that ICE vehicles will still be in the market for another decade or two.
HONDA POSTS 25% DECLINE IN OPERATING PROFIT
Honda really struggled in the second quarter of its current fiscal year. The automaker sold 841,000 vehicles, down about 7.5% compared to a year ago. That brought in around $36 billion in revenue, a 2% decrease. And its operating profit plunged by around a quarter to $1.3 billion. Honda’s earnings were impacted by one-time EV costs, declining sales in China and other Asian markets and the Nexperia chip shortage also put a dent in its earnings. While it did take a hit from U.S. tariffs, the impact was less since Honda builds a high number of vehicles in the U.S. But the company expects the second half of the year to be tough and is cutting its full-year forecast by 21%.
| Honda Q2, FY 2026 Earnings | ||
|---|---|---|
| Sales | 841,000 | -7.6% |
| Revenue | $36 B | -1.9% |
| Operating Profit | $1.3 B | -24.8% |
| Source: Honda | ||
KIA OFFERING $10,000 DISCOUNTS FOR ITS EVs
Not too surprisingly, Kia saw a big drop in the U.S. EV sales last month with the $7,500 federal EV tax credit going away. Sales of the EV6 and EV9 plunged 68% in October. The Niro EV wasn’t included in that figure because there’s also hybrid and plug-in hybrid versions and Kia doesn’t break down sales for each powertrain. The company was offering $9,000 discounts on the EV6 and EV9 and an $8,000 discount for the Niro EV last month but apparently, that wasn’t enough to attract customers. So now Kia is knocking $10,000 off all the EVs in its lineup to help boost sales.
U.S. EV SALES SLOWDOWN MAY ONLY BE TEMPORARY
And while EV sales took a big hit, the slowdown might only be temporary. An analyst at GlobalData, a company that tracks car sales, doesn’t believe low EV sales will be a “new normal” and expects to see a recovery. He says there weren’t many EV buyers in October because customers bought EVs earlier in the year while the tax credit was still available. While demand will likely remain low the rest of the year, a rebound is expected after that, since automakers are still planning on launching new EVs in the coming years.
And that brings us to the end of today’s show. Thanks for making Autoline a part of your day and I hope that you have a great weekend.
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This is the ultimate stupidity; there is no way that anyone is worth paying a trillion $. The stock market has lost its way, and the stock manipulators have taken control of people’s minds.
Elon may be smart or a visionary (whatever that is) or whatever you want to call him. There is no way any human has a worth of a trillion $. We must be in some alternate reality when a company offers a compensation package of this magnitude while people are starving in this country.
I am not any bleeding-heart liberal, but enough is enough, get some sense of reality in where we are and where we need to go.
Don’t know what the problem is with Elon getting paid almost everybody only work if they get paid at an amount $ agreed upon. It is dependent on meeting tremendous performance with associated profit goals with amounts that will make me a lot of $ and I was very happy voting with the other 75% of shares voted and Elon also got a standing ovation by those present at the meeting. [Darn I didn’t get an invite] Although did take a few nano seconds for people to leap to their feet. Wonder if Mary Barra would agree to that kind of performance package with nothing if GM stood economically stagnant?
I hope Ford does not axe the Lighting, and here’s why. First off, my personal vehicle has always been a pickup. Since I was leasing, I usually got a new one every 2 or 3 years, mostly GM and Ram. Last F150 I had was in the 80’s. Picked up a Lightning in May. It does everything better. Ride, acceleration, hauling, NVH, etc. It benefits from all the good stuff from the ICE F150 plus all the cool electronic stuff it does. The fronk is huge and one of the most used features. I looked at the competition in this field. The closest was the Rivian, but it is kinda midsized, more money and unibody. Silverado was way more money and also unibody. I consider the unibody “trucks” a SUV with the back cut open. Then there is the Cybertruck. Even if I could get past the polarizing looks, the amount of problems owners have is mind boggling. I just read Consumer Reports gave it a do not buy rating.
Could the Lightning be improved, sure. Ford can keep improving the range and have it change faster. As far as a daily driver, it doesn’t get any better. Every detail just works, well.
Sean, The Elon paycheck stupidity is more obvious is you describe his pay package in terms of the number of years of Tesla’s current profits it represents. To me, it sounds like Tesla is giving ALL of their profits for the test of Elon’s life (and then some) to Elon. The government should be stepping in at least enough to limit Elon to bonuses that are not greater than his shares percentage of Tesla’s profits. No CEO should be allowed to steal the minority shareholder’s profits.
The good thing about the crazy Elon thing is that most of those criteria will not be met. As far as the Lightning, maybe most people don’t know enough about it. It would work well for nearly all of the pickup owners I know. They’d have home charging available and never use their trucks for long trips. Ford could sell a few more if they had an actual truck version, long bed two door, but that is a very small part of the market these days.
Gerry Parij, from what I find, the cheapest Silverado EV has about 100 miles more range than the cheapest Lightning, but yeah, it costs a lot more. Maybe you can explain, but what is wrong with “unibody” if it does the job as well or better? The “unibody” Ridgeline is generally considered the best of the midsize pickups in most ways.
So Musk winds up with an even bigger salary than the one that Delaware judge scuttled. They only succeeded in starting a stampede of companies leaving Delaware and reincorporating in Texas for fear that activist judges will interfere in their affairs in a similar manner. Much to the consternation of the Delaware tax collectors, specialized lawfirms, and state government who rely so heavily on their incorporation racket to fund basically everything. There’s real panic there now and it’s hilarious as they tell judges to back off the cash cow and try to promise other companies that they won’t do to them what hey did to Tesla. Good luck I guess.
Would be great to see the tally on how many billions Ford will have lost on the Lightning after they kill it. Factoring in R&D, tooling, and plant construction along with low sales volume and costly price reductions/sales incentives, it’s sure to be a hilariously big number. Maybe that true believer analyst that swears EVs will rebound can talk Ford into eating those bitterly heavy losses just a bit longer but that seems as unlikely as the VW ID Buzz saving VW.
It seems that companies misread demand for EV pickups. The 20+ percent US market share of pickups didn’t carry over to EVs. According to google AI, pickup trucks are only about 5% of EVs sold in the US. That number sounds about right. Interestingly, ChatGPT didn’t come up with a number, only saying that “light trucks,” meaning lifted hatchbacks like Tesla Model Y and others, make up 79% of EV sales.
Hate to keep saying it but the EV truck was the vehicle no one ever asked for. Not surprised if Ford cancels it and has they listened to the comment section here. Prob would have saved them billions of dollars.
Yeah, the companies now wish they hadn’t spent all of the money on the electric pickups, but hindsight is always 20-20. I thought they might sell as “work trucks” for people who could do a days driving on a charge, and charge them overnight, but it didn’t work out that way.
I have to disagree about EV pickups and the Lightning in particular. The “EV truck was the vehicle no one ever asked for” at that price! Ford and Elon/Tesla had promised that their trucks would start at or around the high $40K to lower $50Ks, but that never really happened! Then add to the price hikes that Ford dealer were originally doing and later price increases by both manufacturers, the big range loses when towing and the political football electric vehicles became, it’s little wonder that the Lightning and other full-size EV pickups are at this crossroad. Let’s be clear, the amount of money people spend on light duty full-size pickups, that may do 25% (if that) of what they are engineered to do at those price is insane! If the Lightning started at $50K and topped out at around $70K and was marketed as a good work truck in it base configuration and a lifestyle vehicle for everyday commuting and some light towing in the spirit of the original torch carrying F-150, people could see it for what it truly is and better gauge the expections. Now, with a price that’s nearly $100K and the GM EV pickup twins, having a similar price (putting aside their unibody construction), but with 100+ more miles range and a faster charging rate, it might be hard for some to make the case for the Lightning. All that said, I hope Ford doesn’t ex the Lightning, for there has been a lot of progress since it originally came to market. With a lighter body and battery, along with more efficient motors and a lower starting price, its second generation could make it a real star! It may be wise to delay it another year or two, with this compact/midsize pickup/not a pickup on deck, so they can see where the market will go next. Though they are saying that vehicle will start at $30K, I wouldn’t be surprised if most left the dealer costing closer to $35-40K out the door!
Most pickups are lifestyle vehicles which never haul and never tow. People who buy them just don’t want EVs. EV pickups might do better as work trucks for “local” use, if properly marketed.
Kit —
You might be wrong when it comes to the actual market for EV pickups, but their were thousands of handraisers with refundable deposits for both the Lightning and the Cybertruck, when the starting price was ~$50K! that well dried up quickly when that base price vanished and some of the other things happened as mentioned earlier. Add to them, in the Lightnings case anyway, was paying top dollar for interior appointments that some felt that price did not support. That’s not to say that it’s not a good product, for most of those I know who has one, or some other the other EVs on the market love them! With EVs not having the history as ICEs, most I know lease them as the industry continues to grow, but most, if not all, have said they don’t want to go back to ICE! That cool, but not how everyone feels and to each their own. IMHO, the personal vehicle market in big enough to support whatever anyone is willing to spend their hard earned money on! Be that ICE, EVs, Uber/Lift rides, or robo/cybercabs. The question becomes what type of footprint that may leave behind and even if you can get everyone to agree on what is, it will be another 50 years before you we get everyone to agree on what to collectively do about it!
The base MSRP of the LIghtning is $54,780. Of course, the ones at dealers are probably much more expensive than that. You can’t order one now because the plant is shut down because of the aluminum plant fire, and production may never restart. If production resumes, I presume that you will be able to order a base LIghtning as with other Fords.
Kit Gerhart, tow 10,000 lbs with a pickup on a frame and then switch it to a unibody. You’ll feel it in your whole body.. However, I agree it’s not for everybody. I use mine a lot, but I am home every night to charge. As far as the cost for the Lighting, Ford put out a middle of the road model called the Flash. It’s very nicely equipped. Better equipped than what I was getting my ice trucks with. With the special incentives they were giving and the gov incentive, I got in at 55 before tax. That put it equal to an ice pickup with similar equipment. That made it to the list for consideration.