AD #4370 – Ford Wants Tesla-Like Sales from Fathom; Waymo Racking Up Tickets; Owners Not Using Passenger Screens

This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry.

We’ve got a short show today because of a power outage from severe storms that left us in the dark until a half hour ago. But the show must go on, so let’s get to it.

FORD WANTS TO SELL 100K FATHOMS
Ford has some very high hopes for the Fathom pickup truck. The Wall Street Journal reports that the company wants to sell 100,000 units in the vehicle’s first year of production. Tesla is the only other automaker in the U.S. to hit that mark with a single electric vehicle and Ford wants to do it with an electric pickup truck, all of which have sold pretty poorly to this point. But Ford has taken a completely new approach with the Fathom, which could prove popular with consumers. Pre-orders for the truck kick off early next year with sales starting later in the year.

SIGNIFICANT DROP IN AUGUST SALES
August was a bad month for the American auto industry. Sales fell 6.3% year-over-year, including retail and fleet sales. Retail sales alone, which accounted for about 85% of all sales were down 6.9%, which is a significant drop. GM, Ford and Stellantis were collectively down 8.5%, while import brands were off 4.8%, according to Stevens Inc.

35-HOUR WORK WEEK AT RISK IN GERMANY
As German automakers struggle to become cost competitive, one of the things they’re focusing on is the country’s 35-hour work week. Mercedes-Benz, for example, is pushing for a 40-hour week at the same pay. Oliver Wyman’s Harbour Report says labor costs in Germany are about $3,300 per vehicle, versus around $1,000 in Spain and around $600 in China. Going to a 40 hour week could cut German labor costs by 13%. And while that would help, it’s clearly not enough.

    

EVs HELP IMPROVE CHINA’S AIR QUALITY
China used to have some of the worst air quality in the world, but thanks to its push into electric cars it’s really making a difference. Bloomberg reports that in the second quarter of this year, oil consumption dropped 9%. Even though China’s emissions from coal is going up, the drop in oil consumption helped cut overall emissions by 1%. In fact, oil demand in China probably peaked last year, 5 years ahead of plan. One of the biggest reasons for the drop in oil demand is from heavy duty trucks switching from diesel to electric.

WAYMO RACKING UP PARKING TICKETS
Waymo is quickly growing its robotaxi fleet but it’s also racking up traffic tickets. In 2024 the company received nearly 600 citations in San Francisco for things like blocking traffic and parking violations. But now Waymo is averaging more than 100 tickets a week in the city and has received over 8,300 citations since the start of 2025 with those fines totalling nearly $1 million. The company currently has more than 1,200 robotaxis in operation in the Bay Area and as it continues to expand, so will the number of tickets, since the majority of the violations occurred while picking up and dropping off passengers.

OWNERS NOT USING PASSENGER SCREENS
Car companies seem to think consumers want as many screens as possible, but some never get used. According to J.D. Power’s Tech Experience Index 35% of owners who have vehicles with a screen for the front-seat passenger have never used it. Not even once. Only 6% of owners actually use it all the time. Those passenger screens typically only come on high trim levels or are baked into expensive tech packages, but automakers may want to rethink that strategy since a good portion of customers are never using them.

 

CARVANA WORRIES DEALERS MORE THAN TESLA
Carvana seems to be upsetting the traditional dealer franchise model more than automakers like Tesla that sell direct to consumers. And that’s because Carvana is operating from within the franchise system. It bought 7 Stellantis stores around the U.S. and is operating them very differently than other dealers. Their showrooms have kiosks to provide vehicle information instead of sales people. That cuts dealership personnel costs in half. And the MSRP is what you pay, there’s no haggling over the price. Carvana also offers home delivery of your brand-new shiny car. Customers love it. Automotive News reports that some dealers speculate that Carvana will be talking to Chinese automakers and Nissan to partner with in the future.

Before we go, be sure to tune in to Autoline After Hours later today. We’ll be doing our analysis of some of the top news stories this week. We have Chris Prediger from Bosch as our guest this week, and Nora Eckert from Reuters will also be on. So join John and Gary on the Autoline website or our YouTube channel.

But that’s a wrap for today’s show. Thanks for tuning in and I hope to see you later.