The episode covers Tesla's challenges in China, including political tensions affecting sales and regulatory hurdles for full self-driving features. Despite strong growth in new energy vehicle sales, internal combustion engines still lead the Chinese market. The discussion also highlights Tesla's controversial EV rebate claims in Canada, Ford's strategic investments in Europe and workforce development, and Cadillac's official entry into Formula 1 racing. Additionally, the episode touches on Volkswagen truck sales outlook, used Porsche Taycan price drops, and a listener poll on Tesla's global sales decline.
Topics:tesla china saleselon musk politicsnew energy vehicles chinaev rebate controversy canadaford europe investmentcadillac formula 1volkswagen truck salesused porsche taycan pricesautomotive workforce developmenttesla sales poll
- China Warns Tesla Over Musk’s Politics - ICE Outsells NEV In China - U.S. Car Dealers Average More Sales In 2024 - Ford Invests $4.7 Billion Into German Operations - Canada Investigates Tesla Over EV Rebates - Traton Forecasts Weak Truck Sales - Used Porsche Taycan Prices Falling Fast - Cadillac Officially Joins Formula 1 - Ford Launches Scholarships for Mechanics - Autoline Poll Results
"...la's retooling its Shanghai plant for the refresh model Y. Tesla is counting on the Chinese government to a..."
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Speaker 1: This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry. Tesla could soon feel the wrath
of the Chinese government, and it all has to do with Elon Musk politics. The China Passenger Car Association warned
that muss association with the Trump White House could hurt Tesla's sales, which fell forty nine percent in China last month, though the association says that's because Tesla's retooling its Shanghai plant for the refresh model Y. Tesla is counting on
the Chinese government to also approve full self driving. Currently
FSD is available, but it's not as capable as the version sold in the US, and Tesla needs access to Chinese road data to train the system. But if the
Chinese government decides to punish Tesla in retaliation to Trump's tariffs, it could really hurt the automaker. New car sales in
China saw slow gain of one point three percent for the first two months of the year, largely thanks to a cash for Clunkers program where owners get a subsidy for trading in their old car for a new energy vehicle.
Analysts like to measure sales for January and February combined because the Chinese New Year can fall in either month and car sales plummet while the country is on vacation, So by combining sales for both months, you get a clear picture of what's going on in the marketplace. And
thanks to the Cash for Clunkers subsidy program, ANYV sales were up nearly eighty percent, and yet ICEE powered vehicles outsold them for the third month in a row, accounting for fifty one point two percent of the market, and that makes us wonder if the NYV segment has started to hit a plateau. There are eighteen thousand, three hundred
and eleven new car dealerships in the US right now, which is up one hundred and seventy one from a year ago. Brands like ship, lay, GMC, Mazda, and Portia
added stores. Together they own twenty nine thousand, eight hundred
and twenty nine franchises, which was actually down slightly, but Automotive News reports that the average dealership sold five hundred and eleven vehicles for the year twenty eight, more than last year. Topping the list was Toyota, with its average
dealership selling over sixteen hundred vehicles. Lexis, BMW, Honda and
subru have the next highest sales per dealership. They all
sell over one thousand vehicles a year. To get higher
sales per dealers, some brands are reducing the number of dealers they have, like Buick, Ford, Lincoln, and Jaguar. However,
that's expensive to do. GM spent a billion dollars last
year buying out some of its Buick dealers. Ford is
struggling in Europe, announcing thousands of job cuts to help reduce costs, But now the automaker is making a big commitment to turn around on its German operations, with plans to inject four point seven billion dollars into the business.
John Lawler, the vice chair of Ford, said in a statement that the company needs to quote continue to simplify our governance, reduce cost and drive efficiencies. Lawler also called
on EU leaders to create a clear agenda to promote evs and bring emissions more in line with customer demand.
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Speaker 1: Tesla is being investigated by Canada's Transport Authority over a suspicious amount of requests for EV rebates. The government program
offered Canadian buyers a five thousand dollars incentive for purchasing an EV, which was supposed to run out in the middle of this month, but officials announced that the money was going away at the end of January because more people were taking advantage of the program than they thought would.
Now Tesla is coming under fire because four of its company owned stores in Canada requested rebates for over eight thousand, six hundred and fifty vehicles in the final three days that the incentive was offered. That means those stores would
have sold about one Tesla every minute, twenty four hours a day for three days straight. Now it is possible
that the company was just submitting their requests all at once, even for vehicles that had already been sold. But those
requests amounted to over forty three million dollars, or more than half of the total remaining funds for the ev incentive program, and that means request filed by other dealers might not get reimbursed. The Canadian Automobile Dealers Association says
nearly three thousand requests from its dealers haven't been paid back yet, which could leave them on the hook for about ten million dollars, so obviously they're not happy and hope officials will step into help. Volkswagen and is already
dealing with slumping passenger car sales and now it's truck unit.
Tratton warns that its sales could be weak this year.
It's forecasting sales to be down as much as five percent or up as much as five percent compared to a year ago, and Tratton's cautious outlook Senate shares down.
Daimler and Volvo truck shares also fell on the news, but in one bright spot for the truck maker, Tratton says it doesn't expect a significant impact from President Trump's terrace in the short term, even though sixty five percent of the trucks it sells in the US are made in Mexico. Ever since Porsche came out with an update
for the Tychon, which included performance and range improvements, prices for used models have been falling fast, and in some cases they're half of the original MSRP. Secondhand examples can
be found online for less than forty thousand dollars. While
that's for rear drive versions, dual motor examples with a bigger battery pack are selling for under sixty grand, so it could be a good deal for someone looking for a more affordable luxury sports car. Cadillac is officially joining
Formula one, the automaker's secured approval from commercial rights holders and the FIA, which governs the sport. Cadillac will become
F one's eleventh teen and starts racing next year. The
two sides reached a preliminary deal late last year, but now Cadillac has completed all the necessary sporting, technical and commercial assessments. F one is using a new engine starting
in twenty twenty six, but Cadillac will use Ferrari engines until it's able to build its own. There's a shortage
of people that work on cars, so Ford is trying to do something about it. The company and its dealers
are offering scholarships to students who are trying to get a degree or certificate in automotive mechanics. The total investment
comes to four million dollars for eight hundred students, which is double what they did for the same program last year.
Students can use the money for things like tuition, tools, living expenses, and transportation, and there's no obligation for them to attend a Ford training center or work at one of its dealerships. The company helps The program helps show
students that you can make good money in the field and work on cool, interesting products. And let's finish up
the show with the results of last Friday's poll. We
asked you why you think Tesla sales have dropped around the world. Sixty six percent of you said it was
because of Elon Musk politics and his association with the Trump administration, but thirty three percent of you said it was because people were either waiting for the new model hy or that sales are always lower until the end of each quarter. Over two thousand, one hundred of you
voted in the poll, and you posted over two hundred comments that included the downward Machine who blamed must by posting quote when only half the country wants your kind of car, but you join the other half to destroy them.
But that was countered by John two oh nine, who said, quote, we got two new Teslas in the last three months just to support Elon. The cars are awesome too. We'll
have a better idea of what's going on at Tesla when we get the Q one sales numbers, but we may have to wait until the end of Q two to know what's really going on. And with that we
wrap up today's show. Thanks for making autoline a part
of your day.
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