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AD #4144 - Cybersecurity Now Influencing Car Buyers; Acura Kills Off the ZDX; Waymo Launches Corporate Accounts

AD #4144 - Cybersecurity Now Influencing Car Buyers; Acura Kills Off the ZDX; Waymo Launches Corporate Accounts

Autoline Daily Sep 25, 2025 9 min
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About this episode

Automakers in Europe saw mixed sales results with electric vehicle registrations rising but still short of EU targets. Cybersecurity is becoming a major factor for car buyers, with many willing to pay more for protection or opt for less connected vehicles. Acura is discontinuing its ZDX electric crossover despite recent sales growth, while Honda offers steep discounts on the Prolog. Waymo launches a corporate ride-hailing service for autonomous vehicles. Toyota opens its futuristic Woven City in Tokyo, and Mercedes partners with AI firm Momenta for advanced driver assistance in the new CLA. Mercedes also plans to continue its entry-level A-Class model through 2028 and beyond.

Topics: european vehicle sales electric vehicle market share automotive cybersecurity acura zdx discontinuation honda prolog discounts waymo corporate accounts toyota woven city mercedes ai driver assistance mercedes a class future
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Speaker 1: This is Ouderlged Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry. Automakers in Europe sold fewer vehicles
in August than any other month so far this year, but according to registration data from the ACEA, they still beat out last year. Including both the UK and the
free trade countries, a little over seven hundred and ninety thousand new models were sold last month in Europe, an increase of four point seven percent, but for the full year, sales are up less than half of percent to roughly eight point seven million vehicles. Hybrids accounted for nearly thirty
five percent of those vehicles, followed by gas cars at twenty eight percent and b EV's at fifteen point eight percent, while total registrations of pure electrics were up almost twenty seven percent in August. In order to meet the EU's
emission targets, b EV market share needs to be around twenty five percent by the end of this year. So
I can understand and why automakers are practically begging officials for some kind of relief. We'll provide a link if
you'd like to see all the numbers, but a few we find interesting includes Tesla which was down twenty two and a half percent last month and is down thirty two point six percent for the full year. Byd which
is up two hundred and eighty percent so far this year and only about three thousand units behind Tesla in August and Jaguar, which stopped producing all of its models at the end of last year, must still have a few vehicles in inventory because it managed to deliver twenty five models last month. Speaking of Europe, US officials confirmed
that the fifteen percent tariff on EU imports started at the beginning of last month. While that's down from the
twenty five percent duty President Trump implemented earlier in the year and will help automakers make decisions about shipments and sourcing, it's still a significant junk from the old two and a half percent tariff, and out of all the automates, that will impact the German brands the most, since they import the most to the US, General Motors is extending the closure of one of the main engineering buildings at its worn Tech center near Detroit. The automakers shut the
building nearly two weeks ago because two employees tested positive for Legionnaire's disease. It was supposed to open back up
earlier this week, but the shutdown will continue because tests confirmed that the bacteria was present in the building. Hopefully
GM can open it back up soon because this could really slow down its vehicle development if it's closed for a long period. Cybersecurity is not only a growing concern
for the auto industry, but it's now influencing car buyers.
According to a study from run safe Security, which survey two thousand car buyers in Germany, the UK, and the US, eighty seven percent of respondent said cybersecurity will factor into the purchase of a connected vehicle, and a third said they would be willing to pay a premium for extra protections.
Only nineteen percent of drivers feel very confident that their vehicle is protected. On top of that, seventy percent of
respondent said they would consider buying an old or less connected vehicle to reduce the risk of being hacked.
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Speaker 1: Despite going on sale just over a year ago, Accura is already dropping the ZDX electric crossover from its lineup.
Accura says it's discontinuing the model quote to better align our product portfolio with the needs of our customers and market conditions, as well as our long term strategic goals.
The model is based on the General Motors ALTAM platform and is built at Gmspringhill plant in Tennessee. While sales
of the ZDX have skyrocketed four hundred and sixty six percent through the first eight months of the year, in the US, only eleven thousand, five hundred units were sold, and with the seventy five hundred dollars federal tax credit going away at the end of this month, Accura likely believes sales aren't going to grow. Plus, the brand says
it will apply what it learned from the ZDX to the new RSX, which will be built by Honda in Ohio and is scheduled to come out in the middle of next year, and the sister card to the ZDX, the Honda Prolog, is getting a big discount, but only for the next week. Honda is offering a nationwide discount
of seventeen thousand dollars including the seventy five hundred dollars federal tax credit for the twenty twenty five model year, along with a zero percent interest for six years, and thanks to trade and offers in California and other ZEV states, the discount jumps to more than twenty thousand bucks. But
the deal is only good until September thirtieth, when the federal tax credit goes away, and it looks like the Honda Prolog won't be around much longer either. Zam Furiani
with Auto Fourcast Solutions thinks it will be gone quote well before the end of the first quarter next year.
Weimo is launching a new service for organizations like corporations and universities to help with their transportation needs, called Weimo for Business. It allows employers, universities, or event organizers to
set up accounts to offer fully autonomous ride hailing to their employees', students or guests. Weimo has created an admin
portal that allows organizations to manage users, set up promo codes, and pull reports to monitor ride activity and budgets. The
service will first be available where Weimo operates in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Phoenix, Austin, and Atlanta. Toyota officially opened its
Woven City in Tokyo, which it calls the test course for the future of mobility. It's meant to be a
place where people can live and work and will focus on the mobility of its residents and goods. Toyota expects
about two thousand people called Weavers to live in the city, and it has a number of businesses to offer services.
Autonomous rides will also be provided not just on the ground, but also in the sky, and there will be autonomous robots to help people and to deliver goods. The city
will be open to Toyota employees and their families, as well as students, retailers and retirees. Yesterday we reported how
Mercedes is partnering with byte Dance, the owner of TikTok, to integrate its AI technologies into its products starting with the new CLA. Well, that new CLA, which just kicked
off pre orders in China, will also feature a new driver assistance system that Mercedes co developed with Momenta. The
system will be capable of providing hands free driving on the highways, city streets, and in parking lots. Most foreign
legacy auto makers have now partnered with Momenta, and some of the folks from vehicle benchmarking specialist care Soft have told at Aline that they think Momenta has some of the best driver assistants tech in China. And speaking of Mercedes,
it's going to keep an entry level vehicle for the long run. It already extended the current A class until
twenty twenty eight, and now the company's had a sales says there will be a successor to the model, obviously, since it's not going to be around until at least twenty twenty eight. There's not a lot of details at
the moment, but the model is said to be based on Mercedes new MMA platform, the same one used by the new CLA. And before I sign off, here's a
quick reminder about Auto Line after hours. Later today, we'll
dive into what happens to EV sales after the federal tax credit goes away, and did Ford really need a brand new ad campaign? Plus much more and you can
join the live action at three pm Eastern Time today.
That's a wrap for this show. Thanks for tuning.
Speaker 3: In Line Daily is brought to you by alex Partners When It Really Matters CSP, the Composites Solution Partner, Intrepid Control Systems, Over the Air Engineering, Boost your Game and thanks to the following YouTube and Patreon members.
Speaker 4: At CSP, we work with OEM engineers across the country on their journeys to lighter, safer, and more eco friendly vehicles.
Learn more at VCSP dot com. We act, we grow,
we transform, We protect, we rescue in moments that define the future.
Speaker 2: We are the partner you can trust alex Partners When it Really Matters

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