Tesla has launched its RoboTaxi service in Austin, marking a significant milestone in autonomous ride-hailing, albeit with only a few driverless vehicles currently in operation. The episode also covers Volkswagen's rebranding of its ID.4 SUV to ID Tiguan, aiming for emotional resonance with consumers. Additionally, automotive reporter John Hutter discusses the rise of cash deals in vehicle sales, their impact on dealer profits, and the opportunities that still exist for selling products to cash buyers. Insights into tax refunds and their implications for dealers are also shared.
"This podcast is brought to you by Reynolds and Reynolds, the industry leader in automotive technology."
Reynolds and Reynolds is a company that creates software and technology for car dealerships to help them run their businesses better.
Reynolds and Reynolds is a leading provider of automotive technology and services, particularly known for their software solutions that help dealerships manage operations more efficiently.
"Today on the show, Tesla finally launches robo taxi rides without safety monitors."
Tesla is a car company that makes electric vehicles and is known for its self-driving technology.
Tesla is an American electric vehicle manufacturer known for its innovative approach to electric cars and autonomous driving technology, including their robo taxi services.
"Tesla finally launches robo taxi rides without safety monitors."
A robo taxi is a self-driving car that you can use like a taxi, but it doesn't have a human driver inside.
A robo taxi is an autonomous vehicle that can operate as a taxi service without a human driver. Tesla's launch of robo taxi rides signifies a step towards fully autonomous ride-sharing services.
"Volkswagen is renaming its ID for electric SUV as the ID Tiguan later this year, continuing its shift away from numeric EV branding."
The Volkswagen ID Tiguan is a new electric SUV from Volkswagen. It's designed to look and feel like their regular Tiguan but runs on electricity.
The Volkswagen ID Tiguan is an upcoming electric SUV that will be part of Volkswagen's ID family of electric vehicles, aimed at providing a familiar name to consumers.
"...they said they went all the way across the country with Tesla self driving owner software. And they never had to intervene..."
Self-driving software is a type of technology that helps cars drive themselves without needing a person to control them. It uses cameras and computers to see and understand the road.
Self-driving software refers to the technology that allows a vehicle to drive itself without human intervention, using sensors, cameras, and algorithms to navigate and make decisions on the road.
"...they're not using radar, they're not using LiDAR. And so there are people in the industry who say it's never going to work..."
LiDAR is a technology that helps cars understand their surroundings by using lasers to measure distances. It's like a very advanced way of seeing what's around the car.
LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) is a technology that uses laser light to measure distances and create detailed 3D maps of the environment, often used in autonomous vehicles for navigation and obstacle detection.
"...they're not using radar, they're not using LiDAR..."
Radar is a technology that helps cars see things around them by sending out radio waves. It can tell how far away objects are and how fast they're moving.
Radar (Radio Detection and Ranging) is a technology that uses radio waves to detect objects and measure their distance and speed, commonly used in various applications including automotive safety systems.
"...Tesla is only using cameras. And they say that proudly..."
Cameras in cars help them see what's around them. They are used for safety features and to help with things like parking.
Cameras in vehicles are used for various purposes, including monitoring the surroundings for safety features, assisting with parking, and enabling advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS).
"...what I was kind of told and what I kind of assumed is it was due to just auto loan interest rates in general. But what I didn't really thought about enough at the time was that..."
Auto loan interest rates are the fees you pay to borrow money when you take out a loan to buy a car. If the rates are high, it costs more to pay back the loan.
Auto loan interest rates refer to the percentage charged by lenders on the amount borrowed to purchase a vehicle. These rates can fluctuate based on various economic factors, including market conditions and the borrower's creditworthiness.
"...auto incentives were probably still kind of low because of, you know, it was still the inventory shortage. And at this point, they're still quite they're still pretty low..."
Auto incentives are discounts or special offers that car companies give to help sell their cars. This can mean getting money off the price or lower interest rates on loans.
Auto incentives are promotional offers provided by manufacturers or dealers to encourage consumers to purchase vehicles. These can include cash rebates, low-interest financing, or special lease terms.
"...especially on like 0% financing and that kind of thing, I think Edmunds had some data recently for the fourth quarter..."
0% financing means you can borrow money to buy a car without paying any interest. This makes it cheaper to pay back the loan over time.
0% financing is a promotional offer where a lender charges no interest on a loan for a specified period. This can significantly reduce the total cost of borrowing for consumers purchasing a vehicle.
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Welcome to Daily Drive for Friday, January 23rd, 2026. I'm Kellan Walker in Las Vegas. Today on
the show, Tesla finally launches robo taxi rides without safety monitors. BW is renaming its ID for
electric SUV and Americans could see tax refunds jump by $1,000 or more this year. Plus, automotive
news or retail FNI reporter John Hutter explains why cash deals are hurting dealers bottom lines
but still present opportunities. You're still gonna make money on them. So hang in there guys.
Let's run through all the news you need to know to keep up in the auto industry. Tesla has finally
launched robo taxi rides without safety monitors in Austin. The first ride started on Thursday,
years after CEO Elon Musk predicted over a million would be on the road by 2020.
The move puts Tesla in the company of Waymo and Zooks in the fully autonomous ride hailing space.
Right now, it's just a handful of unsupervised vehicles mixed in with Tesla's broader
Austin fleet that still has safety monitors. Ethan McCanna, who tracks Tesla's robo taxis,
estimates there are likely just two or three driverless cars operating in South Austin.
Volkswagen is renaming its ID for electric SUV as the ID Tiguan later this year,
continuing its shift away from numeric EV branding. The move aims to give VW's electric lineup
more emotional resonance with customers by reviving familiar model names. The ID Tiguan will debut
with the ID 4's facelift and more closely resemble the combustion engine Tiguan in design
and positioning. And Americans could see tax refunds jump by $1,000 or more this year,
and dealers need to move fast to capture that spending. Changes from last July's
One Big Beautiful Bill Act combined with how the government handled paycheck withholding
mean bigger refunds are hitting bank accounts starting this week.
Some tax experts say to take full advantage, dealers should stock inventory under $30,000,
advertise now on social media, and think about how to help customers upgrade vehicles or add
finance and insurance products with that extra cash in hand. And those are today's headlines.
You can find more details on all those stories at AutoNews.com. Joining me now to talk more about
Tesla's RoboTaxi launch is automotive news reporter Lauren Siliff, who covers Tesla for us
at Automotive News. Lonnie, welcome back to Daily Drive. It's great to be here. So Lonnie,
Tesla's finally launched driverless RoboTaxi in Austin, but it sounds like it's just a handful
of vehicles. How significant is this? And could it be too little too late? Okay, so it is significant
because Elon Musk has been talking about this for about 10 years. Initially, it was your Tesla's
would be able to drive themselves. And then in 2019, he made a big prediction that a million
over a million RoboTaxi's would be on the road by 2020, right? And customers would be able to
take their Tesla's, put them into the RoboTaxi network, make money. It was a big deal. It didn't
happen. And in June of last year, Tesla launched its RoboTaxi pilot in Austin, Texas. And Elon
Musk said in July that RoboTaxi's would cover half the US population by the end of the year,
by the end of 2025. That didn't happen. There were zero RoboTaxi's by the end of 2025. And so now
people are like, what's going on, man? Is this going to be another situation where he says something
and it takes years to happen? And we are a week away from them, their earnings report, right? So
take that in mind. And so Tesla had, you have to listen to people on the ground because Tesla
doesn't tell you, but maybe two, three, four, five cars that actually had you could ride in the back
seat, nobody was in the front seat. So that's the first time that's ever happened. So it is a
milestone. It is a big deal. There's some reports and there's skepticism around this,
obviously, that they have what they call chase cars. In other words, you're riding in a RoboTaxi
and the RoboTaxi's driving, but there are other Tesla employee cars around you. And what are they
doing? And are they creating an extra layer of security? And is it like really like 100%
fully autonomous, like a Waymo? But you know, it's a big step symbolically.
Now, Lonnie, what are the biggest challenges ahead for scaling this up?
You know, it's always going to be the software. The software is always going to be like
a big part of this because they're using end to end AI, right? And so you've seen where Tesla has
had like newer versions of the software on owner cars and they post videos and stuff. And sometimes
it's like fantastic. And then sometimes it makes like really weird mistakes. Somebody actually drove
all the way across the country and documented it with video in which they said they went all the way
across the country with Tesla self driving owner software. And they never had to intervene. So
that's a big deal. So it looks like the software is getting better. And then the hardware, you know,
Tesla is only using cameras. And they say that proudly, they're not using radar, they're not using
LiDAR. And so there are people in the industry who say it's never going to work. There's going to be
too many cases, rain, snow, sun in your eyes, darkness, shadows in which the cameras are not
going to be as good as having three sensors talking to each other and resolving, you know, issues
that are very complicated, you know, edge cases. So we'll see.
Good stuff. Lonnie, thank you so much for joining me.
Thank you.
You can read Lauren Siliff's reporting on Tesla at AutoNews.com. Coming up next,
automotive news retail FNI reporter, John Hutter explains why cash deals are hurting
dealers FNI profits, but why there's still opportunity to sell products to cash buyers.
That's next on Daily Drive.
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