Good morning! It’s Friday, January 10, 2025, and this is The Morning Shift, your daily roundup of the top automotive headlines from around the world, in one place. Here are the important stories you need to know.
1st Gear: Cybertruck Production ‘Scaling Down’
When it finally went on sale in 2024, the Tesla Cybertruck was meant to usher in a new era of record sales for the American EV maker. While the truck did become a top-seller for a few months, this hasn’t really happened and demand for the EV has faltered after Tesla worked through its pre-orders much quicker than expected. As a result of dwindling demand, Tesla has now reportedly moved staff away from Cybertruck production at its Austin plant.
After just over a year on sale, Tesla reportedly moved workers on the Cybertruck line at its Austin Gigafactory over to Model Y production, reports Business Insider. The electric SUV is consistently one of the company’s top sellers, while the Cybertruck has ended up being a much lower-volume model, as the site explains:
Now, some workers on the Cybertruck are being reassigned to produce the company’s best-selling Model Y.
The carmaker notified workers in December that it would be changing the Cybertruck and Model Y production schedules and polled workers on their preferred work assignments, according to a survey viewed by Business Insider.
“As we continue to assess schedules to meet business needs, we’ll be making a change to Model Y and Cyber schedules and we want to ensure that your preferences are considered,” the survey said.
The shift in production was described as “unusual” by workers that Business Insider spoke with, as they claimed that changes like this typically only arise when a new model is coming out. The Model Y is due to be updated with a mild refresh this year, but that might not be the only reason for the rejig in production.
Instead, workers said Cybertruck production was “scaling down” in the coming months as Tesla planned to produce fewer parts for the ridiculous truck in the first quarter of 2025, as BI adds:
One Austin Gigafactory worker said most people wanted to stay on the Cybertruck team but “some people were forced to switch over.” The worker speculated the shift was due to the higher profit margins on the Model Y.
Tesla workers have described relatively brief pauses in Cybertruck production going back at least to October, including a three-day stretch in early December when Cybertruck workers were told they wouldn’t be required to report to work. For that pause, two workers were told the reduction was the result of a lack of working batteries and an imbalance in Cybertruck production.
It’s not yet known just how many Cybertruck’s Tesla has delivered over the course of the EV’s first full-year on sale. The company reports the truck’s sales alongside Model S and Model X deliveries, which were reported to be 85,133 in 2024 compared with 68,874 a year previously. What’s more, government documents released as part of a Cybertruck recall in October suggested that Cybertruck deliveries sat at around 27,000 units.
In contrast, Ford shipped more than 33,000 F-150 Lighting electric trucks over the course of 2024, marking a 39 percent increase over the previous year.
2nd Gear: Reflective Clothing Stumps Vehicle Safety Systems
If you’re a pedestrian or cyclist traveling around at night, you might think it’s safer for you to wear something bright and reflective so that drivers can spot you easier – after all, the old saying goes “be safe, be seen.” Now, it turns out that this might not be the case as vehicle safety systems appear to struggle spotting people wearing reflective clothing.
Vehicle safety systems fitted to some new cars can’t see people in reflective clothing, according to a report from the Detroit Free Press. The findings came during a new study from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, which found that some crash avoidance systems can’t make out people in reflective clothing:
The results of the testing from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety show automakers will need to continue improving sensors and software designed to detect and ideally protect pedestrians, according to study author David Kidd, a senior research scientist.
“I think it points to the (fact that the) software or hardware behind these systems is brittle, it’s not robust,’ Kidd told the Free Press, noting that the systems don’t necessarily accommodate changes in pedestrian appearance.
The study wasn’t comprehensive, being limited to three 2023 models, the Honda CR-V, Mazda CX-5 and Subaru Forester, but it highlights the challenges at play for safety systems that many drivers rely on at night when so many pedestrian crashes occur. High numbers of pedestrian fatalities are a continuing problem in the United States, with more than 7,500 pedestrians killed on or along U.S. roads in 2022 alone.
Testing of the crash avoidance systems on the cars found that both the Honda and Mazda cars failed to slow for simulated people in reflective outfits. The Subaru fared a little better, but still struggled with the clothing in some lighting scenarios.
While these kinds of crash avoidance systems have proven to be effective during daylight hours, the testing shows that more work is needed to refine them for night time use.
3rd Gear: EV Makers Don’t Know Where They Stand With Trump
There are just a few short weeks until Donald Trump makes his return to the White House, which means there are just a few short weeks for the “Home Alone 2” actor to decide just where he stands on electric vehicles. This uncertainty around EV sentiment is proving troubling for America’s automakers, as the incoming administration has been sending some very mixed messages about our electric future.
On the campaign trail, Trump repeatedly called for an end to the EV mandate that doesn’t exist and has continuously called for less support for new EV buyers, and these moves mean it’s proving tricky to forecast the state of the EV market over the coming year, reports the Associated Press:
Tesla, BYD of China, and other manufacturers face big unknowns in 2025. Donald Trump’s presidency could mean big policy shifts in tax and other incentives for both electric vehicle makers and consumers. The threat of tariffs on imports and retaliatory tariffs globally, could further complicate production and sales for electric vehicles.
“There’s just a lot of uncertainty in the air,” said Stephanie Brinley, associate director of auto intelligence at S&P Global Mobility. “It’s not an environment where you want to necessarily go gangbusters.”
The state of federal tax breaks for electric vehicles is throwing future sales into doubt, especially as the number of cars eligible for the $7,500 incentive has already dropped to just 18 models. On top of that, Trump has repeatedly threatened to implement huge tariffs on cars imported from Mexico, Canada and China to the United States, which could further raise prices of models that are made overseas.
Due to this uncertainty, the AP reports that automakers around the world are in a state of “wait-and-see” while they prepare themselves for the inauguration of Trump on January 20th.
4th Gear: Mercedes Sales Drop As EVs Struggle
So far this year, we’ve reported on declining sales at Tesla and Stellantis over the past 12 months, and today it’s Mercedes’ turn to share its falling sales with the world. The German automaker reportedly saw deliveries of its cars drop over 2024 as a result of falling demand for its eclectic models and challenges in China, reports Automotive News.
Mercedes-Benz sold 1,983,400 cars over the last 12 months, which was down by three percent compared with the year before. The drop came as sales in Europe and China were down by three and seven percent respectively, as Automotive News reports:
Sales in the automaker’s home market, Germany, were down 9 percent. The U.S. was a bright spot, with sales up 8 percent to 324,500.
Combined car and van sales were down 4 percent for the year to 2,389,000.
Annual BEV sales dropped by 23 percent to 185,100 vehicles, adding pressure on the automaker as tougher EU CO2 emissions targets take effect this year, which could potentially mean costly pooling deals or hefty fines for Mercedes if the BEV sales do not pick up.
As a result of the declining sales over the course of the year, Mercedes was forced to slash its profit margins several times in 2024. In order to turn these dwindling profits around, the automaker warned that it will roll out some pretty strict cost-cutting measures, and it hasn’t ruled out job cuts across its production facilities.
The call for harsh cuts at Mercedes follows similar remarks from Volkswagen, which has even gone so far as to threaten to shutter its factories in an attempt to bring production costs down and remain competitive.
