Happy Monday! It’s June 2, 2025, and this is The Morning Shift — your daily roundup of the top automotive headlines from around the world, in one place. This is where you’ll find the most important stories that are shaping the way Americans drive and get around.
In this morning’s edition, Elon Musk reportedly knowingly lied on Twitter to halt a Tesla stock nosedive, and President Donald Trump wants all cars and car parts built in the United States. Plus, the Chrysler Building is for sale, and Volkswagen is looking to drop some cash on U.S. soil.
1st Gear: Musk reportedly lied about $25,000 car cancellation online to boost share prices
Elon Musk loves to post online, especially about his companies. Unfortunately for him, those posts aren’t always necessarily “true” according to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Yet that doesn’t seem to stop the CEO from continuing his poster’s mindset, especially when his share prices are affected. From Reuters:
“Reuters is lying,” Musk had posted on X, minutes after the story published on April 5, 2024, halting a 6% decline in Tesla’s stock. Tesla shares recovered some of the loss after Musk’s post, but the stock was down 3.6% at market close.
The executives knew that Musk had, in fact, canceled the low-cost vehicle, which many investors called the Model 2, and pivoted Tesla to focus on self-driving robotaxis, the people said. The company had told employees the project was over weeks earlier, Reuters reported, citing three sources and company documents.
Musk’s post was so confusing to some senior managers that they asked him whether he’d changed his mind. Musk rejected their concerns and said the project was still dead, according to the people with knowledge of the matter.
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Some executives told associates the denial made no sense — investors and the public would inevitably learn the truth — and worried it would hurt Tesla sales as buyers delayed purchases to wait for a $25,000 Tesla that, in reality, it had decided not to build.
Musk seems to have forgotten rule number one: Never tweet.
2nd Gear: Trump wants not just all cars, but all car parts built in America
President Donald Trump wants cars built in the United States. He wants those cars to be built out of parts that are also assembled in the United States. This isn’t incredibly realistic, but it does sound good to his base. From Reuters:
The comments from Trump, at a press conference marking Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s last official day at the White House as a senior adviser, were in response to a question on tariffs hurting companies such as Tesla that import auto parts from other countries.
“He’s going to end up building his whole car here. Pretty much he does,” Trump said referring to Musk. “All of the manufacturers will build their parts here too.”
“It used to bother me they make a part in Canada, a part in Mexico, a part in Europe, and sent all over the place, and nobody knew what the hell was happening,” Trump said. “But over the next year, they’ve got to have the whole thing built in America. That’s what we want.”
The goal here seems to be turning raw materials into cars entirely within the United States. Of course, we’ve got tariffs on metals now too, so you’ll have to get those raw materials within our borders as well. Surely this massive supply chain relocation is financially viable for every major automaker, and won’t result in cost increases across the board.
3rd Gear: The Chrysler building is for sale, if you need a new apartment
My apartment has had three cockroaches since I moved in, which clearly means it’s time to get out and find greener pastures. As it turns out, the perfect spot is available for purchase: The Chrysler Building. Just, the whole building. From Smithsonian Magazine:
The Chrysler Building in New York City is for sale—and despite its iconic status, it could go for cheap.
While the building is still a staple of the city skyline, real estate experts say it has fallen into disrepair. According to the New York Times‘ Anna Kodé, tenants complain of faulty elevators, murky water fountains and pests.
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The Chrysler Building was commissioned by the car company founder Walter P. Chrysler, who called it “a monument to me.” Constructed between 1928 and 1930, it rose to a staggering 1,046 feet. It was briefly the tallest structure in the world—until the nearby Empire State Building took the title upon its completion in 1931.
Apparently the interior of the building is in rough shape, and finding tenants is difficult compared to more modern buildings with bigger windows and better interior layouts. This means the Chrysler Building should go pretty cheap, so I’ll start the bidding at $10. It’s a serious offer, and I think it’s worth considering. Cash in hand.
4th Gear: Volkswagen looks to invest in the U.S.
Speaking of moving production to the United States, Volkswagen is talking about dropping big money in the country — though it sounds more like final assembly than converting ores into GTIs. From Reuters:
Volkswagen wants to make more big investments in the United States, CEO Oliver Blume said in an interview with a German newspaper on Friday, adding that tariff talks with the U.S. government were “fair” and “constructive”.
Several foreign companies have announced U.S. investments in response to President Donald Trump’s import tariffs, but German carmakers have been more cautious about committing more resources to what is their biggest export market.
Volkswagen’s Audi brand, which has no production in the United States, is planning to produce some models in there, although the brand has said that the plan pre-dates the Trump administration.
“So far, we have had absolutely fair, constructive discussions,” Blume told Sueddeutsche Zeitung. “I was in Washington myself and we have been in regular dialogue ever since.”
Individual companies negotiating with the government for better deals feels like the sort of thing that shouldn’t really happen, but I think we’re long past that now. That’s normal at this point. Volkswagen’s CEO can go to Washington and ask for better treatment, individually, and get it. What a world.
Reverse: The Bambino goes home
Babe Ruth was an all-time baseball great, which makes it all the more disappointing that he was a Yankee. He could’ve been a Brooklyn Dodger.
On The Radio: The Fratellis – ‘Creepin Up The Backstairs’
It’s a “Costello Music” sort of day, I think. I did about 600 miles of motorcycling this weekend, I’m wiped, and I’m ready for a day for upbeat good vibes music.
