Good morning! It is Monday, March 24, 2025, and that is The Morning Shift, your every day roundup of the highest automotive headlines from all over the world, in a single place. That is the place you will discover crucial tales which might be shaping the best way People drive and get round.
On this morning’s version, we’re diving into the newest security subject to hit greater than one million Ford vans, and we’ll examine in on Elon Musk’s pep discuss at Tesla. We’ll additionally discover out concerning the struggles going through Chinese language automaker Nio, and see how Canada is combating again towards one American automaker.
1st Gear: Feds open probe into F-150s for sudden gear shift
Ford was having a fairly good run of it after going virtually three weeks with out issuing a recall hitting an infinite variety of its automobiles. That run of quiet information got here crashing down when federal investigators introduced a probe into practically 1.3 million Ford F-150 vans over gear shift points.
The Nationwide Freeway Visitors Security Administration will examine greater than 1.2 million Ford vans over stories of “an sudden gear downshift” that, in some situations, locks the rear wheels of sure vans. NHTSA obtained 138 buyer complaints concerning the subject, as Reuters explains:
Complainants alleged an sudden transmission downshift to a decrease gear whereas touring at freeway speeds with none prior warning or driver enter, adopted by the automobile quickly decelerating. Some complaints added the automobile’s rear wheels would lock quickly, seize or skid throughout the downshift, resulting in lack of management. This might result in an elevated threat of crash and harm, NHTSA mentioned. The report, nevertheless, mentioned no crashes or fires had been reported.
In complete, the probe will affect 1,270,970 Ford F-150 pickup vans throughout the 2015 to 2017 mannequin years, the NHTSA defined in a launch. The probe is the primary stage within the NHTSA’s recall course of and will result in Ford being pressured to roll out a repair for the issue.
Ought to that occur and a full recall be known as on impacted Ford vans, it could be the sixteenth recall to hit the 2017 Ford F-150 truck, following points with the automobile’s brakes, seatbelts, engine elements and even its doorways.
2nd Gear: Elon Musk’s Tesla all fingers felt ‘cynical’
Ford’s high quality management points pale compared with the issues hitting Tesla proper now. Within the final week alone, the American automaker was pressured to recall each Cybertruck offered, confronted a mass exodus amongst house owners and is repeatedly being focused by individuals fed up with firm boss Elon Musk’s meddling in authorities.
In an try and quell considerations on the automaker, Musk made a uncommon departure from the White Home to examine in on his day job and spoke with Tesla staff throughout the U.S. Some have been calmed by Musk’s pep discuss final week, however others mentioned it felt “cynical” and virtually like a “publicity stunt,” stories Enterprise Insider:
The California employee in contrast the occasion, which kicked off round 10 p.m. ET, to a “publicity stunt” as a consequence of its timing and the quick discover for workers. (A number of staff mentioned they have been notified of the all-hands lower than an hour earlier than it was scheduled to start out.) One other employee, primarily based in Nevada, mentioned they felt the occasion was all about “appeasing shareholders” and tuned out lower than midway by.
Within the assembly, Musk instructed employees to carry onto their shares, regardless of the corporate’s worth cratering, and up to date staff on the progress of its humanoid robotic and autonomous taxi. The billionaire additionally admitted to being “stretched fairly skinny” due to his new position ruining the federal government, however did not supply a lot else in the best way of clarification for a way he is managing his time between the six firms he works at and the federal government division that Donald Trump put him accountable for.
Due to this lack of deal with Tesla, Musk is now going through calls from some traders to step down. An early backer of the electrical automobile maker mentioned that “it is time for someone to run Tesla,” we reported final week, earlier than including that the “enterprise has been uncared for for too lengthy.”
third Gear: It is not all rosy for China’s EV makers
Throughout Tesla’s stumbles, the automaker is usually in comparison with Chinese language automakers like BYD, which is witnessing meteoric development all over the world as its EVs grow to be a number of the world’s best-selling. Simply because one Chinese language automaker is flying excessive, that does not imply all of them are, nevertheless.
Chinese language automaker Nio is one such model that is not having such good fortunes, reported Automotive Information. The model noticed gross sales gradual and is now contemplating extreme cost-cutting measures to stay aggressive.
Within the three months to the top of March 2024, Nio expects to promote about 43,000 automobiles, which is 12,000 models beneath expectations and down on the earlier quarter. Income can also be projected to drop to 12.9 billion yuan ($1.8 billion), in contrast with the 17.8 billion yuan that was projected. In response, Nio is following the lead of automakers like VW with some fairly critical cost-cutting, as Automotive Information stories:
The corporate has carried out a collection of cost-cutting measures since final yr, together with unifying {hardware} and utilizing self-developed chips, executives mentioned March 31. Nio additionally goals to extend its gross margin with new product launches this yr, with a plan to ship 9 new or revamped fashions, Chief Govt Officer William Li mentioned. Nevertheless, the corporate remains to be increasing its battery-swap community, and losses in that space should not anticipated to slim, Qu mentioned.
Nio has been promoting automobiles for greater than a decade now, however is but to show a revenue. The corporate is focusing on profitability for this yr, with CEO Li saying it’s going to come within the fourth quarter of 2025 if the automaker can double annual gross sales to round 440,000 automobiles.
4th Gear: Tesla loses EV rebates in additional Canadian provinces
Due to Elon Musk’s ties with the brand new administration main the U.S. on its commerce struggle towards the remainder of the world, Tesla turned one thing of a goal. Its sellers have been tagged with anti-musk slogans, its automobiles have been set alight and worldwide governments have made steps to scale back assist for gross sales of its automobiles.
After Canadian lawmakers minimize assist for anybody seeking to set up a Tesla charger at residence, two extra provinces have minimize assist for the American automaker, this time focusing on its automobile gross sales. Nova Scotia and Manitoba have scrapped electrical-vehicle rebates for Tesla, stories Automotive Information. The transfer signifies that anybody shopping for a Tesla automobile within the two provinces now will not be eligible to use for rebates with as a lot as $3,000:
The vote got here after Susan LeBlanc, an NDP member of the legislature, known as for an modification dropping the Elon Musk-led firm’s merchandise from the subsidy program. LeBlanc instructed the legislature that the proprietor of Tesla has aligned himself with U.S. president Donald Trump in “waging financial struggle on our nation and it is a small strategy to take a stand towards that.”
Tesla is not the one automaker getting minimize from the rebates in Manitoba, Automotive Information provides. The incentives additionally will not be supplied to anybody shopping for Chinese language electrical automobiles, and is not out there on the acquisition of any EV costing greater than $70,000.
On the radio: Haim – ‘The Steps’
Glad Monday! How was your weekend? I had a fairly lush one, to be trustworthy, and went to a enjoyable live performance of movie music the place Ian McKellen got here on stage to introduce the music of Lord of the Rings. Oh my little nerd coronary heart did sing!
I additionally lastly received a correct cupboard to maintain all my data in, and celebrated by listening to Haim. Numerous Haim. That is continued this morning, and I have been reminded simply how nice “Girls In Music Pt III” is, so here is my favourite tune from that album – take pleasure in!
