Good morning! It’s Thursday, November 7, 2024, 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: Donald Trump Is About To Shake Up America’s Auto Industry
While the votes are still being counted and the result isn’t official just yet, there’s no denying Donald Trump and his clear path for a return to the White House in 2025. After winning in swing states like Michigan and Pennsylvania, Trump will now be clear to set out his vision for America, which will probably include raised tariffs, lowered support for electric vehicles and scrapped emission rules.
Automakers and industry experts are now considering what a second Trump presidency will mean for America’s carmakers, and it sounds like a real mixed bag. Throughout the campaign, the convicted felon threatened to raise tariffs on imported cars from places like China and Mexico, threatened to cut support for EVs and even questioned America’s current emission rules, as Reuters reports:
Automakers are bracing for President-elect Donald Trump to impose new tariffs on vehicles from Mexico and potentially from other countries and to reverse many existing pro-electric vehicle policies, industry associations and executives said.
Trump has said he plans to begin rescinding Environmental Protection Agency and Transportation Department vehicle rules on his first day in office and is considering paring back or eliminating EV tax breaks and other incentives.
Those regulatory changes could give automakers more flexibility to build more profitable gas-powered SUVs and trucks but raise questions about the future of billions of dollars in EV battery and manufacturing spending.
The “Home Alone 2″ actor has made no secret of his disdain toward EVs, repeatedly claiming that he planned to end an EV mandate that didn’t actually exist throughout his time on the campaign trail. Now, automakers across the country will be hoping that the billions of dollars they have plowed into EV infrastructure aren’t about to go to waste.
The other big ticket item on the Trump campaign trail was the implementation of massive tariffs on vehicles and other products imported from Mexico into the U.S. Just days before the election, Trump promised a 200 percent tariff on cars imported from south of the border, which has sounded alarm bells at automakers like Honda and Toyota, as Reuters adds:
Honda’s production capacity in Mexico is about 200,000 vehicles annually and 80% are exported to the U.S. market, chief operating officer Shinji Aoyama said.
If the U.S. were to impose permanent tariffs on vehicles imported from Mexico, Aoyama said Honda would have to think about shifting production.
Toyota builds Tacoma trucks at two plants in Mexico and sold more than 230,000 of the model in the United States last year.
A person close to Toyota said steep tariffs by Trump on Mexican imports could prompt the automaker to move production of a vehicle like the Tacoma to San Antonio, Texas. A Toyota spokesperson declined to comment.
Any tariffs that are added to cars like the Tacoma or Honda’s CR-V will likely be passed onto consumers before automakers can take any steps to move production out of the country. Adding a few thousand bucks to the price of two of the best-selling cars in America is surely an easy way to piss off the people that voted for you and your pledge to make America affordable once again.
2nd Gear: Lamborghini Sales Booming As Urus Sells Out Until 2026
While presidents will come and go and international relations will evolve, there’s one thing that will remain constant: rich people will always have mountains of cash to burn. The world’s superrich love spending money so much that they’ve helped Italian automaker Lamborghini to one of its best years and have sold out its super SUV, the Urus, for the next few years.
According to Lamborghini’s latest financial results, the Italian brand sold 8,411 cars between January and September 2024, reports Motor1. The figure marks an 8.6 percent increase over the same period last year, which went on to become the automakers first 10,000-car year in its history. As a result of the sky-high sales, wait times for Lamborghini’s best-selling cars are now stretching into 2026 and beyond:
Lamborghini says it has enough Urus orders to keep busy throughout 2025. In other words, a newly placed order for the “Super SUV” won’t be fulfilled until 2026. This first-generation model is sticking around for the long haul. Despite being launched seven years ago, the next Urus isn’t due until near the end of the decade. The second-generation model will switch to a fully electric drivetrain when it arrives around 2029.
As for the Revuelto, Lamborghini’s flagship is also a hot commodity. The waiting time for the plug-in hybrid V-12 supercar exceeds two years. Signing your name on the dotted line today means you’ll be getting the electrified monster at the end of 2026 or early 2027. As with the Urus, the Revuelto’s PHEV setup isn’t making wealthy customers reconsider their options. Not that there are many left anyway considering V-12s are nearly extinct.
Lamborghini also has the new Temerario entry-level offering set to hit the market soon and its slick styling and plug-in hybrid offering will no doubt take the Revuelto’s lead to a whole heap of new buyers.
When Lamborghni finally does unveil its idea of an electric supercar before the end of this decade, will the excitement around EVs help bolster the brand’s sales even further, or could we be witnessing the peak of the company’s success here and now?
3rd Gear: Layoffs Hit Nissan And Stellantis
Not every automaker is riding high like Lamborghini, however, and some are struggling to weather the storm that’s facing the auto industry in 2024. As Volkswagen revealed it has a matter of years in which to turn around its fortunes, fellow global powerhouses Stellantis and Nissan have revealed that layoffs are coming in order for the two companies to remain profitable.
The not good, very bad year for Jeep owner Stellantis is continuing into November it seems, as after poor sales and criticism from dealers hit the company over the summer it’s now revealed that layoffs are on the horizon for workers at its Ohio plant. Stellantis will reportedly cut production of the Jeep Gladiator pickup truck down to one shift, risking around 1,000 jobs, as Automotive News reports:
Stellantis could lay off about 1,100 UAW-represented workers who build the Jeep Gladiator pickup in Ohio as it moves the plant to one shift because of slow sales.
Indefinite layoffs at the Toledo South Assembly Plant are slated to begin as soon as Jan. 5, the automaker said. Stellantis notified state and local officials, as well as the UAW, of the job cuts in accordance with the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act.
The move comes amid a global cost-cutting campaign at Stellantis, which has been reducing its U.S. head count. It began laying off about 1,100 workers in Warren, Mich., last month.
Struggles are also being felt at Nissan, with Reuters reporting that the Titan maker could cut even more jobs. Weak demand in China and the U.S. has reportedly had a massive impact in global sales for Nissan, with the automaker now consider as many as 9,000 job cuts across the company:
Nissan Motor will cut 9,000 jobs and 20% of its global manufacturing capacity, the automaker said on Thursday, as it scrambles to reduce costs by $2.6 billion in the current fiscal year amid a sales slump in China and the U.S.
Nissan cut its annual profit outlook by 70% to 150 billion yen ($975 million) on Thursday, the second time it lowered the forecast this year. Like many foreign automakers, it is struggling in China where BYD and other local manufacturers are gobbling up market share with affordable EVs and hybrids that boast advanced technology.
Nissan’s problems here in the U.S. reportedly stem from its lack of hybrid and electric offerings in its current lineup. The automaker is lacking in comparison to Japanese rival Toyota, which has proven just how well hybrids can sell to buyers who are hesitant to go all in on EVs. It’s amazing what rivals could learn from the world’s largest automaker, it seems.
4th Gear: Uber, Lyft Drivers Cleared To Unionize
In trying times it’s good to check in on the people around you, whether that’s through a supportive neighborhood, a close-knit community or a union in the workplace that can look out for your rights. Until now, drivers for rideshare apps like Uber and Lyft haven’t been able to unionize as U.S. law saw them as self-employed, but that could be about to change thanks to a vote in Massachusetts.
As well as deciding the future president of the U.S., voters in Massachusetts were asked about giving union rights to drivers for ride-hailing companies, reports the Associated Press. Voters came out in support of the measures and drivers across the state will soon be able to start organizing:
Voters approved giving the right to unionize to drivers for ride-hailing companies such as Uber and Lyft.
Under federal law, the drivers are considered independent contractors who don’t have the right to unionize. The ballot measure approved by voters allows drivers to unionize in Massachusetts but doesn’t require them to participate. On the corporate side, companies will be allowed to join forces through associations that would represent their joint interests in negotiations.
As part of the measure, the state will have the right to approve negotiated contracts. The proposal also creates a hearing process when a company or union is charged with an unfair work practice.
Drivers in Massachusetts are already guaranteed a minimum pay standard of $32.50 per hour, but unionizing would give them the power to bargain for greater rights and protections. That might sound like a good thing, but the move obviously had its opponents, who argued that it would make rides more expensive and claimed that drivers already had good benefits.
When did it become so controversial to want better for your fellow Americans?