Tesla Cybertruck Hit With 8th Recall Due To Glued On Body Panels Just Kinda Flying Off

Good morning! It's Thursday, March 20, 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, we're diving into the Tesla Cybertruck's latest recall as well as Hino's massive fine for U.S. emissions fraud. We'll also check in on GM's BrightDrop eclectic vans that are piling up on storage lots and Lamborghini's worries over Trump's tariffs.

Lock in, folks. We've got a busy day ahead.

Tesla is recalling every single Cybertruck it has sold since the truck first went on sale 15 months ago because the adhesive it uses to join the stainless steel body panels to the vehicle is "susceptible to environmental embrittlement." Why Tesla is talking like Mr. Milchick, I do not know, but pretty much this means the glue it used to stick body panels on the Cybertruck's frame isn't good enough. Because of that, panels are peeling away, and that's not good for anybody.

In a recall report filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Tesla says that just one percent of the 46,096 Cybertrucks it has sold actually have the defect, but I suppose it's better to be safe than sorry. Also, for those keeping score at home, this is the Cybertruck's eighth recall since it went on sale at the end of 2023. From Bloomberg:

Tesla says in the report that it will foot the bill for replacing the panels with ones that meet its durability requirements. But as of March 18 — the day Tesla submitted its recall report — the company said it had not yet corrected the issue in production. The manufacturer said it expected to sort out the remedy on or around March 21.

"If the cant rail stainless steel panel separates from the vehicle while in drive, it could create a road hazard for following motorists and increase their risk of injury or a collision," Tesla said. The company identified 151 warranty claims that may be related to the condition.

This isn't the first time the Cybertruck has been recalled for body panel issues. In June of 2024, the truck was recalled because a trim piece along the exterior of the truck's bed could come loose and fly off while driving. I'm sure this recall will fix the issue once and for all.

Toyota's Hino truck unit pleaded guilty on March 19 and must now pay $1.6 billion in penalties over a multi-year emissions fraud scheme in the U.S. The company must pay a $521.76 million fine and serve five years probation as part of the plea. It's now prohibited from importing the diesel engines it produces to the U.S. The rest of that $1.6 billion will come from a $1,087 billion forfeiture money judgment against the company. Clearly, Hino saw what happened to Volkswagen with DieselGate and wanted in on the action. 

In January of this year, Hino said it would plead guilty over excess engine emissions in over 105,000 vehicles it sold in the U.S. between 2010 and 2022. A company-commissioned panel found that Hino falsified emissions data on some trucks dating as far back as 2003. Not good, Hino. Not good. From Reuters:

"Companies who intentionally evade our nation's environmental laws, including by fabricating data to feign compliance with those laws, deserve punishment and will be held criminally accountable," said the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's acting enforcement chief Jeffrey Hall.

[...]

The settlement includes a mitigation program, valued at $155 million, to offset excess air emissions from the violations by replacing marine and locomotive engines, and a recall program, valued at $144.2 million, to fix engines in 2017-2019 heavy-duty trucks, the EPA said earlier.

The Japanese company admitted that between 2010 and 2019, it used "illicit short-cuts" and submitted false applications for engine certification approvals and altered emission testing data. It would conduct tests improperly and make up data without conducting any underlying tests. Yikes, guys.

Earlier this year, Hino said it booked an extraordinary loss of about $1.54 billion in the second quarter of 2024 to cover the expected litigation costs. 

General Motors has a real problem on its hands with a glut of slow-selling, Canadian-made electric BrightDrop delivery vans just piling up on lots on both sides of the U.S.-Canadian border. The plant in Ingersoll, Ontario just reopened after being shuttered for two weeks because of high inventory. On top of that, GM has reportedly offered rebates of tens of thousands of dollars on some models. The General can't move these things, folks.

BrightDrop has long been an issue for GM. Less than a year ago, it folded the brand into Chevy in an effort to boost sales as it falls further behind automakers like Ford and Rivian when it comes to electric commercial vans. It seems those efforts have been futile. From the Detroit Free Press:

Sam Abuelsamid, vice president of market research at Telemetry Insights, said the extended range of BrightDrop vans far surpasses its market competitors — but so does its price tag. Before incentives, the vehicles cost about $74,000. Ford's E-Transit van with extended battery range, for example, is $51,600 — more than $20,000 cheaper — even before applying incentives.

[...]

A Free Press photographer captured images last week of hundreds of vehicles lining a Flint storage lot. Reuters published similar photos from CAMI Assembly plant in Ontario.

The cause is low demand, according to a union official, as GM has struggled to sell its electric commercial vehicles in the U.S.

Chevy is so aggressive about selling these larger vans that their total rebates now add up to about a 40 percent discount. That is astonishing for what is supposed to be a new, cutting-edge product.

When you look at the sales numbers compared to the competition it makes sense. In the U.S., GM sold 1,529 BrightDrops in 2024. Now, compare that with Ford's 12,610 E-Transits and Rivian's 13,243 EDVs and you can very clearly see the issue. In a bit of good news, it did outsell the Mercedes-Benz eSprinter, which only moved 828 units in 2024.

Lamborghini is pretty worried possible U.S. tariffs against European-made goods could take a big chunk out of the supercar maker's revenue after it posted a very strong 2024 where it rose by 16 percent to $3.31 billion. At the same time, the company saw operating profits jump 15.5 percent to about $905 million. These increases are thanks to the 10,687 vehicles Lambo sold last year — an all-time record. About 3,000 of those cars went to the U.S., which is the Italian company's largest market. All of that monetary progress could be undone by President Trump's tariffs (if they ever actually take effect). From Reuters:

Chief Executive Stephan Winkelmann said the company now had an order book covering 18 months and its aim was to preserve it in coming years, to achieve "controlled growth", as potential U.S. tariffs could add further uncertainty to an already contracting luxury market.

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"If you go beyond that you lose volumes, that is a fact," the CEO said. "We need to assess what our competitors do and how American clients react, but there is a risk on volumes for sure."

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"Our feeling is that a post-COVID bubble is over," he said."While such sudden growth in our market was unexpected, we knew it could not last forever. In particular there has been a contraction in the Chinese (luxury) market. Our market is now stabilising".

This growth at Lamborghini sparked over 1,000 new hires in just the past two years, with a 30 percent increase in the automaker's direct workforce. Of course, that can all be threatened if Trump actually goes through with his ill-advised tariffs. I know nobody needs a Lamborghini, but to me, it's good when people have jobs.

On this day in 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson sent federal troops to Alabama to protect a civil rights march following the events of Bloody Sunday. What a guy. Here's more from History.com:

After an Alabama federal judge ruled on March 18 that a third march could go ahead, President Johnson and his advisers worked quickly to find a way to ensure the safety of King and his demonstrators on their way from Selma to Montgomery. The most powerful obstacle in their way was Governor Wallace, an outspoken segregationist who was reluctant to spend any state funds on protecting the demonstrators. Hours after promising Johnson—in telephone calls recorded by the White House—that he would call out the Alabama National Guard to maintain order, Wallace went on television and demanded that Johnson send in federal troops instead.

Furious, Johnson told Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach to write a press release stating that because Wallace refused to use the 10,000 available guardsmen to preserve order in his state, Johnson himself was calling the guard up and giving them all necessary support. Several days later, 50,000 marchers followed King some 54 miles, under the watchful eyes of state and federal troops.

Arriving safely in Montgomery on March 25, they watched King deliver his famous "How Long, Not Long" speech from the steps of the Capitol building.