Good morning! It’s Tuesday, January 28, 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: Poland Calls For Tesla Boycott Over Musk’s Politics
Just a handful of years ago, people around the world were heralding Tesla boss Elon Musk as the green savior we needed thanks to the way he had made motorists care about electric vehicles. Times have changed, and these days he’s known more for his ties to president Donald Trump and using social media to promote his own increasingly right-wing ideas. In the past week alone, Musk has drawn criticism for appearing to perform a Nazi salute on stage and he’s thrown his support behind Germany’s far-right party in the country’s upcoming elections.
Musk’s recent comments during a rally for Germany’s far-right Alternative for Deutschland party have now sparked calls for a boycott of Tesla’s cars in Poland, reports Automotive News. While speaking remotely at the AfD event, Musk said there was “too much focus on past guilt” in Germany:
Musk made the comments, a common refrain among right-wing groups concerning Germany’s World War II crimes, to supporters as part of his support for AfD ahead of the country’s Feb. 23 election.
“Children should not be guilty of the sins of their parents, let alone their great-grandparents,” Musk told the audience.
The comments drew swift criticism in Germany, where Musk’s support for the AfD’s anti-immigrant positions has grown. Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats and the country’s biggest labor union slammed the billionaire’s actions.
The country’s sports minister, Slawomir Nitras, has gone so far as to say that “no normal Pole should buy a Tesla,” following Musk’s shift to the right. Strong words from the country’s leadership, but it also comes at a time when public opinion of Tesla and Musk is shifting in Europe.
Over in the UK, a new study found that 60 percent of car buyers in the country have been put off purchasing a Tesla by “Musk’s controversial reputation,” reports Electrifying. The sentiment is reportedly shared between current EV owners and those looking to make the switch:
Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk, might be losing the brand its edge in the competitive electric vehicle market, according to new research from Electrifying.com. In the survey, 60% of car buyers now say Musk’s controversial reputation actively puts them off buying a Tesla.
This sentiment spans both current EV owners and those planning to make the switch to electric, with 59% of each group admitting Musk’s influence has become a dealbreaker.
The shift in sentiment towards Tesla couldn’t have come at a worse time for the automaker, as it struggles with falling demand around the world and faces increased tariffs on cars it exports from its Chinese factories to the rest of the world.
Could Musk be asked to shut the hell up in order to save Tesla’s reputation? Or will the company instead lean into its newfound MAGA reputation?
2nd Gear: Ford Recalls 150,000 Broncos With Faulty Shocks
Another day, another massive recall. After Kia was forced to issue a fix for more than 80,000 cars fitted with faulty airbag wiring, Ford has one-upped the brand with a recall of almost 150,000 Broncos fitted with dodgy rear shocks.
Ford has issued a recall of 149,449 Bronco SUVs after it was found that the external reservoir shocks could have a corrosion problem, reports Auto Week. The recall impacts the 2021 to 2024 model year Broncos:
Ford is recalling nearly 150,000 examples of its popular Bronco SUV. Spurring this latest recall is its rear shock absorbers, which could fail because of corrosion.
These shock absorbers can apparently fail when the external reservoir separates from the main shock body, which would cause the shock to fail and create a road hazard for other drivers.
Obviously, this is only a problem with the external reservoir shocks, which means it doesn’t affect Broncos that don’t have external reservoir shock absorbers. If you don’t have the Sasquatch package or a Bronco Badlands with these shocks, this recall doesn’t affect you.
Ford has reportedly received 551 warranty claims in relation to the issue, and is currently working on a fix for the problem. Thankfully, the Blue Oval says it is not aware of any accidents or injuries as a result of the issue.
If you are worried that your car might be affected by a recall, there are a few easy ways to check if it’s the case. First up, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has a super handy app that you can use to see if your vehicle is impacted by a recall, or you can head to the regulator’s website and plug your VIN into its recall search tool.
3rd Gear: Layoffs Continue At General Motors
It seems that no matter where you work in automotive, there’s no avoiding the tough reality of layoffs these days. General Motors is continuing its barrage of cuts this week amidst warnings that the Chevrolet owner could continue cutting its workforce into the next month.
GM is continuing to cut jobs across its operation, reports the Detroit Free Press, with a focus on “poor-performing salaried workers.” Cuts took effect for some workers on Friday, but the American automaker will reportedly continue thinning its numbers into February as well:
According to more than 150 comments on social media by salaried workers, dozens were were let go on Friday, with some people blindsided by the move, others suspecting it was coming based on earlier performance reviews from mangers.
The automaker has started its annual employee reviews, which will continue through February, two people at the automaker told the Detroit Free Press. The people asked to not be named because they are not authorized to share this information publicly.
One of them said it is likely more people will be fired through the end of February as managers continue to evaluate worker performance as part of a new system GM unveiled last year, but no figure for how many will ultimately leave the company is known yet. The person said those let go for performance-related reasons will not be permitted to reapply for future openings at the automaker.
The layoffs follow the rollout of a new five-point performance review system, adds the Free Press. Under the new system, GM expects five percent of its employees to “not meet expectations” and therefore be at risk of receiving “appropriate action” that could include “being exited from the company.”
The system already led to the loss of 1,000 salaried employees late last year. A figure on the total number of employees let go in this recent wave of cuts has not yet been shared.
4th Gear: U.S. Court Throws Out Biden’s Ban On Dealer Ad-Ons
A lot has changed in president Donald Trump’s first week back in the white house. So far, the “Home Alone 2” actor has scrapped support for EVs, cut DEI initiatives across the government and ramped up his threats on tariffs on seemingly every country. Now, another Biden-era policy has been scrapped, with a U.S. court calling for an end to a law that restricted additional fees that dealerships can charge when you buy a new car.
The last administration brought in tougher rules on ad-on fees that dealerships could charge in an attempt to try and curb markups that didn’t actually help the consumer. That irked some American dealers, who fought against the law in court and have now won a battle for its removal, reports Reuters:
The FTC had said the new rules would bar junk fees like a service contract for an oil change for an electric vehicle or a duplicative warranty and estimated it would save consumers more than $3.4 billion and 72 million hours annually shopping for vehicles.
[National Automobile Dealers Association] President Mike Stanton called the decision a “victory for the rule of law and a great outcome for consumers.”
He added the rule “would have added massive amounts of time, complexity, paperwork and cost to the car-buying and car-shopping experience for virtually every customer.”
The rule, which required up-front pricing in dealers’ advertising and sales discussions, was killed in a 2-1 decision at the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. In its decision, the court argued that the Federal Trade Commission violated procedural rules as it failed to give sufficient notice of the planned rule change.