This is The Morning Shift, our one-stop daily roundup of all the auto news that's actually important — all in one place at 9:00 AM. Or, you could spend all day waiting for other sites to parse it out to you one story at a time. Isn't your time more important?
1st Gear: And There Was Much Confusion In The Land
It'll be interesting to see how the market reacts to the news of Tesla posting its first quarterly loss in… well… two quarters, as analysts expect them to do. I don't think this is a big deal, but let me speak to some certain groups:
Tesla Fanboys And Fangirls: Whoa, put the knife down! Oh, it's a $500 swiss knife made of recycled PBR cans? That's nice, but not relevant here. Relax, Tesla is a new company and has already lost a billion dollars, what's another few million? The company is expanding sales and production is ramping up. So far, demand hasn't waned, so there's not much to worry about.
Tesla Haters: If I were you, I wouldn't get super juiced up on schadenfreude and go on a stock-shorting spree. The fundamentals of the company haven't changed much, this is largely the leasing deal going into effect and the loss of those sweet EV credits. But, remember, Musk already told us the EV credit loss would happen. They're preparing for it.
Tesla Agnostics: There are still many issues facing the company, like trying to find a broader buyer base outside of celebrities, green-tined richbots, and college professors. As long as Tesla can continue to produce more cars and people continue to buy them, they can afford a bad quarter here or there.
2nd Gear: VW Will Bring Global Diesel To U.S. In 2015
If you want a diesel VW/Audi, you could get the VW Golf TDI, Jetta TDI, or any other model that uses the current powerplant. Or, according to Automotive News, you can wait just a little longer to 2015 and get a better one.
How much better? The 2.0-liter turbocharged motor will boost horsepower from 140 to 150 hp, while torque will remain at 236 lb-ft. It should be cheaper (it's the same as the European vehicle with a different emissions systems), more powerful, and more efficient.
All good things, especially with Mazda, Subaru, and GM all looking at diesels for the U.S.
3rd Gear: GM Wants To Cut ONE BILLION DOLLARS
GM wants to save over the next 2.5 years roughly the amount of money that Tesla has lost in a decade, and they want to do it all with cheaper materials and better logistics.
It costs $8 billion for GM to move parts and materials around its 168 plants, reports The Detroit News. That's a lot of greenbacks. GM wants to take about $1 billion, which will help boost its profit margin.
How are they going to do this? Try to bring supplier plants closer to GM assembly plants, extend rail lines to plants (to cut on trucking), adding stamping plants to some factories, and cutting waste.
4th Gear: Hyundai's The Latest Skip Barber Car
Driven, the Hyundai Genesis Coupe 3.8 R-Spec (and Track, I assume) are quite fast. There's a lot of power (348 horsepower) in a relatively lightweight RWD platform. While we're not as excited about them as we are, say, a Toyobaru, in most cases the Genesis will be quick around a track.
It's in slow-speed, day-to-day driving that I don't particularly like living with a Genesis Coupe.
That's not a problem the first batch of Gen Coupes at the Skip Barber Racing School are going to have. The cars would be a nice addition to the Porsche 911s, Speed3s, Lexus IS-F and other cars the company uses for instruction.
5th Gear: Ford Also Wants To Save Money
This week is all about cost savings for automakers and Ford's big plan is the "Aligned Business Framework 2.0." Ford, historically, loves these kinds of big top-down analytics programs, even if they spend more money implementing them than they save.
The biggest change, reports Alisa Priddle, is that Ford wants to get all of its parts from 750 suppliers, as opposed to the 1,150 they have now.
In addition to saving money, having a smaller supply of suppliers will hopefully allow them to rush new technology to the market.
Reverse: Blitzkrieg Not Beigekrieg
On this day in 1944, under the threat of Allied bombing during World War II, the German car manufacturer Volkswagen halts production of the "Beetle," as its small, insect-shaped automobile was dubbed in the international press.
[HISTORY]
Neutral: What Kind Of Tesla Observer Are You? Hater? Lover? Agnostic? What do you think of the impending un-profitable quarter?
Photo Credit: Getty Images/AP