Nutson's Auto News Wrapup, Week Of January 5-11, 2025
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Nutson's Auto News Wrapup, Week Of January 5-11, 2025
2024 auto sales. The auto industry had a small increase in total U.S. vehicle sales for 2024. Improved availability of new vehicles and many promotional deals in the closing months of the year helped. Volume totaled 15.9 million vehicles last year, up 2.2% from 2023, according to an estimate from Wards Intelligence. Buyers chose more-affordable models and leasing increased.--up from 20% to 24%. Electric vehicles continue to increase as a share of the U.S. auto market, but conventional hybrids notched the biggest gains up 36.7% in 2024, according to Cox Automotive. EV leasing share of total EV sales rose to 72% as of November, according to Edmunds. Nearly every automaker posted higher sales year over year in 2024, with Stellantis and Tesla notable exceptions. General Motors was the top-selling automaker in 2024, while Honda and Mazda delivered strong growth. Retail sales were particularly strong at year-end.
- EV tax credits may need to stay. Ending the tax credits would cede global leadership to China, opines the Wall Street Journal. Congress could cost the U.S. billions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of jobs—that’s what this transformed industry will soon provide. Read about it HERE.
- Driverless taxis. Ride-hailing leaders Uber and Lyft are preparing to bring driverless taxis to your door with new app features that allow customers to use their phones to open trunks and honk horns. They are building infrastructure to maintain the high-tech taxis and training human support staff to handle riders without drivers. Both companies will have driverless cars—from Alphabet’s GOOGL, Waymo and others—on their apps this year. In the coming months, riders in Austin, Texas, and Atlanta will be able to hail a Waymo through the Uber app. Lyft plans to offer May Mobility’s driverless taxis in Atlanta. Full story : HERE
- But there's this. A Los Angeles man was trapped in a circling Waymo driverless taxi on the way to the airport and says he missed his flight home from Phoenix. So, yeah! HERE
- The one to buy. Volkswagen of America, Inc. announced the all-electric Volkswagen ID. Buzz, the spiritual successor to the iconic microbus, has been named as Green Car Reports’ Best Car To Buy 2025. The all-electric ID. Buzz blends retro design with modern tech, starting at $59,995 MSRP. Rear-wheel-drive models deliver 282 horsepower, while 4Motion® all-wheel-drive versions have 335 hp. Green Car Reports evaluates vehicles based on its assessment of a vehicle’s environmental impact, efficiency, and market influence. In Green Car Reports’ view, the ID. Buzz excelled in all three categories, highlighting Volkswagen’s commitment to combining sustainability with exceptional design and functionality.
- 2025 CES. Formerly know as Consumer Electronics Show, CES took place this week. This annual technology showcase has a reduced automotive presence compared to recent years. That said, Honda presented the world premiere of the first two models in the company’s new 0 Series line of battery electric vehicles – the Honda 0 SUV and Honda 0 Saloon prototypes. Production models based on both prototypes will launch in North America in 2026 followed by global markets. BMW is unveiling a new iDrive system with a full-width panoramic display along the lower portion of the windshield , debuting in late 2025 models. Hyundai Mobis is demonstrating a holographic windshield display that projects navigation and safety information. China's EVs drew big crowds and Scout Motors made its debut at CES.
- 2025 Detroit Auto Show. The 2025 Detroit Auto Show has returned to its traditional January time slot and opens this weekend. The show has been refocused to appeal to car shoppers, as it should always be, and not so much about making the morning news. This news story gives a full rundown of what there will be to see. Read it before you go. HERE
- NACTOY winners. The winners of the 2025 North American Car, Truck and Utility Vehicle of the Year(NACTOY) awards were revealed during a press conference that kicked off the media day of the Detroit Auto Show. The winners ate: North American Car of the Year: Honda Civic Hybrid, North American Truck of the Year: Ford Ranger, and North American Utility Vehicle of the Year: Volkswagen ID. Buzz.
- Traffic jams. INRIX just released their 2024 Global Traffic Scorecard that identified and ranked congestion and mobility trends in nearly than 1000 cities, across 37 countries. The new INRIX Global Traffic Scorecard found that traffic and delay costs continue to grow as employees and consumers return to downtowns. In the U.S., New York (102 hours lost), Chicago (102), Los Angeles (88), Boston (79), and Philadelphia (77) took the top spots, with Los Angeles and Boston slightly under 2023 levels. Congestion resulted in drivers in the U.S. losing an average of 43 hours to traffic jams in 2024, equal to about one work week, costing $771 in lost time and productivity. Nationwide, this sums to more than four billion hours lost, costing $74 billion in lost time.
- Continuous improvement needed. New research by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) shows that persons wearing high-visibility clothing to give them a better chance of being noticed by drivers, such as highway workers, pedestrians and cyclists, can actually prove challenging to detect for some vehicle crash avoidance systems. Read the details: HERE
- Made In America. Tesla has topped American University's 2024 Made In America Index, with the Model 3 Performance being the most "American-made" vehicle, followed by other Tesla models. The Ford Mustang GT, Honda Passport and Jeep Wrangler also ranked high. Since 2015, foreign automakers such as Volkswagen and Toyota have increased US content, while domestic automakers have seen a decline. Go to the link for details. HERE
- WWCOTY. The Women's Worldwide Car of the Year announced the winners of the eight categories in this year’s award: Urban Model, Compact SUV, Large Car, Large SUV, 4x4 and Pick-Up, Performance and Luxury Car, Best Tech and Sandy Myhre Award for the most pro-woman brand. All these vehicles represent excellence in terms of safety, driving, technology, comfort, efficiency, environmental impact, value for money and gender equality. A total of 81 candidates were in the running to win one of the WWCOTY categories. All of them must meet the requirement of having been launched in at least two continents or 40 countries between January and December 2024. This is the 15th edition of the awards presented by WWCOTY which consists of a organization of 82 women motoring journalists from 55 countries on five continents. It is the only all-female jury in the automotive industry worldwide. See it all: HERE
Stay safe. Be Well.