Umar Shakir
This G Class is “Stronger Than The 1980s Edition.”
Mercedes-Benz is building 460 limited edition G550 SUVs with retro styling that makes it look like an old-school G-Wagen. MotorTrend reports what’s up with the hilariously long name.
Transportation Archive
Archives for April 2025
In the market for a new car? You may already be too late.
Tim Stevens
Andrew J. Hawkins
Andrew J. Hawkins
The Tesla Cybercab is likely to be a sales dud, according to Tesla.
Tesla conducted an internal analysis last year that concluded its upcoming driverless Cybercab is shaping up to be another Cybertruck-level flop, The Information reports:
One of the first assumptions was that the U.S. car market could shrink from 15 million a year to roughly 3 million because Robotaxis would be used for five times as many hours as privately owned cars, which sit in driveways and parking lots most of the time. Then the analysts subtracted Americans who wouldn’t switch to a driverless EV. These included people in rural parts of the country who often travel vast distances that are impractical for Robotaxis; suburbanites with kids and complicated pickup and drop-off schedules; and active people who routinely cart around a surfboard or a mountain bike.
That pushed probable annual Robotaxi sales well below 1 million vehicles a year. “There is ultimately a saturation of people who want to be ferried around in somebody else’s car,” said one person familiar with the situation.
Of course, Elon Musk doesn’t really care whether it succeeds or fails. AI is Tesla’s future, for better or worse. (It will be worse.)
How Elon Musk Stopped Loving Cars and Left Tesla in the Lurch
[theinformation.com]
Andrew J. Hawkins
Dominic Preston
China says ‘no’ to Boeing.
Bloomberg reports that local airlines have been told to refuse further deliveries of Boeing jets, in another blow for a beleaguered aerospace company that’s suffered from quality crises and layoffs.
Any Boeing imports would be hit by China’s 125 percent retaliatory tariff on US goods anyway, including a number of finished planes already earmarked for Chinese airlines. Boeing lags behind Airbus in China, and this isn’t going to help.
China Orders Boeing Jet Delivery Halt as Trade War Expands
[bloomberg.com]
Emma Roth
Waymo has opened its waitlist in Atlanta.
Users on the Uber app can sign up to gain early access to the robotaxi service, which will take people across 65 square miles of Atlanta, including Downtown, Buckhead, and Capitol View. Waymo says “select riders” who join the waitlist “may get access to Waymo rides ahead of the public launch.”
Last month, Waymo similarly launched in Austin exclusively through Uber.
Image: Uber
Wes Davis
Infiniti has a tariff-ic deal for you.
The company’s website is pushing a “Once In A Springtime Event” that involves buying a pre-tariff Infiniti before Trump’s automotive tariff “debacle” cranks prices up.
Andrew J. Hawkins
Thomas Ricker
“The world’s first purpose built mountain bike specific camper.”
The TOPO2 MTB trailer from Escapod features a Küat Piston ION rack that can handle two 80-pound e-bikes, an integrated Feedback sports toolkit and workspace, heating and water system, and 140 watts of solar to keep its 240Ah battery charged to help power your electronics. Delivered in 2-3 months if ordered today for a price starting at $53,990... because a boy can dream!
