Category: Rumors

• One Chinese media source says the updated Tesla Model Y “Juniper” will enter production in Shanghai in January 2025.
• When production starts in Europe and the U.S. is still unknown but camouflaged prototype sightings are becoming more frequent.
• The revised Model Y will likely debut sometime in the first half of 2025.

Tesla is working on a revised version of the Model Y electric crossover called Project Juniper. Like the Highland update for the Model 3, this Model Y refresh is expected to bring numerous changes and improvements to an already very successful vehicle, but we don’t know exactly when it will enter production.

The local media in China, quoted by CnEVPost, reports that the Model Y Juniper will enter mass production in January, which is less than a month away. The Model Y is built in China at Tesla’s massive production facility in Shanghai, which supplies China and other world markets.

There have been multiple sightings of camouflaged Model Y prototypes both in China and the U.S. with its front and rear parts hidden. It is expected to feature completely redesigned fascias and light clusters, and it may even have full-width light bars in the front and rear. It will also have revised wheel designs and new paint colors.

Inside, we expect a similar makeover to the Model 3 Highland, which lost its indicator and transmission stalks (which are available as an aftermarket add-on), but it upped the materials and assembly quality compared to the pre-refresh model. The revised Model 3 also has a much softer and more compliant suspension, which features frequency selective dampers, and we expect a similar solution will be used on the Model Y Juniper, too.

Elon Musk said that the Model Y update wasn’t a priority, which is why it was coming so much later than the Model 3 facelift, allowing the company to focus on other projects like the Cybercab. However, there are many rival models gunning for the Model Y’s success, even ones that perhaps follow its formula a bit too closely, like the Onvo L60, while others tread their own path, hoping to woo buyers with a very different proposition.

We also heard reports about a possible six-seater version of the Model Y, which would be available in China and Europe but not the United States.

The fact that the revised Model Y may enter production in China in early 2025 isn’t necessarily relevant for the U.S. market since the locally sold Model Y is made in the States. However, there have been multiple camouflaged Model Y prototype sightings in the U.S., the most recent being in San Jose, California, which may indicate that Stateside production is also imminent.

A Cox Automotive analysis compares the value of used hybrid, electric and gasoline vehicles with their sticker price.

Trump has not specified if the tax breaks would be available to many foreign-owned automakers who produce millions of vehicles in the U.S., including Volkswagen Group, Toyota and Hyundai.

Auto lenders and dealerships should not ignore car buyers with lower credit scores, Armando Hidalgo, director of servicing at SameDay Auto Finance, said in a panel discussion at the Auto Finance Summit this month in Las Vegas.

With many of those consumers “now needing credit, it is a good opportunity for us to capture some of that market,” Hidalgo said. It is “also a good opportunity for borrowers to reestablish themselves.”

Auto lenders can manage the risks of customers with lower credit scores by informing those consumers ahead of time and by keeping in touch with them often, Hidalgo said.

“It is up to us to make sure that we put them in the right path of success,” he added.

Have a good auto finance and insurance tip to share? Email Automotive News F&I reporters John Huetter at john.huetter@crain.com and Paige Hodder at paige.hodder@crain.com. See more F&I tips at autonews.com/topic/fi-tips.

The industry must be willing to take a disciplined approach to sales, inventory management and pricing.

Thirty percent of those surveyed said they were likely to take out an auto loan if rates came down.

Startup Anomaly Labs screens car dealers’ finance office sales pitches to real-life consumers and uses AI customers for managers to role-play and improve.

JM Family Enterprises CEO Brent Burns will retire and be succeeded by President and COO Dan Chait. Chait will remain president when he becomes CEO on Jan. 1, JM Family announced.

Americans this summer were having a harder time paying bills and feeling greater concern about making ends meet compared with a year earlier, according to the July 2024 edition of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s Labor, Income, Finances, and Expectations Survey.

Dealership staff should be sure their indirect auto lending partners can reach them by phone when a deal is contingent on the customer providing stips.