All the automakers released December sales figures and the big story is car sales are down. Well, that is if you’re watching, reading, or listening to the usual suspects who’ve been predicting Tesla’s demise for years.
The real story is that Tesla’s growth is not only spectacular for the company, but it has completely bucked the trend of the auto industry by recording positive year-over-year sales while all the others declined.
Tesla’s year-over-year sales in the United States were up 77.51%, while Honda was down 33.42%, Nissan was down 24.5%, Volkswagen was down 24.24% and the list, compiled by goodcarbadcar.net, goes on and on.
Tesla Makes Gain Globally
It’s not just big gains States-side but also in the land down under. Tesla’s Model 3 is Australia’s best-selling vehicle in the mid-size segment. It’s the first time in 28 years the Toyota Camry didn’t win this category. Tesla nearly doubled its sales in Australia year-over-year, launching into a considerable lead over the legacy car - the Camry. Electric vehicle sales grew by 549% from 2021 to 2022.
The Model Y came in sixth for new car sales in the United States last year. But, it’s the only vehicle in the top ten that increased sales; the Ford F-Series is the leader, but it’s down 10%. The Toyota Camry didn’t just lose momentum in Australia; it’s down more than 5% since last year, now in fifth, behind the Toyota RAV4 which also lost more than 10% in year-over-year sales. The Honda CR-V, a direct competitor of the RAV4 and the Model Y, dropped 34% in year-over-year sales.
Tesla Bucks the Trend
Talking heads and so-called experts are coming up with every excuse for the overall drop in car sales. Inflation is stifling growth, people didn’t drive much over the past couple of years and didn’t need new cars, and more economic uncertainty is on the horizon. Yes, all of these may be true, but they don’t explain Tesla’s colossal gains in 2022. While people may be fearful of all those factors, it didn’t stop buyers from ordering Tesla and waiting months to pay top dollar for the latest cutting-edge technology to be delivered.
There is another reason to add to the overall car sales slump. Buyers are no longer interested in fossil fuel-burning vehicles; they see the trend toward electric vehicles and the positives of the EV sector. Therefore, they are waiting for that new car purchase, possibly for the brand they are familiar with to produce more EVs, or maybe they are waiting for more charging stations. Whatever it is, these numbers just don’t fit the anti-Tesla narrative. A storyline this company has been rewriting since day one.
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Tesla maintains two primary software branches: the main feature branch and the FSD branch. In general, the FSD branch lags behind on new features pushed to the main branch but provides a more recent FSD version.
However, now Tesla is updating the main branch to a much more recent version of FSD.
Current FSD Build & Shadow Mode
Nowadays, the main branch always includes an older but stable build of FSD. It’s been on FSD V12.3.6 since July 2024. So, if you subscribe to FSD in North America, this is the FSD version you’ll receive until you get added to the FSD track.
Even if you don’t subscribe to or have purchased FSD, your vehicle has v12.3.6 on it. That includes vehicles in regions where FSD isn’t available for general use, such as Europe and China. In those cases, FSD runs in Shadow Mode, providing training data to Tesla if you’ve agreed to their data privacy policies. So Tesla is always analyzing what the vehicle would do compared to what the driver does. When there are contradictions, these are the clips and data Tesla will want to analyze.
FSD V12.5.4.2 on Main Branch
For the first time in five months, Tesla has now updated the baseline version of FSD in the main branch. The new version included with 2024.44 updates is FSD v12.5.4.2. This Tesla is updating the baseline FSD version to FSD V12.5.4.2
FSD 12.5 includes many features for a much smoother experience compared to FSD 12.3.6. Many users will appreciate that it gets rid of the steering wheel nag and instead relies on the cabin camera to provide real-time driver monitoring. This version also includes support for sunglasses with driver monitoring. It’ll be a big upgrade for anyone coming from FSD 12.3.6.
It's always a good thing when Tesla updates the baseline FSD version—that means that Tesla is confident that this new baseline is considerably safer and will continue to train the fleet against it.
What Update Am I Getting?
If you’re already on FSD V12.5.4.2, you’ll likely remain on that FSD build unless V13.3 manages to make its way to the public as Tesla originally planned, but that’s unlikely to happen before the Thanksgiving holiday. In all likelihood, you’ll be getting update 2024.44, which will give you some additional Tesla features while keeping you on the same FSD version.
For those who are already on 2024.44 - if you subscribe now, you’ll have V12.5.4.2 enabled on your vehicle.
If you have a Cybertruck, then you’ll receive update 2024.39.5 with FSD V12.5.5.3. They’re on a unique build for the moment, and this will likely be the case until Tesla acquires enough training data from the Cybertruck fleet.
The Cybertruck is having an eventful November. Just last week, we shared the news that Tesla isn’t offering their in-house wrap service for the Cybertruck anymore; the Foundation Series is now available in inventory in select US locations, Crossbars have arrived, and faster charging is around the corner. Now there’s even more to discuss about the stainless steel beast.
Projection Puddle Lights
Like the recently launched puddle lights for the Model 3 and Model Y, Tesla has introduced a set of add-on Projector Puddle Lights for the Cybertruck. These Cybertruck-specific ones go for $75 USD, or $105 CAD and are available in both the Canadian and US Tesla stores.
However, these don’t have the Tesla wordmark - instead, they feature the iconic Cybertruck symbol and, in our opinion, look even nicer. Here’s to hoping Tesla also introduces a set with the graffiti-style Cybertruck wordmark.
Powershare in Canada
While the Foundation Series Cybertruck has been getting delivered in Canada since November 7th, there was no news on Powershare being supported due to regulatory constraints. On the 20th, Foundation Series owners in Canada began to receive emails to get their Powershare installs started through Tesla’s official installer - Qmerit.
More to follow on pricing and the process as we receive our Canadian quote from Qmerit soon.
FSD in Canada
The Cybertruck Program Manager, Siddhant Awasthi, confirmed that with Powershare now becoming available, FSD for the Cybertruck in Canada will also become available soon. Canadian trucks shipped with a factory software build that didn’t include FSD, but did include TACC and stoplight/traffic control.
Early this morning Tesla began rolling out a new version of FSD 12.5.5.3 for the Cybertruck, which is update 2024.39.5. Will this be the version that rolls out in Canada?
Update: Yesterday, Tesla started rolling out FSD on the Cybertruck in Canada for the first time. The update being rolled out is update 2024.39.5, which not only features the latest FSD available on the Cybertruck, version 12.5.5.3, but it also includes all the features update 2024.38, which includes the huge Sentry Mode improvements that reduce power consumption by about 40%.
Following Integrated Flight Test 6 for SpaceX’s Starship, Elon Musk confirmed that uncrewed Starships are likely to begin making their way to Mars in about 2 years. You’re probably going to ask what’s going to be in those Starships - that’s what Brett Winston on X asked as well. Elon confirmed that Cybertrucks and Optimus robots will be among some of the first items landing on Mars.
That’s a ton of awesome news for Cybertruck, and there’s absolutely going to be more around the corner, especially as we await the big Tesla Holiday Update. While you wait, why not take a look at our Holiday Update Wishlists?
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